No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. | Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. |
If the Lord does not build the house, those who construct it labor in vain. If the Lord does not guard the city, those who keep watch over it do so in vain. | Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. |
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Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” | Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” |
Jesus replied, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” | Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” |
And now, brethren, I want to remind you of the gospel I proclaimed to you, which you received and in which you stand firm. Through it you are also being saved, provided that you are holding fast to what I proclaimed to you. If not, then you have believed in vain. | Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. |
Indeed, the Lord God does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets. | Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets. |
I am confident that I will behold the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. | Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. |
Let no one deceive you in any way. That Day cannot come before the final rebellion occurs and the lawless one is revealed, the son of destruction. He is the adversary who sets himself in opposition to, and exalts himself above, every so-called god or object of worship, and who even seats himself in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. | 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. |
What then should we say? That the Law is sinful? Absolutely not! Yet if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known what sin was. I would not have known what covet is if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” | Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” |
In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it does not have works. | So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. |
Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by mutual consent for a specified time so as to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan may not tempt you by taking advantage of your lack of self-control. | Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. |
Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: it is better for you that I depart. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, whereas if I go, I will send him to you. | But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. |
As for me, I do not regard my life as of any value, only that I finish the race and complete the mission that I received from the Lord Jesus—to bear witness to the gospel of God’s grace. | But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. |