| And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. | In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. |
| So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” | The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” |
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| The grapevines have dried up, and the fig trees have withered. The pomegranate trees, palm trees, and apple trees— all the fruit trees—have dried up. And the people’s joy has dried up with them. | The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree— all the trees of the field—are dried up. Surely the people’s joy is withered away. |
| Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you. | Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. |
| The way of the Lord is a stronghold to those with integrity, but it destroys the wicked. | The way of the Lord is a refuge for the blameless, but it is the ruin of those who do evil. |
| A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” | Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. |
| Yes, God will bless us, and people all over the world will fear him. | May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him. |
| Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God. | Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. |
| So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. | And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. |
| He loves whatever is just and good; the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth. | The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. |
| Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. | The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. |
| I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. | May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. |
| We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him. | We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. |
| So obey the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him. | Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. |
| I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. | My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. |
| Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. | Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. |
| But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. | But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. |
| Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. | Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. |
| Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory. | Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. |
| The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked. | The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. |
| You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. | Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. |
| Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. | And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. |
| Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. | As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. |
| The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve. | The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” |
| No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. | No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. |
