Proverbs 21 Cross References - LEB

¹ Streams of water are the heart* of a king in the hand of Yahweh; _⌊wherever_⌋* he will desire, he will turn. ² Every way of a man is upright in his own eyes, but Yahweh weighs hearts.* ³ Doing righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice. ⁴ Haughtiness of the eyes and pride of heart, the lamp of the wicked are sin. ⁵ The plans of the diligent only lead to abundance, but all who are hasty, only to want. ⁶ He who makes treasure by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and seeker* of death. ⁷ The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, for they refuse to do justice. ⁸ Crooked is the way of a man and a foreigner, but the pure is upright in his conduct. ⁹ Better to dwell on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a woman* of contention. ¹⁰ The soul* of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor will not find mercy in his eyes. ¹¹ With the punishment of a scoffer, the simple will become wise, and with the instruction of the wise, he will obtain knowledge. ¹² The righteous observes the house of the wicked; he throws the wicked to ruin. ¹³ He who closes his ear from the cry of the poor, he also will cry out and not be heard. ¹⁴ A gift in secret* will avert _⌊anger_⌋,* and a _⌊concealed bribe_⌋,* strong wrath. ¹⁵ It is a joy to the righteous to do justice, but dismay to those who do evil. ¹⁶ Whoever wanders from the way of understanding, in the assembly of the dead* he will rest. ¹⁷ A man of want is he who loves pleasure; he who loves wine and oil* will not become rich. ¹⁸ A ransom for the righteous is the wicked, and the faithless instead of the upright. ¹⁹ Better to live in a land of wilderness than with a wife of quarrels and provocation. ²⁰ Precious treasure and oil are in the house of the wise, but the foolish person* will devour them.* ²¹ He who pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor. ²² To a city of warriors, the wise ascends, and he will bring down the stronghold—its object of trust. ²³ He who guards his mouth and his tongue, he guards his life* from danger. ²⁴ The proud, haughty one: "scoffer" is his name; he acts with arrogance of pride. ²⁵ The craving of a lazy person will kill him, for his hands refuse to work.* ²⁶ _⌊All day_⌋* he craves a craving, but the righteous will give and not hold back. ²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it in divisiveness! ²⁸ A false witness will perish, but a man who listens will testify with* success. ²⁹ A wicked man is strong in _⌊his countenance_⌋,* but the upright will appoint his paths. ³⁰ There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel to oppose Yahweh. ³¹ A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but to Yahweh belongs the victory.

²² With joy they celebrated the festival of unleavened bread for seven days, because Yahweh had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them in order to help them with the work of their hands on the house of the God of Israel.

²⁷ Blessed be Yahweh the God of our ancestors,* who put this in the heart of the king to glorify the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem ²⁸ and who extended to me loyal love before the king and his counselors, and before all of the mighty officials of the king. I took courage, for the hand of Yahweh my God was upon me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

¹¹ O Lord, please let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight to revere in your name. Please, let your servant be successful this day and give him compassion before this man."
I was cupbearer for the king.

⁴ Then the king said to me, "What is your request?" So I prayed to the God of the heavens.

¹⁵ You split open spring and wadi.* You dried up ever-flowing rivers.

⁴ Mightier than the rumblings of many waters, mightier than the mighty breakers of the sea, Yahweh on high is mighty.

²⁵ He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal deceitfully against his servants.

⁴⁶ And he _⌊let them find compassion_⌋* before all their captors.

³ The sea looked and fled; the Jordan turned back.

⁵ What's with you, O sea, that you fled? O Jordan, that you turned back?

¹ To mortals belong the plans of the heart, but from Yahweh comes the answer of the tongue.

⁹ The _⌊mind_⌋* of a person will plan his ways, and Yahweh will direct his steps.

²⁴ Away from Yahweh are the steps of a strong man, and how will humankind understand his ways?

¹⁹ Look! I am about to do a new thing! Now it sprouts! Do you not perceive* it? Indeed, I will _⌊make_⌋* a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

²⁷ who says to the deep, 'Dry up! And I will cause your rivers to dry up';

³⁵ And all the dwellers of the earth are regarded as nothing, and he does _⌊according to_⌋* his desire in the host of heaven and among the dwellers of earth, and there is not one who can hold back his hand, or _⌊ask him_⌋,* 'What are you doing?'

¹⁰ and rescued him from all his afflictions and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he appointed him ruler over Egypt and all* his household.

⁴ And the third poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.

¹² And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, in order that the way would be prepared for the kings from _⌊the east_⌋*.

⁷ But Yahweh said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For God does not see what man sees, for a man _⌊looks on the outward appearance_⌋,* but Yahweh _⌊looks on the heart_⌋."*

² For he flatters himself in his eyes, hating to detect his iniquity.*

² All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but Yahweh weighs the spirit.*

²⁵ There is a way that seems upright _⌊to_⌋* a man, but its end is the way of death.

⁶ Many a person will proclaim his loyalty for himself, but a man who is trustworthy, who can find?

¹² if you say, "Look, we do not know this," does not he who weighs hearts perceive it? And he who keeps your soul,* he knows and will repay humankind according to his deeds.

¹² There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, but from its filthiness it will not be cleansed.

¹⁰ I, Yahweh, examine the _⌊mind_⌋,* I test the _⌊heart_⌋,* and give to each one according to his way, according to the fruit of his deeds.

¹⁵ And he said to them, "You are the ones who justify themselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts! For what is considered exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

¹¹ The Pharisee stood and* prayed these things with reference to himself: 'God, I give thanks to you that I am not like other people—swindlers, unrighteous people, adulterers, or even like this tax collector! ¹² I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I get.'

²⁴ But Jesus himself did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people,* ²⁵ and because he did not _⌊need_⌋* anyone _⌊to testify_⌋* about man, for he himself knew what was in man.*

³ For if anyone thinks he is something although he* is nothing, he is deceiving himself.

²² But be doers of the message and not hearers only,* deceiving yourselves,

²³ And I will kill her children with deadly disease, and all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

²² Then Samuel said,
"Is there as much delight for Yahweh in burnt offerings and sacrifices as there is in _⌊obeying_⌋* Yahweh? Look! _⌊To obey_⌋* is better than sacrifice; to give heed than the fat of rams.

⁸ It is not concerning a lack of your sacrifices that I rebuke you, and your burnt offerings are before me continually.

⁸ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination of Yahweh, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

¹¹ What is the abundance of your sacrifices to me? says Yahweh. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened animals and I do not delight in the blood of bulls and ram-lambs and goats. ¹² When you come to appear before me, who asked for this from your hand: you trampling my courts? ¹³ You must not _⌊continue_⌋* to bring offerings* of futility, incense—it is an abomination to me; new moon and Sabbath, the calling of a convocation— I cannot endure iniquity with solemn assembly. ¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become to me like a burden, I am not able to bear them. ¹⁵ And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers,* I will not be listening. Your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶ Wash! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil! ¹⁷ Learn to do good! Seek justice! Rescue the oppressed! Defend the orphan! Plead for the widow!

²¹ Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. ²² For I did not speak with your ancestors,* nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice. ²³ But I only commanded them this word, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'Obey my voice, and I will be to you God, and you will be to me people, and you must walk in all of the way that I command you, so that it goes well with you.'

⁶ Because I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁶ With what shall I approach Yahweh, and bow down to God on high? Shall I approach him with burnt offerings, with bull calves a year old? ⁷ Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriads of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? ⁸ He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does Yahweh ask from you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

³³ And to love him from your* whole heart and from your* whole understanding and from your* whole strength, and to love your* neighbor as yourself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

⁴ _⌊With bald-faced pride_⌋* the wicked will not seek God. There is no God in any of his thoughts.

¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

¹³ The fear of Yahweh is hatred of evil, pride, and arrogance and an evil way. And I hate a mouth of perversity.

²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it in divisiveness!

¹³ There is a generation—how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids they will lift.

¹¹ The _⌊haughty eyes_⌋* of humanity will* be brought low, and the pride of everyone will be humbled, and Yahweh alone will be exalted on that day.

¹⁷ And the haughtiness of the people shall be humbled, and the pride of everyone shall be brought low, and Yahweh alone will be exalted on that day.

¹⁶ And Yahweh said: "Because* the daughters of Zion are haughty, and they walk with outstretched neck, and they give flirting glances with their eyes, _⌊mincing along as they go_⌋,* and _⌊with their feet they rattle their bangles_⌋,*

¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than that one! For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

²³ But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin.

⁵ In the same way, younger men, be subject to the elders, and all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

⁴ A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent enriches.

⁴ The soul* of the lazy craves, but there is nothing, but the person of diligence is richly supplied.

²⁹ He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but the hasty of spirit* exalts folly.

²¹ An inheritance acquired hastily _⌊at the beginning_⌋* will not be blessed at its end.

²³ You will surely know the _⌊condition_⌋* of your flock; your heart* attends to the herds. ²⁴ For riches are not forever, nor a crown for generation after generation. ²⁵ When the grass is gone, then green growth will appear, and the herbs of the mountains will be gathered. ²⁶ Lambs will be your clothing, and goats the price of the field. ²⁷ And there will be enough goats' milk for your food, for the food of your household and the _⌊nourishment_⌋* of your maidservants.

²² He who hurries for wealth is _⌊a man with an evil eye_⌋,* but he does not know that poverty will come upon him.

²⁸ The one who steals must steal no longer, but instead must labor, working with his own hands what is good, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need.

¹¹ and to aspire to live a quiet life, and to attend to _⌊your own business_⌋,* and to work with your hands,* just as we commanded you, ¹² so that you may live decently toward those outside, and may have need of nothing.

³⁶ But he who misses me injures himself.* All those who hate me love death."

² Treasures of wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.

¹¹ Wealth gained from haste* will dwindle, but he who gathers _⌊little by little_⌋* will increase it.

¹⁴ "Bad, bad," the buyer will say, but when one goes to him, then he will boast.

⁸ He who sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his anger will fail.

⁸ Keep falsehood and a _⌊lying word_⌋* far from me; do not give me poverty or wealth; provide me with food only for my need.

¹¹ Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay is one who amasses wealth without justice. In the middle of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will prove to be a fool."

³¹ Throw _⌊away from yourselves_⌋* all of your transgressions that you committed,* and make _⌊for yourselves_⌋* a new heart and new spirit, and so why will you die, house of Israel?

⁹ But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge those people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all evil, by which some, because they* desire it, have gone astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

¹¹ whom it is necessary to silence, whoever are ruining whole families by* teaching things which must not be taught for the sake of dishonest gain.

³ And in greediness they will exploit you with false words, whose condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

¹⁶ His trouble comes back on his head, and his violence comes down on his skull.

¹⁶ Yahweh has made himself known; he has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his hands. Higgaion* Selah

¹⁸ They lie in wait for their own blood. They ambush their own lives. ¹⁹ Thus are the ways of all who are greedy for gain— it will take the life of its possessors.

⁶ Blessings belong to the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

²¹ He who pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.

²² Do not rob the poor because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate; ²³ For Yahweh will plead their case and despoil those who despoil them of life.*

²³ Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Every one loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the orphan and the legal dispute of the widow does not come before them. ²⁴ Therefore, the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: "Ah, I will be relieved of my enemies, and I will avenge myself on my foes.

⁹ Will you steal? Will you murder? And will you commit adultery? And will you swear _⌊falsely_⌋?* And will you make a smoke offering to the Baal? And will you go after other gods whom you have not known? ¹⁰ And then you come and you stand _⌊before_⌋* me in this house, which is called _⌊by my name_⌋,* and you say, 'we are safe _⌊to go on doing_⌋* all of these detestable things.' ¹¹ Has this house, which is called _⌊by my name_⌋,* become a cave of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I, have seen it," * _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh.

¹⁵ And I will cast you _⌊out of my sight_⌋* just as I cast out all of your blood relatives,* all of the offspring of Ephraim." '

¹⁸ Because his father _⌊oppressed severely_⌋;* _⌊he stole from his brother_⌋;* that which is not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through* his guilt.

¹³ And look! I strike my hand for your ill-gotten gain that you have made and at your blood that was in the midst of you. ¹⁴ Can your heart endure,* or can your hands be strong at the days in which I am dealing with you? I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act!

⁹ Hear this, O rulers of the house of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel, those detesting justice and perverting all that is right, ¹⁰ he who builds Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wickedness. ¹¹ Its rulers judge for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money. But they lean on Yahweh, saying, "Is not Yahweh in our midst? Disaster will not come upon us." ¹² Therefore on account of you Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble, and _⌊the temple mount_⌋* as a high place in a forest.

³ And he said to me, "This is the curse going out over the surface of the whole earth. For everyone who steals has gone unpunished* according to it, and likewise everyone who swears falsely has gone unpunished according to it. ⁴ 'I have sent it out,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh of hosts, 'and it will go into the house of the thief and into the house of the one swearing _⌊falsely by my name_⌋,* and it will spend the night in that* house and will destroy it, with its timber and its stone.'"

⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

⁵ And Yahweh saw that the evil of humankind was great upon the earth, and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was always* only evil. ⁶ And Yahweh regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and _⌊he was grieved in his heart_⌋.*

¹² And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.

¹⁴ "What is a human being, that he can be clean, or* that one born of a woman can be righteous? ¹⁵ Look, he does not trust his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes. ¹⁶ _⌊How much less_⌋* he who is abominable and corrupt,* a man drinking wickedness like water.

² Yahweh looks down from heaven upon the children of humankind to see whether there is one who has insight, one who cares about God. ³ All have gone astray; they are altogether corrupt. There is not one who does good; there is not even one.

¹⁵ _⌊who are crooked in their ways_⌋,* and devious in their paths;

²⁶ Plans of evil are an abomination of Yahweh, but gracious words are pure.

²⁹ Look! This alone I found: God made mankind upright, but they have devised many schemes."

³ This is the _⌊injustice_⌋* that is done under the sun: the same fate comes to everyone. Also the hearts of _⌊humans_⌋* are full of evil; delusion is in their hearts during their lives, and then they die.

¹⁰ Many will be purified and will be cleansed and will be refined, but the wicked will act wickedly _⌊and none of the wicked will understand_⌋,* but _⌊those who have insight_⌋* will understand.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart, because they will see God.

³³ "Either make the tree good and its fruit is good, or make the tree bad and its fruit is bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.

⁹ And he made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.

³ for you are still fleshly. For where there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and do you not live like unregenerate people?*

² in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom also we all formerly lived in the desires of our flesh, doing the will* of the flesh and of the mind, and we were children of wrath* by nature, as also the rest of them were.

¹⁵ To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure, but both their mind and conscience are defiled.

¹⁴ who gave himself for us, in order that he might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.

³ For we also were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, enslaved to various desires and pleasures, spending our lives in wickedness and envy, despicable, hating one another.

⁵ he saved us, not by deeds of righteousness that we have done, but because of his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

²² Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love, love one another fervently from the heart,* ²³ because you* have been born again, not from perishable seed but imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

²⁹ If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone* who practices righteousness has been fathered by him.

³ And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as that one is pure.

⁴ A woman of strength* is the crown of her master,* but like rot in his bones is she who brings shame.

¹⁷ Better is a dinner of vegetables when* love is there than a fattened ox and hatred with it.*

¹ Better a dry morsel and quiet with it than a house filled with feasts of strife.

¹³ A foolish child is a ruin to his father, and the quarreling of a woman* is a continuous dripping.

¹⁹ Better to live in a land of wilderness than with a wife of quarrels and provocation.

²⁴ Better to live upon the corner of a roof than with a woman* of contention and in a shared house.

¹⁵ Dripping constantly on a day of heavy rain and a woman* of contention are alike. ¹⁶ In restraining her, he restrains wind,* and his right hand will grasp oil*.

⁸ Ask your servants* and they will tell you! Let the young men* find favor in your eyes because we have come on a feast day. Please give _⌊whatever you have on hand_⌋* for your servants and for your son David." ⁹ So David's young men came and they spoke all these words to Nabal in the name of David. Then they waited. ¹⁰ But Nabal answered David's servants and said, "Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Today, there are many servants breaking away from the presence of their masters. ¹¹ Should I take my bread and my water and my meat which I have slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men whom I do not know where they are from?

⁴ He plans sin on his bed. He puts himself on a way that is not good. He does not reject evil.

² Your tongue plans destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceit. ³ You love evil more than good, a lie more than speaking _⌊what is right_⌋.* Selah

⁵ It goes well for a man who is gracious and lends, who conducts his _⌊business properly_⌋.*

⁹ _⌊He gives lavishly_⌋* to the needy; his righteousness endures forever. His horn rises high in honor.

²⁹ Do not plot harm against your neighbor who dwells in confidence beside you.

¹² The wicked covets the proceeds of evil, but the root of the righteous _⌊bears fruit_⌋.*

¹³ He who closes his ear from the cry of the poor, he also will cry out and not be heard.

⁶ For a fool speaks folly, and his _⌊mind_⌋* does iniquity: to _⌊behave wickedly_⌋,* and to speak error concerning Yahweh, to leave the throat of the hungry empty, and he deprives the thirsty of drink. ⁷ And a scoundrel, his weapons are evil; he plans evil devices to ruin the poor with words of deception even* when the speech of the needy is right. ⁸ But* the nobleman plans noble things, and he stands upon noble things.

² Those of you who are haters of good and lovers of evil, who tear their skin from them and their flesh from their bones, ³ and who eat the flesh of my people, and strip their skin from them, and break their bones, and chop them like meat in the pot, and like flesh in the midst of a cooking pot."

²¹ For from within, from the heart of people, come evil plans, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, ²² adulteries, acts of greed, malicious deeds, deceit, licentiousness, _⌊envy_⌋,* abusive speech, pride, foolishness.

⁶ Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we should not be desirers of evil things, just as those also desired them,

¹³ For judgment is merciless to the one who has not practiced mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹ From where are conflicts and from where are quarrels among you? Is it not from this, from your pleasures that wage war among your members? ² You desire and do not have; you murder and are filled with envy, and are not able to obtain; you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, in order that you may spend it on your pleasures. ⁴ Adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that in vain the scripture says, "The spirit which he caused to dwell in us desires jealously"?*

⁴ Behold, the wages that were held back by you from the workers who reap your fields cry out, and the cries of the reapers have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts. ⁵ You have lived self-indulgently on the earth* and have lived luxuriously. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous person; he does not resist you.

¹⁶ because everything that is in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance of material possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.

³⁴ All Israel who were around them fled at their cry, because they said, "Lest the land swallow us up!"

¹¹ And all of Israel shall hear, and they shall fear, and _⌊they shall not continue to act_⌋* according to this evil thing in your midst.

²¹ Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones and let him die; and so you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all of Israel will hear, and they will fear.

⁷ But God will shoot them; with an arrow they will suddenly be wounded. ⁸ * And they who would cause him* to stumble, their own tongue will be against them. All who gaze on them will shake.* ⁹ And then* all men* will fear, and will declare the working of God, and will understand his doing.

⁵ may the wise hear and increase learning, and the one who understands gain direction,*

⁹ Give to a wise one and he will become more wise; _⌊teach_⌋* a righteous one and he will increase learning.

¹⁴ The heart of him who understands will seek knowledge, but the faces of fools, they* will feed on folly.

¹ He who is selfish seeks a craving;* against all sound judgment he shows contempt.

¹⁵ An intelligent _⌊mind_⌋* will acquire knowledge, and the ear of the wise will seek knowledge.

²⁵ The scoffer you shall strike, and the simple, may they learn prudence, and reprove the intelligent and he will gain knowledge.

⁵ And when* Ananias heard these words, he fell down and* died. And great fear came on all those who heard about it.*

¹¹ And great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard about these things. ¹² Now many signs and wonders were being performed among the people through the hands of the apostles. And they were all together* in Solomon's Portico. ¹³ And none of the rest dared to join them, but the people spoke highly of them. ¹⁴ And even more believers in the Lord* were being added, large numbers of both men and women,

⁶ Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we should not be desirers of evil things, just as those also desired them, ⁷ and not become idolaters, as some of them did, just as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play,"* ⁸ nor commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed sexual immorality, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day, ⁹ nor put Christ to the test, as some of them tested him, and were destroyed by snakes, ¹⁰ nor grumble, just as some of them grumbled, and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹ Now these things happened to those people as an example, but are written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

¹ Because of this, it is all the more necessary that we pay attention to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. ² For if the word spoken through angels was binding and every transgression and act of disobedience received a just penalty, ³ how will we escape if we* neglect so great a salvation which had its beginning when it* was spoken through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard,

²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse punishment do you think the person will be considered worthy of who treats with disdain the Son of God and who considers ordinary the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy and who insults the Spirit of grace?

¹³ And at that hour a great earthquake took place, and a tenth of the city collapsed, and seven thousand _⌊people_⌋* were killed by the earthquake, and the rest became terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

²⁹ So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out from the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

³ I have seen a fool taking root, but* suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

¹⁵ He will lean himself against his house, but* it will not stand; he will take hold of it, but* it will not endure.

¹⁴ He is torn from his tent _⌊in which he trusted_⌋,* and it brought him to the king of terrors. ¹⁵ "_⌊Nothing_⌋* remains for him in his tent; sulfur is scattered upon his dwelling place. ¹⁶ His roots dry up _⌊below_⌋,* and its branches* wither away above.* ¹⁷ His remembrance perishes from the earth, and there is not a name for him on the street. ¹⁸ "They thrust him from light into darkness, and they drive him out from the world. ¹⁹ There is no offspring for him nor* a descendant among his people, and there is not a survivor in his abode. ²⁰ Those of the west are appalled over _⌊his fate_⌋,* and those of the east _⌊are seized with horror_⌋.* ²¹ Surely these are the dwellings of the godless, and this is the dwelling place of him who knows not God."

²⁸ For you say, 'Where is the nobleman's house, and where are _⌊the tents in which the wicked dwell_⌋?'* ²⁹ Do you not ask those traveling the roads, and do you not take notice of their accounts? ³⁰ Indeed, the wicked is spared from the day of disaster; he is delivered from the day of wrath.

¹³ "This is the portion of the wicked human being with God, and they receive from Shaddai the inheritance of the ruthless. ¹⁴ If their children multiply, it is for the sword, and his offspring _⌊do not have enough to eat_⌋.* ¹⁵ Their* survivors are buried through* the plague, and their* widows do not weep. ¹⁶ If he heaps up silver like the dust and fashions clothing like the clay, ¹⁷ he makes it ready, and the righteous will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver. ¹⁸ "He builds his house like the moth, and like a booth that a watchman has made. ¹⁹ He goes to bed with wealth, but* _⌊he will do so no more_⌋;* he opens his eyes, and _⌊it is gone_⌋.* ²⁰ Terrors overtake him like the water; a storm wind carries him off in the night. ²¹ The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone, and it sweeps him away from his place. ²² And it hurls at him, and it has no compassion; he will quickly flee from its power. ²³ It claps its hands over him, and it hisses at him from its place.

³⁵ I have seen the wicked acting violently and spreading himself out like a luxuriant native tree. ³⁶ Then he passed on* and behold, he was not. And I sought him, but he could not be found.

⁵ but God will pull you down forever. He will snatch you and tear you away from your tent, and he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

⁴³ Whoever is wise, then let him observe these things, and let them consider Yahweh's acts of loyal love.

³ The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. ⁴ Wealth does not profit on the day of wrath, but righteousness will deliver from death. ⁵ The righteousness of the blameless will keep his ways straight, but the wicked will fall by his wickedness.

⁶ Righteousness will guard the upright of way, but wickedness will overthrow sin.

¹¹ The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.

³² By his evildoing, the wicked will be overthrown, and the righteous will find refuge in his death.

⁹ Who is wise that he can understand these things? Who is discerning that he knows them? The ways of Yahweh are right, and the righteous walk in them; but transgressors stumble in them.

¹¹ "I overthrew some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a stick snatched from the fire, and yet you did not return to me," is the declaration of Yahweh.

⁹ Woe to him who obtains profit from evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be saved from the hand of misfortune! ¹⁰ You have plotted shame for your house, cutting off many peoples and sinning against your life. ¹¹ For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the plaster from the wood will answer it. ¹² Woe to him who builds a city by bloodguilt, and who founds a city by wickedness!

⁵ But God was not pleased with the majority of them, for they were struck down in the desert.

⁴ For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but held them captive in Tartarus with chains of darkness and handed them over to be kept for judgment, ⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a proclaimer of righteousness, _⌊and seven others_⌋* when he* brought a flood on the world of the ungodly, ⁶ and condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes, having appointed them as an example for those who are going to be ungodly, ⁷ and rescued righteous Lot, worn down by the way of life of lawless persons in licentiousness ⁸ (for that righteous man, as he* lived among them day after day, was tormenting his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he was seeing and hearing), ⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to reserve the unrighteous to be punished at* the day of judgment,

⁶ by means of which things the world that existed at that time was destroyed by* being inundated with water. ⁷ But by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.

⁷ If there is a poor person among you from among one of your brothers in one of your _⌊towns_⌋* that Yahweh your God is giving to you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not shut your hand toward _⌊your brother who is poor_⌋.* ⁸ But you shall certainly open your hand for him, and _⌊you shall willingly lend_⌋* to him enough to meet his need, _⌊whatever it is_⌋.* ⁹ _⌊Take care_⌋* so that there* will not be _⌊a thought of wickedness_⌋* in your heart, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'The seventh year, the year of the remission of debt is near,' _⌊and you view your needy neighbor with hostility_⌋,* and so you do not give to him, and he might cry out against you to Yahweh, and _⌊you would incur guilt against yourself_⌋.* ¹⁰ By all means you must give to him, and _⌊you must not be discontented_⌋* at your giving to him, because on account of this very thing, Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and _⌊in all that you undertake_⌋.* ¹¹ For the poor* will not cease to be _⌊among you_⌋* in the land; therefore I am commanding you, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'You shall willingly open your hand to your brother, to your needy and to your poor that are in your land.'

¹ Now there was a great cry of distress of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. ² There were those who were saying, "Our sons and daughters, we are many. We must get grain so that we may eat and live." ³ There were also those saying, "We have pledged our fields and our vineyards and our houses so that we can get grain in the famine." ⁴ And there were those who were saying, "We have borrowed money on our fields and our vineyards for the tax of the king. ⁵ Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our sons are like their sons. Look, we are subduing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and there are some from our daughters being molested. _⌊We are powerless_⌋,* and our fields and vineyards belong to others."

¹³ I also shook out my garment and said, "This is how God will shake out everyone from his house who will not keep this promise. So this is how his possessions will be shaken out and emptied." And all the assembly said, "Amen!" And they praised Yahweh, and the people kept this promise.

⁴¹ They cried out but there was no rescuer, even to Yahweh, but he did not answer them.

⁴ Their venom is like snake venom; They are like a deaf viper that closes its ear

²⁸ then they will call* me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but not find me.

²⁷ For he who gives to the poor, there is no lacking, but for he* who turns his eyes, there are many curses.

⁶ Is this not the fast I choose: to release the bonds of injustice, to untie the ropes of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and _⌊tear_⌋* every yoke to pieces? ⁷ Is it not to break your bread for the hungry? You must bring _⌊home_⌋* the poor, the homeless. When you see the naked, you must cover him, and you must not hide yourself from your _⌊relatives_⌋.* ⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall grow quickly. And your salvation shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard. ⁹ Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer. You shall cry for help, and he will say, 'Here I am!' If you remove from among you the yoke, the _⌊finger-pointing_⌋* and _⌊evil speech_⌋,*

¹⁶ But you turned back and you profaned my name when you brought back each one his male slave and each one his female slave, whom you had let go free according to their desire, and you subdued them to be to you as male slaves and as female slaves.' ¹⁷ "_⌊Therefore_⌋* thus says Yahweh, 'You have not listened to me to proclaim release each one to his fellow countryman and each one to his neighbor. Look, I am going to proclaim to you a release,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine, and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

⁹ "Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Judge with trustworthy justice, and show* steadfast love and compassion _⌊to one another_⌋.* ¹⁰ You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the needy. You must not devise evil in your heart _⌊against one another_⌋.'* ¹¹ But they refused to listen, and turned* a stubborn shoulder and _⌊stopped their ears from listening_⌋.* ¹² _⌊They made their hearts adamant_⌋* in order not to hear the law* and the words that Yahweh of hosts had sent by his spirit through* the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts. ¹³ 'Thus, just as I* called and they would not hear, so they will call and I will not hear,' says Yahweh of hosts.

¹⁴ For if you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

² For by what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and by what measure you measure out, it will be measured out to you.

³⁰ But he did not want to, but rather he went and* threw him into prison until he would repay what was owed. ³¹ So when* his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed, and went and* reported to their master everything that had happened. ³² Then his master summoned him and* said to him, 'Wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you implored me! ³³ Should you not also have shown mercy to your fellow slave as I also showed mercy to you?' ³⁴ And because he* was angry, his master handed him over to the merciless jailers* until he would repay everything that was owed. ³⁵ So also my heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from your hearts!"

⁴¹ Then he will also say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed ones, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels! ⁴² For I was hungry and you did not give me anything* to eat, I was thirsty and you did not give me anything* to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not care for me.' ⁴⁴ Then they will also answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and not serve you?' ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, in as much as you did not do it* to one of the least of these, you did not do it* to me.' ⁴⁶ And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

²⁵ when once the master of the house has gotten up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, 'Lord, open the door* for us!' And he will answer and* say to you, 'I do not know where you are from!'

⁵⁷ But crying out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and rushed at him with one purpose.

¹³ For judgment is merciless to the one who has not practiced mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. ¹⁴ What is the benefit, my brothers, if someone says that he has faith but does not have works? That faith is not able to save him, is it?* ¹⁵ If a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking food for the day, ¹⁶ and one of you should say to them, "Go in peace, keep warm and _⌊eat well_⌋*," but does not give them what is necessary for the body, what is the benefit?

²⁰ And moreover, you shall say, 'Look, your servant Jacob is behind us.'" For he thought, "_⌊Let me appease him_⌋* with the gift going before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will _⌊show me favor_⌋."*

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so then do this. Take some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, and pistachios and almonds.

³⁵ Then David took from her hand what she had brought for him, and he said to her, "Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to your voice, and I have _⌊granted your request_⌋."*

⁸ The bribe is a stone of magic in the eyes of its owner;* _⌊everywhere_⌋* he will turn, he will prosper.

²³ The wicked will accept a bribe from the lap, in order to pervert the ways of justice.

¹⁶ The gift of a person will open doors for him, and before the great, it gives him access.

⁶ Many will seek favor before the generous, and everyone is the friend of a man of gifts.*

³ But you, when you* practice charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ in order that your charitable giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

¹² because I saved the needy who cried for help, and I saved* the orphan for whom there was no helper. ¹³ The blessing of the wretched came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. ¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a headband. ¹⁵ "I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. ¹⁶ I was a father to the poor, and I investigated _⌊the stranger's_⌋* legal dispute. ¹⁷ And I broke the evil one's jaw bones, and I made his prey drop from his teeth.

⁸ 'I delight to do your will, O my God, and your law is _⌊deep within me_⌋.'"*

¹ Praise Yah!* Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh; he takes great delight in his commands.

¹⁶ I will take delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

⁹² Unless your law had been my delight, then I would have perished in my misery.

²⁰ Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

²⁹ A stronghold for the upright is the way of Yahweh, but ruin belongs to _⌊evildoers_⌋.*

¹² The righteous observes the house of the wicked; he throws the wicked to ruin.

¹² So I realized that there is _⌊nothing better_⌋* for them than to _⌊rejoice and enjoy themselves_⌋* during their lives.

⁵ You meet with the one who rejoices, one who does righteousness. In your ways they remember you. Look! You were angry and we sinned against them in ancient times and we were saved.

²³ And then _⌊I will say to them plainly_⌋,* 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!'

⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all the causes of sin and those who do lawless deeds, ⁴² and throw them into the fiery furnace.* In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!

²⁷ And he will reply, saying to you, 'I do not know where you are from! Go away from me, all you _⌊evildoers_⌋!'* ²⁸ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside!

³⁴ Jesus said to them, "My food is that I do the will of the one who sent me and complete his work.

²² For I joyfully agree with the law of God in my inner person,

¹⁴ Like sheep they are destined to Sheol; death will shepherd them. But the upright will rule over them in the morning, and their forms will be for Sheol to consume, far from his lofty abode.

⁵ But regarding those who turn aside to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.

¹⁸ for her house sinks to death, and to the dead* are her paths. ¹⁹ Of all who go to her, none shall return, nor do they reach paths of life.

²⁶ For many slain she has laid low, and countless* are all of her killings. ²⁷ The ways of Sheol* are her house, descending to chambers of death.

¹⁸ But he does not know that the dead* are there, in the depths of Sheol* are her guests.

²⁰ Walk with the wise and be wise, but as for the companion of fools, he will suffer harm.

⁶ and those who turned back from _⌊following_⌋* Yahweh, and who did not seek Yahweh, and did not inquire of him."

¹⁹ And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who practices evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed.

¹ And you, _⌊although you were dead_⌋** in your trespasses and sins,

⁴ For it is impossible concerning those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and become sharers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶ and having fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, because they* have crucified again for themselves the Son of God and held him up to contempt.

²⁶ For if* we keep on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that is about to consume the adversaries.

³⁸ But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul is not well pleased with him."*

²¹ For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. ²² The statement of the true proverb has happened to them, "A dog returns to its own vomit,"* and "A sow, after* washing herself, returns* to wallowing in the mud."*

¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out*, in order that it might be shown that all of them are not of us.

¹² These are the ones feasting together without reverence, hidden reefs at your love feasts, caring for themselves, waterless clouds carried away by winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted,

¹⁰ lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, ¹¹ and you groan at your end, when your flesh and body are consumed,

²⁰ Precious treasure and oil are in the house of the wise, but the foolish person* will devour them.*

²¹ For the drunkard and gluttonous, they will become poor, and with rags, drowsiness will clothe them.

¹³ And after not many days, the younger son gathered everything and* went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth by* living wastefully. ¹⁴ And after* he had spent everything, there was a severe famine throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ And he went and* hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to tend pigs. ¹⁶ And he was longing to fill his stomach with* the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving anything* to him.

²⁴ And he called out and* said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he could dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering pain in this flame!' ²⁵ But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you received your good things during your life, and Lazarus likewise bad things. But now he is comforted here, but you are suffering pain.

⁶ But the one who lives for sensual pleasure is dead even though she* lives.

⁴ traitors, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God,

⁸ The righteous is delivered from trouble, but the wicked enters into it.

³ For I am Yahweh, your God, the holy one of Israel, your savior. I give you Egypt as ransom, Cush and Seba in place of you. ⁴ Because you are precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I myself love you, and I give people in place of you, and nations in place of your life.

⁴ However, he was the one who lifted up our sicknesses, and he carried our pain, yet* we ourselves assumed him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. ⁵ But* he was pierced* because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; the chastisement for* our peace* was upon him, and by his wounds* _⌊we were healed_⌋.*

⁸ "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,"
_⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ⁹ "For as the heavens are _⌊higher_⌋* than the earth, so my ways are _⌊higher_⌋* than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, in order that he could bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,

⁶ So I say, "_⌊Oh, that_⌋* I had wings like a dove. I would fly away and be at rest. ⁷ Look, I would flee far away. I would dwell in the wilderness. Selah

⁵ Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar. ⁶ Too long my soul has had its dwelling near one who hates peace.

⁹ Better to dwell on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a woman* of contention.

² _⌊Oh that I had_⌋* in the desert a place of overnight lodging for travelers, that I may leave my people and go from them, for all of them are adulterers, a band of traitors.

¹⁵ He swallows riches, but* he vomits them* up; God drives them* out from his stomach.

¹⁸ Returning the products of his toil, he will not swallow;* according to the profit of his trade, _⌊he will not enjoy_⌋,*

⁵ You prepare before me a table in the presence of my oppressors. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

³ Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.

²² The blessing of Yahweh makes one rich, and he does not increase sorrow with it.

⁶ In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but the income of the wicked brings trouble.

¹⁹ This indeed is a gift of God: everyone to whom God gives wealth and possessions, he also empowers him _⌊to enjoy them_⌋,* to accept his lot, and to rejoice in the fruit of his toil.

¹¹ Wisdom is good with an inheritance; _⌊it benefits the living_⌋.*

¹⁹ _⌊Feasts are held for celebration_⌋,* wine cheers the living, and money answers everything.

⁸ But ten men were found among them, and they said to Ishmael, "You must not kill us, for _⌊we have_⌋* hidden treasures in the field, wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. So he refrained and he did not kill them in the midst of their fellow countrymen.

¹⁹ "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and consuming insect* destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor consuming insect* destroy and where thieves do not break in or steal.

³ For when* the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take olive oil with them. ⁴ But the wise ones took olive oil in flasks with their lamps.

⁸ And the foolish ones said to the wise ones, 'Give us some of your olive oil, because our lamps are going out!'

⁴⁵ The good person out of the good treasury of his heart brings forth good, and the evil person out of his* evil treasury* brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

¹⁴ And after* he had spent everything, there was a severe famine throughout that country, and he began to be in need.

¹ And he also said to the disciples, "A certain man was rich, who had a manager. And charges were brought to him that this person was squandering his possessions.

¹⁹ "Now a certain man was rich, and dressed in purple cloth and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And a certain poor man _⌊named_⌋* Lazarus, covered with sores, lay at his gate, ²¹ and was longing to be filled with what fell from the table of the rich man. But even the dogs came and* licked his sores. ²² Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels to _⌊Abraham's side_⌋.* And the rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And in Hades he lifted up his eyes as he* was in torment and* saw Abraham from a distance, and Lazarus _⌊at his side_⌋.*

⁹ An abomination of Yahweh is the way of the wicked, but he who pursues righteousness he will love.

⁴ The reward of humility is the fear of Yahweh— wealth and honor and life.

¹ "Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek Yahweh. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the excavation of the pit from which you were quarried.

³ Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh; his rising is sure like the dawn. He will come like the showers to us, like the spring rain that waters the earth.

⁶ Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be satisfied.

⁷ to those who, by perseverance in good work, seek glory and honor and immortality, eternal life, ⁸ but to those who act from selfish ambition and who disobey the truth, but who obey unrighteousness, wrath and anger. ⁹ There will be affliction and distress for every _⌊human being_⌋* who does evil, of the Jew first and of the Greek, ¹⁰ but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and to the Greek.

¹⁹ So then, let us pursue _⌊what promotes peace_⌋* and _⌊what edifies one another_⌋*.

⁵⁸ So then, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, because you* know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

¹² Not that I have already received this,* or have already been made perfect, but I press on if indeed I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ.*

²¹ but examine all things; hold fast to what is good.

¹¹ But you, O man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patient endurance, gentleness.

²² But flee from youthful desires, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, in company with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart.

⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have completed the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Finally, the crown of righteousness is reserved for me, that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

¹⁴ Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

⁷ so that the genuineness of your faith, more valuable than gold that is passing away, but is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

⁶ The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, 'David cannot come here.'" ⁷ David captured the fortress of Zion, the city of David. ⁸ David had said, "On that day _⌊when we attack the Jebusites_⌋,* one must attack the lame and the blind, those who hate the soul of David, by means of the water supply." For thus the blind and the lame would say, "He cannot come into the house." ⁹ David occupied the fortress and called it the city of David. And David built all around it from the Millo and _⌊inward_⌋.*

¹⁶ Then a wise woman from the city called out, "Listen, listen! Please speak to Joab to come near here so that I may speak to you." ¹⁷ Then he came near to her, and the woman asked, "Are you Joab?" And he said, "I am." Then she said to him, "Listen to the words of your servant." He said, "I am listening." ¹⁸ Then she said, "In former times, _⌊they would always say_⌋,* 'By all means, let them inquire in Abel,' and so they settled things. ¹⁹ I am one of the faithful representatives of Israel. You are seeking to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow the inheritance of Yahweh?" ²⁰ Then Joab answered and said, "Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow or I should destroy. ²¹ That is not the matter. But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name is Sheba the son Bicri, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Give only him to us, and I will depart from the city." The woman said to Joab, "Look, his head is being thrown down to you over the wall." ²² The woman went to all of the people with her wise plan, so they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bicri and threw it to Joab. Then he blew the horn and dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

⁵ The warrior of wisdom is in strength, and a man of knowledge is strong in power.

¹⁹ Wisdom gives more strength to the wise than ten rulers who are in the city.

¹³ I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. ¹⁴ There was a small city with few people in it. A great king came and besieged it, building great siege works against it. ¹⁵ Now, a poor wise man was found in it, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. ¹⁶ So I concluded that wisdom is better than might, yet the wisdom of the poor is despised, and his words are not heard. ¹⁷ The words of the wise are heard in peace more than the shouting of a ruler is heard among the fools. ¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

¹⁹ In many words, transgression is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is prudent.

¹³ By the transgression of lips, evil is ensnared, but the righteous escapes from trouble.

³ He who keeps his mouth guards his life;* he who opens his lips, ruin belongs to him.

²⁷ He who spares his sayings knows knowledge, and a cool spirit is a man of understanding. ²⁸ Even a fool who keeps silent _⌊shall be considered wise_⌋;* he who closes his lips is intelligent.

²¹ Death and life are in the _⌊power_⌋* of the tongue, and those who love her* will eat of her fruit.

²⁶ If anyone thinks he is religious, although he* does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

² For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual,* able to hold in check his whole body also. ³ And if we put bits in the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we also guide their whole bodies. ⁴ Behold also ships: although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot wishes. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small member of the body* and boasts great things. Behold how small a fire sets ablaze how great a forest! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire! The world of unrighteousness,* the tongue, is set among our members, defiling the whole body and setting on fire _⌊the course of human existence_⌋*, being set on fire by hell. ⁷ For every species of animals and birds, of reptiles and sea creatures, is being tamed and has been tamed by the human species, ⁸ but no human being is able to tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless the* Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so! ¹¹ A spring does not pour forth from the same opening fresh and bitter water, does it?* ¹² A fig tree is not able, my brothers, to produce olives, or a grapevine figs. Neither can a saltwater spring produce fresh water. ¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his* good behavior his works, with the humility of wisdom.

⁵ And Haman saw that Mordecai was not kneeling and bowing down to him, and he was filled with anger. ⁶ But _⌊he considered it beneath him_⌋* to lay hands on Mordecai only, for they told him of Mordecai's people, and Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were in the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

¹ Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked; nor does he stand in the way of sinners; nor does he sit in the assembly of mockers.

²² "_⌊How long_⌋,* O simple ones, will you love simplicity? And how long will scoffers delight in their scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?

¹⁸ Before destruction comes pride, and before a fall, a haughty spirit.*

¹² In the presence of destruction, the heart* of a man will be haughty, but in the presence of honor, humble.

²⁹ Judgments* are prepared for the scoffers, and flogging for the back of fools.

⁸ The end of a matter is better than its beginning; _⌊better to be slow to anger than hot-headed_⌋.* ⁹ Do not be quick in your spirit to anger, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.

⁶ We have heard of the pride of Moab—exceedingly proud— of his arrogance, pride, and insolence; _⌊his boasting is not true_⌋.*

²⁹ We have heard of the pride of Moab —he is very proud— his height, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he* saw that he had been deceived by the wise men, became very angry, and he sent soldiers* and* executed all the children in Bethlehem and in all the region around it from the age of two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined precisely from the wise men.

⁶ Go to the ant, lazy! Consider its ways and be wise. ⁷ It has no chief, officer, or ruler. ⁸ In the summer, it prepares its food; in the harvest, it gathers its sustenance. ⁹ How long will you lie down, lazy? When will you rise up from your sleep? ¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands for rest— ¹¹ like a _⌊robber_⌋* shall your poverty come, and what you lack like an armed man.

²⁴ The hand of the diligent ones will rule, but the lazy will belong to forced labor.

²⁷ The lazy will not roast his game, but diligence is the precious wealth of a man.

¹⁹ The way of the lazy is like a hedge of thorns,* but the path of the upright is a highway.

²⁴ A lazy person buries his hand in the dish, and even to his mouth he will not bring it back.

⁴ The lazy person will not plow in season; he will expect at the harvest, but there will be nothing.

¹³ A lazy person says "A lion in the street! In the middle of the highway, I shall be killed!"

³⁰ I passed by the field of a lazy person, and over the vineyard of a person lacking _⌊sense_⌋;* ³¹ and behold, it was overgrown—all of it was covered with thorns, its surface with nettles, and _⌊its stone wall_⌋* was broken down. ³² Then I myself saw and my heart* considered; I looked, and I took hold of instruction: ³³ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands for rest, ³⁴ and your poverty will come running, and your lack like an armed warrior.

¹³ A lazy person says "A lion is in the road! A lion among the streets!"

¹⁶ A lazy person is wiser in his eyes than seven who answer discreetly.

²⁶ But his master answered and* said to him, 'Evil and lazy slave! You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather from where I did not scatter seed.*

²⁶ All the day he is gracious and lends, and his children are a blessing.

⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and from the one who takes away your things, do not ask for them back.* ³¹ And just as you want people _⌊to do_⌋* to you, do _⌊the same_⌋* to them. ³² "And if you love those who love you, what kind of credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them! ³³ And if* you do good to those who do good to you, what kind of credit is that to you? Even the sinners do the same! ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive back, what kind of credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may get back an equal amount! ³⁵ But love your enemies, and do good, and lend expecting back nothing, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful!*

³³ I have desired no one's silver or gold or clothing! ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands served to meet* my needs and the needs of* those who were with me. ³⁵ I have shown you with respect to all things that by* working hard in this way it is necessary to help those who are in need, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."*

⁷ But just as you excel in everything—in faith and in speaking and in knowledge and with all diligence and in the love from us that is in you—so may you excel in this grace also. ⁸ I am not saying this as a command, but proving the genuineness of your love by means of the diligence of others. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he* was rich, for your sake he became poor, in order that you, by his poverty, may become rich.

⁹ Just as it is written,
"He scattered widely, he gave to the poor; his righteousness remains _⌊forever_⌋*."* ¹⁰ Now the one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed, and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow, ¹¹ being made rich in every way for all generosity, which is producing through us thanksgiving to God, ¹² because the service of this ministry is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but also is overflowing through many expressions of thanksgiving to God. ¹³ Through the proven character of this service they will glorify God because of the submission of your confession to the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your participation toward them and toward everyone, ¹⁴ and they are longing for you in their prayers for you, because of the surpassing grace of God to you.

⁵ _⌊For never_⌋* did we come with a word of flattery, just as you know, nor with a pretext of greediness (God is witness), ⁶ nor seeking glory from people, neither from you nor from others. ⁷ _⌊Although we could have insisted on our own importance_⌋** as apostles of Christ, yet we became infants in your midst, like a nursing mother cherishes her own children. ⁸ Longing for you in this way, we determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own souls, because you had become dear to us. ⁹ For you remember, brothers, our labor and hardship: working by night and day in order not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

¹² therefore I said, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not yet implored the face of Yahweh.' So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering." ¹³ Then Samuel said to Saul, "You have behaved foolishly! You have not kept the command of Yahweh your God which he commanded you. For then, Yahweh would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

²¹ The troops took from the plunder, sheep and cattle, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God at Gilgal." ²² Then Samuel said,
"Is there as much delight for Yahweh in burnt offerings and sacrifices as there is in _⌊obeying_⌋* Yahweh? Look! _⌊To obey_⌋* is better than sacrifice; to give heed than the fat of rams. ²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination; arrogance is like iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has rejected you from being king!"

⁸ It is not concerning a lack of your sacrifices that I rebuke you, and your burnt offerings are before me continually. ⁹ I will not take from your house a bull or from your stalls a he-goat, ¹⁰ because every animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know every bird of the mountains, and every moving creature in the field is mine. ¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you, because the world and its fullness are mine. ¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

⁹ He who turns his ear from listening to instruction, even his prayer is an abomination.

¹¹ What is the abundance of your sacrifices to me? says Yahweh. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened animals and I do not delight in the blood of bulls and ram-lambs and goats. ¹² When you come to appear before me, who asked for this from your hand: you trampling my courts? ¹³ You must not _⌊continue_⌋* to bring offerings* of futility, incense—it is an abomination to me; new moon and Sabbath, the calling of a convocation— I cannot endure iniquity with solemn assembly. ¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become to me like a burden, I am not able to bear them. ¹⁵ And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers,* I will not be listening. Your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶ Wash! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil!

³ The one who slaughters a bull strikes a man; the one who slaughters a lamb for sacrifice breaks the neck of a dog. The one who offers an offering, the blood of swine; the one who offers frankincense blesses an idol. Indeed, they themselves have chosen their ways, and their soul delights in their abhorrence.

²⁰ What is this to me? Frankincense comes from Sheba, and the precious spice reed from a distant land. Your burnt offerings are not _⌊acceptable_⌋,* your sacrifices are not pleasing to me."

¹¹ Has this house, which is called _⌊by my name_⌋,* become a cave of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I, have seen it," * _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh. ¹² "For go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell in the beginning, and see what I did to it _⌊because of_⌋* the wickedness of my people Israel.

²¹ "I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your assemblies. ²² Yes, even if you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them, and I will not look at the fellowship offerings of your fattened animals.

¹³ "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you shut the kingdom of heaven before people! For you do not enter, nor permit those wanting to go in* to enter.*

¹ " 'You will not _⌊spread_⌋* a false report. Do not lift your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

¹⁶ If _⌊a malicious witness_⌋* gets up _⌊to accuse_⌋* anyone to testify against him falsely, ¹⁷ then the two men _⌊to whom the legal dispute pertains_⌋* shall stand _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh, _⌊before_⌋* the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. ¹⁸ Then judges shall make a thorough inquiry, and if it turns out* that the witness is a false witness and he testified falsely against his brother, ¹⁹ then you shall do to him as he meant* to do to his brother, and so you shall purge the evil from your midst.

¹⁹ a false witness who breathes lies and sends out discord* between brothers.

¹⁹ A lip of truth endures forever, but a tongue of deception lasts only a moment.

⁵ A witness of falsehood will not go unpunished, and he who breathes lies will not escape.

⁹ A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes lies will perish.

¹⁸ Like a club and sword and a sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.

¹⁵ But they said to her, "You are out of your mind!" But she kept insisting* it was so. And they kept saying,* "It is his angel!"

¹⁷ Therefore, when I* was wanting to do this, perhaps then was I making use of vacillation? Or was I deciding what I was deciding according to the flesh, in order that with me my "yes" may be "yes" and my "no" may be "no" at the same time?* ¹⁸ But God is faithful, so that our word to you is not "yes" and "no." ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy, did not become "yes" and "no," but has become "yes" in him. ²⁰ For as many as are the promises of God, in him they are "yes"; therefore also through him is the "amen" to the glory of God through us.

¹³ But because we* have the same spirit of faith in accordance with what is written, "I believed, therefore I spoke,"* we also believe, therefore we also speak,

⁸ The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist concerning these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and beneficial for people.

⁵ Oh that my ways were steadfast, to keep your statutes!

⁵⁹ I think about my ways, and turn my feet to your testimonies.

⁵ The righteousness of the blameless will keep his ways straight, but the wicked will fall by his wickedness.

¹⁴ Happy is the person who fears continuously, but he who is stubborn of heart,* will fall into calamity.

¹ A man who is reproved, being stubborn of neck— suddenly he will be broken, and there will not be healing.

² "Lift up your eyes at the barren heights, and see where you have not been ravished. Beside the roads you sat for them like an Arab in the desert,* and you have defiled the land with your fornication and with your wickedness. ³ Therefore rain showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come. Yet _⌊you have_⌋* the forehead of a woman prostitute, you refuse to be ashamed.

³ O Yahweh, do not your eyes look for honesty? You have struck them, but they felt no pain, you have destroyed them, they refused to take discipline. They have hardened their faces more than rock, they have refused to turn back.

¹² Were they ashamed, for they had committed a detestable thing? What's worse,* they were not ashamed at all, and they did not know to feel humiliated. _⌊Therefore_⌋* they will fall among those who fall; at the time of their punishment they will stumble," says Yahweh.

¹⁶ "Concerning the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we are not going to listen to you! ¹⁷ But certainly we will do _⌊everything_⌋* that went out from our mouths,* to make smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out to her libations just as we did, we, and our ancestors,* our kings, and our officials, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, for then _⌊we had enough to eat_⌋,* and we were well-off, and we did not see disaster.

²⁸ And if he sees and he returns from all of his transgressions that he did, surely he will live; he will not die!

⁵ And so then, thus says Yahweh of hosts: '_⌊Consider your ways_⌋!*

⁷ Thus says Yahweh of hosts: '_⌊Consider your ways_⌋!*

¹⁵ But now, please _⌊consider_⌋* from this day forward, before one stone was placed on another in the temple of Yahweh,

¹⁸ '_⌊Please consider_⌋* from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of Yahweh's temple was laid,* _⌊consider_⌋:* ¹⁹ Is there still seed in the store chamber? Do the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still produce nothing? From this day forward I will bless you.'"

¹⁷ "But when he* came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired workers have an abundance _⌊of food_⌋,* and I am dying here from hunger! ¹⁸ I will set out and* go to my father and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and _⌊in your sight_⌋!*

¹¹ Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you,

²¹ Many plans are in the heart* of a man, but the purpose of Yahweh will be established.

⁵ Because Aram has plotted evil against you with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying, ⁶ "Let us go up against Judah and let us tear her apart, _⌊and let us lay it open and so bring it unto ourselves_⌋,* and let us install the son of Tabeel as king in her midst." ⁷ Thus says the Lord Yahweh, "It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.

⁹ Be broken, you peoples, and be dismayed. And listen, all distant parts of the earth; gird yourselves and be dismayed; gird yourselves and be dismayed! ¹⁰ _⌊Make a plan_⌋,* but it will be frustrated! Speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us!

²⁷ For Yahweh of hosts has planned, and who will frustrate it? And his hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

¹⁰ who from the beginning declares the end, and from before, things that have not been done, who says, 'My plan shall stand,' and, 'I will accomplish* all my wishes,'* ¹¹ who calls a bird of prey from the east, the man of his* plan from a country from afar. Indeed I have spoken; indeed I will bring it to being. I have formed it; indeed I will do it.

²³ Thus says Yahweh,
"The wise man must not boast in his wisdom, and the warrior must not boast in his might, the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth.

¹³ But the men rowed hard to bring the ship* back to the dry land, and they could not do so because the sea _⌊was growing more and more tempestuous_⌋* against them.

²⁷ For in truth both Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, ²⁸ to do all that your hand and plan* had predestined to take place.

³⁹ But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them, lest you even be found fighting against God." So they were persuaded by him.

¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it is written, "The one who catches the wise in their craftiness,"* ²⁰ and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."*

⁸ and
"A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,"*
who stumble because they* disobey the word to which also they were consigned.

³ But* you, Yahweh, are a shield around me, my glory and the one who lifts up my head.

⁸ To Yahweh belongs deliverance; may your blessing be over your people. Selah

⁷ _⌊Some boast in chariots and others in horses_⌋,* but we boast in the name of Yahweh, our God.

¹⁷ The horse is a false hope for victory, nor can it save by the greatness of its power. ¹⁸ Behold, the eye of Yahweh is on those who fear him, on those who hope* for his loyal love

²⁰ Our God is a God of deliverances, and to the Yahweh the Lord belong escapes from death.

¹⁰ who gives victory to kings, who rescues David his servant from the evil sword.

¹⁰ He does not delight in the strength of the horse; he takes no pleasure in the legs of the man.

¹¹ I looked again and saw under the sun that the race does not belong to the swift, the battle does not belong to the mighty, food does not belong to the wise, wealth does not belong to the intelligent, and success* does not belong to the skillful, for time and chance befalls all of them.

¹ Ah! Those who go down to Egypt for help!
They rely on horses
and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very numerous, and they do not look to the holy one of Israel, and they do not consult Yahweh.

²³ Surely, an illusion comes from the hills, the turmoil on the mountains. Surely, in Yahweh our God is the salvation of Israel.