Month: September 2022

5 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. ² Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. ⁴ Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.^[a]6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.

Albert Einstein

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

¹ Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.
² Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

³ How long will you assault me?
    Would all of you throw me down—
    this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
⁴ Surely they intend to topple me
    from my lofty place;
    they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
    but in their hearts they curse.^[b]

⁵ Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him.
⁶ Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God^[c];
    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
⁸ Trust in him at all times, you people;
    pour out your hearts to him,
    for God is our refuge.

⁹ Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
    the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
    together they are only a breath.
¹⁰ Do not trust in extortion
    or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
    do not set your heart on them.

¹¹ One thing God has spoken,
    two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
¹²     and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
    according to what they have done.”

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy life.

Teri Garr

¹¹ The rich are wise in their own eyes;
    one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.

¹² When the righteous triumph, there is great elation;
    but when the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding.

¹³ Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
    but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

¹⁴ Blessed is the one who always trembles before God,
    but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.

¹⁵ Like a roaring lion or a charging bear
    is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.

¹⁶ A tyrannical ruler practices extortion,
    but one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy a long reign.

¹⁷ Anyone tormented by the guilt of murder
    will seek refuge in the grave;
    let no one hold them back.

¹⁸ The one whose walk is blameless is kept safe,
    but the one whose ways are perverse will fall into the pit.^[a]

¹⁹ Those who work their land will have abundant food,
    but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.

²⁰ A faithful person will be richly blessed,
    but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

²¹ To show partiality is not good—
    yet a person will do wrong for a piece of bread.

²² The stingy are eager to get rich
    and are unaware that poverty awaits them.

²³ Whoever rebukes a person will in the end gain favor
    rather than one who has a flattering tongue.

²⁴ Whoever robs their father or mother
    and says, “It’s not wrong,”
    is partner to one who destroys.

²⁵ The greedy stir up conflict,
    but those who trust in the Lord will prosper.

²⁶ Those who trust in themselves are fools,
    but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.

²⁷ Those who give to the poor will lack nothing,
    but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.

²⁸ When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding;
    but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive.

Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy life.

Teri Garr

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Benjamin Franklin

³ A ruler^[a] who oppresses the poor
    is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.

⁴ Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked,
    but those who heed it resist them.

⁵ Evildoers do not understand what is right,
    but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.

⁶ Better the poor whose walk is blameless
    than the rich whose ways are perverse.

⁷ A discerning son heeds instruction,
    but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.

⁸ Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor
    amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor.

⁹ If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction,
    even their prayers are detestable.

¹⁰ Whoever leads the upright along an evil path
    will fall into their own trap,
    but the blameless will receive a good inheritance.

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Benjamin Franklin