Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth.

Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. . . .

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.

See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity; in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.

You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

For the LORD will vindicate His people and will have compassion on His servants.

We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’

Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.

Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

Why do you cry out over your wound? Your pain has no cure! Because of your great iniquity and your numerous sins I have done these things to you.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.

“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me. Why do you persecute me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?

This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day? How long will my enemy dominate me? Consider me and respond, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death, lest my enemy say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes rejoice when I fall. But I have trusted in Your loving devotion; my heart will rejoice in Your salvation. . . .

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Why is my pain unending, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? You have indeed become like a mirage to me—water that is not there.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found no one.

And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth, so that You should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You swore to give their fathers? Where can I get meat for all these people? For they keep crying out to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me. If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.

For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.

In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

Why, O LORD, do You stand far off? Why do You hide in times of trouble?

Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders or remember Your abundant kindness; but they rebelled by the sea, there at the Red Sea.

A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?

But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing to see but this manna!”

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”

while he himself traveled on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!”

Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.

Then Job answered: “Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die! But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these? I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock. The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping. . . .

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And this is what he said: “May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’ If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it. May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it; may the blackness of the day overwhelm it. . . .

Then Job replied: “If only my grief could be weighed and placed with my calamity on the scales. For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas—no wonder my words have been rash. For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me. Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass, or an ox low over its fodder? . . .

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,

But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated. Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”

And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them. They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence. The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me. They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them. . . .

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo— cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; of cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; of wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; of cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots; of slaves and souls of men. . . .

Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.

Remember my affliction and wandering, the wormwood and the gall. Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me. Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! . . .

Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

When I tried to understand all this, it was troublesome in my sight until I entered God’s sanctuary; then I discerned their end.

Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those far from You will surely perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You. . . .

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”

When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”

and raised their voices, shouting, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Their bows will dash young men to pieces; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; they will not look with pity on the children.

You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail. For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”

Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry. So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster. And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?” Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.

I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light. Indeed, He keeps turning His hand against me all day long. He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. . . .

“It often throws him into the fire or into the water, trying to kill him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances.

He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the willows we hung our harps, for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.” How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function. . . .

Of David. Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong. For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it. . . .

that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.