^12 (A)“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you ^(B)the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. ¹³ He will ^(C)love you, bless you, and multiply you. ^(D)He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. ¹⁴ You shall be blessed above all peoples. ^(E)There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. ¹⁵ And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil ^(F)diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. ¹⁶ And ^(G)you shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. ^(H)Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be ^(I)a snare to you.

Let Us Sing Songs of Praise

Teach Sound Doctrine

2 But as for you, teach what accords with ^(A)sound^[a] doctrine. ² Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^(B)sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. ^3 (C)Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^(D)not slanderers ^(E)or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, ⁴ and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled, ^(F)pure, ^(G)working at home, kind, and ^(H)submissive to their own husbands, ^(I)that the word of God may not be reviled. ⁶ Likewise, urge ^(J)the younger men to be self-controlled. ⁷ Show yourself in all respects to be ^(K)a model of good works, and in your teaching ^(L)show integrity, ^(M)dignity, ⁸ and ^(N)sound speech that cannot be condemned, ^(O)so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. ^9 (P)Bondservants^[b] are to be submissive to their own masters ^(Q)in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, ¹⁰ not pilfering, ^(R)but showing all good faith, ^(S)so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

¹¹ For ^(T)the grace of God ^(U)has appeared, bringing salvation ^(V)for all people, ¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and ^(W)worldly passions, and ^(X)to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^(Y)the present age, ^13 (Z)waiting for our blessed ^(AA)hope, the ^(AB)appearing of the glory of our great ^(AC)God and Savior Jesus Christ, ^14 (AD)who gave himself for us to ^(AE)redeem us from all lawlessness and ^(AF)to purify for himself ^(AG)a people for his own possession who are ^(AH)zealous for good works.

¹⁵ Declare these things; exhort and ^(AI)rebuke with all authority. ^(AJ)Let no one disregard you.

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

³⁵ The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ^(A)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ^(B)“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, ^(C)“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.^{[a] 40 (D)}One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus^[b] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found ^(E)the Messiah” (which means Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^(F)John. You shall be called ^(G)Cephas” (which means ^(H)Peter^[c]).