Nehemiah 5 Cross References - BBE

¹ Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their countrymen the Jews. ² For there were some who said, We, our sons and our daughters, are a great number: let us get grain, so that we may have food for our needs. ³ And there were some who said, We are giving our fields and our vine-gardens and our houses for debt: let us get grain because we are in need. ⁴ And there were others who said, We have given up our fields and our vine-gardens to get money for the king's taxes. ⁵ But our flesh is the same as the flesh of our countrymen, and our children as their children: and now we are giving our sons and daughters into the hands of others, to be their servants, and some of our daughters are servants even now: and we have no power to put a stop to it; for other men have our fields and our vine-gardens. ⁶ And on hearing their outcry and what they said I was very angry. ⁷ And after turning it over in my mind, I made a protest to the chiefs and the rulers, and said to them, Every one of you is taking interest from his countryman. And I got together a great meeting of protest. ⁸ And I said to them, We have given whatever we were able to give, to make our brothers the Jews free, who were servants and prisoners of the nations: and would you now give up your brothers for a price, and are they to become our property? Then they said nothing, answering not a word. ⁹ And I said, What you are doing is not good: is it not the more necessary for you to go in the fear of our God, because of the shame which the nations may put on us? ¹⁰ Even I and my servants have been taking interest for the money and the grain we have let them have. So now, let us give up this thing. ¹¹ Give back to them this very day their fields, their vine-gardens, their olive-gardens, and their houses, as well as a hundredth part of the money and the grain and the wine and the oil which you have taken from them. ¹² Then they said, We will give them back, and take nothing for them; we will do as you say. Then I sent for the priests and made them take an oath that they would keep this agreement. ¹³ And shaking out the folds of my robe, I said, So may God send out from his house and his work every man who does not keep this agreement; even so let him be sent out and made as nothing. And all the meeting of the people said, So be it, and gave praise to the Lord. And the people did as they had said. ¹⁴ Now from the time when I was made ruler of the people in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year till the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, for twelve years, I and my servants have never taken the food which was the right of the ruler. ¹⁵ But earlier rulers who were before me made the people responsible for their upkeep, and took from them bread and wine at the rate of forty shekels of silver; and even their servants were lords over the people: but I did not do so, because of the fear of God. ¹⁶ And I kept on with the work of this wall, and we got no land for ourselves: and all my servants were helping with the work. ¹⁷ And more than this, a hundred and fifty of the Jews and the rulers were guests at my table, in addition to those who came to us from the nations round about us. ¹⁸ Now the food made ready for one day was one ox and six fat sheep, as well as fowls; and once in ten days a store of all sorts of wine: but all the same, I did not take the food to which the ruler had a right, because the people were crushed under a hard yoke. ¹⁹ Keep in mind, O my God, for my good, all I have done for this people.

⁷ And there was an argument between the keepers of Abram's cattle and the keepers of Lot's cattle: at that time the Canaanites and Perizzites were still living in the land. ⁸ Then Abram said to Lot, Let there be no argument between me and you, and between my herdmen and your herdmen, for we are brothers.

¹¹ And Abraham said, Because it seemed to me that there was no fear of God in this place, and that they might put me to death because of my wife.

¹⁴ And Laban said to him, Truly, you are my bone and my flesh. And he kept Jacob with him for the space of a month.

²⁷ Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him.

¹⁴ But keep me in mind when things go well for you, and be good to me and say a good word for me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison:

⁵⁷ And all lands sent to Egypt, to Joseph, to get grain, for the need was great over all the earth.

² And he said, I have had news that there is grain in Egypt: go down there and get grain for us, so that life and not death may be ours.

¹⁸ And on the third day Joseph said to them, Do this, if you would keep your lives: for I am a god-fearing man:

⁸ Then Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me, and let us be up and going, so that we and you and our little ones may not come to destruction.

¹⁵ And when all the money in Egypt and Canaan was gone, the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, Give us bread; would you have us come to destruction before your eyes? for we have no more money. ¹⁶ And Joseph said, Give me your cattle; I will give you grain in exchange for your cattle if your money is all gone. ¹⁷ So they took their cattle to Joseph and he gave them bread in exchange for their horses and flocks and herds and asses, so all that year he gave them food in exchange for their cattle. ¹⁸ And when that year was ended, they came to him in the second year, and said, We may not keep it from our lord's knowledge that all our money is gone, and all the herds of cattle are my lord's; there is nothing more to give my lord but our bodies and our land; ¹⁹ Are we to come to destruction before your eyes, we and our land? take us and our land and give us bread; and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh; and give us seed so that we may have life and the land may not become waste. ²⁰ So Joseph got all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh; for every Egyptian gave up his land in exchange for food, because of their great need; so all the land became Pharaoh's. ²¹ And as for the people, he made servants of them, town by town, from one end of Egypt to the other. ²² Only he did not take the land of the priests, for the priests had their food given them by Pharaoh, and having what Pharaoh gave them, they had no need to give up their land. ²³ Then Joseph said to the people, I have made you and your land this day the property of Pharaoh; here is seed for you to put in your fields. ²⁴ And when the grain is cut, you are to give a fifth part to Pharaoh, and four parts will be yours for seed and food, and for your families and your little ones. ²⁵ And they said to him, Truly you have kept us from death; may we have grace in your eyes, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.

