Proverbs 3:28

And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men,

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.”

In his day you shall give him his wages, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor and sets his heart on it; lest he cry against you to Yahweh, and it be sin to you.

Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days.

not lagging in diligence; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain.” And, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”

“ ‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. “ ‘The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.

Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies.

For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?

For Sheol can’t praise you. Death can’t celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can’t hope for your truth.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.

redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice,

“You shall not steal.

“ ‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.

The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Don’t let him who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it off.’ ”

Haman also said, “Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.

As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, as a hireling who looks for his wages,

I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.

and he from within will answer and say, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you’?

or he who exhorts, to his exhorting; he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality.

Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.

For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

being approved by good works, if she has brought up children, if she has been hospitable to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, and if she has diligently followed every good work.

Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,

But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

“I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

It shall be that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and rush on the city. Behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then may you do to them as you shall find occasion.”

All the people arose as one man, saying, “None of us will go to his tent, neither will any of us turn to his house.

Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the bronze for the things of bronze, iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; also onyx stones, stones to be set, stones for inlaid work, of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

After him, Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning of the wall to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

for he is our God. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Today, oh that you would hear his voice!

“Surely I will not come into the structure of my house, nor go up into my bed;

Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won’t serve obscure men.

All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.

It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also don’t withdraw your hand from that; for he who fears God will come out of them all.

“This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’ ”

Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’

He said, “God’s Kingdom is as if a man should cast seed on the earth,

He answered them, “He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise.”

I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” ’

So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

But I say this, brothers: the time is short, that from now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none;

So we urged Titus, that as he had made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace.

Now may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, producing with his hands something that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.

preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all patience and teaching.

This saying is faithful, and concerning these things I desire that you affirm confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men;

But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.

Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it.

Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let’s go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!”

He said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” So the people departed.

Now set your heart and your soul to follow Yahweh your God. Arise therefore, and build the sanctuary of Yahweh God, to bring the ark of Yahweh’s covenant and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built for Yahweh’s name.”

He said to them, “Come again to me after three days.” So the people departed.

He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?”

if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life,

The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.

Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.

The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!”

Don’t exploit the poor, because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court;

Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor plan, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.

If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be.

In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand; for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good.

I have taken off my robe. Indeed, must I put it on? I have washed my feet. Indeed, must I soil them?

But the noble devises noble things; and he will continue in noble things.

For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it grow and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Yahweh says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.

“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and doesn’t give him his hire;

You shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.

The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Yahweh, until he comes and rains righteousness on you.

But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’ ”

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.

Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win.

I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight like that, not beating the air,

For if in anything I have boasted to him on your behalf, I was not disappointed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, so our glorying also which I made before Titus was found to be truth.

But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability.

for I know your readiness, of which I boast on your behalf to those of Macedonia, that Achaia has been prepared for the past year. Your zeal has stirred up very many of them.

But I have sent the brothers that our boasting on your behalf may not be in vain in this respect, that, just as I said, you may be prepared,

Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to share;

Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,