Belshazzar’s Feast

5 King Belshazzar^(A) held a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles and drank wine in their presence.

Consistency in the Christian Life

¹⁵ Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— ¹⁶ making the most of the time,^[a](A) because the days are evil. ¹⁷ So don’t be foolish, but understand^(B) what the Lord’s will^(C) is. ¹⁸ And don’t get drunk^(D) with wine,^(E) which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit:^(F)

⁷ But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.

¹¹ If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides,^(A) so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Christian Suffering

¹² Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal^[a] comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you.^{(B) 13} Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah,^(C) so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation^(D) of His glory. ¹⁴ If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ,^(E) you are blessed, because the Spirit^(F) of glory and of God rests on you.^[b]