Proverbs 11 Cross References - WEB

¹ A false balance is an abomination to Yahweh, but accurate weights are his delight. ² When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom. ³ The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them. ⁴ Riches don’t profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. ⁵ The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness. ⁶ The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them, but the unfaithful will be trapped by evil desires. ⁷ When a wicked man dies, hope perishes, and expectation of power comes to nothing. ⁸ A righteous person is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked takes his place. ⁹ With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but the righteous will be delivered through knowledge. ¹⁰ When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices. When the wicked perish, there is shouting. ¹¹ By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. ¹² One who despises his neighbor is void of wisdom, but a man of understanding holds his peace. ¹³ One who brings gossip betrays a confidence, but one who is of a trustworthy spirit is one who keeps a secret. ¹⁴ Where there is no wise guidance, the nation falls, but in the multitude of counselors there is victory. ¹⁵ He who is collateral for a stranger will suffer for it, but he who refuses pledges of collateral is secure. ¹⁶ A gracious woman obtains honor, but violent men obtain riches. ¹⁷ The merciful man does good to his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh. ¹⁸ Wicked people earn deceitful wages, but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward. ¹⁹ He who is truly righteous gets life. He who pursues evil gets death. ²⁰ Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to Yahweh, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight. ²¹ Most certainly, the evil man will not be unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered. ²² Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout, is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion. ²³ The desire of the righteous is only good. The expectation of the wicked is wrath. ²⁴ There is one who scatters, and increases yet more. There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty. ²⁵ The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself. ²⁶ People curse someone who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it. ²⁷ He who diligently seeks good seeks favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come to him. ²⁸ He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf. ²⁹ He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind. The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart. ³⁰ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wise wins souls. ³¹ Behold, the righteous shall be repaid in the earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!

³⁵ “‘You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity. ³⁶ You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

¹³ You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, one heavy and one light. ¹⁴ You shall not have in your house diverse measures, one large and one small. ¹⁵ You shall have a perfect and just weight. You shall have a perfect and just measure, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ¹⁶ For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God.

¹¹ Honest balances and scales are Yahweh’s; all the weights in the bag are his work.

¹⁰ Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.

²³ Yahweh detests differing weights, and dishonest scales are not pleasing.

¹⁰ “You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. ¹¹ The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer. Its measure shall be the same as the homer. ¹² The shekel shall be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

⁷ A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud.

⁵ Saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit; ⁶ that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’”

¹⁰ Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a short ephah that is accursed? ¹¹ Shall I be pure with dishonest scales, and with a bag of deceitful weights?

³⁴ Surely he mocks the mockers, but he gives grace to the humble. ³⁵ The wise will inherit glory, but shame will be the promotion of fools.

³³ The fear of Yahweh teaches wisdom. Before honor is humility.

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall. ¹⁹ It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor, than to divide the plunder with the proud.

¹² Before destruction the heart of man is proud, but before honor is humility.

²³ A man’s pride brings him low, but one of lowly spirit gains honor.

³⁰ The king spoke and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” ³¹ While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from the sky, saying, “O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: ‘The kingdom has departed from you. ³² You shall be driven from men; and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field. You shall be made to eat grass as oxen. Seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will.’”

⁸ “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹ Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ² But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know.

²¹ Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.

¹ By David. Judge me, Yahweh, for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in Yahweh without wavering.

⁵ The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.

⁶ Righteousness guards the way of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.

³ The foolishness of man subverts his way; his heart rages against Yahweh.

⁷ The violence of the wicked will drive them away, because they refuse to do what is right.

¹⁸ Whoever walks blamelessly is kept safe; but one with perverse ways will fall suddenly.

¹⁷ Don’t be too wicked, neither be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

²⁸ But the destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, and those who forsake Yahweh shall be consumed.

¹⁷ If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or if I am speaking from myself.

¹ Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation.

¹⁸ Don’t let riches entice you to wrath, neither let the great size of a bribe turn you aside. ¹⁹ Would your wealth sustain you in distress, or all the might of your strength?

⁶ Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches— ⁷ none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him. ⁸ For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough,

² Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death.

²⁸ In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.

