For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors. It was not something that can be destroyed, such as silver or gold;

He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake.

Now that by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves and have come to have a sincere love for other believers, love one another earnestly with all your heart.

As the scripture says, "All human beings are like grass, and all their glory is like wild flowers. The grass withers, and the flowers fall,

From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God's will and not by human desires.

When that day comes, they will throw away the gold and silver idols they have made, and abandon them to the moles and the bats.

You will take your idols plated with silver and your idols covered with gold, and will throw them away like filth, shouting, "Out of my sight!"

Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die?

I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign LORD. "Turn away from your sins and live."

The night is nearly over, day is almost here. Let us stop doing the things that belong to the dark, and let us take up weapons for fighting in the light.

So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to---the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires.

and you must put on the new self, which is created in God's likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.

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.

As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us. So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us.

So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you.

Do not complain against one another, my friends, so that God will not judge you. The Judge is near, ready to appear.

Live as free people; do not, however, use your freedom to cover up any evil, but live as God's slaves.

Let us celebrate our Passover, then, not with bread having the old yeast of sin and wickedness, but with the bread that has no yeast, the bread of purity and truth.

Do not be like children in your thinking, my friends; be children so far as evil is concerned, but be grown up in your thinking.

Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and wrong. We were slaves to passions and pleasures of all kinds. We spent our lives in malice and envy; others hated us and we hated them.

he saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us.

He committed no sin, and no one ever heard a lie come from his lips.

As the scripture says, "If you want to enjoy life and wish to see good times, you must keep from speaking evil and stop telling lies.

Happy is the one whom the LORD does not accuse of doing wrong and who is free from all deceit.

Then keep from speaking evil and from telling lies.

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, he said about him, "Here is a real Israelite; there is nothing false in him!"

Our appeal to you is not based on error or impure motives, nor do we try to trick anyone.

They have never been known to tell lies; they are faultless.

Those who are godless keep on being angry, and even when punished, they don't pray for help.

You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

You hypocrites! How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you!

In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins.

The master will cut him in pieces and make him share the fate of the hypocrites. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.

But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, "Why are you trying to trap me? Bring a silver coin, and let me see it."

How can you say to your brother, 'Please, brother, let me take that speck out of your eye,' yet cannot even see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

How terrible for you! You are like unmarked graves which people walk on without knowing it."

As thousands of people crowded together, so that they were stepping on each other, Jesus said first to his disciples, "Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees---I mean their hypocrisy.

But the wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy.

Saul did not like this, and he became very angry. He said, "For David they claim tens of thousands, but only thousands for me. They will be making him king next!"

And so he was jealous and suspicious of David from that day on.

Don't be worried on account of the wicked; don't be jealous of those who do wrong.

because I was jealous of the proud when I saw that things go well for the wicked.

Don't be jealous of violent people or decide to act as they do,

Peace of mind makes the body healthy, but jealousy is like a cancer.

Don't be envious of evil people, and don't try to make friends with them.

Don't let evil people worry you; don't be envious of them.

They are filled with all kinds of wickedness, evil, greed, and vice; they are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, deceit, and malice. They gossip

Let us conduct ourselves properly, as people who live in the light of day---no orgies or drunkenness, no immorality or indecency, no fighting or jealousy.

I had to feed you milk, not solid food, because you were not ready for it. And even now you are not ready for it,

because you still live as the people of this world live. When there is jealousy among you and you quarrel with one another, doesn't this prove that you belong to this world, living by its standards?

I am afraid that when I get there I will find you different from what I would like you to be and you will find me different from what you would like me to be. I am afraid that I will find quarreling and jealousy, hot tempers and selfishness, insults and gossip, pride and disorder.

they are envious, get drunk, have orgies, and do other things like these. I warn you now as I have before: those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God.

humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.

The Spirit has given us life; he must also control our lives.

But if in your heart you are jealous, bitter, and selfish, don't sin against the truth by boasting of your wisdom.

Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil.

Don't think that there is no truth in the scripture that says, "The spirit that God placed in us is filled with fierce desires."

And now the heathen are surprised when you do not join them in the same wild and reckless living, and so they insult you.

Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort.

But now you must get rid of all these things: anger, passion, and hateful feelings. No insults or obscene talk must ever come from your lips.

Their wives also must be of good character and must not gossip; they must be sober and honest in everything.

In the same way instruct the older women to behave as women should who live a holy life. They must not be slanderers or slaves to wine. They must teach what is good,

Do not criticize one another, my friends. If you criticize or judge another Christian, you criticize and judge the Law. If you judge the Law, then you are no longer one who obeys the Law, but one who judges it.