Proverbs 21 Cross References - WEB

¹ The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires. ² Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but Yahweh weighs the hearts. ³ To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice. ⁴ A high look and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin. ⁵ The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty. ⁶ Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death. ⁷ The violence of the wicked will drive them away, because they refuse to do what is right. ⁸ The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright. ⁹ It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop than to share a house with a contentious woman. ¹⁰ The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes. ¹¹ When the mocker is punished, the simple gains wisdom. When the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge. ¹² The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin. ¹³ Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard. ¹⁴ A gift in secret pacifies anger, and a bribe in the cloak, strong wrath. ¹⁵ It is joy to the righteous to do justice; but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity. ¹⁶ The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the departed spirits. ¹⁷ He who loves pleasure will be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil won’t be rich. ¹⁸ The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, the treacherous for the upright. ¹⁹ It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman. ²⁰ There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man swallows it up. ²¹ He who follows after righteousness and kindness finds life, righteousness, and honor. ²² A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the strength of its confidence. ²³ Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles. ²⁴ The proud and arrogant man—“Scoffer” is his name— he works in the arrogance of pride. ²⁵ The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. ²⁶ There are those who covet greedily all day long; but the righteous give and don’t withhold. ²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination— how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind! ²⁸ A false witness will perish. A man who listens speaks to eternity. ²⁹ A wicked man hardens his face; but as for the upright, he establishes his ways. ³⁰ There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Yahweh. ³¹ The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with Yahweh.

²² and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; because Yahweh had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of God, the God of Israel’s house.

²⁷ Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify Yahweh’s house which is in Jerusalem; ²⁸ and has extended loving kindness to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. I was strengthened according to Yahweh my God’s hand on me, and I gathered together chief men out of Israel to go up with me.

¹¹ Lord, I beg you, let your ear be attentive now to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants, who delight to fear your name; and please prosper your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cup bearer to the king.

⁴ Then the king said to me, “What is your request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.

¹⁵ You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.

⁴ Above the voices of many waters, the mighty breakers of the sea, Yahweh on high is mighty.

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

⁴⁶ He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captive.

³ The sea saw it, and fled. The Jordan was driven back.

⁵ What was it, you sea, that you fled? You Jordan, that you turned back?

¹ The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.

⁹ A man’s heart plans his course, but Yahweh directs his steps.

²⁴ A man’s steps are from Yahweh; how then can man understand his way?

¹⁹ Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

²⁷ who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,’ and ‘I will dry up your rivers;’

³⁵ All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can stop his hand, or ask him, “What are you doing?”

¹⁰ and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

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

¹² The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise.

⁷ But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”

² For he flatters himself in his own eyes, too much to detect and hate his sin.

² All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but Yahweh weighs the motives.

²⁵ There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

⁶ Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?

¹² If you say, “Behold, we didn’t know this,” doesn’t he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn’t he know it? Shall he not render to every man according to his work?

¹² There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness.

¹⁰ “I, Yahweh, search the mind. I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’

²⁴ But Jesus didn’t entrust himself to them, because he knew everyone, ²⁵ and because he didn’t need for anyone to testify concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man.

³ For if a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

²² But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.

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

²² Samuel said, “Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying Yahweh’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

⁸ I don’t rebuke you for your sacrifices. Your burnt offerings are continually before me.

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

¹¹ “What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”, says Yahweh. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats. ¹² When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to trample my courts? ¹³ Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me. New moons, Sabbaths, and convocations: I can’t stand evil assemblies. ¹⁴ My soul hates your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They are a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶ Wash yourselves. Make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil. ¹⁷ Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Defend the fatherless. Plead for the widow.”

²¹ Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat. ²² For I didn’t speak to your fathers or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices; ²³ but this thing I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. Walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

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

⁶ How shall I come before Yahweh, and bow myself before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? ⁷ Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams? With tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my disobedience? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? ⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

³³ and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

⁴ The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God.

