For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can’t carry anything out. But having food and clothing, we will be content with that. | After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. |
Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal. | Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. |
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Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. | Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law. |
The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination. | The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety. |
Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind. Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down. Yahweh loves the righteous. | The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly. |
Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn’t faint. He isn’t weary. His understanding is unsearchable. | Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. |
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; yes, God has made the one side by side with the other, to the end that man should not find out anything after him. | Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life. |
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. | For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. |
Or can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched? | Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? |
Yahweh is on my side. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? | The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? |
Who can find a worthy woman? For her value is far above rubies. | Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. |
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. | How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word. |
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” | “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” |
What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? | What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? |
In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? | I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? |
So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?” | So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” |
Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God. | Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. |
Can anyone forbid these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just like us. | Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did? |
I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. | Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. |
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow. | Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. |
The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it? “I, Yahweh, search the mind. I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” | The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve. |
Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you! Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me. | Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins. |