The Orthodox Study Bible

For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.

You, our God, are kind, true, patient, And govern all things in mercy. 2 For even if we sin, we belong to You and know Your might; But we will not sin, Because we know that we are counted as belonging to You. 3 For to know You is complete righteousness, And to know Your might is the root of immortality.†

6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

she took off the garment of her widowhood To exalt those afflicted in Israel, And anointed her face with perfume, 8 And bound her hair with a headband, And put on a linen garment to entice him. 9 Her sandals caught his eyes, Her beauty captured his mind, And the sword slashed his neck.

Psalm 108 (109) 1For the End; a psalm by David.†ω O God, do not pass over my praise in silence, 2 For the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful man opened against me; They spoke against me with a deceitful tongue; 3 And they surrounded me with words of hatred, And warred against me without cause. 4 Instead of loving me, they falsely accused me, But I continued to pray; 5 So they repaid me evil for good, And hatred for my love. 6 Set a sinner over him, And let the devil stand at his right hand. 7 And when he is judged, may he go forth condemned, And let his prayer become sin. 8 Let his days be very few, And may a different man receive his office; 9 Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow; 10 Let his children wander about and be beggars; Let them be cast out of their houses. 11 Let the creditor search out whatever possessions he has; Let strangers plunder his labors; 12 Let there be no helper for him, Nor a compassionate one for his fatherless children; 13 Let his children be utterly destroyed; In a single generation, let his name be blotted out. 14 May the lawlessness of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, And may the sin of his mother not be blotted out; 15 Let them be continually before the Lord, And may the remembrance of them be utterly destroyed from the earth, 16 Because he did not remember to show mercy, But persecuted a poor and needy man, And one pierced to the heart, that he might kill him. 17 And he loved cursing, and it came to him, And he did not desire blessing, so it shall be far from him. 18 So he clothed himself with cursing like a garment, And it entered like water into his bowels And like oil into his bones; 19 Let it be for him like a garment that clothes him, And like a belt that girds him continually. 20 This is the work of those who falsely accuse me before the Lord, And of those who speak evil things against my soul. 21 But You, O Lord, O Lord, deal mercifully with me for Your name's sake, For Your mercy is good. 22 Save me, for I am poor and needy, And my heart is troubled within me. 23 I was removed like a shadow when it declines; I was shaken off like the locusts. 24 My knees were weak from fasting, And my flesh was changed because of the oil. 25 And I became an object of reproach to them; They saw me; they shook their heads. 26 Help me, O Lord my God; Save me according to Your mercy; 27 Then let them know this is Your hand, And You, O Lord, did this. 28 They themselves shall curse, but You shall bless; Let those who rise up against me be put to shame, But let Your servant be glad. 29 Let those who falsely accuse me be clothed with shame, And let them be covered with their dishonor like a double cloak. 30 I will give thanks to the Lord abundantly with my mouth, And in the midst of many I will praise Him, 31 Because He stood at the right hand of a poor man, To save me from those who persecute my soul.

10 For if wisdom comes into your mind, And the perception in your soul seems to be good, 11 Then good counsel will guard you, And holy thinking will keep you; 12 That it might rescue you from an evil way And from a man who speaks nothing trustworthy. 13 Woe to those who forsake the paths of uprightness So they may walk in the ways of darkness, 14 Who delight in evils And rejoice in evil perversion, 15 Whose ways are crooked And their paths devious, 16 So they may cause you to be far from the straight way And a stranger to righteous judgment.

Where there are no oxen, the stalls are clean, But where there are abundant crops, the strength of an ox is evident.

Do not remove the eternal landmarks,

10 All flesh of men without discernment grievously suffers many things, For their illusion is brought to nothing. 11 As when a dog returns to his own vomit and becomes despicable, So is a man without discernment who returns to his own evil by his own sin. 12 There is shame that brings on sin, And there is shame that is glory and grace.

