| Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. | Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. |
| If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. | And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. |
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| Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. | We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. |
| Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. | And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! |
| So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. | In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. |
| Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. | And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. |
| Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. | Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. |
| For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. | Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. |
| And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. | But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. |
| Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. | Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you. |
| And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. | All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. |
| And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. | One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?” This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did. |
| And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. | Suppose you sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands. Even if you are unaware of what you have done, you are guilty and will be punished for your sin. |
| We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth. | Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. |
| Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. | Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all. |
| Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. | Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. |
| For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. | “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” |
| Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. | They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. |
| For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. | For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. |
| For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. | “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” |
| So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us. | So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer. |
| In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. | When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. |
| Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. | Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. |
| Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. | So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. |
| I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. | I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. |
