| 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. | Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them. |
| Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. | Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Defend the fatherless. Plead for 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. | Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you. |
| Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. | Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. |
| Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. | Turn us again, Yahweh God of Armies. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved. |
| Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. | Open your mouth for the mute, in the cause of all who are left desolate. |
| 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 within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them. |
| But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” | The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.” |
| Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. | Open your mouth, judge righteously, and serve justice to the poor and needy. |
| 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 places around my hill a blessing. I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There 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 Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this: he will make your righteousness shine out like light, and your justice as the noon day sun. |
| 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. | They said to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.” These are those who cause divisions and are sensual, not having 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 cause a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife. Then the two will 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’s not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother’s way, or an occasion for falling. |
| The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. | A fool’s lips come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings. |
| ‘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, you backsliding Israel,’ says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you, for I am merciful,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will not keep anger 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 turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Yahweh honorable, and honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you will delight yourself in Yahweh, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;” for Yahweh’s mouth has spoken it. |
| 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. | However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience for an example of those who were going 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. | For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor; if you don’t oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don’t shed innocent blood in this place, and don’t walk after other gods to your own hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even forever more. |
| Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. | It is well with the man who deals graciously and lends. He will maintain his cause in judgment. |
| The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him. | The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him. |
| Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. | Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, 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. | For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing. |
| Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. | Therefore we don’t faint, but though our outward person is decaying, yet our inward person is 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. | Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God. |
