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10A wise magistrate educates his people,
   and the rule of an intelligent person is well ordered.
² As the people’s judge is, so are his officials;
   as the ruler of the city is, so are all its inhabitants.
³ An undisciplined king ruins his people,
   but a city becomes fit to live in through the understanding of its rulers.
⁴ The government of the earth is in the hand of the Lord,
   and over it he will raise up the right leader for the time.
⁵ Human success is in the hand of the Lord,
   and it is he who confers honour upon the lawgiver.^*

The Sin of Pride

⁶ Do not get angry with your neighbour for every injury,
   and do not resort to acts of insolence.
⁷ Arrogance is hateful to the Lord and to mortals,
   and injustice is outrageous to both.
⁸ Sovereignty passes from nation to nation
   on account of injustice and insolence and wealth.^*
9 How can dust and ashes be proud?
   Even in life the human body decays.^*
10 A long illness baffles the physician;^*
   the king of today will die tomorrow.
¹¹ For when one is dead
   he inherits maggots and vermin^* and worms.
¹² The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord;
   the heart has withdrawn from its Maker.
¹³ For the beginning of pride is sin,
   and the one who clings to it pours out abominations.
Therefore the Lord brings upon them unheard-of calamities,
   and destroys them completely.
¹⁴ The Lord overthrows the thrones of rulers,
   and enthrones the lowly in their place.
¹⁵ The Lord plucks up the roots of the nations,^*
   and plants the humble in their place.
¹⁶ The Lord lays waste the lands of the nations,
   and destroys them to the foundations of the earth.
¹⁷ He removes some of them and destroys them,
   and erases the memory of them from the earth.
¹⁸ Pride was not created for human beings,
   or violent anger for those born of women.

5^*Now you are walled around with a wall;^*
   siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the ruler of Israel
   upon the cheek.

The Ruler from Bethlehem

^{2 *}But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
   who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
   one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
   from ancient days.
³ Therefore he shall give them up until the time
   when she who is in labour has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
   to the people of Israel.
⁴ And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
   in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
   to the ends of the earth;
¹⁰ On that day, says the Lord,
   I will cut off your horses from among you
   and will destroy your chariots;
¹¹ and I will cut off the cities of your land
   and throw down all your strongholds;
¹² and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
   and you shall have no more soothsayers;
¹³ and I will cut off your images
   and your pillars from among you,
and you shall bow down no more
   to the work of your hands;
¹⁴ and I will uproot your sacred poles^* from among you
   and destroy your towns.
¹⁵ And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance
   on the nations that did not obey.

9And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit; ²he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. ³Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given authority like the authority of scorpions of the earth. ⁴They were told not to damage the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵They were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings someone. ⁶And in those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.

7 In appearance the locusts were like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, ⁸their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; ⁹they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. ¹⁰They have tails like scorpions, with stings, and in their tails is their power to harm people for five months. ¹¹They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon,^* and in Greek he is called Apollyon.^*

12 The first woe has passed. There are still two woes to come.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.^* ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ²⁶He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ ²⁷He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ ²⁸And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ ³⁰Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³²So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two denarii,^* gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ ³⁷He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’