I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the gift of God. | I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. |
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” | “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” |
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Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion. | Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. |
All things are permitted, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted, but not all things build people up. | “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. |
Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink, and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he labors under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. | This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. |
Do not worry about your life, as to what you are to eat; nor for your body, as to what you are to wear. For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. | Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. |
I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. | I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. |
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” | On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” |
Furthermore, as for every person to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also given him the opportunity to enjoy them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. | Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. |
And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding as well? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared all foods clean.) | “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) |
And he would answer and say to them, “The one who has two tunics is to share with the one who has none; and the one who has food is to do likewise.” | John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” |
Consider the ravens, that they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! | Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! |
Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. | Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. |
Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. | John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. |
The vine has dried up And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field have dried up. Indeed, joy has dried up From the sons of mankind. | The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree— all the trees of the field—are dried up. Surely the people’s joy is withered away. |
As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, And as they became satisfied, their heart became proud; Therefore they forgot Me. | When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me. |
Therefore, concerning the eating of food sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one. | So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” |