| My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed. | My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad. |
| And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? | And so now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, require of you but to fear the Lord, your God, to walk in all of his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, and to observe the commandments and the statutes that I am giving you today for your own good. |
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| If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. | However, if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you are upright in your dealings with your neighbor; if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed innocent blood in this place; and if you do not follow other gods and thereby cause your own destruction, then I will allow you to live in this place, in the land that I gave as a permanent gift to your fathers long ago. |
| Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. | Like a city that has been breached and made defenseless is the man devoid of self-control. |
| Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? | Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? If he is not, then you have failed the test. |
| 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 my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession from among all the peoples, for the entire earth is mine. |
| “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” | He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live in righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. |
| Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. | Be doers of the word and not just hearers who only deceive themselves. |
| Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. | If anyone thinks that he is religious but does not restrain his tongue, he is deceiving himself, and his religion is worthless. |
| Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. | Exhort slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give them satisfaction in every respect. They are not to talk back to them, nor are they to steal from them. Rather, they should show themselves to be completely trustworthy so that in every way they may add luster to the doctrine of God our Savior. |
| Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. | Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not treat them harshly. |
| However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. | However, each one of you should love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife should respect her husband. |
| May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. | May he give you your heart’s desire and grant you success in all your plans. |
| In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. | A man may plan his own course, but the Lord makes his steps secure. |
| For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. | For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. This has not come from you but from the gift of God. It does not come from works, so that no one can boast. |
| There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. | Therefore, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God, since those who enter into God’s rest also cease from their own labors as God did from his. |
| The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands. | The Lord will fulfill his plan for me. Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever; do not forsake the work of your hands. |
| Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family, and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you— better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away. | Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your father, and do not run to your brother’s house when troubles befall you; far better is a friend nearby than a brother who is far away. |
| But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles. | But I have had help from God to this very day, and I stand here and testify to both the lowly and the great. I assert nothing more than what the Prophets and Moses said would occur: that the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to the people and to the Gentiles. |
| Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! | Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. |
| 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.” | After this, he said to the crowd, “Take care to be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not depend upon an abundance of one’s possessions.” |
| Whoever keeps commandments keeps their life, but whoever shows contempt for their ways will die. | Whoever observes the commandments will live, but the one who scorns them will die. |
| The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. | The upright are guarded by their integrity; the treacherous are destroyed by their own duplicity. |
| Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin. | He who guards his mouth makes his life secure, but one who talks excessively ensures his own downfall. |
| Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. | Thus you could understand that the Lord, your God, was disciplining you, just like a father disciplines his son. |
