| The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve. | The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, To give to each person according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds. |
| For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. | For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
| But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! | If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. |
| Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. | Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. |
| For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! | For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. |
| All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. | Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. |
| Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. | For am I now seeking the favor of people, or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. |
| Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. | As sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. |
| I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. | I am coming quickly; hold firmly to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. |
| So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. | Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choice of you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. |
| Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave. | The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy hand will be put to forced labor. |
| I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. | I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. |
| What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance. | Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen for His own inheritance. |
| Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. | I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. |
| Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. | The one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne. |
| And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. | Now whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. |
| It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. | By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. |
| And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. | Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust. |
| But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. | But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your charitable giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. |
| But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. | But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. |
| Unfailing love, O Lord, is yours. Surely you repay all people according to what they have done. | And faithfulness is Yours, Lord, For You reward a person according to his work. |
| But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. | For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a person and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor follow other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. |
| “They will be my people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child.” | “And they will be Mine,” says the Lord of armies, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will have compassion for them just as a man has compassion for his own son who serves him.” |
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