| For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders. The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God. | This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers, fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. |
| You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the Lord’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live. | Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no work: it is a sabbath to the Lord throughout your settlements. |
| Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. | Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth. |
| And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law. | And ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one's neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. |
| 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. | For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God. |
| For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. | For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. |
| I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. | Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. |
| Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. | Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. |
| Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. | I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. |
| What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. | Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. |
| So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. | Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs. |
| The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve. | The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse— who can understand it? I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings. |
| Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did? | Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? |
| And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. | And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. |
| What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. | Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. |
| God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. | If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. |
| And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. | No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. |
| On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!” | On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.” |
| This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! | So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! |
| Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. | Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world. |
| In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered. | Husbands, in the same way, show consideration for your wives in your life together, paying honor to the woman as the weaker sex, since they too are also heirs of the gracious gift of life—so that nothing may hinder your prayers. |
| Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. | For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. |
| “Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord. | Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. |
| See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. | See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. |
| God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. | For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. |
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