27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after(A) orphans and widows(B) in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.(C)

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27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

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16 Wash(A) and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;(B)
    stop doing wrong.(C)
17 Learn to do right;(D) seek justice.(E)
    Defend the oppressed.[a](F)
Take up the cause of the fatherless;(G)
    plead the case of the widow.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 1:17 Or justice. / Correct the oppressor

16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

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17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,(A) how can the love of God be in that person?(B) 18 Dear children,(C) let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.(D)

19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence:

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17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

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Let us not become weary in doing good,(A) for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.(B) 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good(C) to all people, especially to those who belong to the family(D) of believers.

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And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

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34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom(A) prepared for you since the creation of the world.(B) 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,(C) 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me,(D) I was sick and you looked after me,(E) I was in prison and you came to visit me.’(F)

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’(G)

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me,(H) you who are cursed, into the eternal fire(I) prepared for the devil and his angels.(J) 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’(K)

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.(L)(M)

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34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

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Do not conform(A) to the pattern of this world,(B) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.(C) Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is(D)—his good, pleasing(E) and perfect will.

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And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

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On Not Loving the World

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world.(A) If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[a] is not in them.(B) 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,(C) the lust of the eyes,(D) and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away,(E) but whoever does the will of God(F) lives forever.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 John 2:15 Or world, the Father’s love

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

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“Is not this the kind of fasting(A) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice(B)
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed(C) free
    and break every yoke?(D)
Is it not to share your food with the hungry(E)
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter(F)
when you see the naked, to clothe(G) them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?(H)

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Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

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You adulterous(A) people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world(B) means enmity against God?(C) Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. James 4:4 An allusion to covenant unfaithfulness; see Hosea 3:1.

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

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Living as Those Made Alive in Christ

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,(A) set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.(B) Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.(C) For you died,(D) and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

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If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

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Psalm 119[a]

א Aleph

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,(A)
    who walk(B) according to the law of the Lord.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 119:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the stanzas of which begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet; moreover, the verses of each stanza begin with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

119 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

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15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?(A)
    Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?(B)

16 “If I have denied the desires of the poor(C)
    or let the eyes of the widow(D) grow weary,(E)
17 if I have kept my bread to myself,
    not sharing it with the fatherless(F)
18 but from my youth I reared them as a father would,
    and from my birth I guided the widow(G)
19 if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,(H)
    or the needy(I) without garments,
20 and their hearts did not bless me(J)
    for warming them with the fleece(K) from my sheep,

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15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

18 (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)

19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

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But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents,(A) for this is pleasing to God.(B)

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But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.

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