Proverbs 21 Cross References - MSB

¹ The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases. ² All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart. ³ To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice. ⁴ Haughty eyes and a proud heart—the guides of the wicked—are sin. ⁵ The plans of the diligent bring plenty, as surely as haste leads to poverty. ⁶ Making a fortune by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist, a deadly pursuit. ⁷ The violence of the wicked will sweep them away because they refuse to do what is just. ⁸ The way of a guilty man is crooked, but the conduct of the innocent is upright. ⁹ Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife. ¹⁰ The soul of the wicked man craves evil; his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes. ¹¹ When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; and when a wise man is instructed, he acquires knowledge. ¹² The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin. ¹³ Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer. ¹⁴ A gift in secret soothes anger, and a covert bribe pacifies great wrath. ¹⁵ Justice executed is a joy to the righteous, but a terror to the workers of iniquity. ¹⁶ The man who strays from the path of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead. ¹⁷ He who loves pleasure will become poor; the one who loves wine and oil will never be rich. ¹⁸ The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the faithless for the upright. ¹⁹ Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife. ²⁰ Precious treasures and oil are in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man consumes them. ²¹ He who pursues righteousness and loving devotion finds life, righteousness, and honor. ²² A wise man scales the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust. ²³ He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress. ²⁴ Mocker is the name of the proud and arrogant man—of him who acts with excessive pride. ²⁵ The craving of the slacker kills him because his hands refuse to work. ²⁶ All day long he covets more, but the righteous give without restraint. ²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with ill intent! ²⁸ A lying witness will perish, but the man who listens to truth will speak forever. ²⁹ A wicked man hardens his face, but the upright man makes his way sure. ³⁰ There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD. ³¹ A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory is of the LORD.

²² For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.

²⁷ Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, ²⁸ and who has shown me favor before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officials. And because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, I took courage and gathered the leaders of Israel to return with me.

¹¹ O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)

⁴ “What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven

¹⁵ You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.

⁴ Above the roar of many waters—the mighty breakers of the sea—the LORD on high is majestic.

²⁵ whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against His servants.

⁴⁶ He made them objects of compassion to all who held them captive.

³ The sea observed and fled; the Jordan turned back;

⁵ Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back,

¹ The plans of the heart belong to man, but the reply of the tongue is from the LORD.

⁹ A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

²⁴ A man’s steps are from the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?

¹⁹ Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

²⁷ who says to the depths of the sea, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’

³⁵ All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

¹⁰ and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

⁴ And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they turned to blood.

¹² And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East.

⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”

² For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.

² All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the LORD.

²⁵ There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

⁶ Many a man proclaims his loving devotion, but who can find a trustworthy man?

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?

¹² There is a generation of those who are pure in their own eyes and yet unwashed of their filth.

¹⁰ I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.

¹⁵ So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.

¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’

²⁴ But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew them all. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.

³ If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

²² Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.

²³ Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

²² But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.

⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.

⁸ The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.

¹¹ “What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. ¹² When you come to appear before Me, who has required this of you—this trampling of My courts? ¹³ Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me—your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations. I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly. ¹⁴ I hate your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. ¹⁶ Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil! ¹⁷ Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”

²¹ This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! ²² For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices, ²³ but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.

⁶ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

⁶ With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? ⁷ Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? ⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

³³ and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your soul and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

⁴ In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.

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

¹³ To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.

²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with ill intent!

¹³ There is a generation—how haughty are their eyes and pretentious are their glances—

¹¹ The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

¹⁷ So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

¹⁶ The LORD also says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty—walking with heads held high and wanton eyes, prancing and skipping as they go, jingling the bracelets on their ankles—

¹⁴ I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

²³ But the one who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that is not from faith is sin.

⁵ Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility, being subject to one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

⁴ Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

⁴ The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.

²⁹ A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.

²¹ An inheritance gained quickly will not be blessed in the end.

