| Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did? | Can anyone withhold the water of baptism from these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? |
| 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. | Therefore, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God, since those who enter into God’s rest also cease from their own labors as God did from his. |
| So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. | I understand that man’s greatest happiness is to be glad and do well throughout his life. And when we eat and drink and find satisfaction in all our labors, this is a gift of God. |
| That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. | Those who live according to the flesh can never be pleasing to God. |
| Don’t envy violent people or copy their ways. Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord, but he offers his friendship to the godly. | Do not envy a violent man or choose to emulate any of his ways. For the perverse man is an abomination to the Lord whose friendship is bestowed only upon the upright. |
| People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. | No one who conceals his transgressions will prosper, but one who confesses and renounces them will obtain mercy. |
| I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. | Amen, amen, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. |
| God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. | Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. |
| He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. | He was despised and shunned by others, a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering. We loathed him and regarded him as of no account, as one from whom men avert their gaze. |
| Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. | Behold, I am coming soon, and I will bring with me my reward to repay everyone as his deeds deserve. |
| If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. | If anyone thinks that he is religious but does not restrain his tongue, he is deceiving himself, and his religion is worthless. |
| 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. |
| Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority. | Pay to each person what is rightfully his—taxes to the one to whom taxes are due, tolls to the one to whom tolls are due, respect to the one to whom respect is due, honor to the one to whom honor is due. |
| 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. | The love of money is the root of all evils, and in their desire for it some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many serious wounds. |
| If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. | Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. |
| So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. | Therefore, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials and to hold the wicked for punishment until the Day of Judgment. |
| Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! | You will again show us compassion and wash away our guilt; you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. |
| And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do. | I also ask that the women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing. They should be adorned not with braided hair or with gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good works, as is fitting for women who profess their reverence for God. |
| Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval. | What right do you have to pass judgment on someone else’s servant? The master will determine whether that servant will stand or fall. But the servant will be upheld, for the Lord has the power to enable him to stand. |
| 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. | For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. |
| But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. | However, if the wicked renounce all of the sins that they have committed and keep all my statutes and do what is right and just, they shall surely live; they shall not die. |
| Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means. | Many shall be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will persist in their evil ways. |
| Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife. | A house and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is a gift from the Lord. |
| 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. | For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. |
| 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. | Just as he came forth naked from his mother’s womb, so shall he depart, naked as he came, with nothing remaining from his labor that he can carry away in his hands. |
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