And God
saw that
the wickedness
of man
was great
in the earth,
and
that every imagination
of the thoughts
of his heart
was only evil continually.
And it
repented
the LORD that
he had made man
on the earth,
and it
grieved him
at his heart.
And the LORD said,
I will destroy man whom
I have created
from the face
of the earth;
both man,
and beast,
and the creeping thing,
and the fowls
of the air;
for it
repenteth me that
I have made them.
But Noah
found
grace in the eyes
of the LORD.
The earth
also was
corrupt
before God,
and the earth
was filled
with violence.
And God
looked
upon the earth,
and,
behold,
it was corrupt;
for all flesh
had corrupted
his way
upon the earth.
And God
said
unto Noah,
The end
of all flesh
is come
before me;
for the earth
is filled
with violence
through them;
and,
behold,
I will destroy them
with the earth.
And the LORD
smelled a sweet savour;
and the LORD
said
in his heart,
I will not again curse
the ground any more
for man's sake;
for the imagination
of man's heart
is evil
from his youth;
neither will
I again smite
any more every thing living,
as I
have done.
He found him
in a desert land,
and
in the waste howling wilderness;
he led him about,
he instructed him,
he kept him
as the apple
of his eye.
Shall
mortal man
be more just
than God?
shall a man
be more pure
than his maker?
Behold,
he put
no trust
in his servants;
and his angels
he charged
with folly:
How much less
in them that
dwell in houses
of clay,
whose foundation
is in the dust,
which are crushed
before the moth?
I know it
is so
of a truth:
but how should man
be just
with God?
If he
will contend with him,
he cannot answer him one
of a thousand.
If I
justify myself,
mine
own
mouth
shall condemn me:
if I say,
I am perfect,
it shall also prove me perverse.
If I
be wicked,
why then
labour I in vain?
If I
wash myself
with snow water,
and make
my hands
never so clean;
Yet shalt thou
plunge me
in the ditch,
and mine
own clothes
shall abhor me.
For vain men
would be wise,
though man
be born like
a wild ass's colt.
Who can bring
a clean thing
out of an unclean?
not one.
What is man,
that he
should be clean?
and he which
is born
of a woman,
that he
should be righteous?
Behold,
he putteth
no trust
in his saints;
yea,
the heavens
are not
clean
in his sight.
How much more abominable
and filthy
is man,
which drinketh
iniquity like water?
How then
can man
be justified
with God?
or how can
he be
clean
that is born
of a woman?
Behold even
to the moon,
and it
shineth not;
yea,
the stars
are not pure
in his sight.
How much less man,
that is a worm?
and the son
of man,
which is a worm?
For there is no faithfulness
in their mouth;
their inward part
is very wickedness;
their throat
is an open sepulchre;
they flatter
with their tongue.
The fool
hath said
in his heart,
There is no God.
They are corrupt,
they have done
abominable works,
there is none
that doeth good.
The LORD
looked down
from heaven
upon the children
of men,
to see
if there were
any that
did understand,
and seek God.
They are all gone aside,
they are all
together become filthy:
there is none
that doeth good,
no,
not one.
Behold,
I was
shapen
in iniquity;
and in sin
did my mother
conceive me.
The fool
hath said
in his heart,
There is no God.
Corrupt are they,
and have done
abominable iniquity:
there is none
that doeth good.
God looked down
from heaven
upon the children
of men,
to see
if there were
any that
did understand,
that did seek God.
Every one
of them is gone back:
they are altogether become filthy;
there is none
that doeth good,
no,
not one.
Do ye
indeed speak
righteousness,
O congregation?
do ye
judge uprightly,
O ye sons
of men?
Yea,
in heart
ye work wickedness;
ye weigh the violence
of your hands in the earth.
The wicked
are estranged
from the womb:
they go astray
as soon as they
be born,
speaking lies.
Their poison
is like
the poison
of a serpent:
they are like
the deaf adder
that stoppeth her ear;
Which will not hearken to the voice
of charmers,
charming never
so wisely.
The LORD
knoweth
the thoughts
of man,
that they
are vanity.
If thou,
LORD,
shouldest mark
iniquities,
O Lord,
who shall stand?
And enter not
into judgment
with thy servant:
for in thy sight
shall no man
living
be justified.
The tongue
of the just is
as choice silver:
the heart
of the wicked
is little worth.
Most men
will proclaim every one
his own goodness:
but a faithful man
who can find?
Who can say,
I have made
my heart clean,
I am pure
from my sin?
The way of man
is
froward
and strange:
but
as for the pure,
his work is right.
For there is not a
just man
upon earth,
that doeth good,
and sinneth not.
