As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. | Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits of another. |
A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. | A friend loves at all times, and kinsfolk are born to share adversity. |
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There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother. | Some friends play at friendship but a true friend sticks closer than one's nearest kin. |
Never abandon a friend— either yours or your father’s. When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance. It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away. | Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent; do not go to the house of your kindred in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is nearby than kindred who are far away. |
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. |
You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. | Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. |
Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. | Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul. |
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. | Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. |
For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us. | If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right. |
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. | Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors. |
Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. | No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. |
Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. | Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth. |
So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. | Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs. |
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath! | I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. |
I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. | I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. |
Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. | Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. |
Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. | How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God! |
Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. | Because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. |
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. | One who forgives an affront fosters friendship, but one who dwells on disputes will alienate a friend. |
Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. | And live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. |
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. | As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. |
As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. | But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. |
For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. | As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. |
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. | For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. |
I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. | I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches. |