Many will be purified and cleansed and refined, but the wicked will go on being wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.
Come on, let's argue this out, says the Lord. Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will become white like snow. Even though they are red like crimson, they will become like wool.
Some of the wise will be killed, so that they may be refined and purified and cleansed until the time of the end, for the predicted time is still to come.
Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky; those who have shown many the right way to live will shine as bright as the stars forever and ever.
Who is wise to understand these things? Who has discernment in understanding them? The Lord's paths are right—the good follow them, but rebels trip and fall along the way.
I will place this one third in the fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on me for help, and I will answer them. I will say, “These are my people,” and they will say, “The Lord is my God.”
He will sit down like a refiner who purifies silver; he will purify Levi's descendants and refine them like gold and silver so they can present pure offerings to the Lord.
Then Pilate asked, “So you are a king, then?” “You say that I'm a king,” Jesus replied. “The reason why I was born and I came to the world was to give evidence for the truth. All those who accept the truth pay attention to what I say.”
Some of you were once like that, but you have been made clean and holy. You have been made right in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
Dear friends, since we have these promises, we should wash ourselves clean from all that makes both body and spirit dirty, aiming for complete holiness out of reverence for God.
He gave himself for us, so that he could set us free from all our wickedness, and to make us clean for him—a people who belong to him, keen to do good.
These prove that your trust in God is genuine, just as fire is used to prove if gold is genuine—even though that too can be destroyed—and your faith is more valuable than gold! In this way your trust in God will be recognized and you will receive praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ appears.
We also know that the Son of God has come, and has helped us to understand so we can recognize the one who is true. We live in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and is eternal life.
Whoever doesn't do what is right, let them stay that way. Whoever is impure, let them stay that way. Whoever does what is right, let them stay that way. Whoever is holy, let them stay that way.”
I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so you may be rich; and have white clothes so you can be properly dressed and you won't reveal your nakedness and shame; and ointment to put on your eyes so you can see.