| 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. | While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. |
| Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of your name. Save us and forgive our sins for the honor of your name. | Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake. |
|
| Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. | You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. |
| You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver. | For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. |
| Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. | And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. |
| For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. | For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. |
| All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation. | Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. |
| This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. | This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. |
| Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness. | Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. |
| We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. | Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. |
| No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. | No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. |
| Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? | He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? |
| The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise. | The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him. |
| For the Lord is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us. | For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us. |
| For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! | For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. |
| “They will be my people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child.” | “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.” |
| Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God. | Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. |
| We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. | This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. |
| For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. | He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. |
| For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful. If you return to him, he will not continue to turn his face from you. | For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him. |
| My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart. | My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart. |
| My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. | My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. |
| He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. | As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. |
| Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. | Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! |
| For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. | For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. |
