| Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. | It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice. |
| Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. | Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. |
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| But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” | Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” |
| Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. | Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. |
| The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” | The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse— who can understand it? I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings. |
| The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him. | Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights in our way. |
| Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. | Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. |
| Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” | Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” |
| For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. | Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse. |
| For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. | You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. |
