If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own work. Then he will have reason to boast in himself alone, and not in someone else.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to have such a desire. Now finish the work, so that you may complete it just as eagerly as you began, according to your means.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord’s word to her will be fulfilled.”

I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.

but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

Now to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,

For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.

Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

the other one’s conscience, I mean, not your own. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God— as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two, or at most three, should speak in turn, and someone must interpret. But if there is no interpreter, he should remain silent in the church and speak only to himself and God. Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is seated, the first speaker should stop. . . .

David again assembled the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand in all. And he and all his troops set out for Baale of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name—the name of the LORD of Hosts, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on it. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart, bringing with it the ark of God. And Ahio was walking in front of the ark. David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals. . . .

When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he declared. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few leading women. The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people. . . .

When they asked him to stay for a while longer, he declined. But as he left, he said, “I will come back to you if God is willing.” And he set sail from Ephesus. When Paul had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church at Jerusalem. Then he went down to Antioch.

Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you. Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive to this day, every one of you. See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess. . . .

for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Test and prove what pleases the Lord. Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself. . . .

Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in joyful dancing. Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant and enjoy the fruit. For there will be a day when watchmen will call out on the hills of Ephraim, ‘Arise, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God!’” For this is what the LORD says: “Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations! Make your praises heard, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!’ Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly! . . .

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song—His praise in the assembly of the godly. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise His name with dancing, and make music to Him with tambourine and harp. For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation. Let the saints exult in glory; let them shout for joy upon their beds. . . .

For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song. May God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples justly and lead the nations of the earth. Selah Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. . . .

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout to the Rock of our salvation! Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him in song. For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. . . .

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.