For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh. | We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. |
Who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross. | 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. |
|
For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit. | 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. |
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good? | God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? |
What is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him? | What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? |
I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass? | I, yes I, am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear? |
Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad. | Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. |
Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man. | As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. |
But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.” | 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 we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. | For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. |
There are many plans in a man’s heart, but Yahweh’s counsel will prevail. | You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. |
The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent. | God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. |
For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except God’s Spirit. | No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. |
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ. | Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. |
Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. | 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. |
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the 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. |
That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. | Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. |
For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. | The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. |
God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. | So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. |
For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. | So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. |
A man’s heart plans his course, but Yahweh directs his steps. | We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. |
If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. | If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. |
The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. | So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. |
For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily, and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power. | For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. |
God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist, that no flesh should boast before God. | God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. |