| 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 believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. |
| Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. | 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. |
| Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. | Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. |
| 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. | Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. |
| For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. | You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. |
| You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. | You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine. |
| 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. | I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and will give to your offspring all these lands; and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. |
| I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High. | I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. |
| The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free. | The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free. |
| “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.” | He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of 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.” |
| Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. | Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God. |
| The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. | The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners. |
| Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my plea! Answer me because you are faithful and righteous. | Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness. |
| Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. | Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. |
| What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. | Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. |
| The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. | The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. |
| Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. | Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. |
| Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. | Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. |
| You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law. | We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. |
| But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. | But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. |
| 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. | By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. |
| When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. | When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. |
| 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. | And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. |
| Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. | For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. |
| Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. | Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. |
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