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CONTENTSThe New TestamentMatthew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 947Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 983Luke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1045Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11091 Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11272 Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1143Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1155Ephesians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1163Philippians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1171Colossians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11771 Thessalonians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11832 Thessalonians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11891 Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11932 Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1199Titus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1205Philemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1209Hebrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1213James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12271 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12332 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12411 John. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12472 John. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12533 John. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1257Jude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1259Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1263Bible GPSLooking for Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1283Where to Turn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1284Real-Life Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1289One-Chapter-Per-Day Bible-Reading Plan . . . . . . 1290Key Words and Where to Find Them(Concordance) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1294LIVE intro A5CONTENTSThe Old TestamentGenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Exodus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Leviticus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Deuteronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Joshua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211Judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237Ruth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2631 Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2692 Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2991 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3272 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3591 Chronicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3912 Chronicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425Ezra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461Nehemiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473Esther. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501Psalms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533Proverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617Ecclesiastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647Song of Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657Isaiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665Jeremiah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731Lamentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795Ezekiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803Daniel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853Hosea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869Joel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881Amos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 887Obadiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 897Jonah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 901Micah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905Nahum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913Habakkuk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917Zephaniah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921Haggai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 925Zechariah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929Malachi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941 Alphabetical Listing of the Bible Books . . . . . . . . . . A6Features Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A7Imagine: A Note from Thom and Joani . . . . . . . . . . A12The Story Behind the New Living Translation . . . . . A13Introduction to the New Living Translation . . . . . . . A14NLT Bible Translation Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A19

ALPHABETICAL LISTINGALPHABETICAL LISTING OFTHE BIBLE BOOKSAlphabetical Listing of Bible BooksActs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073Amos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8871 Chronicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3912 Chronicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425Colossians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11771 Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11272 Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1143Daniel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853Deuteronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Ecclesiastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647Ephesians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1163Esther. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491Exodus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Ezekiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803Ezra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1155Genesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Habakkuk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917Haggai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 925Hebrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1213Hosea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869Isaiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1227Jeremiah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501Joel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10451 John. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12472 John. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12533 John. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1257Jonah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 901Joshua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211Jude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1259Judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2371 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3272 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359Lamentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795Leviticus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Luke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007Malachi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941A6 LIVE introMark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 983Matthew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 947Micah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905Nahum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913Nehemiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Obadiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8971 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12332 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1241Philemon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1209Philippians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1171Proverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617Psalms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1263Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1109Ruth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2631 Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2692 Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299Song of Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6571 Thessalonians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11832 Thessalonians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11891 Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11932 Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1199Titus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1205Zechariah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929Zephaniah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921

FEATURES GUIDEive and“For the word of God is al).powerful” (Hebrews 4:12This is your Bible It’s the living Word of God.It will speak directly to your real life. In these pages, you’ll discover and get toknow the one true God of the universe—the God who created you and loves youpassionately.God tugging at your heart As you read God’s Word, you’ll feel God tugging at your heart, challenging theway you live your life, relentlessly pursuing an ever-deepening relationship withyou. You’ll get a real sense of how real, how close, how present God is in everymoment of your life.Your faith will come to life You’ll catch God’s vision for you and for the planet—you’ll feel God’s love andcompassion for hurting people. You’ll sense God’s purpose for his people, thechurch. Your faith will come to life.Encountering God LIVE intro A7 FEATURES GUIDEAs God’s Word permeates every part of your life—your world, your family, yourchurch, your friendships, your school, your interests, your very self—you’llencounter God in ways you may not have expected. You’ll start to know deeplyand personally that God is the one and only true God. He’s real, passionate,relentless, compassionate, creative, and challenging.

WHAT’S INSIDEThe Bible—this collection of historical books,poems, worship songs, prophecies, and personalletters—was inspired by God. It’s God’sexpression of himself—his expression of loveto you. And an important part of faith in Godis expressing yourself in return. In these pagesyou’ll find challenges to Express Yourself.In these Express Yourself sidebars, you’ll makethis Bible your own, expressing your thoughts,feelings, or questions by writing right on thesepages, doodling, pasting pictures, and more.You’ll respond to God’s Word with other creativeexpressions like art, poetry, photography, graphicdesign, or journaling.Sometimes expressing yourself honestlymeans asking God hard questions—tacklingdoubts, untangling confusions, authenticallyfacing the hard parts of faith. Dealing with theseReal Questions is important. You’ll find severalfrank discussions of some of these sticky issuesthroughout this Bible. And you’ll also find plentyof Creative Space in here to write down yourown questions or doubts and to come up withyour own creative expressions of faith—prayers,lists, song lyrics—whatever you want to say. Sogo ahead—make this Bible your own. Draw in it.Write in it. Express yourself.tribes ofeir grantsor Moses,assignedon thee townIf I’m a Christian, domy sins? Aren’t all I still need to confessforgiven anyway? of my sins alreadyI like to think I’ma pretty good person but I still sin. SoI pretend my “petty” or“small” sins don’t matter. And thebigones? I try to ignore them and actas ifthey never happened.Ever been there?First John 1:8 says, “If we claim wehaveno sin, we are onlg ofy fooling ourselvesandnot living in thendtruth.” And whenwearen’t willing to admtes,it that we’ve messedup—to ourselvesand to others—wvee’rejust ignoring thesickness of sin while itsdeadly infectionspreads into every areaof our lives.Though we’ve been forgiven of oursinsif we have faith inChrist, we eachhaveto deal with weaknd toesses, temptations,and sinful patteromns for the rest ofourferlives here on earth. It’s a problemofthat willnever just go away completely. Thoughwe’re forgiven, westill need to deal withour sins and their messy consequences.Confession is theheway to do that.When was the last time you tooka hardlook at your faults and failingsandspent some time talking aboutyourspecific sins toGod? When have youtold someone you’re sorry and sincerelyasked for forgiveness? Or when(if ever)have you had thecourage to talkto aCh i tiFEATURES GUIDEsof the, andon. ONS- REAL QUESTI619A8 LIVE introRQ

Faith is much more than just expressingyour thoughts and feelings—and it’s a lot morethan just holding on to a certain set of beliefs.Faith is something we live. It’s something weexpress through our actions—our choices inrelationships, our willingness to step out of ourcomfort zones, our decision to speak the truthabout Jesus to others.So we’ve got some challenges for you—specific ways you can put your faith into action.Things that will help you grow closer to God andimpact your world for him.We’ve called these ideas Try This—becausethey will prompt you not only to read Scripturebut to put it into practice in ways that fit yourreal, everyday life.Putting faith into action can be really tough,so just in case you need some inspiration alongthe way, we’ve included true stories of peopleJust Like You—men and women from differentcountries and different times in history whochose to live vibrantly for Jesus, no matter thecircumstances that came their way.“All who confess that Jesus is the Son of Godhave God living in them, and they live in God”(1 John 4:15).At the heart of true faith is a livingrelationship with Jesus. Following Jesus startswith being honest with yourself: You’re asinner—we all are. We all do things that fallshort of the best God wants for us. But Goddoesn’t leave you hanging. God sent Jesus tosave you. A central part of true faith is believingthe only way to heaven is through faith in Jesus,who died on the cross to take the punishmentfor your sins. Having a relationship with Jesusmeans personally trusting in him to save youof X7SyearmantermSTOPPING THE HOLOCAUSTar AndHere’s an incident that sounds eerily famililateand chilling.allimparison wimALIVE intro A9FEATURE’SGUIDEGUIDEFEATURESelder thrd from the“I heaadhuman sin was like GOD IS REAL MY FAMILYst Christian thone of the greatecentury. Regarof the twentiethsaid:conversion, he ESTHER 38A government green-lights the systematicsaidextermination of Jews.thrkeeThe date of the slaughter draws near and achillJewish queen, who’s passed as a Persian, faces (RiThght) Turn—Amid the n inA Wrong peouma no-win decision.of a Russian autand brilliancegkinseekinwasher8, Sergius Bulgakovlife. Bulgakov,Queen Esther can say nothing and watch 190his youngnge inlivchaaaandyhernomof political ecopeople be destroyed. Or she can reveal a professor belrxist intellectuarising star onofthe Maheritage—hoping to stop the killing—andblyhimself inexplicascene, foundde the faith of the sixinvite execution.drawn back tofamily. Andhisinstsprieerations ofgenonatTough call. Read Esther 4:14. It’s the questieat with a friendyet while onrea retr, he was unablethat cemented Esther’s resolve.a country herin mitagedeninganything but deaexperienceths of the religiousThe question wasn’t directed at you, but toformality in the prayerm him—a reminder dofsuppose it was? Would you risk it all for yourpeople aroundendureasvices that hehimthe grim serfrom thefamily—your people?drovebefore his doubtsseminary. suMordecai took a risk too when he challengedservicerchchumbling out of theEsther to take a stand. And that’s a risk youwithStuhisHd in a cloud, Bulgakov stminguereturning to thecan take too: Will you gently, lovingly help yourthought heowasat theead found himselfinstGod?butlivingthese,servehouande wise and revered elder offamily trusthome of thetoilary man simPlease note: shrilly announcing your family’sthe hermitsage, ainholDostoevsky’s novelinsima.ZosgentleghertalkinFatWe’rey.faults doesn’t qualifv. It was in ak rs KaramazowisThe Brothee man that thethisLoving. Leading by example.conversati3on withfinally came.atheist’s changewedavoandtrusttofamilyo would continue down hisHow can you invite yourvB l akomfollow God by example? Ask a family member3tthat question.and be open to the answer.idWho knows? Perhaps you were placed in your3this.astimeasuchforfamily

from your sins, following his guidance for yourlife, and getting to know him better throughprayer and his Word. Not only will you spendeternity with him in heaven, but you also makehim your number-one priority—and your bestfriend—here on earth. With the help of God’sHoly Spirit, you choose to live for him. This Biblewill help you do that.But as you read it, you may wonder at times,“What in the world does this have to do withJesus?” It can be difficult sometimes to see howstuff like laws or prophecies or ancient lettersrelate to your friendship with Jesus in the hereand now. So we wanted to point out for you someof the important places where truths about Jesusshow up all over the Bible—not just in the NewTestament—and we’ve called them JesusSightings.Every book of the Bible points to Jesus, and wewanted to show you the connection. Sort of likethe game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon where yougo on a circuitous route to connect various actorsto each other by naming movies they’ve beenin with Kevin Bacon, we want to show you theimportant truths about Jesus found from Genesisthrough Revelation. You’ll find these 7 Degreesof Jesus boxes on each book’s intro page. Youmay be surprised to discover Jesus in someunlikely places!Unless this is your first Bible, there aren’tmany surprises. For instance, is it really a spoilerto hear that David beats Goliath?We didn’t think so.So LIVE takes great care to be anything butboring. To deliver compelling quotes from awide range of sources—not just famous deadChristian guys.Text Messages supply the facts that make fora deeper understanding of what you’re reading.and every now and then they’ll hand you afactoid that’s just fun to know. FEATURES GUIDECREATIVE SPACEJESUS-SIGHTINGHe stands a hair’s-breadth awayfrom the presence and powerof the living God. A knit curtainstands between them, literallya piece of cloth separating the infiniteand the finite. The high priest alone canpull aside the sheet and step inside,presenting the only flawed human heartallowed to stand before the One whosevery appearance could kill a person.Moses puts the stone tablets of theTen Commandments in the wood boxoverlaid with pure gold known as the Arkof the Covenant. The Ark is kept in a tentmade of curtains, the Tabernacle. God’spresence is there.One curtain matters most. Between theArk and the rest of the world is a curtainthat keeps an unclean people out of thepresence of a perfect God. Even later inthe Scriptures, when most of the curtainsof the Tabernacle described in Exodus26 are replaced by the stone walls ofthe Temple, this one curtain will remain,reminding the world that they aren’t good“If only wecould be abit more liHim, the wkeorld wouldbe transformed.”—U2’s Bonofirstthe world’sJacob wase helpt. With sommakeup artisandh,ka, Rebefrom his momork,wicetsmcosome fancyaac,his father, Ishe trickedoldershiashe winto thinking:14(Genesis 27brother, Esaungsiestakenly bl29). By misaacd of Esau, IseastJacob intoeisomprd’sfulfilled Go:23.Genesis 25Rebekah inalland is free ofen scanned your friends.ation has beThis inform s. Please forward to allknown viruseA10 LIVE intro

MAKE CONTACTUpload your faith expressions to www.group.com/roughedit—we’ll post your photos, poems,sketches, whatever images honestly reflect how God is speaking to you.Think of it as an online gallery showing how God’s revealing himself through teens like you andteens, well.not like you.pa, 17Up on a Roof— Tony NapRough EditWhen it comes to faith, we’re all seeking andgrowing and struggling and changing. We’re notthe finished product yet. We’re what some in thebook business would call a “rough edit”—a workin progress. It’s the idea behind Philippians 1:6:“God, who began the good work within you, willcontinue his work until it is finally finished on theday when Christ Jesus returns.”And one of the keys to growing in faith isbeing part of a community. You’ll find one atgroup.com/roughedit—a Web site for you andyour friends where you can post your thoughtsand questions, chat about important issues, andupload photos, art, and videos.Each time we reprint this Bible, we’ll selectmore art and writing from Rough Edit to includein these pages. We’d love for your creativeexpressions to be a part of the next LIVE! RoughEdit is a place for you—where you can expressyourself and live your faith.LIVE intro A11 dit

IMAGINEImagine you just heard from someone who loves you. IMAGINE2 THESSALONIANS XXXYou pick: Is it your father? mother? boyfriend or girlfriend? bestfriend? grandparent? Once they’ve told you how much you mean tothem and how they can’t live without you, you want to respond. Maybeyou wan

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