For these are all things the heathen are in pursuit of, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need all this. But you must make his kingdom, and uprightness before him, your greatest care, and you will have all these other things besides.

But the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few that find it.

and do not take a bag for your journey, nor two shirts, nor shoes, nor a staff, for the workman deserves his food!

The blind are regaining their sight and the lame can walk, the lepers are being cured and the deaf can hear, the dead are being raised and good news is being preached to the poor.

"For it is just like a man who was going on a journey, and called in his slaves, and put his property in their hands.

In the evening a rich man named Joseph, from Arimathea, who had himself been a disciple of Jesus, came.

Is he not the carpenter, Mary's son, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And do not his sisters live here among us?"

And Jesus looked at him and loved him, and he said to him, "There is one thing that you lack. Go, sell all you have, and give the money to the poor, and then you will have riches in heaven; and come back and be a follower of mine."

but will receive now in this life a hundred times as much in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands, though not without persecution??nd in the coming age eternal life.

Then he fixed his eyes on his disciples, and said, "Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours!

and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them with their means.

Carry no purse nor wallet nor shoes, and do not stop to exchange civilities with anyone on the way.

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul will be demanded of you. Then who will have all you have prepared?' That is the way with the man who lays up money for himself, and is not rich with God."

So I tell you, make friends for yourselves with your ill-gotten wealth, so that when it fails, they may take you into the eternal dwellings.

"There was once a rich man, who used to dress in purple and fine linen, and to live in luxury every day.

Now there was a man named Zaccheus, the principal tax-collector, a rich man,

But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Master, "See, Master! I will give half my property to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay him four times as much." Jesus said to him, "Salvation has come to this house today, for he too is a descendant of Abraham.

So he said, "A nobleman once went to a distant country to secure his appointment to a kingdom and then return.

He said to them, "But now, if a man has a purse let him take it, and a bag too. And a man who has no sword must sell his coat and buy one.

For his disciples had gone into the town to buy some food.

But no one else at the table knew what he meant by telling him this,

The believers all shared everything they had with one another, and sold their property and belongings, and divided the money with all the rest, according to their special needs.

No one among them was in any want, for any who owned lands or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sale and put them at the disposal of the apostles; then they were shared with everyone in proportion to his need. read more. Joseph, a Levite, and a native of Cyprus, whom the apostles had named Barnabas, which means Son of Encouragement, sold a piece of land that belonged to him, and brought the proceeds and put them at the disposal of the apostles.

As long as it was unsold was it not yours, and after it was sold was not the money under your control? How could you think of doing such a thing? You did not lie to men but to God!"

He got the workmen in that and similar trades together, and said to them, "Men, you know that this business is the source of our prosperity,

Physical training is of some service, but religion is of service in every way, for it carries with it the promise of life here and hereafter.

But men who want to get rich fall into temptations and snares and many foolish, harmful cravings, that plunge people into destruction and ruin. For love of money is the root of all the evils, and in their eagerness to get rich, some men wander away from the faith and pierce themselves to the heart with many a pang.

Charge the rich of this world not to be arrogant, nor to set their hopes on such an uncertain thing as riches, but on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Charge them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, open-handed and generous, read more. storing up a valuable treasure for themselves for the future, so as to grasp the life that is life indeed.

My brothers, do you try to combine faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with acts of partiality? For if a finely dressed man with a gold ring comes into a meeting, and a poor man in shabby clothes comes in also, read more. and you pay attention to the man in the fine clothes and say to him, "Sit here; this is a good place!" and say to the poor man, "Stand up, or sit on the floor at my feet," have you not wavered and shown that your judgments are guided by base motives? Listen, my dear brothers. Has not God chosen the world's poor to be rich in faith, and to possess the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? But you humiliate the poor. Are not the rich your oppressors? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who slander the noble name you bear? If you really obey the supreme law where the Scripture says, "You must love your neighbor as you do yourself," you are doing right,

Come now, you rich people! weep aloud and howl over the miseries that are going to overtake you! Your wealth has rotted, your clothes are moth-eaten, read more. your gold and silver are rusted, and their rust will testify against you and eat into your very flesh, for you have stored up fire for the last days. Why, the wages you have withheld from the laborers who have reaped your harvests cry aloud, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. You have lived luxuriously and voluptuously here on earth; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.

Because you say, "I am rich, I have become wealthy, I need nothing," and you do not know that it is you that are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked,