Then Jephthah brought all the men of Gilead together, fought the men of Ephraim and defeated them. (The Ephraimites had said, "You Gileadites in Ephraim and Manasseh, you are deserters from Ephraim!")

they would tell him to say "Shibboleth." But he would say "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they would grab him and kill him there at one of the Jordan River crossings. At that time forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites were killed.

The Israelites replied, "We have ten times as many claims on King David as you have, even if he is one of you. Why do you look down on us? Don't forget that we were the first to talk about bringing the king back!" But the men of Judah were more violent in making their claims than the men of Israel.

There happened to be in Gilgal a worthless character named Sheba son of Bikri, of the tribe of Benjamin. He blew the trumpet and called out, "Down with David! We won't follow him! Men of Israel, let's go home!"

The king ignored the advice of the older men and spoke harshly to the people,

It was the will of the LORD God to bring about what he had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh. This is why the king did not pay any attention to the people.

Abijah and his army dealt the Israelites a crushing defeat---half a million of Israel's best soldiers were killed.

They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like arrows.

Their tongues are like deadly snakes; their words are like a cobra's poison.

A gentle answer quiets anger, but a harsh one stirs it up.

Evil people look for ways to harm others; even their words burn with evil.

Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, quarreling stops.

Charcoal keeps the embers glowing, wood keeps the fire burning, and troublemakers keep arguments alive.

The LORD's power and glory can be seen in the distance. Fire and smoke show his anger. He speaks, and his words burn like fire.

They are the ones who speak evil of that good name which has been given to you.

The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die.

The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it.

(SEE 24:10)

These women invited them to sacrificial feasts, where the god of Moab was worshiped. The Israelites ate the food and worshiped the god

Remember that it was the women who followed Balaam's instructions and at Peor led the people to be unfaithful to the LORD. That was what brought the epidemic on the LORD's people.

"Even your brother or your son or your daughter or the wife you love or your closest friend may secretly encourage you to worship other gods, gods that you and your ancestors have never worshiped.

So she said to him, "How can you say you love me, when you don't mean it? You've made a fool of me three times, and you still haven't told me what makes you so strong."

that he finally told her the truth. "My hair has never been cut," he said. "I have been dedicated to God as a nazirite from the time I was born. If my hair were cut, I would lose my strength and be as weak as anybody else."

Delilah lulled Samson to sleep in her lap and then called a man, who cut off Samson's seven locks of hair. Then she began to torment him, for he had lost his strength.

Doeg was standing there with Saul's officers, and he said, "I saw David when he went to Ahimelech son of Ahitub in Nob.

So King Saul sent for the priest Ahimelech and all his relatives, who were also priests in Nob, and they came to him.

Saul asked him, "Why are you and David plotting against me? Why did you give him some food and a sword, and consult God for him? Now he has turned against me and is waiting for a chance to kill me!"

Yes, I consulted God for him, and it wasn't the first time. As for plotting against you, Your Majesty must not accuse me or anyone else in my family. I don't know anything about this matter!"

Then he said to the guards standing near him, "Kill the LORD's priests! They conspired with David and did not tell me that he had run away, even though they knew it all along." But the guards refused to lift a hand to kill the LORD's priests.

But Absalom said, "Well, then, will you at least let my brother Amnon come?" "Why should he?" the king asked.

and instructed his servants: "Notice when Amnon has had too much to drink, and then when I give the order, kill him. Don't be afraid. I will take the responsibility myself. Be brave and don't hesitate!"

He would get up early and go and stand by the road at the city gate. Whenever someone came there with a dispute that he wanted the king to settle, Absalom would call him over and ask him where he was from. And after the man had told him what tribe he was from,

And he would add, "How I wish I were a judge! Then anyone who had a dispute or a claim could come to me, and I would give him justice."

Absalom did this with every Israelite who came to the king for judgment, and so he won their loyalty.

Then Absalom turned to Ahithophel and said, "Now that we are here, what do you advise us to do?"

So they set up a tent for Absalom on the palace roof, and in the sight of everyone Absalom went in and had intercourse with his father's concubines.

Not long after that, Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me choose twelve thousand men, and tonight I will set out after David.

I will attack him while he is tired and discouraged. He will be frightened, and all his men will run away. I will kill only the king

His wife Jezebel went to him and asked, "Why are you so depressed? Why won't you eat?"

"Well, are you the king or aren't you?" Jezebel replied. "Get out of bed, cheer up, and eat. I will get you Naboth's vineyard!"

The letters said: "Proclaim a day of fasting, call the people together, and give Naboth the place of honor.

The officials and leading citizens of Jezreel did what Jezebel had commanded.

The two scoundrels publicly accused him of cursing God and the king, and so he was taken outside the city and stoned to death.

As soon as Jezebel received the message, she said to Ahab, "Naboth is dead. Now go and take possession of the vineyard which he refused to sell to you."

My child, when sinners tempt you, don't give in.

They may be alive and well when we find them, but they'll be dead when we're through with them!

Come and join us, and we'll all share what we steal."

(SEE 6:16)

They will keep you away from other men's wives, from women with seductive words.

So she tempted him with her charms, and he gave in to her smooth talk.

where an arrow would pierce its heart. He was like a bird going into a net---he did not know that his life was in danger.

I hear everybody whispering, "Terror is everywhere! So let's report him to the authorities!" Even my close friends wait for my downfall. "Perhaps he can be tricked," they say; "then we can catch him and get revenge."

And so the LORD himself says that he is going to get rid of you. Before this year is over you will die because you have told the people to rebel against the LORD."

When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, "He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so."

Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven---now or ever.

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.

It is not what goes into your mouth that makes you ritually unclean; rather, what comes out of it makes you unclean."

"Every plant which my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up," answered Jesus.

Peter spoke up, "Explain this saying to us."

Don't you understand? Anything that goes into your mouth goes into your stomach and then on out of your body.

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.

There is nothing that goes into you from the outside which can make you ritually unclean. Rather, it is what comes out of you that makes you unclean."

And he went on to say, "It is what comes out of you that makes you unclean.

commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly---

The chief priests and the whole Council tried to find some evidence against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they could not find any.

Then some men stood up and told this lie against Jesus:

Then they brought in some men to tell lies about him. "This man," they said, "is always talking against our sacred Temple and the Law of Moses.

The time will come when some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them.

Their words are full of deadly deceit; wicked lies roll off their tongues, and dangerous threats, like snake's poison, from their lips;

their speech is filled with bitter curses.

I urge you, my friends: watch out for those who cause divisions and upset people's faith and go against the teaching which you have received. Keep away from them!

For those who do such things are not serving Christ our Lord, but their own appetites. By their fine words and flattering speech they deceive innocent people.

Since you are God's people, it is not right that any matters of sexual immorality or indecency or greed should even be mentioned among you.

Nor is it fitting for you to use language which is obscene, profane, or vulgar. Rather you should give thanks to God.

But now you must get rid of all these things: anger, passion, and hateful feelings. No insults or obscene talk must ever come from your lips.

Do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old self with its habits

and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved.

The result is that all who have not believed the truth, but have taken pleasure in sin, will be condemned.

It is necessary to stop their talk, because they are upsetting whole families by teaching what they should not, and all for the shameful purpose of making money.

False prophets appeared in the past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction.

Even so, many will follow their immoral ways; and because of what they do, others will speak evil of the Way of truth.

First of all, you must understand that in the last days some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts. They will make fun of you

When I come, then, I will bring up everything he has done: the terrible things he says about us and the lies he tells! But that is not enough for him; he will not receive the Christians when they come, and even stops those who want to receive them and tries to drive them out of the church!

In the same way also, these people have visions which make them sin against their own bodies; they despise God's authority and insult the glorious beings above.

But these people attack with insults anything they do not understand; and those things that they know by instinct, like wild animals, are the very things that destroy them.

to bring judgment on all, to condemn them all for the godless deeds they have performed and for all the terrible words that godless sinners have spoken against him!"

But remember, my friends, what you were told in the past by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But there are a few things I have against you: there are some among you who follow the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak how to lead the people of Israel into sin by persuading them to eat food that had been offered to idols and to practice sexual immorality.

In the same way you have people among you who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

(12:18) (And the dragon stood on the seashore.) Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads; on each of its horns there was a crown, and on each of its heads there was a name that was insulting to God.

One of the heads of the beast seemed to have been fatally wounded, but the wound had healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.

The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God, and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months.

Never again will the light of a lamp be seen in you; no more will the voices of brides and grooms be heard in you. Your merchants were the most powerful in all the world, and with your false magic you deceived all the peoples of the world!"

The beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had performed miracles in his presence. (It was by those miracles that he had deceived those who had the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped the image of the beast.) The beast and the false prophet were both thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

So he called out, 'Father Abraham! Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!'

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?

Those men are not true apostles---they are false apostles, who lie about their work and disguise themselves to look like real apostles of Christ.

So it is no great thing if his servants disguise themselves to look like servants of righteousness. In the end they will get exactly what their actions deserve.

The Wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wonders,

The huge dragon was thrown out---that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.