| I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. | Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled; be not afraid. |
| Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. | You shall not hate your brother in your heart, nor shall you rebuke your brother in any way, lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not seek vengeance nor bear a grudge against the children of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. |
| “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) | He said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not realize that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not into the heart but into the stomach and is discharged into the sewer?” Thus, he pronounced all foods clean. |
| So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless. | Banish grief from your heart and ignore the sufferings of your body, for youth and the prime of life are fleeting. |
| Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace! | Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but those who counsel peace have joy. |
| That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. | Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outer self is continuing to decay, our inner self is being renewed day by day. |
| I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. | I have told you this so that in me you may be in peace. In the world you will endure suffering. But take courage! I have overcome the world. |
| 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. | He has made everything suitable for its time, and he has given men a sense of past and future, but they never have the slightest comprehension of what God has wrought from beginning to end. |
| We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. | A man may plan his own course, but the Lord makes his steps secure. |
| For I assisted the poor in their need and the orphans who required help. I helped those without hope, and they blessed me. And I caused the widows’ hearts to sing for joy. | Because I delivered the poor who appealed for help and the orphan who had no one to protect him. The blessing of the wretched was given to me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. |
| Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! | Why are you so disheartened, O my soul? Why do you sigh within me? Place your hope in God; for I will once again praise him, my Savior and my God. |
| And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. | And so now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, require of you but to fear the Lord, your God, to walk in all of his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, and to observe the commandments and the statutes that I am giving you today for your own good. |
| You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. | Many are the plans in a human mind, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will prevail. |
| And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” | Then he went on, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For from within, from the human heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from within, and they defile a person.” |
| That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” | For as it is written, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has the human heart imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” |
| Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other. | In that way, I can come to you in joy, if God so wills, and be refreshed together with you. |
| 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. | The one who leads a blameless life and does what is right, who speaks the truth from the heart and does not slander anyone, who does not harm a friend and does not scorn a neighbor. |
| “All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” | He continued, “Then put away the foreign gods from among you. Bend your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.” |
| For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. | Indeed, the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword, it pierces to the point where it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. |
| When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. | Because the sentence for committing an evil act is not carried out quickly, people’s hearts are prone to act wickedly. |
| O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. | O Lord, you have examined me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I stand; you perceive my thoughts from a distance. |
| When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do. | When you look at the tassels, you will remember the commandments of the Lord and keep them. Thus you will not prostitute yourselves by following after the lusts in your own heart or your own eyes. |
| Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. | Do not let your hearts be troubled. You place your trust in God. Trust also in me. |
| The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.” | For thus says the One who is high and exalted, who lives eternally and whose name is holy: I dwell in a high and holy place but I am with the contrite and the humble, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite. |
| When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. | When my anxious thoughts multiplied, your comfort filled my soul with joy. |
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Bible verse of the day
Better to be patient than powerful;better to have self-control than to conquer a city.