Storms come, and the wicked are blown away, but honest people are always safe.

How shall we answer the messengers that come to us from Philistia? We will tell them that the LORD has established Zion and that his suffering people will find safety there.

This, now, is what the Sovereign LORD says: "I am placing in Zion a foundation that is firm and strong. In it I am putting a solid cornerstone on which are written the words, 'Faith that is firm is also patient.'

The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock.

He is like a man who, in building his house, dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. The river flooded over and hit that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

Using the gift that God gave me, I did the work of an expert builder and laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each of you must be careful how you build.

For God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no other foundation can be laid.

You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus himself.

In this way they will store up for themselves a treasure which will be a solid foundation for the future. And then they will be able to win the life which is true life.

For Abraham was waiting for the city which God has designed and built, the city with permanent foundations.

The city's wall was built on twelve foundation stones, on which were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible.

For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear. They will perform miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible.

In view of all this, what can we say? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Who will accuse God's chosen people? God himself declares them not guilty!

Who, then, can separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble do it, or hardship or persecution or hunger or poverty or danger or death?

But in order that the choice of one son might be completely the result of God's own purpose, God said to her, "The older will serve the younger." He said this before they were born, before they had done anything either good or bad; so God's choice was based on his call, and not on anything they had done.

There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us.

We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary.

These people really did not belong to our fellowship, and that is why they left us; if they had belonged to our fellowship, they would have stayed with us. But they left so that it might be clear that none of them really belonged to us.

A good person will never fail; he will always be remembered.

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which can never be shaken, never be moved.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, now and forever.

On that day I will take you, Zerubbabel my servant, and I will appoint you to rule in my name. You are the one I have chosen." The LORD Almighty has spoken.

I am placing in front of Joshua a single stone with seven facets. I will engrave an inscription on it, and in a single day I will take away the sin of this land.

Obstacles as great as mountains will disappear before you. You will rebuild the Temple, and as you put the last stone in place, the people will shout, 'Beautiful, beautiful!' "

He said, "Zerubbabel has laid the foundation of the Temple, and he will finish the building. When this happens, my people will know that it is I who sent you to them.

And do not make God's Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God's mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free.

Then he said to Korah and his followers, "Tomorrow morning the LORD will show us who belongs to him; he will let the one who belongs to him, that is, the one he has chosen, approach him at the altar.

The righteous are guided and protected by the LORD, but the evil are on the way to their doom.

The LORD takes care of those who obey him, and the land will be theirs forever.

for the LORD loves what is right and does not abandon his faithful people. He protects them forever, but the descendants of the wicked will be driven out.

The LORD is good; he protects his people in times of trouble; he takes care of those who turn to him.

Then I will say to them, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!'

But he will say again, 'I don't know where you come from. Get away from me, all you wicked people!'

I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

What my Father has given me is greater than everything, and no one can snatch them away from the Father's care.

"I am not talking about all of you; I know those I have chosen. But the scripture must come true that says, 'The man who shared my food turned against me.'

We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

God has not rejected his people, whom he chose from the beginning. You know what the scripture says in the passage where Elijah pleads with God against Israel:

But the person who loves God is known by him.

But now that you know God---or, I should say, now that God knows you---how is it that you want to turn back to those weak and pitiful ruling spirits? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?

That beast was once alive, but lives no longer; it is about to come up from the abyss and will go off to be destroyed. The people living on earth whose names have not been written before the creation of the world in the book of the living, will all be amazed as they look at the beast. It was once alive; now it no longer lives, but it will reappear.

And the LORD said, "If they pronounce my name as a blessing upon the people of Israel, I will bless them."

The LORD loves those who hate evil; he protects the lives of his people; he rescues them from the power of the wicked.

You treat us as though you had never been our ruler, as though we had never been your people.

My chosen people will use your name as a curse. I, the Sovereign LORD, will put you to death. But I will give a new name to those who obey me.

Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

And he has come to Damascus with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who worship you."

When he found him, he took him to Antioch, and for a whole year the two met with the people of the church and taught a large group. It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.

And so all the rest of the human race will come to me, all the Gentiles whom I have called to be my own.

and to enable even the Gentiles to praise God for his mercy. As the scripture says, "And so I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to you."

My ambition has always been to proclaim the Good News in places where Christ has not been heard of, so as not to build on a foundation laid by someone else.

To the church of God which is in Corinth, to all who are called to be God's holy people, who belong to him in union with Christ Jesus, together with all people everywhere who worship our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name.

I know where you live, there where Satan has his throne. You are true to me, and you did not abandon your faith in me even during the time when Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed there where Satan lives.

I know what you do; I know that you have a little power; you have followed my teaching and have been faithful to me. I have opened a door in front of you, which no one can close.

They will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.

God said to us humans, "To be wise, you must have reverence for the Lord. To understand, you must turn from evil."

Turn away from evil and do good; strive for peace with all your heart.

Turn away from evil and do good, and your descendants will always live in the land;

Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are; simply obey the LORD and refuse to do wrong.

Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good.

All these promises are made to us, my dear friends. So then, let us purify ourselves from everything that makes body or soul unclean, and let us be completely holy by living in awe of God.

In the Lord's name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless

They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to vice and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint.

You certainly heard about him, and as his followers you were taught the truth that is in Jesus.

Since you are God's dear children, you must try to be like him.

Since you are God's people, it is not right that any matters of sexual immorality or indecency or greed should even be mentioned among you.

You may be sure that no one who is immoral, indecent, or greedy (for greed is a form of idolatry) will ever receive a share in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.

So have nothing at all to do with such people.

for it is the light that brings a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth.

Have nothing to do with the worthless things that people do, things that belong to the darkness. Instead, bring them out to the light.

You must put to death, then, the earthly desires at work in you, such as sexual immorality, indecency, lust, evil passions, and greed (for greed is a form of idolatry).

At one time you yourselves used to live according to such desires, when your life was dominated by them.

For God has revealed his grace for the salvation of all people.

as we wait for the blessed Day we hope for, when the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ will appear.

So then, have your minds ready for action. Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing which will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Instead, be holy in all that you do, just as God who called you is holy.

You call him Father, when you pray to God, who judges all people by the same standard, according to what each one has done; so then, spend the rest of your lives here on earth in reverence for him.

it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw.

In this way he has given us the very great and precious gifts he promised, so that by means of these gifts you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world, and may come to share the divine nature.

to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add endurance; to your endurance add godliness;

These are the qualities you need, and if you have them in abundance, they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then, my friends, try even harder to make God's call and his choice of you a permanent experience; if you do so, you will never abandon your faith.

And so, my friends, as you wait for that Day, do your best to be pure and faultless in God's sight and to be at peace with him.

Let no one deceive you, my children! Whoever does what is right is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.

Those who are children of God do not continue to sin, for God's very nature is in them; and because God is their Father, they cannot continue to sin.