criticism

Faithful are the wounds of a friend;

But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?  

 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 

 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 

 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 

 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. 

 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 

 doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 

 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 

 that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 

 but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 

 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; 

 he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, 

 perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. 

 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.  

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:

for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.  

 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 

 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  

 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.  

 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 

 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 

 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  

 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 

 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 

 so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 

 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 

 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  

 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  

 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

 whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 

 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 

 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 

 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.  

He that spareth his rod hateth his son:

But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

Chasten thy son while there is hope,

And let not thy soul spare for his crying.

The rod and reproof give wisdom:

But a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 

 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. 

 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. 

 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 

 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.  

 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 

 and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:  

 are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? 

 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. 

 Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. 

 Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it. 

Lying lips are abomination to the LORD:

But they that deal truly are his delight.

 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 

 and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.  

 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.  

 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  

 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. 

 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. 

 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?  

 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 

 and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 

 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 

 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 

 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 

 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. 

 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. 

But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. 

 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: 

 but and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.  

 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 

 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. 

 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.  

 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? 

 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  

 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 

 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 

 but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 

 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 

 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 

 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 

 And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. 

 Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. 

 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.  

 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;  

 and afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD. 

 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. 

 They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia. 

 Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD. 

 Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. 

 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. 

 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 

 But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: 

 so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. 

Keep thy heart with all diligence;

For out of it are the issues of life.

 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 

 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 

 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 

 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 

 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 

 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. 

 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 

 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.  

 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.  

 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 

 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.  

 I would they were even cut off which trouble you. 

 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 

 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. 

 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.  

 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. 

 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  

 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 

 if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.  

 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 

 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 

 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 

 (for we walk by faith, not by sight:)  

 we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 

 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 

 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 

 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 

 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.