Those who make fun of others stir up a city. But wise people turn anger away.

亵慢人煽惑通城；智慧人止息众怒。

傲慢人煽动全城；智慧人止息众怒。

傲慢人煽动全城；智慧人止息众怒。

狂徒煽动全城，智者平息众怒。

好讥笑人的煽动全城骚乱，智慧人却止息众怒。

讥讽者使城中骚动，智慧人使怒气转消。

褻慢人煽惑通城；智慧人止息眾怒。

傲慢人煽動全城；智慧人止息眾怒。

傲慢人煽動全城；智慧人止息眾怒。

狂徒煽動全城，智者平息眾怒。

好譏笑人的煽動全城騷亂，智慧人卻止息眾怒。

褻慢人噴吐怒火於城中；智慧人卻止息眾怒。

譏諷者使城中騷動，智慧人使怒氣轉消。

侮慢者鼓煽城邑、智慧者止息忿怒、

在彼城邑、強者謀叛、智者弭亂。

侮慢之人、煽惑闔城起爭端、智者能息人之忿怒、

Mockers stir up a city, but the wise turn away anger.

Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath.

Mockers can get a whole town agitated, but the wise will calm anger.

Mockers inflame a city, but the wise turn away anger.

Arrogant people inflame a city, But wise people turn away anger.

Scoffers set a city aflame, But wise men turn away wrath.

Scoffers set a city in a flame; But wise men turn away wrath.

Mockers inflame a city, but the wise turn away anger.

Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise[ men] turn away wrath.

Scornful people inflame a city, but those who are wise turn away wrath.

Mockers stir up a city, but wise men turn away anger.

The blessing of honest people builds up a city. But the words of sinners destroy it.

Then the Lord said to me,“ Suppose Moses and Samuel were standing in front of me. Even then my heart would not feel sorry for these people. Send them away from me! Let them go!

In the same way, the tongue is a small part of a person’s body. But it talks big. Think about how a small spark can set a big forest on fire.The tongue is also a fire. The tongue is the most evil part of the body. It makes the whole body impure. It sets a person’s whole way of life on fire. And the tongue itself is set on fire by hell.

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this. They asked,“ What? Are we blind too?”Jesus said,“ If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, you remain guilty.

Then once again I fell down flat in front of the Lord with my face toward the ground. I lay there for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn’t eat any food or drink any water. You had committed a terrible sin. You had done an evil thing in the Lord’ s sight. You had made him angry.I was afraid of the Lord’ s great anger. He was so angry with you he wanted to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me again.And he was so angry with Aaron he wanted to destroy him too. But at that time I prayed for Aaron.

Those who passed by shouted at Jesus and made fun of him. They shook their headsand said,“ So you are going to destroy the temple and build it again in three days? Then save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders made fun of him.“ He saved others,” they said.“ But he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross! Then we will believe in him.He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him. He’s the one who said,‘ I am the Son of God.’ ”

The Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets also forced us to leave. They do not please God. They are enemies of everyone.They try to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles. These Jews don’t want the Gentiles to be saved. In this way, these Jews always increase their sins to the limit. God’s anger has come on them at last.

An angry king can order your death. But a wise person will try to calm him down.

He stood between those alive and those dead. And the plague stopped.

The prayer offered by those who have faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will heal them. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.So confess your sins to one another. Pray for one another so that you might be healed. The prayer of a godly person is powerful. Things happen because of it.Elijah was a human being, just as we are. He prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain. And it didn’t rain on the land for three and a half years.Then he prayed again. That time it rained. And the earth produced its crops.

“ Phinehas is a priest. He is the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. Phinehas has turned my anger away from the Israelites. I am committed to making sure I am honored among them. And he is as committed as I am. So even though I was angry with them, I did not put an end to them.

The angel reached his hand out to destroy Jerusalem. But the Lord stopped sending the plague. So he spoke to the angel who was making the people suffer. He said,“ That is enough! Do not kill any more people.” The angel of the Lord was at Araunah’s threshing floor. Araunah was from the city of Jebus.David saw the angel who was striking down the people. David said to the Lord,“ I’m the one who has sinned. I’m the one who has done what is wrong. I’m like a shepherd for these people. These people are like sheep. What have they done? Let your judgment be on me and my family.”

Now leave me alone. I will destroy them because of my great anger. Then I will make you into a great nation.”But Moses asked the Lord his God to have mercy on the people.“ Lord,” he said,“ why should you destroy your people in anger? You used your great power and mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt.Why should the Egyptians say,‘ He brought them out to hurt them. He wanted to kill them in the mountains. He wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn away from your great anger. Please take pity on your people. Don’t destroy them!Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel. You made a promise to them in your own name. You said,‘ I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. I will give them all this land I promised them. It will belong to them forever.’ ”Then the Lord took pity on his people. He didn’t destroy them as he had said he would.

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.“ What can we do?” they asked.“ This man is performing many signs.If we let him keep on doing this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come. They will take away our temple and our nation.”One of the Jewish leaders spoke up. His name was Caiaphas. He was high priest at that time. He said,“ You don’t know anything at all!You don’t realize what is good for you. It is better if one man dies for the people than if the whole nation is destroyed.”

The locusts stripped the land clean. Then I cried out,“ Lord and King, forgive Israel! How can Jacob’s people continue? They are such a weak nation!”So the Lord had pity on them.“ I will let them continue for now,” he said.The Lord and King gave me a second vision. He was using fire to punish his people. It dried up the deep waters. It burned the land up.Then I cried out,“ Lord and King, please stop! How can Jacob’s people continue? They are such a weak nation!”So the Lord had pity on them.“ I will let them continue for now,” the Lord and King said.

“ I looked for someone among them who would stand up for Jerusalem. I tried to find someone who would pray to me for the land. Then I would not have to destroy it. But I could not find anyone who would pray for it.

Listen to the Lord’ s message, you who make fun of the truth. Listen, you who rule over these people in Jerusalem.You brag,“ We have entered into a covenant with the place of the dead. We have made an agreement with the grave. When a terrible plague comes to punish us, it can’t touch us. That’s because we depend on lies to keep us safe. We hide behind what isn’t true.”So the Lord and King speaks. He says,“ Look! I am laying a stone in Zion. It is a stone that has been tested. It is the most important stone for a firm foundation. The one who depends on that stone will never be shaken.I will use a measuring line to prove that you have not been fair. I will use a plumb line to prove that you have not done what is right. Hail will sweep away the lies you depend on to keep you safe. Water will flood your hiding place.Your covenant with death will be called off. The agreement you made with the place of the dead will not stand. When the terrible plague comes to punish you, you will be struck down by it.As often as it comes, it will carry you away. Morning after morning, day and night, it will come to punish you.” If you understand this message, it will bring you absolute terror.You will be like someone whose bed is too short to lie down on. You will be like those whose blankets are too small to wrap themselves in.The Lord will rise up to judge, just as he did at Mount Perazim. He will get up to act, just as he did in the Valley of Gibeon. He’ll do his work, but it will be strange work. He’ll carry out his task, but it will be an unexpected one.Now stop making fun of me. If you don’t, your chains will become heavier. The Lord who rules over all has spoken to me. The Lord has told me he has ordered that the whole land be destroyed.