Contentment

¹⁰Now I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances. ¹²I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. In any and every situation I have learned the secret of being filled and being hungry, of having plenty and having need. ¹³I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

⁶Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it. ⁸But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. ⁹Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” ⁶So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

⁷Two things I ask of You—do not refuse me before I die: ⁸Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion. ⁹Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.

¹A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. ²He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. ³He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name. ⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. ⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

¹³Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed Me judge or executor between you?” ¹⁵And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance. ¹⁷So he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ ²⁰But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’ ²¹This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.” ²²Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. ²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. ²⁴Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ²⁶So if you cannot do such a small thing, why do you worry about the rest? ²⁷Consider how the lilies grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. ²⁸If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith! ²⁹And do not be concerned about what you will eat or drink. Do not worry about it. ³⁰For the Gentiles of the world strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added unto you. ³²Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

¹⁰He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile. ¹¹When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes? ¹²The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep. ¹³There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, ¹⁴or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on. ¹⁵As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands. ¹⁶This too is a grievous affliction: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind? ¹⁷Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger. ¹⁸Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot. ¹⁹Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God. ²⁰For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

¹⁹Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ²²The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! ²⁴No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

³¹Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

¹⁶This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’” ¹⁷So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more, and some less. ¹⁸When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.

²Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments. ³He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. ¹⁰When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you. ¹¹Be careful not to forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments and ordinances and statutes, which I am giving you this day. ¹²Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell, ¹³and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹⁵He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint. ¹⁶He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper. ¹⁷You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.” ¹⁸But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.

⁵One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!” ⁶Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day. ⁷And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in. ⁸Your servant is here among the people You have chosen, a people too numerous to count or number. ⁹Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?” ¹⁰Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request. ¹¹So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this instead of requesting long life or wealth for yourself or death for your enemies—but you have asked for discernment to administer justice— ¹²behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been another like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³Moreover, I will give you what you did not request—both riches and honor—so that during all your days no man in any kingdom will be your equal. ¹⁴So if you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commandments, just as your father David did, I will prolong your days.”

²⁰Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, ²¹saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” ²²In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

⁹Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!” ¹⁰“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

⁵The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. ⁶The lines of my boundary have fallen in pleasant places; surely my inheritance is delightful.

¹⁶Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many who are wicked. ¹⁷For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.

¹A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water. ²So I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory. ³Because Your loving devotion is better than life, my lips will glorify You. ⁴So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift my hands. ⁵My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.

²³Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand. ²⁴You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory. ²⁵Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. ²⁶My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

¹⁰For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. ¹¹For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity. ¹²O LORD of Hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!

¹Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name. ²Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds— ³He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, ⁴who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion, ⁵who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁸Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. ⁹For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

¹A song of ascents. Of David. My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty. I do not aspire to great things or matters too lofty for me. ²Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. ³O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, both now and forevermore.

¹⁵The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season. ¹⁶You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

¹⁶Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil. ¹⁷Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.

⁸Better a little with righteousness than great gain with injustice.

¹Better a dry morsel in quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.

²³The fear of the LORD leads to life, that one may rest content, without visitation from harm.

⁴Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself. ⁵When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

⁶Better a poor man who walks with integrity than a rich man whose ways are perverse.

²⁴Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God. ²⁵For apart from Him, who can eat and who can find enjoyment? ²⁶To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live, ¹³and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor—this is the gift of God.

⁶Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.

⁷All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied. ⁸What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others? ⁹Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

²¹Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” ²²When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth. ²³Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

¹⁰The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” ¹¹John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.” ¹²Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” ¹³“Collect no more than you are authorized,” he answered. ¹⁴Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” “Do not take money by force or false accusation,” he said. “Be content with your wages.”

¹⁰Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with the belongings of another, who will give you belongings of your own? ¹³No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

¹³Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. ¹⁴But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.” ³¹Meanwhile the disciples urged Him, “Rabbi, eat something.” ³²But He told them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” ³³So the disciples asked one another, “Could someone have brought Him food?” ³⁴Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.

³⁵Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.

³³I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴You yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions. ³⁵In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison. ¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

¹⁰sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

⁷But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death, ¹¹and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

¹Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. ⁵Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

¹¹and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you. ¹²Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.

¹⁶Rejoice at all times. ¹⁷Pray without ceasing. ¹⁸Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

¹⁷Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy. ¹⁸Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share, ¹⁹treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

⁹The brother in humble circumstances should exult in his high position. ¹⁰But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field. ¹¹For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits. ¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.

¹What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? ²You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.

⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you. ⁷Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

²⁵Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ²⁸And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

⁹“I already have plenty, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what belongs to you.” ¹⁰But Jacob insisted, “No, please! If I have found favor in your sight, then receive this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing the face of God, since you have received me favorably. ¹¹Please accept my gift that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” So Jacob pressed him until he accepted.

¹⁷You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

⁶Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD. ⁷You have filled my heart with more joy than when grain and new wine abound. ⁸I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

⁸Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah ⁹Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor. ¹⁰Place no trust in extortion or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

³⁰A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

¹“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! ²Why 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.

²²Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. ²³They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! ²⁴“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”

¹⁷Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, ¹⁸yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! ¹⁹GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights! For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.

⁹But 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. ¹⁰That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

³⁴You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you yourselves had a better and permanent possession. ³⁵So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward. ³⁶You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.

¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

⁴⁴The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field. ⁴⁵Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. ⁴⁶When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it.

²⁰Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²²Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. ²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.

³⁸As they traveled along, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. ³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me!” ⁴¹“Martha, Martha,” the Lord replied, “you are worried and upset about many things. ⁴²But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”

³³In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.

³²He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?