| When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. | When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. |
| Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. | Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. |
| Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. | O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. |
| It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send 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. |
| Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. | A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinion. |
| May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. | Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. |
| Rescue me, O Lord, from liars and from all deceitful people. | Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. |
| With their words, the godless destroy their friends, but knowledge will rescue the righteous. | With their mouths the godless would destroy their neighbors, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered. |
| Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating. | A fool's lips bring strife, and a fool's mouth invites a flogging. |
| Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. | Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up. |
| Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty! | In all toil there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. |
| If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. | If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. |
| Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies! | Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. |
| If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. | If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. |
| And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. | And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. |
| The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words. | The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse. |
| Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling. | It is honorable to refrain from strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. |
| Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. | Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly. |
| But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry in advance about what to say. Just say what God tells you at that time, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit. | When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. |
| When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. | While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. |
| You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. | Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. |
| Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. | Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. |
| Eloquent words are not fitting for a fool; even less are lies fitting for a ruler. | Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a ruler. |
| The words of the godly are like sterling silver; the heart of a fool is worthless. | The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the mind of the wicked is of little worth. |
| Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.” | Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.” |
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