| Brethren, I exhort you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to be in full agreement with one another and not permit any divisions to arise among you. Be perfectly united in mind and purpose. | I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. |
| My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come to behold the face of God? | I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? |
| I am now about to go the way of all upon the earth. You know very well in your hearts and your souls that not one of the good things that the Lord, your God, promised you has failed to take place. Every promise has been fulfilled, not one of them has been broken. | Soon I will die, going the way of everything on earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed! |
| Beloved, I pray that everything is going well with you and that your bodily health is equal to that of your soul. | Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. |
| The prudent man perceives danger and seeks shelter, while the simple continue forward and pay the penalty. | A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. |
| Observe the ordinances of the Lord, your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and what he witnessed in writing in the law of Moses. In this way you will prosper in whatever you do and wherever you go. | Observe the requirements of the Lord your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. |
| When you pray do not go on babbling endlessly as the pagans do, for they believe that they are more likely to be heard because of their many words. | 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. |
| At dawn let me experience your kindness, for in you I place my trust. Show me the path I must walk, for to you I lift up my soul. | Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. |
| While he was departing as they gazed upward toward the sky, suddenly two men dressed in white robes stood beside them, and they said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking up into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” | As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” |
| The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free. | The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free. |
| Therefore, let us leave behind the basic teaching about Christ and advance toward maturity. We must not be forever laying the foundation: repentance for actions that lead to death, faith in God, instruction about baptisms and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. | So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. |
| And yet he is aware of everywhere I go; if he were to test me, I would emerge like pure gold. My footsteps have not strayed from the path he established; I have followed his way and never turned aside. | But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. |
| Or can a man walk on red-hot coals without scorching his feet? | Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? |
| What then shall we say? Should we persist in sin in order that grace may abound? Of course not! We have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? | Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? |
| Amen, amen, I say to you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and indeed will do even greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. | I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. |
| He said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not realize that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not into the heart but into the stomach and is discharged into the sewer?” Thus, he pronounced all foods clean. | “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) |
| Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified of them, for the Lord, your God, is going forth with you. He will never leave you or abandon you. | So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. |
| Continue in all of the ways that the Lord, your God, has commanded you. Continue in them so that you may live and prosper and that you may long dwell on the land of your inheritance. | Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy. |
| Then you will understand equity and justice as well as righteousness—every good path. | Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go. |
| When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; nor will the waters engulf you. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not consume you. | When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. |
| The Lord God is my strength; he makes my feet as swift as those of a deer and enables me to tread on the heights. | The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. |
| Whoever heeds admonition is on the path to life, but anyone who rejects correction goes astray. | People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore correction will go astray. |
| What then? Should we sin because we are not under the Law but under grace? Of course not! | Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! |
| Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and those who find it are few in number. | You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. |
| If you obey the command that I give you today, to love the Lord, your God, and to walk in his ways, and to observe his commandments, statutes, and decrees, then you will live and multiply, and the Lord, your God, will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. | For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. |
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