| Therefore, take care to live as intelligent people, and do not be like those who are senseless. Make the most of the present time, for this is a wicked age. | Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. |
| For the carved images of the nations are powerless; they are nothing more than wood cut from a forest, fashioned with a knife by craftsmen and embellished with silver and gold. Then they are fastened with hammers and nails to prevent them from toppling. Like scarecrows in a cucumber field they are unable to speak, and they must be carried from place to place since they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they can do no harm, nor do they have any power to do good. | For the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. |
| For you, O God, have put us to the test; you have purified us as silver is refined. | For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. |
| All I want is to come to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share in his sufferings by becoming conformed to his death. | That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. |
| Finally, all of you should be united in spirit, sympathetic, filled with love for one another, compassionate, and humble. | Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. |
| I rejoice in the Lord with all my heart; my soul exults in my God. For he has clothed me in garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of saving justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a garland or a bride bedecked with her jewels. | I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult 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 like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. |
| Thus you could understand that the Lord, your God, was disciplining you, just like a father disciplines his son. | Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. |
| Just as water reflects one’s face, so does one human heart reflect another. | As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. |
| And the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I wish to make another creature who will be like him.” | Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” |
| Anyone who is victorious will be dressed like these in white robes, and I shall not blot his name from the book of life. Rather, I shall acknowledge it in the presence of my Father and his angels. | The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. |
| I also ask that the women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing. They should be adorned not with braided hair or with gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good works, as is fitting for women who profess their reverence for God. | Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. |
| 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. | Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life. |
| But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them. For it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” | But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” |
| So we must not fall asleep as the others do, but we must stay alert and sober. | So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. |
| This water prefigured Baptism, which now saves you. It does so not by the washing away of dirt from the body but by the pledge of a good conscience given to God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. | Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. |
| While he was departing as they gazed upward toward the sky, suddenly two men dressed in white robes stood beside them, and they said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking up into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” | And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” |
| O God, you are my God, for whom I have been searching earnestly. My soul yearns for you and my body thirsts for you, like the earth when it is parched, arid and without water. | O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. |
| Can anyone withhold the water of baptism from these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? | Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? |
| He was despised and shunned by others, a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering. We loathed him and regarded him as of no account, as one from whom men avert their gaze. | He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. |
| May the God of perseverance and encouragement grant that you may live in harmony with one another, following in the example of Jesus Christ. | May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus. |
| He who called you is holy. Therefore, be holy yourselves in all your conduct. For Scripture says, “Be holy, for I am holy.” | But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” |
| And now, brethren, farewell. Mend your ways. Encourage one another. Be of one mind and live in peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. | Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. |
| If he refuses to listen to them, report it to the Church. And if he refuses to listen to the Church, treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. | If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. |
| The birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. When his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came to live together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. | Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. |
| You are the light of the world. A city built upon a mountain cannot be hidden. | You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. |
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