| For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. | For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. |
| Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? | Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? |
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| If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. | God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. |
| This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. | Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. |
| The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. | May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people. |
| Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children. | Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. |
| Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. | Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. |
| For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. | For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. |
| The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. | For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. |
| May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. | May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. |
| How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! | How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! |
| But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. | But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. |
| 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. |
| Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. | For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. |
| There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. | So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. |
| So that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. | Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other. |
| Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. | So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. |
| Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. | And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment. |
| And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. | And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. |
| Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. | Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. |
| However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. | But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. |
| In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. | He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. |
| The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. | Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us. |
| The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. | The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. |
| For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. | 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. |