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

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

²⁷ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination— how much more, when he brings it with a wicked mind!

¹³ There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! Their eyelids are lifted up.

¹¹ The lofty looks of man will be brought low, the arrogance of men will be bowed down, and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day.

¹⁷ The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the arrogance of men shall be brought low; and Yahweh alone shall be exalted in that day.

¹⁶ Moreover Yahweh said, “Because the daughters of Zion are arrogant, and walk with outstretched necks and flirting eyes, walking to trip as they go, jingling ornaments on their feet;

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.”

²³ But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it isn’t of faith; and whatever is not of faith is sin.

⁵ Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

⁴ He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.

⁴ The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.

²⁹ He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly.

²¹ An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning, won’t be blessed in the end.

²³ Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds: ²⁴ for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations. ²⁵ The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in. ²⁶ The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field. ²⁷ There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.

²² A stingy man hurries after riches, and doesn’t know that poverty waits for him.

²⁸ Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, producing with his hands something that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.

¹¹ and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you; ¹² that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.

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

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

¹¹ Wealth gained dishonestly dwindles away, but he who gathers by hand makes it grow.

¹⁴ “It’s no good, it’s no good,” says the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasts.

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

⁸ Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me,

¹¹ As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right. In the middle of his days, they will leave him. At his end, he will be a fool.

³¹ Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?

⁹ But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

¹¹ whose mouths must be stopped: men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake.

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 The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.

¹⁶ Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah.

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.

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

²¹ He who follows after righteousness and kindness finds life, righteousness, and honor.

²² Don’t exploit the poor, because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court; ²³ for Yahweh will plead their case, and plunder the life of those who plunder them.

²³ Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loves bribes and follows after rewards. They don’t defend the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them. ²⁴ Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says: “Ah, I will get relief from my adversaries, and avenge myself on my enemies.

⁹ Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, ¹⁰ then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered,’ that you may do all these abominations? ¹¹ Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it,” says Yahweh.

¹⁵ I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole offspring of Ephraim.

¹⁸ As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he will die in his iniquity.

¹³ “‘“Behold, therefore I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been within you. ¹⁴ Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I will deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it.

⁹ Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity. ¹⁰ They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. ¹¹ Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh, and say, “Isn’t Yahweh among us? No disaster will come on us.” ¹² Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.

³ Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side. ⁴ I will cause it to go out,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the middle of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones.”

⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.

⁵ Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil. ⁶ Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.

¹² God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

¹⁴ What is man, that he should be clean? What is he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? ¹⁵ Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones. Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight; ¹⁶ how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water!

² Yahweh looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who understood, who sought after God. ³ They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one.

¹⁵ who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths,

²⁶ Yahweh detests the thoughts of the wicked, but the thoughts of the pure are pleasing.

²⁹ Behold, I have only found this: that God made man upright; but they search for many schemes.”

³ This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes also, the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

¹⁰ Many will purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked will do wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand; but those who are wise will understand.

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

³³ “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit.

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

³ for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men?

² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. ³ We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

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

¹⁴ who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.

³ For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

⁵ not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

²² Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently, ²³ having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever.

²⁹ If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

³ Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

⁴ A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.

¹⁷ Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, than a fattened calf with hatred.

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

¹³ A foolish son is the calamity of his father. A wife’s quarrels are a continual dripping.

¹⁹ It is better to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and fretful woman.

²⁴ It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop than to share a house with a contentious woman.

¹⁵ A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike: ¹⁶ restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in his right hand.

⁸ Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes; for we come on a good day. Please give whatever comes to your hand, to your servants, and to your son David.’” ⁹ When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal all those words in the name of David, and waited. ¹⁰ Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants who break away from their masters these days. ¹¹ Shall I then take my bread, my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men who I don’t know where they come from?”

⁴ He plots iniquity on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He doesn’t abhor evil.

² Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. ³ You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking the truth. Selah.

⁵ It is well with the man who deals graciously and lends. He will maintain his cause in judgment.

