| Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. | As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all. |
| Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” | He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.” |
| But you may wonder, ‘How will we know whether or not a prophecy is from the Lord?’ If the prophet speaks in the Lord’s name but his prediction does not happen or come true, you will know that the Lord did not give that message. That prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared. | You may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?” When a prophet speaks in Yahweh’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him. |
| Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands. | Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments. |
| Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. | Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. |
| God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. | By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his only born Son into the world that we might live through him. |
| Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” | He said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.” |
| I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. | How I didn’t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house. |
| Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! | He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity. |
| For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. | Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. |
| He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day. | He isn’t here, but is risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again? |
| In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is!” | In that day you will say, “Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name! Declare his doings among the peoples! Proclaim that his name is exalted!” |
| Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. | Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. |
| For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. | For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. |
| Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. | Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name. |
| We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. | We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. |
| See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. | See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him. |
| He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is! | The Rock: his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness who does no wrong, just and right is he. |
| You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. | You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. |
| And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. | And hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. |
| You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” | Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. |
| This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. | Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. |
| God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. | For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don’t know God. |
| For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. | To whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. |
| Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” | But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land? While you kept it, didn’t it remain your own? After it was sold, wasn’t it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You haven’t lied to men, but to God.” |
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