Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. | For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. |
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. | Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. |
|
May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. | May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. |
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. |
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. | When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. |
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” | Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the 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 write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. | I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. |
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. | May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. |
These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. | But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. |
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. | Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. |
Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. | Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all. |
For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. | For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. |
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! | Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! |
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. | So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. |
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. | For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. |
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. | Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. |
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. | But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. |
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. | The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. |
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. | For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. |
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. | The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. |
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. | Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. |
Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. | You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. |
As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. | Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. |
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” | This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” |