| I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. | Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. |
| But godliness with contentment is great gain. | But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. |
|
| For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. | For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it, either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. |
| 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.” | Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,” |
| I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. | I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. |
| That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. | Therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in difficulties, in behalf of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. |
| The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. | A fool’s lips bring strife, And his mouth invites beatings. |
| Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. | One who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor one who loves abundance with its income. This too is futility. |
| As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? | When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look at them? |
| Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. | Through overconfidence comes nothing but strife, But wisdom is with those who receive counsel. |
| Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. | Furthermore, as for every person to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also given him the opportunity to enjoy them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. |
| The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. | Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. |
