serving the lord

²⁴No one is able to serve two masters. For either he will have hatred for the one, and love the other, or he will persevere with the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

¹⁴And you have said, “What have we spoken against you?” You have said, “He labors in vain who serves God,” and, “What advantage is it that we have kept his precepts, and that we have walked sorrowfully in the sight of the Lord of hosts?” ¹⁵Now, therefore, we call the arrogant blessed, as if those who work impiety have been built up, and as if they have tempted God and been saved. ¹⁶Then those who fear the Lord spoke, each one with his neighbor. And the Lord paid attention and heeded. And a book of remembrance was written in his sight, for those who fear the Lord and for those who consider his name. ¹⁷And they will be my special possession, says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I act. And I will spare them, just as a man spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸And you shall be converted, and you will see the difference between the just and the impious, and between those who serve God and those who do not serve him.

¹⁵But if it seems evil to you that you would serve the Lord, a choice is given to you. Choose today what pleases you, and whom you ought to serve above all else, either the gods that your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

¹My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart guard my precepts. ²For they shall set before you length of days, and years of life, and peace. ³Let not mercy and truth abandon you: encircle them around your throat, and inscribe them on the tablets of your heart. ⁴And so shall you discover grace and good discipline, in the sight of God and men. ⁵Have confidence in the Lord with all your heart, and do not depend upon your own prudence. ⁶In all your ways, consider him, and he himself will direct your steps.

²⁸even as the Son of man has not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a redemption for many.”

³⁴Jesus said to them: “My food is to do the will of the One who sent me, so that I may perfect his work.

¹“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ²Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he will take away. And each one that does bear fruit, he will cleanse, so that it may bring forth more fruit. ³You are clean now, because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide in me, and I in you. Just as the branch is not able to bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so also are you unable, unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without me, you are able to do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not abide in me, he will be cast away, like a branch, and he will wither, and they will gather him and cast him into the fire, and he burns.

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.

³Jesus responded and said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one has been reborn anew, he is not able to see the kingdom of God.”

⁴⁵So, too, the Son of man has not come so that they would minister to him, but so that he would minister and would give his life as a redemption for many.”

⁵⁸And so, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and unmovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not useless in the Lord.

²⁶Let us not become desirous of empty glory, provoking one another, envying one another.