| Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. | And let the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it was for this that you were called together in one body. Always be thankful. |
| Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me. | Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. |
| Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! | Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. |
| For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. | For the Son of Man has come to seek out and to save what was lost. |
| He must become greater; I must become less. | He must increase; I must decrease. |
| Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! | Consequently, anyone united to Christ is a new creation. The old order has passed away. Behold, all has become new. |
| For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. | For just as in one body we have many parts, and the parts do not all have the same function, so we, though many, make up one body in Christ, and individually we are all parts of one another. |
| I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. | I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be saved. He will go in and out and will find pasture. |
| For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. | For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. |
| Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. | Rather, professing truth and love, we will in all things grow into him who is the head, Christ. |
| “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” | “But you,” he said to them, “who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” |
| If you love me, keep my commands. | If you love me, you will keep my commandments. |
| Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” | Jesus replied, “This is the work of God: to believe in the one whom he has sent.” |
| Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. | You must understand, brethren, that it is through him that forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you. All those who believe are justified from all the things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses. |
| For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. | For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. Upon his shoulders dominion rests, and this is the name he has been given: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. |
| For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. | For it is in him that the entire fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, and you share this fullness in him who is the head of every ruler and power. |
| Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. | And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent, Jesus Christ. |
| Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. | Whoever possesses the Son possesses life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not possess life. |
| But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. | But God is rich in his mercy, and because he had such great love for us, he brought us to life with Christ when we were already dead through sin—it is by grace that you have been saved. |
| If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. | If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. |
| Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. | Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above all other names, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth. |
| If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. | If you know me, then you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him. You have seen him. |
| He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. | He was despised and shunned by others, a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering. We loathed him and regarded him as of no account, as one from whom men avert their gaze. |
| Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” | Then Jesus said to him, “You have come to believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” |
| This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. | This is how we know what love is: he laid down his life for us, and we in turn must be prepared to lay down our lives for our brethren. |
Bible verse of the day
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,and his ears are attentive to their cry.