| For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? | And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? |
| Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. | So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. |
| Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? | Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? |
| What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? | What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? |
| Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? | Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? |
| See what love the Father has given 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. |
| Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. | Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. |
| What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? | What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? |
| What then? Should we sin because we are not under 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! |
| In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid; what can flesh 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? |
| So that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints. | I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. |
| I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. | I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. |
| What is desirable in a person is loyalty, and it is better to be poor than a liar. | Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest. |
| But test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil. | But test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. |
| To you, O God of my ancestors, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and power, and have now revealed to me what we asked of you, for you have revealed to us what the king ordered. | 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. |
| He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the 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. |
| Be on your guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive a full reward. | Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. |
| What then should we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” | Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” |
| If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. | And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! |
| I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. | I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. |
| So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” | So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” |
| For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. | Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. |
| So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. | So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. |
| All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being. | God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. |
| If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true. | So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. |
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