| Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. | Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. |
| I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. | I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. |
|
| Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. | You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. |
| So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. | Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. |
| And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. | This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. |
| You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. | You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. |
| Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. | Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. |
| Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. | By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. |
| 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. |
| You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. | And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. |
| For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. | For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. |
| All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. | If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. |
| Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. | You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. |
| 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. |
| I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth. | I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. |
| Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” | Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” |
| For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. | I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. |
| 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!” | 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.” |
| 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. | 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. |
| For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. | For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. |
| Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace! | Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy. |
| There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. | There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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 are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. |
| 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. | 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. |
