| Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the prophets of that time proclaimed. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Forsake your evil ways and your evil deeds. But they refused to listen or to pay attention to me, says the Lord. | Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. |
| If it seems wrong to you to serve the Lord, then today you must choose whom you will serve, whether it be the gods that your fathers served on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites who dwell in the land. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. | But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. |
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| You who abide in the shelter of the Most High, who rest in the shadow of the Almighty, say to the Lord, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I place my trust.” | Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” |
| He was despised and shunned by others, a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering. We loathed him and regarded him as of no account, as one from whom men avert their gaze. | He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. |
| Father, allow those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may behold my glory, which you have bestowed on me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. | Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. |
| And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God who has marked you with his seal for the day of redemption. | And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. |
| If a man has recently been married, he is not to go off to battle nor have any other duty laid on him. He will be free to stay at home for one year so that he can bring happiness to the wife whom he has married. | If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married. |
| God is faithful, and it is by him that you have been called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. | God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. |
| Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved; you are the one whom I praise. | Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. |
| Then Nehemiah added: “You now may go. Eat rich food and drink what is sweet. Moreover, send some of these to those for whom nothing has been prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Furthermore, do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” | Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” |
| Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own? You have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. | Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. |
| Every good act of giving and every perfect gift are from above, coming down from the Father of all light. With him there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. | Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. |
| May the God of peace—who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant— make you perfect in every respect so that you may do his will. And may he enable us to achieve what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. | Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. |
| Remain sober and alert, for your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. | Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. |
| For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. | For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. |
| It is the Lord, your God, whom you are to follow. You must fear him and observe his commandments and obey what he tells you and serve him and hold fast to him. | It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. |
| Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with a joy that is indescribable and glorious. For you are achieving the goal of your faith, that is, the salvation of your souls. | Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. |
| O God, you are my God, for whom I have been searching earnestly. My soul yearns for you and my body thirsts for you, like the earth when it is parched, arid and without water. | You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. |
| For you did not receive a spirit of slavery leading to fear; rather, you received the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, “Abba! Father!” | The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” |
| Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may show yourselves blameless and beyond reproach, children of God without spot in the midst of an evil and depraved generation, among which you shine like lights in the world as you hold fast tenaciously to the word of life. | Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. |
| May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world is crucified to me and I to the world. | May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. |
| To these God chose to make known how rich is the priceless glory that this mystery brings to the Gentiles—Christ in you, your hope of glory. | To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. |
| Joseph therefore went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David. He went to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was expecting a child. | So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. |
| When I sing to you, my lips will rejoice, and so will my soul, which you have redeemed. | My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you— I whom you have delivered. |
| All those who keep his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And the proof that he abides in us is the Spirit that he has given us. | The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. |