O Lord our God, if during this day I have sinned, whether in word or deed or thought, forgive me all, for You are good and love mankind. Grant me peaceful and undisturbed sleep, and deliver me from all influence and temptation of the evil one. Raise me up again in proper time that I may glorify You; for You are blessed with Your Only-begotten

There is a precise cleverness which itself is unjust; And there is one who is offensive that justice may be revealed.

Proving by fire is a way of testing for silver and gold, But a man is tested by the mouth of those who praise him.

Forgive a wrong done you by your neighbor; Then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.

21And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.

6You will seek wisdom in the company of evil men, and you will not find it; But perception is easily found with the discerning.

23 I will sow her to Myself on the earth, And will love her that was not loved, And will say to that which was not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are the Lord my God!

A hasty quarrel kindles a fire, And a vigorous quarrel sheds blood. 12 If you blow on a spark, it will kindle a fire, But if you spit on it, it will be quenched; Yet both come out of your mouth.

These forty-nine God-inspired Old Testament books divided into four sections—books of the Law, of History, of Wisdom, and of Prophecy—which

Weep for a dead man, for he left the light behind; But weep over a fool, for he left intelligence behind.

disgracing a friend will break up a friendship. 21 If you draw a sword against a friend, Do not despair, for a restoration of friendship is possible. 22 If you open your mouth against a friend, Do not worry, for reconciliation is possible.

25 The mark of a heart filled with goodness is a cheerful face,

31“Behold, days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not abide in My covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord. 33“For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will surely put My laws into their mind and write them on their hearts. I will be as God to them, and they shall be as My people.† 34Each shall not teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their wrongdoings, and I will no longer remember their sins.† 35“Though the sky should be raised to a greater height,” says the Lord, “and though the ground of the earth should be sunk lower beneath, yet I would not reject the family of Israel,” says the Lord, “for all they have done.” 36Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun as a light by day, and the moon and the stars as a light by night; and who makes the sea roar so its waves make a crashing sound. The Lord Almighty is His name. 37“If these laws cease from before Me,” says the Lord, “the family of Israel shall also cease to be a nation before Me forever.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible.” These opening words of the Nicene Creed, the central doctrinal statement of Christianity, affirm that the One True God is the source of everything that exists—both physical and spiritual, both animate and inanimate. The Holy Scriptures begin with a similarly striking assertion: “In the beginning God made heaven and begin with a similarly striking earth.” St. Basil the Great declares:

When a rich man speaks, everyone is silent, And they exalt his word to the clouds. A poor man speaks, and they say, “Who is this man?” And if he stumbles, they push him down even further.

14:21-24 Abraham showed his complete detachment from earthly wealth, because (1) he knew that God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth (v. 22) had given him everything he possessed, and (2) he loved God supremely, and not the wealth God gave him. He also loved his neighbor as himself, for he saw to the needs of Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Thus, Abraham was, so to speak, heaven-bound. The king of Sodom, on the other hand, was earthbound. Faithful people follow Abraham's example.

according to Alamoth; 21Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to direct with harps on the Sheminith; 22Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the music because he was skillful; 23Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark; 24Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God; and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark. The Ark Is Moved to Jerusalem 25With joy David and the elders of Israel and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom.† 26And so it was, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they offered seven bulls and seven rams.† 27David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.† 28Thus all of Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the horn, with trumpets and cymbals, making music with stringed instruments and harps. 29And it happened, as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the City of David, that Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out through a window and saw King David dancing and playing music; and she despised him in her heart.

because of Adam’s sin, but because of our own sin. However, because all of mankind fell away from the grace of God through Adam’s disobedience, man now has a propensity, a disposition, an inclination towards sin,

For as His majesty is, so is His mercy.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men's hands; 13 They have a mouth, but they shall not speak; They have eyes, but they shall not see; 14 They have ears, but they shall not hear; They have noses, but they shall not smell; 15 They have hands, but they shall not feel; They have feet, but they shall not walk; They shall make no sound with their throats. 16 May those who make them become like them, And all who trust in them.