| 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. | Let no one therefore judge you in eating or drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s. |
| Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. | Doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself. |
|
| I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. | Not that I speak because of lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it. |
| 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 listens to us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked 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.” | Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other 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, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the 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 man despise your youth; but be an example to those who believe, in word, in your way of life, in love, in spirit, in faith, and 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 these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God. |
| 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 I say through the grace that was given me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith. |
| A fool spurns a parent’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence. | A fool despises his father’s correction, but he who heeds reproof shows prudence. |
| Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues. | Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is counted wise. When he shuts his lips, he is thought to be discerning. |
| Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ | He is ‘the stone which was regarded as worthless by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.’ |
| The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale. | The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination. |
| 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. | Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight; 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 turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Yahweh honorable, and honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you will delight yourself in Yahweh, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;” for Yahweh’s mouth has spoken it. |
| 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 men, a man of suffering and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him. |
| 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 the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist, that no flesh should boast before 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, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved. |
