| This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. | For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. |
| But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. | But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. |
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| God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? | God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? |
| What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? | What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? |
| One should be kind to a fainting friend, but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty. | Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. |
| We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. | Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. |
| The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? | The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? |
| I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. | No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. |
| Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. | Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. |
| Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. | Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. |
| The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. | The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. |
| The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife. | The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. |
| Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. | Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? |
| The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” | I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. |
| So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. | A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. |
| As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! | I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. |
| And every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. | And every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. |
| So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. | I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. |
| Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. | Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. |
| 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! | But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. |
| But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. | But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” |
| You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. | You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. |
| For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. | To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. |
| Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. | Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. |
| And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do. | I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. |
