The Day Is Near

¹¹ And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come^(A) for you to wake up from your slumber,^(B) because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.^(C) So let us put aside the deeds of darkness^(D) and put on the armor^(E) of light. ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness,^(F) not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.^{(G) 14} Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ,^(H) and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.^[a](I)

The Weak and the Strong

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak,^(J) without quarreling over disputable matters. ² One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.^{(K) 3} The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt^(L) the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge^(M) the one who does, for God has accepted them. ⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?^(N) To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ One person considers one day more sacred than another;^(O) another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶ Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God;^(P) and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives for ourselves alone,^(Q) and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.^{(R) 9} For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life^(S) so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.^(T)