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

²⁹ Don’t devise evil against your neighbor, since he dwells securely by you.

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

¹³ Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.

⁶ For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profanity, and to utter error against Yahweh, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 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.

² You who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear off their skin, and their flesh from off their bones; ³ who also eat the flesh of my people, and peel their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as meat within the cauldron.

²¹ For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, ²² covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.

⁶ Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

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

¹ Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members? ² You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. ³ You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. ⁴ You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”?

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. ⁶ You have condemned and you have murdered the righteous one. He doesn’t resist you.

¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s.

³⁴ All Israel that were around them fled at their cry; for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!”

¹¹ All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more wickedness like this among you.

²¹ All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall remove the evil from among you. All Israel shall hear, and fear.

⁷ But God will shoot at them. They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow. ⁸ Their own tongues shall ruin them. All who see them will shake their heads. ⁹ All mankind shall be afraid. They shall declare the work of God, and shall wisely ponder what he has done.

⁵ that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:

⁹ Instruct a wise person, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous person, and he will increase in learning.

¹⁴ The heart of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

¹ A man who isolates himself pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment.

¹⁵ The heart of the discerning gets knowledge. The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

²⁵ Flog a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; rebuke one who has understanding, and he will gain knowledge.

⁵ Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and died. Great fear came on all who heard these things.

¹¹ Great fear came on the whole assembly, and on all who heard these things. ¹² By the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. ¹³ None of the rest dared to join them, however the people honored them. ¹⁴ More believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.

⁶ Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. ⁷ Don’t be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” ⁸ Let’s not commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. ⁹ Let’s not test Christ, as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents. ¹⁰ Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer. ¹¹ Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

¹ Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away. ² For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, ³ how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation—which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard,

²⁸ A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

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

²⁹ When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

³ I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

¹⁵ He will lean on his house, but it will not stand. He will cling to it, but it will not endure.

¹⁴ He will be rooted out of the security of his tent. He will be brought to the king of terrors. ¹⁵ There will dwell in his tent that which is none of his. Sulfur will be scattered on his habitation. ¹⁶ His roots will be dried up beneath. His branch will be cut off above. ¹⁷ His memory will perish from the earth. He will have no name in the street. ¹⁸ He will be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. ¹⁹ He will have neither son nor grandson among his people, nor any remaining where he lived. ²⁰ Those who come after will be astonished at his day, as those who went before were frightened. ²¹ Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous. This is the place of him who doesn’t know God.”

²⁸ For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’ ²⁹ Haven’t you asked wayfaring men? Don’t you know their evidences, ³⁰ that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, That they are led out to the day of wrath?

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.

³⁵ I have seen the wicked in great power, spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil. ³⁶ But he passed away, and behold, he was not. Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.

⁵ God will likewise destroy you forever. He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah.

⁴³ Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things. They will consider the loving kindnesses of Yahweh.

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

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

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

⁹ Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Yahweh are right, and the righteous walk in them; But the rebellious stumble in them.

¹¹ “I have overthrown some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick plucked out of the fire; yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh.

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. ¹¹ For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork will answer it. ¹² Woe to him who builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity!

⁵ However with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

⁴ For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment; ⁵ and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way; ⁷ and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked ⁸ (for that righteous man dwelling among them was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds): ⁹ the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

⁶ by which means the world that existed then, being overflowed with water, perished. ⁷ But the heavens that exist now and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

⁷ If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; ⁸ but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks. ⁹ Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing; and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you. 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. ¹¹ For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.

¹ Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews. ² For there were some who said, “We, our sons and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain, that we may eat and live.” ³ There were also some who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses. Let us get grain, because of the famine.” ⁴ There were also some who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute using our fields and our vineyards as collateral. ⁵ Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Behold, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage to be servants, and some of our daughters have been brought into bondage. It is also not in our power to help it, because other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

¹³ Also I shook out my lap, and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that doesn’t perform this promise; even may he be shaken out and emptied like this.” All the assembly said, “Amen,” and praised Yahweh. The people did according to this promise.

