| Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. | Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. |
| You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. | You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. |
|
| Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. | Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. |
| For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. | For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. |
| Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! | Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. |
| Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. | Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. |
| Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. | Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. |
| Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. | Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. |
| And I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts. | I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. |
| Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. | Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. |
| You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. | You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. |
| For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. | For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. |
| For the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. | For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good. |
| Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. | Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. |
| And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) | “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) |
| No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. | No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. |
| Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! | Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. |
| Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. | Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. |
| Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. | Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children. |
| For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. | For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. |
| I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. | I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. |
| Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. | Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. |
| For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. | For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. |
| Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! | Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. |
| There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. | Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. |
