| Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other people in your place and other nations in exchange for your life. | Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you. |
| Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. | God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. |
| And I will strengthen the house of Judah, And I will save the house of Joseph, And I will bring them back, Because I have had compassion on them; And they will be as though I had not rejected them, For I am the Lord their God and I will answer them. | I will strengthen Judah and save Israel; I will restore them because of my compassion. It will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the Lord their God, who will hear their cries. |
| I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed Me and fulfilled his duty to Me, and kept My commandments, My statutes, and My laws. | I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions. |
| Who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. | For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. |
| But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” | But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” |
| Do not be afraid, little flock, because your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom. | So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. |
| Because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin. | For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. |
| Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. | But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven. |
| We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. | We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. |
| The Lord’s acts of mercy indeed do not end, For His compassions do not fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. | The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. |
| Because in much wisdom there is much grief; and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain. | The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow. |
| By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. | It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. |
| Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. | Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! |
| For You created my innermost parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. | You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. |
| Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. | So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. |
| And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “At last this is bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called ‘woman,’ Because she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. | Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. |
| Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. | Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. |
| Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. | For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. |
| You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may certainly rebuke your neighbor, but you are not to incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord. | Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. |
| So remove sorrow from your heart and keep pain away from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting. | So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless. |
| So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? | I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. |
| The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. | That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. |
| In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. | There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? |
| For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf. | Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. |
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