⁴¹ They cried, but there was no one to save; even to Yahweh, but he didn’t answer them.

⁴ Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,

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

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

⁶ “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? 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;

¹⁶ but you turned and profaned my name, and every man caused his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return. You brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.’” ¹⁷ Therefore Yahweh says: “You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty,” says Yahweh, “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

⁹ “Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother. ¹⁰ Don’t oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.’ ¹¹ But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. ¹² Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies. ¹³ It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen,” said Yahweh of Armies;

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

² For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.

³⁰ He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due. ³¹ So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. ³² Then his lord called him in, and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. ³³ Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him. ³⁵ So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”

⁴¹ Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ ⁴⁴ “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’ ⁴⁵ “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

²⁵ When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

⁵⁷ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord.

¹³ For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. ¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it?

²⁰ You shall say, ‘Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us.’” For, he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”

¹¹ Their father, Israel, said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds;

³⁵ So David received from her hand that which she had brought him. Then he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. Behold, I have listened to your voice, and have granted your request.”

⁸ A bribe is a precious stone in the eyes of him who gives it; wherever he turns, he prospers.

²³ A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, to pervert the ways of justice.

¹⁶ A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

⁶ Many will entreat the favor of a ruler, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.

³ But when you do merciful deeds, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does, ⁴ so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

¹² Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him, 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.

⁸ I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart.”

¹ Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments.

¹⁶ I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word.

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

²⁰ For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

²⁹ The way of Yahweh is a stronghold to the upright, but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.

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 to do good as long as they live.

⁵ You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved?

²³ Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’

⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, ⁴² and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

²⁷ He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’ ²⁸ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside.

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

²² For I delight in God’s law after the inward man,

¹⁴ They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.

⁵ But as for those who turn away to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be on Israel.

¹⁸ for her house leads down to death, her paths to the departed spirits. ¹⁹ None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life.

²⁶ for she has thrown down many wounded. Yes, all her slain are a mighty army. ²⁷ Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the rooms of death.

¹⁸ But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

²⁰ One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

⁶ those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.

¹⁹ This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.

¹ You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,

⁴ For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.

²⁶ For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.

³⁸ But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”

²¹ For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 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.”

¹⁹ They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.

¹² These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

¹⁰ lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house. ¹¹ You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

²⁰ There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man swallows it up.

²¹ for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

¹³ Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living. ¹⁴ When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.

²⁴ He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’ ²⁵ “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted, and you are in anguish.

⁶ But she who gives herself to pleasure is dead while she lives.

⁴ traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

⁸ A righteous person is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked takes his place.

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.

⁴ Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says Yahweh. ⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁸ Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit,

⁶ I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest. ⁷ Behold, then I would wander far off. I would lodge in the wilderness.” Selah.

⁵ Woe is me, that I live in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! ⁶ My soul has had her dwelling too long with him who hates peace.

⁹ It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop than to share a house with a contentious woman.

² Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

¹⁵ He has swallowed down riches, and he will vomit them up again. God will cast them out of his belly.

¹⁸ He will restore that for which he labored, and will not swallow it down. He will not rejoice according to the substance that he has gotten.

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.

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

²² Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

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

¹⁹ Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.

¹¹ Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.

¹⁹ A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes the life glad; and money is the answer for all things.

⁸ But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey.” So he stopped, and didn’t kill them among their brothers.

¹⁹ “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal;

³ Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

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

⁴⁵ The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.

¹⁴ When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need.

¹ He also said to his disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions.

¹⁹ “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. ²⁰ A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores, ²¹ and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. ²³ In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.

⁹ The way of the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but he loves him who follows after righteousness.

⁴ The result of humility and the fear of Yahweh is wealth, honor, and life.

¹ “Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek Yahweh. Look to the rock you were cut from, and to the quarry you were dug from.

