| And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. | 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. |
| Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. | Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. |
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| Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. | 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. |
| Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. | Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. |
| Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. | Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. |
| And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. | And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. |
| The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise. | The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him. |
| So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. | 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. |
| Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. | 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. |
| Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. | Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. |
| Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” | Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”. |
| I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing. | 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. |
| They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them. | 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. |
| As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” | For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. |
| Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating. | The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. |
| O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. | ‘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.’ |
| Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. | Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. |
| 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 descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions. |
| But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. | 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 I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. | 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. |
| Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly. | Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. |
| God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. | Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. |
| But the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” | But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” |
| Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. | This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. |
| That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. | Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. |
