19 And I will say to my soul, (A)“Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; (B)eat, drink, and be merry.” ’

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19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

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Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow [a]we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? (A)It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, (B)“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

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Footnotes

  1. James 4:13 M let us

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Now listen,(A) you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”(B) 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.(C) 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,(D) we will live and do this or that.”

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My Son, Be Wise

27 Do(A) not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

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27 Do not boast(A) about tomorrow,
    for you do not know what a day may bring.(B)

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32 If, in the manner of men, (A)I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, (B)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

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32 If I fought wild beasts(A) in Ephesus(B) with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,
    for tomorrow we die.”[a](C)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 15:32 Isaiah 22:13

11 (A)Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
That they may [a]follow intoxicating drink;
Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 5:11 pursue

11 Woe(A) to those who rise early in the morning
    to run after their drinks,
who stay up late at night
    till they are inflamed with wine.(B)

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Seek God in Early Life

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
(A)Walk in the [a]ways of your heart,
And [b]in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these
(B)God will bring you into judgment.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 11:9 Impulses
  2. Ecclesiastes 11:9 As you see to be best

You who are young, be happy while you are young,
    and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart
    and whatever your eyes see,
but know that for all these things
    God will bring you into judgment.(A)

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You have lived on the earth in pleasure and [a]luxury; you have [b]fattened your hearts [c]as in a day of slaughter.

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Footnotes

  1. James 5:5 indulgence
  2. James 5:5 Lit. nourished
  3. James 5:5 NU omits as

You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves(A) in the day of slaughter.[a](B)

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Footnotes

  1. James 5:5 Or yourselves as in a day of feasting

19 (A)whose end is destruction, (B)whose god is their belly, and (C)whose glory is in their shame—(D)who set their mind on earthly things.

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19 Their destiny(A) is destruction, their god is their stomach,(B) and their glory is in their shame.(C) Their mind is set on earthly things.(D)

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Lay Up Treasures in Heaven(A)

19 (B)“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 (C)but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

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Treasures in Heaven(A)

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,(B) where moths and vermin destroy,(C) and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,(D) where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.(E) 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.(F)

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11 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall in his own esteem.

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11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;(A)
    they imagine it a wall too high to scale.

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10 Do not trust in oppression,
Nor vainly hope in robbery;
(A)If riches increase,
Do not set your heart on them.

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10 Do not trust in extortion(A)
    or put vain hope in stolen goods;(B)
though your riches increase,
    do not set your heart on them.(C)

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(A)In the measure that she glorified herself and lived [a]luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as (B)queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 18:7 sensually

Give her as much torment and grief
    as the glory and luxury she gave herself.(A)
In her heart she boasts,
    ‘I sit enthroned as queen.
I am not a widow;[a]
    I will never mourn.’(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 18:7 See Isaiah 47:7,8.

For we have spent enough of our past [a]lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 4:3 NU time

For you have spent enough time in the past(A) doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.(B)

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