You Are What You Do by B. Johnson

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Johnson/Edna/Elizabeth/1939/whatyoudo.html

You Are What You Do

If you read a list of professions from earlier times, it reads like a roster of surnames. That’s because people were strongly identified by what they did for a living (as opposed to recently, when we pay attention to what’s on their iPod). John Smith was a person named John who worked as a blacksmith; Bill Sawyer was a lumberjack, and so on. In India, in the Parsee community, you’ll find people with surnames such as Contractor, Doctor, Engineer, etc. But watch and see: when someone asks, “Who is he;” “Who is she,” almost invariably, people start to describe what they do and who they are associated with. “Oh, he is a salesman over at the Ford dealership,” or, “She is the preacher’s wife.”
So who are you? How would you be identified today if someone in the crowd of people asked a friend who you were? How would the crowd expect you to behave? Would they have a right to expect more of you than someone whose profession identifies them as something else? Are you the wife of the local doctor or school principal? Are you a Bible class teacher? Are you a mother? Are you the sister to any one of these?
The world expects certain behavior of certain people. Under the Old Testament it was no different. The priests were spiritual leaders of the nation of Israel and were not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, a profane woman, or a harlot (Lev 21:12-15). There was a higher standard expected of spiritual leaders and their wives. Obviously, leading by example is one of the ways spiritual leaders do their work. The wives are naturally an extension of their husbands, so they too are expected to be above reproach.
The children of priests also were held to a higher standard. If the daughter of a priest were to play the harlot, she was to be burnt with fire (Lev 21:9). That was a much stronger punishment than for other men’s daughters. More was expected of them because they had been entrusted with more (Luke 12:48).
How was Jesus identified, when people asked who he was? “And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee” (Mat 21:10-11). There are actually two identities associated with Jesus. The ones who wanted to defame him made reference to the fact that he came from Nazareth-a despised place (John 1:46). Yet the ones who were his disciples remembered that he spoke for God (John 7:16). Jesus did not “live down” to the scoffers’ expectations of him, nor did he live in such a way to justify their disbelief of his teaching and his miracles.
Whether we consciously judge or not, almost all men expect everyone else to be “perfect,” whether in driving, keeping one’s place in line, performing an operation, directing traffic, rearing children, etc. Naturally, expectations for spiritual leaders and their wives are no different.
Part of man’s judgment is based in the amount of power or money with which they have been entrusted. “But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12:48). The ten talent man was expected to produce more than the five talent man.
Our spiritual leaders (preachers, elders, deacons, Bible class teachers) are in a position of speaking for the Lord (Mt 23:1-3) and as such are expected to obey the commands they impart to those who have not yet obeyed. “With what judgment we judge, we will be judged,” whether by God or men (Mt 7:1-3).
Even though we may judge others harshly, we ourselves expect to receive lenient judgment (Rom 2:1-2). Nevertheless, the way we judge is the way we will be judged whether by God or man. The Jew assumed a position of authority for God (Rom 2:17-20). Nevertheless, the world condemned him for his hypocrisy (Rom 2:21-24).
When someone describes what you “do,” will they be able to say, she is a preacher’s wife, a Bible class teacher or an elder’s wife-a leader of the people who is above reproach? When someone asks where you attend church, will they say you are a member of the Lord’s body and a faithful Christian? We all should live in such a way that Christ is not ashamed to call us his own.

Beth Johnson

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The King James Version.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

DENOMINATIONAL ECUMENISM? BY STEVE FINNELL

http://steve-finnell.blogspot.com/2017/04/denominational-ecumenism-steve-finnell.html

DENOMINATIONAL ECUMENISM?  BY STEVE FINNELL

The contemporary movement formed to encourage cooperation between those denominations that believe Jesus is the Christ is the "Ecumenical Assembly"? Regardless of doctrinal differences those with the ecumenical mindset join together to feed and clothe the poor, gather together for preaching God's word, study God's word, and various other joint religious activities. Is that consistent with God's plan? Is believing that Jesus is the Christ the only essential doctrine of Christianity? I do not believe so.

Can you imagine the apostle Paul being involved in an "Ecumenical Assembly" with the Church of Judaizers, the Church of The Resurrection Is Past, or the Church of Knowing Only the Baptism of John?

1. The Church of Judaizers: Acts 15:1-5 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses you cannot be saved.".........5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believe rose, saying, "It was necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses."(NKJV)

The Judaizers believed that Jesus was the Christ. The apostle Paul did not join in joint efforts with them to feed and clothe the poor. Paul did not join in preaching the gospel, church revivals nor Bible studies with them. What Paul did, do, was condemn their doctrine, and point out their eternal abode. Galatians 5:4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified  by law; you have fallen from grace.(NKJV)

Simply believing that Jesus is the Christ does not qualify anyone as a coworker in Christ.

2. Church of The Resurrection is Past: 2 Timothy 2:17-18 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.(NKJV)

The apostle Paul did not encourage the followers of Jesus to join in ecumenical endeavors with the Church of of the Resurrection is Past, he said the opposite. 2 Timothy 2:16 But shun profane and vain babblings...(NLKV)

 Note: Hymenaeus and Philetus strayed from the truth. They did believe that Jesus was the Christ.

3. Church of Knowing Only the Baptism of John: Acts 18:24-26 Apollos.....25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla head him , they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.(NKJV)

Apollos was not permitted to continue preaching false doctrine, he was taught the truth. Simply believing that Jesus is the Christ is not good enough.

The apostle Paul came upon some of the men Apollos had taught incorrectly. And taught them the truth. They were baptized into Christ. John's baptism was no longer valid. (Acts 19:1-5)

The apostle Paul did not engage with ecumenical activities with the Church of Knowing Only the Baptism of John until they were taught and believed the true gospel plan of salvation.

Why do believers in Christ join "Ecumenical Assemblies" with denominations that hold various and sundry doctrines?

Ecumenical Assemblies include those who pray to the Virgin Mary, those who deny that immersion in water is essential to salvation, those who believe once saved always saved, those who believe only a select few have been individually selected for salvation, those who believe there are many ways to heaven other than Jesus.

Should the Lord's Church participate in feeding and clothing the poor, joint Bible studies, and other religious activities with those who teach doctrine contrary to the apostles doctrine?

The apostle Paul was not an advocate for "Ecumenical Assemblies". Romans 16:16-17.....The churches of Christ greet you. 17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned and avoid them.(NKJV)

Simply believing that Jesus is the Christ is not enough, Satan and his demons believe that.  

