| And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. | And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. |
| Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. | Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. |
| God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. | God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. |
| The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. | For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. |
| I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. | I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. |
| If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. | If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. |
| Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. | Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! |
| You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. | Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. |
| I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. | I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. |
| However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. | But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven. |
| In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.” | In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is!” |
| 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. | 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. |
| And every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. | And every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. |
| Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! | Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever. |
| I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love. | I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. |
| And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. | You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. |
| Do not judge, or you too will be judged. | Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. |
| If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. | All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. |
| And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. | And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! |
| By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. | Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. |
| My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. | I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. |
| This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. | And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. |
| This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. | This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. |
| See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. | See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. |
| This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. | God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. |
Bible verse of the day
The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;the righteous run to it and are safe.