This passage, especially in this rendering, makes clear the kind of relationships God wants among his people - in sharp contrast to what many experienced in the Geftakys Assemblies.

I Corinthians 13:  A Version

1. Unless I make my voice show loving-kindness,
     the eloquence of orators
     and even lyric ecstasy of angels
       is meaningless babel.

2. Whatever powers I may have—
    to proclaim God’s will on the issues of the day,
    to probe secrets of the cosmos and wisdom of sages,
    to overcome any obstacle with boundless trust in God, 
      they are utterly worthless
      unless they serve loving-kindness.

3. I might be
    a peerless philanthropist
    or ready to die for the right cause,
    but doing good
        —without loving-kindness,
    is labor spent in vain.

4. Loving-kindness waits out storms; 
    it is good-hearted and not jealous; 
    it isn't egotistical, and doesn't put on airs.

5. It doesn't become ugly,
    doesn't try to get its own way,
    doesn't lose its temper,
    and doesn't hold a grudge.

6. Loving-kindness isn’t pleased
    when someone gets hurt; 
    what really thrills it
      is integrity winning out.

7. Loving-kindness rises to meet each occasion;
    it is absolutely trusting,
    full of hope,
    withstands every challenge.

8. Loving-kindness will always have a role to play.
    But someday great issues will no longer matter; 
      someday eloquence will have nothing to say; 
     someday throbbing angelic ecstasy will be hushed; 
      and someday profound insights will be irrelevant.

9. Our deepest insights, after all,
       are always biased; 
    even our visions of the issues
       are colored by our time and place.

10. But when the fullness of time comes,
      our biased insights
       and matters that seem to us important
         will lose their importance.

11. A child has its own way of talking,
       its own way of seeing right and wrong,
       its own way of thinking. 
     An adult must think and act in grown-up ways.

12. We are like children now: 
       our images of each other are at best distorted; 
     when we grow up,
        we will look each other in the face. 
     My clearest visions now are skewed;
     when we are fully grown,
        we shall see and understand each other
           with the wholeness of authentic selves.

13. So there are these three things that outlive life itself: 
      trusting loyalty,
      sure expectation,
       and loving-kindness; 
      and of them all,
         the one that counts for most is loving-kindness.

                  —CWC; August 6, 1988, revised

I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus...
writing to exiles scattered to the four winds.

Not one is missing, not one forgotten.
God the Father has his eye on each of you,
and has determined by the work of the Spirit
to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus.

May everything good from God be yours!

He calls His own sheep by name
and leads them...

I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish;
no one can snatch them out of My hand.
My Father, who has given them to me,
is greater than all;
no one can snatch them
out of My Father's hand.
I and the Father are one.

The Lord
surrounds* His people who trusts in Him.
You are my hiding place,
You will protect me from trouble
and surround* me with songs of deliverance.

Being settled down between His shoulders is an image of the deepest hug you could ever imagine. That loving security is also evoked by the description of Jesus being in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18). This is where Jesus declared the invisible God to us, and this is where we are with Him, even though we often are not aware of it (John 17:23).

The beloved of the Lord
shall settle down securely by Him,
for He shields him
all day long,
and the one the Lord loves
rests between His shoulders.

In Him and through faith in Him
we may approach God
with freedom and confidence...
I pray that you,
being rooted and established in love,
may...grasp how wide and long and high and deep
is the love of Christ,
and to know this love
that surpasses knowledge--
so that you may be filled up
to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able
to do immeasurably more
than all we ask or imagine,
according to His power that is at work within us,
to Him be glory...

He Himself has said,
"I will not in any way fail you,
nor give you up,
nor leave you without support.

I will not...I will not...I will not
in any degree
leave you helpless, nor forsake
nor let you down
nor relax My hold on you--
assuredly not!"

So
we take comfort
and are encouraged,
and confidently and boldly say,
"The Lord is my helper,
I will not be seized with alarm."

He
will be
the sure foundation...
the stability
of your times,
a rich store of salvation,
wisdom,
and knowledge.

Though the Lord is high,
He looks upon the lowly,
but the proud He knows from afar.

Though I am surrounded by troubles,
You will bring me safely through them.
You will clench Your fist against my angry enemies!
Your power will save me.

The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me;
for Your lovingkindness, Lord, continues forever.
Don't abandon me--
for You made me.

O Lord, You have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
You know when I sit or stand.
When far away
You know my every thought.
You chart the path ahead of me,
and tell me where to stop and rest.
Every moment,
You know where I am.

This is too glorious, too wonderful to believe!
I can never be lost to Your Spirit!
I can never get away from God!

How precious it is, Lord, to realize
that You are thinking about me constantly!
I can't even count how many times a day
Your thoughts turn towards me.
And when I awaken in the morning,
You are still thinking of me!

Because the Lord is my shepherd
I will not lack anything!
He lets me rest
in the meadow grass
and leads me
besides the quiet streams.

