They buried him in the royal tombs in David's City in recognition of the service he had done for the people of Israel, for God, and for the Temple.

Trust in the LORD and do good; live in the land and be safe.

So I realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive.

And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners do that!

No! Love your enemies and do good to them; lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked.

You know about Jesus of Nazareth and how God poured out on him the Holy Spirit and power. He went everywhere, doing good and healing all who were under the power of the Devil, for God was with him.

So then, as often as we have the chance, we should do good to everyone, and especially to those who belong to our family in the faith.

Do not forget to do good and to help one another, because these are the sacrifices that please God.

You must turn away from evil and do good; you must strive for peace with all your heart.

My dear friend, do not imitate what is bad, but imitate what is good. Whoever does good belongs to God; whoever does what is bad has not seen God.

and have a reputation for good deeds: a woman who brought up her children well, received strangers in her home, performed humble duties for other Christians, helped people in trouble, and devoted herself to doing good.

And Jesus concluded, "This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God's sight."

In Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, who was a believer. (Her name in Greek is Dorcas, meaning "a deer.") She spent all her time doing good and helping the poor.

He gave himself for us, to rescue us from all wickedness and to make us a pure people who belong to him alone and are eager to do good.

This is a true saying. I want you to give special emphasis to these matters, so that those who believe in God may be concerned with giving their time to doing good deeds, which are good and useful for everyone.

Listen, my dear friends! God chose the poor people of this world to be rich in faith and to possess the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.

"If in any of the towns in the land that the LORD your God is giving you there are Israelites in need, then do not be selfish and refuse to help them.

Do not refuse to lend them something, just because the year when debts are canceled is near. Do not let such an evil thought enter your mind. If you refuse to make the loan, they will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be held guilty.

There will always be some Israelites who are poor and in need, and so I command you to be generous to them.

He gives generously to the needy, and his kindness never fails; he will be powerful and respected.

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

Be generous, and you will be prosperous. Help others, and you will be helped.

Invest your money in foreign trade, and one of these days you will make a profit.

Put your investments in several places---many places even---because you never know what kind of bad luck you are going to have in this world.

Do your planting in the morning and in the evening, too. You never know whether it will all grow well or whether one planting will do better than the other.

But an honorable person acts honestly and stands firm for what is right.

Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.

No! Love your enemies and do good to them; lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors---for they will invite you back, and in this way you will be paid for what you did.

and you will be blessed, because they are not able to pay you back. God will repay you on the day the good people rise from death."

All the believers continued together in close fellowship and shared their belongings with one another.

They would sell their property and possessions, and distribute the money among all, according to what each one needed.

There was no one in the group who was in need. Those who owned fields or houses would sell them, bring the money received from the sale,

And so it was that Joseph, a Levite born in Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means "One who Encourages"),

The disciples decided that they each would send as much as they could to help their fellow believers who lived in Judea.

if it is to encourage others, we should do so. Whoever shares with others should do it generously; whoever has authority should work hard; whoever shows kindness to others should do it cheerfully.

Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers.

Every Sunday each of you must put aside some money, in proportion to what you have earned, and save it up, so that there will be no need to collect money when I come.

Our friends, we want you to know what God's grace has accomplished in the churches in Macedonia.

They have been severely tested by the troubles they went through; but their joy was so great that they were extremely generous in their giving, even though they are very poor.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty.

If you are eager to give, God will accept your gift on the basis of what you have to give, not on what you don't have.

Remember that the person who plants few seeds will have a small crop; the one who plants many seeds will have a large crop.

And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause.

And God, who supplies seed for the sower and bread to eat, will also supply you with all the seed you need and will make it grow and produce a rich harvest from your generosity.

For this service you perform not only meets the needs of God's people, but also produces an outpouring of gratitude to God.

And so with deep affection they will pray for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown you.

Here, then, is my receipt for everything you have given me---and it has been more than enough! I have all I need now that Epaphroditus has brought me all your gifts. They are like a sweet-smelling offering to God, a sacrifice which is acceptable and pleasing to him.

And with all his abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs.

Do not forget to do good and to help one another, because these are the sacrifices that please God.

If we are rich and see others in need, yet close our hearts against them, how can we claim that we love God?