| You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected. | Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. |
| Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. | Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. |
| No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. | Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. |
| Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time. | Wealth hastily gotten will dwindle, but those who gather little by little will increase it. |
| Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” | In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” |
| That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” | Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. |
| The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. | Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. |
| 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. | Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. |
| And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. | And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. |
| 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. | I had eaten no rich food, no meat or wine had entered my mouth, and I had not anointed myself at all, for the full three weeks. |
| “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.” | Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” |
| Who has done such mighty deeds, summoning each new generation from the beginning of time? It is I, the Lord, the First and the Last. I alone am he. | Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am first, and will be with the last. |
| Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back. | A fool gives full vent to anger, but the wise quietly holds it back. |
| Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. | Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. |
| For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! | For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light. |
| Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. | But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. |
| Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. | For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, busy with this very thing. |
| The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him. | The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of trouble; he protects those who take refuge in him. |
| If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive. | If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive. |
| Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak! | Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. |
| Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. | Because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. |
| Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord forty days and forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water. And the Lord wrote the terms of the covenant—the Ten Commandments—on the stone tablets. | He was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. |
| Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. | Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. |
| But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. | By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. |
| If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? | Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. |
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