And the one who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. | If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. |
Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. | Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. |
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For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. | Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. |
As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. | I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. |
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things. | And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. |
Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. | Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness. |
An excellent wife, who can find her? For her worth is far above jewels. | Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. |
But the one who did not know it, and committed acts deserving of a beating, will receive only a few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. | But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. |
The Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. | The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. |
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. | Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. |
And the insignificant things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no human may boast before God. | God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. |
A trustworthy witness will not lie, But a false witness declares lies. | An honest witness does not lie; a false witness breathes lies. |
The statement is trustworthy: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him. | This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. |
One who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, But one who is trustworthy conceals a matter. | A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence. |
For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged natural relations for that which is contrary to nature, and likewise the men, too, abandoned natural relations with women and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing shameful acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper. | They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. |