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. | But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. |
For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. | There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling. |
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For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. | You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. |
For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. | For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. |
The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. | The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. |
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. | Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse. |
Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? | Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? |
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. | For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. |
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. | Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. |
There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. | Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. |
Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you. | Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. |
For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. | For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. |
I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord. | I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I display my holiness before their eyes. |
He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. | He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. |
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. | 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. |
But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. | But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction. |
God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. | All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being. |
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. | And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. |
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. | 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! |
And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. | I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. |
So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. | Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” |
As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” | While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” |
So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. | Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. |
For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. | For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. |
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” | In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” |