bullying

¹⁸Do not seek revenge, neither should you be mindful of the injury of your fellow citizens. You shall love your friend as yourself. I am the Lord.

⁴³You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and you shall have hatred for your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I say to you: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. And pray for those who persecute and slander you. ⁴⁵In this way, you shall be sons of your Father, who is in heaven. He causes his sun to rise upon the good and the bad, and he causes it to rain upon the just and the unjust. ⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Do not even tax collectors behave this way? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers, what more have you done? Do not even the pagans behave this way? ⁴⁸Therefore, be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

⁷For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of virtue, and of love, and of self-restraint.

¹⁹Do not defend yourselves, dearest ones. Instead, step aside from wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is mine. I shall give retribution, says the Lord.” ²⁰So if an enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in doing so, you will heap burning coals upon his head.

¹⁸If it is possible, in so far as you are able, be at peace with all men.

⁶Act manfully and be strengthened. Do not be afraid, and do not dread at the sight of them. For the Lord your God himself is your commander, and he will neither dismiss nor abandon you.”

¹⁵Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding within him.

¹⁶Six things there are that the Lord hates, and the seventh, his soul detests: ¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸a heart that devises the most wicked thoughts, feet running swiftly unto evil, ¹⁹a deceitful witness bringing forth lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.

⁹Whoever declares himself to be in the light, and yet hates his brother, is in the darkness even now.

¹¹Blessed are you when they have slandered you, and persecuted you, and spoken all kinds of evil against you, falsely, for my sake:

²⁹Let no evil words proceed from your mouth, but only what is good, toward the edification of faith, so as to bestow grace upon those who listen.

⁴Praising, I will call upon the Lord. And I will be saved from my enemies.

¹¹Behold, all who fight against you shall be confounded and ashamed. They will be as if they did not exist, and the men who contradict you will perish. ¹²You will seek them, and you will not find them. The men who rebel against you will be as if they did not exist. And the men who make war against you will be like something that has been consumed. ¹³For I am the Lord your God. I take you by your hand, and I say to you: Do not be afraid. I have helped you.

³⁸You have heard that it was said: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil, but if anyone will have struck you on your right cheek, offer to him the other also. ⁴⁰And anyone who wishes to contend with you in judgment, and to take away your tunic, release to him your cloak also. ⁴¹And whoever will have compelled you for one thousand steps, go with him even for two thousand steps.

¹³Which is the man who wills life, who chooses to see good days? ¹⁴Prohibit your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. ¹⁵Turn away from evil, and do good. Inquire about peace, and pursue it. ¹⁶The eyes of the Lord are on the just, and his ears are with their prayers. ¹⁷But the countenance of the Lord is upon those who do evil, to perish the remembrance of them from the earth. ¹⁸The just cried out, and the Lord heard them, and he freed them from all their tribulations.

⁴Rescue the poor, and free the needy from the hand of the sinner.