⁷ And God said, Truly, I have seen the grief of my people in Egypt, and their cry because of their cruel masters has come to my ears; for I have knowledge of their sorrows;

⁸ And all these your servants will come to me, going down on their faces before me and saying, Go out, and all your people with you: and after that I will go out. And he went away from Pharaoh burning with wrath.

¹ Now these are the laws which you are to put before them. ² If you get a Hebrew servant for money, he is to be your servant for six years, and in the seventh year you are to let him go free without payment. ³ If he comes to you by himself, let him go away by himself: if he is married, let his wife go away with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife, and he gets sons or daughters by her, the wife and her children will be the property of the master, and the servant is to go away by himself. ⁵ But if the servant says clearly, My master and my wife and children are dear to me; I have no desire to be free: ⁶ Then his master is to take him to the gods of the house, and at the door, or at its framework, he is to make a hole in his ear with a sharp-pointed instrument; and he will be his servant for ever. ⁷ And if a man gives his daughter for a price to be a servant, she is not to go away free as the men-servants do. ⁸ If she is not pleasing to her master who has taken her for himself, let a payment be made for her so that she may go free; her master has no power to get a price for her and send her to a strange land, because he has been false to her. ⁹ And if he gives her to his son, he is to do everything for her as if she was his daughter. ¹⁰ And if he takes another woman, her food and clothing and her married rights are not to be less. ¹¹ And if he does not do these three things for her, she has the right to go free without payment.

¹⁶ Any man who gets another into his power in order to get a price for him is to be put to death, if you take him in the act.

²⁵ If you let any of the poor among my people have the use of your money, do not be a hard creditor to him, and do not take interest.

²⁵ If you let any of the poor among my people have the use of your money, do not be a hard creditor to him, and do not take interest. ²⁶ If ever you take your neighbour's clothing in exchange for the use of your money, let him have it back before the sun goes down: ²⁷ For it is the only thing he has for covering his skin; what is he to go to sleep in? and when his cry comes up to me, I will give ear, for my mercy is great.

⁴ Causing sin to come on him, then he will have to give back the thing he took by force or got by cruel acts, or the goods which were put in his care or the thing he came on by chance, ⁵ Or anything about which he took a false oath; he will have to give it all back, with the addition of a fifth of its value, to him whose property it is, when he has been judged to be in the wrong.

¹⁵ Do no wrong in your judging: do not give thought to the position of the poor, or honour to the position of the great; but be a judge to your neighbour in righteousness.

³⁵ And if your brother becomes poor and is not able to make a living, then you are to keep him with you, helping him as you would a man from another country who is living among you.

³⁵ And if your brother becomes poor and is not able to make a living, then you are to keep him with you, helping him as you would a man from another country who is living among you. ³⁶ Take no interest from him, in money or in goods, but have the fear of your God before you, and let your brother make a living among you.

³⁶ Take no interest from him, in money or in goods, but have the fear of your God before you, and let your brother make a living among you.

³⁶ Take no interest from him, in money or in goods, but have the fear of your God before you, and let your brother make a living among you. ³⁷ Do not take interest on the money which you let him have or on the food which you give him.

³⁷ Do not take interest on the money which you let him have or on the food which you give him. ³⁸ I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, that I might be your God. ³⁹ And if your brother becomes poor and gives himself to you for money, do not make use of him like a servant who is your property;

³⁹ And if your brother becomes poor and gives himself to you for money, do not make use of him like a servant who is your property; ⁴⁰ But let him be with you as a servant working for payment, till the year of Jubilee; ⁴¹ Then he will go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his family and to the property of his fathers. ⁴² For they are my servants whom I took out from the land of Egypt; they may not become the property of another. ⁴³ Do not be a hard master to him, but have the fear of God before you.

⁴⁷ And if one from another nation living among you gets wealth, and your countryman, at his side, becomes poor and gives himself for money to the man from another nation or to one of his family; ⁴⁸ After he has given himself he has the right to be made free, for a price, by one of his brothers, ⁴⁹ Or his father's brother, or the son of his father's brother, or any near relation; or if he gets money, he may make himself free.

²² And this water of the curse will go into your body, causing disease of your stomach and wasting of your legs: and the woman will say, So be it.

¹⁵ Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, Give no attention to their offering: not one of their asses have I taken, or done wrong to any of them.

