| Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! | Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! |
| What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? | What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? |
|
| So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. | So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. |
| So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” | So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” |
| But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit. | Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. |
| Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” | “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” |
| And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. | When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. |
| But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! | But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. |
| Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all. | Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. |
| So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. | If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. |
| Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” | Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”. |
| Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise. | Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions. |
| You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. | Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. |
| I said to the Lord, “You are my Master! Every good thing I have comes from you.” | I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” |
| Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord. Say to him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises.” | Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.” |
| You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. | You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. |
| In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is!” | In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.” |
| Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? | What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? |
| God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. | Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. |
| But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. | But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. |
| I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” | I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” |
| Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one. | All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. |
| But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. | But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. |
| Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’ | Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ |
| As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. | You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. |
