| A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. | Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold. |
| And rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. | “Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. |
| Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. | Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him— even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen! |
| I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. | The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” |
| For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. | For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. |
| Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. | Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses. |
| And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. | And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. |
| And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” | He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” |
| And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. | Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. |
| It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. | It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. |
| Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. | Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. |
| Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. | Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. |
| Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. | They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. |
| Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. | But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. |
| He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” | But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” |
| In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. | Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life. |
| So that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. | So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. |
| Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. | Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. |
| As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! | Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me. Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me. |
| 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. | 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. |
| I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. | All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed. |
| O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. | You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. |
| He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? | Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? |
| One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. | In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. |
| Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful. | Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. |
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