The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. | May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people. |
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. | My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. |
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I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? | I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. |
And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. | And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law. |
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? | Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? |
With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless. | To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity. |
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. | Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. |
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. | May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. |
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! | Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my plea! Answer me because you are faithful and righteous. |
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. | May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. |
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” | Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.” |
But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” | Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” |
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. | Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. |
The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. | The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you. |
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. | For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. |
But godliness with contentment is great gain. | Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. |
You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. | Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me. |
Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? | Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? |
For nothing will be impossible with God. | For the word of God will never fail. |
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. | Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! |
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. | In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. |
But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. | But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. |
And behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” | And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” |
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. | Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. |
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. | Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. |