| But from the very beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh.’ And so they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. | But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. |
| By these he has given us his precious promises, great beyond all price, so that through them you may escape from the corruption with which evil desires have infected the world and thereby may come to share in the divine nature. | 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. |
| Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, and ardor is as relentless as the netherworld. Its flames are flashes of fire, an unending blaze. | Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. |
| The Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God. | The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. |
| Every word you utter is true, and all your righteous judgments are everlasting. | All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. |
| He gave himself for us in order to deliver us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people as his own who are eager to do good. | Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. |
| Take heed to follow the commandments and the laws that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you: to love the Lord, your God, and to walk in his ways and to observe his commandments, holding fast to him and serving him with all your heart and all your soul. | But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. |
| Amen, amen, I say to you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and indeed will do even greater ones than these, because I am going to 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. |
| One who forgives a misdeed fosters friendship, but he who divulges it separates good friends. | Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. |
| You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, am holy. I have chosen you from among all people that you shall be mine. | You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. |
| Then Peter addressed them: “I now understand how true it is that God has no favorites, but that in every nation all those who fear God and do what is right are acceptable to him.” | Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” |
| Indeed, the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. | For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. |
| Our temporary light afflictions are preparing for us an incomparable weight of eternal glory. | For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. |
| This is the day that the Lord has made; let us exult and rejoice in it. | The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. |
| In the same way, even the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs that cannot be put into words. | In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. |
| Let the wicked abandon their ways and those who are evil their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy upon them; and to our God, for he is rich in forgiveness. | Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. |
| After he said this, he was lifted up as they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. | After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. |
| See what love the Father has bestowed on us, enabling us to be called the children of God, and that is what we are. If the world does not recognize us, that is because it did not 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 we will become partners with Christ only if we maintain firmly until the end the confidence we originally had. | We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. |
| Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where he was tempted by the devil. During that time he ate nothing, and at the end of it he was famished. | Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. |
| I intend to prove the holiness of my great name which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. Thus, the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I will display my holiness in their sight. | I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. |
| But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people claimed by God as his own possession,” so that you may proclaim the praise of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. | But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. |
| Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and those who find it are few in number. | Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. |
| Then he sat down, summoned the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he must become the last of all and the servant of all.” | Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” |
| Therefore, take care to live as intelligent people, and do not be like those who are senseless. Make the most of the present time, for this is a wicked age. | Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. |
Bible verse of the day
However, if we confess our sins,he who is faithful and just
will forgive our sins
and cleanse us from all wrongdoing.