| However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. | As for me, I do not regard my life as of any value, only that I finish the race and complete the mission that I received from the Lord Jesus—to bear witness to the gospel of God’s grace. |
| Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. | Go forth, then. Eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God long ago approved what you do. |
| See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness. | The proud man’s heart is not upright, but the righteous man will live because of his faith. |
| Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. | Produce good fruit as proof of your repentance. |
| For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. | While physical training has some value, the benefits of godliness are unlimited, since it holds out promise not only for this life but also for the life to come. |
| What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? | What then shall we say? Should we persist in sin in order that grace may abound? Of course not! We have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? |
| For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. | For you are aware that you were ransomed from your futile way of life inherited from your ancestors not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. |
| Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. | Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so whoever feeds upon me will live because of me. |
| For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. | Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. |
| This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. | This is the conclusion I have reached: it is fitting for a man to eat and drink and find satisfaction in the results of his labors under the sun during the brief span of life that God has allotted him. |
| For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. | For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the sake of the gospel will save it. |
| Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. | As servants of God, behave as free people, but do not use your freedom as a means to cover up wrongdoing. |
| Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time. | You shall obey his statutes and the commandments that I give you today, so that all may go well with you and your children after you, and that you may live long in the land that the Lord, your God, has given you for all time. |
| Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. | Let the wicked abandon their ways and those who are evil their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy upon them; and to our God, for he is rich in forgiveness. |
| Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” | And God said, “Let us make man in our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the wild animals and reptiles that crawl upon the earth.” |
| In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. | Indeed, persecution will afflict all who want to lead a godly life in Christ Jesus. |
| Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” | And God said, “Behold, I give you every plant that produces seeds upon the earth and every tree that has fruit with its seed inside of it: these shall be your food.” |
| Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! | Consider the ravens. They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn, and yet God feeds them. You are of far greater importance than birds. |
| He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. | He brought you low, allowing you to suffer from hunger. He then fed you with manna, something with which your fathers were not familiar, so that you might come to know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord. |
| I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. | I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have life. |
| Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. | Do not lie to one another, since you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self that is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. |
| And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. | The Lord God said, “Behold, man has become like one of us, for he has knowledge of that which is good and that which is evil. Now, we must prevent him from reaching out and taking the fruit of the tree of life lest he eat it and live forever.” The Lord God cast him out of the Garden of Eden; henceforth he was to labor tilling the soil from which he had come. |
| Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. | Let us examine and test our ways and return to the Lord. |
| But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. | However, whoever lives by the truth comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been done in God. |
| Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. | Those who live according to the flesh fix their attention on the things of the flesh, while those who live according to the Spirit set their thoughts on spiritual things. |
Bible verse of the day
Help us, God our Savior,for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.