| Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. | Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. |
| Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Savior. | Slaves must always obey their masters and do their best to please them. They must not talk back or steal, but must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way. |
| Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other. | Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others. |
| But those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life. | But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life. |
| So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. | So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. |
| So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. | And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. |
| If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him. | If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him! |
| How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath. | And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath. |
| Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? | Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did? |
| What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! | Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! |
| Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. | Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. |
| How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? | If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? |
| But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. | But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. |
| Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” | So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. |
| Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. | Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood— may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen. |
| God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. | God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. |
| Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. | Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses. |
| Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. | Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. |
| And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him 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. |
| For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. | Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. |
| What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? | Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? |
| Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path. | Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go. |
| Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. | Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. |
| Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. | Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. |
| What then should 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. 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.” |
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Bible verse of the day
All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means, “God is with us.”