| I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live. Also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, 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, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be enough room for.” | “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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| Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me. | Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. |
| “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are profitable. “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things build 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. |
| Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion. | 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. |
| Don’t be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. 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 be humbled, and I also know how to abound. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in 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 and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “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.” |
| Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to 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. |
| He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him, because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making 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.) |
| He answered them, “He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him 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: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than 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! |
| As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will also 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 wore clothing made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist. 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 withered— the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all of the trees of the field are withered; for joy has withered away from the sons of men. | 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. |
| According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me. | When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me. |
| Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other 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.” |
