⁹ Don’t lose your enthusiasm for behaving properly. You’ll bring in the harvest at the proper time, if you don’t become weary.

God’s complete armor

¹⁰ What else is there to say? Just this: be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his power. ¹¹ Put on God’s complete armor. Then you’ll be able to stand firm against the devil’s trickery. ¹² The warfare we’re engaged in, you see, isn’t against flesh and blood. It’s against the leaders, against the authorities, against the powers that rule the world in this dark age, against the wicked spiritual elements in the heavenly places.

¹³ For this reason, you must take up God’s complete armor. Then, when wickedness grabs its moment, you’ll be able to withstand, to do what needs to be done, and still to be on your feet when it’s all over. ¹⁴ So stand firm! Put the belt of truth round your waist; put on justice as your breastplate; ¹⁵ for shoes on your feet, ready for battle, take the good news of peace. ¹⁶ With it all, take the shield of faith; if you’ve got that, you’ll be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is God’s word.

Prayer and peace

¹⁸ Pray on every occasion in the spirit, with every type of prayer and intercession. You’ll need to keep awake and alert for this, with all perseverance and intercession for all God’s holy ones—

²¹ Keep yourselves in the love of God, as you wait for our Lord Jesus the Messiah to show you the mercy which leads to the life of the age to come.

³⁶ What you need is patience, you see; then, when you’ve done what God wants, you will receive the promise.