A ROMANTIC CREED by Jim McGuiggan

http://theabidingword.com/logos/index.html

A ROMANTIC CREED

Sylvester Horne put it this way in his Yale lectures all those years ago: “What is the Gospel? It is contained in a verse of one of the greatest Christian hymns:

‘Were the whole realm of Nature mine; That were a present far too small! Love so amazing, so Divine, Demands my soul (my life my all)!’
That is to say that my soul is a greater and bigger thing than the whole realm of nature. Do you believe it? I agree it is the most romantic of all beliefs. It affirms that the soul of every forced laborer on the Amazon is of more value than all the mines of Johannesburg, all the diamonds of Kimberly, all the millions of all the magnates of America. It affirms that in God’s sight all the suns and stars that people infinite space, are of inferior worth to one human spirit dwelling, it may be, in the degraded body of some victim of drink or lust, some member of the gutter population of a great city who has descended to his doom by means of the multiplied temptations with which our so-called society environs him. It is a romantic creed. But if it is not true, Christianity itself is false.”If you gained the creation, Jesus said, “and lost yourself  you made a bad bargain.” Jesus said that! Not a philosopher, not a mathematician or a renowned religious leader—Jesus! The evil magician kept crying in the street, “New lamps for old” and a servant girl in Aladdin’s house exchanged the world for a piece of shiny metal when she threw Aladdin’s lamp down to the evil sorcerer who knew the worth of Aladdin’s lamp.
Jesus knew the worth of a human. Knew what they were destined for and why they were created by God. He knew the sickest of them was worth His living and dying and rising for (see Matthew 9:11-12; Jeremiah 8:22; Revelation 3:17-18). Paul knew that too for he said that “all things” (the entire creation, humans included) were made in and through and for Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:15-16). “You were made for me,” Jesus would say to the most burdened human on the planet.
But unless they meet Jesus—in person or via the Church’s gospeling about Him—the burdened soul will never know who it is that looks back at him/her from the mirror. They will never know that God lovingly created them to be His  companions; nor will they get a glimpse of the glory they were made for. The very wealthy and the very gifted, the marvelously educated, housed, employed and powerful will never know how God views them or how He wishes to further bless and use them (see Numbers 10:29-31 where one of the elect, in the name of God, speaks to one of the non-elect and sought his expertise and help in the service of God).
God seeks to narrow no one, to rob no one; He doesn’t want them to sell themselves to gain the beautiful when they can have Him and all the honorable and joy-bringing things that are part of fullness of life. He longs to open their eyes and their hearts to the recovery and experience of the greater glory, usefulness, adventure and life as a helper and companion of God who is the God of healing, enrichment and life!
(Oh God, we pile up words like high hills in a vain attempt to give you what you deserve—we know before we utter them that they fall short but we can’t not make the attempt. Unless you enable us we know that we will continue to swap the wondrous for the shiny metal and ourselves for the galaxies. We know that we will cheat and rob our beloved little children before you will ever purpose to rob any of us. Bring to us, then, we pray, those who teach us by word and deed, by attitude and behavior about you that we might be delivered from death and dishonor and brought deeper into the romance of life and adventure. And Holy Father, we pray for all those who never do and never will in this life get to hear about you and so they are impoverished. We think noble thoughts of you and believe that you will do what is generous and right by them in a coming day. This prayer in Jesus Christ who has re-visioned you for our salvation and enlightenment.)

Sewage Problems! by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=845

Sewage Problems!

by	Kyle Butt, M.Div.

In their book, None of These Diseases, physicians S.I. McMillen and David Stern discussed why the hygienic rules laid out by God for the children of Israel were so effective, and why they still are applicable. To illustrate their point, they related the story of a man by the name of Edwin Chadwick.

Chadwick had accepted a seat on the Board of Health in London, where he and his comrades faced a deadly dilemma. The year before, in 1846, a cholera epidemic had swept England’s capital city and killed more than 16,000 people. This year, 1847, things were looking much worse. How could cholera infiltrate such an advanced city? Why could the premier doctors of the day do nothing to combat the spread of the deadly disease? And how many more people would die before the epidemic could be stopped? Questions with no answers wafted from the lips of the city’s inhabitants as the chill of death continued to sweep over its streets.

Death first visited the houses of the poor. Chadwick, who had been studying diseases in England for the past 14 years, had determined that the rich could expect to live to the ripe old age of 43, while the poor could expect to live to be around 22. Why were the poor the first to endure the carnage of cholera? Chadwick thought he had the answer.

The poor lived in basements. But why would living in a basement cause so many poor people to die? The city of London had a serious problem with sewage disposal. Its drainage system was inadequate, the money allotted to the problem was insufficient, and to make matters worse, very few people even recognized the magnitude of the problem. The streets were filled with raw sewage that people dumped indiscriminately from second and third story windows. When rain fell in sufficient quantities to run through the streets, the then-tainted water naturally settled in the lowest places it could find—basements.

In one orphans’ home that housed 1,400 children, 300 of them contracted the deadly disease, and 180 of those died. When Chadwick inspected the facility, he found that the basement was a cesspool into which the sewage drained. Sadly, many of the children slept in the filth night after night. And Chadwick found that the same situation could be found in basement areas all over London. No wonder so many poor people were dying!

Chadwick identified the problem and implemented a new drainage system that eventually saved many lives, and could have saved many more had people not refused to believe that sewage was the cause of such an epidemic. They resented the idea of someone telling them how they needed to configure pipes and drains in their own homes. Therefore, they ignored Chadwick’s sound advice, balked, and neglected to install proper drainage systems—a course of action that cost thousands of lives over the next several years.

Raw sewage carries disease. If only the people of London had turned in their Bibles to Deuteronomy 23:12: “Also, you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse.” More than 3300 years before London’s epidemic, the Lord, through his servant Moses, implemented a plan to stop such epidemics before they started. Such tragedies as those that befell London could have been prevented if people simply had accepted God’s Word on the matter and observed the kind of hygiene that the Israelites had practiced so many years before. How did Moses know to instruct the Israelites in such public health practices, when the nation from which he came, and the nations surrounding the Israelites, knew no such practices? Just a lucky guess—or by inspiration of God?

Simcha Jacobovici and the Quest to Find Who Wrote the Bible by Dewayne Bryant, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=3732

Simcha Jacobovici and the Quest to Find Who Wrote the Bible

by	Dewayne Bryant, Ph.D.

The media is often critical of the Bible. This is nothing new to Christians, who can see mischaracterizations of the Bible virtually everyday. Documentaries and television programs describe the Bible in terms that most Christians find strange. Interviews often feature leftist scholars who seem to specialize in casting doubt on God’s Word. There are a few refreshing voices in the media that take a rather high view of the Bible, however.

Simcha Jacobovici is a Jewish Canadian filmmaker who hosts the television program the “Naked Archaeologist.” His goal is to “demystify” archaeology, thus making it “naked” for all to see. Naked archaeology is like the naked truth—stripped of preconceptions and exposed for all to see. To most of us living in the United States, he is familiar for his documentaries The Exodus Decoded and The Lost Tomb of Jesus. Both programs offered a new take on the biblical texts that differed from traditional, straightforward interpretations. Yet Jacobovici is also an Orthodox Jew and holds the Bible in the highest esteem. This makes him something of an enigma for many viewers.

The subject of one of Jacobovici’s television programs is to find proof underlying the events recorded in the biblical text. The Biblical Archaeology Review Web site has a free episode of “The Naked Archaeologist” entitled, “Who Wrote the Bible?” (http://www.bib-arch.org/multimedia/who-wrote-bible-free-video.asp). During the program, Jacobovici interviews Baruch Halpern, a professor of Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University. Halpern is a historian and archaeologist, and has led the archaeological dig at Tel Megiddo (biblical Megiddo). He is highly regarded by most biblical scholars, but he seems to meet his match in Jacobovici.  Near the beginning of the episode, the two discuss the authorship of the Pentateuch:

Jacobovici: “I wonder, who wrote the Bible?”

Halpern: “A bunch of different people.”

Jacobovici: “I read the five books of Moses, the Torah, and I never get the feeling that Joe wrote book number one, and Sam wrote book number two. I don’t get that impression.”

Halpern: “That’s because you’re coming at it from the perspective of the tradition rather than from a fresh, unbiased view.”

For thousands of years, Christians and Jews have read the first five books of the Bible as the singular work of Moses. Modern readers are no different. Scripture claims in numerous places that Moses wrote the Pentateuch (Exodus 34:27; Matthew 19:8; Romans 10:5; et al.). Given features such as opposition to Egyptian mythology and the presence of Egyptian loanwords and names, there is nothing to indicate that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch. Halpern claims that it is only because of tradition that Jews and Christians view the Pentateuch as the work of Moses. The problem with Halpern’s statement is that his view is anything but unbiased. He also approaches the Bible from the perspective of tradition! In his case, it is from a particular academic viewpoint: the documentary hypothesis.

The documentary hypothesis states that the Pentateuch is composed of four major documents: J (the Yahwist), E (the Elohist), D (the Deuteronomist), and P (the Priestly writer). Allegedly, these were edited together over hundreds of years by redactors, eventually producing what we call the Pentateuch. Proponents of this view claim Moses never wrote a single word, with most of the work being pious fiction authored by anonymous scribes.

One of the characteristics of modern scholarship is the absolute refusal to reappraise the documentary hypothesis. It is passed dogmatically from professor to student in university Bible and religious studies departments. The theory is as inviolable and as sacrosanct in biblical studies as Darwinian evolution is in scientific studies. That demonstrates the key difficulty with the theory: proponents of the view are not open to considering new evidence that may overturn part, or all, of the theory. They, too, are firmly rooted in their own tradition.

It may be difficult for some viewers to conceal a smile when Jacobovici says, “Nowhere do I get the feeling that there are different authors.” That is precisely what Christians also believe. Halpern’s response is interesting. He fires back with a single shot aimed to prove the multiple authorship of the books of Moses: the presence of “doublets” in the Bible. He defines these as “pairs of identical or nearly identical stories with slight variation.” Examples would be the “two” creation stories of Genesis 1-2 or the stories in which Abraham and Isaac lie to the Egyptian pharaoh about their wives.

Doublets occur frequently in the biblical text, not only in the Pentateuch, but elsewhere. The assumption is that these stories bear strong resemblance to one another because they are duplications. In truth, the biblical writers, like other authors in the ancient Near East, used repetition for effect. Readers should also recognize that scholars have no tangible evidence that these stories are duplications. The only place they occur is in Scripture, and the assumption is that ancient scribes duplicated the stories. There is no evidence that they ever did, and it is grossly unfair to judge ancient writers by modern standards. Many modern scholars no longer consider this as evidence for the documentary hypothesis.

Jacobovici later forces Halpern to admit that there is no tangible evidence for the documentary hypothesis:

Jacobovici: “The point is that unless you have a reason to go to the fantastical, why shouldn’t you just accept the simple, which is, you know, it’s not two traditions, or three or four, it’s one tradition?”

Halpern: “There’s nothing fantastic about the idea that tradition grows over time and that various parties contribute to a tradition. In fact, that’s what we see in every other religious tradition that we have.”

Jacobovici: “You have to agree that not a single archaeological shred has ever been found of the existence of the documentary hypothesis.”

Halpern: “That’s absolutely correct.”

Jacobovici could have gone farther. Not only have critical scholars failed to produce so much as a single shred of physical evidence for the putative documents of J, E, D, and P, they have yet to produce any document from the ancient world that was edited in like manner. Not one example exists of the kind of editorial activity critics propose went into the production of the books of Moses. Religious texts in the ancient Near East were not whimsically altered by scribes. The scribe’s duty was to copy canonical compositions, such as religious texts, with complete fidelity. Concerning the absence of evidence, Kenneth Kitchen states:

[T]he basic fact is that there is no objective, independent evidence for any of these four compositions (or for any variant of them) anywhere outside the pages of our existing Hebrew Bible…. The standards of proof among biblical scholars fall massively and woefully short of the high standards that professional Orientalists and archaeologists are long accustomed to, and have a right to demand (Kitchen, 2003, p. 492, emp. added).