¹⁹ They will cast their silver in the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold won’t be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath. They won’t satisfy their souls or fill their bellies; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity.

¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.

²⁶ For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’

¹⁷ For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.

⁸ For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value in all things, having the promise of the life which is now, and of that which is to come.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.

³ Then Esther the queen answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. ⁴ For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for male and female slaves, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king’s loss.” ⁵ Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, “Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?” ⁶ Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. ⁷ The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. ⁸ Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, “Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman’s house.” The king said, “Hang him on it!” ¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.

¹⁵ The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken. ¹⁶ Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah.

³¹ Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes. ³² For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

²² The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

³ The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them.

⁴ saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.” ⁵ He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself.

³³ So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that might be with me, will be considered stolen.”

³⁷ Now that you have felt around in all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, that they may judge between us two.

³ Here I am. Witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a bribe to make me blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.” ⁴ They said, “You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

³² Yahweh will return his blood on his own head, because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David didn’t know it: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah. ³³ So their blood will return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his offspring forever. But for David, for his offspring, for his house, and for his throne, there will be peace forever from Yahweh.”

⁴⁴ The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know in your heart all the wickedness that you did to David my father. Therefore Yahweh will return your wickedness on your own head.

¹⁵ He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made. ¹⁶ The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.

⁸ He who digs a pit may fall into it; and whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the plunder. My desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword. My hand will destroy them.’ ¹⁰ You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

¹³ So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man will perish, ¹⁴ Whose confidence will break apart, Whose trust is a spider’s web.

²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked will fail. They will have no way to flee. Their hope will be the giving up of the spirit.”

⁴ His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish.

²⁸ The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.

³² The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.

⁹ Will you yet say before him who kills you, ‘I am God’? But you are man, and not God, in the hand of him who wounds you.

¹⁹ I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”’ ²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’

¹⁸ The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, the treacherous for the upright.

³ For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. ⁴ Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you, therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.

²³ Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. ²⁴ The king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions mauled them, and broke all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.

¹⁸ He said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are; and an angel spoke to me by Yahweh’s word, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” He lied to him. ¹⁹ So he went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water. ²⁰ As they sat at the table, Yahweh’s word came to the prophet who brought him back; ²¹ and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Yahweh says, ‘Because you have been disobedient to Yahweh’s mouth, and have not kept the commandment which Yahweh your God commanded you, ²² but came back, and have eaten bread and drank water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread, and drink no water;” your body will not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”

⁶ Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Should I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or should I refrain?” They said, “Go up; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

²⁰ Yahweh said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ One said one thing; and another said another. ²¹ A spirit came out and stood before Yahweh, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ²² Yahweh said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ He said, ‘You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.’ ²³ Now therefore, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and Yahweh has spoken evil concerning you.”

¹³ So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man will perish,

³⁰ that the godless man may not reign, that there be no one to ensnare the people.

¹² For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him.

²⁰ He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant. ²¹ His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.

¹⁰ For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. ¹¹ Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you, ¹² to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things, ¹³ who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness, ¹⁴ who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil, ¹⁵ who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths, ¹⁶ to deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words,

⁵ Get wisdom. Get understanding. Don’t forget, and don’t deviate from the words of my mouth. ⁶ Don’t forsake her, and she will preserve you. Love her, and she will keep you.

²³ For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life, ²⁴ to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue.

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.

⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,” ⁶ he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ⁸ ‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. ⁹ And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’” ¹⁰ He summoned the multitude, and said to them, “Hear, and understand. ¹¹ That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” ¹² Then the disciples came, and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” ¹³ But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁴ But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,

²² For there will arise false christs and false prophets, and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones. ²³ But you watch. “Behold, I have told you all things beforehand.

³⁰ Men will arise from among your own selves, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;

⁸ Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; ⁹ even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

¹ But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, ² through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron, ³ forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

¹ But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. ² Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. ³ In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.

¹⁶ as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. ¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

²¹ I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

²⁷ As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.

²¹ Miriam answered them, “Sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

³¹ “So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.

¹⁵ Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa shouted and was glad. ¹⁶ The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor.

²³ Men will clap their hands at him, and will hiss him out of his place.

