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Saint Mark the Evangelist.

Direct, Intellectual, Testimonial, Relational, Invitational, Service.
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“This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You,
who will prepare Your way.”   “A voice of one calling in the wilderness,  ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,  make straight paths for Him.’ 
–  Mark 1   “consecrated to the god Mars”  “God of war”  “to be warlike“ “boundary, limit; sign, landmark”  “to denote” “sign, omen, aim”  “margin”
(Stained glass detail from St Andrew’s church in Newcastle)

“When he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion authority and power.“
–  1 Corinthians 13&15    (“point, peak“)

Dear God,
I Hope Your Listening.
In An Attempt to Curry Favor With You
I Bring You This Work Which You May Find Useful.
For Your Consideration, A Rich Store of Wisdom & Knowledge.
These are True Words of Salvation for These Times of Distress.  Aligned in a Sure Foundation
On Behalf of the People.  A Testimony of Conscience.  We Ask You to Drive Out the The Evil Spirits.
To Disperse The Men of Secret & Shameful Ways Trying to Spread a Fear Based Conditioning Over the World.
Dedicated To Those Holders of Power and Responsibility.  To the Real Men.  If You Would Forgive My Hidden Faults.
For Your Consideration,  A Biblical Interpretation of the Times.  Regarding The Recent Tribulation in the Course of Human Events.
I Do Not Claim To Speak to You Using My Own Cleverness but I Appeal to You Through The Words of the Holy Author of Our Religion.  Hybrid Theory.

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DOSTOEVSKY’S THE IDIOT:

A DARK WARNING FOR OUR SOCIETY!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mDoYhJTcY8
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Saint Paul

By Peter Paul Rubens (c. 1611)

Of the 27 Books in the New Testament, 13 Identify Paul as the Author
Epistle to the Romans :  1 Corinthians  ;  2 Corinthians  :  Epistle to the Galatians  :  Ephesians  :  Philippians  : 
Epistle to the Colossians  :  1 Thessalonians  :  1 Timothy  :  2 Timothy  :  Titus  :  Philemon  :  Hebrews
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          The figure of Paul his person and his ministry, the whole of his life and his hard work for the Kingdom of God is entirely dedicated to the service of the Gospel. In these texts one notices a sense of movement where the protagonist is not man, but God, the breath of the Holy Spirit, that impels the Apostle on the highways of the world to bring the Good News to everyone: the promises of the Prophets are fulfilled in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who died for our sins and was raised for our justification. Saul is no longer, instead there is Paul, indeed there is Christ who lives in him (cf. Gal 2:20) and wants to reach out to all people. Although the Feast of the Holy Patrons of Rome thus calls to mind the twofold aspiration to unity and to universality that is characteristic of this Church, the context in which we are gathered this evening calls us to give priority to the latter, letting ourselves, so to speak, be “drawn” by St Paul and his extraordinary vocation.”

– Pope Benedict XVI.

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Mark The Evangelist

By :  Il Pordenone
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“In my vision at night I looked,
and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 
Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle.
I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.“
–  Daniel 7  “God is my judge”  “He who judges“

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1 Corinthians 14
(“point” “peak“)
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(Christian Standard Bible)

Prophecy: A Superior Gift

Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.  For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit.  On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening,  encouragement, and consolation. The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.  I wish all of you spoke in tongues, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.

So now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?  Even lifeless instruments that produce sounds — whether flute or harp — if they don’t make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized?  In fact, if the bugle makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle?  In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air.  There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, none is without meaning.  Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me.  So also you — since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.

Therefore the person who speaks in a tongue should pray that he can interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing praise with the spirit, and I will also sing praise with my understanding.  Otherwise, if you praise with the spirit,  how will the outsider say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?  For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up.  I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking.  It is written in the law,

I will speak to this people

by people of other tongues

and by the lips of foreigners,

and even then, they will not listen to me,

says the Lord. Speaking in tongues, then, is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.  If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in tongues and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?  But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted by all and is called to account by all.  The secrets Of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.”

Order in Church Meetings

What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.  Everything is to be done for building up.  If anyone speaks in a tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret.  But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God.   Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate, But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent.   For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged.  And the prophets’ spirits are subject to the prophets,  since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

As in all the churches of the saints, the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but are to submit themselves, as the law also says.  If they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, since it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.  Or did the word of God originate from you, or did it come to you only?

If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command.  If anyone ignores this, he will be ignored.  So then, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.  But everything is to be done decently and in order.

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Hebrews 1
(“a biblical Jew Israelite” “one from the other side“)
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(Net Bible)

Introduction: God Has Spoken Fully and Finally in His Son

After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world.  The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.  Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs.

The Son Is Superior to Angels

For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”? And in another place he says, “I will be his father and he will be my son.” But when he again brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him!” And he says of the angels, “He makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire,” but of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,

and a righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions with the oil of rejoicing.”

And,

“You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord,

and the heavens are the works of your hands.

They will perish, but you continue.

And they will all grow old like a garment,

and like a robe you will fold them up

and like a garment they will be changed,

but you are the same and your years will never run out.”

But to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?  Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to serve those who will inherit salvation?

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The “Winged Lion ” With the Scroll of Isaiah.

Symbol of Saint Mark the Evangelist

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God’s Chosen Servant
Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.  He warned them not to tell others about him.  This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:  “Here is my servant whom I have chosen,  the one I love, in whom I delight;  I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.  He will not quarrel or cry out;  no one will hear his voice in the streets.  A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.  In his name the nations will put their hope.”
               –  Matthew 12     (“gift of Jehovah”)

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These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. 
What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.  See I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
–  Revelation 3
“Disclosure of information or knowledge to man by a divine or supernatural agency.”
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“I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
“Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”
“Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near.
“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.
Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right
continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.” I will give to each person according to what they have done.
–   Revelation 22
“Disclosure of information or knowledge to man by a divine or supernatural agency.”

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“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.
Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
–  Mark 10  (NIV)
“consecrated to the god Mars”  “God of war”  “to be warlike“ “boundary, limit; sign, landmark”  “to denote” “sign, omen, aim”  “margin”

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2 Peter 1
“stone, rock“
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(New International Version)

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Confirming One’s Calling and Election

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;  and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Prophecy of Scripture

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.  I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body,  because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.  And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.  He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”   We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.  Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.  For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

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 2 Thessalonians 2
(“Victory“)
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(New International Version)

Events prior to the Lord’s Second Coming

Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him.  Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us.  Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction.  He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes.  For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way.  Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.

This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.  He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.  So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies.  Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

Believers Should Stand Firm

As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.  He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.

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1 Corinthians 4
(“point” “peak“)
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(New International Version)

The Nature of True Apostleship

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.  Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.  I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.  Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.  For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you!  For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.  We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.  We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;  when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

Paul’s Appeal and Warning

I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children.  Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.  Therefore I urge you to imitate me.  For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.  But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.  What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

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Psalm 19
“sacred poem or song“
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(New American Standard Bible)

The Works and the Word of God.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

The heavens tell of the glory of God;

And their expanse declares the work of His hands.

Day to day pours forth speech,

And night to night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words;

Their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out into all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has placed a tent for the sun,

Which is like a groom coming out of his chamber;

It rejoices like a strong person to run his course.

Its rising is from one end of the heavens,

And its circuit to the other end of them;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.

They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold;

Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, Your servant is warned by them;

In keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.

Also keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins;

Let them not rule over me;

Then I will be innocent,

And I will be blameless of great wrongdoing.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

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Ecclesiastes 1
(“one who addresses an assembly”  “speaker in an assembly or church, preacher”  “to call out“)
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(New Living Translation)

These are the words of the Teacher, King David’s son, who ruled in Jerusalem.

