27 (A)Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: (B)to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, (C)and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

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16 “Wash(A) yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
(B)Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke [a]the oppressor;
[b]Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 1:17 Some ancient vss. the oppressed
  2. Isaiah 1:17 Vindicate

17 But (A)whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

18 My little children, (B)let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we [a]know (C)that we are of the truth, and shall [b]assure our hearts before Him.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 John 3:19 NU shall know
  2. 1 John 3:19 persuade, set at rest

And (A)let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap (B)if we do not lose heart. 10 (C)Therefore, as we have opportunity, (D)let us do good to all, (E)especially to those who are of the household of faith.

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And (A)do not be conformed to this world, but (B)be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may (C)prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

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34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, (A)inherit the kingdom (B)prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 (C)for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; (D)I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was (E)naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; (F)I was in prison and you came to Me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, (G)inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, (H)‘Depart from Me, you cursed, (I)into the everlasting fire prepared for (J)the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

44 “Then they also will answer [a]Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, (K)inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And (L)these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 25:44 NU, M omit Him

Do Not Love the World

15 (A)Do not love the world or the things in the world. (B)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, (C)the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And (D)the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

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Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To (A)loose the bonds of wickedness,
(B)To undo the [a]heavy burdens,
(C)To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
Is it not (D)to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are [b]cast out;
(E)When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from (F)your own flesh?

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:6 Lit. bonds of the yoke
  2. Isaiah 58:7 wandering

[a]Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that (A)friendship with the world is enmity with God? (B)Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

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Footnotes

  1. James 4:4 NU omits Adulterers and

But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and (A)to repay their parents; for this is [a]good and acceptable before God.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Timothy 5:4 NU, M omit good and

15 (A)Did not He who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

16 “If I have kept the poor from their desire,
Or caused the eyes of the widow to (B)fail,
17 Or eaten my morsel by myself,
So that the fatherless could not eat of it
18 (But from my youth I reared him as a father,
And from my mother’s womb I guided [a]the widow);
19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or any poor man without covering;
20 If his [b]heart has not (C)blessed me,
And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

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Footnotes

  1. Job 31:18 Lit. her
  2. Job 31:20 Lit. loins

12 Because (A)I delivered the poor who cried out,
The fatherless and the one who had no helper.
13 The blessing of a perishing man came upon me,
And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

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Meditations on the Excellencies of the Word of God

א ALEPH

119 Blessed are the [a]undefiled in the way,
(A)Who walk in the law of the Lord!

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 119:1 blameless

Not Carnality but Christ

If then you were (A)raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, (B)where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the (C)earth. (D)For you died, (E)and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

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And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

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(A)A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.

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17 But (A)the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, (B)without partiality (C)and without hypocrisy.

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Now (A)the purpose of the commandment is love (B)from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from [a]sincere faith,

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Timothy 1:5 Lit. unhypocritical

Knowing the True—Rejecting the False

18 We know that (A)whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God (B)keeps[a] [b]himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 John 5:18 guards
  2. 1 John 5:18 NU him

For (A)whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that (B)has overcome the world—[a]our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but (C)he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

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Footnotes

  1. 1 John 5:4 M your

23 (A)Your princes are rebellious,
And (B)companions of thieves;
(C)Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They (D)do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.

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For (A)in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but (B)faith working through love.

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14 I have given them Your word; (A)and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, (B)just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but (C)that You should keep them from the evil one.

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14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the (A)cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by [a]whom the world has been crucified to me, and (B)I to the world.

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 6:14 Or which, the cross

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