Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. | Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. |
So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. | So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. |
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So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. | Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another. |
Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. | O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! |
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” | Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. |
So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. | So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. |
The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ | His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ |
Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. | If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. |
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. | Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. |
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. | Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. |
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. | Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. |
So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. | Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs. |
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. | Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. |
Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. | So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith. |
Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. | Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God. |
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. | And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. |
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” | Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” |
So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. | Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God, instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. |