² This is how it is to be done: every creditor is to give up his right to whatever he has let his neighbour have; he is not to make his neighbour, his countryman, give it back; because a general forgiveness has been ordered by the Lord. ³ A man of another nation may be forced to make payment of his debt, but if your brother has anything of yours, let it go;

⁷ If in any of your towns in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, there is a poor man, one of your countrymen, do not let your heart be hard or your hand shut to him;

⁷ If in any of your towns in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, there is a poor man, one of your countrymen, do not let your heart be hard or your hand shut to him; ⁸ But let your hand be open to give him the use of whatever he is in need of. ⁹ And see that there is no evil thought in your heart, moving you to say to yourself, The seventh year, the year of forgiveness is near; and so looking coldly on your poor countryman you give him nothing; and he will make an outcry to the Lord against you, and it will be judged as sin in you. ¹⁰ But it is right for you to give to him, without grief of heart: for because of this, the blessing of the Lord your God will be on all your work and on everything to which you put your hand. ¹¹ For there will never be a time when there are no poor in the land; and so I give orders to you, Let your hand be open to your countrymen, to those who are poor and in need in your land.

¹⁹ Do not take interest from an Israelite on anything, money or food or any other goods, which you let him have: ²⁰ From men of other nations you may take interest, but not from an Israelite: so that the blessing of the Lord your God may be on everything to which you put your hand, in the land which you are about to take as your heritage.

⁷ If a man takes by force one of his countrymen, the children of Israel, using him as his property or getting a price for him, that thief is to be put to death: so you are to put away evil from among you.

¹⁰ If you let your brother have the use of anything which is yours, do not go into his house and take anything of his as a sign of his debt; ¹¹ But keep outside till he comes out and gives it to you. ¹² If he is a poor man, do not keep his property all night; ¹³ But be certain to give it back to him when the sun goes down, so that he may have his clothing for sleeping in, and will give you his blessing: and this will be put to your account as righteousness before the Lord your God.

¹⁴ Then the Levites are to say in a loud voice to all the men of Israel, ¹⁵ Cursed is the man who makes any image of wood or stone or metal, disgusting to the Lord, the work of man's hands, and puts it up in secret. And let all the people say, So be it. ¹⁶ Cursed is he who does not give honour to his father or mother. And let all the people say, So be it. ¹⁷ Cursed is he who takes his neighbour's landmark from its place. And let all the people say, So be it. ¹⁸ Cursed is he by whom the blind are turned out of the way. And let all the people say, So be it. ¹⁹ Cursed is he who gives a wrong decision in the cause of a man from a strange land, or of one without a father, or of a widow. And let all the people say, So be it. ²⁰ Cursed is he who has sex relations with his father's wife, for he has put shame on his father. And let all the people say, So be it. ²¹ Cursed is he who has sex relations with any sort of beast. And let all the people say, So be it. ²² Cursed is he who has sex relations with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother. And let all the people say, So be it. ²³ Cursed is he who has sex relations with his mother-in-law. And let all the people say, So be it. ²⁴ Cursed is he who takes his neighbour's life secretly. And let all the people say, So be it. ²⁵ Cursed is he who for a reward puts to death one who has done no wrong. And let all the people say, So be it. ²⁶ Cursed is he who does not take this law to heart to do it. And let all the people say, So be it.

⁴⁷ Because you did not give honour to the Lord your God, worshipping him gladly, with joy in your hearts on account of all your wealth of good things; ⁴⁸ For this cause you will become servants to those whom the Lord your God will send against you, without food and drink and clothing, and in need of all things: and he will put a yoke of iron on your neck till he has put an end to you.

¹⁰ And the Canaanites who were living in Gezer were not forced out; but the Canaanites have been living among Ephraim, to this day, as servants, doing forced work.

¹⁵ And more than this, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was making the offering, Give me some of the flesh to be cooked for the priest; he has no taste for meat cooked in water, but would have you give it uncooked. ¹⁶ And if the man said to him, First let the fat be burned, then take as much as you will; then the servant would say, No, you are to give it to me now, or I will take it by force. ¹⁷ And the sin of these young men was very great before the Lord; for they gave no honour to the Lord's offerings.

²⁴ No, my sons, the account which is given me, which the Lord's people are sending about, is not good.

¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your seed and of the fruit of your vines and give it to his servants.

³ Here I am: give witness against me before the Lord and before the man on whom he has put the holy oil: whose ox or ass have I taken? to whom have I been untrue? who has been crushed down by me? from whose hand have I taken a price for the blinding of my eyes? I will give it all back to you.

²⁸ And Samuel said to him, The Lord has taken away the kingdom of Israel from you this day by force, and has given it to a neighbour of yours who is better than you.

⁷ And David said to him, Have no fear: for truly I will be good to you, because of your father Jonathan, and I will give back to you all the land which was Saul's; and you will have a place at my table at all times.

¹³ So Mephibosheth went on living in Jerusalem; for he took all his meals at the king's table; and he had not the use of his feet.

⁶ And he will have to give back four times the value of the lamb, because he has done this and because he had no pity.

¹⁴ But still, because you have had no respect for the Lord, death will certainly overtake the child who has newly come to birth.

²² And the amount of Solomon's food for one day was thirty measures of crushed grain and sixty measures of meal; ²³ Ten fat oxen and twenty oxen from the fields, and a hundred sheep, in addition to harts and gazelles and roes and fat fowls.

²¹ Their children who were still in the land, and whom the children of Israel had not been able to put to complete destruction, them did Solomon put to forced work, to this day.

²⁹ Now at that time, when Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite came across him on the road; now Ahijah had put on a new robe; and the two of them were by themselves in the open country. ³⁰ And Ahijah took his new robe in his hands, parting it violently into twelve. ³¹ And he said to Jeroboam, Take ten of the parts, for this is what the Lord has said: See, I will take the kingdom away from Solomon by force, and will give ten tribes to you;

¹⁹ Now send, and get Israel together before me at Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal who get their food at Jezebel's table.

¹ Now a certain woman, the wife of one of the sons of the prophets, came crying to Elisha and said, Your servant my husband is dead; and to your knowledge he was a worshipper of the Lord; but now, the creditor has come to take my two children as servants in payment of his debt.

² And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and all the people of Jerusalem, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, small and great; and they were present at his reading of the book of the law which had come to light in the house of the Lord. ³ And the king took his place by the pillar, and made an agreement before the Lord, to go in the way of the Lord, and keep his orders and his decisions and his rules with all his heart and all his soul, and to keep the words of the agreement recorded in the book; and all the people gave their word to keep the agreement.

³ And the king took his place by the pillar, and made an agreement before the Lord, to go in the way of the Lord, and keep his orders and his decisions and his rules with all his heart and all his soul, and to keep the words of the agreement recorded in the book; and all the people gave their word to keep the agreement.

³⁶ Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for ever and for ever. And all the people said, So be it; and gave praise to the Lord.

²² If a man does wrong to his neighbour and has to take an oath, and comes before your altar to take his oath in this house: ²³ Then let your ear be open in heaven, and be the judge of your servants, giving punishment to the wrongdoer, so that his sin may come on his head; and, by your decision, keeping from evil him who has done no wrong.

¹³ And that anyone, small or great, man or woman, who was not true to the Lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death. ¹⁴ And they made an oath to the Lord, with a loud voice, sounding wind-instruments and horns.

⁶ And said to the judges, Take care what you do, for you are judging not for man but for the Lord, and he is with you in the decisions you give. ⁷ So now let the fear of the Lord be in you; do your work with care; for in the Lord our God there is no evil, or respect for high position, or taking of payment to do wrong.

⁹ But a prophet of the Lord was there, named Oded; and he went out in front of the army which was coming into Samaria and said to them, Truly, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them up into your hands, and you have put them to death in an outburst of wrath stretching up to heaven. ¹⁰ And now your purpose is to keep the children of Judah and Jerusalem as men-servants and women-servants under your yoke: but are there no sins against the Lord your God to be seen among yourselves? ¹¹ And now give ear to me, and send back the prisoners whom you have taken from your brothers: for the wrath of the Lord is burning against you. ¹² Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah, the son of Johanan, Berechiah, the son of Meshillemoth Jehizkiah, the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, put themselves against those who had come from the war, ¹³ And said to them, You are not to let these prisoners come here; for what you are designing to do will be a cause of sin against the Lord to us, making even greater our sin and our wrongdoing, which now are great enough, and his wrath is burning against Israel. ¹⁴ So the armed men gave up the prisoners and the goods they had taken to the heads and the meeting of the people. ¹⁵ And those men who have been named went up and took the prisoners, clothing those among them who were uncovered, with things from the goods which had been taken in the war, and putting robes on them and shoes on their feet; and they gave them food and drink and oil for their bodies, and seating all the feeble among them on asses, they took them to Jericho, the town of palm-trees, to their people, and then went back to Samaria.

¹³ The king may be certain that when the building of this town and its walls is complete, they will give no tax or payment in goods or forced payments, and in the end it will be a cause of loss to the kings.

¹³ The king may be certain that when the building of this town and its walls is complete, they will give no tax or payment in goods or forced payments, and in the end it will be a cause of loss to the kings. ¹⁴ Now because we are responsible to the king, and it is not right for us to see the king's honour damaged, we have sent to give the king word of these things,

²⁰ Further, there have been great kings in Jerusalem, ruling over all the country across the river, to whom they gave taxes and payments in goods and forced payments.

²⁴ In addition, we make it clear to you, that it will be against the law to put any tax or payment in goods or forced payment on any of the priests or Levites, the music-makers, door-keepers, Nethinim, or any servants of this house of God.

⁵ Then Ezra got up, and made the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and all Israel take an oath that they would do this. So they took an oath.

¹² Then all the people, answering, said with a loud voice, As you have said, so it is right for us to do.

¹ And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never before been sad when the king was present.

⁴ Give ear, O our God, for we are looked down on: let their words of shame be turned back on themselves, and let them be given up to wasting in a land where they are prisoners:

³ And there were some who said, We are giving our fields and our vine-gardens and our houses for debt: let us get grain because we are in need. ⁴ And there were others who said, We have given up our fields and our vine-gardens to get money for the king's taxes.

⁷ And after turning it over in my mind, I made a protest to the chiefs and the rulers, and said to them, Every one of you is taking interest from his countryman. And I got together a great meeting of protest.

⁹ And I said, What you are doing is not good: is it not the more necessary for you to go in the fear of our God, because of the shame which the nations may put on us?

¹⁴ Now from the time when I was made ruler of the people in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year till the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, for twelve years, I and my servants have never taken the food which was the right of the ruler. ¹⁵ But earlier rulers who were before me made the people responsible for their upkeep, and took from them bread and wine at the rate of forty shekels of silver; and even their servants were lords over the people: but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.

¹⁵ But earlier rulers who were before me made the people responsible for their upkeep, and took from them bread and wine at the rate of forty shekels of silver; and even their servants were lords over the people: but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.

⁶ And Ezra gave praise to the Lord, the great God. And all the people in answer said, So be it, so be it; lifting up their hands; and with bent heads they gave worship to the Lord, going down on their faces to the earth.

³⁷ And it gives much increase to the kings whom you have put over us because of our sins: and they have power over our bodies and over our cattle at their pleasure, and we are in great trouble.

²⁹ They were united with their brothers, their rulers, and put themselves under a curse and an oath, to keep their steps in the way of God's law, which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to keep and do all the orders of the Lord, our Lord, and his decisions and his rules;

³¹ And if the peoples of the lands come to do trade in goods or food on the Sabbath day, that we would do no trade with them on the Sabbath or on a holy day: and that in the seventh year we would take no payment from any debtor.

⁶ But all this time I was not at Jerusalem: for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I went to the king; and after some days, I got the king to let me go,

⁸ And it was evil in my eyes: so I had all Tobiah's things put out of the room.

¹⁴ Keep me in mind, O my God, in connection with this, and do not let the good which I have done for the house of my God and its worship go from your memory completely.

²² And I gave the Levites orders to make themselves clean and come and keep the doors and make the Sabbath holy. Keep this in mind to my credit, O my God, and have mercy on me, for great is your mercy.

²⁵ And I took up the cause against them, cursing them and giving blows to some of them and pulling out their hair; and I made them take an oath by God, saying, You are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

³¹ And for the wood offering, at fixed times, and for the first fruits. Keep me in mind, O my God, for good.

¹⁰ The chiefs kept back their words, and their tongues were joined to the roofs of their mouths.

²³ For the fear of God kept me back, and because of his power I might not do such things.

³⁸ If my land has made an outcry against me, or the ploughed earth has been in sorrow; ³⁹ If I have taken its produce without payment, causing the death of its owners;

¹⁵ Fear has overcome them, they have no more answers to give; they have come to an end of words.

²⁸ So that the cry of the poor might come up to him, and the prayer of those in need come to his ears.

⁴ Let there be fear in your hearts, and do no sin; have bitter feelings on your bed, but make no sound. Selah.

¹ A Psalm. Of David. Lord, who may have a resting-place in your tent, a living-place on your holy hill?

⁵ He who does not put out his money at interest, or for payment give false decisions against men who have done no wrong. He who does these things will never be moved.

²³ And I was upright before him, and I kept myself from sin. ²⁴ Because of this the Lord has given me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean in his eyes. ²⁵ On him who has mercy you will have mercy; to the upright you will be upright;

⁶ O Lord, keep in mind your pity and your mercies; for they have been from the earliest times. ⁷ Do not keep in mind my sins when I was young, or my wrongdoing: let your memory of me be full of mercy, O Lord, because of your righteousness.

⁸ When you said, Make search for my face, my heart said to you, For your face will I make my search.

²¹ The sinner takes money and does not give it back; but the upright man has mercy, and gives to others.

²⁶ All the day he is ready to have mercy and to give; his children are a blessing.

¹⁷ Though I am poor and in need, the Lord has me in mind; you are my help and my saviour; let there be no waiting, O my God.

¹⁴ Make an offering of praise to God; keep the agreements which you have made with the Most High;

¹¹ Give to the Lord your God what is his by right; let all who are round him give offerings to him who is to be feared.

¹ A Psalm. Of Asaph. God is in the meeting-place of God; he is judging among the gods. ² How long will you go on judging falsely, having respect for the persons of evil-doers? Selah. ³ Give ear to the cause of the poor and the children without fathers; let those who are troubled and in need have their rights. ⁴ Be the saviour of the poor and those who have nothing: take them out of the hand of the evil-doers.

⁴ Keep me in mind, O Lord, when you are good to your people; O let your salvation come to me;

¹ Let the Lord be praised. Happy is the man who gives honour to the Lord, and has great delight in his laws.

¹⁰⁶ I have made an oath and kept it, to be guided by your upright decisions.

³ See, sons are a heritage from the Lord; the fruit of the body is his reward. ⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a man of war, are the children of the young. ⁵ Happy is the man who has a good store of them; he will not be put to shame, but his cause will be supported by them against his haters.

² You will have the fruit of the work of your hands: happy will you be, and all will be well for you. ³ Your wife will be like a fertile vine in the inmost parts of your house: your children will be like olive plants round your table. ⁴ See! this is the blessing of the worshipper of the Lord.

¹¹ The Lord takes pleasure in his worshippers, and in those whose hope is in his mercy.

⁶ By mercy and good faith evil-doing is taken away: and by the fear of the Lord men are turned away from evil.

²⁹ A violent man puts desire of evil into his neighbour's mind, and makes him go in a way which is not good.

²⁶ To give punishment to the upright is not good, or to give blows to the noble for their righteousness.

⁵ To have respect for the person of the evil-doer is not good, or to give a wrong decision against the upright.

² Further, without knowledge desire is not good; and he who is over-quick in acting goes out of the right way.

²³ These are more sayings of the wise: To have respect for a person's position when judging is not good.

⁵ Better is open protest than love kept secret.

¹² If a ruler gives attention to false words, all his servants are evil-doers.

⁵ It is better not to take an oath than to take an oath and not keep it.

¹³ This is the last word. All has been said. Have fear of God and keep his laws; because this is right for every man. ¹⁴ God will be judge of every work, with every secret thing, good or evil.

⁷ For the vine-garden of the Lord of armies is the people of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of his delight: and he was looking for upright judging, and there was blood; for righteousness, and there was a cry for help.

⁸ But the noble-hearted man has noble purposes, and by these he will be guided.

¹⁰ Who among you has the fear of the Lord, giving ear to the voice of his servant who has been walking in the dark and has no light? Let him put his faith in the name of the Lord, looking to his God for support.

⁶ Is not this the holy day for which I have given orders: to let loose those who have wrongly been made prisoners, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the crushed go free, and every yoke be broken? ⁷ Is it not to give your bread to those in need, and to let the poor who have no resting-place come into your house? to put a robe on the unclothed one when you see him, and not to keep your eyes shut for fear of seeing his flesh?

¹¹ For I am conscious of my thoughts about you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you hope at the end.

⁸ The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made an agreement with all the people in Jerusalem, to give news in public that servants were to be made free; ⁹ That every man was to let his Hebrew man-servant and his Hebrew servant-girl go free; so that no one might make use of a Jew, his countryman, as a servant: ¹⁰ And this was done by all the rulers and the people who had taken part in the agreement, and every one let his man-servant and his servant-girl go free, not to be used as servants any longer; they did so, and let them go.

⁸ And has not given his money out at interest or taken great profits, and, turning his hand from evil-doing, has kept faith between man and man,

¹³ And has given out his money at interest and taken great profits: he will certainly not go on living: he has done all these disgusting things: death will certainly be his fate; his blood will be on him.

¹² In you they have taken rewards as the price of blood; you have taken interest and great profits, and you have taken away your neighbours' goods by force, and have not kept me in mind, says the Lord.

²⁰ And when they came among the nations, wherever they went, they made my holy name unclean, when it was said of them, These are the people of the Lord who have gone out from his land.

⁹ This is what the Lord has said: Let this be enough for you, O rulers of Israel: let there be an end of violent behaviour and wasting; do what is right, judging uprightly; let there be no more driving out of my people, says the Lord.

¹ A curse on the designers of evil, working on their beds! in the morning light they do it, because it is in their power.

³ Then he said to me, This is the curse which goes out over the face of all the land: for long enough has every thief gone without punishment, and long enough has every taker of false oaths gone without punishment. ⁴ And I will send it out, says the Lord of armies, and it will go into the house of the thief and into the house of him who takes a false oath by my name: and it will be in his house, causing its complete destruction, with its woodwork and its stones.

² If you will not give ear and take it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the Lord of armies, then I will send the curse on you and will put a curse on your blessing: truly, even now I have put a curse on it, because you do not take it to heart.

⁸ Will a man keep back from God what is right? But you have kept back what is mine. But you say, What have we kept back from you? Tenths and offerings. ⁹ You are cursed with a curse; for you have kept back from me what is mine, even all this nation. ¹⁰ Let your tenths come into the store-house so that there may be food in my house, and put me to the test by doing so, says the Lord of armies, and see if I do not make the windows of heaven open and send down such a blessing on you that there is no room for it. ¹¹ And on your account I will keep back the locusts from wasting the fruits of your land; and the fruit of your vine will not be dropped on the field before its time, says the Lord of armies

⁴⁷ And if you say, Good day, to your brothers only, what do you do more than others? do not even the Gentiles the same?

¹⁴ And whoever will not take you in, or give ear to your words, when you go out from that house or that town, put off its dust from your feet.

⁴² And whoever gives to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will not go without his reward.

