No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. | For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. |
But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers. | But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. |
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Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words. | The words of a wise man's mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. |
And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. | And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. |
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? | For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? |
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. | They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. |
For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. | Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. |
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. | His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. |
“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.” | They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. |
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. | But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. |
Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. | Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. |
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. | Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. |
Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. | For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. |
My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice! | My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. |
God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. | For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. |
You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. | You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. |
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 is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. |
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. | Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. |
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? | For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? |
For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. | Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. |
Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! | Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. |
For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. | You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. |
Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” | And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” |
The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety. | A rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination. |
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. | And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? |