June 30, 2015

Gay marriage ruling: What does it mean for Christians? By Steve Singleton




Gay marriage ruling: What does it mean for Christians?

By

Steve Singleton


The U.S. Supreme Court on June 26, 2015, declared that gay couples have a right to marry anywhere throughout the United States and that such couples who marry deserve the same rights, privileges, and benefits of other married couples.

This will likely have two negative effects for New Testament Christians. It will appear to give gay marriages legitimacy because they are now recognized officially by government officials and agencies, and it will reinforce the false notion that rejecting that legitimacy is tantamount to being a bigot who opposes granting people their fundamental civil rights.

In his dissenting opinion, Justice Roberts warns, “Hard questions arise when people of faith exercise religion in ways that may be seen to conflict with the new right to same-sex marriage—when, for example, a religious college provides married student housing only to opposite-sex married couples, or a religious adoption agency declines to place children with same-sex married couples. Indeed, the Solicitor General candidly acknowledged that the tax exemptions of some religious institutions would be in question if they opposed same-sex marriage.”

Fellow dissenter Justice Alito concurs: “Today’s decision usurps the constitutional right of the people to decide whether to keep or alter the traditional understanding of marriage. The decision will also have other important consequences. . . . It will be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy. In the course of its opinion, the majority compares traditional marriage laws to laws that denied equal treatment for African-Americans and women. . . . The implications of this analogy will be exploited by those who are determined to stamp out every vestige of dissent.”

Committed Christians are not bigots because they oppose a redefinition of marriage. They are only submitting to what God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his apostles teach on the subject.
The Bible speaks clearly about homosexual acts: they are an abomination to the LORD. Leviticus 18:22 declares, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Also, Leviticus 20:13 states, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”

The word abomination (Hebrew: tôʿēbâ) is a category that includes homosexuality (Lev. 18:22; 20:13), along with a number of other unlawful deeds:
• prostitution (Deut. 23:18; 1 Kings 14:24)
• sexual impurity (Lev. 18:26, 27, 29)
• idolatry (Deut. 17:4; 20:18; 32:16; 2 Kings 21:11; 2 Chron. 28:3; 33:2; 34:33; 36:8, 14; Ezra 9:1, 11, 14)
• making idols (Deut. 27:15)
• child sacrifice (2 Kings 16:3)
• worshipping the Astoreth (a fertility cult, 2 Kings 23:13)
• offering a blemished sacrifice (Deut. 17:1)
• witchcraft or sorcery (Deut. 17:9; 18:12; 2 Kings 21:2)
• cross-dressing (Deut. 22:5)
• using unjust weights (Deut. 25:16; Prov. 11:1; 20:10, 23)
• wickedness in general (Prov. 3:32; 6:16; 8:78; 11:20; 15:9, 26; 16:12)
• lying lips (Prov. 12:22)
• sacrifice of the wicked (Prov. 15:8; 21:27)
• being proud in heart (Prov. 16:5)
• perverting justice (Prov. 17:15)
• scoffing (Prov. 24:9)
• the prayer of the lawless (Prov. 28:9)
• being an unjust man (Prov. 29:27)

I give this long list so that you can decide: does a change of covenants from the Law to Grace transforms an abominable deed into one that is now holy and pure? An apparent exception to this list is prohibited foods (Deut. 14:3), where, in a context discussing idolatry, the same word is used, when typically a different Hebrew word for ‘abomination’ (Hebrew: šeqeṣ) occurs (see Lev. 11:10-13, 20, 23, 41-42; Isa. 66:17; Ezek. 8:10). We know that “Jesus declared all foods clean” (Mark 7:19). No such similar declaration regarding homosexual acts occurs anywhere in the New Testament.

The New Testament makes equally clear statements about homosexual acts. For instance, in First Corinthians 6:9-10, the Apostle Paul declares, “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. 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.” (This rendering found in the English Standard Version has a footnote for the phrase “men who practice homosexuality” that says: “The two Greek terms translated by this phrase refer to the passive and active partners in consensual homosexual acts.”)

