| If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? | If someone says, “I love God,” but at the same time hates his brother, he is a liar. For whoever does not love the brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. |
| Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins. | Can a woman forget the infant at her breast; or feel no compassion for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. Behold, I have inscribed your name on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before my eyes. |
| For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us. | If we are diligent in observing all of these commandments before the Lord, our God, as he commanded of us, then this will be our righteousness. |
| Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life. | Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may show yourselves blameless and beyond reproach, children of God without spot in the midst of an evil and depraved generation, among which you shine like lights in the world as you hold fast tenaciously to the word of life. |
| Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble. | Those who love your law have great peace; they encounter no stumbling blocks. |
| If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. | If you heed the voice of the Lord, your God, and you carefully observe all of the commandments that I have given you today, then the Lord, your God, will lift you up above all the other nations upon the earth. |
| After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. | For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out. If we have food and clothing, let us be content with these. |
| You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. | “All things are lawful,” you may say—but not all things are beneficial. All things may be lawful—but not all things are constructive. |
| Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. | You shall observe the Sabbath by keeping it holy, as the Lord, your God, has commanded you. You are to labor on six days, doing all of your work then. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. You shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your ass, nor your cattle, nor even the foreigner living in your town. Thus your manservant and maidservant can rest as well. |
| And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. | You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. |
| For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. | For I am longing to see you so that I may bestow on you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— or, rather, so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. |
| Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. | Have no fear of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. |
| Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? | What then shall we say? Should we persist in sin in order that grace may abound? Of course not! We have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? |
| Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. | Trust wholeheartedly in the Lord rather than relying on your own intelligence. In everything you do, acknowledge him, and he will see that your paths are straight. |
| And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! | And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do as much. |
| Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. | In everything, deal with others as you would like them to deal with you. This is the Law and the Prophets. |
| If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. | If I have the gift of prophecy and the ability to understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and have all the faith necessary to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. |
| And do everything with love. | Everything that you do should be done in love. |
| Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” | Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” |
| A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. | And where a single man can be overcome, two together will be able to resist. A cord with three strands is not easily broken. |
| I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? | My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come to behold the face of God? |
| And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law. | And ‘to love him with all your heart, and with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself,’ is worth more than any burnt offerings and sacrifices. |
| Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” | Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ |
| You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. | “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not allow myself to be dominated by anything. |
| Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. | Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath in honor of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male slave, nor your female slave, nor your animals, nor the foreigner who dwells with you. The Lord made the heavens and the earth and the seas and that which is in them in six days, but he rested the seventh day. Thus, the Lord blessed the Sabbath and declared it to be sacred. |
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