| Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. | Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. |
| Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.” | So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me.” |
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| Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine. | Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. |
| Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. | Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. |
| You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. | You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. |
| “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.” | “They will be my people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child.” |
| My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed. | My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice! |
| I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. | 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. |
| I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. | I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. |
| Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me. | But God is my helper. The Lord keeps me alive! |
| I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. | I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. |
| But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. | But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high. |
| Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. | If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. |
| Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. | Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. |
| I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. | The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” |
| My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me. | My future is in your hands. Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly. |
| My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. | My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. |
| The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. | The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. |
| I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. | I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! |
| You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. | O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. |
| “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” | “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” |
| Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. | Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. |
| ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will not be angry forever.’ | O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. |
| The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. | All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. |
| I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. | I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. |
