| Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? | Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? |
| The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? | The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? |
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| What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? | And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? |
| What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar. | Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest. |
| The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” | For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” |
| Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. | But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. |
| Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. | My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. |
| Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. | Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go. |
| He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord. | The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord. |
| To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. | The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices. |
| Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. | So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. |
| What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? | What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? |
| But test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. | But test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. |
| But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. | But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. |
| 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? | That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? |
| I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. | I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. |
| What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! | Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! |
| See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. | See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. |
| Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. | Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. |
| Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. | Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. |
| Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. | Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. |
| Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. | Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. |
| In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? | I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? |
| What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? | What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? |
| He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. | He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though he is surrounded by light. |
