1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV / 46 helpful votes Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
Romans 15:13 ESV / 31 helpful votes May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Ephesians 4:29 ESV / 23 helpful votes Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 21 helpful votes For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Colossians 1:16-17 ESV / 9 helpful votes For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Romans 6:23 ESV / 7 helpful votes For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 John 2:10 ESV / 5 helpful votes Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
Romans 1:11 ESV / 5 helpful votes For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
John 3:16-17 ESV / 5 helpful votes “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
1 Samuel 1:17 ESV / 5 helpful votes Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.”
Ephesians 6:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
1 Kings 11:2-3 ESV / 21 helpful votes From the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
2 Samuel 5:13 ESV / 19 helpful votes And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to David.
Judges 19:1-30 ESV / 15 helpful votes In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months. Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house. And when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him. And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there. And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.” …
Exodus 21:10 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights.
4 after his smiting Sihon king of the Amorite who is dwelling in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan who is dwelling in Ashtaroth in Edrei,
5 beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, hath Moses begun to explain this law, saying:
6 `Jehovah our God hath spoken unto us in Horeb, saying, Enough to you — of dwelling in this mount;
7 turn ye and journey for you, and enter the mount of the Amorite, and unto all its neighbouring places, in the plain, in the hill-country, and in the low country, and in the south, and in the haven of the sea, the land of the Canaanite, and of Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Phrat;
8 see, I have set before you the land; go in and possess the land which Jehovah hath sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them, and to their seed after them.
9 `And I speak unto you at that time, saying, I am not able by myself to bear you;
10 Jehovah your God hath multiplied you, and lo, ye [are] to-day as the stars of the heavens for multitude;
11 Jehovah, God of your fathers, is adding to you, as ye [are], a thousand times, and doth bless you as He hath spoken to you.
12 `How do I bear by myself your pressure, and your burden, and your strife?
13 Give for yourselves men, wise and intelligent, and known to your tribes, and I set them for your heads;
14 and ye answer me and say, Good [is] the thing which thou hast spoken — to do.
15 `And I take the heads of your tribes, men, wise and known, and I appoint them heads over you, princes of thousands, and princes of hundreds, and princes of fifties, and princes of tens, and authorities, for your tribes.
16 And I command your judges at that time, saying, Hearkening between your brethren — then ye have judged righteousness between a man, and his brother, and his sojourner;
17 ye do not discern faces in judgment; as the little so the great ye do hear; ye are not afraid of the face of any, for the judgment is God’s, and the thing which is too hard for you, ye bring near unto me, and I have heard it;
18 and I command you, at that time, all the things which ye do.
19 `And we journey from Horeb, and go [through] all that great and fearful wilderness which ye have seen — the way of the hill-country of the Amorite, as Jehovah our God hath commanded us, and we come in unto Kadesh-Barnea.
20 `And I say unto you, Ye have come in unto the hill-country of the Amorite, which Jehovah our God is giving to us;
21 see, Jehovah thy God hath set before thee the land; go up, possess, as Jehovah, God of thy fathers, hath spoken to thee; fear not, nor be affrighted.
22 `And ye come near unto me, all of you, and say, Let us send men before us, and they search for us the land, and they bring us back word [concerning] the way in which we go up into it, and the cities unto which we come in;
23 and the thing is good in mine eyes, and I take of you twelve men, one man for a tribe.
24 `And they turn and go up to the hill-country, and come in unto the valley of Eshcol, and spy it,
26 `And ye have not been willing to go up, and ye provoke the mouth of Jehovah your God,
27 and murmur in your tents, and say, In Jehovah’s hating us He hath brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorite — to destroy us;
28 whither are we going up? our brethren have melted our heart, saying, A people greater and taller than we, cities great and fenced to heaven, and also sons of Anakim — we have seen there.
