| Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. | Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. |
| For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. | For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. |
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| I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. | Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. |
| Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. | Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. |
| Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. | Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. |
| See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. | Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. |
| Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. | You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. |
| Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. | Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. |
| Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. | Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. |
| But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. | But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. |
| I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. | I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love. |
| For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. | For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. |
| Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. | Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. |
| He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. | Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. |
| He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? | He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. |
| Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. | Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. |
| For the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. | For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth. |
| Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God, instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. | Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. |
| If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! | If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! |
| But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. | But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. |
| The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever. | The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise. |
| And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. | And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. |
| Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. | Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. |
| His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ | His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ |
| You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. | You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. |
