conduct

¹⁵If you love me, keep my commandments.

¹¹A child may be understood by his interests: whether his works may be clean and upright.

²⁷In response, he said: “You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, and from your whole soul, and from all your strength, and from all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

¹⁵but in accord with him who has called you: the Holy One. And in every behavior, you yourself must be holy,

⁹Let love be without falseness: hating evil, clinging to what is good, ¹⁰loving one another with fraternal charity, surpassing one another in honor: ¹¹in solicitude, not lazy; in spirit, fervent; serving the Lord; ¹²in hope, rejoicing; in tribulation, enduring; in prayer, ever-willing; ¹³in the difficulties of the saints, sharing; in hospitality, attentive. ¹⁴Bless those who are persecuting you: bless, and do not curse.

¹⁹Do not defend yourselves, dearest ones. Instead, step aside from wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is mine. I shall give retribution, says the Lord.”

⁴For he is a minister of God for you unto good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid. For it is not without reason that he carries a sword. For he is a minister of God; an avenger to execute wrath upon whomever does evil.

¹Similarly also, wives should be subject to their husbands, so that, even if some do not believe the Word, they may benefit without the Word, through the behavior of these wives, ²as they consider with fear your chaste behavior. ³For you, there should be no unnecessary adornment of the hair, or surrounding with gold, or the wearing of ornate clothing. ⁴Instead, you should be a hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptibility of a quiet and meek spirit, rich in the sight of God. ⁵For in this way, in past times also, holy women adorned themselves, hoping in God, being subject to their own husbands. ⁶For so Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You are her daughters, well-behaved and unafraid of any disturbance.

¹“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. ²For with whatever judgment you judge, so shall you be judged; and with whatever measure you measure out, so shall it be measured back to you.

²⁴Do not judge according to appearances, but instead judge a just judgment.”

³⁸You have heard that it was said: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil, but if anyone will have struck you on your right cheek, offer to him the other also.

³But let not any kind of fornication, or impurity, or rapacity so much as be named among you, just as is worthy of the saints, ⁴nor any indecent, or foolish, or abusive talk, for this is without purpose; but instead, give thanks.

⁴⁷Because you did not serve the Lord your God, with gladness and a joyful heart, over the abundance of all things. ⁴⁸You will serve your enemy, whom the Lord will send to you, in hunger and thirst and nakedness, and in destitution of all things. And he will place an iron yoke upon your neck, until he has crushed you.

¹⁵The rod and its correction distribute wisdom. But the child who is left to his own will, brings shame to his mother.