| Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. | Beloved, I pray that everything is going well with you and that your bodily health is equal to that of your soul. |
| But be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul. | Take heed to follow the commandments and the laws that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you: to love the Lord, your God, and to walk in his ways and to observe his commandments, holding fast to him and serving him with all your heart and all your soul. |
| To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper. | Whoever gains wisdom loves his own soul; one who cherishes understanding will prosper. |
| Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! | Why are you so disheartened, O my soul? Why do you sigh within me? Place your hope in God; for I will once again praise him, my Savior and my God. |
| And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. | And so now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, require of you but to fear the Lord, your God, to walk in all of his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, and to observe the commandments and the statutes that I am giving you today for your own good. |
| Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. | At dawn let me experience your kindness, for in you I place my trust. Show me the path I must walk, for to you I lift up my soul. |
| Lord, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name. | As we proceed in the path of your judgments, we wait for you, O Lord; your name and your renown are all that our heart desires. |
| In the night I search for you; in the morning I earnestly seek you. For only when you come to judge the earth will people learn what is right. | My soul longs for you throughout the night, and my spirit within me seeks your presence. For when your judgments are revealed to the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn to practice justice. |
| Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. | The proud man’s heart is not upright, but the righteous man will live because of his faith. |
| Rescue me, O Lord, from liars and from all deceitful people. | Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. |
| All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. | The entire community of believers was united in heart and soul. No one claimed any of his possessions as his own, for everything was held in common. |
| The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. | A generous person will be enriched; he who refreshes others will also be refreshed. |
| 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; I have no good apart from you.” |
| Keep the commandments and keep your life; despising them leads to death. | Whoever observes the commandments will live, but the one who scorns them will die. |
| But the Lord will redeem those who serve him. No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned. | The Lord redeems the lives of those who serve him; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him. |
| I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels. | I rejoice in the Lord with all my heart; my soul exults in my God. For he has clothed me in garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of saving justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a garland or a bride bedecked with her jewels. |
| But God is my helper. The Lord keeps me alive! | Surely God is my helper; the Lord is the one who sustains me. |
| You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. | You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am wonderfully made; awesome are your works, as I know very well. |
| Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. | Let everyone submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which derives from God, and whatever authorities exist have been instituted by God. |
| The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. | The Lord will protect you against all evil; he will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and your going both now and forevermore. |
| And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law. | And ‘to love him with all your heart, and with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself,’ is worth more than any burnt offerings and sacrifices. |
| In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles. | In my anguish I cried out; the Lord heard my plea, and I was saved from all my troubles. |
| Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything. | He who guards his mouth makes his life secure, but one who talks excessively ensures his own downfall. |
| Soon I will die, going the way of everything on earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed! | I am now about to go the way of all upon the earth. You know very well in your hearts and your souls that not one of the good things that the Lord, your God, promised you has failed to take place. Every promise has been fulfilled, not one of them has been broken. |
| Suppose you sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands. Even if you are unaware of what you have done, you are guilty and will be punished for your sin. | When someone sins and does any of the things that the Lord has forbidden, even if he does not realize he did it, he has still committed an offense and must bear his guilt. |
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