²³ Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds; ²⁴ for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to every generation. ²⁵ When hay is removed and new growth appears and the grain from the hills is gathered, ²⁶ the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. ²⁷ You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you—food for your household and nourishment for your maidservants.

²² A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty awaits him.

²⁸ He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

¹¹ and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you. ¹² Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.

³⁶ But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”

² Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

¹¹ Dishonest wealth will dwindle, but what is earned through hard work will be multiplied.

¹⁴ “Worthless, worthless!” says the buyer, but on the way out, he gloats.

⁸ He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

⁸ Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion.

¹¹ Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will be the fool.”

³¹ Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?

⁹ Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 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.

¹¹ who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.

³ In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction will not sleep.

¹⁶ His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.

¹⁶ The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah

¹⁸ But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives. ¹⁹ Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

⁶ Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

²¹ He who pursues righteousness and loving devotion finds life, righteousness, and honor.

²² Do not rob a poor man because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate, ²³ for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.

²³ Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them. ²⁴ Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will be relieved of My foes and avenge Myself on My enemies.

⁹ Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations’? ¹¹ Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.

¹⁵ And I will cast you out of My presence, just as I have cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.

¹⁸ As for his father, he will die for his own iniquity, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was wrong among his people.

¹³ Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst. ¹⁴ Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.

⁹ Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right, ¹⁰ who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity. ¹¹ Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.” ¹² Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.

³ Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed. ⁴ I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones.”

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

⁵ Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. ⁶ And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

¹² And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.

¹⁴ What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous? ¹⁵ If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes, ¹⁶ how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?

² The LORD looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God. ³ All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

¹⁵ whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.

²⁶ The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but the words of the pure are pleasant to Him.

²⁹ Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

³ This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

¹⁰ Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.

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

³³ Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.

⁹ He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.

³ for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension and division among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?

² in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

¹⁵ To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

¹⁴ He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

³ For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

⁵ He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

²² Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth through the Spirit so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart. ²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and forever enduring word of God.

²⁹ If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.

³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.

⁴ A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.

¹⁷ Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.

¹ Better a dry morsel in quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.

¹³ A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.

¹⁹ Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.

²⁴ Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

¹⁵ A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike— ¹⁶ restraining her is like holding back the wind or grasping oil with one’s right hand.

⁸ Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can afford to your servants and to your son David.’” ⁹ When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited. ¹⁰ But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters. ¹¹ Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

⁴ Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.

² Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit. ³ You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah

⁵ It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.

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

²⁹ Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he trustfully dwells beside you.

¹² The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³ Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer.

⁶ For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink. ⁷ The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. ⁸ But a noble man makes honorable plans; he stands up for worthy causes.

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.”

²¹ For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, adultery, sexual immorality, murder, theft, ²² greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.

⁶ These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.

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

¹ What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? ² You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. ⁴ You adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit who dwells in us yearns with envy?

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. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts as in the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.

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.

³⁴ At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!”

¹¹ Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.

²¹ Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

⁷ But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be wounded. ⁸ They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads. ⁹ Then all mankind will fear and proclaim the work of God; so they will ponder what He has done.

⁵ let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel

⁹ Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.

¹⁴ A discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.

¹ He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.

¹⁵ The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it out.

²⁵ Strike a mocker, and the simple will beware; rebuke the discerning man, and he will gain knowledge.

⁵ On hearing these words, Ananias fell down and died. And great fear came over all who heard what had happened.

¹¹ And great fear came over the whole church and all who heard about these events. ¹² The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people, and with one accord the believers gathered together in Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ Although the people regarded them highly, no one else dared to join them. ¹⁴ Yet more and more believers were brought to the Lord—large numbers of both men and women.

⁶ These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did. ⁷ Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and to drink, and got up to indulge in revelry.” ⁸ We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. ⁹ We should not test Christ, as some of them also did, and were killed by snakes. ¹⁰ And do not complain, as also some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. ¹¹ Now all these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

¹ We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. ² For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment, ³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

¹³ And in that day there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand were killed in the quake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived.

