| Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. | Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. |
| Do everything in love. | And do everything with love. |
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| And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. | So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. |
| But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. | Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. |
| For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. | Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. |
| Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. | All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. |
| Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” | Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.” |
| For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. | For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. |
| No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. | Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others. |
| Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. | Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. |
| The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. | For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. |
| For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. | Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. |
| For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. | For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. |
| But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. | But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. |
| So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. | So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. |
| These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. | But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. |
| And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. | Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. |
| But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. | But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. |
| Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? | Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? |
| For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. | So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. |
| God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. | God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. |
| For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. | No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. |
| However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him. | That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” |
| If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. | God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. |
| Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. | The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. |
