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The Good and the Bad

¹ Why are all y'all squabblin' about everyone and everything? Is it not because you have a battle goin' on inside you? ² You want and want, yet do not have; you slay and lust, but you cannot get; you start fights and argue over everything. You don't have what you really need because you don't ask for it. ³ You don't get what you ask for because the things you are asking for come from your evil desires and lustful passions.

⁴ You double-crossers, do you not realize that by making friends with the world you are making an enemy of the Boss? ⁵ Did you think God was just listening to himself talk when he said, "The spirit I gave you don't take kindly to fence jumpers"? ⁶ But the Boss is above and beyond generous. That's why the Good Book says, "God shuns the proud, but always makes a spot for the humble." ⁷ So ride in the way the Boss has told you to. Turn your back on the devil and he will hightail it away from you. ⁸ Spread your bedroll next to the Boss and he will keep the fire warm and the wolves away. Wash your hands of the filth you've been living in and quit ridin' for the Boss during the day and the devil by night. ⁹ The way you've been living should break your heart. Them old ways you used to love ought to bring you pain. ¹⁰ Be willing to do anything and everything for the outfit without complaint or grumble and the Boss will make you a top hand.

¹¹ Don't stab other cowboys in the back. Anyone who speaks against a fellow cowboy speaks against what God has to say. If you speak against what God has to say then you are placing yourself above Him. ¹² There is only One cowboy whose word is true and he is able to save or destroy. So let's just ask the question, who do you think you are?

¹³ Here's somethin' for all who go around saying stuff like, "Today I'm gonna ride into town and tomorrow I'm gonna start breakin' horses and start my own business." ¹⁴ What do you know of tomorrow? You think so mighty of yourself that you can predict your own future? Cowboy, you ain't nothing more than smoke off a calf's branded hide. You are here for a second and then you're gone. ¹⁵ If you had any brains and were of a mind to listen, this is what you'd say instead, "I'm gonna check with the Boss before I do anything." ¹⁶ But no, you've got everything figured out and you're expecting God just to go along with whatever you want to do. There ain't nothin' right about doing things that way. ¹⁷ So let this be a warning, whoever knows the way they should do something and they do it otherwise, they are guilty of sin.