Hos.3.1

Then GOD ordered me, "Start all over: Love your wife again, your wife who's in bed with her latest boyfriend, your cheating wife. Love her the way I, GOD, love the Israelite people, even as they flirt and party with every god that takes their fancy."

Hos.3.1

The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes."

Hos.3.1

Then the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the LORD for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans."

Hos.3.1

Then the LORD said to me, "Go and get your wife again. Bring her back to you and love her, even though she loves adultery. For the LORD still loves Israel even though the people have turned to other gods, offering them choice gifts. "

Hos.3.2

I did it. I paid good money to get her back. It cost me the price of a slave.

Hos.3.2

So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.

Hos.3.2

So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley.

Hos.3.2

So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and about five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.

Hos.3.3

Then I told her, "From now on you're living with me. No more whoring, no more sleeping around. You're living with me and I'm living with you." [JC]

Hos.3.3

Then I told her, "You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you."

Hos.3.3

And I said to her, "You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man--so, too, will I be toward you."

Hos.3.3

Then I said to her, "You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual intercourse with anyone, not even with me. "

Hos.3.4

The people of Israel are going to live a long time stripped of security and protection, without religion and comfort, godless and prayerless.

Hos.3.4

For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol.

Hos.3.4

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.

Hos.3.4

This illustrates that Israel will be a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, temple, priests, or even idols!

Hos.3.5

But in time they'll come back, these Israelites, come back looking for their GOD and their David-King. They'll come back chastened to reverence before GOD and his good gifts, ready for the End of the story of his love.

Hos.3.5

Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.

Hos.3.5

Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.

Hos.3.5

But afterward the people will return to the LORD their God and to David's descendant, their king. They will come trembling in awe to the LORD, and they will receive his good gifts in the last days.

Hos.4.1

Attention all Israelites! GOD's Message! GOD indicts the whole population: "No one is faithful. No one loves. No one knows the first thing about God.

Hos.4.1

Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: "There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.

Hos.4.1

Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.

Hos.4.1

Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel! The LORD has filed a lawsuit against you, saying: "There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.

Hos.4.2

All this cussing and lying and killing, theft and loose sex, sheer anarchy, one murder after another!

Hos.4.2

There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

Hos.4.2

By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed.

Hos.4.2

You curse and lie and kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere, with one murder after another.

Hos.4.3

And because of all this, the very land itself weeps and everything in it is grief-stricken--animals in the fields and birds on the wing, even the fish in the sea are listless, lifeless. [JC]

Hos.4.3

Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.

Hos.4.3

Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away With the beasts of the field And the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

Hos.4.3

That is why your land is not producing. It is filled with sadness, and all living things are becoming sick and dying. Even the animals, birds, and fish have begun to disappear.

Hos.4.4

"But don't look for someone to blame. No finger pointing! You, priest, are the one in the dock.

Hos.4.4

"But let no man bring a charge, let no man accuse another, for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest.

Hos.4.4

"Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; For your people are like those who contend with the priest.

Hos.4.4

"Don't point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! Look, you priests, my complaint is with you!

Hos.4.5

You stumble around in broad daylight, And then the prophets take over and stumble all night. Your mother is as bad as you.

Hos.4.5

You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother-

Hos.4.5

Therefore you shall stumble in the day; The prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; And I will destroy your mother.

Hos.4.5

As a sentence for your crimes, you will stumble in broad daylight, just as you might at night, and so will your false prophets. And I will destroy your mother, Israel.

Hos.4.6

My people are ruined because they don't know what's right or true. Because you've turned your back on knowledge, I've turned my back on you priests. Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God, I'm no longer recognizing your children.

Hos.4.6

my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.

Hos.4.6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Hos.4.6

My people are being destroyed because they don't know me. It is all your fault, you priests, for you yourselves refuse to know me. Now I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.

Hos.4.7

The more priests, the more sin. They traded in their glory for shame.

Hos.4.7

The more the priests increased, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their Glory for something disgraceful.

Hos.4.7

"The more they increased, The more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.

Hos.4.7

The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the disgrace of idols.

Hos.4.8

They pig out on my people's sins. They can't wait for the latest in evil.

Hos.4.8

They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness.

Hos.4.8

They eat up the sin of My people; They set their heart on their iniquity.

