(Psalm 133:1–3; 1 Corinthians 1:10–17)
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I, the prisoner of the LORD, then call on you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,
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with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love,
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being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace;
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one body and one Spirit, according as you were also called in one hope of your calling;
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one Lord, one faith, one immersion,
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one God and Father of all, who [is] over all, and through all, and in you all,
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and to each one of you was given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ,
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for this reason, it says, “Having gone up on high He led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men.”
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And that, He went up, what is it except that He also went down first into the lower parts of the earth?
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He who went down is the same who also went up far above all the heavens, that He may fill all things—
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and He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] proclaimers of good news, and some [as] shepherds and teachers,
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to the perfecting of the holy ones, for a work of ministry, for a building up of the body of the Christ,
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until we may all come to the unity of faith and of the recognition of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to a measure of stature of the fullness of the Christ,
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that we may no longer be children, being tossed by waves and being carried around by every wind of the teaching, in the cunning of men, in craftiness, to the scheming of leading astray,
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and [speaking] truth in love, we may increase to Him [in] all things, who is the head—the Christ;
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from whom the whole body, being fitly joined together and united, through the supply of every joint, according to the working in the measure of each single part, the increase of the body makes for the building up of itself in love.
New Life in Christ
(Colossians 3:1–17)
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This, then, I say, and I testify in the LORD: you are no longer to walk, as also the other nations walk, in the vanity of their mind,
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being darkened in the understanding, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart,
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who, having ceased to feel, gave themselves up to the licentiousness, for the working of all uncleanness in greediness;
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and you did not so learn the Christ,
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if [it] so be [that] you heard Him, and were taught in Him, as truth is in Jesus;
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concerning the former behavior you are to put off the old man, that is corrupt according to the desires of the deceit,
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and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
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and to put on the new man, which, according to God, was created in righteousness and kindness of the truth.
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For this reason, putting away the lying, each speak truth with his neighbor, because we are members of one another;
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be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
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neither give place to the Devil;
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whoever is stealing let him no longer steal, but rather let him labor, working the thing that is good with the hands, that he may have to impart to him having need.
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Let no corrupt word go forth out of your mouth, but what is good to the necessary building up, that it may give grace to the hearers;
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and do not make the Holy Spirit of God sorrowful, in which you were sealed to [the] day of redemption.
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Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice,
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and become kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, according as God also forgave you in Christ.
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