¹⁷ Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!

¹⁴ But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.

¹⁹ So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.

³⁹ He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

²⁰ Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.

¹⁴ When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

⁴² Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away^[a] unless I drink it, your will be done.”

¹⁵ If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs.

¹⁵ It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.