Proverbs 22 Cross References - WEB

¹ A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold. ² The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh is the maker of them all. ³ A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it. ⁴ The result of humility and the fear of Yahweh is wealth, honor, and life. ⁵ Thorns and snares are in the path of the wicked: whoever guards his soul stays from them. ⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. ⁷ The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender. ⁸ He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed. ⁹ He who has a generous eye will be blessed; for he shares his food with the poor. ¹⁰ Drive out the mocker, and strife will go out; yes, quarrels and insults will stop. ¹¹ He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king’s friend. ¹² Yahweh’s eyes watch over knowledge; but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful. ¹³ The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!” ¹⁴ The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit. He who is under Yahweh’s wrath will fall into it. ¹⁵ Folly is bound up in the heart of a child: the rod of discipline drives it far from him. ¹⁶ Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty. ¹⁷ Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching. ¹⁸ For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. ¹⁹ I teach you today, even you, So that your trust may be in Yahweh. ²⁰ Haven’t I written to you thirty excellent things of counsel and knowledge, ²¹ To teach you truth, reliable words, to give sound answers to the ones who sent you? 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. ²⁴ Don’t befriend a hot-tempered man, and don’t associate with one who harbors anger: ²⁵ lest you learn his ways, and ensnare your soul. 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? ²⁸ Don’t move the ancient boundary stone which your fathers have set up. ²⁹ Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won’t serve obscure men.

⁴⁷ Moreover the king’s servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and make his throne greater than your throne;’ and the king bowed himself on the bed.

¹ A good name is better than fine perfume; and the day of death better than the day of one’s birth.

²⁰ Nevertheless, don’t rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

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.

³ Yes, I beg you also, true partner, help these women, for they labored with me in the Good News with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

³⁹ These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn’t receive the promise,

⁷ Yahweh makes poor and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up.

¹⁵ Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn’t one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁹ He doesn’t respect the persons of princes, nor respect the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.

¹ For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, ² both low and high, rich and poor together.

³¹ He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.

¹³ The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: Yahweh gives sight to the eyes of both.

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 The eye can’t tell the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.”

² For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in, ³ and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool” ⁴ haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?

²⁰ Those who feared Yahweh’s word among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses. ²¹ Whoever didn’t respect Yahweh’s word left his servants and his livestock in the field.

⁷ I saw among the simple ones. I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding,

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.

¹⁶ “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here.” as for him who is void of understanding, she says to him, ¹⁷ “Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant.” ¹⁸ But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

¹⁶ A wise man fears and shuns evil, but the fool is hot headed and reckless.

¹² A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

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

²⁰ Come, my people, enter into your rooms, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation is past. ²¹ For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.

¹⁵ “When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house. ¹⁸ Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes.

² For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. ³ For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape. ⁴ But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. ⁵ You are all children of light and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness, ⁶ so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober.

¹⁸ that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.

⁷ By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

⁹ Oh fear Yahweh, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him. ¹⁰ The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.

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

¹⁶ Length of days is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor.

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

⁶ There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh is your treasure.

¹⁵ For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

³³ But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

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.

⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

¹³ know for a certainty that Yahweh your God will no longer drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you.

⁸ For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he wanders into its mesh.

⁶ On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

²⁶ With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd. ²⁷ For you will save the afflicted people, but the arrogant eyes you will bring down.

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

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

¹⁵ Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard.

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

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

¹⁶ He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is contemptuous in his ways shall die.

¹⁸ We know that whoever is born of God doesn’t sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn’t touch him.

²⁰ But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. ²¹ Keep yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

¹⁹ For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.”

⁹ Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children—

⁷ and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.

²⁸ Therefore I have also given him to Yahweh. As long as he lives he is given to Yahweh.” He worshiped Yahweh there.

²⁶ The child Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with Yahweh and also with men.

² Now, behold, the king walks before you. I am old and gray-headed. Behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth to this day. 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.”

³ Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. ⁴ We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done. ⁵ For he established a covenant in Jacob, and appointed a teaching in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; ⁶ that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,

⁴ You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

¹⁵ From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

¹ Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead. You know that your servant feared Yahweh. Now the creditor has come to take for himself my two children to be slaves.”

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.”

²³ The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.

