16 as also in all his (A)epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the (B)rest of the Scriptures.

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11 of whom (A)we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become (B)dull of hearing.

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then he need not honor his father [a]or mother.’ Thus you have made the [b]commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 15:6 NU omits or mother
  2. Matthew 15:6 NU word

14 having eyes full of [a]adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. (A)They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 2:14 Lit. an adulteress

he is (A)a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

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19 (A)whose end is destruction, (B)whose god is their belly, and (C)whose glory is in their shame—(D)who set their mind on earthly things.

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Free from Indwelling Sin

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, (A)who[a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For (B)the law of (C)the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from (D)the law of sin and death. For (E)what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, (F)God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who (G)do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For (H)those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, (I)the things of the Spirit. For (J)to be [b]carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because (K)the [c]carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, (L)nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of (M)Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, (N)He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [d]through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Sonship Through the Spirit

12 (O)Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For (P)if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you (Q)put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For (R)as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For (S)you did not receive the spirit of bondage again (T)to fear, but you received the (U)Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, (V)“Abba,[e] Father.” 16 (W)The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then (X)heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, (Y)if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

From Suffering to Glory

18 For I consider that (Z)the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For (AA)the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For (AB)the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of [f]corruption into the glorious (AC)liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation (AD)groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have (AE)the firstfruits of the Spirit, (AF)even we ourselves groan (AG)within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the (AH)redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but (AI)hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For (AJ)we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but (AK)the Spirit Himself makes intercession [g]for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now (AL)He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints (AM)according to the will of God.

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those (AN)who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom (AO)He foreknew, (AP)He also predestined (AQ)to be conformed to the image of His Son, (AR)that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also (AS)called; whom He called, these He also (AT)justified; and whom He justified, these He also (AU)glorified.

God’s Everlasting Love

31 What then shall we say to these things? (AV)If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 (AW)He who did not spare His own Son, but (AX)delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? (AY)It is God who justifies. 34 (AZ)Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, (BA)who is even at the right hand of God, (BB)who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:

(BC)“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

37 (BD)Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor (BE)principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 8:1 NU omits the rest of v. 1.
  2. Romans 8:6 fleshly
  3. Romans 8:7 fleshly
  4. Romans 8:11 Or because of
  5. Romans 8:15 Lit., in Aram., Father
  6. Romans 8:21 decay
  7. Romans 8:26 NU omits for us

36 And the [a]oracle of the Lord you shall mention no more. For every man’s word will be his oracle, for you have (A)perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 23:36 burden, prophecy

and

(A)“A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.”

(B)They stumble, being disobedient to the word, (C)to which they also were appointed.

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29 Jesus answered and said to them, “You are [a]mistaken, (A)not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 22:29 deceived

Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the (A)wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.

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All day they twist my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.

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For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord [a]God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Footnotes

  1. Jude 1:4 NU omits God

Destructive Doctrines

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be (A)false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.

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(A)having a form of godliness but (B)denying its power. And (C)from such people turn away! For (D)of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able (E)to come to the knowledge of the truth.

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Plea for Purity

Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus (A)that you should abound more and more, (B)just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

For this is (C)the will of God, (D)your sanctification: (E)that you should abstain from sexual immorality; (F)that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, (G)not in passion of lust, (H)like the Gentiles (I)who do not know God;

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The Risen Christ, Faith’s Reality(A)

15 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel (B)which I preached to you, which also you received and (C)in which you stand, (D)by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless (E)you believed in vain.

For (F)I delivered to you first of all that (G)which I also received: that Christ died for our sins (H)according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day (I)according to the Scriptures, (J)and that He was seen by [a]Cephas, then (K)by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have [b]fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then (L)by all the apostles. (M)Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

For I am (N)the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because (O)I persecuted the church of God. 10 But (P)by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, (Q)yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Risen Christ, Our Hope(R)

12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, (S)then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because (T)we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; (U)you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have [c]fallen (V)asleep in Christ have perished. 19 (W)If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

The Last Enemy Destroyed

20 But now (X)Christ is risen from the dead, and has become (Y)the firstfruits of those who have [d]fallen asleep. 21 For (Z)since by man came death, (AA)by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall (AB)be made alive. 23 But (AC)each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers (AD)the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign (AE)till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 (AF)The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27 For (AG)“He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. 28 (AH)Now when all things are made subject to Him, then (AI)the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

Effects of Denying the Resurrection

29 Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead? 30 And (AJ)why do we stand in [e]jeopardy every hour? 31 I affirm, by (AK)the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, (AL)I die daily. 32 If, in the manner of men, (AM)I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, (AN)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

33 Do not be deceived: (AO)“Evil company corrupts good habits.” 34 (AP)Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; (AQ)for some do not have the knowledge of God. (AR)I speak this to your shame.

