25 He chose to be mistreated(A) along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

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10 Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper(A) in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

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Join with me in suffering,(A) like a good soldier(B) of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown(C) except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.(D) Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead,(E) descended from David.(F) This is my gospel,(G) for which I am suffering(H) even to the point of being chained(I) like a criminal. But God’s word(J) is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything(K) for the sake of the elect,(L) that they too may obtain the salvation(M) that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.(N)

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17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,(A) the new creation(B) has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Or Christ, that person is a new creation.

Suffering for Being a Christian

12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you(A) to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice(B) inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ,(C) so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.(D) 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ,(E) you are blessed,(F) for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.(G)

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Give her as much torment and grief
    as the glory and luxury she gave herself.(A)
In her heart she boasts,
    ‘I sit enthroned as queen.
I am not a widow;[a]
    I will never mourn.’(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 18:7 See Isaiah 47:7,8.

In all this you greatly rejoice,(A) though now for a little while(B) you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.(C) These have come so that the proven genuineness(D) of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire(E)—may result in praise, glory and honor(F) when Jesus Christ is revealed.(G)

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21 Beware of turning to evil,(A)
    which you seem to prefer to affliction.(B)

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10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God;(A) once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

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18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;(A)
    you cast them down to ruin.(B)
19 How suddenly(C) are they destroyed,
    completely swept away(D) by terrors!
20 They are like a dream(E) when one awakes;(F)
    when you arise, Lord,
    you will despise them as fantasies.(G)

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that the mirth of the wicked(A) is brief,
    the joy of the godless(B) lasts but a moment.(C)

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You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves(A) in the day of slaughter.[a](B)

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Footnotes

  1. James 5:5 Or yourselves as in a day of feasting

20 because human anger(A) does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

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37 They were put to death by stoning;[a](A) they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.(B) They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,(C) destitute, persecuted and mistreated—

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 11:37 Some early manuscripts stoning; they were put to the test;

11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch,(A) Iconium(B) and Lystra,(C) the persecutions I endured.(D) Yet the Lord rescued(E) me from all of them.(F) 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,(G)

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32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light,(A) when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.(B)

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So do not be ashamed(A) of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner.(B) Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel,(C) by the power of God.

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Thanksgiving and Prayer

We ought always to thank God for you,(A) brothers and sisters,[a] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.(B) Therefore, among God’s churches we boast(C) about your perseverance and faith(D) in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.(E)

All this is evidence(F) that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy(G) of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just:(H) He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you(I)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 2:1, 13, 15; 3:1, 6, 13.

Paul’s Labor for the Church

24 Now I rejoice(A) in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions,(B) for the sake of his body, which is the church.(C)

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35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?(A) Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?(B) 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a](C)

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors(D) through him who loved us.(E) 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future,(F) nor any powers,(G) 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God(H) that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 8:36 Psalm 44:22
  2. Romans 8:38 Or nor heavenly rulers

17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs(A)—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings(B) in order that we may also share in his glory.(C)

Present Suffering and Future Glory

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.(D)

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Not only so, but we[a] also glory in our sufferings,(A) because we know that suffering produces perseverance;(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 5:3 Or let us

23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me(A) that prison and hardships are facing me.(B) 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me;(C) my only aim is to finish the race(D) and complete the task(E) the Lord Jesus has given me(F)—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.(G)

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24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.

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25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things,(A) but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.(B)

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