| Until a spirit from on high is poured out upon us, and the wilderness becomes an orchard and the fruitful field becomes a forest. | Till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. |
| The second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ | And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ |
| Remain sober and alert, for your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. | Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. |
| I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you should also love one another. | A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. |
| And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. | And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. |
| Thereupon the Lord restored the prosperity of Job after he had prayed for his friends, and he enriched him with twice as much as he had possessed before. | After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. |
| Hence, be imitators of God, as beloved children. | Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children. |
| Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly, as if you were doing it for the Lord and not for others, since you know that you will receive from the Lord an inheritance as your reward for you are serving the Lord Christ. | Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. |
| After Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of King Herod, wise men traveled from the east and arrived in Jerusalem, inquiring, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw the rising of his star, and we have come to pay him homage.” | After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” |
| Each person should give as much as he has decided in his heart, not with reluctance or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. | Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. |
| Therefore, take care to live as intelligent people, and do not be like those who are senseless. Make the most of the present time, for this is a wicked age. | Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. |
| For the entire Law can be summed up in a single commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” | For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” |
| However, if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you are upright in your dealings with your neighbor; if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed innocent blood in this place; and if you do not follow other gods and thereby cause your own destruction, then I will allow you to live in this place, in the land that I gave as a permanent gift to your fathers long ago. | If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Therefore, strive to be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. | Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. |
| The brother who is in modest circumstances should take pride in being raised up. Likewise, the one who is rich should glory in being brought low, for he will disappear like a flower of the field. | Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. |
| Nor should you present any part of your body as an instrument for wickedness leading to sin. Rather, present yourselves to God as having been raised from death to life and the parts of your body to God as instruments for righteousness. | Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. |
| This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. | My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. |
| After he said this, he was lifted up as they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. | After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. |
| There is one body and one Spirit, as well as one hope to which you have been called by your vocation. | There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called. |
| Just as in Adam all die, so all will be brought to life in Christ. | For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. |
| And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. | And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. |
| I then heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me!” | Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” |
| 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. | 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. |
| But he is to ask with faith, without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. | But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. |
Bible verse of the day
For who is God except the Lord?Who is a rock aside from our God?