³ Let’s acknowledge Yahweh. Let’s press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.”

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

⁷ to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life; 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. ¹⁰ But glory, honor, and peace go to every man who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

¹⁹ So then, let’s follow after things which make for peace, and things by which we may build one another up.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

¹² Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, that I may take hold of that for which also I was taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

²¹ Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good.

¹¹ But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

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

⁷ I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. ⁸ From now on, the crown of righteousness is stored up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.

¹⁴ Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord,

⁷ that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ—

⁶ The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, “The blind and the lame will keep you out of here;” thinking, “David can’t come in here.” ⁷ Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion. This is David’s city. ⁸ David said on that day, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites, let him go up to the watercourse and strike those lame and blind, who are hated by David’s soul.” Therefore they say, “The blind and the lame can’t come into the house.” ⁹ David lived in the stronghold, and called it David’s city. David built around from Millo and inward.

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.

⁵ A wise man has great power; and a knowledgeable man increases strength;

¹⁹ Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

¹³ I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me. ¹⁴ There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. 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. ¹⁶ Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. ¹⁷ The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools. ¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.

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

¹³ An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.

³ He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

²⁷ He who spares his words has knowledge. He who is even tempered is a man of understanding. ²⁸ Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is counted wise. When he shuts his lips, he is thought to be discerning.

²¹ Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.

²⁶ If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

² For we all stumble in many things. Anyone who doesn’t stumble in word is a perfect person, able to bridle the whole body also. ³ Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body. ⁴ Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires. ⁵ So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest! 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. ⁷ For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and sea creature, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind; ⁸ but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water. ¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom.

⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai didn’t bow down, nor pay him homage, Haman was full of wrath. ⁶ But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai’s people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people.

¹ Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;

²² “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

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

²⁹ Penalties are prepared for scoffers, and beatings for the backs of fools.

⁸ Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. ⁹ Don’t be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.

⁶ We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath. His boastings are nothing.

²⁹ “We have heard of the pride of Moab. He is very proud in his loftiness, his pride, his arrogance, and the arrogance of his heart.

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.

⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise; ⁷ which having no chief, overseer, or ruler, ⁸ provides her bread in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. ⁹ How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep? ¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: ¹¹ so your poverty will come as a robber, and your scarcity as an armed man.

²⁴ The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

²⁷ The slothful man doesn’t roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.

¹⁹ The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch, but the path of the upright is a highway.

²⁴ The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

⁴ The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

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

³⁰ I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding: ³¹ Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. ³² Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction: ³³ a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, ³⁴ so your poverty will come as a robber and your want as an armed man.

¹³ The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion roams the streets!”

¹⁶ The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer with discretion.

²⁶ “But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter.

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

⁴² Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.

³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and don’t ask him who takes away your goods to give them back again. ³¹ “As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them. ³² If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For 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 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive back as much. ³⁵ But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. ³⁶ “Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also merciful.

³³ I coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands served my necessities, and those who were with me. ³⁵ In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring you ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

⁷ But as you abound in everything, in faith, utterance, knowledge, all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that you also abound in this grace. ⁸ I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.

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.

⁵ For neither were we at any time found using words of flattery, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness (God is witness), ⁶ nor seeking glory from men (neither from you nor from others), when we might have claimed authority as apostles of Christ. ⁷ But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother cherishes her own children. ⁸ Even so, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you, not the Good News of God only, but also our own souls, because you had become very dear to us. ⁹ For you remember, brothers, our labor and travail; for working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached to you the Good News of God.

¹² therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me to Gilgal, and I haven’t entreated the favor of Yahweh.’ I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt offering.” ¹³ Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you; for now Yahweh would have established your kingdom on Israel forever.

²¹ But the people took of the plunder, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.” ²² Samuel said, “Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying Yahweh’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. ²³ For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected Yahweh’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.”

