| We have come to know and to believe in the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him. | And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. |
| Although it was our afflictions that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, we thought of him as stricken, as struck down by God and afflicted. | Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. |
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| But the Almighty we cannot find; he is unequaled in power and judgment, and in his righteousness he will not violate justice. | The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress. |
| Rather, professing truth and love, we will in all things grow into him who is the head, Christ. | Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. |
| So we must not fall asleep as the others do, but we must stay alert and sober. | So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. |
| He was despised and shunned by others, a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering. We loathed him and regarded him as of no account, as one from whom men avert their gaze. | He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. |
| And now, dear children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at his coming. | And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. |
| And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. | The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. |
| Jesus answered him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him.” | Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” |
| Prepare in advance what you want to say, and return to the Lord. Say to him, “Take away all guilt and give us what is good, so that we may present as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.” | Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.” |
| Brethren, we must always give thanks to God for you, and it is only right that we do so. For your faith grows ever more, and the love that all of you have for one another continues to increase. | We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. |
| How great you are, Lord God! There is no one like you, and there is no God except you alone, as everything that we have heard confirms. | How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. |
| He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live in righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. | “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” |
| Now in regard to the eating of meat sacrificed to idols, we know that idols are nothing in the world and that there is only one God. | So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” |
| But he was pierced for our offenses and crushed for our iniquity; the punishment that made us whole fell upon him, and by his bruises we have been healed. | But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. |
| Faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the conviction about things that cannot be seen. | Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. |
| Everyone who seeks a prize submits himself to rigorous self-discipline in every respect. They do so to win a perishable crown, while we seek an imperishable one. | Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. |
| The Lord commanded us to observe all of these statutes and to fear the Lord, our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, even as we are today. | 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. |
| Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercy and the God of all consolation. He consoles us in all our afflictions and thereby enables us to console others in their tribulations, offering them the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. | Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. |
| For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that by perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we may continue to have hope. | For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. |
| He has rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. | For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. |
| After Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of King Herod, wise men traveled from the east and arrived in Jerusalem, inquiring, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw the rising of his star, and we have come to pay him homage.” | After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” |
| But God is rich in his mercy, and because he had such great love for us, he brought us to life with Christ when we were already dead through sin—it is by grace that you have been saved. | But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. |
| To you, O God of my fathers, I offer thanks and praise because you have given me wisdom and power. Now you have made known to me what we asked of you; you have revealed to us the king’s dream. | I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king. |
| All those who keep his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And the proof that he abides in us is the Spirit that he has given us. | The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. |
