| They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and offered worship and service to the creature rather than to the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural practices. Likewise, men gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameful acts with men and received in their own persons the fitting penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since these people did not see fit to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their depraved way of thinking and to all types of vile behavior. | They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. |
| But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy for all the people.” | But the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” |
| The proud man’s heart is not upright, but the righteous man will live because of his faith. | Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. |
| Take care, brethren, that none of you will ever have an evil and unbelieving heart that will cause you to forsake the living God. | Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. |
| Consequently, anyone united to Christ is a new creation. The old order has passed away. Behold, all has become new. | This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! |
| Behold, we are now going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised to life. | “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” |
| For our eyes are fixed not on what is seen but rather on that which cannot be seen. What is visible is transitory; what is invisible is eternal. | So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. |
| Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. | So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. |
| Speak out and pronounce righteous judgments; defend the rights of the wretched and the poor. | Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. |
| If someone says, “I love God,” but at the same time hates his brother, he is a liar. For whoever does not love the brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. | If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? |
| Gaze upon the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or store in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of far greater value than they? | Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? |
| There is only one thing I ask of the Lord, just one thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, so that I may enjoy the beauty of the Lord and gaze on his temple. | The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. |
| For as it is written, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has the human heart imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” | That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” |
| Rather, let justice flow like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. | Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. |
| In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it does not have works. | So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. |
| Let your kindness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. | Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. |
| Arise and shine forth, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you. | Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you. |
| However, whoever lives by the truth comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been done in God. | But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. |
| After he said this, he was lifted up as they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. | After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. |
| Jesus said to him, “Go on your way! Your faith has made you well.” Immediately, he received his sight and followed him along the road. | And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road. |
| For since death came into the world through a man, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a man. | So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. |
| Then Peter addressed them: “I now understand how true it is that God has no favorites, but that in every nation all those who fear God and do what is right are acceptable to him.” | Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.” |
| The Lord God said, “Behold, man has become like one of us, for he has knowledge of that which is good and that which is evil. Now, we must prevent him from reaching out and taking the fruit of the tree of life lest he eat it and live forever.” The Lord God cast him out of the Garden of Eden; henceforth he was to labor tilling the soil from which he had come. | Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. |
| Therefore, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials and to hold the wicked for punishment until the Day of Judgment. | So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. |
| Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and whose hope is the Lord. They will be like a tree planted by the water that spreads out its roots to the stream. When the heat comes, it does not fear; its leaves stay green. It is not concerned in a year of drought, and it never fails to bear fruit. | But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. |
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Bible verse of the day
My son, concentrate attentively on my words;pay heed to the instructions I pass on to you.
Do not let them slip from your mind;
keep them forever in your heart.