| Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. | Do not withhold kindness from anyone to whom it is due when it is in your power to grant it. |
| “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves 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. |
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| God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? | God is not human, that he should lie, or the son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act, does he promise and then not fulfill it? |
| He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. | The Lord has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? Only this: to do what is right, to show mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. |
| There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. | For everything there is a season, and a time for every activity under heaven. |
| Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. | Dear children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. |
| Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. | Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of your opportunity. Let your speech always be gracious and seasoned with wisdom, so that you will know how to respond properly to all. |
| The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy. | The Lord abhors lying lips, but he delights in those who are truthful. |
| In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. | In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it does not have works. |
| Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. | Commit your way to the Lord; place your trust in him, and he will act. He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, and the justice of your cause, like the noonday. |
| When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. | Because the sentence for committing an evil act is not carried out quickly, people’s hearts are prone to act wickedly. |
| Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. | Keep alert; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. |
| Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. | Every good act of giving and every perfect gift are from above, coming down from the Father of all light. With him there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. |
| Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand. | Many shall be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will persist in their evil ways. |
| If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors 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. |
| For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. | Indeed, the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword, it pierces to the point where it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. |
| And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. | Then it will come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. |
| Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ | This is ‘the stone rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone.’ |
| Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. | Wait quietly for the Lord and be patient until he comes. Do not fret over the man who prospers because of his evil schemes. |
| So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. | While Peter was thus imprisoned, the Church prayed fervently to God for him. |
| I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ | I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ |
| But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. | However, the one who looks intently at the perfect law of freedom and perseveres—not forgetting what he has heard but putting it into practice—will be blessed in everything he does. |
| They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” | They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, and so too will your household.” |
| Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. | Therefore, brethren, I implore you by the mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to God—a spiritual act of worship. |
| So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. | Then, after completing their fasting and prayer, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. |
