18 (A)A hot-tempered man (B)stirs up strife,
    but he who is (C)slow to anger quiets contention.

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21 As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
    so is (A)a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

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15 (A)A soft answer turns away wrath,
    but (B)a harsh word stirs up anger.

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“Blessed are (A)the peacemakers, for (B)they shall be called (C)sons[a] of God.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 5:9 Greek huioi; see Preface

22 (A)A man of wrath stirs up strife,
    and one given to anger causes much transgression.

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29 Whoever is (A)slow to anger has great understanding,
    but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

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If the anger of the ruler rises against you, (A)do not leave your place,
    (B)for calmness[a] will lay great offenses to rest.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 10:4 Hebrew healing

Hearing and Doing the Word

19 (A)Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person (B)be quick to hear, (C)slow to speak, (D)slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

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28 (A)A dishonest man spreads strife,
    and (B)a whisperer (C)separates close friends.

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12 Hatred stirs up strife,
    but (A)love covers all offenses.

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25 A greedy man (A)stirs up strife,
    but the one who trusts in the Lord will (B)be enriched.

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14 But if you have bitter (A)jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not (B)the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, (C)demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

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Then Abram said to Lot, (A)“Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, (B)for we are kinsmen.[a] (C)Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 13:8 Hebrew we are men, brothers

Seven Chosen to Serve

Now in these days (A)when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists[a] arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in (B)the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. (C)Therefore, brothers,[b] pick out from among you seven men (D)of good repute, (E)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But (F)we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, (G)a man full of faith and (H)of the Holy Spirit, and (I)Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, (J)a proselyte of Antioch.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 6:1 That is, Greek-speaking Jews
  2. Acts 6:3 Or brothers and sisters

15 With (A)patience a ruler may be persuaded,
    and a soft tongue will break a bone.

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43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have (A)ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” (B)But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

The Rebellion of Sheba

20 Now there happened to be there (C)a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said,

(D)“We have no portion in David,
and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;
(E)every man to his tents, O Israel!”

24 She fell at his feet and said, (A)“On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25 Let not my lord regard (B)this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal[a] is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26 Now then, my lord, (C)as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because (D)the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from (E)saving with your own hand, now then (F)let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now let this (G)present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord (H)a sure house, because my lord (I)is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies (J)he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince[b] over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord (K)working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

32 And David said to Abigail, (L)“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, (M)who have kept me this day from bloodguilt (N)and from working salvation with my own hand! 34 For as surely (O)as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, (P)who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, (Q)“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”

36 And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, (R)he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart (S)was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing (T)at all until the morning light. 37 In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And about ten days later (U)the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.

39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, (V)“Blessed be the Lord who has (W)avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, (X)and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. (Y)The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent and (Z)spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” 41 And she rose (AA)and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

43 David also took Ahinoam of (AB)Jezreel, (AC)and both of them became his wives. 44 Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 25:25 Nabal means fool
  2. 1 Samuel 25:30 Or leader

Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

(A)Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not (B)the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? (C)God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” (D)Then their anger[a] against him subsided when he said this.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 8:3 Hebrew their spirit

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