A Glorious Body

35 But someone will say, (AS)“How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” 36 Foolish one, (AT)what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind [f]of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

40 There are also [g]celestial bodies and [h]terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

42 (AU)So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 (AV)It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, (AW)“The first man Adam became a living being.” (AX)The last Adam became (AY)a life-giving spirit.

46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 (AZ)The first man was of the earth, (BA)made[i] of dust; the second Man is [j]the Lord (BB)from heaven. 48 As was the [k]man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; (BC)and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And (BD)as we have borne the image of the man of dust, (BE)we[l] shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

Our Final Victory

50 Now this I say, brethren, that (BF)flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a [m]mystery: (BG)We shall not all sleep, (BH)but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. (BI)For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and (BJ)this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: (BK)“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “O(BL)[n] Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and (BM)the strength of sin is the law. 57 (BN)But thanks be to God, who gives us (BO)the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 (BP)Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing (BQ)that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 15:5 Peter
  2. 1 Corinthians 15:6 Died
  3. 1 Corinthians 15:18 Died
  4. 1 Corinthians 15:20 Died
  5. 1 Corinthians 15:30 danger
  6. 1 Corinthians 15:39 NU, M omit of flesh
  7. 1 Corinthians 15:40 heavenly
  8. 1 Corinthians 15:40 earthly
  9. 1 Corinthians 15:47 earthy
  10. 1 Corinthians 15:47 NU omits the Lord
  11. 1 Corinthians 15:48 earthy
  12. 1 Corinthians 15:49 M let us also bear
  13. 1 Corinthians 15:51 hidden truth
  14. 1 Corinthians 15:55 NU O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?

He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

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God Judges Ahaziah

Moab (A)rebelled against Israel (B)after the death of Ahab.

Now (C)Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria, and was injured; so he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of (D)Baal-Zebub,[a] the god of (E)Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.” But the [b]angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ Now therefore, thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” So Elijah departed.

And when the messengers returned to [c]him, he said to them, “Why have you come back?”

So they said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and say to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” ’ ”

Then he said to them, “What kind of man was it who came up to meet you and told you these words?”

So they answered him, (F)“A hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist.”

And he said, (G)“It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty men. So he went up to him; and there he was, sitting on the top of a hill. And he spoke to him: “Man of God, the king has said, ‘Come down!’ ”

10 So Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, then (H)let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. 11 Then he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty men.

And he answered and said to him: “Man of God, thus has the king said, ‘Come down quickly!’ ”

12 So Elijah answered and said to them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

13 Again, he sent a third captain of fifty with his fifty men. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and [d]fell on his knees before Elijah, and pleaded with him, and said to him: “Man of God, please let my life and the life of these fifty servants of yours (I)be precious in your sight. 14 Look, fire has come down from heaven and burned up the first two captains of fifties with their fifties. But let my life now be precious in your sight.”

15 And the [e]angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king. 16 Then he said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ”

17 So Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. Because he had no son, (J)Jehoram[f] became king in his place, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

18 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 1:2 Lit. Lord of Flies
  2. 2 Kings 1:3 Or Angel
  3. 2 Kings 1:5 Ahaziah
  4. 2 Kings 1:13 Lit. bowed down
  5. 2 Kings 1:15 Or Angel
  6. 2 Kings 1:17 The son of Ahab king of Israel, 2 Kin. 3:1

Greeting to the Elect Pilgrims

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the [a]pilgrims (A)of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 1:1 sojourners, temporary residents

The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon(A)

10 Now when the (B)queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came (C)to test him with hard questions.

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19 (A)You shall not pervert justice; (B)you shall not [a]show partiality, (C)nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and [b]twists the words of the righteous.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit. regard faces
  2. Deuteronomy 16:19 perverts

(A)“You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.

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(A)You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; (B)nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.

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Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you (A)went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it
He went up to my couch.

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