| But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers. | And whoever does not provide for relatives, especially for those who are living with him, has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. |
| Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words. | The words of a wise man win favor, but a fool’s tongue is his undoing. |
| And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. | God gave the midwives numerous families because they had feared God. |
| And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? | What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his very life? |
| For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. | God saved us and called us to a life of holiness, not because of our works but according to his own purpose and the grace that has been bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. |
| By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. | His divine power has bestowed on us everything that is necessary for life and for devotion through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue. |
| “They will be my people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child.” | They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my own special possession on the day when I act, and I will have compassion on them as a father has compassion on the son who serves him. |
| But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful 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. |
| Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. | Do not wear yourself out in the pursuit of wealth, and cease even to think about it. |
| Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. | Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own? You have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. |
| Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. | The one who sows in his flesh will reap a harvest of corruption, but the one who sows in the Spirit will reap from the Spirit the reward of eternal life. |
| My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice! | My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad. |
| God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. | It is the will of God that you should lead a life of sanctity. You must refrain from sexual immorality. Each of you must learn to acquire a wife from pure and honorable motives, not to gratify passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. |
| You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. | You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, am holy. I have chosen you from among all people that you shall be mine. |
| But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! | But who am I, and what are your people, that we should be able to do this? All things belong to you, and everything that we have given you is from your hand. |
| Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. | 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. |
| And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? | 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? |
| For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. | Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church, the body of which he is the Savior. |
| Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! | Live in harmony with one another. Do not consider yourself to be better than others, but associate with the lowly, and never be conceited. |
| For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. | You are from your father, the devil, and you choose to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he does not abide by the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks in accord with his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. |
| Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” | After this, he said to the crowd, “Take care to be on your guard against all kinds of greed. Life does not depend upon an abundance of one’s possessions.” |
| The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense; they imagine it to be a high wall of safety. | The wealth of a rich man is his stronghold; he regards it as a high wall that cannot be scaled. |
| And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. | And so now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, require of you but to fear the Lord, your God, to walk in all of his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, and to observe the commandments and the statutes that I am giving you today for your own good. |
| Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good. | Thus you could understand that the Lord, your God, was disciplining you, just like a father disciplines his son. |
| What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance. | Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. |
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