Exodus 20:16

Common English Bible

¹⁶Do not testify falsely against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:16 in all English translations

Proverbs 12

Common English Bible

12 Those who love discipline love knowledge,
    and those who hate correction are stupid.
²The Lord favors good people,
    but he condemns schemers.
³No one is established by wicked acts,
    but the roots of the righteous can’t be disturbed.
⁴A strong woman is a crown to her husband,
    but a disgraceful woman is like rot in his bones.
⁵The plans of the righteous are just,
    but the guidance of the wicked is deceptive.
⁶The words of the wicked are a deathtrap,
    but the speech of those who do right rescues them.
⁷The wicked are destroyed and are no more,
    but the family of the righteous will endure.
⁸A person is praised for his insight,
    but a warped mind leads to contempt.
⁹Better to be held in low regard and have a servant
    than to be conceited and lack food.
¹⁰The righteous care about their livestock’s needs,
    but even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
¹¹Those who work their land will have plenty to eat,
    but those who engage in empty pursuits have no sense.
¹²Desiring evil is a trap for the wicked,
    but the root of the righteous endures.^[a]
¹³The wicked are trapped by the transgressions of their lips,
    but the righteous escape from distress.
¹⁴From the fruit of their speech, people are well satisfied;
    their work results in reward.
¹⁵Fools see their own way as right,
    but the wise listen to advice.
¹⁶Fools reveal their anger right away,
    but the shrewd hide their contempt.
¹⁷Those who state the truth speak justly,
    but a false witness deceives.
¹⁸Some chatter on like a stabbing sword,
    but a wise tongue heals.
¹⁹Truthful lips endure forever,
    but a lying tongue lasts only for a moment.
²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who plan evil,
    but there is joy for those who advise peace.
²¹No harm happens to the righteous,
    but the wicked receive their fill of trouble.
²²The Lord detests false lips;
    he favors those who do what is true.
²³The shrewd conceal their knowledge,
    but the heart of fools proclaims their stupidity.
²⁴A hard worker is in charge,
    while a lazy one will be sentenced to hard labor.
²⁵Anxiety leads to depression,
    but a good word encourages.
²⁶The righteous offer guidance to their neighbors,^[b]
    but the path of the wicked makes them wander.
²⁷The lazy don’t roast^[c] their prey,
    but hard workers receive precious riches.
²⁸The way of the righteous leads to life,
    but the detestable^[d] path leads to death.

Footnotes

Proverbs 12:12 Or gives
Proverbs 12:26 Heb uncertain
Proverbs 12:27 Heb uncertain
Proverbs 12:28 LXX; MT the path of the trail

Ephesians 4:1-25

Common English Bible

Unity of the body of Christ

4 Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord, I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. ²Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, ³and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together. ⁴You are one body and one spirit, just as God also called you in one hope. ⁵There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶and one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all.

⁷God has given his grace to each one of us measured out by the gift that is given by Christ. ⁸That’s why scripture says, When he climbed up to the heights, he captured prisoners, and he gave gifts to people.^[a]

⁹What does the phrase “he climbed up” mean if it doesn’t mean that he had first gone down into the lower regions, the earth? ¹⁰The one who went down is the same one who climbed up above all the heavens so that he might fill everything.

¹¹He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. ¹²His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ ¹³until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ. ¹⁴As a result, we aren’t supposed to be infants any longer who can be tossed and blown around by every wind that comes from teaching with deceitful scheming and the tricks people play to deliberately mislead others. ¹⁵Instead, by speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ, ¹⁶who is the head. The whole body grows from him, as it is joined and held together by all the supporting ligaments. The body makes itself grow in that it builds itself up with love as each one does its part.

The old and new life

¹⁷So I’m telling you this, and I insist on it in the Lord: you shouldn’t live your life like the Gentiles anymore. They base their lives on pointless thinking, ¹⁸and they are in the dark in their reasoning. They are disconnected from God’s life because of their ignorance and their closed hearts. ¹⁹They are people who lack all sense of right and wrong, and who have turned themselves over to doing whatever feels good and to practicing every sort of corruption along with greed.

²⁰But you didn’t learn that sort of thing from Christ. ²¹Since you really listened to him and you were taught how the truth is in Jesus, ²²change the former way of life that was part of the person you once were, corrupted by deceitful desires. ²³Instead, renew the thinking in your mind by the Spirit ²⁴and clothe yourself with the new person created according to God’s image in justice and true holiness.

²⁵Therefore, after you have gotten rid of lying, Each of you must tell the truth to your neighbor^[b] because we are parts of each other in the same body.

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