¹⁰ The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, ¹¹ so that men shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”

¹² When the righteous triumph, there is great glory; but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

²⁸ When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous thrive.

¹ After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God; ² for his judgments are true and righteous. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.” ³ A second said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke goes up forever and ever.” ⁴ The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, “Amen! Hallelujah!” ⁵ A voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the great!” ⁶ I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns! ⁷ Let’s rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let’s give the glory to him. For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.”

³⁸ Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” ³⁹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be over my house. All my people will be ruled according to your word. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck.

⁸ So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

¹ There happened to be there a wicked fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet, and said, “We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, Israel!”

²⁰ Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven. ²¹ Yahweh sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains, in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. When he had come into the house of his god, those who came out of his own body killed him there with the sword. ²² Thus Yahweh saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.

⁸ Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from other people’s. They don’t keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to allow them to remain. ⁹ If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.” ¹⁰ The king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. ¹¹ The king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.” ¹² Then the king’s scribes were called in on the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was written to the king’s local governors, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the king’s ring. ¹³ Letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions. ¹⁴ A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day. ¹⁵ The couriers went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was perplexed.

¹ Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king’s commandment and his decree came near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it was turned out the opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who hated them), ² the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen on all the people. ³ All the princes of the provinces, the local governors, the governors, and those who did the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. ⁴ For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater. ⁵ The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those who hated them. ⁶ In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. ⁷ They killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, ⁸ Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, ⁹ Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, ¹⁰ the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Jews’ enemy, but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder. ¹¹ On that day, the number of those who were slain in the citadel of Susa was brought before the king. ¹² The king said to Esther the queen, “The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa, including the ten sons of Haman; what then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your further request? It shall be done.” ¹³ Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do tomorrow also according to today’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.” ¹⁴ The king commanded this to be done. A decree was given out in Susa; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons. ¹⁵ The Jews who were in Susa gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and killed three hundred men in Susa; but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder. ¹⁶ The other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, defended their lives, had rest from their enemies, and killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they didn’t lay their hand on the plunder.

³⁰ He will even deliver him who is not innocent. Yes, he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

³⁴ Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

⁸ Mockers stir up a city, but wise men turn away anger.

¹⁵ Now a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

⁶ And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.

²⁷ They went out into the field, harvested their vineyards, trod the grapes, celebrated, and went into the house of their god and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech. ²⁸ Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal? Isn’t Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him? ²⁹ I wish that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech.” He said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out!”

³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Now where is your mouth, that you said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the people that you have despised? Please go out now and fight with them.”

²⁷ But certain worthless fellows said, “How could this man save us?” They despised him, and brought him no tribute. But he held his peace.

³⁶ But the people stayed quiet, and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Don’t answer him.”

² He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?” ³ Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.” ⁴ “Hear, our God; for we are despised. Turn back their reproach on their own head. Give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity.

³ Have mercy on us, Yahweh, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt. ⁴ Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.

¹⁹ In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, but he who restrains his lips does wisely.

²¹ He who despises his neighbor sins, but he who has pity on the poor is blessed.

¹⁴ The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him.

⁹ He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others.

⁴⁸ Have any of the rulers believed in him, or of the Pharisees? ⁴⁹ But this multitude that doesn’t know the law is cursed.” ⁵⁰ Nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of them) said to them, ⁵¹ “Does our law judge a man, unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?” ⁵² They answered him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search, and see that no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

²³ When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.

¹⁶ “‘You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people. “‘You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.

¹⁴ The men said to her, “Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”

²⁰ But if you talk about this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you’ve made us to swear.”

¹⁷ Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. ¹⁸ For there were many in Judah sworn to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah; and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as wife. ¹⁹ Also they spoke of his good deeds before me, and reported my words to him. Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.

⁵ A truthful witness will not lie, but a false witness pours out lies.

¹⁹ He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore don’t keep company with him who opens wide his lips.

⁹ Debate your case with your neighbor, and don’t betray the confidence of another,

²⁰ For lack of wood a fire goes out. Without gossip, a quarrel dies down. ²¹ As coals are to hot embers, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindling strife. ²² The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, they go down into the innermost parts.