³ I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.

¹⁵ He leans on his web, but it gives way; he holds fast, but it does not endure.

¹⁴ He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors. ¹⁵ Fire resides in his tent; burning sulfur rains down on his dwelling. ¹⁶ The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away. ¹⁷ The memory of him perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the land. ¹⁸ He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world. ¹⁹ He has no offspring or posterity among his people, no survivor where he once lived. ²⁰ Those in the west are appalled at his fate, while those in the east tremble in horror. ²¹ Surely such is the dwelling of the wicked and the place of one who does not know God.”

²⁸ For you say, ‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’ ²⁹ Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports? ³⁰ Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.

¹³ This is the wicked man’s portion from God—the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty. ¹⁴ Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food. ¹⁵ His survivors will be buried by the plague, and their widows will not weep for them. ¹⁶ Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay, ¹⁷ what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent. ¹⁸ The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman. ¹⁹ He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone. ²⁰ Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest sweeps him away in the night. ²¹ The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. ²² It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power. ²³ It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.

³⁵ I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree, ³⁶ yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.

⁵ Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

⁴³ Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.

³ The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the faithless destroys them. ⁴ Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death. ⁵ The righteousness of the blameless directs their path, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.

⁶ Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness undermines the sinner.

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

³² The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.

⁹ Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.

¹¹ “Some of you I overthrew as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.

⁹ Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster! ¹⁰ You have plotted shame for your house by cutting off many peoples and forfeiting your life. ¹¹ For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters will echo it from the woodwork. ¹² Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by iniquity!

⁵ Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.

⁴ For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; ⁵ if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight; ⁶ if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly; ⁷ and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

⁶ through which the world of that time perished in the flood. ⁷ And by His word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

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. 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.

¹ About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. ² Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.” ³ Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.” ⁴ Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. 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.”

¹³ I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of His house and possession every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!” The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.

⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—to the LORD, but He did not answer.

⁴ Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,

²⁸ Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.

²⁷ Whoever gives to the poor will not be in need, but he who hides his eyes will receive many curses.

⁶ Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke? 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? ⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. ⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,

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 “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another. ¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’ ¹¹ But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing. ¹² They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of Hosts. ¹³ And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.

¹⁴ For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

² For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

³⁰ But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt. ³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master. ³² Then the master summoned him and declared, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed. ³⁵ That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother his trespasses from your heart.”

⁴¹ Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, 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.’ 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.’ ⁴⁶ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

²⁵ After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’

⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him.

¹³ For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. ¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 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?

²⁰ You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease Esau with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me.”

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

³⁵ Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go home in peace. See, I have heeded your voice and granted your request.”

⁸ A bribe is a charm to its giver; wherever he turns, he succeeds.

²³ A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.

¹⁶ A man’s gift opens doors for him, and brings him before great men.

⁶ Many seek the favor of the prince, and everyone is a friend of the gift giver.

³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will Himself reward you openly.

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. ¹⁷ I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.

⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”

¹ Hallelujah! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments.

¹⁶ I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

⁹² If Your law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction.

²⁰ Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress, or embrace the bosom of a stranger?

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

¹² The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin.

¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,

⁵ You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?

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

⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. ⁴² And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

²⁷ And he will answer, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’ ²⁸ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out.

³⁴ Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.

²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.

¹⁴ Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.

⁵ But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.

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.

²⁶ For she has brought many down to death; her slain are many in number. ²⁷ Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.

¹⁸ But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

²⁰ He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

⁶ and those who turn back from following the LORD, neither seeking the LORD nor inquiring of Him.”

¹⁹ And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

¹ And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

⁴ It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— ⁶ and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.

²⁶ If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, ²⁷ but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.

³⁸ But the righteous will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”

²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them. ²² Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.

¹² These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.

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,

²⁰ Precious treasures and oil are in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man consumes them.

