| And God said, “Let us make man in our image and likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the wild animals and reptiles that crawl upon the earth.” | Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” |
| Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and undefiled is this: to come to the aid of orphans and widows in their hardships and to keep oneself untarnished by the world. | Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. |
|
| For they said to you, “In the final age there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly passions.” It is these people who create divisions, who follow their natural instincts and do not possess the Spirit. | They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. |
| For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out. If we have food and clothing, let us be content with these. | For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. |
| Therefore, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God, since those who enter into God’s rest also cease from their own labors as God did from his. | There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. |
| I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah | I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. |
| Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will have their fill. | Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. |
| Jesus then said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” | Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” |
| You have heard that it was said of old: ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that anyone who looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart. | You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. |
| Seek peace with everyone, as well as the holiness without which no one will ever see the Lord. | Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. |
| Hence, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. | Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. |
| Nor would someone light a lamp and then put it under a basket; rather, it is placed upon a lampstand so that it may afford light to all in the house. In the same way, your light must shine so that it can be seen by others; this will enable them to observe your good works and give praise to your Father in heaven. | Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. |
| Make sure that no one pays back evil for evil. Rather, always aim to achieve what is best for each other and for everyone. | Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. |
| This is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ | This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ |
| The love of money is the root of all evils, and in their desire for it some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many serious wounds. | For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. |
| But who am I, and what are your people, that we should be able to do this? All things belong to you, and everything that we have given you is from your hand. | But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. |
| When the command is given, at the sound of the archangel’s voice and the call of God’s trumpet, the Lord himself will descend from heaven, and those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise. Then those of us who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them on clouds in the air to meet the Lord. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. | For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. |
| But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and indeed to the farthest ends of the earth. | But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. |