Everything Is Meaningless

“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?  Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.  The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.  The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.  Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.  Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.  Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.  We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

The Teacher Speaks: The Futility of Wisdom

I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem.  I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.  I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

What is wrong cannot be made right.

What is missing cannot be recovered.

I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.”  So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief.

To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.

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Psalm 109
“sacred poem or song“
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(Berean Standard Bible)

The Song of the Slandered

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

 O God of my praise,

be not silent.

For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me;

they speak against me with lying tongues.

They surround me with hateful words

and attack me without cause.

In return for my love they accuse me,

but I am a man of prayer.

They repay me evil for good,

and hatred for my love.

Set over him a wicked man;

let an accuser stand at his right hand.

When he is tried, let him be found guilty,

and may his prayer be regarded as sin.

May his days be few;

may another take his position.

May his children be fatherless

and his wife a widow.

May his children wander as beggars,

seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.

May the creditor seize all he owns,

and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.

May there be no one to extend kindness to him,

and no one to favor his fatherless children.

May his descendants be cut off;

may their name be blotted out from the next generation.

May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,

and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.

May their sins always remain before the LORD,

that He may cut off their memory from the earth.

For he never thought to show kindness,

but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted,

even to their death.

The cursing that he loved,

may it fall on him;

the blessing in which he refused to delight,

may it be far from him.

The cursing that he wore like a coat,

may it soak into his body like water,

and into his bones like oil.

May it be like a robe wrapped about him,

like a belt tied forever around him.

May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers,

to those who speak evil against me.

But You, O GOD, the Lord,

deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name;

deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.

For I am poor and needy;

my heart is wounded within me.

I am fading away like a lengthening shadow;

I am shaken off like a locust.

My knees are weak from fasting,

and my body grows lean and gaunt.

I am an object of scorn to my accusers;

when they see me, they shake their heads.

Help me, O LORD my God;

save me according to Your loving devotion.

Let them know that this is Your hand,

that You, O LORD, have done it.

Though they curse, You will bless.

When they rise up, they will be put to shame,

But Your servant will rejoice.

May my accusers be clothed with disgrace;

may they wear their shame like a robe.

With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely;

I will praise Him in the presence of many.

For He stands at the right hand of the needy one,

to save him from the condemners of his soul.

▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬

1 Corinthians 10
(“point” “peak“)
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(Beran Standard Bible)

Warnings from Israel’s Past

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.  They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.  Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.

These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.  Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”  We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.  We should not test Christ,  as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.  And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.

Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.  So the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall.  No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.

Flee from Idolatry

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.  I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say.  Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?  Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.

Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar?  Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?  No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.  You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.  Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

All to God’s Glory

“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying.  No one should seek his own good, but the good of others.

Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”

If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything set before you without raising questions of conscience.  But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience— the other one’s conscience, I mean, not your own. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience?  If I partake in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.  Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God— as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.

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Isaiah 30
“salvation of the Lord” “salvation, deliverance“
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(New International Version)

Woe to the Obstinate Nation

A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev:

Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.  Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.  Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”   Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”

He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows.   The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel.  In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill.  The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.

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Proverbs 8
” A common saying, old adage, maxim”   “words put forth“
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(New Living Translation)

Wisdom Calls for a Hearing

Listen as Wisdom calls out!

Hear as understanding raises her voice!

On the hilltop along the road,

she takes her stand at the crossroads.

By the gates at the entrance to the town,

on the road leading in, she cries aloud,

“I call to you, to all of you!

I raise my voice to all people.

You simple people, use good judgment.

You foolish people, show some understanding.

Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you.

Everything I say is right,

for I speak the truth

and detest every kind of deception.

My advice is wholesome.

There is nothing devious or crooked in it.

My words are plain to anyone with understanding,

clear to those with knowledge.

Choose my instruction rather than silver,

and knowledge rather than pure gold.

For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies.

Nothing you desire can compare with it.

“I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment.

I know where to discover knowledge and discernment.

All who fear the LORD will hate evil.

Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance,

corruption and perverse speech.

Common sense and success belong to me.

Insight and strength are mine.

Because of me, kings reign,

and rulers make just decrees.

Rulers lead with my help,

and nobles make righteous judgments.

“I love all who love me.

Those who search will surely find me.

I have riches and honor,

as well as enduring wealth and justice.

My gifts are better than gold, even the purest gold,

my wages better than sterling silver!

I walk in righteousness,

in paths of justice.

Those who love me inherit wealth.

I will fill their treasuries.

“The LORD formed me from the beginning,

before he created anything else.

I was appointed in ages past,

at the very first, before the earth began.

I was born before the oceans were created,

before the springs bubbled forth their waters.

Before the mountains were formed,

before the hills, I was born—

before he had made the earth and fields

and the first handfuls of soil.

I was there when he established the heavens,

when he drew the horizon on the oceans.

I was there when he set the clouds above,

when he established springs deep in the earth.

I was there when he set the limits of the seas,

so they would not spread beyond their boundaries.

And when he marked off the earth’s foundations,

I was the architect at his side.

I was his constant delight,

rejoicing always in his presence.

And how happy I was with the world he created;

how I rejoiced with the human family!

“And so, my children, listen to me,

for all who follow my ways are joyful.

Listen to my instruction and be wise.

Don’t ignore it.

Joyful are those who listen to me,

watching for me daily at my gates,

waiting for me outside my home!

For whoever finds me finds life

and receives favor from the LORD.

But those who miss me injure themselves.

All who hate me love death.”

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Hosea 12
“salvation”  “to save”  
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(English Standard Version)

Ephraim feeds on the wind
and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply falsehood and violence;
they make a covenant with Assyria,
and oil is carried to Egypt.

The Lord’s Indictment of Israel and Judah

The Lord has an indictment against Judah
and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
he will repay him according to his deeds.
In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
and in his manhood he strove with God.
He strove with the angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought his favor.
He met God at Bethel,
and there God spoke with us—
the Lord, the God of hosts,
the Lord is his memorial name:
“So you, by the help of your God, return,
hold fast to love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.”

A merchant, in whose hands are false balances,
he loves to oppress.
Ephraim has said, “Ah, but I am rich;
I have found wealth for myself;
in all my labors they cannot find in me iniquity or sin.”
I am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
I will again make you dwell in tents,
as in the days of the appointed feast.

I spoke to the prophets;
it was I who multiplied visions,
and through the prophets gave parables.
If there is iniquity in Gilead,
they shall surely come to nothing:
in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
their altars also are like stone heaps
on the furrows of the field.
Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
there Israel served for a wife,
and for a wife he guarded sheep.
By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet he was guarded.
Ephraim has given bitter provocation;
so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him
and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

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Daniel 11
“God is my judge”  “He who judges“
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(Berean Standard Bible)

Kings of the South and North

“And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood up to strengthen and protect him.

Now then, I will tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. By the power of his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.

Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.  But as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the authority with which he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others.

The king of the South will grow strong, but one of his commanders will grow even stronger and will rule his own kingdom with great authority.

After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to seal the agreement. But his daughter will not retain her position of power, nor will his strength endure. At that time she will be given up, along with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her.

But one from her family line will rise up in his place, come against the army of the king of the North, and enter his fortress, fighting and prevailing.  He will take even their gods captive to Egypt, with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold. For some years he will stay away from the king of the North,  who will invade the realm of the king of the South and then return to his own land.

But his sons will stir up strife and assemble a great army, which will advance forcefully, sweeping through like a flood, and will again carry the battle as far as his fortress.  In a rage, the king of the South will march out to fight the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but it will be delivered into the hand of his enemy.

When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be proud in heart and will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not triumph.  For the king of the North will raise another army, larger than the first, and after some years he will advance with a great army and many supplies.

