In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. | In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. |
As for God, his way is perfect. Yahweh’s word is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him. | God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. |
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How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? | Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. |
As for God, his way is perfect. Yahweh’s word is tested. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him. | God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. |
My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb. | Let my teaching fall on you like rain; let my speech settle like dew. Let my words fall like rain on tender grass, like gentle showers on young plants. |
Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. | And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. |
Yahweh restored Job’s prosperity when he prayed for his friends. Yahweh gave Job twice as much as he had before. | When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! |
For nothing spoken by God is impossible. | For the word of God will never fail. |
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. | This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. |
Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are today. | And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. |
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. | For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. |
Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as 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. |
Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. | You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” |
Even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. | For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. |
Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet revealed what we will be; but we know that when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him just as he is. Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. | Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. |
Therefore watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. | So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. |
In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? | I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? |
My salvation and my honor is with God. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. | My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. |
A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ | A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ |
Preserve me, God, for I take refuge in you. | Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge. |
Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. | But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. |
But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name. | But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. |
For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them. | For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. |
As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all. | Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. |
He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” | The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” |