I am Abraham's God, and Isaac's God and Jacob's God.' [So], He is not God to those who are [physically] dead, but [He is] God to those who are [still] alive."

By [having] faith, Enoch was taken [to be with God], so that he did not have to die. And he could not be found because God had taken him away. For he had been commended [by God] before he was taken away, that he had pleased God. [Note: The Hebrew of Gen. 5:24 says, "he walked with God"].

And God lives in the heart of the person who [continually] obeys His commands, and he lives in [fellowship with] God. And here is [another] way we know that God lives in our hearts: It is by [means of] the Holy Spirit, whom God gave to us. [See Rom. 8:9, 11; James 4:5; I Cor. 6:19].

And we have known [with certainty] and have believed [with assurance] that God has truly loved us. God's [very nature] is love and the person who [continually] loves [Him and others] lives in [fellowship with] God [continually], and God [continually] lives in that person's heart.

Every person who believes that Jesus is the Christ [i.e., God's specially chosen one] has been [spiritually] conceived [and eventually born] by God. And everyone who [continually] loves God, who did the conceiving, also [must continually] love the person whom God has [spiritually] conceived.

The person who [sincerely] believes in God's Son has the evidence [of it] within his heart, [confirming God's testimony]. The person who does not believe God [i.e., what He says about Jesus], accuses Him of lying, because he has not accepted the [irrefutable] testimony of God concerning [the identity and mission of] His Son.

I will make the person who has victory [in the Christian life] a pillar in the Temple of my God [i.e., probably a reference to heaven], and he will never leave it. And I will write on him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which is coming down from heaven from my God [See 21:2, 10] and my own new name.

But concerning those who are raised from the dead, have you never read in the book of Moses, in the incident about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying [Ex. 3:6], 'I am Abraham's God, and Isaac's God, and Jacob's God?'

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look, the Tabernacle of God [i.e., God's presence] is with people and He will live with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be among them {{Some ancient manuscripts add "and will be their God"}}.

And God, who searches our hearts, knows what the Holy Spirit [has] in mind, because He [i.e., the Holy Spirit] goes to God on behalf of the saints [i.e., God's holy people] in harmony with God's will.

Now in response to the [proclamation of the] good news [about Christ], the Jews became [God's] enemies for the sake of you [Gentiles]. But concerning [God's] select people, these Jews became [God's] dearly loved ones for the sake of their forefathers [i.e, who believed God's promises regarding their descendants].

For we [apostles] are not like so many people, who "peddle" God's message merely for profit [or, "who corrupt God's message"], but in Christ's [service] we proclaim the message from God with sincerity, [realizing we are] in the presence of God.

And what agreement is there between a temple of God and idols? For we are a temple of the living God, just as God said [Lev. 26:12], "I will live in them and walk among them [i.e., among His people]; and I will be their God and they will be my people."