Job 31 Cross References - BSB

¹ “I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin? ² For what is the allotment of God from above, or the heritage from the Almighty on high? ³ Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity? ⁴ Does He not see my ways and count my every step? ⁵ If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit, ⁶ let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity. ⁷ If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if impurity has stuck to my hands, ⁸ then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted. ⁹ If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door, ¹⁰ then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her. ¹¹ For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged. ¹² For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon; it would root out my entire harvest. ¹³ If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me, ¹⁴ what will I do when God rises to judge? How will I answer when called to account? ¹⁵ Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb? ¹⁶ If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail, ¹⁷ if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless— ¹⁸ though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow— ¹⁹ if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak, ²⁰ if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep, ²¹ if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate, ²² then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be torn from its socket. ²³ For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower. ²⁴ If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security, ²⁵ if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much, ²⁶ if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, ²⁷ so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, ²⁸ this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high. ²⁹ If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him— ³⁰ I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse— ³¹ if the men of my house have not said, ‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’— ³² but no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler— ³³ if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart, ³⁴ because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside— ³⁵ (Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment. ³⁶ Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown. ³⁷ I would give account of all my steps; I would approach Him like a prince.)— ³⁸ if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together, ³⁹ if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants, ⁴⁰ then let briers grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” Thus conclude the words of Job.

² the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.

² One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. ³ So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” ⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home.

³⁷ Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.

²⁵ Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.

²⁵ Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.

³¹ Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. ³² In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper. ³³ Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.

²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

¹⁴ But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. ¹⁵ Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.

²⁹ This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the inheritance God has appointed him.”

¹³ This is the wicked man’s portion from God—the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

⁴ Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.

³⁰ Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.

²² There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity can hide.

²³ But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.

¹⁸ Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.

²⁷ when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.

²⁹ The way of the LORD is a refuge to the upright, but destruction awaits those who do evil.

¹⁵ Justice executed is a joy to the righteous, but a terror to the workers of iniquity.

²¹ For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task.

¹³ Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

²² What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?

³ While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

⁹ They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might,

¹ Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

⁷ In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.

¹³ So Hagar gave this name to the LORD who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!”

⁹ For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter. From now on, therefore, you will be at war.”

¹⁶ For then You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin.

²¹ For His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees his every step.

²¹ would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?

¹ For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar. ³ You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.

²¹ For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.

³ The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.

¹⁷ For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.

¹⁹ the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

⁴⁸ “How do You know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

² How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? Selah

³ O LORD my God, if I have done this, if injustice is on my hands, ⁴ if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause, ⁵ then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me; may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust. Selah

² They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, ²¹ would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?

¹¹ The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.

⁵ This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me, and followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves?

⁸ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD.

¹¹ If a man of wind were to come and say falsely, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be just the preacher for this people!

²² “The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today.

³ Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.

² “If only my grief could be weighed and placed with my calamity on the scales.

⁵ I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die. ⁶ I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.

⁶ For the LORD guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

⁸ The LORD judges the peoples; vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and integrity. ⁹ Put an end to the evil of the wicked, but establish the righteous, O righteous God who searches hearts and minds.

² May my vindication come from Your presence; may Your eyes see what is right. ³ You have tried my heart; You have visited me in the night. You have tested me and found no evil; I have resolved not to sin with my mouth.

¹ Of David. Vindicate me, O LORD! For I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.

¹¹ Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are His concern.

⁷ The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the upright.

²⁷ TEKEL means that you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient.

¹¹ Can I excuse dishonest scales or bags of false weights?

²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’

¹⁹ Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”

³⁹ These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes.

³⁰ If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,

¹¹ My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept His way without turning aside.

³ I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.

⁹ Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.

¹⁵ He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—

⁹ Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that lusted after idols. So they will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their abominations.

³ “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I consult with them in any way?

⁷ For when any Israelite or any foreigner dwelling in Israel separates himself from Me, sets up idols in his heart, and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me, I the LORD will answer him Myself.

²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

¹⁶ then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.

³⁰ You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit. ³¹ Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will save you. ³² Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand. ³³ A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.

³⁸ You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.

⁵¹ They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have caused you to perish.

³ Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them, ⁴ encamping against them as far as Gaza and destroying the produce of the land. They left Israel with no sustenance, neither sheep nor oxen nor donkeys. ⁵ For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it. ⁶ Israel was greatly impoverished by Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the LORD.

⁴ His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. ⁵ The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

³⁰ He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.

¹⁹ He has no offspring or posterity among his people, no survivor where he once lived.

¹⁸ He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.

⁶ They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked.

¹³ May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.

¹⁵ You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.

⁵ The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

⁴ For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.

²⁶ Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin.

¹⁵ The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face. ¹⁶ In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.

¹⁶ It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words ¹⁷ who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. ¹⁸ For her house sinks down to death, and her tracks to the departed spirits. ¹⁹ None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.

³ Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil, ⁴ in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol. ⁶ She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable. ⁷ So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth. ⁸ Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house, ⁹ lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel; ¹⁰ lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner. ¹¹ At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent, ¹² and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! ¹³ I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors. ¹⁴ I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.” ¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well. ¹⁶ Why should your springs flow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? ¹⁷ Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. ¹⁸ May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth: ¹⁹ A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever. ²⁰ Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger? ²¹ For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths. ²² The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him. ²³ He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.

²¹ With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.

¹⁴ The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.

²⁶ And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

⁸ They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

⁴ They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker who needs not stoke the fire from the kneading to the rising of the dough.

⁵ and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well as the firstborn of all the cattle.

³⁰ You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.

¹¹ This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.

² Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.

¹⁰ Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.

¹³ They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery. ¹⁴ I will not punish your daughters when they prostitute themselves, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men themselves go off with prostitutes and offer sacrifices with shrine prostitutes. So a people without understanding will come to ruin.

⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

⁹ Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”

¹⁰ “What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

²⁴ About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”

⁹ No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”

¹⁴ You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁰ If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.

²² If a man is found lying with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. ²³ If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her, ²⁴ you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you must purge the evil from among you.

²⁸ this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.

²⁹ So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished. ³⁰ Men do not despise the thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger. ³¹ Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house. ³² He who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. ³³ Wounds and dishonor will befall him, and his reproach will never be wiped away.

³⁸ And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.

²⁸ The possessions of his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s wrath.

⁶ Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.

³³ The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous.

²⁷ Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?

⁷ “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes. ⁸ They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife. ⁹ Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

⁵ “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

²⁰ If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished. ²¹ However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.

²⁶ If a man strikes and blinds the eye of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the eye. ²⁷ And if he knocks out the tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.

⁴³ You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God.

⁴⁶ You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But as for your brothers, the Israelites, no man may rule harshly over his brother.

¹² If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free. ¹³ And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴ You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.

¹⁴ Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. ¹⁵ You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

¹⁴ Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear. ¹⁵ Recently you repented and did what pleased Me; each of you proclaimed freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My Name. ¹⁶ But now you have changed your minds and profaned My name. Each of you has taken back the menservants and maidservants whom you had set at liberty to go wherever they wanted, and you have again forced them to be your slaves. ¹⁷ Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. So now I proclaim freedom for you, declares the LORD—freedom to fall by sword, by plague, and by famine! I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

⁹ And masters, do the same for your slaves. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.

¹ Masters, supply your slaves with what is right and fair, since you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

³² For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.

² I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.

⁶ Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.

¹² For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

¹⁹ Rise up, O LORD, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your presence.

¹² Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God! Do not forget the helpless. ¹³ Why has the wicked man renounced God? He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.” ¹⁴ But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless. ¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call him to account for his wickedness until none is left to be found.

⁹ when God rose up to judge, to save all the lowly of the earth. Selah

² Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.

³ What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

⁷ The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived—let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and hostility.

⁴ The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time of their confusion.

¹³ Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”

² and they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled—that is, unwashed.

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

¹³ For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

⁵ We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

³ Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?

⁸ Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me? ⁹ Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust? ¹⁰ Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese? ¹¹ You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. ¹² You have granted me life and loving devotion, and Your care has preserved my spirit.

¹⁹ who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.

¹⁴ I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

³¹ Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.

² The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is Maker of them all.

⁷ Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

¹⁰ Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why then do we break faith with one another so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?

⁷ If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother. ⁸ Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin. ¹⁰ Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.

³² Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.

¹⁶ So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.

¹⁹ For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; he has seized houses he did not build.

⁷ You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished, ⁸ while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it. ⁹ You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

³ I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

⁹ He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.

⁸² My eyes fail, looking for Your promise; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”

¹²³ My eyes fail, looking for Your salvation, and for Your righteous promise.

¹⁴ I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”

¹⁷ All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.

²¹ and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²⁹ So the disciples, each according to his ability, decided to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.

¹⁰ They only asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

¹¹ For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.

¹⁴ You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.

¹⁰ Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

⁷ You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished,

¹² because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper. ¹³ The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy. ¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban. ¹⁵ I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame. ¹⁶ I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

⁷ He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

¹⁶ He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

⁴¹ But give as alms the things that are within you, and you will see that everything is clean for you.

²⁹ Since Judas kept the money bag, some thought that Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the feast, or to give something to the poor.

³² The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned.

¹³ Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality.

²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

¹⁷ If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

¹⁵ Then the men who were designated by name arose, took charge of the captives, and provided from the plunder clothing for the naked. They clothed them, gave them sandals and food and drink, anointed their wounds, and put all the feeble on donkeys. So they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.

⁶ For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.

⁴ They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

¹³ The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’

⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

¹¹ John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”

³⁹ So Peter got up and went with them. On his arrival, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood around him, weeping and showing him the tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

¹⁶ If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?

¹⁸ Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.

¹³ be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your God.

¹¹ For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,

²⁷ You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend.

⁹ You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

⁹ The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.

¹² because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.

¹⁰ Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, ¹¹ for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.

²⁸ They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.

⁷ Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.

¹ Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands. ² They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.

³ Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.

²² “The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today. ²³ If we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from Him and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the LORD Himself hold us accountable.

¹⁰ then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her.

⁴⁰ then let briers grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” Thus conclude the words of Job.

¹⁵ Light is withheld from the wicked, and their upraised arm is broken.

⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!

¹¹ Would His majesty not terrify you? Would the dread of Him not fall upon you?

²³ When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.

²⁰ Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.

⁹ Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?

⁵ My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You. ⁶ Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”

⁷ You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?

¹²⁰ My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.

⁶ Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

¹⁵ Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

¹¹ Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.

¹ Now Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken away all that belonged to our father and built all this wealth at our father’s expense.”

¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

⁶ They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches. ⁷ No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.

¹⁷ For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down.

⁷ “Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”

¹⁰ Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

¹⁵ The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.

²⁸ He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like foliage.

⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.

²⁴ And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

⁵ Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

¹⁰ For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

¹⁷ Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.

¹⁷ You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.

¹¹ Haman recounted to them his glorious wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored and promoted him over the other officials and servants.

⁵ When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

¹³ For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers. ¹⁴ My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”

²³ This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.

⁵ By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, but your heart has grown proud because of it.

³⁰ the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

⁸ And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become! I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they can find in me no iniquity that is sinful.”

¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his dragnet and burns incense to his fishing net, for by these things his portion is sumptuous and his food is rich.

¹⁹ Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

¹⁹ Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

²⁵ But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

¹⁶ God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well. ¹⁷ God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, ¹⁸ to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

¹⁹ When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

¹⁶ But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods,

³ and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—

⁵ Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.

¹¹ And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.

³ When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place— ⁴ what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?

² They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.

¹⁷ Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.

¹⁶ So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.

⁶ If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,

¹⁸ Nevertheless, I have reserved seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

¹² Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

²⁰ He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

² Now they sin more and more and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say of them, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves!”

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

² If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant ³ and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden— ⁴ and if it is reported and you hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report is true and such an abomination has happened in Israel, ⁵ you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death. ⁶ On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness. ⁷ The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.

⁹ You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Inquire of them, and they will give you a verdict in the case.

²³ “Now, therefore,” he said, “get rid of the foreign gods among you and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

²⁷ And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone. It will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the LORD has spoken to us, and it will be a witness against you if you ever deny your God.”

²⁷ I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”

¹⁵ For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

⁷ Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

¹¹ For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.

⁶ And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah

¹⁶ They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

²³ in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

²³ Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.

⁴ For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

¹² They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

¹⁰ when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was a bearer of good news, I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was his reward for his news! ¹¹ How much more, when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house and on his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth!”

⁵ As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out curses. ⁶ He threw stones at David and at all the servants of the king, though the troops and all the mighty men were on David’s right and left. ⁷ And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed! ⁸ The LORD has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, you have come to ruin because you are a man of bloodshed!”

¹³ Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered. ¹⁴ I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.

²⁵ Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!” ²⁶ May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.

⁵ He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.

¹⁷ Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, ¹⁸ or the LORD will see and disapprove, and turn His wrath away from him.

¹² But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress.

⁴ If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. ⁵ If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it.

² Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.

⁶ Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.

⁴³ You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

³⁶ But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁹ With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be!

²² “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.” ²³ When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.

⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

⁴ So David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do with him as you wish.’” Then David crept up secretly and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

¹⁰ Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my lord, since he is the LORD’s anointed.’

⁸ Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me thrust the spear through him into the ground with one stroke. I will not need to strike him twice!”

⁹ Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!” ¹⁰ But the king replied, “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses me because the LORD told him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why did you do this?’”

²¹ But Abishai son of Zeruiah said, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?” ²² And David replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, what have I to do with you, that you should be my adversaries today? Should any man be put to death in Israel today? Am I not indeed aware that today I am king over Israel?”

²² Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?

² When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.

²⁵ Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!”

¹¹ If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause, ¹² let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.

¹⁸ But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.

¹⁵ Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah. “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah,” he said. “No one will know it. Why should he take your life and scatter all the people of Judah who have gathered to you, so that the remnant of Judah would perish?” ¹⁶ But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

² You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones. ³ You eat the flesh of my people after stripping off their skin and breaking their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”

⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and rebuked them.

⁵⁰ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. ⁵¹ But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And He touched the man’s ear and healed him.

² and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” ³ But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

¹⁵ They stopped to go in and lodge in Gibeah. The Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one would take them into his home for the night.

²⁰ “Peace to you,” said the old man. “Let me supply everything you need. Only do not spend the night in the square.” ²¹ So he brought him to his house and fed his donkeys. And they washed their feet and ate and drank.

¹⁷ if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless— ¹⁸ though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—

³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,

⁴⁰ And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

⁴⁴ And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ ⁴⁵ Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’

¹⁰ and well known for good deeds such as bringing up children, entertaining strangers, washing the feet of the saints, imparting relief to the afflicted, and devoting herself to every good work.

² Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

⁹ Show hospitality to one another without complaining.

⁷ And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves. ⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

¹² And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions.

¹³ He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

⁷ But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.

⁸ “Tell me,” said Peter, “is this the price you and your husband got for the land?” “Yes,” she answered, “that is the price.”

⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.

² You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

²⁷ He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each of you men is to fasten his sword to his side, go back and forth through the camp from gate to gate, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”

¹⁴ The name of the Israelite who was slain with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family. ¹⁵ And the name of the slain Midianite woman was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.

⁷ and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them

⁴ Now before this, Eliashib the priest, a relative of Tobiah, had been put in charge of the storerooms of the house of our God ⁵ and had prepared for Tobiah a large room where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the temple articles, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests. ⁶ While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to Artaxerxes king of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign. Some time later I obtained leave from the king ⁷ to return to Jerusalem. Then I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done on behalf of Tobiah by providing him a room in the courts of the house of God. ⁸ And I was greatly displeased and threw all of Tobiah’s household goods out of the room.

²⁸ Even one of the sons of Jehoiada son of Eliashib the high priest had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I drove him away from me.

¹¹ “All the royal officials and the people of the king’s provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the gold scepter may that person live. But I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the past thirty days.”

¹⁴ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

⁸ while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it.

¹¹ Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter. ¹² If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?

²⁵ The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.

⁴ Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.” ⁵ “Here he is,” replied King Zedekiah. “He is in your hands, since the king can do nothing to stop you.”

¹⁶ But King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has given us this life, I will not kill you, nor will I deliver you into the hands of these men who are seeking your life.”

¹⁹ But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for the Chaldeans may deliver me into their hands to abuse me.”

¹¹ Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted. ¹² For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate. ¹³ Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.

²⁰ But the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus put to death. ²¹ “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they replied. ²² “What then should I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify Him!” ²³ “Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!” ²⁴ When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.” ²⁵ All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” ²⁶ So Pilate released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.

¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

³ Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.

²¹ Withdraw Your hand from me, and do not let Your terror frighten me. ²² Then call me, and I will answer, or let me speak, and You can reply.

²⁴ Why do You hide Your face and consider me as Your enemy?

³ Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?

⁷ Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.

¹¹ His anger burns against me, and He counts me among His enemies.

²³ I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book, ²⁴ by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever.

³ If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat. ⁴ I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. ⁵ I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say. ⁶ Would He contend with me in His great power? No, He would certainly take note of me. ⁷ Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

⁷ May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.

²⁸ I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

⁶ I am just like you before God; I was also formed from clay.

¹⁰ Yet God finds occasions against me; He counts me as His enemy. ¹¹ He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches over all my paths.’

¹⁴ How much less, then, when you say that you do not see Him, that your case is before Him and you must wait for Him,

¹ Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: ² “Who is this who obscures My counsel by words without knowledge? ³ Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.

⁴ “Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth. ⁵ I have spoken once, but I have no answer—twice, but I have nothing to add.”

²⁵ Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.

¹² Fasten both stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the LORD.

¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.

²² I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

³ You will be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem in the palm of your God.

¹ Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you must stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”

³ and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.

³ If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

¹⁵ Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.

²⁵ I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.

³ You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. ⁴ You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak. I will question you, and you shall inform Me.’

¹² Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

¹² In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

¹⁹ And by this we will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His presence: ²⁰ Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things. ²¹ Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God,

²⁷ The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.

¹³ The pastures are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are decked with grain. They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.

¹¹ For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters will echo it from the woodwork.

⁴ Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

¹² When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

¹³ And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. ¹⁴ Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.” ¹⁵ When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, who refused to give it to you for silver. For Naboth is no longer alive, but dead.” ¹⁶ And when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

¹⁹ Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”

¹⁹ Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

²¹ For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.

⁶ See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.

¹² In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD. ¹³ Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.

¹⁷ And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. ¹⁸ Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

²⁰ Thus conclude the prayers of David son of Jesse.

²³ And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.

⁹ Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”

³ but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”