| Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. | I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you already have so that no one may rob you of your crown. |
| Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. | Test everything, and hold fast to what is good. Avoid every form of evil. |
|
| Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. | Go, and assemble all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same thing. After that, I will go to the king—against the law. And if I perish, I perish! |
| Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. | Whenever you fast, do not assume a gloomy expression like the hypocrites who contort their faces so that others may realize that they are fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. |
| Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) | Let us remain firm in the confession of our hope without wavering, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. |
| Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. | Keep alert; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. |
| Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? | This rather is the type of fast that I wish: to loosen the fetters of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to set free those who are oppressed and to break every yoke. |
| But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. | But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that the fact that you are fasting will not be obvious to others but only to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees everything that is done in secret will reward you. |
| Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. | Let your love be sincere. Loathe what is evil and hold fast to what is good. |
| Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. | It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, stand firm and refuse to submit again to the yoke of slavery. |
| Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. | It is the Lord, your God, whom you are to follow. You must fear him and observe his commandments and obey what he tells you and serve him and hold fast to him. |
| But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. | And yet he is aware of everywhere I go; if he were to test me, I would emerge like pure gold. My footsteps have not strayed from the path he established; I have followed his way and never turned aside. |
| But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. | Take heed to follow the commandments and the laws that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you: to love the Lord, your God, and to walk in his ways and to observe his commandments, holding fast to him and serving him with all your heart and all your soul. |
| Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life. | Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may show yourselves blameless and beyond reproach, children of God without spot in the midst of an evil and depraved generation, among which you shine like lights in the world as you hold fast tenaciously to the word of life. |
| Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. | And now, brethren, I want to remind you of the gospel I proclaimed to you, which you received and in which you stand firm. Through it you are also being saved, provided that you are holding fast to what I proclaimed to you. If not, then you have believed in vain. |
| For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. | For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. |
| Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. | Therefore, put on the armor of God, so that you will be able to hold fast on the evil day and to hold your ground with all your strength. |
| But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. | But from the very beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh.’ And so they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. |
| And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. | He replied, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said: ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh’? And so they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” |
| And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. | The Lord God then formed a woman out of the rib that he had taken from the man. He brought her before the man. The man said, “This one is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken from man.” This is why a man leaves his father and his mother and joins with a wife, and the two become one flesh. |
