| Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did? | Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. |
| 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. | He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. |
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| If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. | Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their 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. | All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. |
| The wise are glad to be instructed, but babbling fools fall flat on their faces. | The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin. |
| 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 will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand. |
| 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 wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. |
| People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. | Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. |
| 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 the violent or choose any of their ways. For the Lord detests the perverse but takes the upright into his confidence. |
| The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. | The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him. |
| 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. | If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. |
| 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 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. |
| 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 wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me 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. | Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. |
| People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness. | Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly. |
| We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. | In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. |
| That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. | Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. |
| Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God. | Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. |
| The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow. | For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. |
| Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the tablets of stone on which I have inscribed the instructions and commands so you can teach the people.” | The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.” |
| 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 want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. |
| 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. | Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. |
| He will judge everyone according to what they have done. | God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” |
| 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. |
| 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. | Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. |
