| In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury. | Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty! |
| I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall 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? |
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| The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? | The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? |
| In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. | I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? |
| So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. | So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” |
| What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? | What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? |
| But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. | But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. |
| How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. | They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them. |
| Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. | You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. |
| Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. | For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. |
| My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. | Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. |
| By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. | The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. |
| With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright. | To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity. |
| But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. | When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. |
| The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. | The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. |
| Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God. | But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are! |
| Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake. | Let your favor shine on your servant. In your unfailing love, rescue me. |
| Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. | Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. |
| For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. | And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins. |
| For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him. | For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful. If you return to him, he will not continue to turn his face from you. |
| Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. | Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me. Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me. |
| A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. | A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. |
| Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering. | Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. |
| And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. | But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ |
| Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. | O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. |