29 `And I say unto you, Be not terrified, nor be afraid of them;
30 Jehovah your God, who is going before you — He doth fight for you, according to all that He hath done with you in Egypt before your eyes,
31 and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen that Jehovah thy God hath borne thee as a man beareth his son, in all the way which ye have gone, till your coming in unto this place.
32 `And in this thing ye are not stedfast in Jehovah your God,
33 who is going before you in the way to search out to you a place for your encamping, in fire by night, to shew you in the way in which ye go, and in a cloud by day.
37 `Also with me hath Jehovah been angry for your sake, saying, Also, thou dost not go in thither;
38 Joshua son of Nun, who is standing before thee, he goeth in thither; him strengthen thou; for he doth cause Israel to inherit.
39 `And your infants, of whom ye have said, For a prey they are, and your sons who have not known to-day good and evil, they go in thither, and to them I give it, and they possess it;
41 `And ye answer and say unto me, We have sinned against Jehovah; we — we go up, and we have fought, according to all that which Jehovah our God hath commanded us; and ye gird on each his weapons of war, and ye are ready to go up into the hill-country;
42 and Jehovah saith unto me, Say to them, Ye do not go up, nor fight, for I am not in your midst, and ye are not smitten before your enemies.
43 `And I speak unto you, and ye have not hearkened, and provoke the mouth of Jehovah, and act proudly, and go up into the hill-country;
44 and the Amorite who is dwelling in that hill-country cometh out to meet you, and they pursue you as the bees do, and smite you in Seir — unto Hormah.
45 `And ye turn back and weep before Jehovah, and Jehovah hath not hearkened to your voice, nor hath he given ear unto you;
Aslan International Ministry – `And this [is] the command, the statutes and the judgments which Jehovah your God hath commanded to teach you, to do in the land which ye are passing over thither to possess it,
2 so that thou dost fear Jehovah thy God, to keep all His statutes and His commands, which I am commanding thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all days of thy life, and so that thy days are prolonged.
3 `And thou hast heard, O Israel, and observed to do, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest multiply exceedingly, as Jehovah, God of thy fathers, hath spoken to thee, [in] the land flowing with milk and honey.
4 `Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God [is] one Jehovah;
7 and thou hast repeated them to thy sons, and spoken of them in thy sitting in thine house, and in thy walking in the way, and in thy lying down, and in thy rising up,
8 and hast bound them for a sign upon thy hand, and they have been for frontlets between thine eyes,
9 and thou hast written them on door-posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
11 and houses full of all good things which thou hast not filled, and wells digged which thou hast not digged, vineyards and olive-yards which thou hast not planted, and thou hast eaten, and been satisfied;
12 `Take heed to thyself lest thou forget Jehovah who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants;
13 Jehovah thy God thou dost fear, and Him thou dost serve, and by His name thou dost swear;
14 ye do not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who [are] round about you;
15 for a zealous God [is] Jehovah thy God in thy midst — lest the anger of Jehovah thy God burn against thee, and He hath destroyed thee from off the face of the ground.
16 `Ye do not try Jehovah your God as ye tried in Massah;
17 ye do diligently keep the commands of Jehovah your God, and His testimonies, and His statutes which He hath commanded thee,
18 and thou hast done that which is right and good in the eyes of Jehovah, so that it is well with thee, and thou hast gone in and possessed the good land which Jehovah hath sworn to thy fathers,
20 `When thy son asketh thee hereafter, saying, What [are] the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you?
21 then thou hast said to thy son, Servants we have been to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Jehovah bringeth us out of Egypt by a high hand;
22 and Jehovah giveth signs and wonders, great and sad, on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes;
23 and us He hath brought out thence, in order to bring us in, to give to us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.
