Unless Yahweh builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain. | If the Lord does not build the house, those who construct it labor in vain. If the Lord does not guard the city, those who keep watch over it do so in vain. |
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised. | Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. |
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You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name. | You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain, for the Lord will not consider blameless those who take his name in vain. |
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. | Therefore, my beloved brethren, stand firm and immovable, devoting yourselves completely to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. |
In praying, don’t use vain repetitions as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. | When you pray do not go on babbling endlessly as the pagans do, for they believe that they are more likely to be heard because of their many words. |
Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. | And now, brethren, I want to remind you of the gospel I proclaimed to you, which you received and in which you stand firm. Through it you are also being saved, provided that you are holding fast to what I proclaimed to you. If not, then you have believed in vain. |
I don’t reject the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing! | I do not set aside the grace of God, for if justification comes through the Law, then Christ died for nothing. |
Doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself. | Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vanity, but humbly regard others as better than yourselves. |
If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless. | If anyone thinks that he is religious but does not restrain his tongue, he is deceiving himself, and his religion is worthless. |
Knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things like silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ. | For you are aware that you were ransomed from your futile way of life inherited from your ancestors not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. |
For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax. They deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers, so that it can’t move. They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and don’t speak. They must be carried, because they can’t move. Don’t be afraid of them; for they can’t do evil, neither is it in them to do good. | For the carved images of the nations are powerless; they are nothing more than wood cut from a forest, fashioned with a knife by craftsmen and embellished with silver and gold. Then they are fastened with hammers and nails to prevent them from toppling. Like scarecrows in a cucumber field they are unable to speak, and they must be carried from place to place since they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they can do no harm, nor do they have any power to do good. |