He restores* my person*.
He leads me
in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake*.

Even when the way
goes through Death Valley,
I will not be afraid,
for You are close beside me,
guarding, guiding all the way.

You prepare a table for me
in the presence of my enemies,
You have welcomed me as Your guest.
Blessings overflow!

Your goodness
and unfailing, courteous, loving-kindness
chase after me every day of my life.
And afterwards
I will live with You
forever in Your home.

Come to Me,
all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me
(learn by asking or watching--a relational imparting),
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy,
and My burden is light.

*stick close: "adhere to, cling to, cleave to, be joined together"

You have been adopted
into the very family circle of God
and you can say with a full heart,
"Daddy, my Father".
The Spirit himself
endorses our inward conviction
that we really are the children of God.

Think what that means.
If we are His children
then we are God's heirs,
and all that Christ inherits
will belong to all of us as well!

The Spirit helps us
(takes hold with at our side
for assistance, takes a share in
and helps in bearing)
in our weakness
(lack of strength,
inability to produce results).

We do not know
what we ought to pray for,
but the Spirit Himself
intercedes for us
(falls in with us and meets with us
in order to converse,
then to make petition for  us
as an attorney)
with groans
(inward feelings of sorrow and grief)
that words cannot express.

Christ Jesus,
who died--
more than that,
who was raised to life--
is at the right hand of God
and is also
interceding for us.

The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.

John 1:16
The gospel of John was written by the beloved disciple, the one who leaned on Jesus' bosom. John wants to be sure that those who come afterward will also know that intimacy with Christ.

From the fullness of His grace
we have all received
one blessing after another...
Grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.

"If anyone is thirsty,
let him come to Me and drink.
Whoever believes in Me,
as the Scripture has said,
streams of living water
will flow from within him."
By this He meant the Spirit...

"Whoever drinks
the water I give him
will never thirst.
Indeed,
the water I give him
will become in him
a spring of water
welling up to eternal life."

John 5:24

I tell you the truth,
whoever hears My word
and believes Him who sent Me
has eternal life
and will not be condemned;
he has crossed over
from death to life.

Therefore,
there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because
through Christ Jesus
the law of the Spirit of life
has set me free
from the law of sin and death
[past tense, accomplished fact].

The work of God is this:
to believe in the One He has sent.

It is my Father
who gives you the true bread from heaven...
I am the bread of life.
He who comes to Me
will never go hungry,
and he who believes in Me
will never be thirsty...
Whoever comes to Me
I will never drive away...
This is the will of Him who sent me,
that I shall lose none
of all whom He has given Me,
but raise them up at the last day.
For my Father's will is
that everyone who looks to the Son
and believes in Him
shall have eternal life,
and I will raise him up at the last day...
Everyone who listens to the Father
and learns from Him
comes to Me.

This I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord's great love
we are not consumed,
for His tender, cherishing, loving-kindnesses never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
I say to myself,
"The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for Him."
The Lord is good
to those whose hope is in Him,
to the one who seeks Him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord....
Though He brings grief,
He will show compassion,
so great is His unfailing, tender love.
For He does not willingly
bring affliction or grief
to the children of men....
You came near when I called You,
and You said, "Do not fear."
O Lord, You took up my case;
You redeemed my life."

"I will bring health and healing...
I will heal my people
and will give them abundant well-being and security...
They will be in awe and will tremble
at the abundant prosperity
and peace I provide...."
 The Lord is good;
His courteous loving-kindness endures forever.

"But now this is what the Lord says,
He who created you....He who formed you....
"Fear not,
for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name;
you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you.
And when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God...your Savior.
I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead,
since you are precious, prized, valuable
and honored in my sight,
and because I love you."

"I have loved you
with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with courteous loving-kindness.
I will build you up again..."

John 15:9

"You sent Me,
and have loved them
even as You have loved Me--
with the same deep and constant love."

"As the Father has loved Me,
so have I loved you.
Now remain in My love."

How great is the deep and constant love
the Father has lavished on us....

This is how we know what deep and constant love is:
Jesus Christ laid down His life
for us.

The Lord longs
to be gracious to you;
He rises
to show you great, cherishing, tender love.

Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn, and He will heal us,
thoroughly by stitching us up;
He has smitten, and He will bind us up firmly.
After two days He will revive us;
in the third day He will recover us,
and we shall live before His face.
Then we shall know Him as a familiar friend.

I keep asking
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the glorious Father,
may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,
so that you may know Him better.
I pray also
that the eyes of your heart
may be enlightened
in order that you may know the hope
to which He has called you,
the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
and His incomparably great power
for us who believe.

Drink deeply 
from the fountain of Salvation.

Psalm 119:105

Break open Your words,
let the light shine out,
let ordinary people see the meaning.
By Your words
I can see where I am going;
they throw a beam of light on my dark path.