You people [already] know this [or, “you should know this”], my dearly loved brothers. However, every person should be quick to listen, slow to talk and slow in becoming angry.
But I say to you that every person who is angry toward his brother will be subject to judgment; and whoever calls his brother ‘stupid idiot’ is subject to [being sentenced by] the [Jewish] Council, and whoever says, ‘go to hell’ is subject to going to the fire of hell [himself].
So, I proceeded to send [my men] for you and you have done the right thing in coming [here]. Now, therefore, we are all assembled here before God, to hear everything you were commanded by the Lord [to tell us].”
And when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and gave honor to the message of God [i.e., they accepted it as true]. And all those who were appointed [by God] to receive never ending life [through faith and obedience] became believers.
Now these people [in Berea] had more character than those in Thessalonica because they [not only] received the message with an open mind but [also] examined the [Old Testament] Scriptures every day to see if what they had heard was really true.
And these [new converts] continued regularly [to listen] to the teaching of the apostles and to share with them; they broke bread [in memory of Jesus] and continued praying.
[Psa. 4:4 says], “Be angry [i.e., at wrongdoing. See Mark 3:5], but do not sin [i.e., by harboring bitterness or retaliation].” Do not allow the sun to go down while you are still provoked.
You should let the peace given by Christ rule in your hearts, since you people were called [to be at peace] in one body [i.e., the church]; and you should be thankful.
And because of this we also thank God continually that, when you people received the message of God, which you heard from us, you did not accept it as a message from [mere] human beings, but as it truly is, the message from God, which is at work in you believers.
If anyone considers himself to be religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, this person is self-deceived and his religion is worthless.
My brothers, do not hold [views regarding] the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ [i.e., as tenets of Christianity] which show favoritism toward [certain] persons.
Listen, my dearly loved brothers; did not God choose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be wealthy in faith and to inherit the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
Do not slander one another, brothers, [for] the person who speaks against his brother, or judges him, is [guilty of] speaking against the law [of God]. But when you judge the law, you are not obeying it but acting as its judge.
But above everything else, my brothers, do not take oaths, not “by the heaven,” nor “by the earth,” nor by any other oath. But your “yes” should be [simply] “yes,” and your “no,” [simply] “no,” so you do not fall under condemnation.
I did not write to you people because you are ignorant of the truth [about these matters], but because you do know it, and because nothing false belongs to the true teaching.