25 Bible Verses About Leech (NIV)

¹⁵ "The leech has two daughters. 'Give! Give!' they cry. "There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, 'Enough!':

¹ The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh-an oracle: This man declared to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ucal: ² "I am the most ignorant of men; I do not have a man's understanding. ³ I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. ⁴ Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know! ⁵ "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. ⁶ Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. ⁷ "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: ⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. ⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. ¹⁰ "Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will pay for it. ¹¹ "There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers; ¹² those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth; ¹³ those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful; ¹⁴ those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth, the needy from among mankind. ¹⁵ "The leech has two daughters. 'Give! Give!' they cry. "There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, 'Enough!': ¹⁶ the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, 'Enough!' ¹⁷ "The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures. ¹⁸ "There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: ¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden. ²⁰ "This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, 'I've done nothing wrong.' ²¹ "Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: ²² a servant who becomes king, a fool who is full of food, ²³ an unloved woman who is married, and a maidservant who displaces her mistress. ²⁴ "Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: ²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; ²⁶ coneys are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; ²⁷ locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks; ²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings' palaces. ²⁹ "There are three things that are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing: ³⁰ a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing; ³¹ a strutting rooster, a he-goat, and a king with his army around him. ³² "If you have played the fool and exalted yourself, or if you have planned evil, clap your hand over your mouth! ³³ For as churning the milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife."

¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

² Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

¹ Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-- ² the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures ³ regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, ⁴ and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵ Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. ⁶ And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. ⁷ To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. ⁹ God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you ¹⁰ in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you. ¹¹ I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong-- ¹² that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. ¹⁴ I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. ¹⁵ That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. ¹⁶ I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹⁷ For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." ¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. ²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen. ²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. ²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

¹ Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt. ² The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. ³ In the womb he grasped his brother's heel; as a man he struggled with God. ⁴ He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there- ⁵ the LORD God Almighty, the LORD is his name of renown! ⁶ But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always. ⁷ The merchant uses dishonest scales; he loves to defraud. ⁸ Ephraim boasts, "I am very rich; I have become wealthy. With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin." ⁹ "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your appointed feasts. ¹⁰ I spoke to the prophets, gave them many visions and told parables through them." ¹¹ Is Gilead wicked? Its people are worthless! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Their altars will be like piles of stones on a plowed field. ¹² Jacob fled to the country of Aram; Israel served to get a wife, and to pay for her he tended sheep. ¹³ The LORD used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet he cared for him. ¹⁴ But Ephraim has bitterly provoked him to anger; his Lord will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed and will repay him for his contempt.

²⁹ Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!

⁶ The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹ See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. ² Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. ³ Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. ⁴ The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear. ⁵ No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected. ⁶ For the fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the LORD; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water. ⁷ The scoundrel's methods are wicked, he makes up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. ⁸ But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands. ⁹ You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say! ¹⁰ In little more than a year you who feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit will not come. ¹¹ Tremble, you complacent women; shudder, you daughters who feel secure! Strip off your clothes, put sackcloth around your waists. ¹² Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines ¹³ and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers- yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry. ¹⁴ The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks, ¹⁵ till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. ¹⁶ Justice will dwell in the desert and righteousness live in the fertile field. ¹⁷ The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. ¹⁸ My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. ¹⁹ Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely, ²⁰ how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.

¹ The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

¹ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! ⁹ As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

²⁰ We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

⁵ Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

⁹ Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders ¹⁰ nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

¹⁹ Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. ²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. ²¹ Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives.

⁴ For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

²⁸ For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

¹ What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? ² Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. ³ What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? ⁴ Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge." ⁵ But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) ⁶ Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? ⁷ Someone might argue, "If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?" ⁸ Why not say--as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say--"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved. ⁹ What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.