As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. | Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. |
“As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning.” | As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. |
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For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. | For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. |
So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. | So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. |
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” | Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. |
The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. | For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. |
Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” | But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” |
You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. | Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. |
When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! | And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. |
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” | Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” |
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. | Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. |
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. | A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. |
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. | Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. |
Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. | If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. |
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. | Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. |
For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. | Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. |
And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. | And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. |
But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. | You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. |
Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. | Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. |
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, yet possessing everything. |
He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. | He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. |
I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! | I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. |
We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. | As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. |
For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’” | For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” |
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. | Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. |