²⁷ Then all the princes came to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

¹³ Besides, they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house. Not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.

¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. ² When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam lived in Egypt, ³ and they sent and called him), Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke difficult. Now therefore make the hard service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you.” ⁵ He said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” So the people departed. ⁶ King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, “What counsel do you give me to answer these people?” ⁷ They replied, “If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them, and answer them with good words, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. ⁹ He said to them, “What counsel do you give, that we may answer these people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter?’” ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Tell these people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter to us;’ tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. ¹¹ Now my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’” ¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king asked, saying, “Come to me again the third day.” ¹³ The king answered the people roughly, and abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, ¹⁴ and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king didn’t listen to the people; for it was a thing brought about from Yahweh, that he might establish his word, which Yahweh spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king didn’t listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, “What portion have we in David? We don’t have an inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, Israel! Now see to your own house, David.” So Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the men subject to forced labor; and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. King Rehoboam hurried to get himself up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel rebelled against David’s house to this day.

²² Where there is no counsel, plans fail; but in a multitude of counselors they are established.

²² Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it, but the punishment of fools is their folly.

¹⁸ Plans are established by advice; by wise guidance you wage war!

⁶ for by wise guidance you wage your war; and victory is in many advisors.

¹¹ The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?” ¹² Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Armies has purposed concerning Egypt. ¹³ The princes of Zoan have become fools. The princes of Memphis are deceived. They have caused Egypt to go astray, who are the cornerstone of her tribes. ¹⁴ Yahweh has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the middle of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in all of its works, like a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

⁶ The apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter. ⁷ When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you that by my mouth the nations should hear the word of the Good News and believe. ⁸ God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us. ⁹ He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹ But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.” ¹² All the multitude kept silence, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the nations through them. ¹³ After they were silent, James answered, “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴ Simeon has reported how God first visited the nations to take out of them a people for his name. ¹⁵ This agrees with the words of the prophets. As it is written, ¹⁶ ‘After these things I will return. I will again build the tabernacle of David, which has fallen. I will again build its ruins. I will set it up ¹⁷ that the rest of men may seek after the Lord; all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who does all these things.’ ¹⁸ “All of God’s works are known to him from eternity. ¹⁹ Therefore my judgment is that we don’t trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God, ²⁰ but that we write to them that they abstain from the pollution of idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood. ²¹ For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

¹ My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger, ² you are trapped by the words of your mouth; you are ensnared with the words of your mouth. ³ Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, since you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor. ⁴ Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids. ⁵ Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

¹⁸ A man void of understanding strikes hands, and becomes collateral in the presence of his neighbor.

¹⁶ Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.

²⁶ Don’t you be one of those who strike hands, of those who are collateral for debts. ²⁷ If you don’t have means to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?

³² David said to Abigail, “Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me! ³³ Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, who have kept me today from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand.

¹⁶ Then a wise woman cried out of the city, “Hear, hear! Please say to Joab, ‘Come near here, that I may speak with you.’” ¹⁷ He came near to her; and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Hear the words of your servant.” He answered, “I’m listening.” ¹⁸ Then she spoke, saying, “They used to say in old times, ‘They shall surely ask counsel at Abel;’ and so they settled a matter. ¹⁹ I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up Yahweh’s inheritance?” ²⁰ Joab answered, “Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. ²¹ The matter is not so. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David. Just deliver him, and I will depart from the city.” The woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” ²² Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. He blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

²⁵ but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked plan, which he had planned against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

³⁰ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised. ³¹ Give her of the fruit of her hands! Let her works praise her in the gates!

¹³ Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of as a memorial of her.”

³ and Joanna, the wife of Chuzas, Herod’s steward; Susanna; and many others; who served them from their possessions.

⁴² but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

²¹ “When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe. ²² But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his plunder.

² He saw a certain poor widow casting in two small brass coins. ³ He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them, ⁴ for all these put in gifts for God from their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, put in all that she had to live on.”

³⁹ Peter got up and went with them. When he had come, they brought him into the upper room. All the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.

¹⁴ A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us. The Lord opened her heart to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul. ¹⁵ When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.

² that you receive her in the Lord, in a way worthy of the saints, and that you assist her in whatever matter she may need from you, for she herself also has been a helper of many, and of my own self. ³ Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles.

