| So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. | Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. |
| Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! | Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation. |
| Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. | Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. |
| If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. | For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. |
| And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. | And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. |
| Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham. | Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one. |
| For the Lord loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will die. | For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his faithful ones. The righteous shall be kept safe forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. |
| Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. | Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. |
| Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. | A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinion. |
| We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. | Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards. |
| As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. | Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another. |
| A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. | A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones. |
| The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened. | Wealth is a ransom for a person's life, but the poor get no threats. |
| Unfailing love, O Lord, is yours. Surely you repay all people according to what they have done. | And steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work. |
| He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. | As far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us. |
| But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. | But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. |
| Evil people get rich for the moment, but the reward of the godly will last. | The wicked earn no real gain, but those who sow righteousness get a true reward. |
| For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. | For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. |
| People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. | No one who conceals transgressions will prosper, but one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. |
| Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! | Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. |
| Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. | Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world. |
| One should be kind to a fainting friend, but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty. | Those who withhold kindness from a friend forsake the fear of the Almighty. |
| “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.) | He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) |
| Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. | Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. |
| So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. | Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. |
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