The command that Christ has given us is this: whoever loves God must love others also.

And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you.

We know that we have left death and come over into life; we know it because we love others. Those who do not love are still under the power of death.

This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for others!

Dear friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another.

My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you.

And you are my friends if you do what I command you.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty.

Since you are God's dear children, you must try to be like him.

Your life must be controlled by love, just as Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice that pleases God.

Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.

Since Christ suffered physically, you too must strengthen yourselves with the same way of thinking that he had; because whoever suffers physically is no longer involved with sin.

You have spent enough time in the past doing what the heathen like to do. Your lives were spent in indecency, lust, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and the disgusting worship of idols.

The winter is over; the rains have stopped;

in the countryside the flowers are in bloom. This is the time for singing; the song of doves is heard in the fields.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them.

Arise, Jerusalem, and shine like the sun; The glory of the LORD is shining on you!

Nations will be drawn to your light, And kings to the dawning of your new day.

The people who live in darkness will see a great light. On those who live in the dark land of death the light will shine."

and to shine from heaven on all those who live in the dark shadow of death, to guide our steps into the path of peace."

I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.

God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways.

You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God's chosen people.'

The night is nearly over, day is almost here. Let us stop doing the things that belong to the dark, and let us take up weapons for fighting in the light.

They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

The God who said, "Out of darkness the light shall shine!" is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ.

You yourselves used to be in the darkness, but since you have become the Lord's people, you are in the light. So you must live like people who belong to the light,

All of you are people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

It is at night when people sleep; it is at night when they get drunk.

The LORD is my light and my salvation; I will fear no one. The LORD protects me from all danger; I will never be afraid.

You are the source of all life, and because of your light we see the light.

The LORD is our protector and glorious king, blessing us with kindness and honor. He does not refuse any good thing to those who do what is right.

But for you who obey me, my saving power will rise on you like the sun and bring healing like the sun's rays. You will be as free and happy as calves let out of a stall.

The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to people.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.

This was the real light---the light that comes into the world and shines on all people.

Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. "I am the light of the world," he said. "Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness."

Jesus answered, "The light will be among you a little longer. Continue on your way while you have the light, so that the darkness will not come upon you; for the one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.

but now it has been revealed to us through the coming of our Savior, Christ Jesus. He has ended the power of death and through the gospel has revealed immortal life.