The Parable of the Lost Sheep
1 vNow the wtax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and xeats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and ygo after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he zlays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one asinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins,1 if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Instructions for the Church
1 dDo enot rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
3 fHonor widows who are truly widows. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is gpleasing in the sight of God. 5 hShe who is truly a widow, left all alone, ihas set her hope on God and jcontinues in supplications and prayers night and day, 6 but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. 7 kCommand these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. 8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has ldenied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been mthe wife of one husband,1 10 and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has nwashed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. 11 But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry 12 and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. 13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and obusybodies, saying what they should not. 14 pSo I would have younger widows marry, qbear children, rmanage their households, and sgive the adversary no occasion for slander. 15 For some have already tstrayed after Satan.
Warning Against the Adulteress
1 My son, keep my words
and ptreasure up my commandments with you;
2 qkeep my commandments rand live;
keep my teaching as sthe apple of your eye;
3 tbind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are umy sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,
5 vto keep you from the forbidden1 woman,
from the adulteress2 with her smooth words.
6 For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man lacking sense,
8 passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to wher house
9 in the xtwilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.
10 And behold, the woman meets him,
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.3
11 She is yloud and wayward;
her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner zshe lies in wait.
13 aShe seizes him and kisses him,
and with bold face she says to him,
14 “I had to offer bsacrifices,4
and today I have paid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with coverings,
colored linens from Egyptian clinen;
17 I have dperfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our efill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For fmy husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home.”
21 With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her gsmooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast5
23 till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 hLet not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
26 for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are a mighty throng.
27 iHer house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.
Ezra Prays About Intermarriage
1 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not aseparated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have btaken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race1 has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this cfaithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” 3 As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and dpulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. 4 Then all who etrembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the fevening sacrifice. 5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, 6 saying:
“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for gour iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted hup to the heavens. 7 From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. 8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to ileave us a jremnant and to give us a secure hold2 within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. 9 For kwe are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has lextended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection3 in Judea and Jerusalem.
10 “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11 which you commanded by myour servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the nimpurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their ouncleanness. 12 Therefore pdo not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and qnever seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ 13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, 14 shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? 15 O Lord, the God of Israel, ryou are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”
