| Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. | Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. |
| Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. | Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. |
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| I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. | Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. |
| And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. | And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. |
| So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” | Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” |
| 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! | Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. |
| Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. | Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. |
| However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. | But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God's grace. |
| For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. | For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. |
| A fool spurns a parent’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence. | A fool despises a parent's instruction, but the one who heeds admonition is prudent. |
| Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues. | Even fools who keep silent are considered wise; when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent. |
| Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ | This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ |
| The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale. | The wealth of the rich is their strong city; in their imagination it is like a high wall. |
| Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. | For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. |
| “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. | If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. |
| He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. | He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. |
| God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. | God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. |
| Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. | Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. |
