| Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” | Then he said to all who were with him, “Anyone who wishes to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” |
| And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. | And the one who searches hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. |
| Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. | As sorrowful, and yet we are always rejoicing; as poor, and yet we make many rich; as having nothing, and yet we possess everything. |
| Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. | Take care, brethren, that none of you will ever have an evil and unbelieving heart that will cause you to forsake the living God. |
| 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 from your father, the devil, and you choose to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he does not abide by the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks in accord with his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. |
| Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” | Then Peter asked, “Ananias, why has Satan so gained control of your heart that you lied to the Holy Spirit and retained part of the sale price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not belong to you? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds yours? What caused you to contrive this scheme? You have lied not to men but to God.” |
| Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.” | He then called the people and his disciples to him and said to them, “Anyone who wishes to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” |
| 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 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. |
| A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls. | Like a city that has been breached and made defenseless is the man devoid of self-control. |
| Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. | 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. |
| Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! | Although it was our afflictions that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, we thought of him as stricken, as struck down by God and afflicted. |
| He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are 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. |
| So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” | For you did not receive a spirit of slavery leading to fear; rather, you received the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, “Abba! Father!” |
| And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. | And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God who has marked you with his seal for the day of redemption. |
| But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. | Be doers of the word and not just hearers who only deceive themselves. |
| If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your 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. |
| Slaves must always obey their masters and do their best to please them. They must not talk back or steal, but must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way. | 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. |
| Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. | He has made everything suitable for its time, and he has given men a sense of past and future, but they never have the slightest comprehension of what God has wrought from beginning to end. |
| Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. | No prophecy ever came from human initiative. Rather, when people spoke as messengers of God, they did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. |
| Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. | Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not treat them harshly. |
| Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. | Indeed, it is seldom that anyone will die for a just person, although perhaps for a good person someone might be willing to die. Thus, God proved his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. |
| So again I say, each man 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. |
| But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. | 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. |
| May he grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed. | May he give you your heart’s desire and grant you success in all your plans. |
| We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. | A man may plan his own course, but the Lord makes his steps secure. |
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