Hos.4.8

"The priests get fed when the people sin and bring their sin offerings to them. So the priests are glad when the people sin!

Hos.4.9

The result: You can't tell the people from the priests, the priests from the people. I'm on my way to make them both pay and take the consequences of the bad lives they've lived.

Hos.4.9

And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

Hos.4.9

And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways, And reward them for their deeds.

Hos.4.9

`Like priests, like people'--since the priests are wicked, the people are wicked, too. So now I will punish both priests and people for all their wicked deeds.

Hos.4.10

They'll eat and be as hungry as ever, have sex and get no satisfaction. They walked out on me, their GOD, for a life of rutting with whores.

Hos.4.10

"They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution but not increase, because they have deserted the LORD to give themselves

Hos.4.10

For they shall eat, but not have enough; They shall commit harlotry, but not increase; Because they have ceased obeying the LORD.

Hos.4.10

They will eat and still be hungry. Though they do a big business as prostitutes, they will have no children, for they have deserted the LORD to worship other gods.

Hos.4.11

"Wine and whiskey leave my people in a stupor.

Hos.4.11

to prostitution, to old wine and new, which take away the understanding

Hos.4.11

"Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart.

Hos.4.11

"Alcohol and prostitution have robbed my people of their brains.

Hos.4.12

They ask questions of a dead tree, expect answers from a sturdy walking stick. Drunk on sex, they can't find their way home. They've replaced their God with their genitals.

Hos.4.12

of my people. They consult a wooden idol and are answered by a stick of wood. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.

Hos.4.12

My people ask counsel from their wooden idols, And their staff informs them. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to stray, And they have played the harlot against their God.

Hos.4.12

They are asking a piece of wood to tell them what to do! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God.

Hos.4.13

They worship on the tops of mountains, make a picnic out of religion. Under the oaks and elms on the hills they stretch out and take it easy. Before you know it, your daughters are whores and the wives of your sons are sleeping around.

Hos.4.13

They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.

Hos.4.13

They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops, And burn incense on the hills, Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths, Because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit harlotry, And your brides commit adultery.

Hos.4.13

They offer sacrifices to idols on the tops of mountains. They go up into the hills to burn incense in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and other trees. "That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

Hos.4.14

But I'm not going after your whoring daughters or the adulterous wives of your sons. It's the men who pick up the whores that I'm after, the men who worship at the holy whorehouses--a stupid people, ruined by whores! [JC]

Hos.4.14

"I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes- a people without understanding will come to ruin!

Hos.4.14

"I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, Nor your brides when they commit adultery; For the men themselves go apart with harlots, And offer sacrifices with a ritual harlot. Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.

Hos.4.14

Why should I punish them? For you men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes. O foolish people! You will be destroyed, for you refuse to understand.

Hos.4.15

"You've ruined your own life, Israel--but don't drag Judah down with you! Don't go to the sex shrine at Gilgal, don't go to that sin city Bethel, Don't go around saying "GOD bless you' and not mean it, taking God's name in vain.

Hos.4.15

"Though you commit adultery, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. "Do not go to Gilgal; do not go up to Beth Aven. And do not swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives!'

Hos.4.15

"Though you, Israel, play the harlot, Let not Judah offend. Do not come up to Gilgal, Nor go up to Beth Aven, Nor swear an oath, saying, "As the LORD lives'--

Hos.4.15

"Though Israel is a prostitute, may Judah avoid such guilt. O Judah, do not join with those who worship me insincerely at Gilgal and at Beth-aven. Their worship is mere pretense as they take oaths in the LORD's name.

Hos.4.16

Israel is stubborn as a mule. How can GOD lead him like a lamb to open pasture?

Hos.4.16

The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the LORD pasture them like lambs in a meadow?

Hos.4.16

"For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf; Now the LORD will let them forage Like a lamb in open country.

Hos.4.16

Israel is as stubborn as a heifer, so the LORD will put her out to pasture. She will stand alone and unprotected, like a helpless lamb in an open field.

Hos.4.17

Ephraim is addicted to idols. Let him go.

Hos.4.17

Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!

Hos.4.17

"Ephraim is joined to idols, Let him alone.

Hos.4.17

Leave her alone because she is married to idolatry.

