One Year Bible.

Warnings against Foolishness

¹My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,

if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,

²if you have been trapped by the words of your lips,

ensnared by the words of your mouth,

³then do this, my son, to free yourself,

for you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:

Go, humble yourself,

and press your plea with your neighbor.

⁴Allow no sleep to your eyes

or slumber to your eyelids.

⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

⁶Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker;

observe its ways and become wise.

⁷Without a commander,

without an overseer or ruler,

⁸it prepares its provisions in summer;

it gathers its food at harvest.

⁹How long will you lie there, O slacker?

When will you get up from your sleep?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest,

¹¹and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and need like a bandit.

¹²A worthless person, a wicked man,

walks with a perverse mouth,

¹³winking his eyes, speaking with his feet,

and pointing with his fingers.

¹⁴With deceit in his heart he devises evil;

he continually sows discord.

¹⁵Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.

¹⁶There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:

¹⁷haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸a heart that devises wicked schemes,

feet that run swiftly to evil,

¹⁹a false witness who gives false testimony,

and one who stirs up discord among brothers.

Warnings against Adultery

²⁰My son, keep your father’s commandment,

and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

²¹Bind them always upon your heart;

tie them around your neck.

²²When you walk, they will guide you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

when you awake, they will speak to you.

²³For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light,

and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,

²⁴to keep you from the evil woman,

from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

²⁵Do not lust in your heart for her beauty

or let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶For the levy of the prostitute is poverty,

and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

²⁷Can a man embrace fire

and his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Can a man walk on hot coals

without scorching his feet?

²⁹So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;

no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰Men do not despise the thief

if he steals to satisfy his hunger.

³¹Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold;

he must give up all the wealth of his house.

³²He who commits adultery lacks judgment;

whoever does so destroys himself.

³³Wounds and dishonor will befall him,

and his reproach will never be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy enrages a husband,

and he will show no mercy in the day of vengeance.

³⁵He will not be appeased by any ransom,

or persuaded by lavish gifts.

Walking by the Spirit

¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.

⁹You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

Heirs with Christ

¹²Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption to sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ — if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Future Glory

¹⁸I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. ²³Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. ²⁷And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

God Works in All Things

²⁸And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.

³¹What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things? ³³Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God— and He is interceding for us.

More than Conquerors

³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶As it is written:

“For Your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Imitators of God

¹Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, ²and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

³But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed. ⁴Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. ⁷Therefore do not be partakers with them.

Children of Light

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, ⁹for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. ¹⁰Test and prove what pleases the Lord.

¹¹Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself. ¹⁴So it is said:

“Wake up, O sleeper,

rise up from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

¹⁹Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Wives and Husbands

²¹Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²²Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her ²⁶to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

²⁸In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. ³⁰For we are members of His body.

³¹“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³²This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church. ³³Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Children and Parents

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ²“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), ³“that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”

⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Serving with Honor

⁵Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. ⁶And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. ⁷Serve with good will, as to the Lord and not to men, ⁸because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

⁹And masters, do the same for your slaves. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.

The Full Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

¹³Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints. ¹⁹Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.

Final Greetings

²¹Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know about me and what I am doing. ²²I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about us, and that he may encourage your hearts.

²³Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.