| You shall most certainly not make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves to be alongside me. | Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me. |
| Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give. | Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received! |
| If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless. | If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. |
| Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal. | Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. |
| If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. | A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. |
| Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. | Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt. |
| A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. | A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. |
| God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. | God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. |
| Until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest. | Until at last the Spirit is poured out on us from heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. |
| The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but a fool is swallowed by his own lips. | Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words. |
| Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! | Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. |
| Who can find a worthy woman? For her value is far above rubies. | Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. |
| 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 woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. |
| Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. | Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. |
| Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. | Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. |
| Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? | Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? |
| But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. | Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. |
| But godliness with contentment is great gain. | Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. |
| Therefore leaving the teaching of the first principles of Christ, let’s press on to perfection—not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God, of the teaching of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. | So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. |
| According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission. | In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. |
| I made a covenant with my eyes; how then should I look lustfully at a young woman? | I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. |
| Where there is no counsel, plans fail; but in a multitude of counselors they are established. | Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success. |
| But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. | But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. |
| Open your mouth, judge righteously, and serve justice to the poor and needy. | Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. |
| For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death. | For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. |
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