| To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. | To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. |
| And live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. | And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. |
|
| Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners. | But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. |
| But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord! | But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’ |
| The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. | My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. |
| And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. | He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. |
| 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. | Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. |
| In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. | This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. |
| 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 Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. |
| No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. | Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. |
| For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. | For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. |
| 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. | To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. |
| For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. | For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. |
| He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. | Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. |
| 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 then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” |
| For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. | For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. |
| They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” | They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. |
| O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch. | In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. |
| He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? | He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? |
| 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! | How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! |
| Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce. | Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops. |
| For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. | You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. |
| 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. | Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. |
| Just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. | Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. |
| And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” | In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” |