⁶ Greet Mary, who labored much for us.

¹ The elder, to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not I only, but also all those who know the truth,

¹⁹ For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken away a house, and he will not build it up. ²⁰ “Because he knew no quietness within him, he will not save anything of that in which he delights. ²¹ There was nothing left that he didn’t devour, therefore his prosperity will not endure. ²² In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress will overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery will come on him. ²³ When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating.

¹ For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Blessed is he who considers the poor. Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil. ² Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies. ³ Yahweh will sustain him on his sickbed, and restore him from his bed of illness. ⁴ I said, “Yahweh, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

⁴ Light dawns in the darkness for the upright, gracious, merciful, and righteous. ⁵ It is well with the man who deals graciously and lends. He will maintain his cause in judgment. ⁶ For he will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever. ⁷ He will not be afraid of evil news. His heart is steadfast, trusting in Yahweh. ⁸ His heart is established. He will not be afraid in the end when he sees his adversaries. ⁹ He has dispersed, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted with honor.

²⁷ He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, but he who hates bribes will live.

⁸ There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.

⁷ The ways of the scoundrel are evil. He devises wicked plans to destroy the humble with lying words, even when the needy speaks right. ⁸ But the noble devises noble things; and he will continue in noble things.

¹ The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil.

⁷ Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? ⁸ Then your light will break out as the morning, and your healing will appear quickly; then your righteousness shall go before you, and Yahweh’s glory will be your rear guard. ⁹ Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly; ¹⁰ and if you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity will be as the noonday; ¹¹ and Yahweh will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters don’t fail. ¹² Those who will be of you will build the old waste places. You will raise up the foundations of many generations. You will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Paths with Dwellings.

²⁷ Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your tranquility.”

⁷ Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

¹⁴ “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

³⁴ Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵ for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. ³⁶ I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’ ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? ³⁸ When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’ ⁴⁰ “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

³⁸ “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.”

⁶ Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work. ⁹ As it is written, “He has scattered abroad. He has given to the poor. His righteousness remains forever.” ¹⁰ Now may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, ¹¹ you being enriched in everything to all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. ¹² For this service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints, but abounds also through much giving of thanks to God, ¹³ seeing that through the proof given by this service, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the Good News of Christ and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all, ¹⁴ while they themselves also, with supplication on your behalf, yearn for you by reason of the exceeding grace of God in you.

¹⁷ Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account.

¹³ For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you. ² Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days. ⁴ Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies. ⁵ You have lived in luxury on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

¹³ “This is the portion of a wicked man with God, the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty. ¹⁴ If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword. His offspring will not be satisfied with bread. ¹⁵ Those who remain of him will be buried in death. His widows will make no lamentation. ¹⁶ Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay; ¹⁷ he may prepare it, but the just will put it on, and the innocent will divide the silver. ¹⁸ He builds his house as the moth, as a booth which the watchman makes. ¹⁹ He lies down rich, but he will not do so again. He opens his eyes, and he is not. ²⁰ Terrors overtake him like waters. A storm steals him away in the night. ²¹ The east wind carries him away, and he departs. It sweeps him out of his place. ²² For it hurls at him, and does not spare, as he flees away from his hand. ²³ Men will clap their hands at him, and will hiss him out of his place.

⁵ Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. ⁶ He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves.

¹⁸ but these lay in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.

⁸ He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

⁵ They hatch adders’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web. He who eats of their eggs dies; and that which is crushed breaks out into a viper. ⁶ Their webs won’t become garments. They won’t cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of iniquity, and acts of violence are in their hands. ⁷ Their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Desolation and destruction are in their paths. ⁸ They don’t know the way of peace; and there is no justice in their ways. They have made crooked paths for themselves; whoever goes in them doesn’t know peace.

¹² Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Yahweh, until he comes and rains righteousness on you. ¹³ You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.

⁸ For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. ⁹ Let’s not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.

²² that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit,

¹⁸ Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

¹⁶ for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood. ¹⁷ For the net is spread in vain in the sight of any bird; ¹⁸ but these lay in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives. ¹⁹ So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

²² He followed her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter, as a fool stepping into a noose. ²³ Until an arrow strikes through his liver, as a bird hurries to the snare, and doesn’t know that it will cost his life.

