| But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. | But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him. |
| But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. | But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you. |
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| Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. | Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. |
| “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” | “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” |
| Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. | You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. |
| For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. | For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. |
| For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. | For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. |
| I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. | I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. |
| Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. | So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The Lord is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other. |
| Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. | Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. |
| Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. | Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. |
| My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ. | I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. |
| Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy. | Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace! |
| He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ | The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” |
| Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. | Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. |
| Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” | Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” |
| I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. | I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. |
| Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. | That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. |
| Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. | But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. |
| Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. | A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. |
| For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” | The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.” |
| “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) | “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) |
| So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. | So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. |
| You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. | You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. |
| What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar. | Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest. |