¹⁶ Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.

²² Don’t exploit the poor, because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court;

² It will be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest.

⁶ Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals;

¹ Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their husbands, “Bring us drinks!”

¹¹ Therefore, because you trample on the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. ¹² For I know how many are your offenses, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn away the needy in the courts.

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

⁶ that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’”

²⁵ But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

⁶ But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?

¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.

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.

⁸ According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same.

³ For the scepter of wickedness won’t remain over the allotment of the righteous; so that the righteous won’t use their hands to do evil.

³ The fool’s talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them.

⁴ For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as in the day of Midian.

⁵ Alas Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation!

²⁹ Don’t rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent’s root an adder will emerge, and his fruit will be a fiery flying serpent.

³¹ For through Yahweh’s voice the Assyrian will be dismayed. He will strike him with his rod.

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.

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.

⁷ Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 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.

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.

⁵⁶ The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter,

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;

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.

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

²⁵ The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself.

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

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

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.

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. 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.

¹⁵ Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’

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.’

²² covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.

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. ³⁷ Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Set free, and you will be set free. 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.”

¹³ But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind;

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.’”

¹ Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia, ² how in much proof of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their generosity.

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.

¹⁸ that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to share; ¹⁹ laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life.

¹⁰ For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.

¹⁶ But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

⁹ Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.

⁹ Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. ¹⁰ Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.”

¹ But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews. 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.”

²⁸ One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me.

⁵ I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I won’t tolerate one who is arrogant and conceited.

⁶ A fool’s lips come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings.

²⁴ The proud and arrogant man—“Scoffer” is his name— he works in the arrogance of pride.

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.

¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.

⁵ are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?

¹³ But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”

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. ⁴³ He made him ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, “Bow the knee!” He set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh. Without you, no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah. He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. ⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ In the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. ⁴⁸ He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities. He stored food in each city from the fields around that city. ⁴⁹ Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. ⁵⁰ To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” ⁵² The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” ⁵³ The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end. ⁵⁴ The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” ⁵⁶ The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

⁶ this Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to Yahweh his God’s hand on him. ⁷ Some of the children of Israel, including some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. ⁸ He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. ⁹ For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God on him. ¹⁰ For Ezra had set his heart to seek Yahweh’s law, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. ¹¹ Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of Yahweh’s commandments, and of his statutes to Israel:

⁴ Then the king said to me, “What is your request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may build it.” ⁶ The king said to me (the queen was also sitting by him), “How long will your journey be? When will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time for him.

³ For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his descendants.

² You are the most excellent of the sons of men. Grace has anointed your lips, therefore God has blessed you forever.

⁶ My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he will serve me.

³⁵ The king’s favor is toward a servant who deals wisely, but his wrath is toward one who causes shame.

¹³ Righteous lips are the delight of kings. They value one who speaks the truth.

⁴⁶ Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, worshiped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an offering and sweet odors to him. ⁴⁷ The king answered to Daniel, and said, “Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.” ⁴⁸ Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹ Daniel requested of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel was in the king’s gate.

³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

²⁰ When he came near to the den to Daniel, he cried with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?” ²¹ Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! ²² My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not hurt me; because as before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 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.

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

²² All testified about him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

⁹ For Yahweh’s eyes run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.”

¹² He frustrates the plans of the crafty, So that their hands can’t perform their enterprise. ¹³ He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.

¹⁹ So they will fear Yahweh’s name from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which Yahweh’s breath drives. ²⁰ “A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says Yahweh. ²¹ “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your offspring, nor out of the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says Yahweh, “from now on and forever.”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

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!”

⁹ But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who used to practice sorcery in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out to be some great one, ¹⁰ to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is that great power of God.” ¹¹ They listened to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his sorceries. ¹² But when they believed Philip preaching good news concerning God’s Kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

²³ Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory. Then he was eaten by worms and died. ²⁴ But the word of God grew and multiplied.

⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes on him, ¹⁰ and said, “You son of the devil, full of all deceit and all cunning, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹ Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

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;

⁸ Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind, who concerning the faith are rejected. ⁹ But they will proceed no further. For their folly will be evident to all men, as theirs also came to be.

³ I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” ⁴ These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands, standing before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way. ⁶ These have the power to shut up the sky, that it may not rain during the days of their prophecy. They have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. ⁷ When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. ⁸ Their dead bodies will be in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ From among the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations, people will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. ¹⁰ Those who dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and they will be glad. They will give gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ After the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them.

¹⁴ Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. ¹⁵ The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. ¹⁶ The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony.

³² They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³ There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

¹³ The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion roams the streets!” ¹⁴ As the door turns on its hinges, so does the sluggard on his bed. ¹⁵ The sluggard buries his hand in the dish. He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. ¹⁶ The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer with discretion.

¹⁹ Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

²⁰ She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that Yahweh had departed from him. ²¹ The Philistines laid hold on him and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with fetters of bronze; and he ground at the mill in the prison.

²⁶ Didn’t Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless foreign women caused even him to sin.

¹² So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts, that they might walk in their own counsels.

¹⁶ to deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words, ¹⁷ who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God; 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.

³ For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil, ⁴ but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol. ⁶ She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it. ⁷ Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth. ⁸ Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house, ⁹ lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one; 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, ¹² and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; ¹³ neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me! ¹⁴ I have come to the brink of utter ruin, among the gathered assembly.” ¹⁵ Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well. ¹⁶ Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares? ¹⁷ Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you. ¹⁸ Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. ¹⁹ A loving doe and a graceful deer— let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love. ²⁰ For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another? ²¹ For the ways of man are before Yahweh’s eyes. He examines all his paths. ²² The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly. ²³ He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.

²⁴ to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue. ²⁵ Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids. ²⁶ For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life. ²⁷ Can a man scoop fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned? ²⁸ Or can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be scorched? ²⁹ So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.

⁵ that they may keep you from the strange woman, from the foreigner who flatters with her words. ⁶ For at the window of my house, I looked out through my lattice. ⁷ I saw among the simple ones. I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding, ⁸ passing through the street near her corner, he went the way to her house, ⁹ in the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the middle of the night and in the darkness. ¹⁰ Behold, there a woman met him with the attire of a prostitute, and with crafty intent. ¹¹ She is loud and defiant. Her feet don’t stay in her house. ¹² Now she is in the streets, now in the squares, and lurking at every corner. ¹³ So she caught him, and kissed him. With an impudent face she said to him: ¹⁴ “Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me. Today I have paid my vows. ¹⁵ Therefore I came out to meet you, to diligently seek your face, and I have found you. ¹⁶ I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry, with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt. ¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. ¹⁸ Come, let’s take our fill of loving until the morning. Let’s solace ourselves with loving. ¹⁹ For my husband isn’t at home. He has gone on a long journey. ²⁰ He has taken a bag of money with him. He will come home at the full moon.” ²¹ With persuasive words, she led him astray. With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him. 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. ²⁴ Now therefore, sons, listen to me. Pay attention to the words of my mouth. ²⁵ Don’t let your heart turn to her ways. Don’t go astray in her paths, 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.

²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.

²⁶ I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be ensnared by her.

⁴ Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.

⁵ Behold, I was born in iniquity. My mother conceived me in sin.

²⁴ One who spares the rod hates his son, but one who loves him is careful to discipline him.

¹⁸ Discipline your son, for there is hope; don’t be a willing party to his death.

¹³ Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die. ¹⁴ Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵ The rod of correction gives wisdom, but a child left to himself causes shame to his mother.

¹⁷ Correct your son, and he will give you peace; yes, he will bring delight to your soul.

⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

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.

¹⁰ For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. ¹¹ All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

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. ²⁴ He will flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow will strike him through. ²⁵ He draws it out, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver. Terrors are on him. ²⁶ All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire will devour him. It will consume that which is left in his tent. ²⁷ The heavens will reveal his iniquity. The earth will rise up against him. ²⁸ The increase of his house will depart. They will rush away in the day of his wrath. ²⁹ This is the portion of a wicked man from God, the heritage appointed to him by God.”

⁵ “Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says Yahweh; “I will set him in safety from those who malign him.”

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.

³ A needy man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no crops.

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

² They covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. ³ Therefore Yahweh says: “Behold, I am planning against these people a disaster, from which you will not remove your necks, neither will you walk haughtily; for it is an evil time.

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 “but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate.”

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.

¹² He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. ¹³ But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”

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.’

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.

¹² So teach us to count our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

³ to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

² so as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; ³ yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding; ⁴ if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures: ⁵ then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and find the knowledge of God.

¹ My son, don’t forget my teaching; but let your heart keep my commandments:

⁴ He taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words. Keep my commandments, and live. 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. ⁷ Wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom. Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding. ⁸ Esteem her, and she will exalt you. She will bring you to honor when you embrace her.

¹ My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding, ² that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.

³³ Hear instruction, and be wise. Don’t refuse it. ³⁴ Blessed is the man who hears me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my door posts.

¹² Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.

²⁵ I turned around, and my heart sought to know and to search out, and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity, and that foolishness is madness.

⁹ All this I have seen, and applied my mind to every work that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has power over another to his hurt.

¹⁶ When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (even though eyes see no sleep day or night),

³ Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

⁵ While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

¹⁸ For I am full of words. The spirit within me constrains me. ¹⁹ Behold, my breast is as wine which has no vent; like new wineskins it is ready to burst.

¹⁰ They are more to be desired than gold, yes, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.

¹³ With my lips, I have declared all the ordinances of your mouth.

¹⁰³ How sweet are your promises to my taste, more than honey to my mouth!

¹¹¹ I have taken your testimonies as a heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.

¹⁶² I rejoice at your word, as one who finds great plunder.

¹⁷¹ Let my lips utter praise, for you teach me your statutes.

¹⁰ For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness. All her paths are peace.

⁶ Hear, for I will speak excellent things. The opening of my lips is for right things.

¹³ Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment, but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding.

²¹ The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding.

⁷ The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so with the heart of fools.

²¹ The wise in heart shall be called prudent. Pleasantness of the lips promotes instruction.

¹³ My son, eat honey, for it is good, the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste; ¹⁴ so you shall know wisdom to be to your soul. If you have found it, then there will be a reward: Your hope will not be cut off.

¹¹ A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

¹⁶ Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, Yahweh, God of Armies.

⁷ For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Armies.

³⁸ He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.”

¹⁵ Through him, then, let’s offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah.

⁵ Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding.

² Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.”

⁴ Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock.

⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose confidence is in Yahweh.

²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.

⁶ Yahweh’s words are flawless words, as silver refined in a clay furnace, purified seven times.

¹² I wrote for him the many things of my law; but they were regarded as a strange thing.

¹⁵ From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

¹⁹ We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star arises in your hearts: ²⁰ knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation. ²¹ For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

³ it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus; ⁴ that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.

³¹ but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear,

¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

⁶ “You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.

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.

¹⁶ “If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

²¹ if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate,

¹⁰ Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless, ¹¹ for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.

²⁹ The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.

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.’

⁵ I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.

¹² May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me of you; but my hand will not be on you.

¹⁵ May Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand.”

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed is Yahweh, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil. Yahweh has returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to himself as wife.

¹ By David. Contend, Yahweh, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me.

¹⁰ All my bones shall say, “Yahweh, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”

¹ Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men.

⁵ A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

¹² I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy.

¹¹ for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.

¹ Woe to you who destroy, but you weren’t destroyed, and who betray, but nobody betrayed you! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betrayal, you will be betrayed.

³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong: Yahweh of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁶ Therefore Yahweh says: “Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.

⁹ I will bear the indignation of Yahweh, because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my case, and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light. I will see his righteousness.

⁸ Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it.

²² An angry man stirs up strife, and a wrathful man abounds in sin.

¹⁴ Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? ¹⁵ What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what portion does a believer have with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.” ¹⁷ Therefore “‘Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you.

³⁵ but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works.

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

³³ Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”

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.

¹⁵ He who is collateral for a stranger will suffer for it, but he who refuses pledges of collateral is secure.

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

¹³ Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!

²⁶ If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷ for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.

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

¹⁴ You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that Yahweh your God gives you to possess.

¹⁷ ‘Cursed is he who removes his neighbor’s landmark.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

² There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.

¹⁰ Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁸ Happy are your men, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, who hear your wisdom.

²⁸ The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he put him in charge of all the labor of the house of Joseph.

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

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

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.

²¹ “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

²³ “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

¹¹ not lagging in diligence; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

² preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all patience and teaching.