| Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. | All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). |
| You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. | You must not exploit a widow or an orphan. If you exploit them in any way and they cry out to me, then I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless. |
| Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. | My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. |
| And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands. | And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful! |
| So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. | “Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. |
| For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps. | For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. |
| For the Lord is our Judge, The Lord is our Lawgiver, The Lord is our King; He will save us. | For the Lord is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us. |
| My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights. | My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights. |
| But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). | But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) |
| So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. | And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. |
| Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; For You are God, gracious and merciful. | But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are! |
| Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. | Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God. |
| As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. | By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. |
| And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. | And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. |
| 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.” | As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” |
| Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, And the fruitful field is counted as 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. |
| He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He. | He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is! |
| For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. | The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. |
| For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. | Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. |
| And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. | And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. |
| Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. | He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. |
| May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake us. | May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us. |
| Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” | Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.” |
| For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. | For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. |
| Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! 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.” |
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