| I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. | I do not say this because I have been in need, for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. |
| But godliness with contentment is great gain. | Godliness produces great gain, but only to those who are content. |
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| For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. | For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out. If we have food and clothing, let us be content with these. |
| Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” | Do not succumb to the love of money, but be content with what you have, for God has said, “I will never forsake you or abandon you.” |
| I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. | I know how to live with little, and I know how to live with 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. |
| That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. | For this reason, I rejoice when I endure weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and distress for the sake of Christ. For it is when I am weak that I am strong. |
| The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. | The lips of a fool cause strife, and his mouth provokes a flogging. |
| Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. | One who is covetous will never be satisfied with money, nor will the lover of wealth be content with gain. This too is vanity. |
| As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? | When riches increase, so do those who are eager to accumulate them, and those who have accumulated them must remain content simply to feast their eyes on them. |
| Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. | An ignorant man causes strife by his insolence, but wisdom is found with those who take advice. |
| Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. | Moreover, the one to whom God grants wealth and possessions and the ability to enjoy them and to find contentment in his toil receives a gift from God. |
| The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. | Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you previously, that no one who does such things will inherit the kingdom of God. |
