dealing with evil people

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.”

¹⁴The Lord will fight on your behalf, and you will remain silent.”

¹¹A foolish one offers everything on his mind. A wise one reserves and defers until later.

²²“There is no peace for the impious,” says the Lord.

¹And know this: that in the last days perilous times will press near. ²Men will be lovers of themselves, greedy, self-exalting, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, ³without affection, without peace, false accusers, unchaste, cruel, without kindness, ⁴traitorous, reckless, self-important, loving pleasure more than God, ⁵even having the appearance of piety while rejecting its virtue. And so, avoid them.

¹⁹You know this, my most beloved brothers. So let every man be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to anger. ²⁰For the anger of man does not accomplish the justice of God.

³¹Let all bitterness and anger and indignation and outcry and blasphemy be taken away from you, along with all malice. ³²And be kind and merciful to one another, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you in Christ.

⁸And finally, may you all be of one mind: compassionate, loving brotherhood, merciful, meek, humble, ⁹not repaying evil with evil, nor slander with slander, but, to the contrary, repaying with blessings. For to this you have been called, so that you may possess the inheritance of a blessing. ¹⁰For whoever wants to love life and to see good days should restrain his tongue from evil, and his lips, so that they utter no deceit. ¹¹Let him turn away from evil, and do good. Let him seek peace, and pursue it. ¹²For the eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears are with their prayers, but the countenance of the Lord is upon those who do evil. ¹³And who is it who can harm you, if you are zealous in what is good?

⁸But if anyone has no concern for his own, and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith, and he is worse than an unbeliever.

³³Do not be led astray. Evil communication corrupts good morals.

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.

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the directors of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places.

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.

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.”

⁸But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and drug users, and idolaters, and all liars, these shall be a part of the pool burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”

¹²Therefore, all things whatsoever that you wish that men would do to you, do so also to them. For this is the law and the prophets.

¹A Psalm of David, before he was sealed. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? ²Meanwhile, the guilty draw near to me, so as to eat my flesh. Those who trouble me, my enemies, have themselves been weakened and have fallen. ³If entrenched armies were to stand together against me, my heart would not fear. If a battle were to rise up against me, I would have hope in this. ⁴One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, so that I may behold the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple. ⁵For he has hidden me in his tabernacle. In the day of evils, he has protected me in the hidden place of his tabernacle. ⁶He has exalted me upon the rock, and now he has exalted my head above my enemies. I have circled around and offered a sacrifice of loud exclamation in his tabernacle. I will sing, and I will compose a psalm, to the Lord.