Integrity

¹⁷ I know, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness. All these things I have given willingly and with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You.

¹⁸ O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this desire forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts toward You.

¹⁹ And give my son Solomon a whole heart to keep and carry out all Your commandments, decrees, and statutes, and to build Your palace for which I have made provision.”

But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.”

But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever my God tells me.”

Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”

⁹ But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”

¹⁰ David added, “As surely as the LORD lives, the LORD Himself will strike him down; either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.

¹¹ But the LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD’s anointed. Instead, take the spear and water jug by his head, and let us go.”

¹³ You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.

¹⁴ You shall not have two differing measures in your house, one large and one small.

¹⁵ You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

¹⁶ For everyone who behaves dishonestly in regard to these things is detestable to the LORD your God.

You must use honest scales, a just ephah, and a just bath.

¹³ Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

¹⁴ Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”

¹⁵ Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”

¹⁵ He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—

¹⁶ he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.

² “As surely as God lives, who has deprived me of justice— the Almighty, who has embittered my soul—

³ as long as my breath is still within me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,

⁴ my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will not utter deceit.

⁵ I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die.

⁶ I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.

Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.

¹⁰ Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed?

¹¹ Can I excuse dishonest scales or bags of false weights?

¹² Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not already tell the messengers you sent me

¹³ that even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD? I will speak whatever the LORD says.

¹ Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.

² When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.

³ The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the faithless destroys them.

⁴ Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

⁵ The righteousness of the blameless directs their path, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.

⁶ Many a man proclaims his loving devotion, but who can find a trustworthy man?

⁷ The righteous man walks with integrity; blessed are his children after him.

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

² He who walks with integrity and practices righteousness, who speaks the truth from his heart,

³ who has no slander on his tongue, who does no harm to his neighbor, who casts no scorn on his friend,

⁴ who despises the vile but honors those who fear the LORD, who does not revise a costly oath,

⁵ who lends his money without interest and refuses a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

¹ Vindicate me, O LORD! For I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

² Test me, O LORD, and try me; examine my heart and mind.

³ For Your loving devotion is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.

⁴ I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.

⁵ I hate the mob of evildoers, and refuse to sit with the wicked.

⁶ I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,

⁷ to raise my voice in thanksgiving and declare all Your wonderful works.

⁹ Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men of bloodshed,

¹⁰ in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes.

¹¹ But I will walk with integrity; redeem me and be merciful to me.

² I will ponder the way that is blameless— when will You come to me? I will walk in my house with integrity of heart.

³ I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.

⁴ A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know nothing of evil.

⁵ Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure.

⁶ My eyes favor the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way of integrity shall minister to me.

⁷ No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who tells lies shall stand in my presence.

But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself.

³ Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

⁴ Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him.

⁵ Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel, unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”

In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.

In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

⁴ “You have not wronged us or oppressed us,” they replied, “nor have you taken anything from the hand of man.”

⁵ Samuel said to them, “The LORD is a witness against you, and His anointed is a witness today, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is a witness,” they replied.

¹⁴ Ahimelech answered the king, “Who among all your servants is as faithful as David, the king’s son-in-law, the captain of your bodyguard who is honored in your house?

¹⁵ Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Far be it from me! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of my father’s household, for your servant knew nothing of this whole affair—not in part or in whole.”

¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.

²⁰ For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

² With his wife’s full knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds for himself, but brought a portion and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?

⁴ Did it not belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How could you conceive such a deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God!”

Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.”

Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.”

¹⁸ But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders.

¹⁹ All the leaders answered, “We have sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.

²⁰ This is how we will treat them: We will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.”

See, my father, look at the corner of your robe in my hand. For I cut it off, but I did not kill you. See and know that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands. I have not sinned against you, even though you are hunting me down to take my life.

When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” when I really mean “No, no”?

Paul looked directly at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have conducted myself before God in all good conscience to this day.”

My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”

The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the goods for yourself.”

²² But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

²³ that I will not accept even a thread, or a strap of a sandal, or anything that belongs to you, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’