| This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. | This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. |
| When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” | One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” |
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| These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. | But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. |
| The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. | May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. |
| And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. | And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. |
| If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. | If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. |
| But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. | But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. |
| For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. | 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 those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. | For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. |
| For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. | Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. |
| Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. | Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. |
| Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. | And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. |
| This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. | And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. |
| Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. | Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. |
| Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. | God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. |
| And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. | The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. |
| But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” | But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” |
| The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” | So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” |
| Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. | Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. |
| Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. | Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years. |
| The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. | May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. |
| The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. | Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. |
| And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. | So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. |
| For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. | For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. |
| But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. | But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. |
