| Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. | Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. |
| Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. | Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children. |
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| Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children. | Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. |
| I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. | Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. |
| As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. | The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. |
| I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. | I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth. |
| The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. | For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. |
| Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. | Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. |
| Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. | God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. |
| For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. | For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. |
| For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live 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! |
| Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” | But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” |
| Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. | But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. |
| Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. | Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. |
| For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. | For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. |
| You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. | But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. |
| And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him 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. |
| Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just 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. |
| But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! | Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. |
| There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. | No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. |
| If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! | So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. |
| But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. | But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments! |
| “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” | “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.” |
| Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. | Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life. |
| 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. | See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. |
