- Take words with you
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all guilt;
accept that which is good,
and we will offer
the fruit of our lips.” - But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to make this freewill offering? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
- But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Deliverance belongs to the Lord! - Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord! - No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
- And live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
- I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
- And ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one's neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
- I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. - To do righteousness and justice
is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. - Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.”
- So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
- Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
- How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!
- For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.
- I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
- But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.
- To you, O God of my ancestors,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and power,
and have now revealed to me what we asked of you,
for you have revealed to us what the king ordered. - You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
- Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!Next verse!With image