| Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues. | Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; if he closes his lips, he is regarded as intelligent. |
| Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. | Ensure that the path you tread is level, and then your ways will be sure. |
|
| But when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” | But when the disciples saw him walking on the water they thought it was a ghost and they cried out, for they all had seen him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them, saying, “Have courage! It is I! Do not be afraid!” |
| When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. | When I realized that my foot was slipping, your kindness, O Lord, raised me up. |
| You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. | O Lord, you have examined me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I stand; you perceive my thoughts from a distance. |
| I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. | Brethren, I exhort you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to be in full agreement with one another and not permit any divisions to arise among you. Be perfectly united in mind and purpose. |
| “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. | For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. |
| As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. | As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts. |
| Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. | So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough troubles of its own. |
| But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” | After he had decided to follow this course of action, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to receive Mary into your home as your wife. For this child has been conceived in her womb through the Holy Spirit.” |
| Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. | Although it was our afflictions that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, we thought of him as stricken, as struck down by God and afflicted. |
| For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. | And just as no human being comprehends any person’s innermost being except the person’s own spirit within him, so also no one comprehends what pertains to God except the Spirit of God. |
| Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. | Let the wicked abandon their ways and those who are evil their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy upon them; and to our God, for he is rich in forgiveness. |
| Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. | The one who pays heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. |
| Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings. | If you would seriously consider my reproof, I would pour out my thoughts to you and make my precepts known to you. |
| You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. | You intended to do evil to me, but God decided to make it serve a good, to fulfill that which today has come true: to keep alive a numerous people. |
| Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. | Do not be concerned about your life and what you will have to eat, or about your body and what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. |
| Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. | 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. |
| Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? | Therefore, heed my words. Do not be concerned about your life and what you will have to eat or drink, or about your body and what you will wear. Surely life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. |
| For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. | Indeed, the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword, it pierces to the point where it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. |
| Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. | When they arrest you and bring you to trial, do not be concerned beforehand about what you are to say. Simply say whatever is given to you when that time comes, for it will not be you who speak but the Holy Spirit. |
| He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” | Then he went on, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For from within, from the human heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from within, and they defile a person.” |
| Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! | Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. |
| They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. | They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and offered worship and service to the creature rather than to the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural practices. Likewise, men gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameful acts with men and received in their own persons the fitting penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since these people did not see fit to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their depraved way of thinking and to all types of vile behavior. |
