| The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. | The heart is more deceitful than any other thing, and it is also perverse. Who can uncover its secrets? I, the Lord, search the heart and probe the mind to reward all according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve. |
| For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. | For the wages of sin is death, but the gift freely given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
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| If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. | If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you may ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. |
| Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. | Be on your guard that you do not lose what we have worked to accomplish so that you will receive your reward in full. |
| For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. | Our temporary light afflictions are preparing for us an incomparable weight of eternal glory. |
| And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. | Everyone who seeks a prize submits himself to rigorous self-discipline in every respect. They do so to win a perishable crown, while we seek an imperishable one. |
| For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. | Does it now appear to you that I am trying to gain the approval of human beings rather than the approval of God? Am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. |
| As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. | As sorrowful, and yet we are always rejoicing; as poor, and yet we make many rich; as having nothing, and yet we possess everything. |
| Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. | I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you already have so that no one may rob you of your crown. |
| Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. | Therefore, brethren, be diligent in providing a firm foundation for your call and election. If you do this, you will never stumble, and you will receive a glorious welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. |
| I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. | I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. Now waiting for me is the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day—and not only to me, but to all those who have eagerly longed for his appearance. |
| The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. | Authority will be granted to the diligent, but the lazy will be enslaved. |
| I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. | I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing. |
| Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. | Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. |
| To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. | To anyone who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself overcame and sat with my Father on his throne. |
| Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. | Whenever you fast, do not assume a gloomy expression like the hypocrites who contort their faces so that others may realize that they are fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. |
| Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. | By faith Abraham also received the power of procreation, even though he was well past the age—and Sarah herself was barren—because he believed that the one who had made the promise would be faithful in fulfilling it. |
| Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. | By these he has given us his precious promises, great beyond all price, so that through them you may escape from the corruption with which evil desires have infected the world and thereby may come to share in the divine nature. |
| But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. | But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Your almsgiving must be done in secret. And your Father who sees everything that is done in secret will reward you. |
| But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. | But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that the fact that you are fasting will not be obvious to others but only to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees everything that is done in secret will reward you. |
| Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work. | And so does kindness, O Lord. You reward each person in accordance with his deeds. |
| For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. | However, if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you are upright in your dealings with your neighbor; if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed innocent blood in this place; and if you do not follow other gods and thereby cause your own destruction, then I will allow you to live in this place, in the land that I gave as a permanent gift to your fathers long ago. |
| And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. | They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my own special possession on the day when I act, and I will have compassion on them as a father has compassion on the son who serves him. |
