Lead a study
on Romans 8.

Compare translations.

Someone in the group will be reading from another Bible. Read the chapter in three translations side by side, so you know where they say it differently.

1. Open Romans 8: press ⌘K, type rom 8 and press ↩.
2. Press ⌘2 for Compare. It opens at the same chapter, with the King James Version, the American Standard Version and Young's Literal Translation.
3. Highlight differences, at the top right, marks the wording that differs from the first column.
4. + Add puts another translation alongside, and the × on a column takes it away.

Search the Bible.

Verse 15 speaks of “the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Where else does Paul use the word? One search looks through the Bible, every commentary and dictionary, your books and your journal at once.

1. Press ⌘3 for Search, type adoption and press ↩.
2. Under Range, click Letters to look only in the letters of the New Testament. Click it again to go back to the whole Bible.
3. Under Look in, choose Bible, Commentaries or Dictionaries to see just those results.
4. Click a result to read it in context on the right. Open takes you to it.

Find the Greek word.

“Adoption” is one Greek word, huiothesia: literally, being placed as a son. Paul uses it of what God has done for us in Christ.

1. Press ⌘1 to go back to Read.
2. Click the word adoption in verse 15. A box shows the Greek word behind it, υἱοθεσία, its Strong's number, G5206, and how the KJV translates it elsewhere.
3. Below are the dictionaries with an article on it, and the commentaries on the verse. Click the speaker to hear the word said.

Study the word.

Word Study gathers everything about one word: its entries in the lexicons, every verse that uses it, and the articles about it in your library.

1. Click Word study in the word's box, or press ⌘4 and type G5206.
2. Read the entries from Strong's and the other lexicons, then the verses. The word comes only five times, all in Paul's letters.
3. Click a verse to read it in context. Galatians 4:4–6 is worth reading aloud on Thursday: God sent forth His Son, that we might receive the adoption of sons, and the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.

Read the dictionaries.

A Bible dictionary gives the background a modern reader misses: what adoption meant in Paul's day, and what it means to be made a child of God.

1. In Read, select verse 15, and click the Dictionary tab in the study pane.
2. Type adoption in its box. It looks the word up in all your dictionaries at once.
3. Click a dictionary's name, such as Easton or ISBE, to read its article. References in it are links.

Read the commentators.

Verse 28 is the verse the group will want to talk about most. Read what the great commentators wrote on it.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.Romans 8:28

1. Select verse 28, and click the Commentary tab.
2. Click each name in turn: Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, John Wesley, Albert Barnes, and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown.
3. Below them are the cross-references. Point at one to read it.

Ask how they differ.

The commentators agree that God works all things for the good of those who love Him, but not on every word. The AI assistant can read them all and set out where they agree and where they part, naming each one.

1. With verse 28 selected, click the Ask tab in the study pane (or the ask button on the verse's toolbar).
2. Type your question and press ↩.
3. The assistant reads your commentaries and dictionaries, and answers with its source for each point.

Choose songs.

Open and close the evening in worship. The assistant can choose songs from your own music to suit the chapter, and say why each one fits.

1. In Read, at Romans 8, click the ♫ button at the top right.
2. Choose how many songs, and click Choose songs. A card says what the chapter is about, and why each song suits it.
3. Click Play songs to hear them, with the words in the reading column. Choose again picks others.

Write and print a handout.

Put your outline and questions in the journal, linked to the verses, then print it for the group.

Write the notes

1. Press ⌘5 for the Journal, and ⌘N for a new entry. Call it Romans 8 for Thursday.
2. Use the toolbar for headings and lists: an outline, then the questions for the group.
3. Type references as you would anywhere, such as Romans 8:28. They become links, and the entry shows beside those verses in Read.
4. Type # to add a tag, such as #group.

Print it

1. Click the Print button on the entry's toolbar.
2. Choose This entry, and tick The text of each entry's verses to print the verses with it.
3. Click Save PDF… and choose where. The PDF opens once it's saved, ready to print or send to the group.