studying the bible

¹⁶All Scripture, having been divinely inspired, is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in justice, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be perfect, having been trained for every good work.

⁸The book of this law shall not depart from your mouth. Instead, you shall meditate upon it, day and night, so that you may observe and do all the things that are written in it. Then you shall direct your way and understand it.

¹⁴Yet truly, you should remain in those things which you have learned and which have been entrusted to you. For you know from whom you have learned them. ¹⁵And, from your infancy, you have known the Sacred Scriptures, which are able to instruct you toward salvation, through the faith which is in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture, having been divinely inspired, is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in justice, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be perfect, having been trained for every good work.

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths.

¹¹I have hidden your eloquence in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.

¹⁵Be solicitous in the task of presenting yourself before God as a proven and unashamed worker who has handled the Word of Truth correctly.

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.

¹⁵But sanctify Christ the Lord in your hearts, being always ready to give an explanation to all who ask you the reason for that hope which is in you.

¹⁸Place these words of mine in your hearts and minds, and hang them as a sign on your hands, and arrange them between your eyes. ¹⁹Teach your sons to meditate on them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down or rise up. ²⁰You shall write them upon the doorposts and the gates of your house, ²¹so that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your sons, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, that he would give it to them for as long as heaven is suspended above the earth. ²²For if you keep the commandments which I am entrusting to you, and if you do them, so that you love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, clinging to him, ²³the Lord will scatter all these nations before your face, and you shall possess them, though they are greater and stronger than you.

¹⁸Reveal to my eyes, and I will consider the wonders of your law.

²And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.

¹¹But these were more noble than those who were at Thessalonica. They received the Word with all enthusiasm, daily examining the Scriptures to see if these things were so.

¹²For the Word of God is living and effective: more piercing than any two-edged sword, reaching to the division even between the soul and the spirit, even between the joints and the marrow, and so it discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

⁹By what does an adolescent correct his way? By keeping to your words.

¹¹Be clothed in the armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the treachery of the devil. 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. ¹³Because of this, take up the armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand the evil day and remain perfect in all things. ¹⁴Therefore, stand firm, having been girded about your waist with truth, and having been clothed with the breastplate of justice, ¹⁵and having feet which have been shod by the preparation of the Gospel of peace. ¹⁶In all things, take up the shield of faith, with which you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one.

²²So be doers of the Word, and not listeners only, deceiving yourselves.

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