In those times many will rise up against the king of the South. Violent ones among your own people will exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they will fail.

Then the king of the North will come, build up a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand; even their best troops will not be able to resist.  The invader will do as he pleases, and no one will stand against him. He will establish himself in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand.  He will resolve to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and will reach an agreement with the king of the South. He will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plan will not succeed or help him.

Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many of them. But a commander will put an end to his reproach and will turn it back upon him.  After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be no more.

In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be destroyed, though not in anger or in battle.

In his place a despicable person will arise; royal honors will not be given to him, but he will come in a time of peace and seize the kingdom by intrigue.  Then a flood of forces will be swept away before him and destroyed, along with a prince of the covenant.

After an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully; for he will rise to power with only a few people.  In a time of peace, he will invade the richest provinces and do what his fathers and forefathers never did. He will lavish plunder, loot, and wealth on his followers, and he will plot against the strongholds—but only for a time.

And with a large army he will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South, who will mobilize a very large and powerful army but will not withstand the plots devised against him.  Those who eat from his provisions will seek to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.

And the two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for still the end will come at the appointed time.  The king of the North will return to his land with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant; so he will do damage and return to his own land.

At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time will not be like the first.  Ships of Kittim will come against him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and rage against the holy covenant and do damage. So he will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.  His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.

With flattery he will corrupt those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.  Those with insight will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by sword or flame, or be captured or plundered.

Now when they fall, they will be granted a little help, but many will join them insincerely.  Some of the wise will fall so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.

The King Who Exalts Himself

Then the king will do as he pleases and will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will speak monstrous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must be accomplished.  He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, nor for the one desired by women, nor for any other god, because he will magnify himself above them all.

And in their place, he will honor a god of fortresses—a god his fathers did not know—with gold, silver, precious stones, and riches.  He will attack the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him, making them rulers over many and distributing the land for a price.

At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood.  He will also invade the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall. But these will be delivered from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the leaders of the Ammonites.

He will extend his power over many countries, and not even the land of Egypt will escape.  He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and over all the riches of Egypt, and the Libyans and Cushites will also submit to him.

But news from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will go out with great fury to destroy many and devote them to destruction.  He will pitch his royal tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain, but he will meet his end with no one to help him.

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Nehemiah 9
(“the Lord comforts.“)
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(New International Version)

The Israelites Confess Their Sins

On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads.  Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.  They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God.  Standing on the stairs of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the Lord their God.  And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. ”

“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.  You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

“You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham.  You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.

“You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.  You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day.  You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters.  By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.

“You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good.  You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses.   In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.

“But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them,  even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.

“Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take.  You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.  For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.

“You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan.  You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess.  Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased.  They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.

“But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies.  So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.

“But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.

“You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen.  For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.  But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

“Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.  In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep.  Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.

“But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces.  Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.

The Agreement of the People

“In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.” 

▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬

Job 42
(“hated, persecuted”   “enmity”  ” the penitent one.”  “he was hostile to“)
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(English Standard Version)

Job’s Confession and Repentance

Then Job answered the Lord and said:

“I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”

The Lord Rebukes Job’s Friends

After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.  Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”  So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

The Lord Restores Job’s Fortunes

And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.  Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.

And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.  He had also seven sons and three daughters.  And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch.  And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.  And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations.  And Job died, an old man, and full of days.

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Isaiah 59
“salvation of the Lord” “salvation, deliverance“
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(New International Version)

Sin, Confession and Redemption

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

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2 Corinthians 5
(“point” “peak“)
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(New International Version)

Awaiting the New Body

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.  Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.  For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.  Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  For we live by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.  We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.  If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.  For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:  The old has gone, the new is here!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

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2 Corinthians 3
(“point” “peak“)
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(Berean Standard Bible)

Ministers of a New Covenant

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?  You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone.  It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Such confidence before God is ours through Christ.  Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.  And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The Glory of the New Covenant

Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory,  will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?  For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness!  Indeed, what was once glorious has no glory now in comparison to the glory that surpasses it.  For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which endures!

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.  We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.

But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.  And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.  But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

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2 Samuel 19
(“the name of God”)
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(Berean Standard Bible)

Joab Reproves David

Then it was reported to Joab, “The king is weeping and mourning over Absalom.”  And that day’s victory was turned into mourning for all the people, because on that day they were told, “The king is grieving over his son.”

So they returned to the city quietly that day, as people steal away in humiliation after fleeing a battle.   But the king covered his face and cried out at the top of his voice, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

Then Joab went into the house and said to the king, “Today you have disgraced all your servants who have saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, of your wives, and of your concubines.   You love those who hate you and hate those who love you! For you have made it clear today that the commanders and soldiers mean nothing to you. I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead, it would have pleased you!

Now therefore get up! Go out and speak comfort to your servants, for I swear by the LORD that if you do not go out, not a man will remain with you tonight. This will be worse for you than all the adversity that has befallen you from your youth until now!”

David Restored as King

So the king got up and sat in the gate, and all the people were told: “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” So they all came before the king.

Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled, each man to his home.   And all the people throughout the tribes of Israel were arguing, “The king rescued us from the hand of our enemies and delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled the land because of Absalom.  But Absalom, the man we anointed over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about restoring the king?”

Then King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests: “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to restore the king to his palace, since the talk of all Israel has reached the king at his quarters?  You are my brothers, my own flesh and blood. So why should you be the last to restore the king?’  And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”

So he swayed the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man, and they sent word to the king: “Return, you and all your servants.”

So the king returned, and when he arrived at the Jordan, the men of Judah came to Gilgal to meet him and escort him across the Jordan.

Shimei Pardoned

Then Shimei son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David, along with a thousand men of Benjamin, as well as Ziba the steward of the house of Saul and his fifteen sons and twenty servants.

They rushed down to the Jordan before the king and crossed at the ford to carry over the king’s household and to do what was good in his sight.

When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell down before the king and said, “My lord, do not hold me guilty, and do not remember your servant’s wrongdoing on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. May the king not take it to heart.  For your servant knows that I have sinned, so here I am today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”

But Abishai son of Zeruiah said, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?”

And David replied, “Sons of Zeruiah, what have I to do with you, that you should be my adversaries today? Should any man be put to death in Israel today? Am I not indeed aware that today I am king over Israel?”

So the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore an oath to him.

Mephibosheth Excused

Then Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, went down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king had left until the day he returned safely.  And he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, who asked him, “Mephibosheth, why did you not go with me?”

“My lord the king,” he replied, “because I am lame, I said, ‘I will have my donkey saddled so that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ But my servant Ziba deceived me, and he has slandered your servant to my lord the king.

Yet my lord the king is like the angel of God, so do what is good in your eyes.  For all the house of my grandfather deserves death from my lord the king, yet you have set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right, then, do I have to keep appealing to the king?”

The king replied, “Why say any more? I hereby declare that you and Ziba are to divide the land.”

And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Instead, since my lord the king has safely come to his own house, let Ziba take it all!”

David’s Kindness to Barzillai

Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan with the king and send him on his way from there.  Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim.

The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will provide for you at my side in Jerusalem.”

But Barzillai replied, “How many years of my life remain, that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king?  I am now eighty years old. Can I discern what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of singing men and women? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?

Your servant will go with the king only a short distance past the Jordan; why should the king repay me with such a reward?  Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight.”

The king replied, “Chimham will cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your sight, and I will do for you whatever you desire of me.”

So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and Barzillai returned home.

Then the king crossed over to Gilgal, and Chimham crossed over with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel escorted the king.

Contention over the King

Soon all the men of Israel came to the king and asked, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, take you away secretly and bring the king and his household across the Jordan, together with all of David’s men?”

