| The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. | Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people. |
| Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. | Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection. |
| The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” | 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. |
| Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. | At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. |
| For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. | Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. |
| The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. | But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil; he will erase their memory from the earth. |
| For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. | For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. |
| And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. | I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. |
| A rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination. | The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety. |
| Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. | If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. |
| He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. | Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. |
| If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. | If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. |
| For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. | If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. |
| Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart. | People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart. |
| For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. | If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. |
| He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend. | Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. |
| As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. | We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. |
| Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. | Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. |
| The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. | We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. |
| For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. | The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow. |
| Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? | Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. |
| He will render to each one according to his works. | He will judge everyone according to what they have done. |
| So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. | So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. |
| It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. | Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly. |
| For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. | If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. |
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