Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. | Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. |
To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity. | With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless. |
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I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. | I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. |
There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother. | A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. |
Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. | Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. |
You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. | You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. |
If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. | Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. |
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. | The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. |
But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. | But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. |
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. | But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. |
Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly. | It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. |
The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers. | The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives. |
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other. | Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart. |
One should be kind to a fainting friend, but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty. | He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. |
But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike. | To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles. |
I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. | How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house. |
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. | He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? |
It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. | By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. |
For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. | For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. |
Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. | An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. |
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. | Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. |
The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. | The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. |
And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. | She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. |
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. | Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. |
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. | And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. |