| I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. | I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth. |
| Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. | Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come. |
| Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. | Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. |
| The ransom of a man's life is his wealth, but a poor man hears no threat. | The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened. |
| Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. | Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise. |
| But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” | As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” |
| Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. | They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. |
| And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. | And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. |
| For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. | Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. |
| The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. | The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. |
| You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah | For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory. |
| So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. | So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. |
| Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and 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. |
| For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. | The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. |
| But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. | But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. |
| And I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts. | I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments. |
| So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. | So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer. |
| And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. | I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing. |
| When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. | When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened. |
| But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. | Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires. |
| Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. | Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. |
| Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” | So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. |
| Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. | Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. |
| Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. | So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. |
| He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” | Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” |
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