Because
sentence
against an evil work
is not executed speedily,
therefore the heart
of the sons
of men
is fully set
in them to do evil.
This is
an evil among all
things
that are done
under the sun,
that there is one event
unto all:
yea,
also the heart
of the sons
of men
is
full of evil,
and madness
is in their heart
while they live,
and after that
they go
to the dead.
Why should
ye be stricken any more?
ye will revolt
more
and more:
the whole head
is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
From the sole
of the foot
even unto the head
there is no soundness in it;
but wounds,
and bruises,
and putrifying sores:
they have not been closed,
neither bound
up,
neither
mollified
with ointment.
I the LORD
have called thee
in righteousness,
and will hold
thine hand,
and will keep thee,
and give thee
for a covenant
of the people,
for a light
of the Gentiles;
To open the blind eyes,
to bring
out the prisoners
from the prison,
and them that sit
in darkness
out of the prison house.
Bring forth
the blind people
that have eyes,
and the deaf that
have ears.
Yea,
thou heardest not;
yea,
thou knewest not;
yea,
from that time
that thine ear
was not opened:
for I
knew that thou
wouldest deal
very treacherously,
and wast called
a transgressor
from the womb.
Hearken to me,
ye that
follow
after righteousness,
ye that
seek
the LORD:
look
unto the rock
whence ye
are hewn,
and to the hole
of the pit
whence ye
are digged.
All we like sheep
have gone astray;
we have turned every one
to his own way;
and the LORD
hath laid
on him the iniquity
of us all.
But
we are all
as an unclean thing,
and all
our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags;
and
we all do fade
as a leaf;
and our iniquities,
like the wind,
have taken us away.
For though thou
wash thee
with nitre,
and take
thee much soap,
yet thine iniquity
is marked
before me,
saith the Lord GOD.
Wherefore will
ye plead
with me?
ye all have
transgressed against me,
saith the LORD.
As a fountain
casteth out her waters,
so she
casteth out her wickedness:
violence
and spoil
is heard in her;
before me
continually is grief
and wounds.
Can the Ethiopian
change his skin,
or the leopard
his spots?
then may
ye also do good,
that are accustomed
to do evil.
And
ye have done worse
than your fathers;
for,
behold,
ye walk every one
after the imagination
of his evil heart,
that they
may not hearken unto me:
The heart
is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked:
who can know it?
And
when I
passed
by thee,
and saw thee polluted
in thine own blood,
I said unto thee
when thou
wast in thy blood,
Live;
yea,
I said unto thee
when thou
wast in thy blood,
Live.
Then will
I sprinkle
clean
water upon you,
and
ye shall be clean:
from all your filthiness,
and
from all your idols,
will
I cleanse you.
A new heart
also will
I give you,
and a new spirit
will
I put within you:
and
I will take away
the stony heart
out of your flesh,
and I
will give
you an heart
of flesh.
The hand
of the LORD
was upon me,
and carried
me out
in the spirit
of the LORD,
and set me down
in the midst
of the valley
which was full of bones,
And caused me
to pass
by them round about:
and,
behold,
there were very many
in the open valley;
and,
lo,
they were very dry.
And
he said unto me,
Son of man,
can these bones live?
And I answered,
O Lord GOD,
thou knowest.
But
they like men
have transgressed
the covenant:
there have
they
dealt treacherously against me.
Who is wise,
and
he shall understand
these things?
prudent,
and
he shall know them?
for the ways
of the LORD
are right,
and the just shall walk
in them:
but the transgressors
shall fall therein.
The good man
is perished
out of the earth:
and there is none upright
among men:
they all lie
in wait
for blood;
they hunt every man
his brother
with a net.
That they
may do evil
with both hands earnestly,
the prince asketh,
and the judge
asketh for a reward;
and the great man,
he uttereth his mischievous desire:
so they
wrap it up.
The best
of them is as a brier:
the most upright
is sharper than
a thorn hedge:
the day
of thy watchmen
and thy visitation cometh;
now shall be
their perplexity.
Even so every good tree
bringeth forth good fruit;
but a corrupt
tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
O generation
of vipers,
how can ye,
being evil,
speak good things?
for out of the abundance
of the heart
the mouth speaketh.
A good man
out of the good treasure
of the heart
bringeth forth good things:
and
an evil man
out of the evil treasure
bringeth forth evil things.
For out of the heart
proceed evil thoughts,
murders,
adulteries,
fornications,
thefts,
false witness,
blasphemies:
For from within,
out of the heart
of men,
proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries,
fornications,
murders,
Thefts,
covetousness,
wickedness,
deceit,
lasciviousness,
an evil eye,
blasphemy,
pride,
foolishness:
All these evil things
come from within,
and defile
the man.
