Lot looked around and saw that the whole Jordan Valley, all the way to Zoar, had plenty of water, like the Garden of the LORD or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.)

Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled among the cities in the valley and camped near Sodom,

But Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.

He looked down at Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley and saw smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a huge furnace.

Because Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, he and his two daughters moved up into the hills and lived in a cave.

Come on, let's get our father drunk, so that we can sleep with him and have children by him."

The next day the older daughter said to her sister, "I slept with him last night; now let's get him drunk again tonight, and you sleep with him. Then each of us will have a child by our father."

In this way both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their own father.

The younger daughter also had a son, whom she named Benammi. He was the ancestor of the present-day Ammonites.

Burn their idols. Do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourselves. If you do, that will be fatal, because the LORD hates idolatry.

Do not bring any of these idols into your homes, or the same curse will be on you that is on them. You must hate and despise these idols, because they are under the LORD's curse.

Among the things we seized I saw a beautiful Babylonian cloak, about five pounds of silver, and a bar of gold weighing over one pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. You will find them buried inside my tent, with the silver at the bottom."

They brought them out of the tent, took them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and laid them down in the presence of the LORD.

And Joshua said, "Why have you brought such trouble on us? The LORD will now bring trouble on you!" All the people then stoned Achan to death; they also stoned and burned his family and possessions.

One day Ahab said to Naboth, "Let me have your vineyard; it is close to my palace, and I want to use the land for a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will pay you a fair price."

Ahab went home, depressed and angry over what Naboth had said to him. He lay down on his bed, facing the wall, and would not eat.

Tell him that I, the LORD, say to him, 'After murdering the man, are you taking over his property as well?' Tell him that this is what I say: 'In the very place that the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will lick up your blood!' "

So the LORD says to you, 'I will bring disaster on you. I will do away with you and get rid of every male in your family, young and old alike.

And concerning Jezebel, the LORD says that dogs will eat her body in the city of Jezreel.

when Elisha's servant Gehazi said to himself, "My master has let Naaman get away without paying a thing! He should have accepted what that Syrian offered him. By the living LORD I will run after him and get something from him."

"No," Gehazi answered. "But my master sent me to tell you that just now two members of the group of prophets in the hill country of Ephraim arrived, and he would like you to give them three thousand pieces of silver and two changes of fine clothes."

When they reached the hill where Elisha lived, Gehazi took the two bags and carried them into the house. Then he sent Naaman's servants back.

But Elisha said, "Wasn't I there in spirit when the man got out of his chariot to meet you? This is no time to accept money and clothes, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and cattle, or servants!

because they oppressed and neglected the poor and seized houses someone else had built.

When they eat, there is nothing left over, but now their prosperity comes to an end.

Let them eat all they want! God will punish them in fury and anger.

Arrows stick through their bodies; the shiny points drip with their blood, and terror grips their hearts.

Heaven reveals their sin, and the earth gives testimony against them.

Doomed is the one who builds his house by injustice and enlarges it by dishonesty; who makes his people work for nothing and does not pay their wages.

Does it make you a better king if you build houses of cedar, finer than those of others? Your father enjoyed a full life. He was always just and fair, and he prospered in everything he did.

But you can only see your selfish interests; you kill the innocent and violently oppress your people. The LORD has spoken.

With the funeral honors of a donkey, he will be dragged away and thrown outside Jerusalem's gates."

I looked again, and this time I saw a scroll flying through the air.

Then he said to me, "On it is written the curse that is to go out over the whole land. On one side of the scroll it says that every thief will be removed from the land; and on the other side it says that everyone who tells lies under oath will also be taken away.

Judas was a member of our group, for he had been chosen to have a part in our work."

All the people living in Jerusalem heard about it, and so in their own language they call that field Akeldama, which means "Field of Blood.")

"So then, someone must join us as a witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He must be one of the men who were in our group during the whole time that the Lord Jesus traveled about with us, beginning from the time John preached his message of baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us to heaven."

So they proposed two men: Joseph, who was called Barsabbas (also known as Justus), and Matthias.

to serve as an apostle in the place of Judas, who left to go to the place where he belongs."

How terrible for them! They have followed the way that Cain took. For the sake of money they have given themselves over to the error that Balaam committed. They have rebelled as Korah rebelled, and like him they are destroyed.

The wicked are proud of their evil desires; the greedy curse and reject the LORD.

The wicked succeed in everything. They cannot understand God's judgments; they sneer at their enemies.

Their graves are their homes forever; there they stay for all time, though they once had lands of their own.

"Look, here is someone who did not depend on God for safety, but trusted instead in great wealth and looked for security in being wicked."

Rich people, however, imagine that their wealth protects them like high, strong walls around a city.

No one is respected unless he is humble; arrogant people are on the way to ruin.

You boast that you have made a treaty with death and reached an agreement with the world of the dead. You are certain that disaster will spare you when it comes, because you depend on lies and deceit to keep you safe.

You thought you would always be a queen, and did not take these things to heart or think how it all would end.

But in a moment, in a single day, both of these things will happen. In spite of all the magic you use, you will lose your husband and children.

Your pride has deceived you. No one fears you as much as you think they do. You live on the rocky cliffs, high on top of the mountain; but even though you live as high up as an eagle, the LORD will bring you down. The LORD has spoken."

Even though you make your home as high as an eagle's nest, so that it seems to be among the stars, yet I will pull you down.