“When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle ¹  before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death.

“And you, son of man, say to your people, ¹  ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels. ²  As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it. ³  The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness ⁴  if he sins.’ ⁵ 

(But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion; he can turn the darkness into morning and daylight ¹  into night. He summons the water of the seas and pours it out on the earth’s surface. The Lord is his name!

Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit. ¹ 

Stay there ¹  until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there. ²  Why should I lose both of you in one day?” ³ 

So the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered ¹  my servant Job? There ²  is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away ³  from evil.”

You have been the object of Israel’s hopes. You have saved them when they were in trouble. Why have you become like a resident foreigner ¹  in the land? Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?

The Lord says, “I will put a curse on people who trust in mere human beings, who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, ²  and whose hearts ³  have turned away from the Lord.

For the Son of Man will go as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for him if he had never been born.”

Another third of you will be stationed at the Foundation ¹  Gate. Still another third of you will be stationed at the gate behind the royal guard. ²  You will take turns guarding the palace. ³ 

The Lord protects those residing outside their native land; he lifts up the fatherless and the widow, ¹  but he opposes the wicked. ² 

The highway ¹  of the upright is to turn ²  away from evil; the one who guards ³  his way safeguards his life. ⁴ 

The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north; round and round ¹  the wind goes and on its rounds it returns. ² 

The Lord said to me, ¹  “Tell them, ‘The Lord says, Do people not get back up when they fall down? Do they not turn around when they go the wrong way? ² 

The people of Damascus will lose heart and turn to flee. Panic will grip them. Pain and anguish will seize them like a woman in labor.

For the Son of Man is to go just as it has been determined, ¹  but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”

See to it, ¹  brothers and sisters, ²  that none of you has ³  an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes ⁴  the living God. ⁵ 

For the eyes of the Lord are ¹  upon the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the Lord’s face is against those who do evil. ² 

They are illustrations of this true proverb: ¹  “A dog returns to its own vomit,” ²  and “A sow, after washing herself, ³  wallows in the mire.” ⁴ 

But if it was stolen ¹  from him, ²  he will pay its owner.