New Century Version NCV
New Living Translation NLT
1 So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship.
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And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
2 Do not change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.
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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.
3 Because God has given me a special gift, I have something to say to everyone among you. Do not think you are better than you are. You must decide what you really are by the amount of faith God has given you.
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Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
4 Each one of us has a body with many parts, and these parts all have different uses.
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Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,
5 In the same way, we are many, but in Christ we are all one body. Each one is a part of that body, and each part belongs to all the other parts.
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so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
6 We all have different gifts, each of which came because of the grace God gave us. The person who has the gift of prophecy should use that gift in agreement with the faith.
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In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.
7 Anyone who has the gift of serving should serve. Anyone who has the gift of teaching should teach.
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If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well.
8 Whoever has the gift of encouraging others should encourage. Whoever has the gift of giving to others should give freely. Anyone who has the gift of being a leader should try hard when he leads. Whoever has the gift of showing mercy to others should do so with joy.
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If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
9 Your love must be real. Hate what is evil, and hold on to what is good.
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Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.
10 Love each other like brothers and sisters. Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves.
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Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
11 Do not be lazy but work hard, serving the Lord with all your heart.
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Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.
12 Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes, and pray at all times.
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Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
13 Share with God's people who need help. Bring strangers in need into your homes.
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When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
14 Wish good for those who harm you; wish them well and do not curse them.
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Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.
15 Be happy with those who are happy, and be sad with those who are sad.
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Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.
16 Live in peace with each other. Do not be proud, but make friends with those who seem unimportant. Do not think how smart you are.
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Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
17 If someone does wrong to you, do not pay him back by doing wrong to him. Try to do what everyone thinks is right.
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Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.
18 Do your best to live in peace with everyone.
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Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
19 My friends, do not try to punish others when they wrong you, but wait for God to punish them with his anger. It is written: "I will punish those who do wrong; I will repay them," says the Lord.
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Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD .
20 But you should do this: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. Doing this will be like pouring burning coals on his head."
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Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”
21 Do not let evil defeat you, but defeat evil by doing good.
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Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.