Whether those engaged have a casual or committed relationship does not make the homosexual acts committed illegitimate or legitimate. In Genesis 2:24, Moses writes, “[A] man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” The Hebrew word for ‘man’ or ‘male’ and for “husband” are the same word (ʾīš), and the Hebrew word for ‘woman’ or ‘female’ and for ‘wife’ are the same word (ʾīšâ).

Likewise, in First Corinthians 7:2, Paul commands, “[E]ach man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.” Here, the Greek word for ‘man’ or ‘male’ as well as for ‘husband’ are the same word (anēr) and the Greek word for ‘women’ or ‘female’ as well as for ‘wife’ are the same word (gynē). Both the Old and New Testaments, therefore, clearly define marriage as heterosexual.

The first chapter of Romans states that as a consequence of willful rebellion against God, “God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error” (Rom. 1:26-27).

These passages are enough to establish the consistent teaching of the Bible that homosexual acts are abominable to God and, along with other willful sins that a person may persist in committing, disqualify him or her from entering God’s kingdom. We need not debate with Christian gays the sin of Sodom, and we can dismiss as ridiculous their claims that biblical homosexual couples include David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, or even Jesus and “the disciple whom He loved.”

The same Bible also teaches, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18; Mark 12:31 and parallels), and our neighbors include the lesbian, the gay man, the bisexual, and the transsexual. We should be aware and sympathize with the struggles individuals of these orientations may have had, struggles that often include rejection and abandonment by family members, isolation from those around them, the deeply distressing ambivalence of a self-imposed compulsion to hide and to lie.

We can join our homosexual friends in condemning violence against gays, and we can offer them friendship, a listening ear, and acceptance of them as persons without condoning what the Bible calls sin, just like we make friends with those guilty of other sins that our society doesn’t stigmatize, like being greedy, getting drunk, overeating, overworking, indulging in heterosexual lust, being haughty, and being selfish.

We can confess to them our own sinfulness and our need for a Savior who inspires us to turn away from sin and find forgiveness in His cleansing blood. We can help them discover the Body of Christ, which meets our deep-felt needs for friendship, love, and unconditional acceptance. In time we may convince them, even if they never become Christians, that we are not bigots, that we care what happens to them, that we are committed to being their friends, and that we truly love them.

Want to go deeper?

Highly recommended:

• Eros Defiled: The Christian and Sexual Sin by John White. (www.amazon.com/Eros-Defiled-John-White-ebook/dp/B003ZSIS80/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435359669&sr=1-1)

This Christian psychiatrist writes with understanding and compassion about sexual sins. He claims that most professional counselors believe that homosexual orientation can be corrected, and that the more experience they have in the profession, the higher is the proportion of those convinced it is possible. He concludes by explaining how local congregations can deal with sexual sin in a context of love and forgiveness.

• A Biblical Point of View on Homosexuality by Kerby Anderson.
(www.amazon.com/Biblical-Point-View-Homosexuality-ebook/dp/B00547QX9Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435360311&sr=1-3)

Chapters are: Homosexuality and Society, Homosexuality and Relationships, Homosexuality and Families, Homosexuality and the Schools, The Causes of Homosexuality, Homosexuality and the Bible, Homosexuality and the Church, Same-sex Marriage and Politics, Answering the Arguments for Same-sex Marriage, and The Social Impact of Homosexuality.

• The official opinion of the Court, published June 26, 2015 (www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf)

• The four dissents from the majority opinion (Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito): www.scribd.com/doc/269783479/Same-Sex-Opinion

• The opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, which the Supreme Court overturned: www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/14a0275p-06.pdf

From Gary... Motivation, with a view to reality!!!

Last night, my weigh-in at weight-watchers was the same as it has been for the past few weeks. And believe it or not, I am happy about it!!! Why? Because before I started WW I was gaining about 5-7 pounds a month- every month!!!  So, even though I have only lost 4 pounds since I joined (seven weeks ago), things are changing, albeit slowly.
Now, I have come to the realization that I just need to see things differently- in short, I need to be motivated!!! So, when I was on Google+ today and saw this picture, I laughed!!!  And I thought- if it takes a hard dose of visual reality to see the genuine physical reality of things, then what would it take to see true spirituality?
As usual, Jesus has the answer....
Luke, Chapter 7 (WEB)
 24  When John’s messengers had departed, he began to tell the multitudes about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?   25  But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously dressed, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts.   26  But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.   27  This is he of whom it is written, 
‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, 
who will prepare your way before you.’


