| Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. | Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. |
| It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. | By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. |
| That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” | Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. |
| Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. | Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart. |
| And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. | She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. |
| Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. | Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. |
| Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. | But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. |
| When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. | When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. |
| But when you had eaten and were satisfied, you became proud and forgot me. | When I fed them, they were satisfied; they were satisfied, and their heart was proud; therefore they forgot me. |
| After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. | When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. |
| But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ | But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ |
| But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) | But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ —by grace you have been saved—. |
| Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone. | Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. |
| So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. | Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. |
| Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. | This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. |
| Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever. | 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! |
| He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death. | He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction. |
| If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. | If you follow my statutes and keep my commandments and observe them faithfully, I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. |
| The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil. | For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. |
| If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. | For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. |
| Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you. | And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. |
| But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. | These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. |
| Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. | Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray. |
| They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. | Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. |
| They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them. | For they said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts.” It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. |
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