lawyers

⁸Open your mouth for the mute and for all the cases of the sons who are passing through. ⁹Open your mouth, declare what is just, and do justice to the indigent and the poor.

⁴⁵Then one of the experts in the law, in response, said to him, “Teacher, in saying these things, you bring an insult against us as well.” ⁴⁶So he said: “And woe to you experts in the law! For you weigh men down with burdens which they are not able to bear, but you yourselves do not touch the weight with even one of your fingers. ⁴⁷Woe to you, who build the tombs of the prophets, while it is your fathers who killed them! ⁴⁸Clearly, you are testifying that you consent to the actions of your fathers, because even though they killed them, you build their sepulchers. ⁴⁹Because of this also, the wisdom of God said: I will send to them Prophets and Apostles, and some of these they will kill or persecute, ⁵⁰so that the blood of all the Prophets, which has been shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation:

⁴There is no one who calls for justice, and there is no one who judges truly. For they trust in nothing, and they speak emptiness. They have conceived hardship, and they have given birth to iniquity.

³²And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”

²⁵And behold, a certain expert in the law rose up, testing him and saying, “Teacher, what must I do to possess eternal life?” ²⁶But he said to him: “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” ²⁷In response, he said: “You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, and from your whole soul, and from all your strength, and from all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸And he said to him: “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” ²⁹But since he wanted to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰Then Jesus, taking this up, said: “A certain man descended from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he happened upon robbers, who now also plundered him. And inflicting him with wounds, they went away, leaving him behind, half-alive.

¹⁵Those who justify the impious, and those who condemn the just, both are abominable with God.

⁶You shall not deviate in judgment of the poor.

¹⁴For the entire law is fulfilled by one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

²⁵A faithful witness frees souls. And the chameleon utters lies.

⁸You should owe nothing to anyone, except so as to love one another. For whoever loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. ⁹For example: You shall not commit adultery. You shall not kill. You shall not steal. You shall not speak false testimony. You shall not covet. And if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ¹⁰The love of neighbor does no harm. Therefore, love is the plenitude of the law.

¹Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, you also should be armed with the same intention. For he who suffers in the flesh desists from sin, ²so that now he may live, for the remainder of his time in the flesh, not by the desires of men, but by the will of God. ³For the time that has passed is sufficient to have fulfilled the will of the Gentiles, those who have walked in luxuries, lusts, intoxication, feasting, drinking, and the illicit worship of idols. ⁴About this, they wonder why you do not rush with them into the same confusion of indulgences, blaspheming. ⁵But they must render an account to him who is prepared to judge the living and the dead. ⁶For because of this, the Gospel was also preached to the dead, so that they might be judged, certainly, just like men in the flesh, yet also, so that they might live according to God, in the Spirit.

¹Most beloved, do not be willing to believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are of God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

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.

¹⁵You shall not do what is unjust, nor shall you judge unjustly. You shall not consider the reputation of the poor, nor shall you honor the countenance of the powerful. Judge your neighbor justly.

¹¹Rescue those who are led away to death. And do not cease from delivering those who are dragged away to a violent death.

³⁴But someone in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law honored by all the people, rose up and ordered the men to be put outside briefly.

¹⁶These ones are complaining murmurers, walking according to their own desires. And their mouth is speaking arrogance, admiring persons for the sake of gain.