| The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. | The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance. |
| In the night I search for you; in the morning I earnestly seek you. For only when you come to judge the earth will people learn what is right. | With my soul I have desired you in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me I will seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. |
| O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you 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.’ |
| But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. | But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. |
| But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared. | You may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?” When a prophet speaks in Yahweh’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him. |
| For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. | For the Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. |
| So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. | For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. |
| That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” | “Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.” |
| Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ | He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water. |
| For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. | Even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. |
| So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. | Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes. |
| We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. | As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. |
| Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.” | He called the multitude to himself with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” |
| The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. | Yahweh will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul. Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more. |
| As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” | While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.” |
| Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all. | Wake up righteously and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. |
| And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. | For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God’s love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
| The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! | When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes? |
| Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. | Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Set free, and you will be set free. |
| Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” | Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” |
| From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” | From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” |
| And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. | Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. |
| So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help. | Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. |
| How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world. | Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, before the sons of men! |
| The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. | It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. |
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