Hos.4.18

When the beer runs out, it's sex, sex, and more sex. Bold and sordid debauchery--how they love it!

Hos.4.18

Even when their drinks are gone, they continue their prostitution; their rulers dearly love shameful ways.

Hos.4.18

Their drink is rebellion, They commit harlotry continually. Her rulers dearly love dishonor.

Hos.4.18

The men of Israel finish up their drinking bouts and off they go to find some prostitutes. Their love for shame is greater than their love for honor.

Hos.4.19

The whirlwind has them in its clutches. Their sex-worship leaves them finally impotent.

Hos.4.19

A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

Hos.4.19

The wind has wrapped her up in its wings, And they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Hos.4.19

So a mighty wind will sweep them away. They will die in shame because they offer sacrifices to idols.

Hos.5.1

"Listen to this, priests! Attention, people of Israel! Royal family--all ears! You're in charge of justice around here. But what have you done? Exploited people at Mizpah, ripped them off on Tabor,

Hos.5.1

"Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, O royal house! This judgment is against you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.

Hos.5.1

"Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O house of the king! For yours is the judgment, Because you have been a snare to Mizpah And a net spread on Tabor.

Hos.5.1

"Hear this, you priests and all of Israel's leaders! Listen, all you men of the royal family! These words of judgment are for you: You are doomed! For you have led the people into a snare by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor.

Hos.5.2

Victimized them at Shittim. I'm going to punish the lot of you.

Hos.5.2

The rebels are deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them.

Hos.5.2

The revolters are deeply involved in slaughter, Though I rebuke them all.

Hos.5.2

You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia. But never forget--I will settle with all of you for what you have done.

Hos.5.3

"I know you, Ephraim, inside and out. Yes, Israel, I see right through you! Ephraim, you've played your sex-and-religion games long enough. All Israel is thoroughly polluted.

Hos.5.3

I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt.

Hos.5.3

I know Ephraim, And Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled.

Hos.5.3

I know what you are like, O Israel! You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled.

Hos.5.4

They couldn't turn to God if they wanted to. Their evil life is a bad habit. Every breath they take is a whore's breath. They wouldn't recognize GOD if they saw me.

Hos.5.4

"Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the LORD.

Hos.5.4

"They do not direct their deeds Toward turning to their God, For the spirit of harlotry is in their midst, And they do not know the LORD.

Hos.5.4

Your deeds won't let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you cannot know the LORD.

Hos.5.5

"Bloated by arrogance, big as a house, they're a public disgrace, The lot of them--Israel, Ephraim, Judah--lurching and weaving down their guilty streets.

Hos.5.5

Israel's arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them.

Hos.5.5

The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them.

Hos.5.5

"The arrogance of Israel testifies against her; she will stumble under her load of guilt. Judah, too, will fall with her.

Hos.5.6

When they decide to get their lives together and go off looking for GOD once again, They'll find it's too late. I, GOD, will be long gone.

Hos.5.6

When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.

Hos.5.6

"With their flocks and herds They shall go to seek the LORD, But they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them.

Hos.5.6

Then at last, they will come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the LORD. But it will be too late! They will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them, and they are now alone.

Hos.5.7

They've played fast and loose with me for too long, filling the country with their bastard offspring. A plague of locusts will devastate their violated land.

Hos.5.7

They are unfaithful to the LORD; they give birth to illegitimate children. Now their New Moon festivals will devour them and their fields.

Hos.5.7

They have dealt treacherously with the LORD, For they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage.

Hos.5.7

For they have betrayed the honor of the LORD, bearing children that aren't his. Now their false religion will devour them, along with their wealth.

Hos.5.8

"Blow the ram's horn shofar in Gibeah, the bugle in Ramah! Signal the invasion of Sin City! Scare the daylights out of Benjamin!

Hos.5.8

"Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, O Benjamin.

Hos.5.8

"Blow the ram's horn in Gibeah, The trumpet in Ramah! Cry aloud at Beth Aven, "Look behind you, O Benjamin!'

Hos.5.8

"Blow the ram's horn in Gibeah! Sound the alarm in Ramah! Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven! Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin!

Hos.5.9

Ephraim will be left wasted, a lifeless moonscape. I'm telling it straight, the unvarnished truth, to the tribes of Israel.

