| The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow. | For much wisdom can result in much sorrow, and those who increase their knowledge also increase their grief. |
| But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! | But who am I, and what are your people, that we should be able to do this? All things belong to you, and everything that we have given you is from your hand. |
| And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! | And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do as much. |
| Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. | It is the Lord, your God, whom you are to follow. You must fear him and observe his commandments and obey what he tells you and serve him and hold fast to him. |
| Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife. | A house and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is a gift from the Lord. |
| Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. | Restore us, O Lord of hosts; let your face shine upon us, and we will be saved. |
| Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. | Godliness produces great gain, but only to those who are content. |
| You must serve only the Lord your God. If you do, I will bless you with food and water, and I will protect you from illness. | You shall serve the Lord, your God. He will bless your bread and water and take away sickness from your midst. |
| Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever. | Oh, that they would have fear of me in their hearts and they would observe all of my commandments always. Then things would go well with them and their children forever. |
| But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. | But according to Scripture all things have been confined under sin, so that through faith in Jesus Christ what was promised might be given to those who believe. |
| Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. | Remember this: if you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly, and if you sow generously, you will reap generously as well. |
| But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. | But the one who did not know those wishes, and who acted in such a manner as to deserve a beating, will be beaten less severely. Much will be demanded of a person to whom much has been given, and even more will be asked of a person to whom more has been entrusted. |
| Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. | Have no fear of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. |
| Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. | Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked. A person will reap only what he sows. |
| In the night I search for you; in the morning I earnestly seek you. For only when you come to judge the earth will people learn what is right. | My soul longs for you throughout the night, and my spirit within me seeks your presence. For when your judgments are revealed to the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn to practice justice. |
| Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. | He brought you low, allowing you to suffer from hunger. He then fed you with manna, something with which your fathers were not familiar, so that you might come to know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord. |
| But be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul. | Take heed to follow the commandments and the laws that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you: to love the Lord, your God, and to walk in his ways and to observe his commandments, holding fast to him and serving him with all your heart and all your soul. |
| The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. | There is only one thing I ask of the Lord, just one thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, so that I may enjoy the beauty of the Lord and gaze on his temple. |
| I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it. | Whatever moves and has life will be used for your food. I give you all these things, just as I have already given you every green plant. Only do not eat flesh along with its life, that is, with its blood. |
| Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. | Brethren, we must always give thanks to God for you, and it is only right that we do so. For your faith grows ever more, and the love that all of you have for one another continues to increase. |
| But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. | But from you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, among the tiniest of the clans of Judah, from you will come forth for me one who is to be a ruler in Israel, one whose origins are from the distant past, from ancient times. |
| Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. | Do not let this book of the law be absent from your mouth; meditate upon it day and night, so that you might carefully observe everything that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful. |
| First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. | Keep falsehood and lying far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but simply provide me with the food that I need. |
| As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them. | If anyone would boast, let him boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is really approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. |
| For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. | For everything that is in the world— the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life— comes not from the Father but from the world. |
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