²¹ For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

¹³ After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.

²⁴ So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’ 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.

⁶ But she who lives for pleasure is dead even while she is still alive.

⁴ traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

⁸ The righteous man is delivered from trouble; in his place the wicked man goes in.

³ For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. ⁴ Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life.

⁴ Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. ⁵ But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. 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 for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,

⁶ I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest. ⁷ How far away I would flee! In the wilderness I would remain. Selah

⁵ Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar! ⁶ Too long have I dwelt among those who hate peace.

⁹ Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

² If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.

¹⁵ He swallows wealth but vomits it out; God will force it from his stomach.

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

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

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

²² The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.

⁶ The house of the righteous has great treasure, but the income of the wicked is trouble.

¹⁹ Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.

¹¹ Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.

¹⁹ A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything.

⁸ But ten of the men among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have hidden treasure in the field—wheat, barley, oil, and honey!” So he refrained from killing them with the others.

¹⁹ Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take along any extra oil. ⁴ But the wise ones took oil in flasks along with their lamps.

⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁴⁵ The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

¹⁴ After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need.

¹ Jesus also said to His disciples, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.

¹⁹ Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. ²⁰ And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores 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. ²² One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

⁹ The LORD detests the way of the wicked, but He loves those who pursue righteousness.

⁴ The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life.

¹ “Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the quarry from which you were hewn.

³ So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

⁷ To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life. ⁸ But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be anger and wrath. ⁹ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek; ¹⁰ but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Greek.

¹⁹ So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

²¹ but test 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, perseverance, and gentleness.

²² Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

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

⁷ so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, honor, and glory, at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁶ Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you.” For they thought, “David cannot get in here.” ⁷ Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David). ⁸ On that day he said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must use the water shaft to reach the lame and blind who are despised by David.” That is why it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace.” ⁹ So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.

¹⁶ a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come here so that I may speak with him.” ¹⁷ When he had come near to her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” “I am,” he replied. “Listen to the words of your servant,” she said. “I am listening,” he answered. ¹⁸ Then the woman said, “Long ago they used to say, ‘Seek counsel at Abel,’ and that is how disputes were settled. ¹⁹ I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?” ²⁰ “Far be it!” Joab declared. “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy! ²¹ That is not the case. But a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him alone, and I will depart from the city.” “Look,” the woman replied, “his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” ²² Then the woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the ram’s horn and his men dispersed from the city, each to his own home. And Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

⁵ A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge enhances his strength.

¹⁹ Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.

¹³ I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me: ¹⁴ There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it. ¹⁵ Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. ¹⁶ And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.” ¹⁷ The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools. ¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

¹⁹ When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.

¹³ An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.

³ He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.

²⁷ A man of knowledge restrains his words, and a man of understanding maintains a calm spirit. ²⁸ Even a fool is considered wise if he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue.

²¹ Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

²⁶ If anyone among you considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.

² We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body. ³ When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can guide the whole animal. ⁴ Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined. ⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze. 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. ⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸ but no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With the tongue we bless our God 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! ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. ¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage. ⁶ And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.

¹ Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.

²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹² Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

²⁹ Judgments are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.

⁸ The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one. ⁹ Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.

⁶ We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.

²⁹ We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.

¹⁶ When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.

⁶ Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise. ⁷ Without a commander, without an overseer or ruler, ⁸ it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food at harvest. ⁹ How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep? ¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, ¹¹ and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.

²⁴ The hand of the diligent will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.

²⁷ A lazy man does not roast his game, but a diligent man prizes his possession.

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

²⁴ The slacker buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth.

⁴ The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.

¹³ The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!”

³⁰ I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment. ³¹ Thorns had grown up everywhere, thistles had covered the ground, and the stone wall was broken down. ³² I observed and took it to heart; I looked and received instruction: ³³ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, ³⁴ and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.

¹³ The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”

¹⁶ The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.

