boundaries

¹⁷Withdraw your feet from the house of your neighbor, lest, when he has had his fill, he may hate you.

⁵For each one shall carry his own burden.

¹⁴Do not choose to bear the yoke with unbelievers. For how can justice be a participant with iniquity? Or how can the fellowship of light be a participant with darkness?

⁶Let your speech be ever graceful, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to respond to each person.

⁵The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup. It is you who will restore my inheritance to me. ⁶The lots have fallen upon me with clarity. And, indeed, my inheritance has been very clear to me. ⁷I will bless the Lord, who has bestowed understanding upon me. Moreover, my temperament has also corrected me, even through the night. ⁸I have made provision for the Lord always in my sight. For he is at my right hand, so that I may not be disturbed. ⁹Because of this, my heart has been joyful, and my tongue has exulted. Moreover, even my body will rest in hope.

¹A mild response shatters anger. But a harsh word stirs up fury.

²⁶And he has made, out of one, every family of man: to live upon the face of the entire earth, determining the appointed seasons and the limits of their habitation,

⁸Concerning the rest, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is chaste, whatever is just, whatever is holy, whatever is worthy to be loved, whatever is of good repute, if there is any virtue, if there is any praiseworthy discipline: meditate on these.

²⁴Do not be willing to be a friend to an angry man, and do not walk with a furious man,

¹⁹Whoever is impatient will sustain damage. And when it has been taken away, he will set up another.

²Carry one another’s burdens, and so shall you fulfill the law of Christ.

¹Therefore, as most beloved sons, be imitators of God. ²And walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and delivered himself for us, as an oblation and a sacrifice to God, with a fragrance of sweetness. ³But let not any kind of fornication, or impurity, or rapacity so much as be named among you, just as is worthy of the saints, ⁴nor any indecent, or foolish, or abusive talk, for this is without purpose; but instead, give thanks.

³He has stationed peace at your borders, and he has satisfied you with the fat of the grain.

³⁷But let your word ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ For anything beyond that is of evil.

⁵The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup. It is you who will restore my inheritance to me. ⁶The lots have fallen upon me with clarity. And, indeed, my inheritance has been very clear to me. ⁷I will bless the Lord, who has bestowed understanding upon me. Moreover, my temperament has also corrected me, even through the night. ⁸I have made provision for the Lord always in my sight. For he is at my right hand, so that I may not be disturbed.

¹⁹It is better to live in a deserted land, than with a quarrelsome and emotional woman.

²⁸But I say to you, that anyone who will have looked at a woman, so as to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

⁸The law of the Lord is immaculate, converting souls. The testimony of the Lord is faithful, providing wisdom to little ones. ⁹The justice of the Lord is right, rejoicing hearts. The precepts of the Lord are brilliant, enlightening the eyes. ¹⁰The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for all generations. The judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves: ¹¹desirable beyond gold and many precious stones, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. ¹²For, indeed, your servant keeps them, and in keeping them, there are many rewards.