Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life. | In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after 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. | In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. |
|
Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. | Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. |
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. | Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. |
That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. | Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. |
Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. | For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. |
And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. | And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. |
Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. | Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. |
See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. | See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. |
And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! | And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. |
Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? | Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? |
Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. | Judge not, that you be not judged. |
Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world. | Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! |
Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. | For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. |
Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. | Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. |
I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. | Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. |
Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. | And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. |
Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. | So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. |
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. | That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love. |
I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. | Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. |
Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment. | Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation. |
‘I am the Lord your God,’ I told them. ‘Follow my decrees, pay attention to my regulations, and keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the Lord your God.’ | I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. |
And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshiped. | And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one. |
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. | For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. |
God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. | If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. |