| Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. | Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you do. |
| And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? | So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. |
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| Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. | Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path. |
| And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name. | And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name. |
| Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. | Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. |
| Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. | But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. |
| So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. | So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. |
| Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. | What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. |
| The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others. | Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors. |
| For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. | For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God. |
| We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. | For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. |
| A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. | The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. |
| “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” | He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” |
| For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. | For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. |
| Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. | O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. |
| Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.’ | Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be fulfilled, says the Lord God. |
| “And with you, Lord, is unfailing love”; and, “You reward everyone according to what they have done.” | And steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work. |
| And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. | And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. |
| This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. | This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. |
| Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. | So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. |
| When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. | When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. |
| All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). | All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” |
| I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. | I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. |
| Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. | Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. |
| Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. | Hear, my child, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. |
