Acts 23:18

Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.

that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God,

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.

Only let your way of life be worthy of the Good News of Christ, that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your state, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the Good News;

I remember my song in the night. I consider in my own heart; my spirit diligently inquires:

to the end that you should walk worthily of God, who calls you into his own Kingdom and glory.

while he said in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I sinned at all.”

But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and as he himself appealed to the emperor I determined to send him,

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly,

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,

But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,

At midnight I will rise to give thanks to you, because of your righteous ordinances.

Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,

Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you shall go.”

For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles,

seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue,

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless.

He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them,

I beg you therefore, be imitators of me.

I beg you, brothers, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong,

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory.

speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

It is even right for me to think this way on behalf of all of you, because I have you in my heart, because both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Good News, you all are partakers with me of grace.

For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.

Therefore don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but endure hardship for the Good News according to the power of God,

Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession: Jesus,

He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,

Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him.

My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.

I will bless Yahweh at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth.

Yahweh will command his loving kindness in the daytime. In the night his song shall be with me: a prayer to the God of my life.

Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

I am a marvel to many, but you are my strong refuge.

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t get tired. My soul refused to be comforted.

He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.

I have remembered your name, Yahweh, in the night, and I obey your law.

You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a flute to come to Yahweh’s mountain, to Israel’s Rock.

Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake.

Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;

They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus’ name.

For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers.

He took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household.

Then the commanding officer came near, arrested him, commanded him to be bound with two chains, and inquired who he was and what he had done.

In the temple they didn’t find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the synagogues, or in the city.

Paul said, “I pray to God, that whether with little or with much, not only you, but also all that hear me today, might become such as I am, except for these bonds.”

But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ship than to those things which were spoken by Paul.

rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer;

as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice with you all.

Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that you abound more and more.

not stealing, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God, our Savior, in all things.

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker,

Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

All the days of the afflicted are wretched, but one who has a cheerful heart enjoys a continual feast.

Therefore glorify Yahweh in the east, even the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea!

He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter whom you teach, for you aren’t partial to anyone.

Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole garrison together against him.

Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”

A certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and at the point of death.

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” He said, “Teacher, say on.”

But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

When it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan band.

After three days Paul called together those who were the leaders of the Jews. When they had come together, he said to them, “I, brothers, though I had done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, still was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,

Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

yet for love’s sake I rather beg, being such a one as Paul, the aged, but also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

But because you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy.