| The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. | For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. |
| The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. | The very essence of your words is truth; all your just regulations will stand forever. |
| Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are 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. |
| Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. | I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. |
| Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. | Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. |
| You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. | You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. |
| For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? | And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? |
| So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is 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.” |
| For the word of the cross is folly 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 this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. | 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! |
| This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. | This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. |
| 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. |
| Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. | Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. |
| And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. | After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. |
| See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. | See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. |
| To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles. | But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike. |
| For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. | For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. |
| And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. | Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. |
| And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. | I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord. |
| But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. | But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. |
| Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. | You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. |
| And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” | He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” |
| And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. | Soon I will die, going the way of everything on earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed! |
| Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. | So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. |
| But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. | But ‘God made them male and female’ from the beginning of creation. ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together. |
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