Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: “Come back to me and live!” | For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: If you seek me, you will survive. |
Therefore, tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No more delay! I will now do everything I have threatened. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’ | Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: The fulfillment of my words will not be delayed any longer. What I have said will be done now. This is the word of the Lord God.” |
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This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other. | Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render fair judgments, and show kindness and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor. Do not plot evil in your heart against one another. |
Don’t be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices.’ | Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the prophets of that time proclaimed. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Forsake your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they refused to listen or to pay attention to me, says the Lord. |
Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the Lord.’ | Return and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father: I have heard, I have seen your tears. I will heal you today, and the day after tomorrow you will go up to the temple of the Lord. |
This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’” | These are the words of the Lord of hosts: Stand at the crossroads and look around; ask for the ancient paths. When you are shown where the good way lies, walk along it and your souls will find rest. However, they said, “We will not take it.” |
“Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) | He said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not realize that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not into the heart but into the stomach and is discharged into the sewer?” Thus, he pronounced all foods clean. |
The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.” | For thus says the One who is high and exalted, who lives eternally and whose name is holy: I dwell in a high and holy place but I am with the contrite and the humble, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite. |
Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. | Your kindness is a greater joy than life itself; thus my lips will speak your praise. I will bless you all my life; with uplifted hands I will call on your name. |
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. | In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it does not have works. |
In this way, I will show my greatness and holiness, and I will make myself known to all the nations of the world. Then they will know that I am the Lord. | I will, thereby, display my greatness and my holiness and make myself known to many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord. |
You must faithfully keep all my commands by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord. | You shall observe my commandments and obey them. I am the Lord. |
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. | 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. |
But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him. | While Peter was thus imprisoned, the Church prayed fervently to God for him. |
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. | Thus there are three things that endure: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. |
“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!” | Bring the tithes in full into the treasury so that there may be food in my house. Put me thus to the test, says the Lord of hosts, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down blessings upon you without measure. |
And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. | And thus we can have confidence in him that if we ask anything that is in accordance with his will, he hears us. |
Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good. | Thus you could understand that the Lord, your God, was disciplining you, just like a father disciplines his son. |
Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last. | He cried out, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” And with these words he breathed his last. |
But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! | But who am I, and what are your people, that we should be able to do this? All things belong to you, and everything that we have given you is from your hand. |
Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth. | I will establish my covenant with you: never again will all living creatures be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor will the earth be laid waste by a flood again. |
All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. | Anyone who is victorious will be dressed like these in white robes, and I shall not blot his name from the book of life. Rather, I shall acknowledge it in the presence of my Father and his angels. |
You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. | You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can be done to make it salty once again? It is no longer good for anything, and thus it is cast out and trampled underfoot. |
When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do. | When you look at the tassels, you will remember the commandments of the Lord and keep them. Thus you will not prostitute yourselves by following after the lusts in your own heart or your own eyes. |
When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. | Therefore, whenever you give alms, do not trumpet your generosity, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets in order to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have already received their reward. |