¹⁷ And if he will not give ear to them, let it come to the hearing of the church: and if he will not give ear to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-farmer.

²⁵ And because he was not able to make payment, his lord gave orders for him, and his wife, and his sons and daughters, and all he had, to be given for money, and payment to be made.

²¹ Jesus said to him, If you have a desire to be complete, go, get money for your property, and give it to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven: and come after me. ²² But hearing these words the young man went away sorrowing: for he had much property.

¹² And he says to him, Friend, how came you in here not having a guest's robe? And he had nothing to say.

¹⁵ And to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to everyone as he was able; and he went on his journey.

²⁹ For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have more: but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

³⁴ Then will the King say to those on his right, Come, you who have the blessing of my Father, into the kingdom made ready for you before the world was: ³⁵ For I was in need of food, and you gave it to me: I was in need of drink, and you gave it to me: I was wandering, and you took me in; ³⁶ I had no clothing, and you gave it to me: when I was ill, or in prison, you came to me. ³⁷ Then will the upright make answer to him, saying, Lord, when did we see you in need of food, and give it to you? or in need of drink, and give it to you? ³⁸ And when did we see you wandering, and take you in? or without clothing, and give it to you? ³⁹ And when did we see you ill, or in prison, and come to you? ⁴⁰ And the King will make answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Because you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

⁶³ But Jesus said not a word. And the high priest said to him, I put you on oath, by the living God, that you will say to us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.

⁵ And looking round on them he was angry, being sad because of their hard hearts; and he said to the man, Put out your hand. And he put it out, and his hand was made well.

⁴¹ Whoever gives you a cup of water, because you are Christ's, truly I say to you, he will in no way be without his reward.

⁸ Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham.

¹³ And he said to them, Do not make an attempt to get more money than the right amount. ¹⁴ And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you.

¹⁵ And those in the good earth are those who, having given ear to the word, keep it with a good and true heart, and in quiet strength give fruit.

² Saying, There was a judge in a certain town, who had no fear of God or respect for man: ³ And there was a widow in that town, and she kept on coming to him and saying, Give me my right against the man who has done me wrong. ⁴ And for a time he would not: but later, he said to himself, Though I have no fear of God or respect for man,

⁷ And will not God do right in the cause of his saints, whose cries come day and night to his ears, though he is long in doing it?

⁸ And Zacchaeus, waiting before him, said to the Lord, See, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone wrongly, I give him back four times as much.

²⁶ And the day after, he came to them, while they were having a fight, and would have made peace between them, saying, Sirs, you are brothers; why do you do wrong to one another?

³¹ And so the church through all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was made strong; and, living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was increased greatly.

⁵¹ But they, shaking off the dust of that place from their feet, came to Iconium.

⁶ And when they put themselves against him, and said evil words, he said, shaking his clothing, Your blood be on your heads, I am clean: from now I will go to the Gentiles.

³³ I have had no desire for any man's silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves have seen that with these hands I got what was necessary for me and those who were with me. ³⁵ In all things I was an example to you of how, in your lives, you are to give help to the feeble, and keep in memory the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, There is a greater blessing in giving than in getting.

⁷ To those who go on with good works in the hope of glory and honour and salvation from death, he will give eternal life:

²⁴ For the name of God is shamed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is said in the holy Writings.

¹⁹ Now, we have knowledge that what the law says is for those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and all men may be judged by God:

¹³ Giving to the needs of the saints, ready to take people into your houses.

⁶ For the same reason, make payment of taxes; because the authority is God's servant, to take care of such things at all times. ⁷ Give to all what is their right: taxes to him whose they are, payment to him whose right it is, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour is to be given.

¹⁵ And if because of food your brother is troubled, then you are no longer going on in the way of love. Do not let your food be destruction to him for whom Christ went into death.

⁶ But a brother who has a cause at law against another takes it before Gentile judges. ⁷ More than this, it is not to your credit to have causes at law with one another at all. Why not put up with wrong? why not undergo loss? ⁸ So far from doing this, you yourselves do wrong and take your brothers' property.

¹¹ And so, through your knowledge, you are the cause of destruction to your brother, for whom Christ underwent death.

⁴ Have we no right to take food and drink? ⁵ Have we no right to take about with us a Christian wife, like the rest of the Apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? ⁶ Or I only and Barnabas, have we no right to take a rest from work? ⁷ Who ever goes to war without looking to someone to be responsible for his payment? who puts in vines and does not take the fruit of them? or who takes care of sheep without drinking of their milk? ⁸ Am I talking as a man? does not the law say the same? ⁹ For it says in the law of Moses, It is not right to keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it. Is it for the oxen that God is giving orders? ¹⁰ Or has he us in mind? Yes, it was said for us; because it is right for the ploughman to do his ploughing in hope, and for him who is crushing the grain to do his work hoping for a part in the fruits of it. ¹¹ If we have been planting the things of the Spirit for you, does it seem a great thing for you to give us a part in your things of this world? ¹² If others have a part in this right over you, have we not even more? But we did not make use of our right, so that we might put nothing in the way of the good news of Christ.

