being distracted

⁸Be sober and vigilant. For your adversary, the devil, is like a roaring lion, traveling around and seeking those whom he might devour.

²²So be doers of the Word, and not listeners only, deceiving yourselves.

³⁸Now it happened that, while they were traveling, he entered into a certain town. And a certain woman, named Martha, received him into her home. ³⁹And she had a sister, named Mary, who, while sitting beside the Lord’s feet, was listening to his word. ⁴⁰Now Martha was continually busying herself with serving. And she stood still and said: “Lord, is it not a concern to you that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, speak to her, so that she may help me.” ⁴¹And the Lord responded by saying to her: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled over many things. ⁴²And yet only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the best portion, and it shall not be taken away from her.”

³⁴For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

³⁵Furthermore, I am saying this for your own benefit, not in order to cast a snare over you, but toward whatever is honest and whatever may provide you with the ability to be without hindrance, so as to worship the Lord.

²¹Because of this, having cast away all uncleanness and an abundance of malice, receive with meekness the newly-grafted Word, which is able to save your souls. ²²So be doers of the Word, and not listeners only, deceiving yourselves. ²³For if anyone is a listener of the Word, but not also a doer, he is comparable to a man gazing into a mirror upon the face that he was born with; ²⁴and after considering himself, he went away and promptly forgot what he had seen. ²⁵But he who gazes upon the perfect law of liberty, and who remains in it, is not a forgetful hearer, but instead a doer of the work. He shall be blessed in what he does.

³²But I would prefer you to be without worry. Whoever is without a wife is worried about the things of the Lord, as to how he may please God.

²¹For where your treasure is, there also is your heart.

⁷Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you.

³But I am afraid lest, as the serpent led astray Eve by his cleverness, so your minds might be corrupted and might fall away from the simplicity which is in Christ.

⁴And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar at Bethel, he extended his hand from the altar, saying, “Apprehend him!” But his hand, which he had extended against him, withered. And he was unable to draw it back to himself. ⁵Also, the altar was torn apart, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, in accord with the sign that the man of God had predicted by the word of the Lord. ⁶And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat the face of the Lord your God, and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God prayed before the face of the Lord, and the hand of the king was restored to him, and it became as it had been before. ⁷Then the king said to the man of God: “Come home with me, so that you may dine. And I will give you gifts.” ⁸And the man of God responded to the king: “Even if you will give me one half part of your house, I will not go with you, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place. ⁹For so it was commanded to me by the word of the Lord, ordering: ‘You shall not eat bread, and you shall not drink water, nor shall you return by the way that you came.’ ”