  28  “For I tell you, among those who are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptizer, yet he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.”

and of course, there is also this passage...

Matthew, Chapter 17 (WEB)

1 After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. 2 He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light.  3 Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him. 


  4  Peter answered, and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 


  5  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

Again, the answer to spiritual reality is Jesus!!!  Not sure about the mirror thing... Sounds a little scary!!!!!

From Gary... Bible Reading June 30



Bible Reading  
June 30

The World English Bible

June 30
1 Kings 7-9

1Ki 7:1 Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house.
1Ki 7:2 For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.
1Ki 7:3 It was covered with cedar above over the forty-five beams, that were on the pillars; fifteen in a row.
1Ki 7:4 There were beams in three rows, and window was over against window in three ranks.
1Ki 7:5 All the doors and posts were made square with beams: and window was over against window in three ranks.
1Ki 7:6 He made the porch of pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits; and a porch before them; and pillars and a threshold before them.
1Ki 7:7 He made the porch of the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor.
1Ki 7:8 His house where he was to dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work. He made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter (whom Solomon had taken as wife), like this porch.
1Ki 7:9 All these were of costly stones, even of cut stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court.
1Ki 7:10 The foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
1Ki 7:11 Above were costly stones, even cut stone, according to measure, and cedar wood.
1Ki 7:12 The great court around had three courses of cut stone, and a course of cedar beams; like as the inner court of the house of Yahweh, and the porch of the house.
1Ki 7:13 King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
1Ki 7:14 He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all works in brass. He came to king Solomon, and performed all his work.
1Ki 7:15 For he fashioned the two pillars of brass, eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them about.
1Ki 7:16 He made two capitals of molten brass, to set on the tops of the pillars: the height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.
1Ki 7:17 There were nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.
1Ki 7:18 So he made the pillars; and there were two rows around on the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars: and so did he for the other capital.
1Ki 7:19 The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits.
1Ki 7:20 There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred, in rows around on the other capital.
1Ki 7:21 He set up the pillars at the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called its name Jachin; and he set up the left pillar, and called its name Boaz.
1Ki 7:22 On the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished.
1Ki 7:23 He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it.
1Ki 7:24 Under its brim around there were buds which encircled it, for ten cubits, encircling the sea: the buds were in two rows, cast when it was cast.
1Ki 7:25 It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; and the sea was set on them above, and all their hinder parts were inward.
1Ki 7:26 It was a handbreadth thick: and its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it held two thousand baths.
1Ki 7:27 He made the ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits its breadth, and three cubits its height.
1Ki 7:28 The work of the bases was on this manner: they had panels; and there were panels between the ledges;
1Ki 7:29 and on the panels that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubim; and on the ledges there was a pedestal above; and beneath the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work.
1Ki 7:30 Every base had four bronze wheels, and axles of brass; and the four feet of it had supports: beneath the basin were the supports molten, with wreaths at the side of each.
1Ki 7:31 The mouth of it within the capital and above was a cubit: and its mouth was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its mouth were engravings, and their panels were foursquare, not round.
1Ki 7:32 The four wheels were underneath the panels; and the axles of the wheels were in the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit.
1Ki 7:33 The work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axles, and their rims, and their spokes, and their naves, were all molten.
1Ki 7:34 There were four supports at the four corners of each base: its supports were of the base itself.
1Ki 7:35 In the top of the base was there a round compass half a cubit high; and on the top of the base its stays and its panels were of the same.
1Ki 7:36 On the plates of its stays, and on its panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around.
1Ki 7:37 After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one form.
1Ki 7:38 He made ten basins of brass: one basin contained forty baths; and every basin was four cubits; and on every one of the ten bases one basin.
1Ki 7:39 He set the bases, five on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.
1Ki 7:40 Hiram made the basins, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he worked for king Solomon in the house of Yahweh:
1Ki 7:41 the two pillars, and the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars;
1Ki 7:42 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars;
1Ki 7:43 and the ten bases, and the ten basins on the bases;
1Ki 7:44 and the one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea;
1Ki 7:45 and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins: even all these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon, in the house of Yahweh, were of burnished brass.
1Ki 7:46 In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
1Ki 7:47 Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: the weight of the brass could not be found out.
1Ki 7:48 Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Yahweh: the golden altar, and the table whereupon the show bread was, of gold;
1Ki 7:49 and the lampstands, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, of pure gold; and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold;
1Ki 7:50 and the cups, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple, of gold.
1Ki 7:51 Thus all the work that king Solomon worked in the house of Yahweh was finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of Yahweh.

