and constant bickering by people corrupted in their minds and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness ¹  is a way of making a profit.

Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams ¹  should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder, ² 

Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, said, “My lord should not say, ‘They have killed all the young men who are the king’s sons.’ For only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has talked about ¹  from the day that Amnon ²  humiliated his sister Tamar.

¹ Moses answered again, ²  “And if ³  they do not believe me or pay attention to me, ⁴  but say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?”

Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, ¹  and they both ²  bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife.

But while John was completing his mission, ¹  he said repeatedly, ²  ‘What do you think I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet!’ ³ 

How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for ¹  the Son of God, and profanes ²  the blood of the covenant that made him holy, ³  and insults the Spirit of grace?

Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that

if you should see among them ¹  an attractive woman whom you wish to take as a wife,

If controversy arises between people, ¹  they should go to court for judgment. When the judges ²  hear the case, they shall exonerate ³  the innocent but condemn ⁴  the guilty.

“Or suppose I were to bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through the land,’ and I were to kill both people and animals.

“Or suppose I were to send a plague into that land, and pour out my rage on it with bloodshed, killing both people and animals.

Suppose I say to the wicked, ‘You must certainly die,’ but he turns from his sin and does what is just and right.

“Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. ¹ 

And do you think, ¹  whoever you are, when you judge ²  those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, ³  that you will escape God’s judgment?

Because of the impending crisis I think it best for you to remain as you are.

For if someone ¹  comes into your assembly ²  wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes,

Suppose he goes with someone else ¹  to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax ²  to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose ³  from the handle and strikes ⁴  his fellow worker ⁵  so hard that he dies. The person responsible ⁶  may then flee to one of these cities to save himself. ⁷ 

“Has anyone said to God, ‘I have endured chastisement, ¹  but I will not act wrongly any more.

Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains, and a path for the rumble of thunder,