And ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one's neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. | 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. |
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first. | But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then. |
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And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ | A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ |
A gift opens doors; it gives access to the great. | Giving a gift can open doors; it gives access to important people! |
Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. | Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. |
The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. | The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these. |
Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. | In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. |
Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. | I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. |
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love. | For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. |
“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends. | As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them. |
God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. | God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. |
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. | I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. |