- The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense;
they imagine it to be a high wall of safety. - Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends. - Fools vent their anger,
but the wise quietly hold it back. - You must not exploit a widow or an orphan. If you exploit them in any way and they cry out to me, then I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.
- Good comes to those who lend money generously
and conduct their business fairly. - But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.
- I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds.
- And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
- For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
- And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
- I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing.
- Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent;
with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent. - Wise words bring approval,
but fools are destroyed by their own words. - Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live.
- Honesty guides good people;
dishonesty destroys treacherous people. - Fools have no interest in understanding;
they only want to air their own opinions. - The rich can pay a ransom for their lives,
but the poor won’t even get threatened. - He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care. - Every word of God proves true.
He is a shield to all who come to him for protection. - So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.
- Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes. - For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
- Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life.
- If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.
- Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?
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