To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. | The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices. |
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. | Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. |
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Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. | Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” |
But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord! | But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone. |
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. | And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. |
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. | The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. |
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. | He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. |
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. | This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. |
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. | Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. |
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. | So also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. |
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. | There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. |
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, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. | And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law. |
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. | If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. |
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. | I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. |
Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. | He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. |
Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” | So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. |
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. | For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. |
And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” | They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” |
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? | Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? |
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 serve the living God. | Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. |
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce. | Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. |
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. | When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. |
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. | Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. |
Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. | For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. |
And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” | After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.” |