| The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it? “I, Yahweh, search the mind. I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” | 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. |
| For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. | For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. |
| If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. | But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! |
| Watch yourselves, that we don’t lose the things which we have accomplished, but that we receive a full reward. | Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. |
| For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. | 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! |
| Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. | 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. |
| For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ. | 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. |
| As sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things. | 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. |
| I am coming quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown. | I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. |
| Therefore, brothers, be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. For thus you will be richly supplied with the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. | 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. |
| I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. From now on, the crown of righteousness is stored up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing. | 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. |
| The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor. | Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave. |
| I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. | 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. |
| Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. | What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance. |
| He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. | Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. |
| Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. | 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. |
| By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised. | 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 which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust. | 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. |
| But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does, so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. | 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 you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees 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. |
| Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward every man according to his work. | Unfailing love, O Lord, is yours. Surely you repay all people according to what they have done. |
| For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor; if you don’t oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don’t shed innocent blood in this place, and don’t walk after other gods to your own hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even forever more. | 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. |
| “They shall be mine,” says Yahweh of Armies, “my own possession in the day that I make. I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.” | “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.” |
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Bible verse of the day
Who is this King of glory?Yahweh of Armies is the King of glory! Selah.