And all the men of Judah replied to the men of Israel, “We did this because the king is our relative. Why does this anger you? Have we ever eaten at the king’s expense or received anything for ourselves?”

“We have ten shares in the king,” answered the men of Israel, “so we have more claim to David than you. Why then do you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of restoring our king?”

But the men of Judah spoke more fiercely than the men of Israel.

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Proverbs 12
” A common saying, old adage, maxim”   “words put forth“
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(Berean Standard Bible)

Loving Discipline and Knowledge

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,

but he who hates correction is stupid.

The good man obtains favor from the LORD,

but the LORD condemns a man who devises evil.

A man cannot be established through wickedness,

but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown,

but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.

The plans of the righteous are just,

but the counsel of the wicked leads to deceit.

The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,

but the speech of the upright rescues them.

The wicked are overthrown and perish,

but the house of the righteous will stand.

A man is praised according to his wisdom,

but a twisted mind is despised.

Better to be lightly esteemed yet have a servant,

than to be self-important but lack food.

A righteous man regards the life of his animal,

but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.

The one who works his land will have plenty of food,

but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.

The wicked desire the plunder of evil men,

but the root of the righteous flourishes.

An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech,

but a righteous man escapes from trouble.

By fruitful speech a man is filled with good things,

and the work of his hands returns to him.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

but a wise man listens to counsel.

A fool’s anger is known at once,

but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

He who speaks the truth declares what is right,

but a false witness speaks deceit.

Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword,

but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Truthful lips endure forever,

but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

Deceit is in the hearts of those who devise evil,

but the counselors of peace have joy.

No harm befalls the righteous,

but the wicked are filled with trouble.

Lying lips are detestable to the LORD,

but those who deal faithfully are His delight.

A shrewd man keeps his knowledge to himself,

but a foolish heart proclaims its folly.

The hand of the diligent will rule,

but laziness ends in forced labor.

Anxiety weighs down the heart of a man,

but a good word cheers it up.

A righteous man is cautious in friendship,

but the ways of the wicked lead them astray.

A lazy man does not roast his game,

but a diligent man prizes his possession.

There is life in the path of righteousness,

but another path leads to death.

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Deuteronomy 32
“second law”  “after-law”  “assign, allot; take”  
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(Berean Standard Bible)

The Song of Moses

Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;

hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Let my teaching fall like rain

and my speech settle like dew,

like gentle rain on new grass,

like showers on tender plants.

For I will proclaim the name of the LORD.

Ascribe greatness to our God!

He is the Rock, His work is perfect;

all His ways are just.

A God of faithfulness without injustice,

righteous and upright is He.

His people have acted corruptly toward Him;

the blemish on them is not that of His children,

but of a perverse and crooked generation.

Is this how you repay the LORD,

O foolish and senseless people?

Is He not your Father and Creator?

Has He not made you and established you?

Remember the days of old;

consider the years long past.

Ask your father, and he will tell you,

your elders, and they will inform you.

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,

when He divided the sons of man,

He set the boundaries of the peoples

according to the number of the sons of God.

But the LORD’s portion is His people,

Jacob His allotted inheritance.

He found him in a desert land,

in a barren, howling wilderness;

He surrounded him, He instructed him,

He guarded him as the apple of His eye.

As an eagle stirs up its nest

and hovers over its young,

He spread His wings to catch them

and carried them on His pinions.

The LORD alone led him,

and no foreign god was with him.

He made him ride on the heights of the land

and fed him the produce of the field.

He nourished him with honey from the rock

and oil from the flinty crag,

with curds from the herd and milk from the flock,

with the fat of lambs,

with rams from Bashan, and goats,

with the choicest grains of wheat.

From the juice of the finest grapes

you drank the wine.

But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—

becoming fat, bloated, and gorged.

He abandoned the God who made him

and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods;

they enraged Him with abominations.

They sacrificed to demons, not to God,

to gods they had not known,

to newly arrived gods,

which your fathers did not fear.

You ignored the Rock who brought you forth;

you forgot the God who gave you birth.

When the LORD saw this, He rejected them,

provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.

He said: “I will hide My face from them;

I will see what will be their end.

For they are a perverse generation—

children of unfaithfulness.

They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God;

they have enraged Me with their worthless idols.

So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people;

I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.

For a fire has been kindled by My anger,

and it burns to the depths of Sheol;

it consumes the earth and its produce,

and scorches the foundations of the mountains.

I will heap disasters upon them;

I will spend My arrows against them.

They will be wasted from hunger

and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague;

I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them,

with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.

Outside, the sword will take their children,

and inside, terror will strike

the young man and the young woman,

the infant and the gray-haired man.

I would have said that I would cut them to pieces

and blot out their memory from mankind,

if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy,

lest their adversaries misunderstand and say:

‘Our own hand has prevailed;

it was not the LORD who did all this.’”

Israel is a nation devoid of counsel,

with no understanding among them.

If only they were wise, they would understand it;

they would comprehend their fate.

How could one man pursue a thousand,

or two put ten thousand to flight,

unless their Rock had sold them,

unless the LORD had given them up?

For their rock is not like our Rock,

even our enemies concede.

But their vine is from the vine of Sodom

and from the fields of Gomorrah.

Their grapes are poisonous;

their clusters are bitter.

Their wine is the venom of serpents,

the deadly poison of cobras.

“Have I not stored up these things,

sealed up within My vaults?

Vengeance is Mine; I will repay.

In due time their foot will slip;

for their day of disaster is near,

and their doom is coming quickly.”

For the LORD will vindicate His people

and have compassion on His servants

when He sees that their strength is gone

and no one remains, slave or free.

He will say: “Where are their gods,

the rock in which they took refuge,

which ate the fat of their sacrifices

and drank the wine of their drink offerings?

Let them rise up and help you;

let them give you shelter!

See now that I am He;

there is no God besides Me.

I bring death and I give life;

I wound and I heal,

and there is no one

who can deliver from My hand.

For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare:

As surely as I live forever,

when I sharpen My flashing sword,

and My hand grasps it in judgment,

I will take vengeance on My adversaries

and repay those who hate Me.

I will make My arrows drunk with blood,

while My sword devours flesh—

the blood of the slain and captives,

the heads of the enemy leaders.”

Rejoice, O heavens, with Him,

and let all God’s angels worship Him.

Rejoice, O nations, with His people;

for He will avenge the blood of His children.

He will take vengeance on His adversaries

and repay those who hate Him;

He will cleanse His land

and His people.

Then Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.  When Moses had finished reciting all these words to all Israel,  he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.  For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Moses’ Death Foretold

On that same day the LORD said to Moses,  “Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo, in the land of Moab across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites as their own possession.

And there on the mountain that you climb, you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.

For at the waters of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you broke faith with Me among the Israelites by failing to treat Me as holy in their presence.  Although you shall see from a distance the land that I am giving the Israelites, you shall not enter it.”

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 Revelation 22
“Disclosure of information or knowledge to man by a divine or supernatural agency.”
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(New International Version)

Eden Restored

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

John and the Angel

The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

Epilogue: Invitation and Warning

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.  Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

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Psalm 77
“sacred poem or song“
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(Berean Standard Bible)

In the Day of Trouble I Sought the Lord

For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

I cried out to God;

I cried aloud to God to hear me.

In the day of trouble I sought the Lord;

through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary;

my soul refused to be comforted.

I remembered You, O God, and I groaned;

I mused and my spirit grew faint.

Selah

You have kept my eyes from closing;

I am too troubled to speak.

I considered the days of old,

the years long in the past.

At night I remembered my song;

in my heart I mused, and my spirit pondered:

“Will the Lord spurn us forever

and never show His favor again?

