| God saved us and called us to a life of holiness, not because of our works but according to his own purpose and the grace that has been bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. | For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. |
| For they said to you, “In the final age there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly passions.” It is these people who create divisions, who follow their natural instincts and do not possess the Spirit. | They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them. |
| Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own? You have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. | Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. |
| God created mankind in his image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. | So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. |
| They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my own special possession on the day when I act, and I will have compassion on them as a father has compassion on the son who serves him. | “They will be my people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child.” |
| But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people claimed by God as his own possession,” so that you may proclaim the praise of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. | But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. |
| The upright are guarded by their integrity; the treacherous are destroyed by their own duplicity. | Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people. |
| What right do you have to pass judgment on someone else’s servant? The master will determine whether that servant will stand or fall. But the servant will be upheld, for the Lord has the power to enable him to stand. | Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval. |
| And just as no human being comprehends any person’s innermost being except the person’s own spirit within him, so also no one comprehends what pertains to God except the Spirit of God. | No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. |
| He who guards his mouth makes his life secure, but one who talks excessively ensures his own downfall. | Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything. |
| Now, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession from among all the peoples, for the entire earth is mine. | Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. |
| And whoever does not provide for relatives, especially for those who are living with him, has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. | But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers. |
| Do not wear yourself out in the pursuit of wealth, and cease even to think about it. | Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. |
| You are from your father, the devil, and you choose to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he does not abide by the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks in accord with his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. | For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. |
| Therefore, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God, since those who enter into God’s rest also cease from their own labors as God did from his. | So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. |
| But who am I, and what are your people, that we should be able to do this? All things belong to you, and everything that we have given you is from your hand. | But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! |
| The words of a wise man win favor, but a fool’s tongue is his undoing. | Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words. |
| Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church, the body of which he is the Savior. | For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. |
| And so now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, require of you but to fear the Lord, your God, to walk in all of his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, and to observe the commandments and the statutes that I am giving you today for your own good. | And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. |
| The one who sows in his flesh will reap a harvest of corruption, but the one who sows in the Spirit will reap from the Spirit the reward of eternal life. | Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. |
| God gave the midwives numerous families because they had feared God. | And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. |
| Live in harmony with one another. Do not consider yourself to be better than others, but associate with the lowly, and never be conceited. | Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! |
| It is the will of God that you should lead a life of sanctity. You must refrain from sexual immorality. Each of you must learn to acquire a wife from pure and honorable motives, not to gratify passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. | God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. |
| However, if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you are upright in your dealings with your neighbor; if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed innocent blood in this place; and if you do not follow other gods and thereby cause your own destruction, then I will allow you to live in this place, in the land that I gave as a permanent gift to your fathers long ago. | But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. |
| What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his very life? | And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? |
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Bible verse of the day
A fool spurns his father’s correction,but whoever heeds admonition is prudent.