12 ^zPut on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, ^acompassionate hearts, ^bkindness, ^chumility, ^dmeekness, and ^epatience, 13 bearing with one another and, ^fif one has a complaint against another, ^gforgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And ^habove all these put on love, which ⁱbinds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the ^jpeace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were ^kcalled in ^lone body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and ^madmonishing one another in all wisdom, ⁿsinging psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And ^owhatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the ^pname of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Hearing and Doing the Word

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be ^hquick to hear, ⁱslow to speak, ^jslow to anger; 20 ^kfor the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the ^limplanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be ^mdoers of the word, and ⁿnot hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the ^olaw of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be ^pblessed in his doing.

26 ^qIf anyone thinks he is religious and does not ^rbridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit ^sorphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

8 Above all, ^ekeep loving one another earnestly, since love ^fcovers a multitude of sins. 9 ^gShow hospitality to one another ^hwithout grumbling. 10 ⁱAs each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good ^jstewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. ^kTo him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.