| However, now that you have been freed from sin and bound to the service of God, the benefit you receive is sanctification, and the end is eternal life. | But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. |
| All I want is to come to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share in his sufferings by becoming conformed to his death. | I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. |
| Or can a man walk on red-hot coals without scorching his feet? | Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? |
| For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more certain it is that, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. | For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! |
| Make every possible effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. | Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. |
| No one should seek his own advantage in preference to that of his neighbor. | No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. |
| In all of your prayers and entreaties, pray always in the Spirit. To that end, keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. | And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. |
| I wait for the Lord in anxious expectation; I place my hope in his word. | I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. |
| But now the righteousness of God that is attested by the Law and the Prophets has been manifested apart from law: the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. No distinction has been made. | But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. |
| God is not human, that he should lie, or the son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act, does he promise and then not fulfill it? | God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? |
| 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. |
| I further pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know the hope to which he has called you, how rich and glorious is his inheritance in the saints. | I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. |
| Love is patient; love is charitable. Love is not envious; it does not have an inflated opinion of itself; it is not filled with its own importance. Love is never rude; it does not seek its own advantage. It is not prone to anger; neither does it brood over setbacks. | Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. |
| But God is rich in his mercy, and because he had such great love for us, he brought us to life with Christ when we were already dead through sin—it is by grace that you have been saved. | But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. |
| How much more valuable a man is than a sheep! Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. | How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. |
| No prophecy ever came from human initiative. Rather, when people spoke as messengers of God, they did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. | For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. |
| Joseph therefore went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David. He went to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was expecting a child. | So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. |
| You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. | For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. |
| You intended to do evil to me, but God decided to make it serve a good, to fulfill that which today has come true: to keep alive a numerous people. | You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. |
| I, I alone, am the one who comforts you. Why then do you fear mortal men who must die, human beings who must perish like grass? | I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass. |
| All this took place in order to fulfill what the Lord had announced through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” a name that means “God is with us.” | All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). |
| O God, you are my God, for whom I have been searching earnestly. My soul yearns for you and my body thirsts for you, like the earth when it is parched, arid and without water. | You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. |
| He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live in righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. | “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” |
| Therefore, prepare your minds for action. Be calm and fix your hopes completely on the grace that you will be granted at the revelation of Jesus Christ. | Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. |
| Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and undefiled is this: to come to the aid of orphans and widows in their hardships and to keep oneself untarnished by the world. | Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. |
Bible verse of the day
He gives a home to those who are forsakenand leads out prisoners amid chants of exultation,
while rebels are forced to live in an arid land.