The Bible, quoted
in its own voices.

Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme, or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do well. For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Live as free people, yet not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous. The LORD knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil. In the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish. The enemies of the LORD shall be like the beauty of the fields. They will vanish— vanish like smoke. The wicked borrow, and don’t pay back, but the righteous give generously. For such as are blessed by him shall inherit the land. Those who are cursed by him shall be cut off. A man’s steps are established by the LORD. He delights in his way. Though he stumble, he shall not fall, for the LORD holds him up with his hand.

“Say to your brothers, ‘My people!’ and to your sisters, ‘My loved one!’ Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked, and make her bare as in the day that she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and kill her with thirst. Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy, for they are children of unfaithfulness. For their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; for she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ Therefore behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, that she can’t find her way.

This testimony is true. For this cause, reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim this word there, and say, ‘Hear the LORD’s word, all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.’”

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Psalm by Asaph. A song.

We give thanks to you, God. We give thanks, for your Name is near. Men tell about your wondrous works. When I choose the appointed time, I will judge blamelessly. The earth and all its inhabitants quake. I firmly hold its pillars. Selah. I said to the arrogant, “Don’t boast!” I said to the wicked, “Don’t lift up the horn. Don’t lift up your horn on high. Don’t speak with a stiff neck.”

“Daughter, cheer up. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

“‘Therefore the Lord GOD says: “Because you have spoken falsehood and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you,” says the Lord GOD. “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who utter lying divinations. They will not be in the council of my people, neither will they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither will they enter into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.” “‘Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, “Peace;” and there is no peace. When one builds up a wall, behold, they plaster it with whitewash. Tell those who plaster it with whitewash that it will fall. There will be an overflowing shower; and you, great hailstones, will fall. A stormy wind will tear it. Behold, when the wall has fallen, won’t it be said to you, “Where is the plaster with which you have plastered it?”

“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple. Those who regard vain idols forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to the LORD.” Then the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.

Then Daniel went to his house and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret, that Daniel and his companions would not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his.