| For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. | “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.” |
| Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. | In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, you will have a bright future, and your hopes will not be cut short. |
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| When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future. | Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life. |
| For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. | And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
| My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me. | My future is in your hands. Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly. |
| He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. | Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. |
| There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called. | For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. |
| For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. | For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. |
| Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. | Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly. |