¹² If others have a part in this right over you, have we not even more? But we did not make use of our right, so that we might put nothing in the way of the good news of Christ. ¹³ Do you not see that the servants of the holy things get their living from the Temple, and the servants of the altar have their part in the food which is offered on the altar?

¹³ Do you not see that the servants of the holy things get their living from the Temple, and the servants of the altar have their part in the food which is offered on the altar? ¹⁴ Even so did the Lord give orders that the preachers of the good news might get their living from the good news.

¹⁴ Even so did the Lord give orders that the preachers of the good news might get their living from the good news. ¹⁵ But I have not made use of any of these things: and I am not writing this in the hope that it may be so for me: for it would be better for me to undergo death, than for any man to make this pride of mine of no effect.

¹⁵ But I have not made use of any of these things: and I am not writing this in the hope that it may be so for me: for it would be better for me to undergo death, than for any man to make this pride of mine of no effect. ¹⁶ For if I am a preacher of the good news, I have no cause for pride in this; because I am forced to do so, for a curse is on me if I do not. ¹⁷ But if I do it gladly, I have a reward; and if not, I am under orders to do it. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? This, that when I am giving the good news, I may give it without payment, not making use of my rights as a preacher of the good news.

¹⁸ What then is my reward? This, that when I am giving the good news, I may give it without payment, not making use of my rights as a preacher of the good news.

⁵⁸ For this cause, my dear brothers, be strong in purpose and unmoved, ever giving yourselves to the work of the Lord, because you are certain that your work is not without effect in the Lord.

¹¹ Having in mind, then, the fear of the Lord, we put these things before men, but God sees our hearts; and it is my hope that we may seem right in your eyes.

¹⁶ For this reason, from this time forward we have knowledge of no man after the flesh: even if we have had knowledge of Christ after the flesh, we have no longer any such knowledge.

²⁰ So we are the representatives of Christ, as if God was making a request to you through us: we make our request to you, in the name of Christ, be at peace with God.

¹ We then, working together with God, make our request to you not to take the grace of God to no purpose.

¹² For if there is a ready mind, a man will have God's approval in the measure of what he has, and not of what he has not.

⁹ And when I was present with you, and was in need, I let no man be responsible for me; for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, gave me whatever was needed; and in everything I kept myself from being a trouble to you, and I will go on doing so.

¹³ For what is there in which you were made less than the other churches, but in the one thing that I was not a trouble to you? Let me have forgiveness for this wrong.

¹⁶ But let it be so, that I was not a trouble to you myself; but someone may say being false, I took you with deceit. ¹⁷ Did I make a profit out of you by any of those whom I sent to you? ¹⁸ I gave orders to Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus make any profit out of you? were we not guided by the same Spirit, in the same ways?

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch, I made a protest against him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.

⁹ And let us not get tired of well-doing; for at the right time we will get in the grain, if we do not give way to weariness. ¹⁰ So then, as we have the chance, let us do good to all men, and specially to those who are of the family of the faith.

²⁶ Be angry without doing wrong; let not the sun go down on your wrath;

²⁰ For I have no man of like mind who will truly have care for you. ²¹ For they all go after what is theirs, not after the things of Christ.

⁵ For it is common knowledge among you that we never made use of smooth-sounding false words, and God is witness that at no time were we secretly desiring profit for ourselves, ⁶ Or looking for glory from men, from you or from others, when we might have made ourselves a care to you as Apostles of Christ.

⁸ And we did not take food from any man for nothing, but were working hard night and day not to be a trouble to any of you: ⁹ Not because we have not the right, but to make ourselves an example to you, so that you might do the same.

¹⁴ So it is my desire that the younger widows may be married and have children, controlling their families, and giving the Evil One no chance to say anything against them,

²⁰ Say sharp words to sinners when all are present, so that the rest may be in fear.

⁵ To be wise in mind, clean in heart, kind; working in their houses, living under the authority of their husbands; so that no evil may be said of the word of God.

¹⁵ On all these points give teaching and help, and make clear what is right with all authority. Let all men give you honour.

⁸ And so, though I might, in the name of Christ, give you orders to do what is right, ⁹ Still, because of love, in place of an order, I make a request to you, I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner of Christ Jesus:

⁵ Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him? ⁶ But you have put the poor man to shame. Are not the men of wealth rulers over you? do they not take you by force before their judges?

⁴ See, the money which you falsely kept back from the workers cutting the grass in your field, is crying out against you; and the cries of those who took in your grain have come to the ears of the Lord of armies.

¹² Being of good behaviour among the Gentiles; so that though they say now that you are evil-doers, they may see your good works and give glory to God when he comes to be their judge.

⁹ Keep open house for all with a glad heart; ¹⁰ Making distribution among one another of whatever has been given to you, like true servants of the unmeasured grace of God;