We know that no one begotten by God sins; but the one begotten by God, he protects, and the evil one cannot touch him.  We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one.  We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us discernment to know the one who is true.  And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.  He is the true God and eternal life.

Whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ.  More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection form the dead.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.  Elijah was a human being like us; yet he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain upon the land.  Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the earth produced its fruits.

Grant me justice, Lord! I have walked without blame.
In the Lord I have trusted; I have not faltered.
Test me, Lord, and try me; search my heart and mind.
Your love is before my eyes; I walk guided by your faithfulness.

Do not take me away with sinners, nor my life with the violent.
Their hands carry out their schemes; their right hands are full of bribes.
But I walk without blame; redeem me, be gracious to me!
My foot stands on level ground; in assemblies I will bless the Lord.

Is anyone among you suffering?  He should pray.  Is anyone in good spirits?  He should sing praise.  Is anyone among you sick?  He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up.  If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.

Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as if something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly.  If you are

insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.  Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones, no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving.  Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.  So do not be associated with them.

If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.  If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

May God be gracious to us and bless us; may God’s face shine upon us.
So shall your rule be known upon the earth, your saving power among all the nations.
May the peoples praise, God; may all the peoples praise you!

May the nations be glad and shout for joy; for you govern the peoples justly,
you guide the nations upon the earth.
May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you!

The earth has yielded its harvest; God, our God, bless us.
May God bless us still, that the ends of the earth may revere our God.

Truly we are consumed by your anger, filled with terror by your wrath.
You have kept our faults before you, our hidden sins exposed to your sight.
Our life ebbs away under your wrath; our years end like a sigh.
Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty, if we are strong;
Most of them are sorrow and toil; they pass quickly, we are all but gone.
Who comprehends your terrible anger? Your wrath matches the fear it inspires.