Is His loving devotion gone forever?

Has His promise failed for all time?

Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has His anger shut off His compassion?”

Selah

So I said, “I am grieved

that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

I will remember the works of the LORD;

yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.

I will reflect on all You have done

and ponder Your mighty deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy.

What god is so great as our God?

You are the God who works wonders;

You display Your strength among the peoples.

With power You redeemed Your people,

the sons of Jacob and Joseph.

Selah

The waters saw You, O God;

the waters saw You and swirled;

even the depths were shaken.

The clouds poured down water;

the skies resounded with thunder;

Your arrows flashed back and forth.

Your thunder resounded in the whirlwind;

the lightning lit up the world;

the earth trembled and quaked.

Your path led through the sea,

Your way through the mighty waters,

but Your footprints were not to be found.

You led Your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Israel – Prime Minister Addresses General Debate, 73rd Session

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTugN3Wtb28

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Onion Explains: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECscKICzsJ0
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PM Netanyahu’s speech to UN “I extend my hand in peace”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVWa6wKYjD8&t=1823s
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBlOF6GtURw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcUTm850BIc

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Mark The Evangelist

By :  Il Pordenone
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“In my vision at night I looked,
and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 
Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle.
I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it.“
–  Daniel 7  “God is my judge”  “He who judges“

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Isaiah 43
“salvation of the Lord” “salvation, deliverance“
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(New International Version)

Israel’s Only Savior

God’s Mercy and Israel’s Unfaithfulness

An Accounting of God’s Name

Mark’s Prophecy of Rich Blessings.

The People’s Testimony of Conscience for the Churches & To All Nations.

“This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You,
who will prepare Your way.”   “A voice of one calling in the wilderness,  ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,  make straight paths for Him.’ 
–  Mark 1   “consecrated to the god Mars”  “God of war”  “to be warlike“ “boundary, limit; sign, landmark”  “to denote” “sign, omen, aim”  “margin”

(Colored Engraving by :  C. Jacquemin after Langlois)
The State of the Origin or History of a Word or Name From its More Original Root or Stem
The Drawing or Tracing of a Word (“of a Name“) in its Development or Formation.
“derivation of a word, its etymology”  “Origination, Descent“
“The Act or Fact of drawing or receiving from a source“
“If you could feel the impulse of my mind“
From the Beginning.

Hello Mr.  President,
Thank You For Your Attention.  My Name Is Mark.
“Those who are going to rule in the authoritative offices ought to have three things: first, affection for the established regime; next, a very great capacity for the work involved in rule; third, virtue and justice –  in each regime the sort that is relative to the regime… It is difficult to find all three of these in many men, but it is important for the regime to make use of the men with these qualities to the greatest degree possible, or else the regime will be harmed, either by sedition, incompetence, or corruption… While the virtuous also have a claim to rule, the very fact that they are virtuous leads them to avoid factional conflict.  They are also too small a group to be politically consequential.”
–   Aristotle

“States will never be happy until rulers become philosophers or philosophers become rulers.“
– PLATO, The Republic
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Michael Jackson – Stranger In Moscow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEEMi2j6lYE
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“Scientist”  “Psychologist”  “Logician”  “Strategist“
 “Researcher”  “Archivist”  “Compiler”  “Writer”   “Messenger”  “Teacher”  “Civil Servant”
“Watchman”   “Intercessor” “Tertiary Adjunct Witness.“

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History –  Culture
Religion  –  Theology – Eschatology
Psychology  –  Philosophy  –   Epistemology –  Linguistics  –  Literature
Etymology – – Philology –  Onomastics –  Toponymy –  Theurgy –  Hermetics – Hermeneutics 
Theophany – Theodicy –  Mythology – Cosmography – Stoichiometry – Sortition  – Ethnography  –  Folklore
Lexicography – Doxology – Phylogeny – Ontogeny –  Tropology –  Ontology –  Anthropology – Phenomenology – Praxeology –  Trust Law
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Dispute Resolution.
A Special Civil Operation.
The People Request a Coming & Going.
In Order To Make the Rough Places Smooth.
As a witness or mediator, umpire, judge. arbiter,   He who hears and Decides a Case.
A Special Citizen Who is Entitled to Participate in an Office Involving Deliberation or Decision.
A Person who has Power of Judging Absolutely According to his Own Pleasure in a Dispute or Issue.
To Be The One Chosen by Two Disputing Parties to Decide a Matter.  Someone who Settles Disputes.  One Who Goes Somewhere (as witness or judge).
As the Proposer of this new Motion/Law. I Request to be Used as a Spectator & Eye-Witnesses. A Right or Privilege Exclusive to a Particular Individual or Class.
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” He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.  Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”
–  Isaiah  2   “salvation of the Lord” “salvation, deliverance“

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The End of Capitalism is Closer Than You Think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F2FyxVGfwo
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“The dread of evil is a much more forcible principle of human actions than the prospect of good.”
“It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of the truth.” 
                                                                                            –  John Locke

Let’s Keep It Interesting, Yes?
“This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You,
who will prepare Your way.”   “A voice of one calling in the wilderness,  ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,  make straight paths for Him.’ 
–  Mark 1
“consecrated to the god Mars”  “God of war”  “to be warlike“ “boundary, limit; sign, landmark”  “to denote” “sign, omen, aim”  “margin”

I Was Born to Do a Certain Job.
At best, a diligent student and a very imperfect practitioner of a philosophy developed by others.

Who Has Believed Our Message?

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A Prophetic Oracle

Messages From God/Universe/Higher Intelligence Expressed by Divine Inspiration Through a Messenger, Prophet, Priest or Priestess.
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” He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.  Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”
–  Isaiah  2   “salvation of the Lord” “salvation, deliverance“

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Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus

by: Theodor de Bry

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“Such will be the old age of the world: irreverence, disorder, disregard for everything good. When all this comes to pass, Asclepius, then the master and father, the god whose power is primary, governor of the first god, will look on this conduct and these willful crimes, and in an act of will – which is god’s benevolence – he will take his stand against the vices and the perversion in everything, righting wrongs, washing away malice in a flood or consuming it in fire or ending it by spreading pestilential disease everywhere. Then he will restore the world to its beauty of old so that the world itself will again seem deserving of worship and wonder, and with constant benedictions and proclamations of praise the people of that time will honor the god who makes and restores so great a work. And this will be the geniture of the world: a reformation of all good things and a restitution, most holy and most reverent, of nature itself, reordered in the course of time 〈but through an act of will,〉 which is and was everlasting and without beginning. For god’s will has no beginning; it remains the same, everlasting in its present state. God’s nature is deliberation; will is the supreme goodness.””

(Citation Source)
HERMETICA
The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin
Asclepius in a new English translation, with
notes and introduction
BRIAN P. COPENHAVER
Pg. 165

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Ancient Wisdom & Guidance from Classical Antiquity

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An Archaic Definition of God.

That There Exists A Single, True Theology Which is Present in All Religions. Given by God to humankind in the distant, primeval past.

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Hermes Trismegistus

Attributed to Stefano di Giovanni (1488)

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      “The master of eternity is the first god, the world is second, mankind is third. God is maker of the world and all it contains, governing all things along with mankind, who governs what is composite. Taking responsibility for the whole of this – the proper concern of his attentiveness – mankind brings it about that he and the world are ornaments to one another so that, on account of mankind’s divine composition, it seems right to call him a well ordered  world,

“If you wish also to gaze upon him, look at the order of the cosmos and the careful arrangement of this order; look at the necessity of the heavenly phenomena and the providence in what has come to be and what comes to be; look at matter, completely full of life, and a great god moving along with all beings good and fair – gods and demons and humans.”“If you wish also to gaze upon him, look at the order of the cosmos and the careful arrangement of this order; look at the necessity of the heavenly phenomena and the providence in what has come to be and what comes to be; look at matter, completely full of life, and a great god moving along with all beings good and fair – gods and demons and humans.”