24 And Jehovah commandeth us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for good to ourselves all the days, to keep us alive, as [at] this day;
1 John 3:17-2417 and whoever may have the goods of the world, and may view his brother having need, and may shut up his bowels from him — how doth the love of God remain in him?18 My little children, may we not love in word nor in tongue, but in word and in truth!19 and in this we know that of the truth we are, and before Him we shall assure our hearts,20 because if our heart may condemn — because greater is God than our heart, and He doth know all things.21 Beloved, if our heart may not condemn us, we have boldness toward God,22 and whatever we may ask, we receive from Him, because His commands we keep, and the things pleasing before Him we do,23 and this is His command, that we may believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and may love one another, even as He did give command to us,24 and he who is keeping His commands, in Him he doth remain, and He in him; and in this we know that He doth remain in us, from the Spirit that He gave us.
Luke 11:29-3629 And the multitudes crowding together upon him, he began to say, `This generation is evil, a sign it doth seek after, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet,30 for as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also shall the Son of Man be to this generation.31 `A queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and lo, greater than Solomon here!32 `Men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they reformed at the proclamation of Jonah; and lo, greater than Jonah here!33 `And no one having lighted a lamp, doth put [it] in a secret place, nor under the measure, but on the lamp-stand, that those coming in may behold the light.34 `The lamp of the body is the eye, when then thine eye may be simple, thy whole body also is lightened; and when it may be evil, thy body also is darkened;35 take heed, then, lest the light that [is] in thee be darkness;36 if then thy whole body is lightened, not having any part darkened, the whole shall be lightened, as when the lamp by the brightness may give thee light.’
2 and the soldiers having plaited a crown of thorns, did place [it] on his head, and a purple garment they put around him,
3 and said, `Hail! the king of the Jews;’ and they were giving him slaps.
4 Pilate, therefore, again went forth without, and saith to them, `Lo, I do bring him to you without, that ye may know that in him I find no fault;’
5 Jesus, therefore, came forth without, bearing the thorny crown and the purple garment; and he saith to them, `Lo, the man!’
6 When, therefore, the chief priests and the officers did see him, they cried out, saying, `Crucify, crucify;’ Pilate saith to them, `Take ye him — ye, and crucify; for I find no fault in him;’
7 the Jews answered him, `We have a law, and according to our law he ought to die, for he made himself Son of God.’
8 When, therefore, Pilate heard this word, he was the more afraid,
9 and entered again to the praetorium, and saith to Jesus, `Whence art thou?’ and Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Pilate, therefore, saith to him, `To me dost thou not speak? hast thou not known that I have authority to crucify thee, and I have authority to release thee?’
11 Jesus answered, `Thou wouldst have no authority against me, if it were not having been given thee from above; because of this, he who is delivering me up to thee hath greater sin.’
12 From this [time] was Pilate seeking to release him, and the Jews were crying out, saying, `If this one thou mayest release, thou art not a friend of Caesar; every one making himself a king, doth speak against Caesar.’
13 Pilate, therefore, having heard this word, brought Jesus without — and he sat down upon the tribunal — to a place called, `Pavement,’ and in Hebrew, Gabbatha;
14 and it was the preparation of the passover, and as it were the sixth hour, and he saith to the Jews, `Lo, your king!’
15 and they cried out, `Take away, take away, crucify him;’ Pilate saith to them, `Your king shall I crucify?’ the chief priests answered, `We have no king except Caesar.’
16 Then, therefore, he delivered him up to them, that he may be crucified, and they took Jesus and led [him] away,
17 and bearing his cross, he went forth to the place called [Place] of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha;
18 where they crucified him, and with him two others, on this side, and on that side, and Jesus in the midst.
19 And Pilate also wrote a title, and put [it] on the cross, and it was written, `Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews;’
20 this title, therefore, read many of the Jews, because the place was nigh to the city where Jesus was crucified, and it was having been written in Hebrew, in Greek, in Roman.
21 The chief priests of the Jews said, therefore, to Pilate, `Write not — The king of the Jews, but that one said, I am king of the Jews;’
22 Pilate answered, `What I have written, I have written.’
23 The soldiers, therefore, when they did crucify Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to each soldier a part, also the coat, and the coat was seamless, from the top woven throughout,
24 they said, therefore, to one another, `We may not rend it, but cast a lot for it, whose it shall be;’ that the Writing might be fulfilled, that is saying, `They divided my garments to themselves, and upon my raiment they did cast a lot;’ the soldiers, therefore, indeed, did these things.
25 And there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary of Cleopas, and Mary the Magdalene;
26 Jesus, therefore, having seen [his] mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he was loving, he saith to his mother, `Woman, lo, thy son;’
27 afterward he saith to the disciple, `Lo, thy mother;’ and from that hour the disciple took her to his own [home].
28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things now have been finished, that the Writing may be fulfilled, saith, `I thirst;’
29 a vessel, therefore, was placed full of vinegar, and they having filled a sponge with vinegar, and having put [it] around a hyssop stalk, did put [it] to his mouth;
30 when, therefore, Jesus received the vinegar, he said, `It hath been finished;’ and having bowed the head, gave up the spirit.
31 The Jews, therefore, that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, since it was the preparation, (for that sabbath day was a great one,) asked of Pilate that their legs may be broken, and they taken away.
32 The soldiers, therefore, came, and of the first indeed they did break the legs, and of the other who was crucified with him,
33 and having come to Jesus, when they saw him already having been dead, they did not break his legs;
34 but one of the soldiers with a spear did pierce his side, and immediately there came forth blood and water;
35 and he who hath seen hath testified, and his testimony is true, and that one hath known that true things he speaketh, that ye also may believe.
36 For these things came to pass, that the Writing may be fulfilled, `A bone of him shall not be broken;’
37 and again another Writing saith, `They shall look to him whom they did pierce.’
38 And after these things did Joseph of Arimathea — being a disciple of Jesus, but concealed, through the fear of the Jews — ask of Pilate, that he may take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave leave; he came, therefore, and took away the body of Jesus,
39 and Nicodemus also came — who came unto Jesus by night at the first — bearing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, as it were, a hundred pounds.
40 They took, therefore, the body of Jesus, and bound it with linen clothes with the spices, according as it was the custom of the Jews to prepare for burial;
41 and there was in the place where he was crucified a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one was yet laid;
42 there, therefore, because of the preparation of the Jews, because the tomb was nigh, they laid Jesus. – Aslan International Ministry
Luke 15:11-3211 And he said, `A certain man had two sons,12 and the younger of them said to the father, Father, give me the portion of the substance falling to [me], and he divided to them the living.13 `And not many days after, having gathered all together, the younger son went abroad to a far country, and there he scattered his substance, living riotously;14 and he having spent all, there came a mighty famine on that country, and himself began to be in want;15 and having gone on, he joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him to the fields to feed swine,16 and he was desirous to fill his belly from the husks that the swine were eating, and no one was giving to him.17 `And having come to himself, he said, How many hirelings of my father have a superabundance of bread, and I here with hunger am perishing!18 having risen, I will go on unto my father, and will say to him, Father, I did sin — to the heaven, and before thee,19 and no more am I worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hirelings.20 `And having risen, he went unto his own father, and he being yet far distant, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and having ran he fell upon his neck and kissed him;21 and the son said to him, Father, I did sin — to the heaven, and before thee, and no more am I worthy to be called thy son.22 `And the father said unto his servants, Bring forth the first robe, and clothe him, and give a ring for his hand, and sandals for the feet;23 and having brought the fatted calf, kill [it], and having eaten, we may be merry,24 because this my son was dead, and did live again, and he was lost, and was found; and they began to be merry.25 `And his elder son was in a field, and as, coming, he drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing,26 and having called near one of the young men, he was inquiring what these things might be,27 and he said to him — Thy brother is arrived, and thy father did kill the fatted calf, because in health he did receive him back.28 `And he was angry, and would not go in, therefore his father, having come forth, was entreating him;29 and he answering said to the father, Lo, so many years I do serve thee, and never thy command did I transgress, and to me thou didst never give a kid, that with my friends I might make merry;30 but when thy son — this one who did devour thy living with harlots — came, thou didst kill to him the fatted calf.31 `And he said to him, Child, thou art always with me, and all my things are thine;32 but to be merry, and to be glad, it was needful, because this thy brother was dead, and did live again, he was lost, and was found.’
