We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith flourishes more and more and the love of each one of you all for one another is ever greater.

You have purified your souls by obeying the truth in order to show sincere mutual love. So love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

I would

If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever.

But my people did not obey me; Israel did not submit to me.

For I am afraid that somehow when I come I will not find you what I wish, and you will find me not what you wish. I am afraid that somehow there may be quarreling, jealousy, intense anger, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

Thou

If you have no desire to worship the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, whether it be the gods whom your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family will worship the Lord!"

Elijah approached all the people and said, "How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? If the Lord is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!" But the people did not say a word.

Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes observe my ways;

Ephraim has mixed itself like flour among the nations; Ephraim is like a ruined cake of bread that is scorched on one side.

Their heart is slipping; soon they will be punished for their guilt. The Lord will break their altars; he will completely destroy their fertility pillars.

I will remove those who worship the stars in the sky from their rooftops, those who swear allegiance to the Lord while taking oaths in the name of their 'king,'

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Let anyone who has no love for the Lord be accursed. Our Lord, come!

since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways.

General references

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.