| He is not here. He has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee: that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified and rise again on the third day. | He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ |
| A gift opens doors for the giver and wins him access to the powerful. | A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great. |
| 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!” | They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. |
| Rather, I discipline my body and bring it under control, for fear that after preaching to others I myself may be disqualified. | No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. |
| Do the things that you have learned, received, and heard from me and that you saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. | Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. |
| For as it is written, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has the human heart imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” | However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him. |
| Where can I go to hide from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I take my rest in the netherworld, you are also there. | Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. |
| In the same way, even the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs that cannot be put into words. | In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. |
| Above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth, or use any oaths at all. Let your “Yes” mean “Yes” and your “No” mean “No.” Otherwise you may be condemned. | Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned. |
| Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. | Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. |
| Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” | Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” |
| I refrained from eating any choice food, abstaining from consuming meat or wine, and I did not anoint myself until those three weeks had passed. | I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over. |
| Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts in accordance with them will be like a wise man who constructed his house on a rock foundation. | Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. |
| Do not envy a violent man or choose to emulate any of his ways. For the perverse man is an abomination to the Lord whose friendship is bestowed only upon the upright. | Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways. For the Lord detests the perverse but takes the upright into his confidence. |
| Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my heavenly Father. | Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. |
| However, whoever lives by the truth comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been done in God. | But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. |
| For you did not receive a spirit of slavery leading to fear; rather, you received the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, “Abba! Father!” | The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” |
| If you refuse to listen to me and do not sincerely resolve to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, I will send a curse on you, and I will turn your blessings into a curse. Indeed, I have already done so because you have not heeded my warning. | “If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.” |
| After he had decided to follow this course of action, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to receive Mary into your home as your wife. For this child has been conceived in her womb through the Holy Spirit.” | But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” |
| 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. | So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. |
| The Lord God then formed a woman out of the rib that he had taken from the man. He brought her before the man. The man said, “This one is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken from man.” This is why a man leaves his father and his mother and joins with a wife, and the two become one flesh. | Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. |
| Everyone who seeks a prize submits himself to rigorous self-discipline in every respect. They do so to win a perishable crown, while we seek an imperishable one. | Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. |
| Like a city that has been breached and made defenseless is the man devoid of self-control. | Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. |
| But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty. The water that I will give him will become a spring of water within him welling up to eternal life. | But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. |
| He has made everything suitable for its time, and he has given men a sense of past and future, but they never have the slightest comprehension of what God has wrought from beginning to end. | He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. |
Bible verse of the day
He gives a home to those who are forsakenand leads out prisoners amid chants of exultation,
while rebels are forced to live in an arid land.