Hos.5.9

Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain.

Hos.5.9

Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I make known what is sure.

Hos.5.9

One thing is certain, Israel: When your day of punishment comes, you will become a heap of rubble.

Hos.5.10

"Israel's rulers are crooks and thieves, cheating the people of their land, And I'm angry, good and angry. Every inch of their bodies is going to feel my anger.

Hos.5.10

Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water.

Hos.5.10

"The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out My wrath on them like water.

Hos.5.10

"The leaders of Judah have become as bad as thieves. So I will pour my anger down on them like a waterfall.

Hos.5.11

"Brutal Ephraim is himself brutalized--a taste of his own medicine! He was so determined to do it his own worthless way.

Hos.5.11

Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols.

Hos.5.11

Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, Because he willingly walked by human precept.

Hos.5.11

The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment because they are determined to worship idols.

Hos.5.12

Therefore I'm pus to Ephraim, dry rot in the house of Judah.

Hos.5.12

I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah.

Hos.5.12

Therefore I will be to Ephraim like a moth, And to the house of Judah like rottenness.

Hos.5.12

I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will sap Judah's strength as dry rot weakens wood.

Hos.5.13

"When Ephraim saw he was sick and Judah saw his pus-filled sores, Ephraim went running to Assyria, went for help to the big king. But he can't heal you. He can't cure your oozing sores.

Hos.5.13

"When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores.

Hos.5.13

"When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah saw his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb; Yet he cannot cure you, Nor heal you of your wound.

Hos.5.13

"When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were, Israel turned to Assyria, to the great king there, but he could neither help nor cure them.

Hos.5.14

"I'm a grizzly charging Ephraim, a grizzly with cubs charging Judah. I'll rip them to pieces--yes, I will! No one can stop me now. I'll drag them off. No one can help them.

Hos.5.14

For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them.

Hos.5.14

For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue.

Hos.5.14

I will tear at Israel and Judah as a lion rips apart its prey. I will carry them off, and there will be no one left to rescue them.

Hos.5.15

Then I'll go back to where I came from until they come to their senses. When they finally hit rock bottom, maybe they'll come looking for me."

Hos.5.15

Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me."

Hos.5.15

I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."

Hos.5.15

Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and look to me for help. For as soon as trouble comes, they will search for me."

Rom.6.15

Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do.

Rom.6.15

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

Rom.6.15

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

Rom.6.15

So since God's grace has set us free from the law, does this mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!

Rom.6.16

But thank God you've started listening to a new master,

Rom.6.16

Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Rom.6.16

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

Rom.6.16

Don't you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.

Rom.6.17

one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!

Rom.6.17

But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

Rom.6.17

But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

Rom.6.17

Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you have obeyed with all your heart the new teaching God has given you.

Rom.6.18

I'm using this freedom language because it's easy to picture. You can readily recall, can't you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing--not caring about others, not caring about God--the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God's freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?

Rom.6.18

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Rom.6.18

And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Rom.6.18

Now you are free from sin, your old master, and you have become slaves to your new master, righteousness.

Rom.6.19

As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter.

Rom.6.19

I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

Rom.6.19

I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

Rom.6.19

I speak this way, using the illustration of slaves and masters, because it is easy to understand. Before, you let yourselves be slaves of impurity and lawlessness. Now you must choose to be slaves of righteousness so that you will become holy.

Rom.6.20

But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.

Rom.6.20

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.

Rom.6.20

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Rom.6.20

In those days, when you were slaves of sin, you weren't concerned with doing what was right.

Rom.6.21

But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!

Rom.6.21

What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!

Rom.6.21

What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

Rom.6.21

And what was the result? It was not good, since now you are ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.

Rom.6.22

Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.

Rom.6.22

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

Rom.6.22

But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

Rom.6.22

But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.

Rom.6.23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom.6.23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom.6.23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom.6.23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom.7.1

You shouldn't have any trouble understanding this, friends, for you know all the ins and outs of the law--how it works and how its power touches only the living.

Rom.7.1

Do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to men who know the law--that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?

Rom.7.1

Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?

Rom.7.1

Now, dear brothers and sisters--you who are familiar with the law--don't you know that the law applies only to a person who is still living?

Rom.7.2

For instance, a wife is legally tied to her husband while he lives, but if he dies, she's free.

