For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have. | As long as the goodwill is present, the gift will be acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. |
That their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ. | I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love so that they may grow rich in their complete understanding as they come to the knowledge of the mystery of God, that is, Christ. |
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They will never be hungry or thirsty any more. The sun won’t beat on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. | They will never again experience hunger or thirst, nor will the sun or any scorching heat cause them discomfort. For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. |
I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass? | I, I alone, am the one who comforts you. Why then do you fear mortal men who must die, human beings who must perish like grass? |
For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ. | For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so too, through Christ, do we receive our consolation. |
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established; that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. | For I am longing to see you so that I may bestow on you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— or, rather, so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. |
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. | For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that by perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we may continue to have hope. |