Thursday, March 22, 2029

^42:5Thus saith the Lord God, who made the heaven, and established it; who settled the earth, and the things in it, and gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to them that tread on it: ⁶I the Lord God have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will strengthen thee: and I have given thee for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles; ⁷to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the bound and them that sit in darkness out of bonds and the prison-house.

⁸I am the Lord God: that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praises to graven images. ⁹Behold, the ancient things have come to pass, and so will the new things which I tell you: yea, before I tell them they are made known to you. ¹⁰Sing a new hymn to the Lord: ye who are his dominion, glorify his name from the end of the earth: ye that go down to the sea, and sail upon it; the islands, and they that dwell in them.

¹¹Rejoice, thou wilderness, and the villages thereof, the hamlets, and the dwellers in Kedar: the inhabitants of the rock shall rejoice, they shall shout from the top of the mountains. ¹²They shall give glory to God, and shall proclaim his praises in the islands. ¹³The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, and crush the war: he shall stir up jealousy, and shall shout mightily against his enemies. ¹⁴I have been silent: shall I also always be silent and forbear? I have endured like a travailing woman: I will now amaze and wither at once.

¹⁵I will make desolate mountains and hills, and will dry up all their grass; and I will make the rivers islands, and dry up the pools. ¹⁶And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, and I will cause them to tread paths which they have not known: I will turn darkness into light for them, and crooked things into straight. These things will I do, and will not forsake them.

^18:20And the Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha has been increased towards me, and their sins are very great. ²¹I will therefore go down and see, if they completely correspond with the cry which comes to me, and if not, that I may know. ²²And the men having departed thence, came to Sodom; and Abraam was still standing before the Lord. ²³And Abraam drew nigh and said, Wouldest thou destroy the righteous with the wicked, and shall the righteous be as the wicked? ²⁴Should there be fifty righteous in the city, wilt thou destroy them? wilt thou not spare the whole place for the sake of the fifty righteous, if they be in it?

²⁵By no means shalt thou do as this thing is so as to destroy the righteous with the wicked, so the righteous shall be as the wicked: by no means. Thou that judgest the whole earth, shalt thou not do right? ²⁶And the Lord said, If there should be in Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole city, and the whole place for their sakes. ²⁷And Abraam answered and said, Now I have begun to speak to my Lord, and I am earth and ashes. ²⁸But if the fifty righteous should be diminished to forty-five, wilt thou destroy the whole city because of the five wanting? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I should find there forty-five.

²⁹And he continued to speak to him still, and said, But if there should be found there forty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the forty's sake. ³⁰And he said, Will there be anything against me, Lord, if I shall speak? but if there be found there thirty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the thirty's sake. ³¹And he said, Since I am able to speak to the Lord, what if there should be found there twenty? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I should find there twenty.

³²And he said, Will there be anything against me, Lord, if I speak yet once? but if there should be found there ten? And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten's sake. ³³And the Lord departed, when he left off speaking to Abraam, and Abraam returned to his place.

^16:17The paths of life turn aside from evil; and the ways of righteousness are length of life. He that receives instruction shall be in prosperity; and he that regards reproofs shall be made wise. He that keeps his ways, preserves his own soul; and he that loves his life will spare his mouth. ¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, and folly before a fall. ¹⁹Better is a meek-spirited man with lowliness, than one who divides spoils with the proud. ²⁰He who is skilful in business finds good: but he that trusts in God is most blessed.

²¹Men call the wise and understanding evil: but they that are pleasing in speech shall hear more. ²²Understanding is a fountain of life to its possessors; but the instruction of fools is evil. ²³The heart of the wise will discern the things which proceed from his own mouth; and on his lips he will wear knowledge. ²⁴Good words are honeycombs, and the sweetness thereof is a healing of the soul. ²⁵There are ways that seem to be right to a man, but the end of them looks to the depth of hell.

²⁶A man who labours, labours for himself, and drives from him his own ruin. ²⁷But the perverse bears destruction upon his own mouth: a foolish man digs up evil for himself, and treasures fire on his own lips. ²⁸A perverse man spreads mischief, and will kindle a torch of deceit with mischiefs; and he separates friends. ²⁹A transgressor tries to ensnare friends, and leads them in ways that are not good. ³⁰And the man that fixes his eyes devises perverse things, and marks out with his lips all evils: he is a furnace of wickedness.

