| Produce good fruit as proof of your repentance. | Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. |
| The fear of the Lord implies hatred of evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil ways and perverse speech. | All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech. |
| And so you should put to death everything in your nature that is earthly: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires, and greed (which is idolatry). | So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. |
| Therefore, whoever breaks even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever observes these commandments and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. | So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. |
| Therefore, we fasted and prayed to God to grant us a safe journey, and he answered our prayer. | So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer. |
| So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. | I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. |
| Consequently, anyone united to Christ is a new creation. The old order has passed away. Behold, all has become new. | This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! |
| 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 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. |
| But from the very beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh.’ And so they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. | But ‘God made them male and female’ from the beginning of creation. ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together. |
| When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud of heart and quickly forgot me. | But when you had eaten and were satisfied, you became proud and forgot me. |
| Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own? You have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. | Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. |
| Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. | You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. |
| So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough troubles of its own. | So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. |
| Therefore, brethren, be diligent in providing a firm foundation for your call and election. If you do this, you will never stumble, and you will receive a glorious welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. | So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. |
| Therefore, when someone is guilty of any one of these things, he shall confess the sin he has committed. | When you become aware of your guilt in any of these ways, you must confess your sin. |
| Therefore, we can say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” | So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” |
| He replied, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said: ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh’? And so they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” | “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’” And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” |
| Therefore, let us leave behind the basic teaching about Christ and advance toward maturity. We must not be forever laying the foundation: repentance for actions that lead to death, faith in God, instruction about baptisms and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. | So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. |
| Therefore, I say to you: ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. | And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. |
| For the love of Christ urges us forward, once we conclude that one has died for all, and therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sakes died and was raised to life. | 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. |
| He who called you is holy. Therefore, be holy yourselves in all your conduct. For Scripture says, “Be holy, for I am holy.” | But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” |
| Now, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession from among all the peoples, for the entire earth is mine. | Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. |
| You shall observe my commandments and obey them. I am the Lord. | You must faithfully keep all my commands by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord. |
| Hence, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. | So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. |
| I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and listened to my cry for mercy, because he has inclined his ear to me on the day when I called out to him. | I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! |
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