Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things.

Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected, because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, . . .

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. . . .

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.

Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.

Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”

Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

And I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.

Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

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. Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For 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. For 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. Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience. . . .

The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more. For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God; . . .

Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work,

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying.

Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

Abstain from every form of evil.

For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face, that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric. For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ. . . .

“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose! Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”

This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will stir up against Babylon and against the people of Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer. I will send strangers to Babylon to winnow her and empty her land; for they will come against her from every side in her day of disaster. Do not let the archer bend his bow or put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; devote all her army to destruction! And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and pierced through in her streets. For Israel and Judah have not been abandoned by their God, the LORD of Hosts, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.” . . .

They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all. Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD. This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’

Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. Furthermore, they did not repent of their murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and theft.

No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

Even as the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking, and he shows everyone that he is a fool. If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest. There is an evil I have seen under the sun—an error that proceeds from the ruler: Folly is appointed to great heights, but the rich sit in lowly positions. I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves. . . .

Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing beer,

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.

From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.

Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued or given to much wine or greedy for money.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.”

The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind, and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you. You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit. Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will save you. Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand. . . .

“Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,

Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent, laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind. He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants. He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved. . . .

But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”

But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Those 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.

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses.

Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.

A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed. They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men. . . .

When Israel departed from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue, Judah became God’s sanctuary, and Israel His dominion. The sea observed and fled; the Jordan turned back; the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back, . . .