| For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. | As free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. |
| My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. | My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands; For length of days and long life And peace they will add to you. |
| Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. | As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything. |
| Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. | Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame. |
| As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. | As in water face reflects face, So a man’s heart reveals the man. |
| If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. | And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. |
| As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. | As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. |
| The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety. | The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, And like a high wall in his own esteem. |
| Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. | And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. |
| “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” | So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” |
| The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.” | And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” |
| The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. | The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. |
| But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. | But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. |
| Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. | Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. |
| You must not exploit a widow or an orphan. If you exploit them in any way and they cry out to me, then I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless. | You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. |
| Hear my prayer, O Lord! Listen to my cries for help! Don’t ignore my tears. For I am your guest— a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me. | Hear my prayer, O Lord, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were. |
| This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. | In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. |
| And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. | There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. |
| Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. | But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. |
| Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. | Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. |
| And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. | And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. |
| Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” | Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” |
| I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels. | I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. |
| In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. | And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. |
| For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God. | For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. |
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