(Citation Source)
HERMETICA
The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin
Asclepius in a new English translation, with
notes and introduction
BRIAN P. COPENHAVER
Pg. 81 , 128

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1 Corinthians 4
(“point” “peak“)
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(New International Version)

The Nature of True Apostleship

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.  Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.  I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.  Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.  For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you!  For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.  We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.  We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;  when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

Paul’s Appeal and Warning

I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children.  Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.  Therefore I urge you to imitate me.  For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.  But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.  What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

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Isaiah 33
“salvation of the Lord” “salvation, deliverance“
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(New International Version)

Distress and Help

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Judging “God.“

Taking God’s “Measure“.  A “Coincidence of Opposites.“

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Engraving of the “thrice-great Hermes” by Michael Maier in Symbola aureae mensae (1617):
In Maier’s rendering, Hermes Trismegistus holds an armillary sphere and points to images of the
Sun and Moon (Sol and Luna; Sulphur and Mercury) being joined by fire–the process that creates the Philosopher’s Stone.

“For none of the heavenly gods will go down to earth, leaving behind the bounds of heaven, yet the human rises up to heaven and takes its measure and knows what is in its
heights and its depths, and he understands all else exactly and – greater than all of this – he comes to be on high without leaving earth behind,  so enormous
is his range. Therefore, we must dare to say that the human on earth is a mortal god but that god in heaven is an immortal human.
Through these two, then, cosmos and human, all things exist, but they all exist by action of the one.“

                                      –               Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus  (From Stolcius ,Viridarium Chymicun 1624)
(Citation Source)
HERMETICA
The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the Latin
Asclepius in a new English translation, with
notes and introduction
BRIAN P. COPENHAVER
Pg. 116

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Jacob’s Ladder

“The Bridge Between Man and God”

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A Drawing By William Blake

A staircase representing the Gulf between man and God.

Jacob’s Ladder, or Jacob’s Dream, illustration to the Bible painted for Thomas Butts, Genesis, xxviii, 12;

Jacob lies in Foreground left dreaming, behind him rises spiral staircase amid stars and golden rays above,

three women stand at foot of staircase carrying trays and urns, other figures ascend or descend stairs. c.1799-1807

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Ark of the Covenant

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Jan Luyken, Pieter Mortier

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Enoch

(“dedicated, consecrated”  “he dedicated”  “the act of inaugurating, training, or dedicating something or someone” )
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” By “faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death:
“He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
                                                                                                                       –                               Hebrews 11 

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Lithograph by William Blake  (1803 – 1807)

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Enoch  is a person in the Book of Genesis.   He is described as a son of Cain, and father of Irad and Methuselah

Enoch is the subject of many Jewish and Christian traditions. He was considered the author of the Book of Enoch and also called the scribe of judgment.  In the New Testament, Enoch is referenced in the Gospel of Luke, the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in the Epistle of Jude, the last of which also quotes from it.  In the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Oriental Orthodoxy, he is venerated as a saint. In Islam, Enoch is identified with Idris (Arabic: إدريس, romanized: ʾIdrīs) and is considered a prophet.

There are few details about Enoch. We learn that he lived 365 years, and then Enoch “walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24)    Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enoch_(son_of_Cain)

After the birth of Enoch, the Hebrew text of Genesis 4:17 is unclear. Either Cain built a city and named it after the mighty Enoch, or else Enoch built a city.[1] In the King James Bible, the text makes it clear that Cain built the city and named it after his son.

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The Hierophant (V)  stands for tradition and convention.  It is the fifth card of the Major Arcana in occult Tarot decks. It is derived from the historical card known as the Pope in playing card decks and is used in divination.   It can represent marriage in an arranged setup.  It can also mean a teacher or counsellor who will help in learning / education of the querent.  A person, especially a priest in ancient Greece, who interprets sacred mysteries or esoteric principles.  One who teaches the rites of sacrifice and worship.  An expounder of esoteric doctrines.  “One who shows sacred things.”  To reveal, show, bring to light Sacred.  An interpreter of sacred Mysteries and arcane principles.  “To Show Holy”  A spokesperson, a commentator, an interpreter, or a leading advocate.  In most iconographic depictions, the Hierophant is seen seated on a throne between two pillars symbolizing Law and Freedom or obedience and disobedience, according to different interpretations. He wears a triple crown, and the keys to Heaven are at his feet. Sometimes he is shown with worshippers, as his alternate title is the Pope or, sometimes, Jupiter.  The card is also known as “The High Priest”, as a counterpart to “The High Priestess” (which itself is also sometimes known as “The Papess”, as counterpart to “The Pope”).

Interpretation

Marriage, alliance, captivity, servitude; by another account, mercy, and goodness; inspiration; the man to whom the Querent has recourse. Reversed: Society, good understanding, concord, over kindness, weakness.

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Enantiodromia

The Coincidence of Opposites.

Setting The Earth on Its Foundations.

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“Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous“
–  Albert Einstein

“Everything Arises in this way, opposites from their opposites“
–  Plato

“There are More sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any Profane History“
–  Sir Isaac Newton

“There may be babblers, wholly ignorant of mathematics, who dare to condemn my hypothesis,
upon the authority of some part of the Bible twisted to suit their purpose. I value them not, and scorn their unfounded judgment.”
–    Nicolaus Copernicus

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Dedicated to Those Holders of Power and Responsibility,

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

          The Times Have Reached There Fulfillment,   “The People” Bring You this Presentation Offering as the Proper Interpretation of Our Times.  The “Big Picture” of the International Political, Military and Economic Situation.  A Time that is Not of Peace but of Division.  A Time of Political, Social, and Environmental Upheaval.  We Need Some Air.  With Jesus Christ as Our Advocate,  for the Dream of Good Government, We “The People“, Ask you to Please Leave the City and Camp in the Open Fields for a Rendezvous with History.  Shuttle Diplomacy to Change the Game.  A Skillful Maneuver to Rescue Ourselves From the Present Evil Age.  A Cooperative Effort to Change the World for the Better.  We are Advocating to Bring Together Governments, Banks, Corporations, Academia, Civil Society & Prominent Men of The Cities for a Summit of the Future. A Divine Intervention for “The Culmination of the Ages.”  A Movement so sweeping as to immortalize the reign and legacy of all involved.  A Place for The Ascended Kings of the Earth, The Princes, The Generals, The Rich & The Mighty.  

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“This Version of You.“

For The Cases of The Breach of Friendly Relations.

The Regime of the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

During Volatile Times & Mutually Assured Destruction.  A Season of Discovery Between Civilian/Military Affairs.

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We “The People,” Appeal to Military Commanders, “The Powers That Be.”  Specifically, Those Who Have Been Given Power to Take Peace From the Earth and to Make People Kill Each Other.  We Ask for a Leap of Faith.  That the people may Have Some Benefit From you.  To Avoid a Pyrrhic Victory.  To Take One Step Closer to “The People” for a “Requiem and Crucible.”  To Finally Address Once and For All the Regime of the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.  To Confront These Monumental Issues of Our Time.  We Hope to Make it Clear to Your Conscience that There are Special Cases and Special Situations and Special Circumstances During the Course of Human History, that (At Certain Times) Situations are Not Conducive to a Military Solution. We Request a Gathering of People to Meet at a Specified Time and Place.  “They Were All Together in One Place.“
If You Indulge Us, We Would Like to Change the World.

