Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence,
    and do not claim a place among his great men;
it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here,”(A)
    than for him to humiliate you before his nobles.

What you have seen with your eyes

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Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men:

For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

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Psalm 112[a]

Praise the Lord.[b](A)

Blessed are those(B) who fear the Lord,(C)
    who find great delight(D) in his commands.

Their children(E) will be mighty in the land;
    the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches(F) are in their houses,
    and their righteousness endures(G) forever.
Even in darkness light dawns(H) for the upright,
    for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.(I)
Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,(J)
    who conduct their affairs with justice.

Surely the righteous will never be shaken;(K)
    they will be remembered(L) forever.
They will have no fear of bad news;
    their hearts are steadfast,(M) trusting in the Lord.(N)
Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;(O)
    in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.(P)
They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,(Q)
    their righteousness endures(R) forever;
    their horn[c] will be lifted(S) high in honor.

10 The wicked will see(T) and be vexed,
    they will gnash their teeth(U) and waste away;(V)
    the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.(W)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 112:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the lines of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
  2. Psalm 112:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah
  3. Psalm 112:9 Horn here symbolizes dignity.

112 Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.

Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.

He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.

His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.

He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.

10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.

Concluding Exhortations

13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.(A) Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers,(B) for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.(C) Continue to remember those in prison(D) as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Marriage should be honored by all,(E) and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.(F) Keep your lives free from the love of money(G) and be content with what you have,(H) because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.”[a](I)

So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?”[b](J)

Remember your leaders,(K) who spoke the word of God(L) to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate(M) their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 13:5 Deut. 31:6
  2. Hebrews 13:6 Psalm 118:6,7

13 Let brotherly love continue.

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

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15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice(A) of praise—the fruit of lips(B) that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others,(C) for with such sacrifices(D) God is pleased.

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15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

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Jesus at a Pharisee’s House(A)

14 One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee,(B) he was being carefully watched.(C)

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14 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.

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When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table,(A) he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”(B)

12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,(C) 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”(D)

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And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them.

When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

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