He who labors, labors for himself, for his mouth craves it of him.

Can a man be of use to the Mighty God, as he who is wise may be profitable to himself?

Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways perfect?

Now be useful to Him, and be at peace; thereby good shall come to you.

If you sin, what do you do against Him? Or, if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him?

If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?

So then do not be mockers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord Jehovah of Hosts that an annihilation is decreed upon the whole earth.

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,

and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were since the beginning of creation.

as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the unlearned and unstable twist, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.