| Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. | Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. |
| Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. | Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! |
|
| For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. | For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. |
| I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over. | 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. |
| For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. | After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. |
| For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. | For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. |
| The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. | The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked. |
| 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? | Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? |
| For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. | We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. |
| Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him. | This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. |
| We love because He first loved us. | We love each other because he loved us first. |
| What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! | Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! |
| Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! | Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! |
| No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. | No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. |
| Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. | Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. |
| This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. | And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. |
| Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. | Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. |
| For we live by faith, not by sight. | For we live by believing and not by seeing. |
| If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. | If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. |
| Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. | Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. |
| We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. | For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. |
| For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! | For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. |
| Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. | So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. |
| This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. | And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. |
| Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. | Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. |