Rom.7.2

For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.

Rom.7.2

For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.

Rom.7.2

Let me illustrate. When a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her.

Rom.7.3

If she lives with another man while her husband is living, she's obviously an adulteress. But if he dies, she is quite free to marry another man in good conscience, with no one's disapproval.

Rom.7.3

So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.

Rom.7.3

So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

Rom.7.3

So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.

Rom.7.4

So, my friends, this is something like what has taken place with you. When Christ died he took that entire rule-dominated way of life down with him and left it in the tomb, leaving you free to "marry" a resurrection life and bear "offspring" of faith for God.

Rom.7.4

So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

Rom.7.4

Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another--to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.

Rom.7.4

So this is the point: The law no longer holds you in its power, because you died to its power when you died with Christ on the cross. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, you can produce good fruit, that is, good deeds for God.

Rom.7.5

For as long as we lived that old way of life, doing whatever we felt we could get away with, sin was calling most of the shots as the old law code hemmed us in. And this made us all the more rebellious. In the end, all we had to show for it was miscarriages and stillbirths.

Rom.7.5

For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.

Rom.7.5

For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.

Rom.7.5

When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced sinful deeds, resulting in death.

Rom.7.6

But now that we're no longer shackled to that domineering mate of sin, and out from under all those oppressive regulations and fine print, we're free to live a new life in the freedom of God.

Rom.7.6

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Rom.7.6

But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Rom.7.6

But now we have been released from the law, for we died with Christ, and we are no longer captive to its power. Now we can really serve God, not in the old way by obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way, by the Spirit.

Ps.88.1

GOD, you're my last chance of the day. I spend the night on my knees before you.

Ps.88.1

O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you.

Ps.88.1

O LORD, God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You.

Ps.88.1

O LORD, God of my salvation, I have cried out to you day and night.

Ps.88.2

Put me on your salvation agenda; take notes on the trouble I'm in.

Ps.88.2

May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.

Ps.88.2

Let my prayer come before You; Incline Your ear to my cry.

Ps.88.2

Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry.

Ps.88.3

I've had my fill of trouble; I'm camped on the edge of hell.

Ps.88.3

For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.

Ps.88.3

For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draws near to the grave.

Ps.88.3

For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near.

Ps.88.4

I'm written off as a lost cause, one more statistic, a hopeless case.

Ps.88.4

I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man without strength.

Ps.88.4

I am counted with those who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength,

Ps.88.4

I have been dismissed as one who is dead, like a strong man with no strength left.

Ps.88.5

Abandoned as already dead, one more body in a stack of corpses, And not so much as a gravestone--I'm a black hole in oblivion.

Ps.88.5

I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.

Ps.88.5

Adrift among the dead, Like the slain who lie in the grave, Whom You remember no more, And who are cut off from Your hand.

Ps.88.5

They have abandoned me to death, and I am as good as dead. I am forgotten, cut off from your care.

Ps.88.6

You've dropped me into a bottomless pit, sunk me in a pitch-black abyss.

Ps.88.6

You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.

Ps.88.6

You have laid me in the lowest pit, In darkness, in the depths.

Ps.88.6

You have thrust me down to the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.

Ps.88.7

I'm battered senseless by your rage, relentlessly pounded by your waves of anger.

Ps.88.7

Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah

Ps.88.7

Your wrath lies heavy upon me, And You have afflicted me with all Your waves.Selah

Ps.88.7

Your anger lies heavy on me; wave after wave engulfs me.

Ps.88.8

You turned my friends against me, made me horrible to them. I'm caught in a maze and can't find my way out,

Ps.88.8

You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;

Ps.88.8

You have put away my acquaintances far from me; You have made me an abomination to them; I am shut up, and I cannot get out;

Ps.88.8

You have caused my friends to loathe me; you have sent them all away. I am in a trap with no way of escape.

Ps.88.9

blinded by tears of pain and frustration. I call to you, GOD; all day I call. I wring my hands, I plead for help.

Ps.88.9

my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.

Ps.88.9

My eye wastes away because of affliction. LORD, I have called daily upon You; I have stretched out my hands to You.

Ps.88.9

My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your help, O LORD; I lift my pleading hands to you for mercy.