| Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor. | Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor. |
| In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. | We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. |
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| The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him. | The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. |
| As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. | As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. |
| A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great. | Giving a gift can open doors; it gives access to important people! |
| For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. | Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. |
| A person’s riches may ransom their life, but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes. | The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened. |
| Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. | You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. |
| The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale. | The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety. |
| Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips. | Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words. |
| Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. | What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. |
| A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart. | People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart. |
| Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. | Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. |
| What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar. | Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest. |
| See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness. | Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. |
| Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. | That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. |
| And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. | Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind. |
| Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” | Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” |
| Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. | If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. |
| But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! | But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. |
| I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. | So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. |
| For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. | For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. |
| I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? | I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? |
| What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? | What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? |
| So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; 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. |