³⁶ But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death.”

¹⁶ The labor of the righteous leads to life. The increase of the wicked leads to sin.

⁴ Riches don’t profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

²³ The fear of Yahweh leads to life, then contentment; he rests and will not be touched by trouble.

³⁵ but in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.

⁸ but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath, indignation, ⁹ oppression, and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

⁷ Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

¹⁰ In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.

¹⁷ I know also, my God, that you try the heart, and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things. Now I have seen with joy your people, who are present here, offer willingly to you.

⁷ For Yahweh is righteous. He loves righteousness. The upright shall see his face.

²⁵ With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect. ²⁶ With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.

⁶ Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

¹ ALEPH Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to Yahweh’s law.

¹³ Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name. The upright will dwell in your presence.

¹⁴ in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.

¹⁶ There are six things which Yahweh hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him: ¹⁷ arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief, ¹⁹ a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.

¹³ The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth.

⁷ One who corrects a mocker invites insult. One who reproves a wicked man invites abuse.

²² Lying lips are an abomination to Yahweh, but those who do the truth are his delight.

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

¹⁷ The highway of the upright is to depart from evil. He who keeps his way preserves his soul.

²⁹ A wicked man hardens his face; but as for the upright, he establishes his ways.

⁷ I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you. ⁸ I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.”

² “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice.

²⁶ All day long he deals graciously, and lends. His offspring is blessed.

¹ Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments. ² His offspring will be mighty in the land. The generation of the upright will be blessed.

²² A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.

⁵ Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to Yahweh: they shall certainly not be unpunished.

⁴ Wrath is not in me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I would march on them and I would burn them together.

³⁹ I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good, and the good of their children after them.

³⁹ For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”

⁴⁷ I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands.

¹⁰ Behold, there a woman met him with the attire of a prostitute, and with crafty intent.

¹³ The foolish woman is loud, undisciplined, and knows nothing.

³⁰ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.

¹⁵ “‘“But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by. It was his. ¹⁶ You took some of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them. This shall not happen, neither shall it be. ¹⁷ You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute with them. ¹⁸ You took your embroidered garments, covered them, and set my oil and my incense before them. ¹⁹ My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you even set it before them for a pleasant aroma; and so it was,” says the Lord Yahweh. ²⁰ “‘“Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and you have sacrificed these to them to be devoured. Was your prostitution a small matter, ²¹ that you have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them? ²² In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were wallowing in your blood.

⁴ because of the multitude of the prostitution of the alluring prostitute, the mistress of witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and families through her witchcraft. ⁵ “Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. ⁶ I will throw abominable filth on you, and make you vile, and will set you a spectacle.

³ Let your beauty be not just the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on fine clothing; ⁴ but in the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

²² But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”

¹⁷ Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear,

⁴ One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in Yahweh’s house all the days of my life, to see Yahweh’s beauty, and to inquire in his temple.

⁴ Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁷ Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you. ⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions. Don’t make me the reproach of the foolish.

⁵ Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!

¹⁰ With my whole heart, I have sought you. Don’t let me wander from your commandments.

⁷ When a wicked man dies, hope perishes, and expectation of power comes to nothing.

⁹ With my soul I have desired you in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me I will seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

¹⁶ As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you. I haven’t desired the woeful day. You know. That which came out of my lips was before your face.

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

²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.

¹⁰ You shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because it is for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you put your hand to.

⁹ He has dispersed, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted with honor.

¹⁸ Wicked people earn deceitful wages, but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.

¹⁷ He who has pity on the poor lends to Yahweh; he will reward him.

⁸ He who increases his wealth by excessive interest gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.

¹ Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days. ² Give a portion to seven, yes, even to eight; for you don’t know what evil will be on the earth.

⁶ In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand; for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good.

⁶ You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.”

⁹ “You looked for much, and, behold, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says Yahweh of Armies, “Because of my house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. ¹¹ I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground produces, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of the hands.”

¹⁶ Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty, there were only twenty. ¹⁷ I struck you with blight, mildew, and hail in all the work of your hands; yet you didn’t turn to me,’ says Yahweh. ¹⁸ ‘Consider, please, from this day and backward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was laid, consider it. ¹⁹ Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven’t produced. From today I will bless you.’”

²⁹ As any of the disciples had plenty, each determined to send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea; ³⁰ which they also did, sending it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

⁵ I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brothers that they would go before to you and arrange ahead of time the generous gift that you promised before, that the same might be ready as a matter of generosity, and not of greediness. ⁶ Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work. ⁹ As it is written, “He has scattered abroad. He has given to the poor. His righteousness remains forever.” ¹⁰ Now may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, ¹¹ you being enriched in everything to all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us.

¹³ the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. ¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem. ¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. ¹⁶ I was a father to the needy. I researched the cause of him whom I didn’t know. ¹⁷ I broke the jaws of the unrighteous and plucked the prey out of his teeth. ¹⁸ Then I said, ‘I will die in my own house, I will count my days as the sand.

¹⁶ “If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, ¹⁷ or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it ¹⁸ (no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, I have guided her from my mother’s womb); ¹⁹ if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering; ²⁰ if his heart hasn’t blessed me, if he hasn’t been warmed with my sheep’s fleece;

²⁷ One who gives to the poor has no lack; but one who closes his eyes will have many curses.

⁸ But the noble devises noble things; and he will continue in noble things.

⁷ Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? ⁸ Then your light will break out as the morning, and your healing will appear quickly; then your righteousness shall go before you, and Yahweh’s glory will be your rear guard. ⁹ Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly; ¹⁰ and if you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity will be as the noonday; ¹¹ and Yahweh will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters don’t fail.

³⁴ Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵ for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in.

⁶ Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work. ⁹ As it is written, “He has scattered abroad. He has given to the poor. His righteousness remains forever.”

⁶ Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.

¹³ the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

²⁴ He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” peoples will curse him, and nations will abhor him—

⁴ Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,

¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.

² In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.

⁶ They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dig a pit before me. They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah.

¹¹ An evil man seeks only rebellion; therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.

¹² lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses and lived in them; ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ¹⁴ then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;

²⁴ “If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’ ²⁵ If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

³ He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.

⁶ Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches—

⁷ “Behold, this is the man who didn’t make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.” ⁸ But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in God’s house. I trust in God’s loving kindness forever and ever.

¹⁰ Don’t trust in oppression. Don’t become vain in robbery. If riches increase, don’t set your heart on them.

¹² The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. ¹³ They are planted in Yahweh’s house. They will flourish in our God’s courts. ¹⁴ They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,

¹⁵ The rich man’s wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

²¹ Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

⁸ For he will be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green, and will not be concerned in the year of drought. It won’t cease from yielding fruit.

²⁴ The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter into God’s Kingdom! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.”

¹⁷ Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;

³⁰ Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house.”

²⁴ Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor. ²⁵ Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? Yahweh will trouble you today.” All Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.

³ Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail. This woman was intelligent and had a beautiful face; but the man was surly and evil in his doings. He was of the house of Caleb.

¹⁷ Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such a worthless fellow that one can’t speak to him.”

³⁸ About ten days later, Yahweh struck Nabal, so that he died.

¹⁹ The evil bow down before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

¹⁶ This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?

⁷ For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.

⁹ Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil! ¹⁰ You have devised shame to your house, by cutting off many peoples, and have sinned against your soul.

¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Happy is everyone who retains her.

⁴ A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit.

³ Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever.

¹⁹ He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.”

⁹ For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught; ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.”

³⁶ He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

¹⁹ For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. ²⁰ To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law; ²¹ to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law. ²² To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. ²³ Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it.

¹⁹ For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Isn’t it even you, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?

²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

¹⁴ I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; ¹⁵ but my loving kindness will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.

⁹ Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’ ¹¹ “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ¹² For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’”

²⁴ When he had gone, a lion met him by the way and killed him. His body was thrown on the path, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body.

²¹ Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous.

²⁹ For, behold, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should you be utterly unpunished? You will not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, says Yahweh of Armies.”’

³⁰ For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. ³¹ For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. ³² But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don’t obey the Good News of God? ¹⁸ “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?”