Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. | Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. |
But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? | Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? |
|
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” | For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. |
We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. | In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. |
May he grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed. | May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. |
Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success. | Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. |
You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. | Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. |
Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. | Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. |
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. | There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. |
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” | “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. |
Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. | Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. |
Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. | Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. |
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. | As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. |
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom. | All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent. |
But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. | These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. |
Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets. | Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. |
Don’t envy violent people or copy their ways. Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord, but he offers his friendship to the godly. | Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways. For the Lord detests the perverse but takes the upright into his confidence. |