for human anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God.

for he looks at himself and goes away and immediately forgets what sort of [person] he was.

For if someone enters into your assembly in fine clothing with a gold ring on his finger, and a poor person in filthy clothing also enters,

For whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one [point only] has become guilty of all [of it].

For the one who said "Do not commit adultery" also said "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

For judgment [is] merciless to the one who has not practiced mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

If a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking food for the day,

and one of you should say to them, "Go in peace, keep warm and {eat well}," but does not give them what is necessary for the body, what [is] the benefit?

And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness," and he was called God's friend.

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

For we all stumble [in] many [ways]. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he [is] a perfect individual, able to hold in check his whole body also.

So also the tongue is a small member [of the body] and boasts great [things]. Behold how small a fire sets ablaze how great a forest!

And the tongue [is] a fire! The world of unrighteousness, the tongue, is set among our members, defiling the whole body and setting on fire {the course of human existence}, being set on fire by hell.

For every species of animals and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures, is being tamed and has been tamed by the human species,

For where [there is] jealousy and selfish ambition, there [is] disorder and every evil practice.

you who do not know {what will happen tomorrow}, {what your life will be like}. For you are a smoky vapor that appears for a short time and then disappears.

Your gold and silver have become corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you, and it will consume your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days.

Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the soil, being patient concerning it until it receives the early and late rains.

Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much.

Elijah was a human being with the same nature as us, and {he prayed fervently} for [it] not to rain, and it did not rain on the land [for] three years and six months.

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and [for] sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

into an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you

who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time,

in which you rejoice greatly, [although] now for a short time, if necessary, you are distressed by various trials,

so that the genuineness of your faith, more valuable than gold that is passing away, but is tested by fire, may be found to [result in] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace meant for you sought and made careful inquiry,

investigating for what [person] or which time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating [when he] testified beforehand to the sufferings with reference to Christ and the glories after these [things],

Therefore, {when you have prepared your minds for action} [by] being self-controlled, put your hope completely in the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

for it is written, "You will be holy, because I [am] holy."

And if you call on [him] [as] Father who judges impartially according to each one's work, conduct yourselves with fear during the time of your temporary residence,

who was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has been revealed in these last times for you

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love, love one another fervently from the heart,

For "all flesh [is] like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls off,

like newborn infants long for the unadulterated spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation,

And [you] yourselves, as living stones, are being built up [as] a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it stands in scripture, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a chosen [and] precious cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame."

Therefore the honor [is] for you who believe, but for those who refuse to believe, "The stone that the builders rejected, this one has become {the cornerstone},"

But you [are] a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God's] possession, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,

Subject yourselves to every human authority for the sake of the Lord, whether to a king as having supreme authority,

or to governors as those sent out by him for the punishment of those who do evil and the praise of those who do good.

For the will of God is as follows: [by] doing good to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

[Live] as free [persons], and not using your freedom as a covering for evil, but as slaves of God.

Honor all [people], love the community of believers, fear God, honor the king.

For this [finds] favor, if because of consciousness of God someone endures sorrows [while] suffering unjustly.

For what credit [is it] if, [when you] sin and are beaten [for it], you endure? But if you endure [when you] do good and suffer [for it], this [finds] favor with God.

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his footsteps,

For you were going astray like sheep, but you have turned back now to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

For in the [same] way formerly the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves [by] being subject to their own husbands,

not repaying evil for evil or insult for insult, but on the other hand blessing [others], because for this [reason] you were called, so that you could inherit a blessing.

For "The one who wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and [his] lips must not speak deceit.

For the eyes of the Lord [are] on the righteous, and his ears [are open to] their prayer. But the face of the Lord [is] against those who do evil.

And who [is] the one who will harm you if you are a zealous adherent for what is good?

But even if you might suffer for the sake of righteousness, [you are] blessed. And do not be afraid of their intimidation or be disturbed,

but set Christ apart [as] Lord in your hearts, always ready to [make] a defense to anyone who asks you [for] an accounting concerning the hope [that is] in you.

For [it is] better to suffer for doing good, {if God wills it}, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, in order that he could bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,

And also, corresponding to [this], baptism now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for the will of God.

For the time that has passed [was] sufficient {to do what the Gentiles desire to do}, having lived in licentiousness, [evil] desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries,

Because for this reason also the gospel was preached to those who are dead, so that they were judged {by human standards} in the flesh, but they may live in the spirit {by God's standards}.

Now the end of all [things] draws near. Therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for [your] prayers.

Above all, keep your love for one another constant, because love covers a large number of sins.

Just as each one has received a gift, [use] it for serving one another, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

For [it is] the time for the judgment to begin out from the household of God. But if [it begins] out from us first, what will be the outcome for those who are disobedient to the gospel of God?

and not as lording it over {those under your care}, but being examples for the flock.

casting all your cares on him, because {he cares} for you.

Be sober; be on the alert. Your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, [after you] have suffered for a short time, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, [and] establish [you].

because his divine power has bestowed on us all [things] [that are] necessary for life and godliness, through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence of character,

and [for] this same [reason], and [by] applying all diligence, supply with your faith excellence of character, and with excellence of character, knowledge,

For [if] these [things] are yours and are increasing, this does not make [you] useless or unproductive in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For [the one] for whom these [things] [are] not present is blind, being nearsighted, {having forgotten the cleansing} of his former sins.

For in this way entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied for you.

But I consider [it] right, for as long as I am in this habitation, to stir you up by a reminder,

For we did not make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [by] following ingeniously concocted myths, but [by] being eyewitnesses of that one's majesty.

For [he] received honor and glory from God the Father [when] a voice such as this was brought to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but held [them] captive in Tartarus with chains of darkness [and] handed [them] over to be kept for judgment,

and condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes, having appointed [them] [as] an example for those who are going to be ungodly,

(for that righteous man, [as he] lived among them day after day, was tormenting [his] righteous soul by the lawless deeds [he was] seeing and hearing),

But these persons, like irrational animals born [only with] natural [instincts] for capture and killing, blaspheming {about things} they do not understand, in their destruction will also be destroyed,

having eyes full of [desire for] an adulteress and unceasing from sin, enticing unstable persons, [and] having hearts trained for greediness. Accursed children!

but received a rebuke for his own lawlessness: a speechless donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained {the prophet's madness}.

These [people] are waterless springs and mists driven by a hurricane, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved.

{For by speaking high-sounding but empty words}, they entice with desires of the flesh [and] with licentiousness those who are scarcely escaping from those who live in error,

promising them freedom [although they] themselves are slaves of depravity. For to whatever someone succumbs, by this he is also enslaved.

For if, [after they] have escaped from the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in these [things] [and] succumb to [them], the last [state] has become worse for them than the first.

For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known [it], to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them.

and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For {ever since} the fathers fell asleep, all [things] have continued just as they have been from the beginning of creation."

For [when] they maintain this, it escapes [their] notice that the heavens existed long ago and the earth held together out of water and through water by the word of God,

But by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.

[while] waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed [by] being burned up and the celestial bodies will melt [as they] are consumed by heat!

But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness resides.

Therefore, dear friends, [because you] are waiting for these [things], make every effort to be found at peace, spotless and unblemished in him.

and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world.

The one who loves his brother resides in the light, and [there] is no cause for stumbling in him.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But [they went out], in order that it might be shown that all of them are not of us.

[As for] you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

And [as for] you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you do not have need that anyone teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all [things], and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you reside in him.

The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this [reason] the Son of God was revealed: in order to destroy the works of the devil.