When Jotham heard about this, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and shouted out to them, "Listen to me, you men of Shechem, and God may listen to you!

"If you return safely," Micaiah exclaimed, "then the LORD has not spoken through me!" And he added, "Listen, everyone, to what I have said!"

Listen to me, you men who understand! Will Almighty God do what is wrong?

Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out like the folds of a garment, clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.

Now then, sons, listen to me. Pay attention to what I say.

"Now, young people, listen to me. Do as I say, and you will be happy.

Then Jesus called the crowd to him once more and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand.

Stephen answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! Before our ancestor Abraham had gone to live in Haran, the God of glory appeared to him in Mesopotamia

Those Christians who are poor must be glad when God lifts them up,

How shall we answer the messengers that come to us from Philistia? We will tell them that the LORD has established Zion and that his suffering people will find safety there.

Poor and humble people will once again find the happiness which the LORD, the holy God of Israel, gives.

I will leave there a humble and lowly people, who will come to me for help.

Those who bought and sold the sheep hired me, and I became the shepherd of the sheep that were going to be butchered. I took two sticks: one I called "Favor" and the other "Unity." And I took care of the flock.

So the covenant was canceled on that day. Those who bought and sold the sheep were watching me, and they knew that the LORD was speaking through what I did.

the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor.

Jesus looked at his disciples and said, "Happy are you poor; the Kingdom of God is yours!

As they went on their way, a man said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go."

Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest."

The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man died and was buried,

But Abraham said, 'Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain.

"Have you ever known one of the authorities or one Pharisee to believe in him?

Now remember what you were, my friends, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing.

He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty.

I love those who love me; whoever looks for me can find me.

What you get from me is better than the finest gold, better than the purest silver.

giving wealth to those who love me, filling their houses with treasures.

And Jesus concluded, "This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God's sight."

No one, then, should boast about what human beings can do. Actually everything belongs to you:

and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

All this is for your sake; and as God's grace reaches more and more people, they will offer to the glory of God more prayers of thanksgiving.

although saddened, we are always glad; we seem poor, but we make many people rich; we seem to have nothing, yet we really possess everything.

I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people,

I am less than the least of all God's people; yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the Good News about the infinite riches of Christ,

Command them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share with others.

He reckoned that to suffer scorn for the Messiah was worth far more than all the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes on the future reward.

I know your troubles; I know that you are poor---but really you are rich! I know the evil things said against you by those who claim to be Jews but are not; they are a group that belongs to Satan!

I advise you, then, to buy gold from me, pure gold, in order to be rich. Buy also white clothing to dress yourself and cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy also some ointment to put on your eyes, so that you may see.

Those who win the victory will receive this from me: I will be their God, and they will be my children.

"Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!

Then the King will say to the people on his right, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom.

and just as my Father has given me the right to rule, so I will give you the same right.

Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory.

We encouraged you, we comforted you, and we kept urging you to live the kind of life that pleases God, who calls you to share in his own Kingdom and glory.

All of this proves that God's judgment is just and as a result you will become worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering.

And now there is waiting for me the victory prize of being put right with God, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day---and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear.

And the Lord will rescue me from all evil and take me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away.

In this way you will be given the full right to enter the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him.

But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.

I, the LORD God of Israel, promised in the past that your family and your clan would serve me as priests for all time. But now I say that I won't have it any longer! Instead, I will honor those who honor me, and I will treat with contempt those who despise me.

I love those who love me; whoever looks for me can find me.

"Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!

Jesus looked at his disciples and said, "Happy are you poor; the Kingdom of God is yours!

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom.

However, as the scripture says, "What no one ever saw or heard, what no one ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love him."

And now there is waiting for me the victory prize of being put right with God, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day---and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear.