| Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. | Dispose my heart to follow your statutes and to flee selfish gain. |
| I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. | I press on toward the finishing line to win the heavenly prize to which God has called me in Christ Jesus. |
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| Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. | Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of your opportunity. Let your speech always be gracious and seasoned with wisdom, so that you will know how to respond properly to all. |
| May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had. | May the God of perseverance and encouragement grant that you may live in harmony with one another, following in the example of Jesus Christ. |
| Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. | Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to all those on whom his favor rests. |
| May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. | May the Lord cause your love to increase and overflow for one another and for everyone else, just as our love does for you. |
| Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. | When you fix your gaze upon it, it is gone before you realize it. For it suddenly sprouts wings and flies up to the sky like an eagle. |
| The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry. | The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. |
| And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. | This water prefigured Baptism, which now saves you. It does so not by the washing away of dirt from the body but by the pledge of a good conscience given to God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. |
| The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. | The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord shine his face upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace. |
| Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. | 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. |
| For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. | I shall forgive them for their wicked deeds, and I shall remember their sins no more. |
| For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. | For I know full well the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your misfortune, plans that will offer you a future filled with hope. |
| Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. | Live in harmony with one another. Do not consider yourself to be better than others, but associate with the lowly, and never be conceited. |
| They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” | While he was departing as they gazed upward toward the sky, suddenly two men dressed in white robes stood beside them, and they said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking up into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” |
| God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. | For God would not be so unjust as to ignore your work and the love that you have shown for his name by the services you have rendered to the saints and still continue to render. |
| And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. | And let us consider how to spur one another to love and good works. Do not neglect to attend your assemblies, as some do, but rather encourage one another, especially since you can see the Day approaching. |
| This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. | God’s love was revealed to us in this way: God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might have life through him. |
| We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. | Brethren, we must always give thanks to God for you, and it is only right that we do so. For your faith grows ever more, and the love that all of you have for one another continues to increase. |
| And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. | And God is able to enrich you with an abundance of every grace, so that, with all of your needs provided for, you may be able to produce a surplus of good works. |
| This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. | And thus we can have confidence in him that if we ask anything that is in accordance with his will, he hears us. |
| Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. | Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we can approach God with confidence and receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do whatever is pleasing to him. |
| Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. | Indeed, it is seldom that anyone will die for a just person, although perhaps for a good person someone might be willing to die. Thus, God proved his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. |
| The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. | The Lord does not delay in keeping his promise, as some think in terms of delay, but he is patient with you. It is not his wish that any should perish but rather that all should be brought to repentance. |
| Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. | Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not treat them harshly. |
