| Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. | Righteousness is a sign of a nation’s greatness, but sin degrades any people. |
| Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. | Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. |
|
| I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. | I was eager to respond to those who did not consult me. I was anxious to be approached by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am! Here I am!” to a nation that did not summon me. |
| Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. | Then Peter addressed them: “I now understand how true it is that God has no favorites, but that in every nation all those who fear God and do what is right are acceptable to him.” |
| But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. | But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people claimed by God as his own possession,” so that you may proclaim the praise of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. |
| For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee. | The Lord, your God, will bless you as he promised you. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none. You shall rule over many nations, but none shall rule over you. |
| I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. | I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord; I will sing your praises among the nations. |
| Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. | Be still and acknowledge that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth. |
| And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. | And the good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the entire world as a testimony offered to all the nations. And then the end will come. |
| Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord. | I will, thereby, display my greatness and my holiness and make myself known to many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord. |
| And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. | I intend to prove the holiness of my great name which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. Thus, the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I will display my holiness in their sight. |
| And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. | If you heed the voice of the Lord, your God, and you carefully observe all of the commandments that I have given you today, then the Lord, your God, will lift you up above all the other nations upon the earth. |
| Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life. | Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may show yourselves blameless and beyond reproach, children of God without spot in the midst of an evil and depraved generation, among which you shine like lights in the world as you hold fast tenaciously to the word of life. |
| Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. | Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the world. |
| And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. | I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of the heavens and I will give them all these lands. All the nations on the earth will be blessed through your descendants, for Abraham listened to my voice and observed that which I ordered: my commandments, my ordinances and my laws. |
| And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. | And you will say on that day: Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. |
| Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. | Because in my eyes you are precious, because you are honored and I love you, I will give people in exchange for you and nations in return for your life. |
| And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. | Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was made visible in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory. |
| O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. | Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name; proclaim his deeds among the peoples. |
| Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. | Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord, our God. |
| And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine. | You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, am holy. I have chosen you from among all people that you shall be mine. |
| Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine. | Now, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession from among all the peoples, for the entire earth is mine. |
| Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. | Behold, he is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will mourn him. So shall it be. Amen. |
| Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he. | Who has performed these deeds and accomplished this? Who has summoned the nations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am the first, and I will be there with the last. |
| 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. | 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. |
