| For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. | “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” |
| Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. | In those days when you pray, I will listen. |
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| And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. | If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. |
| For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. | For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing. |
| Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee. | O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you! |
| Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me? | I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? |
| Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. | Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come. |
| Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. | O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. |
| Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. | This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’” |
| For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. | But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. |
| For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. | Their ways are futile and foolish. They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol. They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won’t fall over. Their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of such gods, for they can neither harm you nor do you any good. |
| Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. | But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. |
| The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. | The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve. |
| Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. | O Lord, if you heal me, I will be truly healed; if you save me, I will be truly saved. My praises are for you alone! |
| Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. | “Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord. |
