You know the old saying, 'Evil is done only by evil people.' And so I will not harm you.

and Nabal finally answered, "David? Who is he? I've never heard of him! The country is full of runaway slaves nowadays!

I'm not going to take my bread and water, and the animals I have butchered for my sheepshearers, and give them to people who come from I don't know where!"

Can people change the color of their skin, or a leopard remove its spots? If they could, then you that do nothing but evil could learn to do what is right.

You snakes---how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

"You can be sure that on the Judgment Day you will have to give account of every useless word you have ever spoken.

For from your heart come the evil ideas which lead you to kill, commit adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie, and slander others.

So it is with the tongue: small as it is, it can boast about great things. Just think how large a forest can be set on fire by a tiny flame!

And the tongue is like a fire. It is a world of wrong, occupying its place in our bodies and spreading evil through our whole being. It sets on fire the entire course of our existence with the fire that comes to it from hell itself.

Do you rulers ever give a just decision? Do you judge everyone fairly?

No! You think only of the evil you can do, and commit crimes of violence in the land.

Yes, they burned like an oven with their plotting. All night their anger smoldered, and in the morning it burst into flames.

"In the heat of their anger they murdered their rulers. Their kings have been assassinated one after another, but no one prays to me for help."

How terrible it will be for those who lie awake and plan evil! When morning comes, as soon as they have the chance, they do the evil they planned.

When they want fields, they seize them; when they want houses, they take them. No one's family or property is safe.

Peter said to him, "Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property?

Before you sold the property, it belonged to you; and after you sold it, the money was yours. Why, then, did you decide to do such a thing? You have not lied to people---you have lied to God!"

You have no part or share in our work, because your heart is not right in God's sight.

Repent, then, of this evil plan of yours, and pray to the Lord that he will forgive you for thinking such a thing as this.

But we are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires.

Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

No, it's because you have sinned so much; it's because of all the evil you do.

You refused water to those who were tired, and refused to feed those who were hungry.

You not only refused to help widows, but you also robbed and mistreated orphans.

People move property lines to get more land; they steal sheep and put them with their own flocks.

They prevent the poor from getting their rights and force the needy to run and hide.

They have to harvest fields they don't own, and gather grapes in vineyards of the wicked.

They are drenched by the rain that falls on the mountains, and they huddle beside the rocks for shelter.

But the poor must go out with no clothes to protect them; they must go hungry while harvesting wheat.

In the cities the wounded and dying cry out, but God ignores their prayers.

At dawn the murderer gets up and goes out to kill the poor, and at night he steals.

At night thieves break into houses, but by day they hide and avoid the light.

Some people spend their money freely and still grow richer. Others are cautious, and yet grow poorer.

People curse someone who hoards grain, waiting for a higher price, but they praise the one who puts it up for sale.

The LORD says, "The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They sell into slavery honest people who cannot pay their debts, the poor who cannot repay even the price of a pair of sandals.

They trample down the weak and helpless and push the poor out of the way. A man and his father have intercourse with the same slave woman, and so profane my holy name.

We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find someone poor who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him as a slave."

Listen, you rulers of Israel! You are supposed to be concerned about justice,

You eat my people up. You strip off their skin, break their bones, and chop them up like meat for the pot.

OMITTED TEXT

What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.