| This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. | For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. |
| This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. | This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. |
|
| 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. | For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. |
| For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. | To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. |
| So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me.” | Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. |
| You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. | Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. |
| Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. | Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. |
| And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.” | And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. |
| But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared. | And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. |
| 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. | Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. |
| Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. | Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. |
| I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. | He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? |
| So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. | So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. |
| The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. | He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. |
| All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” | Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. |
| Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. | Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. |
| Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. | Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. |
| From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” | From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. |
| This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. | This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. |
| I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. | And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house. |
| The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. | The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. |
| But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike. | Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. |
