The one who lacks wisdom ¹  strikes hands in pledge, ²  and puts up financial security ³  for his neighbor. ⁴ 

Do not make friends with an angry person, ¹  and do not associate with a wrathful person,

Dear friends, if God so loved us, then ¹  we also ought to love one another. ² 

But you, dear friends – recall the predictions ¹  foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ² 

Suppose your own full brother, ¹  your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods ²  that neither you nor your ancestors ³  have previously known, ⁴ 

Haman’s ¹  wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet ²  high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented.” ³  It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.

When Job’s three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country ²  – Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. ³  They met together ⁴  to come to show sympathy ⁵  for him and to console ⁶  him.

For the Lord says, ‘I will make both you and your friends terrified of what will happen to you. ¹  You will see all of them die by the swords of their enemies. ²  I will hand all the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will carry some of them away into exile in Babylon and he will kill others of them with the sword.

I tell you, even though the man inside ¹  will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s ²  sheer persistence ³  he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

He ¹  said also to the man ²  who had invited him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, ³  don’t invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors so you can be invited by them in return and get repaid.

but he answered ¹  his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave ²  for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet ³  you never gave me even a goat ⁴  so that I could celebrate with my friends!

then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself, ¹  because you have fallen into your neighbor’s power: ²  go, humble yourself, ³  and appeal firmly ⁴  to your neighbor.

Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.

But ¹  Jesus ²  did not permit him to do so. Instead, he said to him, “Go to your home and to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, ³  that he had mercy on you.”

I ¹  hear many whispering words of intrigue against me. Those who would cause me terror are everywhere! ²  They are saying, “Come on, let’s publicly denounce him!” ³  All my so-called friends ⁴  are just watching for something that would lead to my downfall. ⁵  They say, “Perhaps he can be enticed into slipping up, so we can prevail over ⁶  him and get our revenge on him.

The other man said, ¹  “Without a doubt this symbolizes ²  the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God is handing Midian and all the army over to him.”

You cause those who know me to keep their distance; you make me an appalling sight to them. I am trapped and cannot get free. ¹ 

So a decree went out, and the wise men were about ¹  to be executed. They also sought ²  Daniel and his friends so that they could be executed.

but (because they assumed that he was in their group of travelers) ¹  they went a day’s journey. Then ²  they began to look for him among their relatives and acquaintances. ³ 

So then, my brothers and sisters, ¹  dear friends whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand in the Lord in this way, my dear friends!