Let us examine and test our ways and return to the Lord. | Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord. |
Test everything, and hold fast to what is good. Avoid every form of evil. | But test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. |
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For you, O God, have put us to the test; you have purified us as silver is refined. | You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver. |
Beloved, do not trust every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. | Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. |
And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. | And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. |
The one who gives this testimony says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! | He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! |
For you know that the testing of your faith will develop perseverance. | For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. |
Examine me, O God, and know my heart; test me and understand my thoughts. See if I follow an evil way, and guide me on the way to eternity. | Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. |
I rejoice in following your statutes more than I would rejoice in endless riches. | I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. |
Bring the tithes in full into the treasury so that there may be food in my house. Put me thus to the test, says the Lord of hosts, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down blessings upon you without measure. | “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!” |
Dispose my heart to follow your statutes and to flee selfish gain. | Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! |
Your statutes are my everlasting heritage; they are the very joy of my heart. | Your laws are my treasure; they are my heart’s delight. |
When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. | But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. |
And the good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the entire world as a testimony offered to all the nations. And then the end will come. | And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come. |
And yet he is aware of everywhere I go; if he were to test me, I would emerge like pure gold. My footsteps have not strayed from the path he established; I have followed his way and never turned aside. | But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. |
Blessed are those who observe his statutes and seek him with their whole heart. | Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. |
Blessed is the man who perseveres when he is tempted, for when he has been proven, he will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. | God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. |
You shall take heed to observe the commandments of the Lord, your God, and the decrees and statutes that he has given to you. | You must diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God—all the laws and decrees he has given you. |
The law of the Lord is perfect, affording refreshment to the soul. The decree of the Lord is worthy of trust, imparting wisdom to the simple. | The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. |
To him all the Prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name. | He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name. |
The heart is more deceitful than any other thing, and it is also perverse. Who can uncover its secrets? I, the Lord, search the heart and probe the mind to reward all according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve. | The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve. |
As for me, I do not regard my life as of any value, only that I finish the race and complete the mission that I received from the Lord Jesus—to bear witness to the gospel of God’s grace. | But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. |
The Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God. | For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. |
Observe the ordinances of the Lord, your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and what he witnessed in writing in the law of Moses. In this way you will prosper in whatever you do and wherever you go. | Observe the requirements of the Lord your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. |
But I have had help from God to this very day, and I stand here and testify to both the lowly and the great. I assert nothing more than what the Prophets and Moses said would occur: that the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to the people and to the Gentiles. | 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. |