| I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. | I understand that man’s greatest happiness is to be glad and do well throughout his life. And when we eat and drink and find satisfaction in all our labors, this is a gift of God. |
| Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. | Bring the tithes in full into the treasury so that there may be food in my house. Put me thus to the test, says the Lord of hosts, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down blessings upon you without measure. |
| Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need. | Keep falsehood and lying far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but simply provide me with the food that I need. |
| “All things are lawful,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. | “All things are lawful,” you may say—but not all things are beneficial. All things may be lawful—but not all things are constructive. |
| This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. | This is the conclusion I have reached: it is fitting for a man to eat and drink and find satisfaction in the results of his labors under the sun during the brief span of life that God has allotted him. |
| 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 clothing. | Do not be concerned about your life and what you will have to eat, or about your body and what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. |
| On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.” | On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” |
| I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. | I know how to live with little, and I know how to live with plenty. In any and all circumstances, I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. |
| Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God. | Moreover, the one to whom God grants wealth and possessions and the ability to enjoy them and to find contentment in his toil receives a gift from God. |
| He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) | He said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not realize that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not into the heart but into the stomach and is discharged into the sewer?” Thus, he pronounced all foods clean. |
| In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” | He said to them in reply, “Anyone who has two coats must share with the person who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.” |
| Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! | Consider the ravens. They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn, and yet God feeds them. You are of far greater importance than birds. |
| Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. | John’s clothing was made of camel’s hair, with a leather loincloth around his waist, and his food consisted of locusts and wild honey. |
| Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. | Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so whoever feeds upon me will live because of me. |
| The vine withers, the fig tree droops. Pomegranate, palm, and apple— all the trees of the field are dried up; surely, joy withers away among the people. | The vine has withered; the fig tree droops. The pomegranate, the palm, and the apple tree— all the trees of the field have dried up. And the joy of the people has also withered away. |
| When I fed them, they were satisfied; they were satisfied, and their heart was proud; therefore they forgot me. | When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud of heart and quickly forgot me. |
| Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” | Now in regard to the eating of meat sacrificed to idols, we know that idols are nothing in the world and that there is only one God. |
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