Repay them according to their deeds and for their works of evil. Repay them for what their hands have done; bring back on them what they deserve.

For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.” Yet we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives and accomplishing nothing but being busybodies. We command and urge such people by our Lord Jesus Christ to begin working quietly to earn their own living.

At the same time they will also learn to be idle, going from house to house and being not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, discussing things they should not mention.

A worthless man digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.

Whoever is slothful in his work is brother to him who destroys.

Laziness brings on deep sleep, and an idle soul will suffer hunger.

Through laziness the roof caves in, and in the hands of the idle, the house leaks.

O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid irreverent, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of so-called “knowledge,”

Yet we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives and accomplishing nothing but being busybodies.

For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face, that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric. For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ. . . .

For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water, the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the soothsayer and the elder, the commander of fifty and the dignitary, the counselor, the cunning magician, and the clever enchanter. “I will make mere lads their leaders, and children will rule over them.” The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable. . . .

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.

For no word from God will ever fail.”

As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!” As a door turns on its hinges, so the slacker turns on his bed. The slacker buries his hand in the dish; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. . . .

This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who testifies to everything he saw. This is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey what is written in it, because the time is near. John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven Spirits before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood, . . .

And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.

But refuse to enroll younger widows. For when their passions draw them away from Christ, they will want to marry, and thus will incur judgment because they are setting aside their first faith. At the same time they will also learn to be idle, going from house to house and being not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, discussing things they should not mention.

And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness! Indeed, what was once glorious has no glory now in comparison to the glory that surpasses it. . . .

All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. . . .

For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not undisciplined among you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.

When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling; he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal, and he died. Now they sin more and more and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say of them, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves!” Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window. Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. . . .

And He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.

But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Better a dry morsel in quietness than a house full of feasting with strife. A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son and share his inheritance as one of the brothers. A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts. A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar gives ear to a destructive tongue. He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished. . . .

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

A song of ascents. In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He answered me. Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue. What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue? Sharp arrows will come from the warrior, with burning coals of the broom tree! Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar! . . .

A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations. Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God. You return man to dust, saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.” For in Your sight a thousand years are but a day that passes, or a watch of the night. You whisk them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning— . . .

For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.”

He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself. So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. . . .

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest? Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can one make from it a peg on which to hang utensils? No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? Even when it was whole, it could not be made useful. How much less can it ever be useful when the fire has consumed it and charred it! . . .

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith. . . .

Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” . . .

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly. The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good. A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. A fool rejects his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction is prudent. . . .

This is the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.” Alas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children of depravity! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him. Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted. . . .

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.