1Ki 8:1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers' houses of the children of Israel, to king Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh out of the city of David, which is Zion.
1Ki 8:2 All the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
1Ki 8:3 All the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
1Ki 8:4 They brought up the ark of Yahweh, and the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; even these did the priests and the Levites bring up.
1Ki 8:5 King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude.
1Ki 8:6 The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim.
1Ki 8:7 For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above.
1Ki 8:8 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the oracle; but they were not seen outside: and there they are to this day.
1Ki 8:9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when Yahweh made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 8:10 It came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of Yahweh,
1Ki 8:11 so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh.
1Ki 8:12 Then spoke Solomon, Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
1Ki 8:13 I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.
1Ki 8:14 The king turned his face about, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: and all the assembly of Israel stood.
1Ki 8:15 He said, Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying,
1Ki 8:16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
1Ki 8:17 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
1Ki 8:18 But Yahweh said to David my father, Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart:
1Ki 8:19 nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come forth out of your body, he shall build the house for my name.
1Ki 8:20 Yahweh has established his word that he spoke; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
1Ki 8:21 There have I set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Yahweh, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 8:22 Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven;
1Ki 8:23 and he said, Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keep covenant and loving kindness with your servants, who walk before you with all their heart;
1Ki 8:24 who have kept with your servant David my father that which you did promise him: yes, you spoke with your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.
1Ki 8:25 Now therefore, Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, There shall not fail you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.
1Ki 8:26 Now therefore, God of Israel, Please let your word be verified, which you spoke to your servant David my father.
1Ki 8:27 But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can't contain you; how much less this house that I have built!
1Ki 8:28 Yet have respect for the prayer of your servant, and for his supplication, Yahweh my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which your servant prays before you this day;
1Ki 8:29 that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, My name shall be there; to listen to the prayer which your servant shall pray toward this place.
1Ki 8:30 Listen to the supplication of your servant, and of your people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yes, hear in heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive.
1Ki 8:31 If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid on him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear before your altar in this house;
1Ki 8:32 then hear in heaven, and do, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
1Ki 8:33 When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; if they turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray and make supplication to you in this house:
1Ki 8:34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which you gave to their fathers.
1Ki 8:35 When the sky is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, and confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them:
1Ki 8:36 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on your land, which you have given to your people for an inheritance.
1Ki 8:37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there be;
1Ki 8:38 whatever prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
1Ki 8:39 then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men;)
1Ki 8:40 that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers.
1Ki 8:41 Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for your name's sake
1Ki 8:42 (for they shall hear of your great name, and of your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm); when he shall come and pray toward this house;
1Ki 8:43 hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as does your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by my name.
1Ki 8:44 If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to Yahweh toward the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name;
1Ki 8:45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
1Ki 8:46 If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn't sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;
1Ki 8:47 yet if they shall repent themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have dealt wickedly;
1Ki 8:48 if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name:
1Ki 8:49 then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause;
1Ki 8:50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions in which they have transgressed against you; and give them compassion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them
1Ki 8:51 (for they are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron);
1Ki 8:52 that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant, and to the supplication of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they cry to you.
1Ki 8:53 For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, Lord Yahweh.
1Ki 8:54 It was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to Yahweh, he arose from before the altar of Yahweh, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven.
1Ki 8:55 He stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
1Ki 8:56 Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant.
1Ki 8:57 Yahweh our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us;
1Ki 8:58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers.
1Ki 8:59 Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before Yahweh, be near to Yahweh our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require;
1Ki 8:60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that Yahweh, he is God; there is none else.
1Ki 8:61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with Yahweh our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
1Ki 8:62 The king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before Yahweh.
1Ki 8:63 Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Yahweh, two and twenty thousand head of cattle, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of Yahweh.
1Ki 8:64 The same day did the king make the middle of the court holy that was before the house of Yahweh; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Yahweh was too little to receive the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings.
1Ki 8:65 So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before Yahweh our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days.
1Ki 8:66 On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.
1Ki 9:1 It happened, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of Yahweh, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do,
1Ki 9:2 that Yahweh appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
1Ki 9:3 Yahweh said to him, I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me: I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.
1Ki 9:4 As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances;
1Ki 9:5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, according as I promised to David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man on the throne of Israel.
1Ki 9:6 But if you shall turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
1Ki 9:7 then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
1Ki 9:8 Though this house is so high, yet shall everyone who passes by it be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why has Yahweh done thus to this land, and to this house?
1Ki 9:9 and they shall answer, Because they forsook Yahweh their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served them: therefore has Yahweh brought all this evil on them.
1Ki 9:10 It happened at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Yahweh and the king's house
1Ki 9:11 (now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire), that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
1Ki 9:12 Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they didn't please him.
1Ki 9:13 He said, What cities are these which you have given me, my brother? He called them the land of Cabul to this day.
1Ki 9:14 Hiram sent to the king one hundred twenty talents of gold.
1Ki 9:15 This is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised, to build the house of Yahweh, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.
1Ki 9:16 Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it for a portion to his daughter, Solomon's wife.
1Ki 9:17 Solomon built Gezer, and Beth Horon the lower,
1Ki 9:18 and Baalath, and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land,
1Ki 9:19 and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
1Ki 9:20 As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel;
1Ki 9:21 their children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, of them did Solomon raise a levy of bondservants to this day.
1Ki 9:22 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondservants; but they were the men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen.
1Ki 9:23 These were the chief officers who were over Solomon's work, five hundred fifty, who bore rule over the people who labored in the work.
1Ki 9:24 But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo.
1Ki 9:25 Three times a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to Yahweh, burning incense therewith, on the altar that was before Yahweh. So he finished the house.
1Ki 9:26 King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
1Ki 9:27 Hiram sent in the navy his servants, sailors who had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
1Ki 9:28 They came to Ophir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.



