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1The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw. ²O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? ³Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. ⁴So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous— therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

2I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint. ²Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. ³For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. ⁴Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith.

Psalm 37

¹Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers,

²for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb.

³Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.

⁴Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

⁶He will make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

⁷Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.

⁸Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil.

⁹For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

¹⁰Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.

¹¹But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

¹²The wicked plot against the righteous, and gnash their teeth at them;

¹³but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day is coming.

¹⁴The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to kill those who walk uprightly;

¹⁵their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶Better is a little that the righteous person has than the abundance of many wicked.

¹⁷For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.

¹⁸The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will abide forever;

¹⁹they are not put to shame in evil times, in the days of famine they have abundance.

²⁰But the wicked perish, and the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrow, and do not pay back, but the righteous are generous and keep giving;

²²for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

²³Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights in our way;

²⁴though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand.

²⁵I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

²⁶They are ever giving liberally and lending, and their children become a blessing.

²⁷Depart from evil, and do good; so you shall abide forever.

²⁸For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his faithful ones. The righteous shall be kept safe forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land, and live in it forever.

³⁰The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak justice.

³¹The law of their God is in their hearts; their steps do not slip.

³²The wicked watch for the righteous, and seek to kill them.

³³The Lord will not abandon them to their power, or let them be condemned when they are brought to trial.

³⁴Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on the destruction of the wicked.

³⁵I have seen the wicked oppressing, and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.

³⁶Again I passed by, and they were no more; though I sought them, they could not be found.

³⁷Mark the blameless, and behold the upright, for there is posterity for the peaceable.

³⁸But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their refuge in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰The Lord helps them and rescues them; he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, ²To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. ³I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. ⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.

⁶For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; ⁷for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. ⁸Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, ⁹who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ¹⁰but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, ¹²and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. ¹³Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

17Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! ²It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. ⁴And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.” ⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. ⁷“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? ⁸Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? ⁹Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? ¹⁰So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”