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“Back to Source” 

To Keep Ourselves “On Our Mettle.”  Against These Constant Agitations.  Prolonged Disputes Over Fundamental Issues.

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Regarding The Culture of Leadership and the Behavior and Conduct of Interactions of Leaders with Foreign Nations.   Where Currently, Leaders Who Demand from Others, Sacrifices Which they Would Never Be Called Upon to Make Themselves.  In Order to Drive Out an Unclean Spirit, Sometimes the Old Ways are Best.  Fighting the Good Fight.  To Test and Prove Matters of the Heart.  A Call to Maturity.  A Call of Endurance. A Test of Sincerity.  To Know the “Why” of Things.  For Moments of Shared Understandings. Civilian Mechanisms of Enforcement to Refine the Character, Disposition and the Identity of Our Appointed World Leaders. To Expose Fruitless Deeds of Darkness. “To Deal With as is Right & Fitting.”  To be More Equitable, Fair and Impartial in Our Dealings.

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International Resource Management.  Addressing The Perpetual Lack of Surplus.

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With Your Permission,  We “The People” Request an Audience with High-Ranking Military Officers and their Counterparts With Capability.  A Meeting of the High Ranking Military Officers and Chiefs of Staff of the Nations.  Ministers of Foreign Affairs.  Chiefs of Municipal Offices.  We ask you Please Prepare your Plans and Maps for Big Work Projects for the Future.  The Organization of the Lives of Citizens & The Preparation of Public Opinion.  Where Important Political, Diplomatic and Military Moves are to Take Shape.  Regarding the Main Drama of Recognizing and Authorizing a Selected Power to Administer and Develop a Territory for a Specified Purpose. The Renunciation and the Rendering Over an Estate, Land Grant, Conveyance or Interest in a Property or Trust Which Serves the Interest of One or More Political Orientations.  The Allocation of Benefits in Various Policy Fields in Such a Way as to Provide Groups, Persons, and Places with at Least a Minimum Level of Benefits so as to Satisfy Basic Needs.  Creating Fundamentally Self-Sufficient Cities.  Whole Cities Delivered.  Composite Material Plentitudes.  The Specific Ways and Means & the Governance Thereof.  Admission of Neutral Ships Into Ports of Entry.  Equalities of Commercial Privileges.  Lines of Demarcation. The Notion of Each Thing in its Proper Sphere and Serving its Proper Purpose.  To Hone, Refine or Perfect “Chains of Events” Over a Period of Time.  Seeking to be Exact, Precise; and Marked or Characterized by Precision.  Harmonically Pure.  Having Correct Dimensions Without Interval, Deviation, or Variation.
“Exactly that, in that Very Way.”  A Great Human Continuum.

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“ In God, We Trust it is Written.“

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The People’s “Manifest Destiny 2.0” in Hopes for Better Days.   A Fresh Perspective and New Approach to that of “Secessio Plebis”  (“withdrawal of the commoners“).  A “Universal Interface Override System” and an “Irrevocable Living Trust Agreement.”  For the Purposes of Healing and Restoration of the Conscience.   “The People” Bestow Unto You “The People” This Gift of Education Which is In Accordance with the Holy Author of Our Religion.  For a Renewed State of Mental Resolution and Peace of Mind.  We Provide this Vision and Concept of the Future to Restore Ourselves to a Healthy Faith which Corresponds with the Fulfillment of Scriptures.  Strange Coincidences by Way of Theophoric Name In Hopes That we have the Courage to Turn from Evil and Do Good.

Best Regards,
Mark David Rich

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The Killers – When You Were Young (Jacques LuCont ReMix)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xulfWutG9Zg

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 2 Thessalonians 2
(“Victory“)
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(New International Version)

The Man of Lawlessness

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,  not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.  Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.  He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?  And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.  For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.  The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie,  and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

Stand Firm

But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.  He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,  encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

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Deuteronomy 30
“second law”  “after-law”  “assign, allot; take”  
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(New International Version)

Prosperity After Turning to the Lord

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.  Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.  He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.  The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.  The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.  You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today.  Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Offer of Life or Death

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.  It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.  For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,  I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

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Ephesians 5
(“overseer.“)
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(Berean Standard Bible)

Imitators of God

Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.  Therefore do not be partakers with them.

Children of Light

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,  for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.  Test and prove what pleases the Lord.

Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.  But everything exposed by the light becomes visible,  for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself.  So it is said:

“Wake up, O sleeper,

rise up from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.”

Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,  redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.  Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,  always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Wives and Husbands

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her  to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,  and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.  For we are members of His body.

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”  This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church.  Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

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James 2
“one that takes by the heel; a supplanter“
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(New International Version)

Favoritism Forbidden

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.  Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.  If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”  have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?  But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?  Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”  you are doing right.  But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.  For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,”   also said, “You shall not murder.”  If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,  because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Deeds

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.  You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless ?   Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?  You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.  And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”  and he was called God’s friend.  You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?  As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

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1 Timothy 1
(“honor, respect”  “Honoring God“)
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(Berean Standard Bible)

Paul’s Greeting to Timothy

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

To Timothy, my true child in the faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Correcting False Teachers

As I urged you on my departure to Macedonia, you should stay on at Ephesus to instruct certain men not to teach false doctrines or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculation rather than the stewardship of God’s work, which is by faith.

The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.  Some have strayed from these ways and turned aside to empty talk.  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert.

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately.  We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching  that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

God’s Grace to Paul

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, that He considered me faithful and appointed me to service.  I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.  And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.  But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.  Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Timothy, my child, I entrust you with this command in keeping with the previous prophecies about you, so that by them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith.  Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

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Psalm 78
“sacred poem or song“
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(Berean Standard Bible)

I Will Open My Mouth in Parables

A Maskil of Asaph.
“to gather”  “to collect“

 Give ear, O my people, to my instruction;

listen to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in parables;

I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

that we have heard and known

and our fathers have relayed to us.

We will not hide them from their children

but will declare to the next generation

the praises of the LORD and His might

and the wonders He has performed.

For He established a testimony in Jacob

and appointed a law in Israel,

which He commanded our fathers

to teach to their children,

that the coming generation would know them—

even children yet to be born—

to arise and tell their own children

that they should put their confidence in God,

not forgetting His works,

but keeping His commandments.

Then they will not be like their fathers,

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

whose heart was not loyal,

whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The archers of Ephraim

turned back on the day of battle.

They failed to keep God’s covenant

and refused to live by His law.

They forgot what He had done,

the wonders He had shown them.

He worked wonders before their fathers

in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

He split the sea and brought them through;

He set the waters upright like a wall.

He led them with a cloud by day

and with a light of fire all night.

He split the rocks in the wilderness

and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.

He brought streams from the stone

and made water flow down like rivers.

But they continued to sin against Him,

rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

They willfully tested God

by demanding the food they craved.

They spoke against God, saying,

“Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?

When He struck the rock, water gushed out

and torrents raged.

But can He also give bread

or supply His people with meat?”

Therefore the LORD heard

and was filled with wrath;

so a fire was kindled against Jacob,

and His anger flared against Israel,

because they did not believe God

or rely on His salvation.

Yet He commanded the clouds above

and opened the doors of the heavens.

He rained down manna for them to eat;

He gave them grain from heaven.

Man ate the bread of angels;

He sent them food in abundance.

He stirred the east wind from the heavens

and drove the south wind by His might.

He rained meat on them like dust,

and winged birds like the sand of the sea.

He felled them in the midst of their camp,

all around their dwellings.

So they ate and were well filled,

for He gave them what they craved.

Yet before they had filled their desire,

with the food still in their mouths,

God’s anger flared against them,

and He put to death their strongest

and subdued the young men of Israel.

In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;

despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.

So He ended their days in futility,

and their years in sudden terror.

When He slew them, they would seek Him;

they repented and searched for God.

And they remembered that God was their Rock,

that God Most High was their Redeemer.

But they deceived Him with their mouths,

and lied to Him with their tongues.

Their hearts were disloyal to Him,

and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

And yet He was compassionate;

He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them.

He often restrained His anger

and did not unleash His full wrath.

He remembered that they were but flesh,

a passing breeze that does not return.

How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness

and grieved Him in the desert!

Again and again they tested God

and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

They did not remember His power —

the day He redeemed them from the adversary,

when He performed His signs in Egypt

and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.

He turned their rivers to blood,

and from their streams they could not drink.

He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,

and frogs that devastated them.

He gave their crops to the grasshopper,

the fruit of their labor to the locust.

He killed their vines with hailstones

and their sycamore-figs with sleet.

He abandoned their cattle to the hail

and their livestock to bolts of lightning.

He unleashed His fury against them,

wrath, indignation, and calamity—

a band of destroying angels.

He cleared a path for His anger;

He did not spare them from death

but delivered their lives to the plague.

He struck all the firstborn of Egypt,

the virility in the tents of Ham.

He led out His people like sheep

and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.

He led them safely, so they did not fear,

but the sea engulfed their enemies.

He brought them to His holy land,

to the mountain His right hand had acquired.

He drove out nations before them

and apportioned their inheritance;

He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

But they tested and disobeyed God Most High,

for they did not keep His decrees.

They turned back and were faithless like their fathers,

twisted like a faulty bow.

They enraged Him with their high places

and provoked His jealousy with their idols.

On hearing it, God was furious

and rejected Israel completely.

He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,

the tent He had pitched among men.

He delivered His strength to captivity,

and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.

He surrendered His people to the sword

because He was enraged by His heritage.

Fire consumed His young men,

and their maidens were left without wedding songs.

His priests fell by the sword,

but their widows could not lament.

Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,

like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.

He beat back His foes;

He put them to everlasting shame.

He rejected the tent of Joseph

and refused the tribe of Ephraim.

But He chose the tribe of Judah,

Mount Zion, which He loved.

He built His sanctuary like the heights,

like the earth He has established forever.

He chose David His servant

and took him from the sheepfolds;

from tending the ewes He brought him

to be shepherd of His people Jacob,

of Israel His inheritance.

So David shepherded them with integrity of heart

and guided them with skillful hands.

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Romans 12
(“of Rome”)
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(New King James Version)

Living Sacrifices to God

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Serve God with Spiritual Gifts

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.  For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Behave Like a Christian

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.  Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.  Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.  If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.  Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  Therefore

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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1 Corinthians 12
(“point” “peak“)
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(Berean Standard Bible)

Spiritual Gifts

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.  You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.  Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are different ministries, but the same Lord.  There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit,  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,  to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines.

The Body of Christ

The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

For the body does not consist of one part, but of many.  If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.”  On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts we consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty, whereas our presentable parts have no such need.

But God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,  so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

The Greater Gifts

Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it.  And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.  Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?  Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?  But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

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1 Corinthians 14
(“point” “peak“)
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(Christian Standard Bible)

Prophecy: A Superior Gift

Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.  For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit.  On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening,  encouragement, and consolation. The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.  I wish all of you spoke in tongues, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.

So now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?  Even lifeless instruments that produce sounds — whether flute or harp — if they don’t make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized?  In fact, if the bugle makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle?  In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air.  There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, none is without meaning.  Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me.  So also you — since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.

Therefore the person who speaks in a tongue should pray that he can interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing praise with the spirit, and I will also sing praise with my understanding.  Otherwise, if you praise with the spirit,  how will the outsider say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?  For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up.  I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking.  It is written in the law,

I will speak to this people

by people of other tongues

and by the lips of foreigners,

and even then, they will not listen to me,

says the Lord. Speaking in tongues, then, is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.  If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in tongues and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?  But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted by all and is called to account by all.  The secrets Of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.”

Order in Church Meetings

What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.  Everything is to be done for building up.  If anyone speaks in a tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret.  But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God.   Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate, But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent.   For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged.  And the prophets’ spirits are subject to the prophets,  since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

As in all the churches of the saints, the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but are to submit themselves, as the law also says.  If they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, since it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.  Or did the word of God originate from you, or did it come to you only?

If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command.  If anyone ignores this, he will be ignored.  So then, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.  But everything is to be done decently and in order.

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1 Corinthians 13
(“point” “peak“)
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(Christian Standard Bible)

The Greatest Gift

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part.  But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.  For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

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Galatians 6
(“an inhabitant of ancient Gaul“    “a gaul”   “a frenchman“)
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(Berean Standard Bible)

Carry One Another’s Burdens

Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Each one should test his own work. Then he will have reason to boast in himself alone, and not in someone else.  For each one should carry his own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.

Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.  The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.

Final Warnings and Blessings

See what large letters I am using to write to you with my own hand!

Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. They only do this to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ. For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.

Peace and mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of God.

From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers.

Amen.

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Galatians 6
(“an inhabitant of ancient Gaul“    “a gaul”   “a frenchman“)
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(New International Version)

Doing Good to All

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.  Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.  Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.  Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Not Circumcision but the New Creation

See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.  Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.  May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.  Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.

From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬

Deuteronomy 28
“second law”  “after-law”  “assign, allot; take”  
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(New International Version)

Blessings for Obedience

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.  All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him.  Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.  The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.  The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.  Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

Curses for Disobedience

However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.  The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.  The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.  The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.  The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.  Your carcasses will be food for all the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.  The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.  The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.  At midday you will grope about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.  Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them.  Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand.  A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days.  The sights you see will drive you mad.  The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

The Lord will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.  You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.

You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it.  You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.  You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.  You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.  Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.  They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, but you will be the tail.

All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.  They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.  Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,  therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,  a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young.  They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.  They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.  Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.  The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter  the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.

If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God— the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.  He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you.  The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.  You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God.  Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.  Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.  You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life.  In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.  The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

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Philippians 4
(“fond of horses”  ” beloved, loving “)
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(New International Version)

Closing Appeal for Steadfastness and Unity

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.  Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Final Exhortations

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Thanks for Their Gifts

I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.  Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only;  for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need.  Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account.  I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.  And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings.  All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. 

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Isaiah 59
“salvation of the Lord” “salvation, deliverance“
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(New International Version)

Sin, Confession and Redemption

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

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1 Corinthians 9
(“point” “peak“)
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(Berean Standard Bible)

The Rights of an Apostle

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord?  Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

This is my defense to those who scrutinize me: Have we no right to food and to drink? Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?  Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living?

Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?

Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?  For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”  Is it about oxen that God is concerned?  Isn’t He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest.

If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you?  If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings?  In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.  But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast.

Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!  If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility.  What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it.

Paul the Servant to All

Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law.  To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.

I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Run Your Race to Win

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.  Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air.  No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

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Psalm 111
“sacred poem or song“
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(Berean Standard Bible)

Majestic Is His Work

Hallelujah!

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart

in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

Great are the works of the LORD;

they are pondered by all who delight in them.

Splendid and majestic is His work;

His righteousness endures forever.

He has caused His wonders to be remembered;

the LORD is gracious and compassionate.

He provides food for those who fear Him;

He remembers His covenant forever.

He has shown His people the power of His works

by giving them the inheritance of the nations.

The works of His hands are truth and justice;

all His precepts are trustworthy.

They are upheld forever and ever,

enacted in truth and uprightness.

He has sent redemption to His people;

He has ordained His covenant forever;

holy and awesome is His name.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;

all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding.

His praise endures forever!

Dude Bro Trust Me