I do not say this because I have been in need, for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. | Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. |
Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” | Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.” |
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This is the Lord’s message to Zerubbabel: Not by force, nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. | This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. |
What I commanded them was this: Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. If you follow all the ways that I command you, then you will prosper. | This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’ |
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” | On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!” |
He said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not realize that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not into the heart but into the stomach and is discharged into the sewer?” Thus, he pronounced all foods clean. | “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) |
He is not here. He has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee: that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified and rise again on the third day. | He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day. |
To him all the Prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name. | He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name. |
Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the prophets of that time proclaimed. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Forsake your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they refused to listen or to pay attention to me, says the Lord. | Don’t be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices.’ |
And the one who searches hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. | And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. |
All this took place in order to fulfill what the Lord had announced through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” a name that means “God is with us.” | All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” |
“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and every other commandment are all summed up in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” | For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” |
The crowds that preceded him and those that followed kept shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” | Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!” |
While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud cast a shadow over them. Then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.” | But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” |
Woe to anyone who rises up against his Maker, or to the pot that is displeased with the potter. Does the clay say to the one who molds it, “What are you doing? Your work makes no sense.” | What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’ |
Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render fair judgments, and show kindness and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor. Do not plot evil in your heart against one another. | This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other. |
After John had baptized all the people, and while Jesus was engaged in prayer after also having been baptized, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.” | One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” |
One day, as Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the Sabbath, his disciples began to pick some heads of grain as they walked along. The Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why are your disciples doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath?” He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the sacred bread that only the priests were permitted to eat, and he shared it with his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” | One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” |
On one Sabbath as Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, a woman was present, possessed by a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and completely unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then he laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue was indignant because Jesus had effected a cure on the Sabbath, and he said to the assembled people, “There are six days when work is permitted. Come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath.” The Lord said to him in reply, “You hypocrites! Is there a single one of you who does not untie his ox or his donkey and lead it from its stall to give it water on the Sabbath? Should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has held bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath?” At these words, all his adversaries were put to shame, and the people rejoiced at all the wonderful things he was doing. | 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. |