| Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. It is by your holding fast 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. |
| For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. | So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. |
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| May my teaching drop like the rain, my speech condense like the dew; like gentle rain on grass, like showers on new growth. | Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. |
| Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. | “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” |
| If only they had such a mind as this, to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever! | Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! |
| For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his faithful ones. The righteous shall be kept safe forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. | For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish. |
| Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. | These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. |
| Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation. | Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. |
| Like a city breached, without walls, is one who lacks self-control. | Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. |
| And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ | And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ |
| For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night. | A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. |
| I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. | I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. |
| You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans. | Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless. |
| I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah | I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. |
| God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights. | The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. |
| But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. | But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. |
| Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time. | Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time. |
| Therefore you are great, O Lord God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. | How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. |
| Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. | Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. |
| The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. | The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts. |
| When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes wings to itself, flying like an eagle toward heaven. | Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. |
| Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, 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. |
| The wealth of the rich is their strong city; in their imagination it is like a high wall. | The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale. |
| But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. | But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. |
| Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday. | Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. |
