| Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. | This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. |
| For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. | For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. |
| I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. | I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions. |
| Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. | Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. |
| I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. | I will never forget your commandments, for by them you give me life. |
| By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. | It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. |
| A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. | A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls. |
| You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. | Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. |
| So that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. | Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other. |
| What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” | Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” |
| For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. | For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. |
| God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. | God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. |
| You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. | Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day. |
| Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. | Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. |
| Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. | So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. |
| I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. | I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. |
| By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. | But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. |
| For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with 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. |
| Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. | Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. |
| When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? | The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! |
| When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. | When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. |
| The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. | The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. |
| Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he. | Who has done such mighty deeds, summoning each new generation from the beginning of time? It is I, the Lord, the First and the Last. I alone am he. |
| Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers. | Hear my prayer, O Lord! Listen to my cries for help! Don’t ignore my tears. For I am your guest— a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me. |
| Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. | And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. |
Related topics
Obedience
Jesus answered him, “If...
Prayer
Rejoice always, pray without...
Law
And these words that...
Faith
Therefore I tell you...
Desires
But I say, walk...
Jesus
Jesus looked at them...