"Do not rob or take advantage of anyone. Do not hold back the wages of someone you have hired, not even for one night.

If any Israelites living near you become so poor that they sell themselves to you as a slave, you shall not make them do the work of a slave.

At that time they and their children shall leave you and return to their family and to the property of their ancestors.

Do not treat them harshly, but obey your God.

You may also buy the children of the foreigners who are living among you. Such children born in your land may become your property,

There will always be some Israelites who are poor and in need, and so I command you to be generous to them.

When you set them free, do not send them away empty-handed.

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God set you free; that is why I am now giving you this command.

"Do not cheat poor and needy hired servants, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living in one of your towns.

Each day before sunset pay them for that day's work; they need the money and have counted on getting it. If you do not pay them, they will cry out against you to the LORD, and you will be guilty of sin.

We are of the same race as the other Jews. Aren't our children just as good as theirs? But we have to make slaves of our children. Some of our daughters have already been sold as slaves. We are helpless because our fields and vineyards have been taken away from us."

and said, "As far as we have been able, we have been buying back our Jewish relatives who had to sell themselves to foreigners. Now you are forcing your own relatives to sell themselves to you, their own people!" The leaders were silent and could find nothing to say.

Then I said, "What you are doing is wrong! You ought to obey God and do what's right. Then you would not give our enemies, the Gentiles, any reason to ridicule us.

But the poor must go out with no clothes to protect them; they must go hungry while harvesting wheat.

In the cities the wounded and dying cry out, but God ignores their prayers.

When any of my servants complained against me, I would listen and treat them fairly.

The same God who created me created my servants also.

I was angry with my people; I treated them as no longer mine: I put them in your power, and you showed them no mercy; even the aged you treated harshly.

The people ask, "Why should we fast if the LORD never notices? Why should we go without food if he pays no attention?" The LORD says to them, "The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers.

When you fast, you make yourselves suffer; you bow your heads low like a blade of grass and spread out sackcloth and ashes to lie on. Is that what you call fasting? Do you think I will be pleased with that?

Listen to this, you that trample on the needy and try to destroy the poor of the country.

We can sell worthless wheat at a high price. We'll find someone poor who can't pay his debts, not even the price of a pair of sandals, and we'll buy him as a slave."

The LORD Almighty says, "I will appear among you to judge, and I will testify at once against those who practice magic, against adulterers, against those who give false testimony, those who cheat employees out of their wages, and those who take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners---against all who do not respect me.

Masters, be fair and just in the way you treat your slaves. Remember that you too have a Master in heaven.

You have not paid any wages to those who work in your fields. Listen to their complaints! The cries of those who gather in your crops have reached the ears of God, the Lord Almighty.

Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling; and do it with a sincere heart, as though you were serving Christ.

Do your work as slaves cheerfully, as though you served the Lord, and not merely human beings.

"Do for others what you want them to do for you: this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets.

Do for others just what you want them to do for you.

You will be doing the right thing if you obey the law of the Kingdom, which is found in the scripture, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."

For God will not show mercy when he judges the person who has not been merciful; but mercy triumphs over judgment.

Do not treat them harshly, but obey your God.

Samuel answered, "Even though you consider yourself of no importance, you are the leader of the tribes of Israel. The LORD anointed you king of Israel,

Anyone who does not bow down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."

Now then, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, oboes, lyres, zithers, harps, and all the other instruments, bow down and worship the statue. If you do not, you will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace. Do you think there is any god who can save you?"

He was so great that people of all nations, races, and languages were afraid of him and trembled. If he wanted to kill someone, he did; if he wanted to keep someone alive, he did. He honored or disgraced anyone he wanted to.

But because he became proud, stubborn, and cruel, he was removed from his royal throne and lost his place of honor.

LORD, I know that you defend the cause of the poor and the rights of the needy.

Don't be surprised when you see that the government oppresses the poor and denies them justice and their rights. Every official is protected by someone higher, and both are protected by still higher officials.

Then he called his servants and said to them, 'My wedding feast is ready, but the people I invited did not deserve it.

So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, good and bad alike; and the wedding hall was filled with people.

But if he is a bad servant, he will tell himself that his master will not come back for a long time,

The master will cut him in pieces and make him share the fate of the hypocrites. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.

But if that servant says to himself that his master is taking a long time to come back and if he begins to beat the other servants, both the men and the women, and eats and drinks and gets drunk,

then the master will come back one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know. The master will cut him in pieces and make him share the fate of the disobedient.

"You call me Teacher and Lord, and it is right that you do so, because that is what I am.

For a slave who has been called by the Lord is the Lord's free person; in the same way a free person who has been called by Christ is his slave.

To the church of God which is in Corinth, to all who are called to be God's holy people, who belong to him in union with Christ Jesus, together with all people everywhere who worship our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

And so, in honor of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees,

and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Peter began to speak: "I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis.

For God judges everyone by the same standard.

And all wrongdoers will be repaid for the wrong things they do, because God judges everyone by the same standard.