Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. | Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him. |
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. | Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. |
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But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. | But he who didn’t know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked. |
Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord! | Let everything that has breath praise Yah! Praise Yah! |
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. | But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation. |
The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! | For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. |
Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ | He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water. |
We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him. | We are his witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. |
But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. | But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I will come out like gold. My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned away. |
Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. | Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. |
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. | Seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue. |
But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. | He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil. |
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 has dried up, and the fig tree withered— the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all of the trees of the field are withered; for joy has withered away from the sons of men. |
I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels. | I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. |
You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great. You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping. | You have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your right hand sustains me. Your gentleness has made me great. You have enlarged my steps under me, My feet have not slipped. |
The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise. | The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him. |
But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval. | Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him. |
When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. | When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow. |
Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy. | You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess. |
So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. | For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. |
There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. | He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God. |
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. | Who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. |
For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. | Because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on his behalf. |
So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. | Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. |
“For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you. | “For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but my loving kindness will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed,” says Yahweh who has mercy on you. |