Commit your way to the Lord; place your trust in him, and he will act. He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, and the justice of your cause, like the noonday.
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power, and he will never allow the guilty to escape punishment. He makes his way in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust beneath his feet.
These are the words of the Lord of hosts: Stand at the crossroads and look around; ask for the ancient paths. When you are shown where the good way lies, walk along it and your souls will find rest. However, they said, “We will not take it.”
Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and those who find it are few in number.
No trial has confronted you except what a person can stand. God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tried beyond your strength. But together with the trial he will also provide a way out and the strength to bear it.
I am now about to go the way of all upon the earth. You know very well in your hearts and your souls that not one of the good things that the Lord, your God, promised you has failed to take place. Every promise has been fulfilled, not one of them has been broken.
Let the wicked abandon their ways and those who are evil their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy upon them; and to our God, for he is rich in forgiveness.
You shall keep these things that I command you today in your heart. Teach them to your children. You shall talk of them when you are sitting in your home, and when you are walking along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.
Likewise, you who are husbands must show consideration for your wives in your life together. Treat your wife with respect, for even though she is the weaker partner, she is also an equal heir of God’s gift of life. Thus, your prayers will not be hindered in any way.
Then Nehemiah added: “You now may go. Eat rich food and drink what is sweet. Moreover, send some of these to those for whom nothing has been prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Furthermore, do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you. I will remove from your body a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh in its place.