⁸ I don’t rebuke you for your sacrifices. Your burnt offerings are continually before me. ⁹ I have no need for a bull from your stall, nor male goats from your pens. ¹⁰ For every animal of the forest is mine, and the livestock on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know all the birds of the mountains. The wild animals of the field are mine. ¹² If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. ¹³ Will I eat the meat of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

⁹ He who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

¹¹ “What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”, says Yahweh. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats. ¹² When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to trample my courts? ¹³ Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me. New moons, Sabbaths, and convocations: I can’t stand evil assemblies. ¹⁴ My soul hates your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They are a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. ¹⁶ Wash yourselves. Make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.

³ He who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog’s neck; he who offers an offering, as he who offers pig’s blood; he who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations:

²⁰ To what purpose does frankincense from Sheba come to me, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.”

¹¹ Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it,” says Yahweh. ¹² “But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

²¹ I hate, I despise your feasts, and I can’t stand your solemn assemblies. ²² Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.

¹³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

¹ “You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

¹⁶ If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days; ¹⁸ and the judges shall make diligent inquisition; and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother, ¹⁹ then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

¹⁹ a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.

¹⁹ Truth’s lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.

⁵ A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who pours out lies shall not go free.

⁹ A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who utters lies shall perish.

¹⁸ A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁵ They said to her, “You are crazy!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.”

¹⁷ When I therefore was thus determined, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be the “Yes, yes” and the “No, no?” ¹⁸ But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.” ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.” ²⁰ For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.

¹³ But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, “I believed, and therefore I spoke.” We also believe, and therefore we also speak;

⁸ This saying is faithful, and concerning these things I desire that you affirm confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men;

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

⁵⁹ I considered my ways, and turned my steps to your statutes.

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

¹⁴ Blessed is the man who always fears; but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

¹ He who is often rebuked and stiffens his neck will be destroyed suddenly, with no remedy.

² “Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat waiting for them by the road, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness. ³ Therefore the showers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain; yet you have had a prostitute’s forehead and you refused to be ashamed.

³ O Yahweh, don’t your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.

¹² Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed. They couldn’t blush. Therefore they will fall among those who fall. In the time of their visitation they will be cast down, says Yahweh.

¹⁶ “As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you. ¹⁷ But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.

²⁸ Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die.

⁵ Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways.

⁷ This is what Yahweh of Armies says: “Consider your ways.

¹⁵ Now, please consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid on a stone in Yahweh’s temple.

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.’”

¹⁷ But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! ¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.

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

²¹ There are many plans in a man’s heart, but Yahweh’s counsel will prevail.

⁵ Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let’s go up against Judah, and tear it apart, and let’s divide it among ourselves, and set up a king within it, even the son of Tabeel.” ⁷ This is what the Lord Yahweh says: “It shall not stand, neither shall it happen.”

⁹ Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered! ¹⁰ Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”

²⁷ For Yahweh of Armies has planned, and who can stop it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”

¹⁰ I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please. ¹¹ I call a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yes, I have spoken. I will also bring it to pass. I have planned. I will also do it.

²³ Yahweh says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom. Don’t let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his riches.

¹³ Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them.

²⁷ “For truly, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, ²⁸ to do whatever your hand and your council foreordained to happen.

³⁹ But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it, and you would be found even to be fighting against God!”

¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.” ²⁰ And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.”

⁸ and, “a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.

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

⁸ Salvation belongs to Yahweh. May your blessing be on your people. Selah.

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

¹⁷ A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither does he deliver any by his great power. ¹⁸ Behold, Yahweh’s eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his loving kindness,

²⁰ God is to us a God of deliverance. To Yahweh, the Lord, belongs escape from death.

¹⁰ You are he who gives salvation to kings, who rescues David, his servant, from the deadly sword.

¹⁰ He doesn’t delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.

¹¹ I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.

¹ Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they don’t look to the Holy One of Israel, and they don’t seek Yahweh!

²³ Truly help from the hills, the tumult on the mountains, is in vain. Truly the salvation of Israel is in Yahweh our God.