| For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. | That is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, and they devote themselves to this service. |
| Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. | After he said this, he was lifted up as they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. |
| If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity. | When someone sins and does any of the things that the Lord has forbidden, even if he does not realize he did it, he has still committed an offense and must bear his guilt. |
| These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. | I have told you this so that in me you may be in peace. In the world you will endure suffering. But take courage! I have overcome the world. |
| And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. | Take no part in the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather seek to expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of what deeds people do in secret. |
| And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. | Whatever you ask for in faith-filled prayer, you will receive. |
| Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven. | When you fix your gaze upon it, it is gone before you realize it. For it suddenly sprouts wings and flies up to the sky like an eagle. |
| The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. | The heart is more deceitful than any other thing, and it is also perverse. Who can uncover its secrets? I, the Lord, search the heart and probe the mind to reward all according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve. |
| For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. | And just as no human being comprehends any person’s innermost being except the person’s own spirit within him, so also no one comprehends what pertains to God except the Spirit of God. |
| For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. | Ever since the creation of the world the invisible attributes of God’s eternal power and divine nature have been clearly understood and perceived through the things he has made. Therefore, the conduct of these people is inexcusable. |
| Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life. | Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may show yourselves blameless and beyond reproach, children of God without spot in the midst of an evil and depraved generation, among which you shine like lights in the world as you hold fast tenaciously to the word of life. |
| Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. | Therefore, brethren, be diligent in providing a firm foundation for your call and election. If you do this, you will never stumble, and you will receive a glorious welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. |
| Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. | Wait quietly for the Lord and be patient until he comes. Do not fret over the man who prospers because of his evil schemes. |
| But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. | But as for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and therefore you do not need anyone to teach you. This same anointing teaches you everything and is true and not false, so abide in him just as he taught you. |
| Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. | For you are aware that you were ransomed from your futile way of life inherited from your ancestors not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. |
| Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. | Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. |
| But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” | After he had decided to follow this course of action, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to receive Mary into your home as your wife. For this child has been conceived in her womb through the Holy Spirit.” |
| Let all that you do be done with love. | Everything that you do should be done in love. |
| Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. | Test everything, and hold fast to what is good. Avoid every form of evil. |
| Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. | Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you previously, that no one who does such things will inherit the kingdom of God. |
| Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. | He is the reflection of God’s glory and the perfect expression of his very being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Achieving purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high. |
| Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. | And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as they had been told. |
| And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. | And God is able to enrich you with an abundance of every grace, so that, with all of your needs provided for, you may be able to produce a surplus of good works. |
| So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. | Therefore, do not allow anyone to pass judgment on you in regard to what you eat or drink, or about the observance of Festivals, New Moons, or Sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come. The reality is Christ. |
| For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. | While physical training has some value, the benefits of godliness are unlimited, since it holds out promise not only for this life but also for the life to come. |
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Bible verse of the day
Behold the proud,His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith.