Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the prophets of that time proclaimed. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Forsake your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they refused to listen or to pay attention to me, says the Lord. | Don’t be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices.’ |
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after he had pronounced the blessing, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take this and eat; this is my body.” | As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” |
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For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more certain it is that, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. | For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. |
Seek the Lord while he still may be found; call to him when he is close at hand. | Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. |
Welcome anyone whose faith is weak, but do not get into arguments about doubts. | Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. |
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth before the bad times come and the years draw near when you will say, “I take no pleasure in them”. | Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” |
Repent, therefore, and be converted so that your sins may be wiped away. | Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. |
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, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. |
Bring the tithes in full into the treasury so that there may be food in my house. Put me thus to the test, says the Lord of hosts, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down blessings upon you without measure. | “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!” |
For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: If you seek me, you will survive. | Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: “Come back to me and live!” |
As a result, you are no longer strangers and foreigners. Rather, you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. | So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. |
I consider that the sufferings we presently endure are not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed in us. | Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. |
So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. | And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. |
For our eyes are fixed not on what is seen but rather on that which cannot be seen. What is visible is transitory; what is invisible is eternal. | So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. |
And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent, Jesus Christ. | And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. |
May the Lord guide your hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ. | May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. |
Can anyone withhold the water of baptism from these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? | Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did? |
And thus we can have confidence in him that if we ask anything that is in accordance with his will, he hears us. | And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. |
I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you should also love one another. | So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. |
Go forth, then. Eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God long ago approved what you do. | So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! |
After he said this, he was lifted up as they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. | After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. |
This is the message that we have heard from him and that we declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness at all in him. | 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. |
Return and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father: I have heard, I have seen your tears. I will heal you today, and the day after tomorrow you will go up to the temple 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.’ |
You intended to do evil to me, but God decided to make it serve a good, to fulfill that which today has come true: to keep alive a numerous people. | You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. |
It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, stand firm and refuse to submit again to the yoke of slavery. | So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. |