| Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. | For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. |
| The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. | The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. |
| But when you had eaten and were satisfied, you became proud and forgot me. | When they had pasture, they were filled; They were filled and their heart was exalted; Therefore they forgot Me. |
| Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. | Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. |
| But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are! | Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; For You are God, gracious and merciful. |
| For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. | For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. |
| “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” | For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. |
| Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. | Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. |
| Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. | Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. |
| All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. | Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. |
| And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. | Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. |
| You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. | For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. |
| A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. | A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. |
| Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. | Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. |
| I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. | Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. |
| When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. | Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. |
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