| God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? | God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? |
| For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. | For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. |
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| “Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?” | Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? |
| Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. | Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. |
| The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. | The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. |
| I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. | I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. |
| You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. | You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. |
| And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. | And every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. |
| I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. | My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. |
| I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman? | I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. |
| But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. | No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. |
| To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend, Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. | Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. |
| But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” | But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” |
| For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps. | To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. |
| Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You. | Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. |
| And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” | The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” |
| But who am I, and who are my people, That we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, And of Your own we have given You. | But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. |
| And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine. | You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. |
| Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. | See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. |
| Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth. | Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. |
| For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God. | It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God. |
| What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? | Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! |
| For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. | For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. |
| Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. | But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. |
| I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God. | I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. |