²⁶ ‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ replied his master. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed.

²⁶ They are ever generous and quick to lend, and their 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 if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you. ³² If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Therefore be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions. ³⁵ In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

⁷ But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. ⁸ I am not making a demand, but I am testing the sincerity of your love in comparison to the earnestness of others. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

⁹ As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” ¹⁰ Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹ You will be enriched in every way to be generous on every occasion, so that through us your giving will produce thanksgiving to God. ¹² For this ministry of service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgiving to God. ¹³ Because of the proof this ministry provides, the saints will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all the others. ¹⁴ And their prayers for you will express their affection for you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

⁵ As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness! ⁶ Nor did we seek praise from you or from anyone else, although as apostles of Christ we had authority to demand it. ⁷ On the contrary, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children. ⁸ We cared so deeply that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our own lives as well. That is how beloved you have become to us. ⁹ Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

¹² I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will descend upon me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” ¹³ “You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.

²¹ The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” ²² But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. ²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”

⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me. ⁹ I have no need for a bull from your stall or goats from your pens, ¹⁰ for every beast of the forest is Mine—the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine. ¹² If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof. ¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

⁹ Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer is detestable.

¹¹ “What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. ¹² When you come to appear before Me, who has required this of you—this trampling of My courts? ¹³ Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me—your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations. I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly. ¹⁴ I hate your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. ¹⁶ Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!

³ Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.

²⁰ What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”

¹¹ Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD. ¹² But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.

²¹ “I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. ²² Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.

¹³ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

¹ “You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.

¹⁶ If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime, ¹⁷ both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD, before the priests and judges who are in office at that time. ¹⁸ The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is proven to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother, ¹⁹ you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. So you must purge the evil from among you.

¹⁹ a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.

¹⁹ Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

⁵ A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.

⁹ A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who pours out lies will perish.

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

¹⁵ “You are out of your mind,” they told her. But when she kept insisting it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

¹⁷ When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” when I really mean “No, no”? ¹⁸ But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you was not “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed among you by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.” ²⁰ For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so in Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.

¹³ And in keeping with what is written: “I believed, therefore I have spoken,” we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak,

⁸ This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people.

⁵ Oh, that my ways were committed to keeping Your statutes!

⁵⁹ I considered my ways and turned my steps to Your testimonies.

⁵ The righteousness of the blameless directs their path, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.

¹⁴ Blessed is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

¹ A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.

² “Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness. ³ Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.

³ O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.

¹² Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.

¹⁶ “As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you! 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.

²⁸ Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.

⁵ Now this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.

⁷ This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.

¹⁵ Now consider carefully from this day forward: Before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the LORD,

¹⁸ Consider carefully from this day forward—from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, the day the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid—consider carefully: ¹⁹ Is there still seed in the barn? The vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet yielded fruit. But from this day on, I will bless you.”

¹⁷ Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death! ¹⁸ I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

¹¹ Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you.

²¹ Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.

⁵ For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted your ruin, saying: ⁶ ‘Let us invade Judah, terrorize it, and divide it among ourselves. Then we can install the son of Tabeal over it as king.’ ⁷ But this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘It will not arise; it will not happen.

⁹ Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered! ¹⁰ Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”

²⁷ The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?

¹⁰ I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’ ¹¹ I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it.

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.

¹³ Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was raging against them more and more.

²⁷ In fact, Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. ²⁸ They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.

³⁹ But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God.”

¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” ²⁰ And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

⁸ and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

³ But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.

⁸ Salvation belongs to the LORD; may Your blessing be on Your people. Selah

⁷ Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save. ¹⁸ Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion

²⁰ Our God is a God of deliverance; the Lord GOD is our rescuer from death.

¹⁰ to Him who gives victory to kings, who frees His servant David from the deadly sword.

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

¹¹ I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.

¹ Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.

²³ Surely deception comes from the hills, and commotion from the mountains. Surely the salvation of Israel is in the LORD our God.