| And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.” | Then he took a cup, and after offering thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from this, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.” |
| And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. | Joseph therefore went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David. He went to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was expecting a child. |
| And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. | God gave the midwives numerous families because they had feared God. |
| Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” | Then Job arose, tore his cloak, and shaved his head. He threw himself prostrate on the ground and said: “Naked I emerged from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” |
| As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” | While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after he had pronounced the blessing, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take this and eat; this is my body.” |
| That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. | For this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who have been called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since his death has served to redeem the sins that were committed under the first covenant. |
| Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.” | He then called the people and his disciples to him and said to them, “Anyone who wishes to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” |
| In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. | And when he had been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. |
| But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike. | But I have had help from God to this very day, and I stand here and testify to both the lowly and the great. I assert nothing more than what the Prophets and Moses said would occur: that the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to the people and to the Gentiles. |
| But when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost. They were all terrified when they saw him. But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!” | But when the disciples saw him walking on the water they thought it was a ghost and they cried out, for they all had seen him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them, saying, “Have courage! It is I! Do not be afraid!” |
| For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. | He made him who did not know sin to be sin for our sake, so that through him we might become the righteousness of God. |
| Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. | Those who accepted his message were baptized, and on that day about three thousand people were added to their number. |
| Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. | Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where he was tempted by the devil. During that time he ate nothing, and at the end of it he was famished. |
| They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” | They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they placed it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. Then, bending the knee before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” |
| 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. | For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for a life of good works that God had prepared for us to do. |
| 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. | For we will become partners with Christ only if we maintain firmly until the end the confidence we originally had. |
| May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. | May the God of perseverance and encouragement grant that you may live in harmony with one another, following in the example of Jesus Christ. |
| Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. | No prophecy ever came from human initiative. Rather, when people spoke as messengers of God, they did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. |
| A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. | It is better to spend one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in God’s house than dwell inside the tents of the wicked. |
| Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. | Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he departed from them and was taken up to heaven. |
| Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! | Although it was our afflictions that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, we thought of him as stricken, as struck down by God and afflicted. |
| He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. | He was despised and shunned by others, a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering. We loathed him and regarded him as of no account, as one from whom men avert their gaze. |
| But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) | But God is rich in his mercy, and because he had such great love for us, he brought us to life with Christ when we were already dead through sin—it is by grace that you have been saved. |
| And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. | While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. |
| 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. | He brought you low, allowing you to suffer from hunger. He then fed you with manna, something with which your fathers were not familiar, so that you might come to know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord. |
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