Faithfulness and loyalty

So let your heart be fully devoted to the LORD our God, as it is this day, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments.”

³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away.

⁴ For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.

⁵ Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

⁶ So Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD; unlike his father David, he did not follow the LORD completely.

For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this matter. From now on, therefore, you will be at war.”

²⁰ So this is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the LORD his God.

²¹ He was diligent in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law and the commandments, in order to seek his God. And so he prospered.

⁵ Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.

⁶ He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.

⁹ But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.

¹⁰ And David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?” David asked Uriah. “Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹ Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!”

But Ittai answered the king, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be!”

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

¹⁹ So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion.

²⁰ And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”

Although my brothers who went with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear, I remained loyal to the LORD my God.

Instead, you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.

¹⁰ Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

¹¹ So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

¹² And if you have not been faithful with the belongings of another, who will give you belongings of your own?

¹³ No 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.”

¹⁶ The first servant came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has produced ten more minas.’

¹⁷ His master replied, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, you shall have authority over ten cities.’

¹⁸ The second servant came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’

¹⁹ And to this one he said, ‘You shall have authority over five cities.’

¹⁴ Yet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

¹⁵ Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

¹⁶ “For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel. “He who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,” says the LORD of Hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith.

¹⁶ The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work and gained five more.

¹⁷ Likewise, the one with the two talents gained two more.

¹⁸ But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ After a long time the master of those servants returned to settle accounts with them.

²⁰ The servant who had received the five talents came and presented five more. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

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

Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.

A faithful man will abound with blessings, but one eager to be rich will not go unpunished.

Now it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the LORD all his days.

¹⁴ Again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵ “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”

¹⁶ But Ruth replied: “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

¹⁸ When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped trying to persuade her.

But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”

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.

¹¹ When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹² all their men of valor set out and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

From Zebulun: 50,000 fit for service, trained for battle with all kinds of weapons of war, who with one purpose were devoted to David.

Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

⁸ Therefore deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”

⁹ “Never!” Jonathan replied. “If I ever found out that my father had evil intentions against you, would I not tell you?”

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?

¹¹ When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹² all their men of valor set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.

¹³ Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Boaz replied, “I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before.

¹ Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,

² and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

³ Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

⁴ And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Jericho.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

⁵ Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”

⁶ And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

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.

Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Then I said to her, “You must live with me for many days; you must not be promiscuous or belong to another, and I will do the same for you.”

² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,

³ saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁶⁶ From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.

⁶⁷ So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”

“Lord,” said Peter, “why can’t I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.”

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

³² But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

³³ Peter said to Him, “Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will.”

³⁴ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus declared, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

³⁵ Peter replied, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never deny You.” And all the other disciples said the same thing.

I appointed as treasurers over the storerooms Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, with Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, to assist them, because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.