| We love because he first loved us. | We love each other because he loved us first. |
| Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. | We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. |
| What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! | Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! |
| For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. | For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. |
| Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. | Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. |
| Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. | Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. |
| For we walk by faith, not by sight. | For we live by believing and not by seeing. |
| By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. | And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. |
| For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. | For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. |
| And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. | So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved! | Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. |
| And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. | And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame. |
| And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. | And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. |
| For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ | For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ |
| Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. | Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. |
| Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. | Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. |
| Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. | Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. |
| For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. | O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. |
| 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. | 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. |
| For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. | For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! |
| And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. | And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. |
| For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. | Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. |
| 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. | 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. |
| The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. | The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. |
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Bible verse of the day
He only is my rock and my salvation,my fortress; I shall not be shaken.