| I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. | I urge you, brethren, to watch out for those who incite dissensions and obstacles in opposition to the teaching that you have learned. Take care to avoid them. |
| Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. | And learn to do good. Pursue justice and rescue the oppressed; listen to the plea of the orphan and defend the widow. |
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| Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. | At dawn let me experience your kindness, for in you I place my trust. Show me the path I must walk, for to you I lift up my soul. |
| Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. | Grant justice to the weak and the orphan; defend the rights of the lowly and the poor. |
| Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. | Restore us, O Lord of hosts; let your face shine upon us, and we will be saved. |
| Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. | Speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves, and defend the rights of the destitute. |
| And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. | I will put my Spirit in you and make you follow my statutes and my ordinances. |
| But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” | But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy for all the people.” |
| Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. | Speak out and pronounce righteous judgments; defend the rights of the wretched and the poor. |
| I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. | I will make them and the region surrounding my hill a blessing, and I will send them rain in due season that will be showers of blessing. |
| Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. | Commit your way to the Lord; place your trust in him, and he will act. He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, and the justice of your cause, like the noonday. |
| They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. | For they said to you, “In the final age there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly passions.” It is these people who create divisions, who follow their natural instincts and do not possess the Spirit. |
| For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. | For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. |
| Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. | Therefore, let us cease passing judgment on one another, but rather judge never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. |
| The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. | The lips of a fool cause strife, and his mouth provokes a flogging. |
| ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will not be angry forever.’ | Return, rebel Israel, says the Lord. I will not look upon you in anger. For I am merciful, says the Lord; my wrath will not continue forever. |
| “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. | If you refrain from traveling on the Sabbath and from engaging in your own interests on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a day of joy and regard the Lord’s holy day as honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way, serving your own interests, or attending to your own affairs; then you will find true happiness in the Lord, and I will enable you to ride upon the heights of the earth. I will nourish you with the heritage of your father Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. |
| But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. | But for that very reason I was treated mercifully, so that in me Jesus Christ might exhibit his inexhaustible patience, making me an example for those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. |
| If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. | However, if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you are upright in your dealings with your neighbor; if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed innocent blood in this place; and if you do not follow other gods and thereby cause your own destruction, then I will allow you to live in this place, in the land that I gave as a permanent gift to your fathers long ago. |
| Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. | The future bodes well for him who is generous in helping those in need and who conducts his affairs with justice. |
| The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him. | The father of a good man will rejoice; he who begets a wise son will delight in him. |
| Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. | Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. |
| This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. | That is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, and they devote themselves to this service. |
| Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. | Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outer self is continuing to decay, our inner self is being renewed day by day. |
| See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. | Take care, brethren, that none of you will ever have an evil and unbelieving heart that will cause you to forsake the living God. |
