| You must not exploit a widow or an orphan. If you exploit them in any way and they cry out to me, then I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless. | You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. |
| “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!” | Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. |
| Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. | He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. |
| A newly married man must not be drafted into the army or be given any other official responsibilities. He must be free to spend one year at home, bringing happiness to the wife he has married. | When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken. |
| But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. | But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. |
| Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. | So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. |
| If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. | For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! |
| For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost. | For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. |
| Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! | Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! |
| He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession. | Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. |
| The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. | No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. |
| Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. | And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. |
| Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. | Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! |
| Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. | Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. |
| The Lord will work out his plans for my life— for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me. | The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. |
| Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. | And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. |
| Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord. | Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! |
| You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. | O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. |
| 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. | Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. |
| For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. | For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. |
| But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” | But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” |
| 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. |
| Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. | Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. |
| Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment. | Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation. |
| “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” | Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. |
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