Jun. 30, Jul. 1
Acts 3

Act 3:1 Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
Act 3:2 A certain man who was lame from his mother's womb was being carried, whom they laid daily at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask gifts for the needy of those who entered into the temple.
Act 3:3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive gifts for the needy.
Act 3:4 Peter, fastening his eyes on him, with John, said, "Look at us."
Act 3:5 He listened to them, expecting to receive something from them.
Act 3:6 But Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!"
Act 3:7 He took him by the right hand, and raised him up. Immediately his feet and his ankle bones received strength.
Act 3:8 Leaping up, he stood, and began to walk. He entered with them into the temple, walking, leaping, and praising God.
Act 3:9 All the people saw him walking and praising God.
Act 3:10 They recognized him, that it was he who used to sit begging for gifts for the needy at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. They were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Act 3:11 As the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.
Act 3:12 When Peter saw it, he responded to the people, "You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk?
Act 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up, and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had determined to release him.
Act 3:14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
Act 3:15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses.
Act 3:16 By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Act 3:17 "Now, brothers, I know that you did this in ignorance, as did also your rulers.
Act 3:18 But the things which God announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Act 3:19 "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,
Act 3:20 and that he may send Christ Jesus, who was ordained for you before,
Act 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets.
Act 3:22 For Moses indeed said to the fathers, 'The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you.
Act 3:23 It will be, that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.'
Act 3:24 Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days.
Act 3:25 You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'In your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed.'
Act 3:26 God, having raised up his servant, Jesus, sent him to you first, to bless you, in turning away everyone of you from your wickedness."