98 passages · Life and end
The Lord appears to Abraham as three men approach his tent. Abraham runs to welcome them and has Sarah and his servant prepare a generous meal.
Judah recounts the family's history and Jacob's attachment to Benjamin, then offers to stay as a slave so the boy can go home. He cannot bear to see his father's grief.
Israel must not oppress foreigners, widows, or orphans, since God hears their cry. Loans to the poor carry no interest and a cloak taken as pledge must be returned by sunset.
Israel is told not to spread false reports, follow the crowd in wrongdoing, or take bribes. Justice is owed to the poor and to foreigners, and they must help even an enemy's straying animal.
Lying about a deposit, stolen goods, or lost property, or extorting a neighbor, is treated as unfaithfulness to the LORD. The offender must repay in full plus a fifth, then bring a ram as a guilt offering.
Farmers are not to harvest to the edges of their fields or strip their vineyards bare. They are to leave gleanings for the poor and the foreigner.
This is a run of commands about honesty and justice: do not steal, lie, swear falsely, oppress workers, favor the rich or poor, slander, or hold hatred. The passage ends with 'love your neighbor as yourself.'
The Israelites are to honor the elderly, treat foreigners as native-born and love them as themselves, and use honest weights and measures. The LORD reminds them he brought them out of Egypt.
Seven weeks, fifty days, after the firstfruits sheaf, Israel is to offer two loaves of leavened bread with animal offerings as a sacred assembly. The passage ends by telling farmers to leave the edges of their fields for the poor and foreigners.
An Israelite who becomes destitute is to be supported like a resident foreigner and not charged interest or profit. God grounds this in having brought Israel out of Egypt.
Israel is told to return a brother's lost ox, sheep, donkey, or cloak, and to help lift a fallen animal, and not to ignore them.
A lender must not enter a borrower's house to take security but wait outside for him to bring it. If the pledge is a poor man's cloak, it must be returned by sunset so he can sleep in it.
Poor hired workers, whether Israelite or foreign, must be paid daily before sunset. Each person is punished only for his own sin, and justice must not be denied to foreigners, orphans, or widows, remembering Israel's slavery in Egypt.
At mealtime Boaz shares food with Ruth and quietly orders his men to leave extra stalks for her. She gleans until evening and gathers about an ephah of barley.
Saul orders Jonathan and his servants to kill David, but Jonathan warns David and speaks up for him. Saul swears David will not be killed, and David returns to court.
The people of Jabesh-gilead travel all night, take the bodies of Saul and his sons from Beth-shan, burn them and bury the bones under a tamarisk tree. They fast seven days.
Job says his friends are unreliable like seasonal streams that vanish in summer and disappoint thirsty caravans. He notes he never asked them for money or rescue, only for kindness.
Job sarcastically asks how his friends have helped the powerless and asks whose spirit spoke through them.
Job recalls being honored by young and old at the city gate. He says he earned this by rescuing the poor, the widow, the blind and the stranger.
Job protests that he wept for the needy, yet good hoped for brought evil. He ends in mourning, in pain and isolated among the outcasts of the wild.
Job says he has always shared food, clothing and help with the needy and never abused the fatherless. If he had, he says, he would deserve to lose his arm, since he fears God's judgment.
Job says he did not rejoice at an enemy's downfall or curse him, that he welcomed travelers, and that he did not hide sin from fear of what people thought.
The psalm begins by saying the person who cares for the poor is blessed. The LORD will protect, preserve, and sustain him even on a sickbed.
A series of short instructions: do good when you can, do not plot against or falsely accuse a neighbor, and do not envy violent people. The LORD opposes the perverse and favors the humble and upright.
Words can destroy or protect a neighbor, and a city thrives when the righteous do. A gossip betrays secrets, a nation needs guidance, and guaranteeing a stranger's debt brings harm.
A gracious person gains honor, and the kind benefit themselves while the cruel harm themselves. The LORD detests the perverse, and a beautiful woman without discretion is like a gold ring in a pig's snout.
The generous prosper and refresh others, while the one who withholds ends up poor. People curse someone who hoards grain but bless one who sells it.
The simple believe everything but the prudent think first, and a quick-tempered person acts foolishly. Despising a neighbor is sin, while showing kindness to the poor is a blessing.
An offended brother is harder to win than a fortified city. The tongue has the power of life and death, and finding a wife is a good thing, while a true friend sticks closer than a brother.
Do not rob the poor or crush the needy in court, since the LORD will take up their case. Avoid befriending angry people, avoid guaranteeing debts, and do not move ancient boundary stones.