And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”? – as some who slander us allege that we say. ¹  (Their ²  condemnation is deserved!)

If others receive this right from you, are we not more deserving? But we have not made use of this right. Instead we endure everything so that we may not be a hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

And if the ear says, “Since I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, ¹  so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil. ² 

To me – less than the least of all the saints ¹  – this grace was given, ²  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it? But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God. ¹ 

We will take ten of every group of a hundred men from all the tribes of Israel (and a hundred of every group of a thousand, and a thousand of every group of ten thousand) to get supplies for the army. ¹  When they arrive in Gibeah of Benjamin they will punish them for the atrocity which they committed in Israel.” ² 

But David said to Achish, “What have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day that I first came into your presence until the present time, that I shouldn’t go and fight the enemies of my lord the king?”

After all, there was no one in the entire house of my grandfather ¹  who did not deserve death from my lord the king. But instead you allowed me to eat at your own table! ²  What further claim do I have to ask ³  the king for anything?”

‘“Know for sure that I saw the shed blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday,” says the Lord, “and that I will give you what you deserve right here in this plot of land,” ¹  says the Lord.’ So now pick him up and throw him into this plot of land, just as the Lord said.” ² 

Let us acknowledge ¹  our shame. Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve. ²  For we have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our ancestors. From earliest times to this very day we have not obeyed the Lord our God.’

“When you tell these people about all this, ¹  they will undoubtedly ask you, ‘Why has the Lord threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the Lord our God?’

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation ¹  which you profaned among the nations where you went.

The Lord has issued a decree against you: ¹  “Your dynasty will come to an end. ²  I will destroy the idols and images in the temples of your gods. I will desecrate ³  your grave – because you are accursed!” ⁴ 

But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? ¹  Then they paid attention ²  and confessed, ‘The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”

“A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects ¹  his master. If I am your ²  father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’

So ¹  Jesus went with them. When ²  he was not far from the house, the centurion ³  sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, ⁴  for I am not worthy ⁵  to have you come under my roof.

Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death ¹  of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal, ²  leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”