| Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. | And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. |
| No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. | No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. |
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| What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? | What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? |
| We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him. | We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. |
| When you become aware of your guilt in any of these ways, you must confess your sin. | When anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned. |
| I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! | I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. |
| He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! | He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. |
| The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these. | The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. |
| Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. | And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. |
| And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. | The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. |
| Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. | But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. |
| Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. | Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. |
| But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. | These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. |
| Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise. | Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions. |
| But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. | But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. |
| Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall. | Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them. |
| But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” | Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” |
| Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. | Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. |
| Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did? | Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. |
| They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them. | They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. |
| I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. | I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. |
| And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. | Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. |
| They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus. | They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. |
| I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. | Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. |
| And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. | These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. |
