For You are my rock and my fortress; For the sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me. | You are my rock and my fortress. For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger. |
Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? | And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. |
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For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh. | We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. |
For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. | For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. |
For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. | Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. |
For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’ | For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ |
The Lord also restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased double all that Job had. | When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! |
For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. | God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. |
May the kindness of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands. | And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful! |
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. | The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. |
But sexual immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. | Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. |
For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to rein in the whole body as well. | Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. |
Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. | Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval. |
But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life. | But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life. |
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. | Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. |
Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father. | I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. |
Furthermore, as for every person to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also given him the opportunity to enjoy them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. | And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. |
Are five sparrows not sold for two assaria? And yet not one of them has gone unnoticed in the sight of God. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not fear; you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows. | What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. |
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth. | But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. |
Beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory. | Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory. |
Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His faithfulness to a thousand generations for those who love Him and keep His commandments. | Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. |
Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I am going to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.”’ | Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the Lord.’ |
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world. | This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. |
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. | And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. |