Tainted wealth has no lasting value, but right living can save your life. | Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. |
And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins. | For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. |
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A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. | For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. |
Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? | Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? |
And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” | And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” |
So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. | Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. |
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. | If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. |
No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. | Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? |
For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. | For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. |
Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means. | Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. |
When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways. | God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness. |
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. | For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. |
Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. | Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. |
For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. | Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. |
He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. | Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. |
Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. | Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? |