LAZINESS

Go to the ant, thou sluggard;

Consider her ways, and be wise:

Which having no guide,

Overseer, or ruler,

Provideth her meat in the summer,

And gathereth her food in the harvest.

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard?

When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to sleep:

So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth,

And thy want as an armed man.

 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. 

 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 

 Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band. 

For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof:

But by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.

 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. 

 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. 

 or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. 

Howbeit in vain do they worship me,

Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 

 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 

 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 

 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 

 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 

 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 

 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. 

 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. 

 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 

 which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.  

 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 

 and not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. 

 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 

 (touch not; taste not; handle not; 

 which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 

 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. 

 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 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. 

 submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. 

 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 

 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 

 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 

 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 

 hat he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,  

 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 

Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;

And quicken thou me in thy way.

 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 

 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 

 for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.  

 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. 

 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, 

 and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. 

 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 

 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 

 for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  

 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 

 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 

 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! 

 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 

 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 

 that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 

Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying,

I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously:

The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Sing aloud unto God our strength:

Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel,

The pleasant harp with the psaltery.

 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 

 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 

 or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 

 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. 

 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.  

 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do. 

 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 

 but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. 

 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. 

The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing:

Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 

 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.  

 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.  

 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 

 and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 

My son, hear the instruction of thy father,

And forsake not the law of thy mother:

Train up a child in the way he should go:

And when he is old, he will not depart from it.

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