| From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help. Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer. | Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! |
| Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past. Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord. | Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! |
| Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. | Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. |
| Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment. | Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation. |
| Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. | Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil. |
| But God is my helper. The Lord keeps me alive! | Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life. |
| As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. | As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. |
| You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. | You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. |
| So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! | Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. |
| Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the Lord.’ | Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. |
| Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins. | Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. |
| It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. | So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. |
| Therefore, tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No more delay! I will now do everything I have threatened. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’ | Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God. |
| My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. | My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. |
| A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. | A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. |
| The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. | The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. |
| Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest. | What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar. |
| But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! | If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. |
| Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. | Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! |
| So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. | But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. |
| 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 all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. |
| God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. | Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. |
| Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light. | Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. |
| But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress. | But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. |
| People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart. | Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart. |
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