| Until a spirit from on high is poured out upon us, and the wilderness becomes an orchard and the fruitful field becomes a forest. | Until at last the Spirit is poured out on us from heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. |
| The second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ | A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ |
| Remain sober and alert, for your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. | Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. |
| I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you should also love one another. | So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. |
| And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. | And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. |
| Thereupon the Lord restored the prosperity of Job after he had prayed for his friends, and he enriched him with twice as much as he had possessed before. | When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! |
| Hence, be imitators of God, as beloved children. | Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. |
| Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly, as if you were doing it for the Lord and not for others, since you know that you will receive from the Lord an inheritance as your reward for you are serving the Lord Christ. | Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. |
| 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.” | Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” |
| Each person should give as much as he has decided in his heart, not with reluctance or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. | You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” |
| 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. | So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. |
| For the entire Law can be summed up in a single commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” | For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” |
| However, if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you are upright in your dealings with your neighbor; if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed innocent blood in this place; and if you do not follow other gods and thereby cause your own destruction, then I will allow you to live in this place, in the land that I gave as a permanent gift to your fathers long ago. | But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. |
| For just as in one body we have many parts, and the parts do not all have the same function, so we, though many, make up one body in Christ, and individually we are all parts of one another. | Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. |
| Therefore, strive to be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. | But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. |
| The brother who is in modest circumstances should take pride in being raised up. Likewise, the one who is rich should glory in being brought low, for he will disappear like a flower of the field. | Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. |
| Nor should you present any part of your body as an instrument for wickedness leading to sin. Rather, present yourselves to God as having been raised from death to life and the parts of your body to God as instruments for righteousness. | Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. |
| This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. | This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. |
| After he said this, he was lifted up as they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. | After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. |
| There is one body and one Spirit, as well as one hope to which you have been called by your vocation. | For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. |
| Just as in Adam all die, so all will be brought to life in Christ. | Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. |
| And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. | And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. |
| I then heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me!” | Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” |
| 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— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. |
| But he is to ask with faith, without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. | But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. |
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