When questioned about whether Moses wrote any of the Bible, Halpern responds, “Not a thing.” He follows with the shocking statement: “I forgot to tell you these people were illiterate until basically the 8^th century B.C.” Jacobovici’s response? “I think I’ve got him on that one.” He travels to the Sinai desert to see an alphabetic inscription dating at least as early as the time of Moses. While the inscription is not conclusive, there is other evidence Jacobovici could have considered. Three important Hebrew inscriptions dating to the tenth century B.C. contradict Halpern’s outlandish statement. The Tel Zayit Inscription is an abecedary—a list of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The Gezer Calendar is a small tablet outlining the agricultural seasons. The oldest inscription found to date is a potsherd from Khirbet Qeiyafa, whose text has distinct parallels to several biblical passages (see Bryant, 2010). If the Hebrews were illiterate until the 8^th century, who created these Hebrew inscriptions in the 10^th century?

It is entertaining to see a filmmaker and amateur archaeologist outduel an ancient historian widely recognized as an authority in his field. The episode demonstrates a vital point that every Christian should note: just because a person is a recognized scholar does not mean he or she is inevitably correct in their criticisms of the Bible. The history of biblical scholarship is full of antiquated theories that were once held as absolute fact, but are now totally abandoned. Given the evidence that archaeologists and biblical scholars now have, the documentary hypothesis is surely destined to join them. Moses may not have signed his work, but theories offered by critics thus far have failed to pass the test of plausibility when all of the evidence is considered. [NOTE: Over a century ago, J.W. McGarvey wrote a masterful and decisive refutation of the documentary hypothesis, titled The Authorship of the Book of Deuteronomy With its Bearings on the Higher Criticism of the Pentateuch.]

REFERENCES

Bryant, Dewayne (2010), “The Khirbet Qeiyafa Inscription,”  http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=124&article=3492.

Kitchen, Kenneth (2003), On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).

Snails Kill Thousands by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=5416

Snails Kill Thousands

by	Kyle Butt, M.Div.

When we consider deadly animals, we normally think about venomous snakes, ferocious sharks, crocodiles, or bears. You might be surprised to learn that the animals or organisms most deadly to humans don’t match our mental picture of dangerous creatures. The creature that kills the most humans per year (between 750,000-1,000,000) is the lowly mosquito. Because of the various diseases it spreads, such as malaria, mosquitoes are the animal kingdom’s leading human killers. Another creature that has proven to be extremely deadly is the harmless looking freshwater snail. Freshwater snails are host to dangerous parasites known as cercariae that cause an infection in humans known as schistosomiasis. Millions of people each year ingest this parasite through contaminated water,¹ and about 10,000 die every year.² While contamination from water is the most common cause of the infection, another way the parasite can spread is when a person consumes raw or undercooked snail meat.

The fact that many snails carry parasites that are harmful to humans turns out to be another piece of evidence that shows the Bible is the inspired Word of God. When we look at the food regulations written by Moses in approximately 1450 B.C., we find that the Israelites had specific laws about what they could and could not eat. One of those regulations dealt with animals found in water. The Law permitted the Israelites to eat any animal that had both fins and scales, but any creature without both fins and scales was “an abomination” to the Israelites. They were told not to eat them or touch their dead bodies (Leviticus 11:9-12). Land-living snails were also prohibited (Leviticus 11:41-42). Some people contend that the food laws had nothing to do with health regulations and were merely ceremonial, religious rituals. We have documented at length that such is not the case and that the food regulations were specifically designed to help the Israelites avoid many of the diseases that plagued the nations around them.³

When Moses led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, there were approximately 603,000 males ages 20 years old and above (Numbers 1:46). By adding to that the number of women of the same ages, along with those who were younger, we arrive at an estimated two million Israelites exiting Egypt. Due to their disobedience, they wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years. Many of the laws found in Exodus-Deuteronomy were sanitation, quarantine, hygiene, and disease regulation designed to keep the Israelites healthy and safe during their wilderness wandering and their future lives in Canaan. These regulations exhibited a scientific knowledge that was far beyond any nation’s ability at the time to have acquired through the natural course of human understanding. This characteristic is referred to as scientific foreknowledge and is an attribute of divine inspiration. In short, there is no possible way Moses could have known the science that lies behind the food, hygiene, and sanitation regulations in the books he penned.

Snails provide an excellent example of scientific foreknowledge. Both water-living snails and land-living snails are highly susceptible hosts to numerous parasites. In an article titled “Some Health Risks With Eating Giant African Land Snail,” entomologist Paul Skelley stated, “Most of the infections and deaths from snail-transmitted diseases apparently come from eating raw or undercooked snails or ingesting slime residue left on fresh fruits and vegetables.”⁴ Skelley went on to say, “In my opinion, eating wild snails should only be done in an ‘eat-snail-or-die’ survival situation” due to the high probability that most snails host dangerous parasites. The CDC put out a blog about snails and slugs carrying a parasite called the rat lungworm that can cause meningitis, blindness, and death in humans. The author said, “Humans become infected by ingesting raw or undercooked mollusks.”⁵

With two million Israelites moving around in the wilderness, it would have been extremely difficult to properly cook all the food they consumed. There were no meat thermometers that could be used to guarantee that snails, pork, or oysters were cooked to the necessary temperature to kill parasites. Since God provided manna every day for the Israelites to eat, they were not in any type of “eat-snail-or-die” situation. The consumption of meat and animals would have been for the purpose of providing variety to their diets and not at all necessary for survival. Therefore, the best approach to what should or should not be eaten would be to prohibit the consumption of any creatures that had a high probability of carrying parasites or diseases.

Moses could not have taken a microscope to meat samples to identify which animals carry tiny parasites or which animals (such as bats, see Leviticus 11:19⁶) are remarkably prone to diseases such as rabies. We might expect that Moses could have guessed a few such instances correctly. But to have accurately listed numerous regulations that contain in them safety measures that were not understood by any nation until literally thousands of years after the books were written? That is superhuman. That is Divine! It is not surprising that Moses told the Israelites, “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to posses. Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people’” (Deuteronomy 4:5-6).

ENDNOTES

¹ Christopher Stephens, “10 Creepy Snails that Will Ruin Your Day,” Listverse, http://listverse.com/2015/01/30/10-exceptional-creepy-or-dangerous-snails/.

² “What Kind of Health Risks Do Snails Pose?” https://www.curejoy.com/content/diseases-caused-by-snails/.

³ Kyle Butt (2007), Behold! The Word of God, Apologetics Press, http://apologeticspress.org/pdfs/e-books_pdf/Behold%20the%20Word%20of%20God.pdf,  pp. 103-130.

⁴ Trina Sargalski (2013), “Health Risks With Eating Giant African Snails,” http://wlrn.org/post/some-health-risks-eating-giant-african-land-snail.

