⁷As for you, O son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word from My mouth and give them the warning from Me. ⁸If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood. ⁹But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from it, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

¹ Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. ²Blessed is the man whose iniquity the LORD does not count against him, in whose spirit there is no deceit. ³When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. ⁴For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat. Selah ⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah ⁶Therefore let all the godly pray to You while You may be found. Surely when great waters rise, they will not come near. ⁷You are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

¹ Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God. ²Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval. ⁴For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience. ⁶This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work. ⁷Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. ⁸ Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

¹ At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ²Jesus invited a little child to stand among them. ³“Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me. ⁶ But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. ⁷Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! ⁸If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. ¹⁰ See that you do not look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven. ^{11 12}What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? ¹³And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. ¹⁴In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. ¹⁵ If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ¹⁶But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ ¹⁷If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. ¹⁸Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹ Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.”

¹ It is good to praise the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High, ²to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning and Your faithfulness at night ³with the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre. ⁴For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds; I sing for joy at the works of Your hands. ⁵How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!