Samuel said, "Which does the LORD prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him.

Time after time he will save you from harm;

and they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind.

What shall I bring to the LORD, the God of heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring the best calves to burn as offerings to him?

No, the LORD has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.

If you are eager to give, God will accept your gift on the basis of what you have to give, not on what you don't have.

Abraham reckoned that God was able to raise Isaac from death---and, so to speak, Abraham did receive Isaac back from death.

Abraham answered, "I thought that there would be no one here who has reverence for God and that they would kill me to get my wife.

I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands."

On the third day Joseph said to them, "I am a God-fearing man, and I will spare your lives on one condition.

Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin."

Obey the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. Remember the great things he has done for you.

But if you continue to sin, you and your king will be destroyed."

Samuel said, "Which does the LORD prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him.

Every governor who had been in office before me had been a burden to the people and had demanded forty silver coins a day for food and wine. Even their servants had oppressed the people. But I acted differently, because I honored God.

God said to us humans, "To be wise, you must have reverence for the Lord. To understand, you must turn from evil."

The righteous are guided and protected by the LORD, but the evil are on the way to their doom.

Serve the LORD with fear; tremble

Those who have reverence for the LORD will learn from him the path they should follow.

The LORD is the friend of those who obey him and he affirms his covenant with them.

The way to become wise is to honor the LORD; he gives sound judgment to all who obey his commands. He is to be praised forever.

Praise the LORD! Happy is the person who honors the LORD, who takes pleasure in obeying his commands.

but he takes pleasure in those who honor him, in those who trust in his constant love.

To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the LORD. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn.

A sinner may commit a hundred crimes and still live. Oh yes, I know what they say: "If you obey God, everything will be all right,

but it will not go well for the wicked. Their life is like a shadow and they will die young, because they do not obey God."

After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for.

I will make an eternal covenant with them. I will never stop doing good things for them, and I will make them fear me with all their heart, so that they will never turn away from me.

But for you who obey me, my saving power will rise on you like the sun and bring healing like the sun's rays. You will be as free and happy as calves let out of a stall.

In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.

"Those who love their father or mother more than me are not fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than me are not fit to be my disciples.

Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me.

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake, will receive a hundred times more and will be given eternal life.

And so it was that the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. Through the help of the Holy Spirit it was strengthened and grew in numbers, as it lived in reverence for the Lord.

Let us be thankful, then, because we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please him, with reverence and awe;

But someone will say, "One person has faith, another has actions." My answer is, "Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions."

How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.

Can't you see? His faith and his actions worked together; his faith was made perfect through his actions.

Then there came from the throne the sound of a voice, saying, "Praise our God, all his servants and all people, both great and small, who have reverence for him!"

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

But God has shown us how much he loves us---it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!

Certainly not God, who did not even keep back his own Son, but offered him for us all! He gave us his Son---will he not also freely give us all things?

And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him.

This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.