³¹Old age is a crown of honour, but it is found in the ways of righteousness. ³²A man slow to anger is better than a strong man; and he that governs his temper better than he that takes a city. ³³All evils come upon the ungodly into their bosoms; but all righteous things come of the Lord. ^17:1Better is a morsel with pleasure in peace, than a house full of many good things and unjust sacrifices, with strife. ²A wise servant shall have rule over foolish masters, and shall divide portions among brethren.

³As silver and gold are tried in a furnace, so are choice hearts with the Lord. ⁴A bad man hearkens to the tongue of transgressors: but a righteous man attends not to false lips. ⁵He that laughs at the poor provokes him that made him; and he that rejoices at the destruction of another shall not be held guiltless: but he that has compassion shall find mercy. ⁶Children's children are the crown of old men; and their fathers are the glory of children. ⁷Faithful lips will not suit a fool; nor lying lips a just man.

⁸Instruction is to them that use it a gracious reward: and whithersoever it may turn, it shall prosper. ⁹He that conceals injuries seeks love; but he that hates to hide them separates friends and kindred. ¹⁰A threat breaks down the heart of a wise man; but a fool, though scourged, understands not. ¹¹Every bad man stirs up strifes: but the Lord will send out against him an unmerciful messenger. ¹²Care may befall a man of understanding; but fools will meditate evils. ¹³Whoso rewards evil for good, evil shall not be removed from his house.

¹⁴Rightful rule gives power to words; but sedition and strife precede poverty. ¹⁵He that pronounces the unjust just, and the just unjust, is unclean and abominable with God. ¹⁶Why has the fool wealth? for a senseless man will not be able to purchase wisdom. ¹⁷Have thou a friend for every time, and let brethren be useful in distress; for on this account are they born.

^21:12But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake. ¹³It will turn out as a testimony for you. ¹⁴Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer, ¹⁵for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict. ¹⁶You will be handed over even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will cause some of you to be put to death. ¹⁷You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake. ¹⁸And not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹“By your endurance you will win your lives.

^42:5Thus saith the Lord God, who made the heaven, and established it; who settled the earth, and the things in it, and gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to them that tread on it: ⁶I the Lord God have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will strengthen thee: and I have given thee for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles; ⁷to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the bound and them that sit in darkness out of bonds and the prison-house.

⁸I am the Lord God: that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praises to graven images. ⁹Behold, the ancient things have come to pass, and so will the new things which I tell you: yea, before I tell them they are made known to you. ¹⁰Sing a new hymn to the Lord: ye who are his dominion, glorify his name from the end of the earth: ye that go down to the sea, and sail upon it; the islands, and they that dwell in them.

¹¹Rejoice, thou wilderness, and the villages thereof, the hamlets, and the dwellers in Kedar: the inhabitants of the rock shall rejoice, they shall shout from the top of the mountains. ¹²They shall give glory to God, and shall proclaim his praises in the islands. ¹³The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, and crush the war: he shall stir up jealousy, and shall shout mightily against his enemies. ¹⁴I have been silent: shall I also always be silent and forbear? I have endured like a travailing woman: I will now amaze and wither at once.

¹⁵I will make desolate mountains and hills, and will dry up all their grass; and I will make the rivers islands, and dry up the pools. ¹⁶And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, and I will cause them to tread paths which they have not known: I will turn darkness into light for them, and crooked things into straight. These things will I do, and will not forsake them.

^18:20And the Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha has been increased towards me, and their sins are very great. ²¹I will therefore go down and see, if they completely correspond with the cry which comes to me, and if not, that I may know. ²²And the men having departed thence, came to Sodom; and Abraam was still standing before the Lord. ²³And Abraam drew nigh and said, Wouldest thou destroy the righteous with the wicked, and shall the righteous be as the wicked? ²⁴Should there be fifty righteous in the city, wilt thou destroy them? wilt thou not spare the whole place for the sake of the fifty righteous, if they be in it?

²⁵By no means shalt thou do as this thing is so as to destroy the righteous with the wicked, so the righteous shall be as the wicked: by no means. Thou that judgest the whole earth, shalt thou not do right? ²⁶And the Lord said, If there should be in Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole city, and the whole place for their sakes. ²⁷And Abraam answered and said, Now I have begun to speak to my Lord, and I am earth and ashes. ²⁸But if the fifty righteous should be diminished to forty-five, wilt thou destroy the whole city because of the five wanting? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I should find there forty-five.

