| Reflect on the Lord and his strength; seek his face continually. | Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. |
| But he answered me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Hence, I will boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell within me. | But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. |
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| The heart is more deceitful than any other thing, and it is also perverse. Who can uncover its secrets? I, the Lord, search the heart and probe the mind to reward all according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve. | The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” |
| Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually. | Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. |
| A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance. | The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. |
| Therefore, let us cease passing judgment on one another, but rather judge never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. | Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. |
| Jesus answered, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive in this age a hundred times more houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and lands—as well as persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.” | “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” |
| But I have had help from God to this very day, and I stand here and testify to both the lowly and the great. I assert nothing more than what the Prophets and Moses said would occur: that the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to the people and to the Gentiles. | But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles. |
| If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is preferable for you to lose one part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. | If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. |
| For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so too, through Christ, do we receive our consolation. | For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. |
| Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vanity, but humbly regard others as better than yourselves. | Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. |
| You will show me the path to life; you will fill me with joy in your presence and everlasting delights at your right hand. | You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. |
| Rather, professing truth and love, we will in all things grow into him who is the head, Christ. | Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. |
| For the carved images of the nations are powerless; they are nothing more than wood cut from a forest, fashioned with a knife by craftsmen and embellished with silver and gold. Then they are fastened with hammers and nails to prevent them from toppling. Like scarecrows in a cucumber field they are unable to speak, and they must be carried from place to place since they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they can do no harm, nor do they have any power to do good. | For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good. |
| When riches increase, so do those who are eager to accumulate them, and those who have accumulated them must remain content simply to feast their eyes on them. | As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? |
| The Lord will protect you against all evil; he will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and your going both now and forevermore. | The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. |
| Whom do I have in heaven except you? And besides you there is nothing else I desire on earth. | Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. |
| He replied, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said: ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh’? And so they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” | “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” |
| 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? | What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? |
| Then, after completing their fasting and prayer, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. | So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. |
| And as we gaze upon the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, all of us are being transformed into that same image from glory to glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. | And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. |
| As a result, you are no longer strangers and foreigners. Rather, you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. | Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. |
| Bring the tithes in full into the treasury so that there may be food in my house. Put me thus to the test, says the Lord of hosts, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down blessings upon you without measure. | “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” |
| What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his very life? Or what can he give in exchange for his life? | What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? |
| Amen, amen, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. | Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. |
