The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down into the person's innermost being.

Beatings and wounds cleanse away evil, and floggings cleanse the innermost being.

Deliver those being taken away to death, and hold back those slipping to the slaughter.

The words of a gossip are like delicious morsels; they go down into a person's innermost being.

Surely I am more brutish than any other human being, and I do not have human understanding;

Why do you insist on being battered? Why do you continue to rebel? Your head has a massive wound, your whole body is weak.

Your land is devastated, your cities burned with fire. Right before your eyes your crops are being destroyed by foreign invaders. They leave behind devastation and destruction.

Stop trusting in human beings, whose life's breath is in their nostrils. For why should they be given special consideration?

The leaders of this nation were misleading people, and the people being led were destroyed.

There is a loud noise on the mountains -- it sounds like a large army! There is great commotion among the kingdoms -- nations are being assembled! The Lord who commands armies is mustering forces for battle.

I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold, and people more scarce than gold from Ophir.

So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, my inner being sighs for Kir Hareseth.

All you who live in the world, who reside on the earth, you will see a signal flag raised on the mountains; you will hear a trumpet being blown.

All your leaders ran away together -- they fled to a distant place; all your refugees were captured together -- they were captured without a single arrow being shot.

The Egyptians are mere humans, not God; their horses are made of flesh, not spirit. The Lord will strike with his hand; the one who helps will stumble and the one being helped will fall. Together they will perish.

I will do this so people will observe and recognize, so they will pay attention and understand that the Lord's power has accomplished this, and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being."

A carpenter takes measurements; he marks out an outline of its form; he scrapes it with chisels, and marks it with a compass. He patterns it after the human form, like a well-built human being, and puts it in a shrine.

Now they come into being, not in the past; before today you did not hear about them, so you could not say, 'Yes, I know about them.'

"I, I am the one who consoles you. Why are you afraid of mortal men, of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass?

But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.

"Israel is not a slave, is he? He was not born into slavery, was he? If not, why then is he being carried off?

"I thought to myself, 'Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! What a joy it would be for me to give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!' I thought you would call me, 'Father' and would never cease being loyal to me.

But I am not really the one being troubled!" says the Lord. "Rather they are bringing trouble on themselves to their own shame!

So," the Lord God says, "my raging fury will be poured out on this land. It will be poured out on human beings and animals, on trees and crops. And it will burn like a fire which cannot be extinguished."

The snorting of the enemy's horses is already being heard in the city of Dan. The sound of the neighing of their stallions causes the whole land to tremble with fear. They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it! They are coming to destroy the cities and everyone who lives in them!"

My heart is crushed because my dear people are being crushed. I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay.

Gather your belongings together and prepare to leave the land, you people of Jerusalem who are being besieged.

The Lord says, "I will put a curse on people who trust in mere human beings, who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, and whose hearts have turned away from the Lord.

Lord, you coerced me into being a prophet, and I allowed you to do it. You overcame my resistance and prevailed over me. Now I have become a constant laughingstock. Everyone ridicules me.

Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets: My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed. I tremble all over. I am like a drunk person, like a person who has had too much wine, because of the way the Lord and his holy word are being mistreated.

For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own. So how can you possibly avoid being punished? You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the Lord who rules over all, affirm it!'

However, Ahikam son of Shaphan used his influence to keep Jeremiah from being handed over and executed by the people.

Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin. He wanted to make sure he got his share of the property that was being divided up among his family there.

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah after Nebuzaradan the captain of the royal guard had set him free at Ramah. He had taken him there in chains along with all the people from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried off to exile to Babylon.

Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns that were around them. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it," says the Lord.

"Hazor will become a permanent wasteland, a place where only jackals live. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it."

I will destroy Babylonia just like I did Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it," says the Lord.

In the fire were what looked like four living beings. In their appearance they had human form,

Their wings were spread out above them; each had two wings touching the wings of one of the other beings on either side and two wings covering their bodies.

In the middle of the living beings was something like burning coals of fire or like torches. It moved back and forth among the living beings. It was bright, and lightning was flashing out of the fire.

The living beings moved backward and forward as quickly as flashes of lightning.

