19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
    it takes away the life of those who get it.(A)

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27 The greedy bring ruin to their households,
    but the one who hates bribes will live.(A)

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In their greed(A) these teachers will exploit you(B) with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

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19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!(A)

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“Woe to him who builds(A) his house by unjust gain,(B)
    setting his nest(C) on high
    to escape the clutches of ruin!

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14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce(A) the unstable;(B) they are experts in greed(C)—an accursed brood!(D) 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam(E) son of Bezer,[a] who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 2:15 Greek Bosor

Warning to Rich Oppressors

Now listen,(A) you rich people,(B) weep and wail(C) because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.(D) Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.(E) Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers(F) who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries(G) of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.(H)

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not given to drunkenness,(A) not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome,(B) not a lover of money.(C)

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10 who build(A) Zion with bloodshed,(B)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.(C)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(D)
    her priests teach for a price,(E)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(F)
Yet they look(G) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”(H)
12 Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,(I)
    the temple(J) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(K)

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Human Plans and God’s Plans

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
    to those who plot evil(A) on their beds!(B)
At morning’s light they carry it out
    because it is in their power to do it.
They covet fields(C) and seize them,(D)
    and houses, and take them.
They defraud(E) people of their homes,
    they rob them of their inheritance.(F)

Therefore, the Lord says:

“I am planning disaster(G) against this people,
    from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,(H)
    for it will be a time of calamity.

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17 “But your eyes and your heart
    are set only on dishonest gain,(A)
on shedding innocent blood(B)
    and on oppression and extortion.”(C)

18 Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:

“They will not mourn(D) for him:
    ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’
They will not mourn for him:
    ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
19 He will have the burial(E) of a donkey—
    dragged away and thrown(F)
    outside the gates of Jerusalem.”

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13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:(A)

wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,

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Do not crave his delicacies,(A)
    for that food is deceptive.

Saying 8

Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
    do not trust your own cleverness.

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39 if I have devoured its yield without payment(A)
    or broken the spirit of its tenants,(B)

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20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord(A) lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

21 So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

22 “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent[a] of silver and two sets of clothing.’”(B)

23 “By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 24 When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.

25 When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”

“Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.

26 But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time(C) to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves?(D) 27 Naaman’s leprosy(E) will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi(F) went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 5:22 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms

11 Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike(A) him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels[a] of silver and a warrior’s belt.(B)

12 But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels[b] were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.[c] 13 And if I had put my life in jeopardy[d]—and nothing is hidden from the king(C)—you would have kept your distance from me.”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 18:11 That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams
  2. 2 Samuel 18:12 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms
  3. 2 Samuel 18:12 A few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts may be translated Absalom, whoever you may be.
  4. 2 Samuel 18:13 Or Otherwise, if I had acted treacherously toward him

Those who want to get rich(A) fall into temptation and a trap(B) and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money(C) is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith(D) and pierced themselves with many griefs.(E)

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