The Living Stone and Chosen People (Isaiah 28:14–22; 1 Corinthians 3:10–15; Ephesians 2:19–22)
1 UDB Therefore, do not act maliciously in any way or deceive others. Do not be hypocrites, and do not envy others. Do not ever speak evil about anyone untruthfully. BSB BSB: Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
2 UDB Just as newborn babies long for their mothers' pure milk, you should desire to learn true things from God so that by learning them you may become like adults in trusting him. You must do this until the time when God sets you completely free from all the evil in this world. BSB BSB: Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
3 UDB Also, you must do this because you have experienced that the Lord acts very kindly toward you. BSB BSB: now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4 UDB Come to the Lord Jesus. He is like the most important stone in the foundation of a building, but he is living, not lifeless like a stone. Many people rejected him, but God chose him and considers him to be very valuable. BSB BSB: As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,
5 UDB And just like men build houses with stones, God is joining you together like a building in which his Spirit lives. He is doing this so that you—like the priests who offer sacrifices at the altar—might do things that please God because Jesus Christ has died for you. BSB BSB: you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 UDB What the scriptures say show us that this is true: "I am placing in Jerusalem someone who is like a very valuable stone, the most important stone in the building, and those who believe in him will never become ashamed." BSB BSB: For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
7 UDB Therefore, God will honor you who believe in Jesus. But those who refuse to believe in him are like the builders that the scriptures talk about: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the most important stone in the building." BSB BSB: To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
8 UDB It is also written in the scriptures: "He will be like a stone that causes people to stumble and like a rock that people trip over." Just as people are injured when they stumble over a rock, people who disobey God's message injure themselves. This is what God promised would happen to them. BSB BSB: and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
9 UDB But you are people God has chosen to belong to him. You are people who are set apart to worship him just as the priests worship him. You are the people that belong to God so that you might proclaim the wonderful things he has done for all his people. He has called you away from the sinful lives you used to live, and he has brought you out of darkness so that you could live in the marvelous light that shines on everything we do. BSB BSB: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
11 UDB Because you are people that I love, I urge you to think about this: You are like foreigners whose real home is in heaven. So you should not do the sinful things you formerly wanted to do because if you do them, you will not be able to live well with God. BSB BSB: Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
12 UDB Keep behaving in a good way among those who do not know God. If you do that, although they may say that you do what is evil, they will see that you are doing good things, and at the time when God comes to judge everyone, they will honor him. BSB BSB: Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.
Submission to Authorities (Romans 13:1–7)
13 UDB Because you wish to honor the Lord Jesus, obey everyone who has proper authority. This includes the king because he has the greatest power. BSB BSB: Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to the king as the supreme authority,
14 UDB It also includes governors because God sends them to punish those who do what is wrong and to praise those who do what is right. BSB BSB: or to governors as those sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.
15 UDB What God wants is for you to do good. If you do that, you will cause foolish people who do not know God to be unable to say that you have done wrong. BSB BSB: For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorance of foolish men.
16 UDB Behave as though you were free from having to obey any master, but do not think that you can do evil because of that. Instead, behave as servants of God should. BSB BSB: Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
17 UDB Act respectfully toward everyone. Love all of your fellow believers. Honor God and honor the king. BSB BSB: Treat everyone with high regard: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
18 UDB You slaves who are believers, submit yourselves to your masters and completely respect them. Submit yourselves not only to those who act in a good and kind way toward you, but also submit yourselves to those who act in a harsh way toward you. BSB BSB: Servants, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but even to those who are unreasonable.
19 UDB You should do that because God is pleased with those who know what he wants and obey him and those who for this reason accept to suffer pain because their masters treat them unjustly. BSB BSB: For if anyone endures the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, this is to be commended.
20 UDB God will certainly not be pleased with you if you do something that is wrong and then they beat you for that. But if you do what is good and still suffer harm, you are suffering for doing what is good. If you endure that, God will praise you. BSB BSB: How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
Christ’s Example of Suffering (Isaiah 53:1–8)
21 UDB When Christ suffered for you, he became an example for you so that you would follow in his steps and live your life as he lived his life. BSB BSB: For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps:
23 UDB When people insulted him, he did not insult them in return. When people caused him to suffer, he did not threaten to get revenge. Instead, he decided to let God, who always judges justly, prove that he was innocent. BSB BSB: When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.
24 UDB He himself endured the punishment for our sins in his body when he died on the cross so that we would stop sinning and start living rightly. It is because they wounded him that God has healed you. BSB BSB: He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
25 UDB Truly you were like sheep that had become lost, but now you have returned to Jesus, who cares for you as a shepherd cares for his sheep. BSB BSB: For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.