⁵ Alex de Silva (2009), “Snails, Slugs, and Semi-Slugs: A Parasitic Disease in Paradise,” Center for Disease Control, https://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2009/04/snails-slugs-and-semi-slugs-a-parasitic-disease-in-paradise/.

⁶  Butt, p. 124.

"THE BOOK OF PROVERBS" Wisdom Regarding Authority by Mark Copeland

"THE BOOK OF PROVERBS"

Wisdom Regarding Authority

INTRODUCTION

1. Throughout life, we must deal with the matter of authority...
   a. Sometimes we find ourselves in positions of authority (boss,
      parent, elder, president)
   b. Most of the time we find ourselves having to submit to authority
      (employee, child, citizen)

2. Wisdom regarding authority is a virtue often lacking...
   a. People with authority frequently do poorly, even abusing their authority
   b. People under authority don't always handle it gracefully, making
      their situation worse

3. In Proverbs, we find wisdom regarding authority...
   a. Mostly spoken in terms pertaining to the rule of a king or prince
   b. Which can easily be applied to other areas involving authority
      (work, family, church)

[In this study, we shall seek to summarize what is said in Proverbs
about the subject of authority, beginning with some...]

I. WISDOM FOR THOSE IN AUTHORITY

   A. THEIR DUTIES...
      1. To make judgments - Pr 16:10; 25:2
         a. Those in authority are often called upon to make decisions
         b. Decisions that affect those under their authority
      2. To administer justice - Pr 20:8,26; 29:4a,14
         a. Such is the responsibility of those in authority
         b. Not for their personal benefit, but for those under their authority
      -- Whether one is a king, a company CEO or manager, an elder, or a
         parent, God expects them to exercise authority with justice

   B. THEIR QUALITIES...
      1. They must be righteous - Pr 16:10,12
         a. Necessary to administer justice
         b. To judge righteously and fairly
      2. Free of evil influence - Pr 25:4-5
         a. Such as covetousness, the love of material things - Pr 28:15-16
         b. Such as bribery, the tool of many 'lobbyists' - Pr 29:4
         c. Such as women and alcohol, bane of many politicians and
            businessmen - Pr 31:1-5
      3. They must be fair and merciful - Pr 31:8-9
         a. For those unable to speak for themselves
         b. For those who are poor and needy
      -- Those in authority need the qualities that will ensure
         righteous and merciful judgment

[In other words, the same sort of judgment they would want if they
themselves were not in positions of authority!  Now for some...]

II. WISDOM FOR THOSE UNDER AUTHORITY

   A. THEIR DUTIES...
      1. To honor those in authority - Pr 24:21-22
         a. To fear (reverence, respect) them like we do the Lord
         b. Avoid those given to 'revolution', who often bring calamity
            on themselves
      2. To gain their favor, when possible and appropriate - Pr 16:15;
         19:12; 20:2
         a. For such favor can be a blessing
         b. And their wrath can be a curse
      -- Those in authority deserve our respect - for the position if
         not the occupant

   B. THEIR QUALITIES...
      1. Wise conduct, not shameful - Pr 14:35
      2. Righteous speech - Pr 16:13
      3. Purity of heart and graceful lips - Pr 22:11
      4. Excellence in one's work - Pr 22:29
      5. Self-control of one's passions and appetites - Pr 23:1-3
      6. Humility - Pr 25:6-7
      7. Patience and gentleness - Pr 25:15
      -- Such are the qualities that gain the favor of those in
         authority

CONCLUSION

1. If such wisdom regarding authority were commonplace...
   a. In nations
   b. In businesses
   c. In churches
   d. In families

2. Where those in authority...
   a. Fulfilled their duties with justice
   b. Were men and women of righteous conduct

3. Where those under authority...
   a. Respected those over them
   b. Gained the respect of those over them through their own conduct

Then how wonderful it would be!  With the aid of such wisdom as that
found in Proverbs, it can happen...

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

 

Unseen possibilities by Gary Rose

What interests you? That is; what causes you to wonder, to imagine and focus your attention on something that seems just out of the reach of your understanding. That certain something that you know with absolute certainty can not be true, but it is right before your eyes. An enigma within a puzzle that is just out of focus.

Well, this picture fits the bill. Could these really be natural phenomenons?

My imagination says absolute yes, but reason says NO. There are things in the Bible that fall into this category and this passage is but one of them…

Matthew 5 ( Young’s Literal Translation )

[1] And having seen the multitudes, he went up to the mount, and he having sat down, his disciples came to him, [2] and having opened his mouth, he was teaching them, saying:

[3] 'Happy the poor in spirit--because theirs is the reign of the heavens.

[4] 'Happy the mourning--because they shall be comforted.

[5] 'Happy the meek--because they shall inherit the land.

[6] 'Happy those hungering and thirsting for righteousness--because they shall be filled.

[7] 'Happy the kind--because they shall find kindness.

[8] 'Happy the clean in heart--because they shall see God.

[9] 'Happy the peacemakers--because they shall be called Sons of God.

[10] 'Happy those persecuted for righteousness' sake--because theirs is the reign of the heavens.

[11] 'Happy are ye whenever they may reproach you, and may persecute, and may say any evil thing against you falsely for my sake-- [12] rejoice ye and be glad, because your reward is great in the heavens, for thus did they persecute the prophets who were before you.

[13] 'Ye are the salt of the land, but if the salt may lose savour, in what shall it be salted? for nothing is it good henceforth, except to be cast without, and to be trodden down by men.

[14] 'Ye are the light of the world, a city set upon a mount is not able to be hid; [15] nor do they light a lamp, and put it under the measure, but on the lamp-stand, and it shineth to all those in the house; [16] so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father who is in the heavens.

I know, I have referred to this passage repeatedly, but no matter how many times I think about the beatitudes of Jesus, they make me feel like the graphic above does. How does happiness and persecution make sense (verse 11), and for that matter, happiness and poor in spirit (verse 3)? To the rational mind, these are contradictory concepts. But, if you really understand who Jesus is and what he taught, then they make perfect sense, for behind his teachings is his close relationship with God the Father, the unseen maker of the entire universe.

Now, getting back to those impossible stones – meet Michael Grab, the man who does the incredible balancing acts of the picture at the top. Visit https://www.gravityglue.com/blog/ to see more of his work. But, before you go there – look at this picture:

Just looking at the stones is not enough, you need to get to know the man behind the work as well. Same concept for Jesus’ beatitudes- get to know the unseen creator of all the universe and these difficult sayings will begin to make sense to you. How? Open your Bible, study and pray. After awhile enigmas will vanish!

