I will climb my watchtower and wait to see what the LORD will tell me to say and what answer he will give to my complaint.

Be careful, then, and do not refuse to hear him who speaks. Those who refused to hear the one who gave the divine message on earth did not escape. How much less shall we escape, then, if we turn away from the one who speaks from heaven!

The LORD gives strength to his people and blesses them with peace.

I offer peace to all, both near and far! I will heal my people.

The LORD says, "I will remove the war chariots from Israel and take the horses from Jerusalem; the bows used in battle will be destroyed. Your king will make peace among the nations; he will rule from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth."

"Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.

It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. "Peace be with you," he said.

A week later the disciples were together again indoors, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."

You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, proclaiming the Good News of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also.

Here we are, then, speaking for Christ, as though God himself were making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: let God change you from enemies into his friends!

So Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to all---to you Gentiles, who were far away from God, and to the Jews, who were near to him.

May the Lord himself, who is our source of peace, give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all.

He says, "Gather my faithful people to me, those who made a covenant with me by offering a sacrifice."

From Paul, who by God's will is an apostle of Christ Jesus--- To God's people in Ephesus, who are faithful in their life in union with Christ Jesus:

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

But you forgive us, so that we should stand in awe of you.

Afterward, Jesus found him in the Temple and said, "Listen, you are well now; so stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."

"No one, sir," she answered. "Well, then," Jesus said, "I do not condemn you either. Go, but do not sin again."]

And so God chose his Servant and sent him to you first, to bless you by making every one of you turn away from your wicked ways."

But now that you know God---or, I should say, now that God knows you---how is it that you want to turn back to those weak and pitiful ruling spirits? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?

But the solid foundation that God has laid cannot be shaken; and on it are written these words: "The Lord knows those who are his" and "Those who say that they belong to the Lord must turn away from wrongdoing."

For there is no longer any sacrifice that will take away sins if we purposely go on sinning after the truth has been made known to us.

Anyone who disobeys the Law of Moses is put to death without any mercy when judged guilty from the evidence of two or more witnesses.

If people have escaped from the corrupting forces of the world through their knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then are again caught and conquered by them, such people are in worse condition at the end than they were at the beginning.

What happened to them shows that the proverbs are true: "A dog goes back to what it has vomited" and "A pig that has been washed goes back to roll in the mud."

But this is what I have against you: you do not love me now as you did at first.

Think how far you have fallen! Turn from your sins and do what you did at first. If you don't turn from your sins, I will come to you and take your lampstand from its place.

I rebuke and punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn from your sins.

just as Jacob's sons were coming in from the fields. When they heard about it, they were shocked and furious that Shechem had done such a thing and had insulted the people of Israel by raping Jacob's daughter.

Please, don't pay any attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing! He is exactly what his name means---a fool! I wasn't there when your servants arrived, sir.

An idea well-expressed is like a design of gold, set in silver.

Even if you beat fools half to death, you still can't beat their foolishness out of them.