Those who live according to the flesh can never be pleasing to God. | Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. |
Great is the Lord and worthy of the highest praise; no one can even begin to comprehend his greatness. | Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. |
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It is honorable to avoid strife, but every fool is quarrelsome. | It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. |
No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. | Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. |
You can eat any water creature that has fins and scales; those you can eat. Whatever does not have fins or scales, you are not to eat. It is unclean for you. | Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean. |
In peace I lie down and sleep, for only with your help, O Lord, can I rest secure. | In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. |
Some friends can lead us to ruin, but a true friend is closer than a brother. | One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. |
You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can be done to make it salty once again? It is no longer good for anything, and thus it is cast out and trampled underfoot. | You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. |
This saying can be trusted: If we have died with him, we shall also live with him. | Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him. |
For the entire Law can be summed up in a single commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” | For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” |
In that way, I can come to you in joy, if God so wills, and be refreshed together with you. | So that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. |
If anyone is rich in worldly possessions and sees a brother in need but refuses to open his heart, how can the love of God abide in him? | If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? |
Do not associate with unbelievers. For what basis can there be for a partnership between righteousness and lawlessness? What do light and darkness have in common? | Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? |
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his very life? Or what can he give in exchange for his life? | What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? |
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will ever snatch them from my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. | I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. |
When things are going well, be grateful for your blessings, and in times of adversity consider this: God has made both of them, so that we cannot predict with confidence what the future holds. | When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future. |
For no one can be regarded as justified in the sight of God by keeping the Law. The Law brings only the consciousness of sin. | Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. |
For our eyes are fixed not on what is seen but rather on that which cannot be seen. What is visible is transitory; what is invisible is eternal. | So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. |
For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. This has not come from you but from the gift of God. It does not come from works, so that no one can boast. | For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. |
And thus we can have confidence in him that if we ask anything that is in accordance with his will, he hears us. | This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. |
For much wisdom can result in much sorrow, and those who increase their knowledge also increase their grief. | For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. |
This is how we can be certain that we abide in him and that he abides in us: he has given us a share in his Spirit. | This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. |
There is no salvation in anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to men by which we can be saved. | Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. |
Every good act of giving and every perfect gift are from above, coming down from the Father of all light. With him there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. | Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. |
No trial has confronted you except what a person can stand. God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tried beyond your strength. But together with the trial he will also provide a way out and the strength to bear it. | No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. |