Bible Reading November 29 & 30 and December 1 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading  November 29 & 30 and December 1

World  English  Bible

Nov. 29

Ezekiel 9-12

Eze 9:1 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause those who are in charge of the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.

Eze 9:2 Behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side. They went in, and stood beside the bronze altar.

Eze 9:3 The glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn by his side.

Eze 9:4 Yahweh said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done in its midst.

Eze 9:5 To the others he said in my hearing, Go you through the city after him, and strike: don't let your eye spare, neither have you pity;

Eze 9:6 kill utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but don't come near any man on whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the old men that were before the house.

Eze 9:7 He said to them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go you forth. They went forth, and struck in the city.

Eze 9:8 It happened, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell on my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord Yahweh! will you destroy all the residue of Israel in your pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem?

Eze 9:9 Then said he to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion: for they say, Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh doesn't see.

Eze 9:10 As for me also, my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head.

Eze 9:11 Behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as you have commanded me.

Eze 10:1 Then I looked, and see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

Eze 10:2 He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. He went in as I watched.

Eze 10:3 Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.

Eze 10:4 The glory of Yahweh mounted up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Yahweh's glory.

Eze 10:5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

Eze 10:6 It came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went in, and stood beside a wheel.

Eze 10:7 The cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took of it, and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out.

Eze 10:8 There appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings.

Eze 10:9 I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone.

Eze 10:10 As for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel have been within a wheel.

Eze 10:11 When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn't turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked they followed it; they didn't turn as they went.

Eze 10:12 Their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, even the wheels that they four had.

Eze 10:13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels.

Eze 10:14 Every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third face the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

Eze 10:15 The cherubim mounted up: this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar.

Eze 10:16 When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also didn't turn from beside them.

Eze 10:17 When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

Eze 10:18 The glory of Yahweh went forth from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.

Eze 10:19 The cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of Yahweh's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

Eze 10:20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.

Eze 10:21 Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.

Eze 10:22 As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.

Eze 11:1 Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of Yahweh's house, which looks eastward: and see, at the door of the gate twenty-five men; and I saw in the midst of them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

Eze 11:2 He said to me, Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city;

Eze 11:3 who say, The time is not near to build houses: this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh.

Eze 11:4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man.

Eze 11:5 The Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, Speak, Thus says Yahweh: Thus have you said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.

Eze 11:6 You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.

Eze 11:7 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron; but you shall be brought forth out of its midst.

Eze 11:8 You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 11:9 I will bring you forth out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.

Eze 11:10 You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

Eze 11:11 This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall you be the flesh in its midst; I will judge you in the border of Israel;

Eze 11:12 and you shall know that I am Yahweh: for you have not walked in my statutes, neither have you executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you.

Eze 11:13 It happened, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord Yahweh! will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

Eze 11:14 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 11:15 Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, are they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from Yahweh; to us is this land given for a possession.

Eze 11:16 Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they are come.

Eze 11:17 Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

Eze 11:18 They shall come there, and they shall take away all the detestable things of it and all its abominations from there.

Eze 11:19 I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;

Eze 11:20 that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Eze 11:21 But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 11:22 Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

Eze 11:23 The glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

Eze 11:24 The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.

Eze 11:25 Then I spoke to them of the captivity all the things that Yahweh had shown me.

Eze 12:1 The word of Yahweh also came to me, saying,

Eze 12:2 Son of man, you dwell in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see, and don't see, who have ears to hear, and don't hear; for they are a rebellious house.

Eze 12:3 Therefore, you son of man, prepare you stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and you shall remove from your place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.

Eze 12:4 You shall bring forth your stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing; and you shall go forth yourself at even in their sight, as when men go forth into exile.

Eze 12:5 Dig you through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.

Eze 12:6 In their sight you shall bear it on your shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; you shall cover your face, that you don't see the land: for I have set you for a sign to the house of Israel.

Eze 12:7 I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for removing, and in the even I dug through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the dark, and bore it on my shoulder in their sight.

Eze 12:8 In the morning came the word of Yahweh to me, saying,

Eze 12:9 Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, What do you?

Eze 12:10 Say you to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are.

Eze 12:11 Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.

Eze 12:12 The prince who is among them shall bear on his shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes.

Eze 12:13 My net also will I spread on him, and he shall be taken in my snare; and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.

Eze 12:14 I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.

Eze 12:15 They shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall disperse them among the nations, and scatter them through the countries.

Eze 12:16 But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they come; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

Eze 12:17 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 12:18 Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness;

Eze 12:19 and tell the people of the land, Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, and despoiled of all that is therein, because of the violence of all those who dwell therein.

Eze 12:20 The cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

Eze 12:21 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 12:22 Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?

Eze 12:23 Tell them therefore, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but tell them, The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.

Eze 12:24 For there shall be no more any false vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.

Eze 12:25 For I am Yahweh; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed; it shall be no more deferred: for in your days, rebellious house, will I speak the word, and will perform it, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 12:26 Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 12:27 Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he sees is for many day to come, and he prophesies of times that are far off.

Eze 12:28 Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: There shall none of my words be deferred any more, but the word which I shall speak shall be performed, says the Lord Yahweh.

Nov. 30

Eze 13:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 13:2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say you to those who prophesy out of their own heart, Hear you the word of Yahweh:

Eze 13:3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

Eze 13:4 Israel, your prophets have been like foxes in the waste places.

Eze 13:5 You have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of Yahweh.

Eze 13:6 They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, Yahweh says; but Yahweh has not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed.

Eze 13:7 Haven't you seen a false vision, and haven't you spoken a lying divination, in that you say, Yahweh says; but I have not spoken?

Eze 13:8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have spoken falsehood, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 13:9 My hand shall be against the prophets who see false visions, and who divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 13:10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there is no peace; and when one builds up a wall, behold, they daub it with whitewash:

Eze 13:11 tell those who daub it with whitewash, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and you, great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it.

Eze 13:12 Behold, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said to you, Where is the daubing with which you have daubed it?

Eze 13:13 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my wrath; and there shall be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it.

Eze 13:14 So will I break down the wall that you have daubed with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation shall be uncovered; and it shall fall, and you shall be consumed in its midst: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

Eze 13:15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath on the wall, and on those who have daubed it with whitewash; and I will tell you, The wall is no more, neither those who daubed it;

Eze 13:16 to wit, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 13:17 You, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy you against them,

Eze 13:18 and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the women who sew pillows on all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves?

Eze 13:19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die, and to save the souls alive who should not live, by your lying to my people who listen to lies.

Eze 13:20 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against your pillows, with which you there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls who you hunt to make them fly.

Eze 13:21 Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

Eze 13:22 Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive:

Eze 13:23 Therefore you shall no more see false visions, nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

Eze 14:1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel to me, and sat before me.

Eze 14:2 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 14:3 Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

Eze 14:4 Therefore speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I Yahweh will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols;

Eze 14:5 that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

Eze 14:6 Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Return you, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

Eze 14:7 For everyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I Yahweh will answer him by myself:

Eze 14:8 and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

Eze 14:9 If the prophet be deceived and speak a word, I, Yahweh, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

Eze 14:10 They shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him who seeks to him;

Eze 14:11 that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 14:12 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 14:13 Son of man, when a land sins against me by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand on it, and break the staff of its bread, and send famine on it, and cut off from it man and animal;

Eze 14:14 though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 14:15 If I cause evil animals to pass through the land, and they ravage it, and it be made desolate, so that no man may pass through because of the animals;

Eze 14:16 though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.

Eze 14:17 Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it man and animal;

Eze 14:18 though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only should be delivered themselves.

Eze 14:19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal;

Eze 14:20 though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, they should deliver neither son nor daughter; they should but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

Eze 14:21 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: How much more when I send my four sore judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal!

Eze 14:22 Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth to you, and you shall see their way and their doings; and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought on it.

Eze 14:23 They shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 15:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 15:2 Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?

Eze 15:3 Shall wood be taken of it to make any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?

Eze 15:4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and its midst is burned: is it profitable for any work?

Eze 15:5 Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work!

Eze 15:6 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Eze 15:7 I will set my face against them; they shall go forth from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.

Eze 15:8 I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 16:1 Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 16:2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations;

Eze 16:3 and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your birth and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite.

Eze 16:4 As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to cleanse you; you weren't salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

Eze 16:5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, for that your person was abhorred, in the day that you were born.

Eze 16:6 When I passed by you, and saw you weltering in your blood, I said to you, Though you are in your blood, live; yes, I said to you, Though you are in your blood, live.

Eze 16:7 I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare.

Eze 16:8 Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Yahweh, and you became mine.

Eze 16:9 Then washed I you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil.

Eze 16:10 I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I girded you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk.

Eze 16:11 I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck.

Eze 16:12 I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head.

Eze 16:13 Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; and you were exceeding beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate.

Eze 16:14 Your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 16:15 But you did trust in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was.

Eze 16:16 You took of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

Eze 16:17 You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute with them;

Eze 16:18 and you took your embroidered garments, and covered them, and did set my oil and my incense before them.

Eze 16:19 My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you did even set it before them for a pleasant aroma; and thus it was, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 16:20 Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and these have you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your prostitution a small matter,

Eze 16:21 that you have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them?

Eze 16:22 In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and was weltering in your blood.

Eze 16:23 It is happen after all your wickedness, (woe, woe to you! says the Lord Yahweh),

Eze 16:24 that you have built to you a vaulted place, and have made you a lofty place in every street.

Eze 16:25 You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution.

Eze 16:26 You have also committed sexual immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to anger.

Eze 16:27 See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary food, and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.

Eze 16:28 You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren't satisfied.

Eze 16:29 You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren't satisfied with this.

Eze 16:30 How weak is your heart, says the Lord Yahweh, seeing you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute;

Eze 16:31 in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a prostitute, in that you scorn pay.

Eze 16:32 A wife who commits adultery! who takes strangers instead of her husband!

Eze 16:33 They give gifts to all prostitutes; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution.

Eze 16:34 You are different from other women in your prostitution, in that none follows you to play the prostitute; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different.

Eze 16:35 Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of Yahweh:

Eze 16:36 Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Because your filthiness was poured out, and your nakedness uncovered through your prostitution with your lovers; and because of all the idols of your abominations, and for the blood of your children, that you gave to them;

Eze 16:37 therefore see, I will gather all your lovers, with whom you have taken pleasure, and all those who you have loved, with all those who you have hated; I will even gather them against you on every side, and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness.

Eze 16:38 I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.

Eze 16:39 I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places; and they shall strip you of your clothes, and take your beautiful jewels; and they shall leave you naked and bare.

Eze 16:40 They shall also bring up a company against you, and they shall stone you with stones, and thrust you through with their swords.

Eze 16:41 They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you shall also give no hire any more.

Eze 16:42 So will I cause my wrath toward you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

Eze 16:43 Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring your way on your head, says the Lord Yahweh: and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations.

Eze 16:44 Behold, everyone who uses proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.

Eze 16:45 You are the daughter of your mother, who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

Eze 16:46 Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

Eze 16:47 Yet have you not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

Eze 16:48 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.

Eze 16:49 Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

Eze 16:50 They were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

Eze 16:51 Neither has Samaria committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done.

Eze 16:52 You also, bear you your own shame, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that you: yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.

Eze 16:53 I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives in the midst of them;

Eze 16:54 that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them.

Eze 16:55 Your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate.

Eze 16:56 For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride,

Eze 16:57 before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all who are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who do despite to you all around.

Eze 16:58 You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, says Yahweh.

Eze 16:59 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

Eze 16:60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant.

Eze 16:61 Then you shall remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder sisters and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.

Eze 16:62 I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall know that I am Yahweh;

Eze 16:63 that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord Yahweh.

Dec. 1

Ezekiel 17-20

Eze 17:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 17:2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

Eze 17:3 and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:

Eze 17:4 he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.

Eze 17:5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow tree.

Eze 17:6 It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

Eze 17:7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it.

Eze 17:8 It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.

Eze 17:9 Say you, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and not by a strong arm or much people can it be raised from its roots.

Eze 17:10 Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew.

Eze 17:11 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 17:12 Say now to the rebellious house, Don't you know what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king, and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon:

Eze 17:13 and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;

Eze 17:14 that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.

Eze 17:15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape who does such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?

Eze 17:16 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

Eze 17:17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons.

Eze 17:18 For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape.

Eze 17:19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head.

Eze 17:20 I will spread my net on him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me.

Eze 17:21 All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it.

