| I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. | I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. |
| So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. | When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. |
| I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. | I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing. |
| For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. | If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. |
| O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. | O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. |
| Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had 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. |
| Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. | You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. |
| And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. | And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. |
| The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down. | The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked. |
| Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance 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! |
| And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. | And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. |
| Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. | The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. |
| But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. | But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently. |
| “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.” | “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!” |
| Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. | We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. |
| Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. | Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! |
| If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. | So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. |
| I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. | 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. |
| Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! | Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! |
| For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. | We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. |
| This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. | This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. |
| What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? | 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? |
| No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected 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. |
| For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. | 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. |
| What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! | Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! |
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