| Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold. | A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. |
| But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. | Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. |
| Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. | If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. |
| 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 mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. |
| But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. | But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. | Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. |
| I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them. | I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them. |
| All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). | Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. |
| Then he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me also welcomes my Father who sent me. Whoever is the least among you is the greatest.” | Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.” |
| For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. | God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. |
| All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” | All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). |
| The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.” | For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” |
| For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. | For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. |
| But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil; he will erase their memory from the earth. | But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth. |
| Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. | Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. |
| Who is the King of glory? The Lord of Heaven’s Armies— he is the King of glory. | Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory. |
| May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. | May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. |
| May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. | The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. |
| May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people. | The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. |
| Asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. | I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. |
| May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. | The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. |
| Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. | The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. |
| For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. | For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
| The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. | The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. |