Then I looked, and I saw one wheel on the ground beside each of the four beings.

When the living beings moved, the wheels beside them moved; when the living beings rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up too.

Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel.

When the living beings moved, the wheels moved, and when they stopped moving, the wheels stopped. When they rose up from the ground, the wheels rose up from the ground; the wheels rose up beside them because the spirit of the living being was in the wheel.

Over the heads of the living beings was something like a platform, glittering awesomely like ice, stretched out over their heads.

Under the platform their wings were stretched out, each toward the other. Each of the beings also had two wings covering its body.

For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel --

and the sound of the living beings' wings brushing against each other, and the sound of the wheels alongside them, a great rumbling sound.

The cherubim rose up; these were the living beings I saw at the Kebar River.

When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when they rose up, the wheels rose up with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

"'As for the prophet, if he is made a fool by being deceived into speaking a prophetic word -- I, the Lord, have made a fool of that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.

"Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply, cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals.

The desolate land will be plowed, instead of being desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by.

Wherever human beings, wild animals, and birds of the sky live -- he has given them into your power. He has given you authority over them all. You are the head of gold.

Let his mind be altered from that of a human being, and let an animal's mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time go by for him.

This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels; this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones, so that those who are alive may understand that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, and he bestows them on whomever he wishes. He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings.'

"The first one was like a lion with eagles' wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind was given to it.

Then one who appeared to be a human being was touching my lips. I opened my mouth and started to speak, saying to the one who was standing before me, "Sir, due to the vision, anxiety has gripped me and I have no strength.

Then the one who appeared to be a human being touched me again and strengthened me.

Many will be purified, made clean, and refined, but the wicked will go on being wicked. None of the wicked will understand, though the wise will understand.

O Samaria, he has rejected your calf idol! My anger burns against them! They will not survive much longer without being punished, even though they are Israelites!

The punishment of Ephraim has been decreed; his punishment is being stored up for the future.

They sound like chariots rumbling over mountain tops, like the crackling of blazing fire consuming stubble, like the noise of a mighty army being drawn up for battle.

"For look, I am giving a command and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations. It will resemble a sieve being shaken, when not even a pebble falls to the ground.

Be silent in the Lord's presence, all people everywhere, for he is being moved to action in his holy dwelling place.

You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.'

After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back by another route to their own country.

But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the regions of Galilee.

You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?

Now as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?

that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, may serve him without fear,

Then he began to tell them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read."

As he approached the town gate, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother (who was a widow), and a large crowd from the town was with her.

People were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage -- right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

He was trying to get a look at Jesus, but being a short man he could not see over the crowd.

For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, 'And he was counted with the transgressors.' For what is written about me is being fulfilled."

John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming to him and being baptized.

When a woman gives birth, she has distress because her time has come, but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the suffering because of her joy that a human being has been born into the world.

Jesus replied, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here."

praising God and having the good will of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved.

And a man lame from birth was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called "the Beautiful Gate" every day so he could beg for money from those going into the temple courts.

if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man -- by what means this man was healed --

A crowd of people from the towns around Jerusalem also came together, bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits. They were all being healed.

Then the commander of the temple guard went with the officers and brought the apostles without the use of force (for they were afraid of being stoned by the people).

Now in those days, when the disciples were growing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Hebraic Jews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

When he saw one of them being hurt unfairly, Moses came to his defense and avenged the person who was mistreated by striking down the Egyptian.

Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Look, there is water! What is to stop me from being baptized?"

He saw heaven opened and an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down to earth by its four corners.

"I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me.

So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number every day.

For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause we can give to explain this disorderly gathering."

The next day, because the commanding officer wanted to know the true reason Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole council to assemble. He then brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

When Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, "We have experienced a lengthy time of peace through your rule, and reforms are being made in this nation through your foresight.

Then Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and he himself intended to go there shortly.

When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and a violent storm continued to batter us, we finally abandoned all hope of being saved.

When the fourteenth night had come, while we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected they were approaching some land.

But they encountered a patch of crosscurrents and ran the ship aground; the bow stuck fast and could not be moved, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves.

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

For just as it is written, "the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."