| Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. | Beloved, since God loved us so much, we should love one another. |
| Their ways are futile and foolish. They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol. They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won’t fall over. Their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of such gods, for they can neither harm you nor do you any good. | For the carved images of the nations are powerless; they are nothing more than wood cut from a forest, fashioned with a knife by craftsmen and embellished with silver and gold. Then they are fastened with hammers and nails to prevent them from toppling. Like scarecrows in a cucumber field they are unable to speak, and they must be carried from place to place since they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they can do no harm, nor do they have any power to do good. |
| Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them. | Anyone who has received my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him. |
| In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. | In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself. |
| Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble. | Those who love your law have great peace; they encounter no stumbling blocks. |
| There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. | No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. |
| Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. | 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. |
| And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. | May the Lord cause your love to increase and overflow for one another and for everyone else, just as our love does for you. |
| Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. | This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you love one another. |
| But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! | But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. |
| I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. | I reprove and discipline all those whom I love. Therefore, be sincere in your desire to repent. |
| Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. | Love one another with genuine affection. Esteem others more highly than yourself. |
| Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. | Dear children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. |
| Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.” | Jesus answered him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him.” |
| This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. | For from the beginning you have heard the message that we should love one another. |
| Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. | Owe nothing to anyone except the debt of love you owe one another. The one who loves others has fulfilled the Law. |
| Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. | Over all these put on love, which is the bond of perfection. |
| For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. | For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but rather a spirit of power and of love and of wisdom. |
| Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. | With all humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in a spirit of love. |
| For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” | For the entire Law can be summed up in a single commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” |
| And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law. | And ‘to love him with all your heart, and with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself,’ is worth more than any burnt offerings and sacrifices. |
| The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. | The tongue has the power over life and death; those who cherish it will enjoy its fruits. |
| 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. | May the Lord guide your hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ. |
| The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these. | The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. |
| Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. | Rather, professing truth and love, we will in all things grow into him who is the head, Christ. |
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