Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. | Many are the plans in a human mind, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will prevail. |
For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. | And just as no human being comprehends any person’s innermost being except the person’s own spirit within him, so also no one comprehends what pertains to God except the Spirit of God. |
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A person’s riches may ransom their life, but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes. | A wealthy man pays a ransom to save his life; a poor man never has to worry about such threats. |
And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. | Then I came to realize that all toil and skill in work derive from one person’s envy of another. This also is vanity and a chase after the wind. |
He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” | Then he went on, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For from within, from the human heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from within, and they defile a person.” |
A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great. | A gift opens doors for the giver and wins him access to the powerful. |
Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. | Anxiety in the human heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad. |
Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor. | A man’s pride will bring him low, but lowly souls will rise to honor. |
A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart. | A man’s ways may seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart. |
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. | A cheerful heart is excellent medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. |
The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale. | The wealth of a rich man is his stronghold; he regards it as a high wall that cannot be scaled. |
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts. | The whispers of a gossiper are tasty morsels that corrode one’s inner being. |
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. |