To give
light to them
that sit
in darkness
and in the shadow
of death,
to guide our feet
into the way
of peace.
He was in the world,
and the world
was made by him,
and the world
knew him not.
He came
unto his own,
and his own
received him not.
And this
is the condemnation,
that light
is come
into the world,
and men
loved
darkness rather than light,
because
their deeds were evil.
And
he said unto them,
Ye are from beneath;
I am from above:
ye are of this world;
I am not
of this world.
Even the Spirit
of truth;
whom
the world
cannot receive,
because
it seeth him not,
neither knoweth him:
but ye
know him;
for he
dwelleth with you,
and shall be
in you.
For I
perceive that thou art
in the gall
of bitterness,
and in the bond
of iniquity.
Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man,
whosoever
thou art
that judgest:
for wherein
thou judgest
another,
thou condemnest thyself;
for thou
that judgest
doest the same things.
What then?
are we
better than they?
No,
in no wise:
for we
have before proved both Jews
and Gentiles,
that they
are all
under sin;
As it is written,
There is none righteous,
no,
not one:
There is none
that understandeth,
there is none
that seeketh after God.
They are all gone
out of the way,
they are
together become unprofitable;
there is none
that doeth good,
no,
not one.
Their throat
is an open sepulchre;
with their tongues
they have used
deceit;
the poison
of asps
is under their lips:
Whose mouth
is full of cursing
and bitterness:
Their feet
are swift
to shed blood:
Destruction
and misery
are in their ways:
And the way
of peace
have
they not known:
There is
no fear
of God
before their eyes.
Now we
know that
what things soever
the law saith,
it saith to them
who are under the law:
that every mouth
may be stopped,
and all
the world
may become guilty
before God.
For all have sinned,
and come short
of the glory
of God;
For when
we were yet
without strength,
in due time
Christ
died
for the ungodly.
Wherefore,
as by one man
sin entered
into the world,
and death
by sin;
and so death
passed
upon all men,
for that
all have sinned:
(For
until the law
sin
was in the world:
but sin
is not imputed
when there is
no law.
Nevertheless
death
reigned
from Adam
to Moses,
even over them
that had not sinned
after the similitude
of Adam's transgression,
who is
the figure
of him that
was to come.
Knowing this,
that our old man
is crucified with him,
that the body
of sin
might be destroyed,
that henceforth
we should not serve sin.
I speak
after the manner
of men
because
of the infirmity
of your flesh:
for as ye
have yielded
your members servants
to uncleanness
and to iniquity
unto iniquity;
even so now yield
your members servants
to righteousness
unto holiness.
For when
ye were the servants
of sin,
ye were
free
from righteousness.
For when
we were in the flesh,
the motions
of sins,
which were by the law,
did work
in our members
to bring forth fruit
unto death.
For sin,
taking occasion
by the commandment,
deceived me,
and by it
slew me.
Was
then that which
is good made death
unto me?
God forbid.
But sin,
that it
might appear sin,
working death
in me by
that which
is good;
that sin
by the commandment
might become
exceeding sinful.
For we
know
that the law
is spiritual:
but I
am carnal,
sold under sin.
For that
which I
do
I allow not:
for what I would,
that do I not;
but what I hate,
that do I.
For I
know that in me
(that is,
in my flesh,)
dwelleth no good thing:
for to
will is
present with me;
but
how to perform
that which
is good
I find not.
For the good
that I
would
I do not:
but the evil
which I
would not,
that I do.
Now
if I
do that
I would not,
it is
no more I that
do it,
but sin
that dwelleth in me.
I find
then a law,
that,
when
I would do good,
evil is
present with me.
But I
see
another law
in my members,
warring
against the law
of my mind,
and bringing me
into captivity
to the law
of sin which
is in my members.
I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So then
with the mind
I myself
serve
the law
of God;
but with the flesh
the law of sin.
For they
that
are after the flesh
do mind
the things
of the flesh;
but they
that are after the Spirit
the things
of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded
is death;
but
to be spiritually minded
is life
and peace.
Because
the carnal mind
is enmity
against God:
for it
is not subject to
the law of God,
neither indeed can be.
So then
they
that are in the flesh
cannot please God.
For if ye
live
after the flesh,
ye shall die:
but
if ye
through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds
of the body,
ye shall live.
For God
hath concluded them all
in unbelief,
that he
might have mercy
upon all.
But the natural man
receiveth not
the things
of the Spirit
of God:
for they
are foolishness
unto him:
neither can
he know them,
because
they are spiritually discerned.
