Jesus replied, “Blessed, rather, are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” | But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” |
You shall observe my commandments and obey them. I am the Lord. | Therefore you shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am the Lord. |
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Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your gracious Spirit lead me along a level path. | Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. |
After he said this, he was lifted up as they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. | Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. |
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. | For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. |
He gives a home to those who are forsaken and leads out prisoners amid chants of exultation, while rebels are forced to live in an arid land. | God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. |
My son, concentrate attentively on my words; pay heed to the instructions I pass on to you. Do not let them slip from your mind; keep them forever in your heart. | My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart. |
One day, as Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the Sabbath, his disciples began to pick some heads of grain as they walked along. The Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why are your disciples doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath?” He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the sacred bread that only the priests were permitted to eat, and he shared it with his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” | Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” |
Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your father, and do not run to your brother’s house when troubles befall you; far better is a friend nearby than a brother who is far away. | Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away. |
The Lord said to Moses, “Climb up to me on the mountain and remain there. I will give you stone tablets with the laws and commandments that I have written for their instruction.” | Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” |
If a man has recently been married, he is not to go off to battle nor have any other duty laid on him. He will be free to stay at home for one year so that he can bring happiness to the wife whom he has married. | When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. |
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and offered worship and service to the creature rather than to the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural practices. Likewise, men gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameful acts with men and received in their own persons the fitting penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since these people did not see fit to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their depraved way of thinking and to all types of vile behavior. | Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting. |
Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly, as if you were doing it for the Lord and not for others, since you know that you will receive from the Lord an inheritance as your reward for you are serving the Lord Christ. | And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. |
Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was made visible in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory. | And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory. |
And not only that, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we realize that suffering develops perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. | And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. |
Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds, so that you will be able to discern the will of God and to know what is good and acceptable and perfect. | And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. |
Brethren, if anyone is detected committing a transgression, you who are spiritual must set him right in a spirit of gentleness. Meanwhile, you should take care so that you yourselves are not tempted. | Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. |
I ask that from the riches of his glory he may grant through his Spirit that you be strengthened with power in your inner being and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. | That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love. |
But from the very beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh.’ And so they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. | But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. |
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to distribute among the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Then they gathered up what was left over—twelve baskets of fragments. | Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them. |
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and whose hope is the Lord. They will be like a tree planted by the water that spreads out its roots to the stream. When the heat comes, it does not fear; its leaves stay green. It is not concerned in a year of drought, and it never fails to bear fruit. | Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit. |
He replied, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said: ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh’? And so they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” | And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” |
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, about whose coming you have been told, and that it is already in the world. | By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. |