²⁹And he continued to speak to him still, and said, But if there should be found there forty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the forty's sake. ³⁰And he said, Will there be anything against me, Lord, if I shall speak? but if there be found there thirty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the thirty's sake. ³¹And he said, Since I am able to speak to the Lord, what if there should be found there twenty? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I should find there twenty.

³²And he said, Will there be anything against me, Lord, if I speak yet once? but if there should be found there ten? And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten's sake. ³³And the Lord departed, when he left off speaking to Abraam, and Abraam returned to his place.

^16:17The paths of life turn aside from evil; and the ways of righteousness are length of life. He that receives instruction shall be in prosperity; and he that regards reproofs shall be made wise. He that keeps his ways, preserves his own soul; and he that loves his life will spare his mouth. ¹⁸Pride goes before destruction, and folly before a fall. ¹⁹Better is a meek-spirited man with lowliness, than one who divides spoils with the proud. ²⁰He who is skilful in business finds good: but he that trusts in God is most blessed.

²¹Men call the wise and understanding evil: but they that are pleasing in speech shall hear more. ²²Understanding is a fountain of life to its possessors; but the instruction of fools is evil. ²³The heart of the wise will discern the things which proceed from his own mouth; and on his lips he will wear knowledge. ²⁴Good words are honeycombs, and the sweetness thereof is a healing of the soul. ²⁵There are ways that seem to be right to a man, but the end of them looks to the depth of hell.

²⁶A man who labours, labours for himself, and drives from him his own ruin. ²⁷But the perverse bears destruction upon his own mouth: a foolish man digs up evil for himself, and treasures fire on his own lips. ²⁸A perverse man spreads mischief, and will kindle a torch of deceit with mischiefs; and he separates friends. ²⁹A transgressor tries to ensnare friends, and leads them in ways that are not good. ³⁰And the man that fixes his eyes devises perverse things, and marks out with his lips all evils: he is a furnace of wickedness.

³¹Old age is a crown of honour, but it is found in the ways of righteousness. ³²A man slow to anger is better than a strong man; and he that governs his temper better than he that takes a city. ³³All evils come upon the ungodly into their bosoms; but all righteous things come of the Lord. ^17:1Better is a morsel with pleasure in peace, than a house full of many good things and unjust sacrifices, with strife. ²A wise servant shall have rule over foolish masters, and shall divide portions among brethren.

³As silver and gold are tried in a furnace, so are choice hearts with the Lord. ⁴A bad man hearkens to the tongue of transgressors: but a righteous man attends not to false lips. ⁵He that laughs at the poor provokes him that made him; and he that rejoices at the destruction of another shall not be held guiltless: but he that has compassion shall find mercy. ⁶Children's children are the crown of old men; and their fathers are the glory of children. ⁷Faithful lips will not suit a fool; nor lying lips a just man.

⁸Instruction is to them that use it a gracious reward: and whithersoever it may turn, it shall prosper. ⁹He that conceals injuries seeks love; but he that hates to hide them separates friends and kindred. ¹⁰A threat breaks down the heart of a wise man; but a fool, though scourged, understands not. ¹¹Every bad man stirs up strifes: but the Lord will send out against him an unmerciful messenger. ¹²Care may befall a man of understanding; but fools will meditate evils. ¹³Whoso rewards evil for good, evil shall not be removed from his house.

¹⁴Rightful rule gives power to words; but sedition and strife precede poverty. ¹⁵He that pronounces the unjust just, and the just unjust, is unclean and abominable with God. ¹⁶Why has the fool wealth? for a senseless man will not be able to purchase wisdom. ¹⁷Have thou a friend for every time, and let brethren be useful in distress; for on this account are they born.

^12:1Therefore let’s also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with perseverance the race that is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls.

⁴You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin. ⁵You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him; ⁶for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.” ⁷It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline? ⁸But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children.

⁹Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰For they indeed for a few days disciplined us as seemed good to them, but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.

^20:1“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ²When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. ⁴He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. ⁵Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.

⁶About the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’ ⁷“They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ “He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’ ⁸“When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’ ⁹“When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.

¹⁰When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. ¹¹When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, ¹²saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’ ¹³“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.

¹⁵Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ ¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”