For ye
are yet carnal:
for whereas
there is
among you envying,
and strife,
and divisions,
are
ye not carnal,
and walk
as men?
I wrote unto you
in an epistle
not to company
with fornicators:
And such trust
have
we through Christ
to God-ward:
For the love
of Christ
constraineth us;
because
we thus judge,
that if one
died
for all,
then were all dead:
For as many
as are of the works
of the law
are under the curse:
for it
is written,
Cursed
is
every one
that continueth not
in all
things which
are written
in the book
of the law
to do them.
But that no man
is justified
by the law
in the sight
of God,
it is evident:
for, The
just shall live
by faith.
But the scripture
hath concluded all
under sin,
that the promise
by faith
of Jesus Christ
might be given
to them that believe.
For the flesh
lusteth
against the Spirit,
and the Spirit
against the flesh:
and these
are contrary
the one
to the other:
so that
ye cannot do
the things that
ye would.
Now
the works
of the flesh
are manifest,
which are these;
Adultery,
fornication,
uncleanness,
lasciviousness,
Idolatry,
witchcraft,
hatred,
variance,
emulations,
wrath,
strife,
seditions,
heresies,
Envyings,
murders,
drunkenness,
revellings,
and such like:
of the which
I tell you
before,
as I
have also told you
in time past,
that they
which do
such things
shall not inherit
the kingdom
of God.
And you
hath
he quickened,
who were dead
in trespasses
and sins;
Wherein in time
past ye
walked according to
the course
of this world,
according to the prince
of the power
of the air,
the spirit that
now worketh
in the children
of disobedience:
Among whom also
we all had
our conversation
in times past
in the lusts
of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires
of the flesh
and of the mind;
and were by nature
the children
of wrath,
even as others.
That at that time
ye were without Christ,
being aliens
from the commonwealth
of Israel,
and strangers
from the covenants
of promise,
having
no hope,
and without God
in the world:
This
I say therefore,
and testify
in the Lord,
that ye
henceforth walk not
as other Gentiles walk,
in the vanity
of their mind,
Having
the understanding darkened,
being alienated
from the life
of God
through the ignorance
that is in them,
because
of the blindness
of their heart:
Who being
past feeling
have given themselves over
unto lasciviousness,
to work all uncleanness
with greediness.
That ye put off concerning
the former conversation
the old man,
which is
corrupt
according to
the deceitful lusts;
For ye
were sometimes
darkness,
but now are
ye light
in the Lord:
walk as children
of light:
Wherefore
he saith,
Awake
thou
that sleepest,
and arise
from the dead,
and Christ
shall give thee light.
Who hath delivered us
from the power
of darkness,
and hath translated us
into the kingdom
of his dear Son:
And you,
that were sometime alienated
and enemies
in your mind
by wicked works,
yet now hath
he reconciled
And you,
being dead
in your sins
and the uncircumcision
of your flesh,
hath
he quickened together with him,
having forgiven you
all trespasses;
Mortify therefore your members
which are upon the earth;
fornication,
uncleanness,
inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence,
and covetousness,
which is idolatry:
In the which
ye also walked
some time,
when
ye lived in them.
And that
they may recover themselves
out of the snare
of the devil,
who are taken captive
by him
at his will.
For we ourselves
also were sometimes foolish,
disobedient,
deceived,
serving divers
lusts
and pleasures,
living in malice
and envy,
hateful,
and hating one
another.
For in many things
we offend all.
If any man
offend not
in word,
the same
is a perfect man,
and able
also to bridle
the whole body.
Do ye
think
that the scripture
saith in vain,
The spirit that
dwelleth in us
lusteth to envy?
Forasmuch as ye
know
that ye
were not redeemed
with corruptible things,
as silver
and gold,
from your vain conversation
received
by tradition
from your fathers;
But
ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood,
an holy nation,
a peculiar people;
that ye
should shew
forth the praises
of him
who hath called
you out of darkness
into his marvellous light;
If we
say
that we
have
no sin,
we deceive ourselves,
and the truth
is not in us.
For all that is
in the world,
the lust
of the flesh,
and the lust
of the eyes,
and the pride
of life,
is not
of the Father,
but is of the world.
In this the children
of God
are manifest,
and the children
of the devil:
whosoever
doeth not
righteousness
is not of God,
neither he
that loveth not
his brother.
And
we know
that we
are of God,
and the whole world
lieth
in wickedness.
Because
thou sayest,
I am rich,
and increased
with goods,
and have
need of nothing;
and knowest not that
thou art wretched,
and miserable,
and poor,
and blind,
and naked: