Daily Reading for Personal Growth, 40 Days with God
13 When people are ·tempted [undergoing a trial], they should not say, “God is tempting me.” [L For] God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But ·people are [L each person is] tempted when their own evil desire ·leads [lures; drags] them away and ·traps [entices; lures] them. 15 ·This desire leads to sin [L Then, after desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin], and then the sin ·grows [or becomes full-grown] and ·brings [gives birth to] death.
16 My ·dear [beloved] brothers and sisters [C fellow believers], do not be ·fooled [deceived] about this. 17 Every good ·action [or act of giving] and every perfect gift ·is from God [L comes from above]. These good gifts come down from the ·Creator of the sun, moon, and stars [L the father of lights; C referring to God’s creation of the heavenly bodies (Gen. 1:14–19; Ps. 136:7–9; Jer. 31:35)], who does not change like their shifting shadows. 18 God ·decided [chose; willed] to give us ·life [birth] through the ·word of truth [true message] so we might be ·the most important [or the first of many; L a kind of firstfruits; C firstfruits were the first crops to be harvested and guaranteed the coming harvest; Ex. 34:22; 2 Thess. 2:13; Rev. 14:4] of all ·the things he made [or his creatures].
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