| Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another. | As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. |
| I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. | I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free. |
| For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ | For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’ |
| But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. | Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. |
| And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ | A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ |
| I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches. | I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. |
| As far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us. | He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. |
| So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God; for those who enter God's rest also cease from their labors as God did from his. | 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. |
| I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah | I lift my hands to you in prayer. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain. |
| And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. | “As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning.” |
| I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. | I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath! |
| For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover them with favor as with a shield. | For you bless the godly, O Lord; you surround them with your shield of love. |
| 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. | The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. |
| But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. | But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. |
| Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. | You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. |
| God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights. | The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. |
| If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. | Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. |
| As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. | 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. |
| Until a spirit from on high is poured out on us, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed 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. |
| But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you. | 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. |
| As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him. | But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. |
| I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. | So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. |
| Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. | Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. |
| 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. | When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! |
| In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. | 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. |
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