Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and ^(A)sin which clings so closely, and ^(B)let us run ^(C)with endurance the race that is ^(D)set before us,

^7 (A)I have fought the good fight, ^(B)I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives ^(A)the prize? So ^(B)run that you may obtain it. ²⁵ Every ^(C)athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we ^(D)an imperishable. ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I ^(E)do not box as one ^(F)beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and ^(G)keep it under control,^[a] lest after preaching to others ^(H)I myself should be ^(I)disqualified.

¹⁶ holding fast to ^(A)the word of life, so that in ^(B)the day of Christ ^(C)I may be proud that ^(D)I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Watch Yourselves

³⁴ “But watch yourselves ^(A)lest ^(B)your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and ^(C)cares of this life, and ^(D)that day come upon you suddenly ^(E)like a trap.

³⁵ Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has ^(A)a great reward. ³⁶ For ^(B)you have need of endurance, so that ^(C)when you have done the will of God you may ^(D)receive what is promised. ³⁷ For,

³⁹ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

^10 (A)that I may know him and ^(B)the power of his resurrection, and ^(C)may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may ^(D)attain the resurrection from the dead.

Straining Toward the Goal

¹² Not that I have already ^(E)obtained this or ^(F)am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: ^(G)forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for ^(H)the prize of the upward ^(I)call of God in Christ Jesus.

^7 (A)You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying ^(B)the truth?

A Living Stone and a Holy People

2 ^(A)So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.