Then Abraham said, “{I was afraid.} I thought no one in this place respected God. I thought someone would kill me to get Sarah.
Nehemiah 5:9 - Easy To Read Version So I continued speaking. I said, “What you people are doing is not right! You know that you should fear and respect God. You should not do the shameful things other people do! Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies? Amplified Bible - Classic Edition Also I said, What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts and reproach of the nations, our enemies? American Standard Version (1901) Also I said, The thing that ye do is not good: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies? Common English Bible So I continued, “What you are doing isn’t good! Why don’t you walk in the fear of our God? This will prevent the taunts of the nations that are our enemies! Catholic Public Domain Version And I said to them: "The thing that you are doing is not good. Why are you not walking in the fear of our God, so that there may be no reproach against us from our enemies, the Gentiles? Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version And I said to them: The thing you do is not good. Why walk you not in the fear of our God, that we be not exposed to the reproaches of the Gentiles our enemies? |
Then Abraham said, “{I was afraid.} I thought no one in this place respected God. I thought someone would kill me to get Sarah.
After three days, Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man! Do this, and I will let you live.
But you did things that made the Lord’s enemies lose their respect for him! So your new baby son will die.”
\{Nehemiah prayed to God. He said,\} “Our God, listen to our prayer. Those men hate us. Sanballat and Tobiah are insulting us. Make those bad things happen to them. Make them ashamed, like people taken away as prisoners.
My men, my brothers, and I are also lending money and grain to the people. But let’s stop forcing them to pay interest on those loans!
But the governors that ruled before me made life hard for the people. Those governors forced every person to pay 1 pound {\cf2\super [17]} of silver. They also made those people give them food and wine. The leaders under those governors also ruled over the people \{and made life even harder\}. But I respected and feared God, so I didn’t do things like that.
No person really knows the full power\par of your anger, God.\par But God, our fear and respect for you\par is as great as your anger.\par
A troublemaker causes a lot of trouble for his friends. He will lead them in a way that is not good.
It is wrong to punish a person who has done nothing wrong. It is wrong to punish leaders when they are honest.
\{You must be fair in judging people.\} If you let guilty people go free then you are not being fair to good people.
Being excited about something is not enough. You must also know what you are doing. You should not rush into something or you will do it wrong.
But even in those other nations they ruined my good name. How? Those nations said, ‘These are the Lord’s people, but they left his land. \{So there must be something wrong with the Lord!\}’
Don’t charge him any interest {on money you might loan to him}. Respect your God, and let your brother [432] live with you.
The church (believers) everywhere in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. With the help of the Holy Spirit, {\cf2\super [196]} the group became stronger. The believers showed that they respected the Lord by the way they lived. Because of this, the group of believers grew larger and larger.
It is written in the Scriptures {\cf2\super [19]} : “The non-Jews say bad things about God because of you \{Jews\}.” {\cf2\super [20]}
So I want the younger widows to marry, have children, and take care of their homes. If they do this, then our enemy will not have any reason to criticize them.
They can teach the younger women to be wise and to be pure, to take care of their homes, to be kind, and to be willing to serve their husbands. Then no person will be able to criticize the teaching God gave us.
People who don’t believe are living all around you. Those people may say that you are doing wrong. So live good lives. Then they will see the good things you do, and they will give glory to God on that day when he comes.
Sons, don’t do these bad things. The Lord’s people are saying bad things about you.