| Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. | What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance. |
| Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! | Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. |
| For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. | Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled. |
| I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. | This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. |
| Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? | Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? |
| For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. | This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. |
| For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. | Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. |
| But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. | But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. |
| So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. | Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. |
| This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. | This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. |
| For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. | For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. |
| I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house. | I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. |
| Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. | But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. |
| O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you, I will praise your name; for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. | O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them. |
| I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself. | I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. |
| For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. | For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. |
| For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. | For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. |
| I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world! | I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. |
| For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. | The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. |
| For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. | For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. |
| Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. | Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. |
| So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. | So also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. |
| That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. | For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. |
| Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards. | We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. |
| Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O Lord! | Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past. Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord. |
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Bible verse of the day
The hope of the righteous ends in gladness,but the expectation of the wicked comes to nothing.