| Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. | And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. |
| And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. | Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. |
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| Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. | Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. |
| 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. | I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. |
| We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. | For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. |
| My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ. | 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. |
| But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. | But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. |
| For if the willingness 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. |
| What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? | Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? |
| Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. | Guide my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by evil. |
| Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. | For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. |
| Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! | This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! |
| Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. | First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. |
| He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. | Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. |
| For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. | Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. |
| Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. | He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. |
| Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. | Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. |
| And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. | But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. |
| Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. | Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. |
| But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. | But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! |
| Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. | Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. |
| For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. | The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. |
| But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. | But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. |
| But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. | Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. |
| 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”). | All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” |
