Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. | For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have. |
Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment. | Wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom. Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding. |
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“All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence. | Yahweh said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don’t stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of Yahweh. |
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. | Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow. |
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. | He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? |
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. | Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good. |
But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. | But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God. |
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? | In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? |
You know what I long for, Lord; you hear my every sigh. | Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you. |
He will judge everyone according to what they have done. | Who “will pay back to everyone according to their works.” |
You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. | For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether. |
He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.” | But he said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” |
Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. | Let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you. |
We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. | Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up. |
You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. | You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. |
You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. | You call me, ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You say so correctly, for so I am. |
The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? | Yahweh is on my side. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? |
Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? | Then what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? |
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” | But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.” |
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? | For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? |
For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. | For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. |
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. | But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. |
So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. | Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes. |
Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: “Come back to me and live!” | For Yahweh says to the house of Israel: “Seek me, and you will live.” |
I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. You have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king demanded. | I thank you and praise you, O God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we desired of you; for you have made known to us the king’s matter. |