Leviticus 20, Psalm 25, Ecclesiastes 3, 1 Timothy 5

Leviticus 20,

1 The LORD said to Moses,
 
2 "Say to the Israelites: 'Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him.
 
3 I will set my face against that man and I will cut him off from his people; for by giving his children to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.
 
4 If the people of the community close their eyes when that man gives one of his children to Molech and they fail to put him to death,
 
5 I will set my face against that man and his family and will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech.
 
6 " 'I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.
 
7 " 'Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
 
8 Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
 
9 " 'If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head.
 
10 " 'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife-with the wife of his neighbor-both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
 
11 " 'If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
 
12 " 'If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.
 
13 " 'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
 
14 " 'If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that no wickedness will be among you.
 
15 " 'If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal.
 
16 " 'If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
 
17 " 'If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off before the eyes of their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.
 
18 " 'If a man lies with a woman during her monthly period and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them must be cut off from their people.
 
19 " 'Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father, for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible.
 
20 " 'If a man sleeps with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.
 
21 " 'If a man marries his brother's wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.
 
22 " 'Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.
 
23 You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.
 
24 But I said to you, "You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations.
 
25 " 'You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground-those which I have set apart as unclean for you.
 
26 You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
 
27 " 'A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.' "

Psalm 25,

1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
 
2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
 
3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.
 
4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;
 
5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
 
6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.
 
7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.
 
8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
 
9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
 
10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
 
11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
 
12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.
 
13 He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.
 
14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.
 
15 My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.
 
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
 
17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish.
 
18 Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.
 
19 See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me!
 
20 Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
 
21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you.
 
22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

Ecclesiastes 3,

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
 
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
 
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
 
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
 
9 What does the worker gain from his toil?
 
10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men.
 
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
 
12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.
 
13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-this is the gift of God.
 
14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
 
15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.
 
16 And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment-wickedness was there, in the place of justice-wickedness was there.
 
17 I thought in my heart, "God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed."
 
18 I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.
 
19 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath ; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless.
 
20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.
 
21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?"
 
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

1 Timothy 5

1 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers,
 
2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
 
3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.
 
4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.
 
5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help.
 
6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.
 
7 Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame.
 
8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
 
9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband,
 
10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
 
11 As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry.
 
12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge.
 
13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.
 
14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.
 
15 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
 
16 If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.
 
17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
 
18 For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."
 
19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses.
 
20 Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.
 
21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.
 
22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
 
23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
 
24 The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them.
 
25 In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.