Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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1 The Lord is taking note of
your sins, and if you take
vengeance on someone, the Lord
will take vengeance on you.
2 But if
you forgive someone who has
wronged you, your sins will be forgiven
when you pray. note
3 You cannot
expect the Lord to pardon you while
you are holding a grudge against
someone else.
4 You yourself are a
sinner, and if you won't forgive another
person, you have no right to
pray that the Lord will forgive your
sins.
5 If you cannot get rid of your
anger, you have no hope of forgiveness
—you are only a human being.
6 Think about it! Some day you will
die, and your body will decay. So
give up hate and live by the Lord's
commands,
7 the commands in the
covenant of the Most High. Instead
-- --
of getting upset over your neighbor's
faults, overlook them.
Arguments
8 If you stay out of arguments,
you will not sin so much, because a
hot temper gets them started.
9 It is
sinful to break up a friendship by
creating hostility among people who
get along well together.
10 The more
fuel, the hotter the fire. The more
stubbornness, the hotter the argument.
And the stronger or richer a
man is, the angrier he can afford to
become.
11 An argument that blazes
out suddenly can lead to violence.
12 You can blow on a spark to make
it glow, or you can spit on it to put it
out. Either way, you do it with your
mouth.
Vicious Talk
13 Gossips and liars deserve to be
cursed, because they have been the
ruin of many people who were minding
their own business.
14 Many have
had their lives ruined and have been
driven from their homes because of
people who meddled in their business.
Such unwanted interference
has resulted in the destruction of
strong cities and the homes of respected
men.
15 Meddlers have
caused faithful wives to be divorced,
robbed of everything they had
worked for.
16 Anyone who pays attention
to slander can never find
peace of mind.
17 A whip can raise a
welt, but a vicious tongue can break
bones.
18 More people have died as a
result of loose talk than were ever
killed by swords.
19
20 Count yourself
lucky if you have been spared the
experience of having irresponsible
talk directed against you—if you
have never had that iron yoke
around your neck or those heavy
chains on your legs.
21 Slander leads
to a miserable death; but in fact,
you'd be better off dead.
22 Devout people, however, cannot
be overcome by slander; they cannot
be burned by its flames.
23 Its victims
are those who have abandoned the
Lord; once the fire of slander has
been lit among them, it cannot be
put out. Slander will pounce on them
like a lion and tear them to pieces
like a leopard.
24 Don't you fence in your property?
Don't you lock up your money?
25 Well, be just as careful with what
you say. Weigh every word, and
have a lock ready for your mouth.
26 Someone may be waiting for you
to slip, and if you are not careful,
you will stumble over your own
words and fall down in front of him. note
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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