You will not harbor hatred
for your brother.
***
18
You will not exact vengeance on, or bear any sort of grudge
David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the
Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today. 33 Blessed
is your good judgment and blessed are you yourself. Today you have prevented me
from shedding blood…
Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying,
‘Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you
shall be clean.’ 11 But Naaman became angry and went away,
saying, ‘I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on
the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure
the leprosy! 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of
Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and
be clean?’ He turned and went away in a rage. 13 But
his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded
you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when
all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’ 14 So
he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the
word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy,
and he was clean.
Resentment kills the
senseless, and anger brings death to the fool.
Hatred provokes disputes,
but love excuses all offences.
Fools show their anger at once, but the
prudent ignore an insult.
One who is quick-tempered acts foolishly
Mastery of temper is high
proof of intelligence, a quick temper makes folly worse than ever.
A tranquil mind gives life to the body
The hot-headed provokes
disputes, the equable allays dissension.
Better an equable person than a hero, someone with self-mastery than one who takes a city.
As well unleash a flood as
start a dispute; desist before the quarrel breaks out.
He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool
spirit is a man of understanding.
A brother offended is
worse than a fortified city, and quarrels are like the locks of a keep.
Good sense makes for
self-control, and for pride in overlooking an offence.
It is praiseworthy to stop
short of a law-suit; only a fool flies into a rage.
Do not make friends with
one who gives way to anger, make no one quick-tempered a companion of yours, 25 for fear you learn such behavior and in it find a snare for yourself.
A city breached and left defenseless are
those who do not control their temper.
Charcoal for live embers,
wood for fire, and the quarrelsome for kindling strife.
The fool blurts out every
angry feeling, but the wise subdues and restrains them.
The hot-head provokes
disputes, someone in a rage commits all sorts of sins.
For as the churning of milk produces
curds, and the pressing of the nose produces blood, the churning of anger
produces strife.
Do not be too easily
exasperated, for exasperation dwells in the heart of fools.
The rage of the wicked cannot put him in
the right, for the weight of his rage is his downfall. 23
A patient person puts up with things until the right time comes: but his joy
will break out in the end. 24 Till the
time comes he keeps his thoughts to himself, and many a lip will affirm how
wise he is.
Do not argue with a
quick-tempered man, do not go with him where there are no other people, since
blood counts for nothing in his eyes, and where no help is to be had, he will
strike you down.
Resentment and anger, these are foul
things too, and a sinner is a master at them both.
Whoever exacts vengeance will experience
the vengeance of the Lord, who keeps strict account of sin.
2Pardon your neighbor any wrongs done to
you, and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven.
3If anyone nurses anger against another,
can one then demand compassion from the Lord?
4Showing no pity for someone like
oneself, can one then plead for one's own sins?
5Mere creature of flesh, yet cherishing
resentment!-who will forgive one for sinning?
6Remember the last things, and stop
hating, corruption and death, and be faithful to the commandments.
7Remember the commandments, and do not
bear your fellow ill-will, remember the covenant of the Most High, and ignore
the offence.
8Avoid quarrelling and you will sin less;
for the hot-tempered provokes quarrels
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they
will be called children of God.
But I say this to you,
anyone who is angry with a brother will answer for it before the court; anyone
who calls a brother "Fool" will answer for it before the Sanhedrin;
and anyone who calls him "Traitor" will answer for it in hell fire.
Come to terms with your
opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or
he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be
thrown into prison.
But I say this to you,
love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
And forgive us our debts,
as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
***
if you forgive others
their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours;15but if you do not forgive
others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.
But I say this to you who
are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you,
pray for those who treat you badly.
Never try to get revenge:
leave that, my dear friends, to the Retribution. As scripture says: Vengeance
is mine – I will pay them back, the Lord promises. 20And more: If your enemy is
hungry, give him something to eat; if thirsty, something to drink. By this, you
will be heaping red-hot coals on his head. 21Do not be mastered by evil, but master evil with good.
When self-indulgence is at
work the results are obvious… antagonisms and rivalry, jealousy, bad temper and
quarrels, disagreements… and all such things. And about these, I tell you now
as I have told you in the past, that people who behave in these ways will not
inherit the kingdom of God.
Any bitterness or bad
temper or anger or shouting or abuse must be far removed from you -- as must
every kind of malice. 32Be generous to one another, sympathetic, forgiving each other as
readily as God forgave you in Christ.
Bear with one another;
forgive each other if one of you has a complaint against another. The Lord has
forgiven you; now you must do the same.
James 1:19-20
Remember this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to listen but slow to speak and slow to human anger; 20God's saving justice is never served by human anger
Remember this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to listen but slow to speak and slow to human anger; 20God's saving justice is never served by human anger
No comments:
Post a Comment