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.” |
It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave. | But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. |
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Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. | Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. |
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” | Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.” |
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. | If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. |
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” | Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” |
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. | You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. |
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” | Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” |
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. | If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. |
But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. | But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. |
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. | If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. |
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. | The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. |
If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. | Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. |
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? | But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? |
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. | And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. |
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. | The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. |
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. |
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. | For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. |
The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. | Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing. |
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. | The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. |