Matthew 17:9 ESV / 5 helpful votes And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
Joshua 1:9 ESV / 5 helpful votes Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Psalm 8:1-9 ESV / 4 helpful votes To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. …
Isaiah 40:31 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Aslan International Ministry – `When Jehovah thy God doth bring thee in unto the land whither thou art going in to possess it, and He hath cast out many nations from thy presence, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations more numerous and mighty than thou,
2 and Jehovah thy God hath given them before thee, and thou hast smitten them — thou dost utterly devote them — thou dost not make with them a covenant, nor dost thou favour them.
3 `And thou dost not join in marriage with them; thy daughter thou dost not give to his son, and his daughter thou dost not take to thy son,
4 for he doth turn aside thy son from after Me, and they have served other gods, and the anger of Jehovah hath burned against you, and hath destroyed thee hastily.
5 `But thus thou dost to them: their altars ye break down, and their standing pillars ye shiver, and their shrines ye cut down, and their graven images ye burn with fire;
6 for a holy people [art] thou to Jehovah thy God; on thee hath Jehovah thy God fixed, to be to Him for a peculiar people, out of all the peoples who [are] on the face of the ground.
7 `Not because of your being more numerous than any of the peoples hath Jehovah delighted in you, and fixeth on you, for ye [are] the least of all the peoples,
8 but because of Jehovah’s loving you, and because of His keeping the oath which He hath sworn to your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out by a strong hand, and doth ransom you from a house of servants, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 `And thou hast known that Jehovah thy God He [is] God, the faithful God, keeping the covenant, and the kindness, to those loving Him, and to those keeping His commands — to a thousand generations,
10 and repaying to those hating Him, unto their face, to destroy them; He delayeth not to him who is hating Him — unto his face, He repayeth to him —
11 and thou hast kept the command, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I am commanding thee to-day to do them.
12 `And it hath been, because ye hear these judgments, and have kept, and done them, that Jehovah thy God hath kept to thee the covenant and the kindness which He hath sworn to thy fathers,
13 and hath loved thee, and blessed thee, and multiplied thee, and hath blessed the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil, the increase of thine oxen, and the wealth of thy flock, on the ground which He hath sworn to thy fathers to give to thee.
14 `Blessed art thou above all the peoples, there is not in thee a barren man or a barren woman — nor among your cattle;
15 and Jehovah hath turned aside from thee every sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt (which thou hast known) doth He put on thee, and He hath put them on all hating thee.
20 `And also the locust doth Jehovah thy God send among them, till the destruction of those who are left, and of those who are hidden from thy presence;
21 thou art not terrified by their presence, for Jehovah thy God [is] in thy midst, a God great and fearful.
22 `And Jehovah thy God hath cast out these nations from thy presence little [by] little, (thou art not able to consume them hastily, lest the beast of the field multiply against thee),
23 and Jehovah thy God hath given them before thee, and destroyed them — a great destruction — till their destruction;
24 and He hath given their kings into thy hand, and thou hast destroyed their name from under the heavens; no man doth station himself in thy presence till thou hast destroyed them.
25 `The graven images of their gods ye do burn with fire; thou dost not desire the silver and gold on them, nor hast thou taken [it] to thyself, lest thou be snared by it, for the abomination of Jehovah thy God it [is];
26 and thou dost not bring in an abomination unto thy house — or thou hast been devoted like it; — thou dost utterly detest it, and thou dost utterly abominate it; for it [is] devoted. – Aslan International Ministry