So I would prefer that the younger widows get married, have children, and take care of their homes, so as to give our enemies no chance of speaking evil of us.

Actually I would prefer that all of you were as I am; but each one has a special gift from God, one person this gift, another one that gift.

This is a true saying. I want you to give special emphasis to these matters, so that those who believe in God may be concerned with giving their time to doing good deeds, which are good and useful for everyone.

So the LORD let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon.

In his suffering he became humble, turned to the LORD his God, and begged him for help.

From the depths of my despair I call to you, LORD.

Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help!

"From the bottom of the pit, O LORD, I cried out to you,

And when I begged you to listen to my cry, you heard.

From deep inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God:

"In my distress, O LORD, I called to you, and you answered me. From deep in the world of the dead I cried for help, and you heard me.

People from one end of the world to the other honor me. Everywhere they burn incense to me and offer acceptable sacrifices. All of them honor me!

And he said to Jesus, "Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King!"

Jesus said to him, "I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me."

Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the time will come when people will not worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem.

But the time is coming and is already here, when by the power of God's Spirit people will worship the Father as he really is, offering him the true worship that he wants.

God is Spirit, and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is."

But when our time with them was over, we left and went on our way. All of them, together with their wives and children, went with us out of the city to the beach, where we all knelt and prayed.

but I am not guilty of any violence, and my prayer to God is sincere.

LORD, I wash my hands to show that I am innocent and march in worship around your altar.

If I had ignored my sins, the Lord would not have listened to me.

Raise your hands in prayer in the Temple, and praise the LORD!

The LORD is pleased when good people pray, but hates the sacrifices that the wicked bring him.

The LORD hates it when wicked people offer him sacrifices, especially if they do it from evil motives.

"When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood.

Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.

When you pray, I will answer you. When you call to me, I will respond. "If you put an end to oppression, to every gesture of contempt, and to every evil word;

And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring of water that never goes dry.

You steal, murder, commit adultery, tell lies under oath, offer sacrifices to Baal, and worship gods that you had not known before.

You do these things I hate, and then you come and stand in my presence, in my own Temple, and say, 'We are safe!'

Now, you priests, try asking God to be good to us. He will not answer your prayer, and it will be your fault.

The LORD Almighty says, "I wish one of you would close the Temple doors so as to prevent you from lighting useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you; I will not accept the offerings you bring me.

He was a religious man; he and his whole family worshiped God. He also did much to help the Jewish poor people and was constantly praying to God.

He stared at the angel in fear and said, "What is it, sir?" The angel answered, "God is pleased with your prayers and works of charity, and is ready to answer you.

and said: 'Cornelius! God has heard your prayer and has taken notice of your works of charity.

So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water.

Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners! Purify your hearts, you hypocrites!

If our conscience condemns us, we know that God is greater than our conscience and that he knows everything.

We receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

and so he said to him, "Because you have asked for the wisdom to rule justly, instead of long life for yourself or riches or the death of your enemies,

But when they were sick, I dressed in mourning; I deprived myself of food; I prayed with my head bowed low,

But now I tell you: if you are angry with your brother you will be brought to trial, if you call your brother 'You good-for-nothing!' you will be brought before the Council, and if you call your brother a worthless fool you will be in danger of going to the fire of hell.

leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God.

Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.

"If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.

And when you stand and pray, forgive anything you may have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive the wrongs you have done."

Jesus said, "Forgive them, Father! They don't know what they are doing." They divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice.

He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord! Do not remember this sin against them!" He said this and died.

In the same way you husbands must live with your wives with the proper understanding that they are more delicate than you. Treat them with respect, because they also will receive, together with you, God's gift of life. Do this so that nothing will interfere with your prayers.

Jesus answered, "I assure you that if you believe and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I have done to this fig tree. And not only this, but you will even be able to say to this hill, 'Get up and throw yourself in the sea,' and it will.

I assure you that whoever tells this hill to get up and throw itself in the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

For this reason I tell you: When you pray and ask for something, believe that you have received it, and you will be given whatever you ask for.

But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind.

(SEE 1:7)