Eze 17:22 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain:

Eze 17:23 in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell.

Eze 17:24 All the trees of the field shall know that I, Yahweh, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, Yahweh, have spoken and have done it.

Eze 18:1 The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,

Eze 18:2 What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?

Eze 18:3 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.

Eze 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die.

Eze 18:5 But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right,

Eze 18:6 and has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor's wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity,

Eze 18:7 and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;

Eze 18:8 he who has not given forth on interest, neither has taken any increase, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man,

Eze 18:9 has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 18:10 If he fathers a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of these things,

Eze 18:11 and who does not any of those duties, but even has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife,

Eze 18:12 has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination,

Eze 18:13 has given forth on interest, and has taken increase; shall he then live? he shall not live: he has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be on him.

Eze 18:14 Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father's sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like;

Eze 18:15 who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor's wife,

Eze 18:16 neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;

Eze 18:17 who has withdrawn his hand from the poor, who has not received interest nor increase, has executed my ordinances, has walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

Eze 18:18 As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.

Eze 18:19 Yet say you, Why does not the son bear the iniquity of the father? when the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live.

Eze 18:20 The soul who sins, he shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.

Eze 18:21 But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Eze 18:22 None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live.

Eze 18:23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord Yahweh; and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?

Eze 18:24 But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.

Eze 18:25 Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren't your ways unequal?

Eze 18:26 When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die.

Eze 18:27 Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

Eze 18:28 Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Eze 18:29 Yet says the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?

Eze 18:30 Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord Yahweh. Return you, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

Eze 18:31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?

Eze 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says the Lord Yahweh: therefore turn yourselves, and live.

Eze 19:1 Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Eze 19:2 and say, What was your mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her cubs.

Eze 19:3 She brought up one of her cubs: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

Eze 19:4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

Eze 19:5 Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion.

Eze 19:6 He went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

Eze 19:7 He knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and its fullness, because of the noise of his roaring.

Eze 19:8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

Eze 19:9 They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.

Eze 19:10 Your mother was like a vine, in your blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

Eze 19:11 It had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.

Eze 19:12 But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them.

Eze 19:13 Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

Eze 19:14 Fire is gone out of the rods of its branches, it has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a scepter to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

Eze 20:1 It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and sat before me.

Eze 20:2 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 20:3 Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you.

Eze 20:4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;

Eze 20:5 and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am Yahweh your God;

Eze 20:6 in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.

Eze 20:7 I said to them, Cast you away every man the abominations of his eyes, and don't defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.

Eze 20:8 But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me; they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

Eze 20:9 But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.

Eze 20:10 So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

Eze 20:11 I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.

Eze 20:12 Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.

Eze 20:13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.

Eze 20:14 But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.

Eze 20:15 Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

Eze 20:16 because they rejected my ordinances, and didn't walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

Eze 20:17 Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.

Eze 20:18 I said to their children in the wilderness, Don't you walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

Eze 20:19 I am Yahweh your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them;

Eze 20:20 and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.

Eze 20:21 But the children rebelled against me; they didn't walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

Eze 20:22 Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.

Eze 20:23 Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries;

Eze 20:24 because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.

Eze 20:25 Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live;

Eze 20:26 and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Yahweh.

Eze 20:27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

Eze 20:28 For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings.

Eze 20:29 Then I said to them, What means the high place whereunto you go? So its name is called Bamah to this day.

Eze 20:30 Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Do you pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers? and play you the prostitute after their abominations?

Eze 20:31 and when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? and shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you;

Eze 20:32 and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

Eze 20:33 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you:

Eze 20:34 and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;

Eze 20:35 and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.

Eze 20:36 Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 20:37 I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;

Eze 20:38 and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

Eze 20:39 As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Go you, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.

Eze 20:40 For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.

Eze 20:41 As a pleasant aroma will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.

Eze 20:42 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.

Eze 20:43 There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.

Eze 20:44 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.

Eze 20:45 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Eze 20:46 Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;

Eze 20:47 and tell the forest of the South, Hear the word of Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby.

Eze 20:48 All flesh shall see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.

Eze 20:49 Then said I, Ah Lord Yahweh! they say of me, Isn't he a speaker of parables? 

Nov. 29

James 2

Jas 2:1 My brothers, don't hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality.

Jas 2:2 For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in;

Jas 2:3 and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing, and say, "Sit here in a good place;" and you tell the poor man, "Stand there," or "Sit by my footstool;"

Jas 2:4 haven't you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

Jas 2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn't God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?

Jas 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Don't the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?

Jas 2:7 Don't they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?

Jas 2:8 However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.

Jas 2:9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.

Jas 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

Jas 2:11 For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not commit murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

Jas 2:12 So speak, and so do, as men who are to be judged by a law of freedom.

Jas 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Jas 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?

Jas 2:15 And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food,

Jas 2:16 and one of you tells them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled;" and yet you didn't give them the things the body needs, what good is it?

Jas 2:17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.

Jas 2:18 Yes, a man will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

Jas 2:19 You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.

Jas 2:20 But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?

Jas 2:21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

Jas 2:22 You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected;

Jas 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness;" and he was called the friend of God.

Jas 2:24 You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith.

Jas 2:25 In like manner wasn't Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?

Jas 2:26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.

Nov. 30

James 3

Jas 3:1 Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.

Jas 3:2 For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn't stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.

Jas 3:3 Indeed, we put bits into the horses' mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body.

Jas 3:4 Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires.

Jas 3:5 So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!

Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.

Jas 3:7 For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and thing in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind.

Jas 3:8 But nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Jas 3:9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God.

Jas 3:10 Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

Jas 3:11 Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water?

Jas 3:12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.

Jas 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom.

Jas 3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don't boast and don't lie against the truth.

Jas 3:15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.

Jas 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.

Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Jas 3:18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Dec. 1

James 4

Jas 4:1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don't they come from your pleasures that war in your members?

Jas 4:2 You lust, and don't have. You kill, covet, and can't obtain. You fight and make war. You don't have, because you don't ask.

Jas 4:3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.

Jas 4:4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Jas 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously"?

Jas 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Jas 4:7 Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Jas 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Jas 4:9 Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Jas 4:11 Don't speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.

Jas 4:12 Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?

Jas 4:13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow let's go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit."

Jas 4:14 Whereas you don't know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

Jas 4:15 For you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that."

Jas 4:16 But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.

Jas 4:17 To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin