The Didache (The Teaching) First Christian Catechism

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

 

Chapter 3

 

3:13 Be long-suffering and pitiful and guileless and {quiet} and kindly {and} always {fearing the words} which thou hast heard.

Colossians 3

 

3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

 

3:13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have 11 a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others.

 

3:14 And to all these virtues add love, which is the perfect bond.

 

3:15 Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful.

 

3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace 19 in your hearts to God.

 

3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

1 Corinthians 13

 

13:4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up.

 

13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful.

 

13:6 It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth.

 

13:7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Romans 3

 

3:10 just as it is written:

 

“There is no one righteous, not even one,

 

3:11 there is no one who understands,

 

there is no one who seeks God.

 

3:12 All have turned away,

 

together they have become worthless;

 

there is no one who shows kindness, not even one."

 

3:13 “Their throats are open graves,

 

they deceive with their tongues,

 

the poison of asps is under their lips.”

 

3:14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

 

3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

 

3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,

 

3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.”

 

3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Titus 2

 

2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people.

 

2:12 It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

 

2:13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

2:14 He gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his,who are eager to do good.

 

2:15 So communicate these things with the sort of exhortation or rebuke that carries full authority. Don’t let anyone look down on you.

 

3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.

 

3:2 They must not slander anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people.

 

3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another.

 

3:4 But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,

 

3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,

 

3:6 whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior.

 

3:7 And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”

Galatians 5

 

5:22 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

 

5:23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

The above scripture is a pure definition of attainable Freedom that our Lord has given us.

 

Ephesians 4

 

5:1 be imitators of God as dearly loved children

 

5:2 and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

 

5:3 But among you there must not be either sexual immorality, impurity of any kind, or greed, as these are not fitting for the saints.

 

5:4 Neither should there be vulgar speech, foolish talk, or coarse jesting – all of which are out of character – but rather thanksgiving. 5:5 For you can be confident of this one thing: that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Genesis 50

 

50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay us in full for all the harm we did to him?”

 

50:16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave these instructions before he died:

 

50:17 ‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.” When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept.

 

50:18 Then his brothers also came and threw themselves down before him; they said, “Here we are; we are your slaves.”

 

50:19 But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?

 

50:20 As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day.

 

50:21 So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly to them.

Proverbs 3

 

3:3 Do not let truth and mercy leave you;

 

bind them around your neck,

 

write them on the tablet of your heart.

 

3:4 Then you will find favor and good understanding,

 

in the sight of God and people.

 

3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

 

and do not rely on your own understanding.

James 2

 

2:12 Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom.

 

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment.

Listen to the beautiful voice of Krista Eyler and her song, "Mercy Today."

 

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

 

Chapter 3

 

3:13 Be long-suffering and pitiful and guileless and {quiet} and kindly {and} always {fearing the words} which thou hast heard.

Deuteronomy 28

 

28:58 If you refuse to obey all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God,

 

28:59 then the Lord will increase your punishments and those of your descendants great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses.

 

28:60 He will infect you with all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will persistently afflict you.

 

28:61 Moreover, the Lord will bring upon you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned in this scroll of commandments, until you have perished.

 

28:62 There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, because you will have disobeyed the Lord your God.

 

28:63 This is what will happen: Just as the Lord delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess.

 

28:64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone.

 

28:65 Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair.

 

28:66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day to the next.

 

28:67 In the morning you will say, If only it were evening! And in the evening you will say, I wish it were morning! because of the things you will fear and the things you will see.

Proverbs 1

 

2:1 My child, if you receive my words,

 

and store up my commands within you,

 

2:2 by making your ear attentive to wisdom,

 

and by turning your heart to understanding,

 

2:3 indeed, if you call out for discernment –

 

raise your voice for understanding –

 

2:4 if you seek it like silver,

 

and search for it like hidden treasure,

 

2:5 then you will understand how to fear the Lord,

 

and you will discover knowledge about God.

 

2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom,

 

and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

 

2:7 He stores up effective counsel for the upright,

 

and is like a shield for those who live with integrity,

 

2:8 to guard the paths of the righteous

 

and to protect the way of his pious ones.

 

2:9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice

 

and equity – every good way.

 

2:10 For wisdom will enter your heart,

 

and moral knowledge will be attractive to you.

 

2:11 Discretion will protect you,

 

understanding will guard you,

 

2:12 to deliver you from the way of the wicked,

 

from those speaking perversity,

 

2:13 who leave the upright paths

 

to walk on the dark ways,

 

2:14 who delight in doing evil,

 

they rejoice in perverse evil;

 

2:15 whose paths are morally crooked,

 

and who are devious in their ways;

Jeremiah 31

 

31:27 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah.

 

31:28 In the past I saw to it that they were uprooted and torn down, that they were destroyed and demolished. But now I will see to it that they are built up and firmly planted. I, the Lord, affirm it!”

The Lord Will Make a New Covenant with Israel and Judah

 

31:29 “When that time comes, people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but the children’s teeth have grown numb.’

 

31:30 Rather, each person will die for his own sins. The teeth of the person who eats the sour grapes will themselves grow numb.

 

31:31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.

 

31:32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord.

 

31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people.

 

31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

Matthew 5

 

5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.

 

5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place.

 

5:19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

 

5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 10

 

10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops.

 

10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

 

10:29 Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.

 

10:30 Even all the hairs on your head are numbered.

 

10:31 So do not be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

 

10:32 “Whoever, then, acknowledges me before people, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven.

 

10:33 But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven.

Ephesians 1

 

1:11 In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

 

1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, would be to the praise of his glory.

 

1:13 And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ – you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit,

 

1:14 who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.

John 1

 

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,and the Word was fully God.

 

1:2 The Word was with God in the beginning.

 

1:3 All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

 

1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.

 

1:5 And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it.

1:43 On the next day Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

 

1:44 (Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.)

 

1:45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

 

1:46 Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.”

 

1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed, “Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”

 

1:48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

 

1:49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel!”

 

1:50 Jesus said to him, “Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

 

1:51 He continued, “I tell all of you the solemn truth – you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

John 16

 

16:33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage – I have conquered the world.”

 

17:1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he looked upward to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you –

 

17:2 just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.

 

17:3 Now this is eternal life – that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

 

17:4 I glorified you on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

 

17:5 And now, Father, glorify me at your side with the glory I had with you before the world was created.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

 

Chapter 3

 

3:14 Thou shalt not exalt thyself, neither shalt thou admit boldness into thy soul.

Luke 14

 

14:11 everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 18

 

18:9 Jesus also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else.

 

18:10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

 

18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers – or even like this tax collector.

 

18:12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’

 

18:13 The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!’

 

18:14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Proverbs 9

 

9:12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage,

 

but if you are a mocker, you alone must bear it.

Proverbs 17

 

17:19 The one who loves a quarrel loves transgression;

 

whoever builds his gate high seeks destruction.

Proverbs 30

 

30:32 If you have done foolishly by exalting yourself

 

or if you have planned evil,

 

put your hand over your mouth!

 

30:33 For as the churning of milk produces butter

 

and as punching the nose produces blood,

 

so stirring up anger produces strife.

Matthew 19

 

19:19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Obadiah 1

 

1:3 Your presumptuous heart has deceived you –

 

you who reside in the safety of the rocky cliffs,

 

whose home is high in the mountains.

 

You think to yourself,

 

‘No one can bring me down to the ground!’

 

1:4 Even if you were to soar high like an eagle.

 

even if you were to make your nest among the stars,

 

I can bring you down even from there!” says the Lord.

2 Timothy 3

 

3:1 But understand this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

 

3:2 For people will be lovers of themselves,lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

 

3:3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good,

 

3:4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God.

 

3:5 They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these.

James 4

 

4:5 do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, “The spirit that God caused to live within us has an envious yearning”?

 

4:6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.”

 

4:7 So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you.

 

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

 

4:9 Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into despair.

 

4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

 

Chapter 3

 

3:14 Thou shalt not exalt thyself, neither shalt thou admit boldness into thy soul.

Psalms 62

 

62:5 Patiently wait for God alone, my soul!

 

For he is the one who gives me confidence.

 

62:6 He alone is my protector and deliverer.

 

He is my refuge; I will not be upended.

 

62:7 God delivers me and exalts me;

 

God is my strong protector and my shelter.

Proverbs 9

 

9:13 The woman called Folly is brash,

 

she is naive and does not know anything.

 

9:14 So she sits at the door of her house,

 

on a seat at the highest point of the city,

 

9:15 calling out to those who are passing by her in the way,

 

who go straight on their way.

 

9:16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here,”

 

she says to those who lack understanding.

 

9:17 “Stolen waters are sweet,

 

and food obtained in secret is pleasant!”

 

9:18 But they do not realize that the dead are there,

 

that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

Proverbs 21

 

21:24 A proud and arrogant person, whose name is “Scoffer,”

 

acts with overbearing pride.

 

21:25 What the sluggard desires will kill him,

 

for his hands refuse to work.

 

21:26 All day long he craves greedily,

 

but the righteous gives and does not hold back.

 

21:27 The wicked person’s sacrifice is an abomination;

 

how much more when he brings it with evil intent!

 

21:28 A lying witness will perish,

 

but the one who reports accurately speaks forever.

 

21:29 A wicked person shows boldness with his face,

 

but as for the upright, he discerns his ways.

Proverbs 26

 

27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow;

 

for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

 

27:2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;

 

someone else, and not your own lips.

2 Peter 2

 

2:9 the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment,

 

2:10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority.

 

Brazen and insolent, they are not afraid to insult the glorious ones,

 

2:11 yet even angels, who are much more powerful, do not bring a slanderous judgment against them before the Lord.

 

2:12 But these men, like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed – do not understand whom they are insulting, and consequently in their destruction they will be destroyed.

Numbers 15

 

15:30 “‘But the person who acts defiantly, whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults the Lord. That person must be cut off from among his people.

 

15:31 Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person must be completely cut off. His iniquity will be on him.’”

Romans 1

 

1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness,

 

1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

 

1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.

 

1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.

 

1:22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

 

1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

 

1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.

 

1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

 

1:26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones,

 

1:27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

 

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.

 

1:29 They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips,

 

1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents,

 

1:31 senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless.

 

1:32 Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.

Matthew 22

 

22:1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:

 

22:2 “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.

 

22:3 He sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come.

 

22:4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”’

 

22:5 But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.

 

22:6 The rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them.

 

22:7 The king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death and set their city on fire.

 

22:8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy.

 

22:9 So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’

 

22:10 And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

 

22:11 But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.

 

22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say.

 

22:13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’

 

22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Mark 15

 

15:25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.

 

15:26 The inscription of the charge against him read, “The king of the Jews.”

 

15:27 And they crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left.

 

15:28 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘He was counted with the lawless ones.’”

 

15:29 Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,

 

15:30 save yourself and come down from the cross!”

 

15:31 In the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law – were mocking him among themselves:

 

“He saved others, but he cannot save himself!

 

15:32 Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him.

Give thanks to those that put us before themselves. Listen to the Vertical Church "Thank You Jesus For The Cross"

 

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache - Teaching of the Twelve Apostles

 

Chapter 3

 

3:15 Thy soul shall not cleave together with the lofty, but with the righteous and humble shalt thou walk.

Psalms 62

 

O God, you are my God! I long for you!

 

My soul thirsts for you,

 

my flesh yearns for you,

 

in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

 

63:2 Yes, in the sanctuary I have seen you,

 

and witnessed your power and splendor.

 

63:3 Because experiencing your loyal love is better than life itself,

 

my lips will praise you.

 

63:4 For this reason I will praise you while I live;

 

in your name I will lift up my hands.

 

63:5 As if with choice meat you satisfy my soul.

 

My mouth joyfully praises you,

 

63:6 whenever I remember you on my bed,

 

and think about you during the nighttime hours.

 

63:7 For you are my deliverer;

 

under your wings I rejoice.

 

63:8 My soul pursues you;

 

your right hand upholds me.

Psalms 119

 

I collapse in the dirt.

 

Revive me with your word!

 

119:26 I told you about my ways and you answered me.

 

Teach me your statutes!

 

119:27 Help me to understand what your precepts mean!

 

Then I can meditate on your marvelous teachings.

 

119:28 I collapse from grief.

 

Sustain me by your word!

 

119:29 Remove me from the path of deceit!

 

Graciously give me your law!

 

119:30 I choose the path of faithfulness;

 

I am committed to your regulations.

 

119:31 I hold fast to your rules.

 

O Lord, do not let me be ashamed!

 

119:32 I run along the path of your commands,

 

for you enable me to do so.

Proverbs 2

 

2:1 My child, if you receive my words,

 

and store up my commands within you,

 

2:2 by making your ear attentive to wisdom,

 

and by turning your heart to understanding,

 

2:3 indeed, if you call out for discernment –

 

raise your voice for understanding –

 

2:4 if you seek it like silver,

 

and search for it like hidden treasure,

 

2:5 then you will understand how to fear the Lord,

 

and you will discover knowledge about God.

 

2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom,

 

and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

 

2:7 He stores up effective counsel for the upright,

 

and is like a shield for those who live with integrity,

 

2:8 to guard the paths of the righteous

 

and to protect the way of his pious ones.

 

2:9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice

 

and equity – every good way.

 

2:10 For wisdom will enter your heart,

 

and moral knowledge will be attractive to you.

Proverbs 3

 

3:13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,

 

and the one who obtains understanding.

 

3:14 For her benefit is more profitable than silver,

 

and her gain is better than gold.

 

3:15 She is more precious than rubies,

 

and none of the things you desire can compare with her.

 

3:16 Long life is in her right hand;

 

in her left hand are riches and honor.

 

3:17 Her ways are very pleasant,

 

and all her paths are peaceful.

 

3:18 She is like a tree of life to those who obtain her,

 

and everyone who grasps hold of her will be blessed.

 

3:33 The Lord’s curse is on the household of the wicked,

 

but he blesses the home of the righteous.

 

3:34 Although he is scornful to arrogant scoffers,

 

yet he shows favor to the humble.

 

3:35 The wise inherit honor,

 

but he holds fools up to public contempt.

Proverbs 11

 

11:27 The one who diligently seeks good seeks favor,

 

but the one who searches for evil – it will come to him.

 

11:28 The one who trusts in his riches will fall,

 

but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

 

11:29 The one who troubles 98 his family will inherit nothing,

 

and the fool will be a servant to the wise person.

 

11:30 The fruit of the righteous is like a tree producing life,

 

and the one who wins souls is wise.

 

11:31 If the righteous are recompensed on earth,

 

how much more the wicked sinner!

 

12:1 The one who loves discipline loves knowledge,

 

but the one who hates reproof is stupid.

 

12:2 A good person obtains favor from the Lord,

 

but the Lord condemns a person with wicked schemes.

 

12:3 No one can be established through wickedness,

 

but a righteous root cannot be moved.

Proverbs 30

 

30:11 There is a generation who curse their fathers

 

and do not bless their mothers.

 

30:12 There is a generation who are pure in their own eyes

 

and yet are not washed from their filthiness.

 

30:13 There is a generation whose eyes are so lofty,

 

and whose eyelids are lifted up disdainfully.

 

30:14 There is a generation whose teeth are like swords

 

and whose molars are like knives

 

to devour the poor from the earth

 

and the needy from among the human race.

Ezekiel 18

 

18:19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer for his father’s iniquity?’ When the son does what is just and right, and observes all my statutes and carries them out, he will surely live.

 

18:20 The person who sins is the one who will die. A son will not suffer for his father’s iniquity, and a father will not suffer for his son’s iniquity; the righteous person will be judged according to his righteousness, and the wicked person according to his wickedness.

 

18:21 “But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.

 

18:22 None of the sins he has committed will be held against him; because of the righteousness he has done, he will live.

 

18:23 Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign Lord? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?

 

18:24 “But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die.

 

18:25 “Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my conduct unjust? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?

 

18:26 When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it; because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die.

 

18:27 When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life.

 

18:28 Because he considered and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die.

 

18:29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Is my conduct unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?

 

18:30 “Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity.

 

18:31 Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why should you die, O house of Israel?

 

18:32 For I take no delight in the death of anyone, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

Matthew 11

 

11:25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.

 

11:26 Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.

 

11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him.

 

11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

 

11:29 Take my yoke 52 on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

 

11:30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache - Teaching of the Twelve Apostles

 

Chapter 3

 

3:16 The accidents that befall thee thou shalt receive as good, knowing that nothing is done without God.

Psalms 77

 

77:1 I will cry out to God and call for help!

 

I will cry out to God and he will pay attention to me.

 

77:2 In my time of trouble I sought the Lord.

 

I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night.

 

I refused to be comforted.

 

77:3 I said, I will remember God while I groan;

 

I will think about him while my strength leaves me. (Selah)

 

77:4 You held my eyelids open;

 

I was troubled and could not speak.

 

77:5 I thought about the days of old,

 

about ancient times.

 

77:6 I said, During the night I will remember the song I once sang;

 

I will think very carefully.

 

I tried to make sense of what was happening.

 

77:7 I asked, Will the Lord reject me forever?

 

Will he never again show me his favor?

 

77:8 Has his loyal love disappeared forever?

 

Has his promise failed forever?

 

77:9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?

 

Has his anger stifled his compassion?

 

77:10 Then I said, I am sickened by the thought

 

that the sovereign One might become inactive.

 

77:11 I will remember the works of the Lord.

 

Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago!

 

77:12 I will think about all you have done;

 

I will reflect upon your deeds!

Hebrews 5

 

5:7 During his earthly life Christ offered both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion.

 

5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered.

 

5:9 And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

 

5:10 and he was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

1 Peter 3

 

3:13 For who is going to harm you if you are devoted to what is good?

 

3:14 But in fact, if you happen to suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. But do not be terrified of them or be shaken.

 

3:15 But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess.

 

3:16 Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you.

 

3:17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil.

 

3:18 30 Because Christ also suffered once for sins,

 

the just for the unjust,

 

to bring you to God,

 

by being put to death in the flesh

 

but by being made alive in the spirit.

 

3:19 In it he went and preached to the spirits in prison,

 

3:20 after they were disobedient long ago when God patiently waited in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed. In the ark a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water.

 

3:21 And this prefigured baptism, which now saves you – not the washing off of physical dirt but the pledge of a good conscience to God – through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

 

3:22 who went into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels and authorities and powers subject to him.

Luke 17

 

17:22 Then he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

 

17:23 Then people will say to you, ‘Look, there he is!’ or ‘Look, here he is!’ Do not go out or chase after them.

 

17:24 For just like the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.

 

17:25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

 

17:26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man.

 

17:27 People were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage – right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

 

17:28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, people were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building;

 

17:29 but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

 

17:30 It will be the same on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

 

17:31 On that day, anyone who is on the roof, with his goods in the house, must not come down to take them away, and likewise the person in the field must not turn back.

 

17:32 Remember Lot’s wife!

 

17:33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life 88 will preserve it.

 

17:34 I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.

 

17:35 There will be two women grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

Matthew 10

 

10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.

 

10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,

 

10:36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

 

10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

 

10:38 And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

 

10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it.

 

10:40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.

 

10:41 Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.

 

10:42 And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, he will never lose his reward.

Ezekiel 1

 

14:12 The word of the Lord came to me:

 

14:13 “Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply, cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals.

 

14:14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign Lord.

 

14:15 “Suppose I were to send wild animals through the land and kill its children, leaving it desolate, without travelers due to the wild animals.

 

14:16 Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives, and the land would become desolate.

 

14:17 “Or suppose I were to bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through the land,’ and I were to kill both people and animals.

 

14:18 Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters – they would save only their own lives.

 

14:19 “Or suppose I were to send a plague into that land, and pour out my rage on it with bloodshed, killing both people and animals.

 

14:20 Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own son or daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.

 

14:21 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send my four terrible judgments – sword, famine, wild animals, and plague – to Jerusalem to kill both people and animals!

 

14:22 Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem – for everything I brought on it.

 

14:23 They will console you when you see their behavior and their deeds, because you will know that it was not without reason that I have done everything which I have done in it, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Amos 3

 

3:3 Do two walk together without having met?

 

3:4 Does a lion roar in the woods if he has not cornered his prey?

 

Does a young lion bellow from his den if he has not caught something?

 

3:5 Does a bird swoop down into a trap on the ground if there is no bait?

 

Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has surely caught something?

 

3:6 If an alarm sounds in a city, do people not fear?

 

If disaster overtakes a 8 city, is the Lord not responsible?

 

3:7 Certainly the sovereign Lord does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

 

3:8 A lion has roared! Who is not afraid?

 

The sovereign Lord has spoken! Who can refuse to prophesy?

Ecclesiastes 3

 

3:12 I have concluded that there is nothing better for people

 

than to be happy and to enjoy

 

themselves as long as they live,

 

3:13 and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil,

 

for these things are a gift from God.

 

3:14 I also know that whatever God does will endure forever;

 

nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it.

 

God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.

 

3:15 Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been;

 

for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.

Romans 9

 

9:6 It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel,

 

9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.”

 

9:8 This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

 

9:9 For this is what the promise declared: “About a year from now I will return and Sarah will have a son.”

 

9:10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our ancestor Isaac –

 

9:11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election would stand, not by works but by his calling) –

 

9:12 it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,”

 

9:13 just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

 

9:14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not!

 

9:15 For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

 

9:16 So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.

 

9:17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh: “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”

 

9:18 So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.

 

9:19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?”

 

9:20 But who indeed are you – a mere human being – to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

 

9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?

 

9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction?

 

9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory –

 

9:24 even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

 

9:25 As he also says in Hosea:

 

“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and I will call her who was unloved, ‘My beloved.’”

 

9:26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’

 

there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’

Like a without a ship without a sail. Listen to Mahalia Jackson sing praise "Without God I Could Do Nothing."

 

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Teaching of the Apostles

 

Chapter 3

 

4:1 My child, {thou shalt remember him that speaketh unto thee the word of God} night and day, and shalt honour him as the Lord;

4:2 for whencesoever the Lordship speaketh, there is the Lord.

Psalms 22

 

22:23 You loyal followers of the Lord, praise him!

 

All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!

 

All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him!

 

22:24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering of the oppressed;

 

he did not ignore him;

 

when he cried out to him, he responded.

 

22:25 You are the reason I offer praise in the great assembly;

 

I will fulfill my promises before the Lords loyal followers.

 

22:26 Let the oppressed eat and be filled!

 

Let those who seek his help praise the Lord!

 

May you live forever!

 

22:27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him!

 

Let all the nations worship you!

 

22:28 For the Lord is king

 

and rules over the nations.

 

22:29 All of the thriving people of the earth will join the celebration and worship;

 

all those who are descending into the grave will bow before him,

 

including those who cannot preserve their lives.

 

22:30 A whole generation will serve him;

 

they will tell the next generation about the sovereign Lord.

 

22:31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds;

 

they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished.

Psalms 111

 

111:1 Praise the Lord!

 

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,

 

in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.

 

111:2 The Lord’s deeds are great,

 

eagerly awaited by all who desire them.

 

111:3 His work is majestic and glorious,

 

and his faithfulness endures forever.

 

111:4 He does amazing things that will be remembered;

 

the Lord is merciful and compassionate.

 

111:5 He gives food to his faithful followers;

 

he always remembers his covenant.

 

111:6 He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,

 

giving them a land that belonged to other nations.

 

111:7 His acts are characterized by faithfulness and justice;

 

all his precepts are reliable.

 

111:8 They are forever firm,

 

and should be faithfully and properly carried out.

 

111:9 He delivered his people;

 

he ordained that his covenant be observed forever.

 

His name is holy and awesome.

 

111:10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living;

 

all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight.

 

He will receive praise forever

The Word of God creates from nothing.

 

Genesis 1

 

1:3 God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light!

God has dwelled visibly with His creation temporarily before until the covenant was broken.

 

Exodus 25

 

25:8 Let them make for me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them.

 

The Father is in essence God. The Word is in essence an expression of God. Distinct, but the same.

 

John 1

 

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.

 

1:2 The Word was with God in the beginning.

 

1:3 All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

 

1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.

 

1:5 And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it.

 

1:6 A man came, sent from God, whose name was John.

 

1:7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that everyone might believe through him.

 

1:8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.

 

1:9 The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

 

1:10 He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him.

 

1:11 He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him.

 

1:12 But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name – he has given the right to become God’s children

 

1:13 – children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God.

 

1:14 Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.

 

1:15 John testified about him and shouted out, “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’”

 

1:16 For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another.

 

1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

 

1:18 No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.

Jesus and God are the unity of one essence of belief of protecting and rewarding the righteous.

 

John 10

 

10:22 Then came the feast of the Dedication in Jerusalem.

 

10:23 It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area in Solomon’s Portico.

 

10:24 The Jewish leaders surrounded him and asked, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

 

10:25 Jesus replied, “I told you and you do not believe. The deeds I do in my Father’s name testify about me.

 

10:26 But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep.

 

10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

 

10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand.

 

10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand.

 

10:30 The Father and I are one.

While the Levitical priesthood function is well known. I think much is not understood about the power and privilege Adonai gave to Judges. For the Jew the Levitical priesthood is dead. There are only Rabbis (Pharisees) to interpret the Commands. The effects of no priests are shown with the removal of morality in modern day law. Soon all perversions will become legal as longs as they do not harm to another. As we seen with Fascism, the political party attempts to replace the power of the priest of Yahweh. But man does not understand the Word is now the eternal priest in the Order of Melchizedek. Christ conquered death, so the chosen can receive the gift of eternal life. The chosen followers of the new covenant will forever preach Yahweh's eternal Word made flesh and glorified to judge the living and the dead. The Holy Spirit is here on earth to give us the wisdom of God's absolute power and mercy.

 

Psalms 82

 

82:1 God stands in the assembly of El;

 

in the midst of the gods he renders judgment.

 

82:2 He says, “How long will you make unjust legal decisions

 

and show favoritism to the wicked? (Selah)

 

82:3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless!

 

Vindicate the oppressed and suffering!

 

82:4 Rescue the poor and needy!

 

Deliver them from the power of the wicked!

 

82:5 They neither know nor understand.

 

They stumble around in the dark,

 

while all the foundations of the earth crumble.

 

82:6 I thought, ‘You are gods;

 

all of you are sons of the Most High.’

 

82:7 Yet you will die like mortals;

 

you will fall like all the other rulers.”

 

82:8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth!

 

For you own all the nations.

John 5

 

5:16 Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him.

 

5:17 So he told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.”

 

5:18 For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.

 

5:19 So Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.

 

5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed.

 

5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes.

 

5:22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,

 

5:23 so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

 

5:24 “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.

 

5:25 I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming – and is now here – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

 

5:26 For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself,

 

5:27 and he has granted the Son authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

 

5:28 “Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

 

5:29 and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation.

 

5:30 I can do nothing on my own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.

 

5:31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.

 

5:32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true.

 

5:33 You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.

 

5:34 (I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.)

 

5:35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time in his light.

 

5:36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds that the Father has assigned me to complete – the deeds I am now doing – testify about me that the Father has sent me.

 

5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time,

 

5:38 nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent.

 

5:39 You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me,

 

5:40 but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

 

5:41 “I do not accept praise from people,

 

5:42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you.

 

5:43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

 

5:44 How can you believe, if you accept praise from one another and don’t seek the praise that comes from the only God?

 

5:45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.

 

5:46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.

 

5:47 But if you do not believe what Moses wrote, how will you believe my words?”

Deuteronomy 18

 

18:15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you – from your fellow Israelites; you must listen to him.

 

18:16 This accords with what happened at Horeb in the day of the assembly. You asked the Lord your God: “Please do not make us hear the voice of the Lord our God any more or see this great fire any more lest we die.”

 

18:17 The Lord then said to me, “What they have said is good.

 

18:18 I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command.

 

18:19 I will personally hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name.

Skillet - Your Name Is Holy

 

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Teaching of the Apostles

Chapter 4

4:1 My child, {thou shalt remember him that speaks unto thee the word of God} night and day, and shall honor him as the Lord;
4:2 for from whatever place or source.the Lordship speaks, there is the Lord.

Luke 12

12:1 Meanwhile, when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Matthew 16

16:5 When the disciples went to the other side, they forgot to take bread.

16:6 “Watch out,” Jesus said to them, “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

16:7 So they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “It is because we brought no bread.”

16:8 When Jesus learned of this, he said, “You who have such little faith! Why are you arguing among yourselves about having no bread?

16:9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?

16:10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you took up?

16:11 How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

16:12 Then they understood that he had not told them to be on guard against the yeast in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

 

Exodus 13

13:3 Moses said to the people, “Remember this day on which you came out from Egypt, from the place where you were enslaved, for the Lord brought you out of there with a mighty hand – and no bread made with yeast may be eaten.

13:4 On this day, in the month of Abib, you are going out.

13:5 When the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, then you will keep this ceremony in this month.

13:6 For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day there is to be a festival to the Lord.

13:7 Bread made without yeast must be eaten for seven days; no bread made with yeast shall be seen among you, and you must have no yeast among you within any of your borders.

 

 

Exodus 34

34:25 “You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with yeast; the sacrifice from the feast of Passover must not remain until the following morning.

Deuteronomy 15

16:1 Observe the month Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month he brought you out of Egypt by night.

16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to locate his name.

16:3 You must not eat any yeast with it; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, symbolic of affliction, for you came out of Egypt hurriedly. You must do this so you will remember for the rest of your life the day you came out of the land of Egypt.

16:4 There must not be a scrap of yeast within your land for seven days, nor can any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until the next morning.

16:5 You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of your villages that the Lord your God is giving you,

16:6 but you must sacrifice it in the evening in the place where he chooses to locate his name, at sunset, the time of day you came out of Egypt.

16:7 You must cook and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses; you may return the next morning to your tents.

16:8 You must eat bread made without yeast for six days. The seventh day you are to hold an assembly for the Lord your God; you must not do any work on that day.

John 6

6:27 Do not work for the food that disappears, but for the food that remains to eternal life – the food which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.”

6:28 So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds God requires?”

6:29 Jesus replied, “This is the deed God requires – to believe in the one whom he sent.”

6:30 So they said to him, “Then what miraculous sign will you perform, so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?

6:31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

6:32 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven.

6:33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

6:34 So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!”

6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.

6:36 But I told you that you have seen me and still do not believe.

6:37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away.

6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

6:39 Now this is the will of the one who sent me – that I should not lose one person of every one he has given me, but raise them all up at the last day.

6:40 For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

6:41 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began complaining about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,”

6:42 and they said, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

6:43 Jesus replied, “Do not complain about me to one another.

6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to me.

6:46 (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God – he has seen the Father.)

6:47 I tell you the solemn truth, the one who believes has eternal life.

6:48 I am the bread of life.

6:49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

6:50 This is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person may eat from it and not die.

6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

6:52 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began to argue with one another, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

6:53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves.

6:54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

6:55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

6:56 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him.

6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who consumes me will live because of me.

6:58 This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread your ancestors ate, but then later died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Exodus 16

16:10 As Aaron spoke to the whole community of the Israelites and they looked toward the desert, there the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud,

16:11 and the Lord spoke to Moses:

16:12 “I have heard the murmurings of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘During the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be satisfied with bread, so that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’”

16:13 In the evening the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was all around the camp.

16:14 When the layer of dew had evaporated, there on the surface of the desert was a thin flaky substance, thin like frost on the earth.

16:15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” because they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you for food.

16:16 “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Each person is to gather from it what he can eat, an omer per person according to the number of your people; each one will pick it up for whoever lives in his tent.’”

16:17 The Israelites did so, and they gathered – some more, some less.

16:18 When they measured with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little lacked nothing; each one had gathered what he could eat.

Mark 14

14:22 While they were eating, he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it. This is my body.”

14:23 And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

14:24 He said to them, “This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many.

14:25 I tell you the truth, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

14:26 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Acts 3

3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate after he had decided to release him.

3:14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you.

3:15 You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses!

3:16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus’ name, his very name has made this man – whom you see and know – strong. The faith that is through Jesus has given him this complete health in the presence of you all.

3:17 And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance, as your rulers did too.

3:18 But the things God foretold long ago through all the prophets – that his Christ would suffer – he has fulfilled in this way.

3:19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out,

3:20 so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send the Messiah appointed for you – that is, Jesus.

3:21 This one heaven must receive until the time all things are restored, which God declared from times long ago through his holy prophets.

3:22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must obey him in everything he tells you.

3:23 Every person who does not obey that prophet will be destroyed and thus removed from the people.’

3:24 And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced these days.

3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.’

3:26 God raised up his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each one of you from your iniquities.”

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Teaching of the Apostles

Chapter 4

4:3 Moreover thou shall seek out day by day the persons of the saints, that thou may find rest in their words.

Daniel 7

7:18 The holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will take possession of the kingdom forever and ever.’

Ephesians 4

4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

4:8 Therefore it says, When he ascended on high he captured captives; he gave gifts to men.

4:9 Now what is the meaning of he ascended, except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth?

4:10 He, the very one who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.

4:11 It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

4:12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ,

4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christs full stature.

4:14 So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes.

4:15 But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head.

4:16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body grows in love.

1 Peter 1

1:14 Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance,

1:15 but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct,

1:16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”

1:17 And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary residence here in reverence.

1:18 You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed – not by perishable things like silver or gold,

1:19 but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ.

1:20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for your sake.

1:21 Through him you now trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

John 3

3:31 The one who comes from above is superior to all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is superior to all.

3:32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.

3:33 The one who has accepted his testimony has confirmed clearly that God is truthful.

3:34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly.

3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed all things under his authority.

3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him.

1 John 5

5:18 We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin, but God protects the one he has fathered, and the evil one cannot touch him.

5:19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight to know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life.

5:21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

Acts 13

“Men of Israel, and you Gentiles who fear God, listen:

13:17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay as foreigners in the country of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.

13:18 For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

13:19 After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave his people their land as an inheritance.

13:20 All this took about four hundred fifty years. After this he gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.

13:21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.

13:22 After removing him, God raised up David their king. He testified about him: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my heart, who will accomplish everything I want him to do.’

13:23 From the descendants of this man God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, just as he promised.

13:24 Before Jesus arrived, John had proclaimed a baptism for repentance to all the people of Israel.

13:25 But while John was completing his mission, he said repeatedly, ‘What do you think I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet!’

13:26 Brothers, descendants of Abraham’s family, and those Gentiles among you who fear God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us.

13:27 For the people who live in Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him, and they fulfilled the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath by condemning him.

13:28 Though they found no basis for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.

13:29 When they had accomplished everything that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.

13:30 But God raised him from the dead,

13:31 and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are now his witnesses to the people.

13:32 And we proclaim to you the good news about the promise to our ancestors,

13:33 that this promise God has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have fathered you.’

13:34 But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus from the dead, never again to be in a state of decay, God has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and trustworthy promises made to David.’

13:35 Therefore he also says in another psalm, ‘You will not permit your Holy One to experience decay.’

13:36 For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, died, was buried with his ancestors, and experienced decay,

13:37 but the one whom God raised up did not experience decay.

13:38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

13:39 and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you.

13:40 Watch out, then, that what is spoken about by the prophets does not happen to you:

13:41 ‘Look, you scoffers; be amazed and perish!

For I am doing a work in your days,

a work you would never believe, even if someone tells you.’

Psalms 16

16:7 I will praise the Lord who guides me;

yes, during the night I reflect and learn.

16:8 I constantly trust in the Lord;

because he is at my right hand, I will not be upended.

16:9 So my heart rejoices

and I am happy;

My life is safe.

16:10 You will not abandon me to Sheol;

you will not allow your faithful follower to see the Pit.

16:11 You lead me in the path of life;

I experience absolute joy in your presence;

you always give me sheer delight.

Hebrews 10

10:19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,

10:20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,

10:21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

10:22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.

10:23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy.

10:24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works,

10:25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near.

Ephesians 2

2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

2:14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility,

2:15 when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace,

2:16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed.

2:17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near,

2:18 so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

2:19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

2:20 because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

2:21 In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

2:22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Teaching of the Apostles

 

Chapter 4

 

4:3 Moreover thou shall seek out day by day the persons of the saints, that thou may find rest in their words.

James 5

 

5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises.

 

5:14 Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

 

5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

 

5:16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.

 

5:17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months!

 

5:18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted with a harvest.

John 14

 

14:12 I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father.

 

14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

 

14:14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

 

14:15 “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.

 

14:16 Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever –

 

14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you.

Matthew 18

 

18:18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.

 

18:19 Again, I tell you the truth, if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.

 

18:20 For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.”

Psalms 34

 

34:9 Remain loyal to the Lord, you chosen people of his,

 

for his loyal followers lack nothing!

 

34:10 Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,

 

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

 

34:11 Come children! Listen to me!

 

I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord.

 

34:12 Do you want to really live?

 

Would you love to live a long, happy life?

 

34:13 Then make sure you don’t speak evil words

 

or use deceptive speech!

 

34:14 Turn away from evil and do what is right!

 

Strive for peace and promote it!

 

34:15 The Lord pays attention to the godly

 

and hears their cry for help.

 

34:16 But the Lord opposes evildoers

 

and wipes out all memory of them from the earth.

 

34:17 The godly cry out and the Lord hears;

 

he saves them from all their troubles.

 

34:18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;

 

he delivers those who are discouraged.

 

34:19 The godly face many dangers,

 

but the Lord saves them from each one of them.

 

34:20 He protects all his bones;

 

not one of them is broken.

 

34:21 Evil people self-destruct;

 

those who hate the godly are punished.

 

34:22 The Lord rescues his servants;

 

all who take shelter in him escape punishment.

Romans 20

 

12:9 Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good.

 

12:10 Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another.

 

12:11 Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord.

 

12:12 Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer.

 

12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality.

 

12:14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.

 

12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

 

12:16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited.

 

12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people.

1 Timothy 2

 

3:1 This saying is trustworthy: “If someone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a good work.”

 

3:2 The overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher,

 

3:3 not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not contentious, free from the love of money.

 

3:4 He must manage his own household well and keep his children in control without losing his dignity.

 

3:5 But if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for the church of God?

 

3:6 He must not be a recent convert or he may become arrogant and fall into the punishment that the devil will exact.

 

3:7 And he must be well thought of by those outside the faith, so that he may not fall into disgrace and be caught by the devil’s trap.

 

3:8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not two-faced, not given to excessive drinking, not greedy for gain,

 

3:9 holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

 

3:10 And these also must be tested first and then let them serve as deacons if they are found blameless.

 

3:11 Likewise also their wives must be dignified, not slanderous, temperate, faithful in every respect.

 

3:12 Deacons must be husbands of one wife and good managers of their children and their own households.

 

3:13 For those who have served well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus

Ephesians 5

 

5:15 Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise,

 

5:16 taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

 

5:17 For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is.

 

5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit,

 

5:19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord,

 

5:20 always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 

5:21 and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Hebrews 5

 

5:12 For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing 21 milk, not solid food.

 

5:13 For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant.

 

5:14 But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.

 

6:1 Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God,

 

6:2 teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

 

6:3 And this is what we intend to do, if God permits.

 

6:4 For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit,

 

6:5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age,

 

6:6 and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt.

 

6:7 For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God.

 

6:8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; its fate is to be burned.

 

6:9 But in your case, dear friends, even though we speak like this, we are convinced of better things relating to salvation.

 

6:10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints.

 

6:11 But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end,

 

6:12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.

Acts 20

 

20:28 Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.

 

20:29 I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

 

20:30 Even from among your own group men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

 

Chapter 4

 

4:4 Thou shalt not make a schism, but thou shalt pacify them that contend;

Proverbs 6

 

6:12 A worthless and wicked person

 

walks around saying perverse things;

 

6:13 he winks with his eyes,

 

signals with his feet,

 

and points with his fingers;

 

6:14 he plots evil with perverse thoughts in his heart,

 

he spreads contention at all times.

 

6:15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly;

 

in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.

 

6:16 There are six things that the Lord hates,

 

even 31 seven things that are an abomination to him:

 

6:17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

 

and hands that shed innocent blood,

 

6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans,

 

feet that are swift to run 38 to evil,

 

6:19 a false witness who pours out lies,

 

and a person who spreads discord among family members.

1 Corinthians 10

 

1:10 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose.

 

1:11 For members of Chloes household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, that there are quarrels among you.

 

1:12 Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, I am with Paul, or I am with Apollos, or I am with Cephas, or I am with Christ.

 

1:13 Is Christ divided? Paul wasnt crucified for you, was he? Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul?

1 Corinthians 11

 

11:17 Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse.

 

11:18 For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

 

11:19 For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident.

 

11:20 Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lords Supper.

 

11:21 For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk.

 

11:22 Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!

1 Corinthians 12

 

12:12 For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body though many are one body, so too is Christ.

 

12:13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the one Spirit.

 

12:14 For in fact the body is not a single member, but many.

 

12:15 If the foot says, Since I am not a hand, I am not part of the body, it does not lose its membership in the body because of that.

 

12:16 And if the ear says, Since I am not an eye, I am not part of the body, it does not lose its membership in the body because of that.

 

12:17 If the whole body were an eye, what part would do the hearing? If the whole were an ear, what part would exercise the sense of smell?

 

12:18 But as a matter of fact, God has placed each of the members in the body just as he decided.

 

12:19 If they were all the same member, where would the body be?

 

12:20 So now there are many members, but one body.

 

12:21 The eye cannot say to the hand, I do not need you, nor in turn can the head say to the foot, I do not need you.

 

12:22 On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential,

 

12:23 and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity,

 

12:24 but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member,

 

12:25 so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another.

 

12:26 If one member suffers, everyone suffers with it. If a member is honored, all rejoice with it.

Daniel 9

 

9:11 “All Israel has broken your law and turned away by not obeying you. Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you.

 

9:12 He has carried out his threats against us and our rulers who were over us by bringing great calamity on us – what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven!

 

9:13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom from your reliable moral standards.

 

9:14 The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just in all he has done, and we have not obeyed him.

Ecclesiastes 10

 

10:4 If the anger of the ruler flares up against you, do not resign from your position,

 

for a calm response can undo great offenses.

Ezekiel 16

 

16:13 The delight of kings is righteous counsel,

 

and they love the one who speaks uprightly.

 

16:14 A king’s wrath is like a messenger of death,

 

but a wise person appeases it.

Exodus 32

 

32:9 Then the Lord said to Moses: “I have seen this people. Look what a stiff-necked people they are!

 

32:10 So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.”

 

32:11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

 

32:12 Why should the Egyptians say,‘For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people.

 

32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’”

 

32:14 Then the Lord relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.

Matthew 6

 

6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, go into thy closet; and having closed thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret will reward thee.

 

6:7 But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathens; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

 

6:8 Be not therefore like them; for your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask him.

 

6:9 In this way therefore pray you: Our Father who art in the heavens: hallowed be thy name.

 

6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done as in heaven also on earth.

 

6:11 Give us this day our needful bread.

 

6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors;

 

6:13 and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

 

6:14 For if you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

 

6:15 but if you forgive not men, neither will your Father forgive your offenses.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

 

Chapter 4

 

4:5 thou shall judge righteously, thou shall not make a difference in a person to reprove him for transgressions.

John 7

 

7:24 Do not judge according to external appearance, but judge with proper judgment.”

Proverbs 31

 

31:8 Open your mouth on behalf of those unable to speak,

 

for the legal rights of all the dying.

 

31:9 Open your mouth, judge in righteousness,

 

and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

2 Timothy 4

 

4:1 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

 

4:2 Preach the message, be ready whether it is convenient or not, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and instruction.

 

4:3 For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.

 

4:4 And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths.

 

4:5 You, however, be self-controlled in all things, endure hardship, do an evangelist’s work, fulfill your ministry.

 

4:6 For I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time for me to depart is at hand.

 

4:7 I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith!

 

4:8 Finally the crown of righteousness is reserved for me. The Lord, the righteous Judge, will award it to me in that day – and not to me only, but also to all who have set their affection on his appearing.

Psalms 119

 

119:65 You are good to your servant,

 

O Lord, just as you promised.

 

119:66 Teach me proper discernment and understanding!

 

For I consider your commands to be reliable.

 

119:67 Before I was afflicted I used to stray off,

 

but now I keep your instructions.

 

119:68 You are good and you do good.

 

Teach me your statutes!

 

119:69 Arrogant people smear my reputation with lies,

 

but I observe your precepts with all my heart.

 

119:70 Their hearts are calloused,

 

but I find delight in your law.

 

119:71 It was good for me to suffer,

 

so that I might learn your statutes.

 

119:72 The law you have revealed is more important to me

 

than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.

James 2

 

2:12 Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom.

 

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment.

John 15

 

15:18 “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first.

 

15:19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.

 

15:20 Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too.

 

15:21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.

 

15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But they no longer have any excuse for their sin.

 

15:23 The one who hates me hates my Father too.

 

15:24 If I had not performed among them the miraculous deeds that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen the deeds and have hated both me and my Father.

 

15:25 Now this happened to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without reason.’

 

15:26 When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – he will testify about me,

 

15:27 and you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

 

16:1 “I have told you all these things so that you will not fall away.

 

16:2 They will put you out of the synagogue, yet a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God.

 

16:3 They will do these things because they have not known the Father or me.

 

16:4 But I have told you these things so that when their time comes, you will remember that I told you about them.

 

“I did not tell you these things from the beginning because I was with you.

 

16:5 But now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’

 

16:6 Instead your hearts are filled with sadness because I have said these things to you.

 

16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.

 

16:8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin and righteousness and judgment –

 

16:9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;

 

16:10 concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;

 

16:11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

 

16:12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

 

16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you what is to come.

 

16:14 He will glorify me, because he will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you.

 

16:15 Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you.

 

16:16 In a little while you will see me no longer; again after a little while, you will see me."

Romans 10

 

10:1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation.

 

10:2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth.

 

10:3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

 

10:4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.

 

10:5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: “The one who does these things will live by them.”

 

10:6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down)

 

10:7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

 

10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach),

 

10:9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

 

10:10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.

 

10:11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

 

10:12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him.

 

10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Acts 22

 

22:1 “Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense that I now make to you.”

 

22:2 (When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.) Then Paul said,

 

22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors, and was zealous for God just as all of you are today.

 

22:4 I persecuted this Way even to the point of death, tying up both men and women and putting them in prison,

 

22:5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to make arrests there and bring the prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

 

22:6 As I was en route and near Damascus, about noon a very bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.

 

22:7 Then I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

 

22:8 I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’

Mark 14

 

14:55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find anything.

 

14:56 Many gave false testimony against him, but their testimony did not agree.

 

14:57 Some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 79 14:58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands and in three days build another not made with hands.’”

 

14:59 Yet even on this point their testimony did not agree.

 

14:60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is this that they are testifying against you?”

 

14:61 But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest questioned him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”

 

14:62 “I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

 

14:63 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses?

 

14:64 You have heard the blasphemy! What is your verdict?” They all condemned him as deserving death.

 

14:65 Then some began to spit on him, and to blindfold him, and to strike him with their fists, saying, “Prophesy!” The guards also took him and beat him.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

Chapter 4

4:6 Thou shalt not doubt whether a thing shall be or not be.

James 1

1:2 My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials,

1:3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

1:4 And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.

1:5 But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.

1:6 But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind.

1:7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord,

1:8 since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways.

Matthew 7

7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.

7:8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 14

14:22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dispersed the crowds.

14:23 And after he sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.

14:24 Meanwhile the boat, already far from land, was taking a beating from the waves because the wind was against it.

14:25 As the night was ending, Jesus came to them walking on the sea.

14:26 When the disciples saw him walking on the water they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out with fear.

14:27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them: “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

14:28 Peter said to him, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.”

14:29 So he said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus.

14:30 But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

14:31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

14:32 When they went up into the boat, the wind ceased.

14:33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Mark 11

11:12 Now the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry.

11:13 After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

11:14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

11:20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.

11:21 Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.”

11:22 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God.

11:23 I tell you the truth, if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

11:24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

11:25 Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your sins.”

Luke 4

4:16 Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,

4:17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and the regaining of sight to the blind,

to set free those who are oppressed,

4:19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."

4:20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him.

4:21 Then he began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.”

4:22 All were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

4:23 Jesus said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ and say, ‘What we have heard that you did in Capernaum, do here in your hometown too.’”

4:24 And he added, “I tell you the truth, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.

4:25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up three and a half years, and there was a great famine over all the land.

4:26 Yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.

4:27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

4:28 When they heard this, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage.

4:29 They got up, forced him out of the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.

4:30 But he passed through the crowd and went on his way.

1 Kings 16

17:1 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As certainly as the Lord God of Israel lives (whom I serve), there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.”

17:2 The Lord told him:

17:3 “Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan.

17:4 Drink from the stream; I have already told the ravens to bring you food there.”

17:5 So he did as the Lord told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan.

17:6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream.

17:7 After a while, the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

17:8 The Lord told him,

17:9 “Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told a widow who lives there to provide for you.”

17:10 So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he went through the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. He called out to her, “Please give me a cup of water, so I can take a drink.”

17:11 As she went to get it, he called out to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.”

17:12 She said, “As certainly as the Lord your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple of sticks for a fire. Then I’m going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation.”

17:13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you planned. But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son.

17:14 For this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the Lord makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’”

17:15 She went and did as Elijah told her; there was always enough food for Elijah and for her and her family.

17:16 The jar of flour was never empty and the jug of oil never ran out, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.

17:17 After this the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe.

17:18 She asked Elijah, “Why, prophet, have you come to me to confront me with my sin and kill my son?”

17:19 He said to her, “Hand me your son.” He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him down on his bed.

17:20 Then he called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow I am staying with by killing her son?”

17:21 He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the Lord, “O Lord, my God, please let this boy’s breath return to him.”

17:22 The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer; the boy’s breath returned to him and he lived.

17:23 Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room to the house, and handed him to his mother. Elijah then said, “See, your son is alive!”

17:24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a prophet and that the Lord really does speak through you."

2 Kings 5

5:1 Now Naaman, the commander of the king of Syria’s army, was esteemed and respected by his master, for through him the Lord had given Syria military victories. But this great warrior had a skin disease.

5:2 Raiding parties went out from Syria and took captive from the land of Israel a young girl, who became a servant to Naaman’s wife.

5:3 She told her mistress, “If only my master were in the presence of the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his skin disease.”

5:4 Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said.

5:5 The king of Syria said, “Go! I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten suits of clothes.

5:6 He brought the letter to king of Israel. It read: “This is a letter of introduction for my servant Naaman, whom I have sent to be cured of his skin disease.”

5:7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill or restore life? Why does he ask me to cure a man of his skin disease? 9 Certainly you must see that he is looking for an excuse to fight me!"

5:8 When Elisha the prophet heard that the king had torn his clothes, he sent this message to the king, “Why did you tear your clothes? Send him to me so he may know there is a prophet in Israel.”

5:9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood in the doorway of Elisha’s house.

5:10 Elisha sent out a messenger who told him, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan; your skin will be restored and you will be healed.”

5:11 Naaman went away angry. He said, “Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease.

5:12 The rivers of Damascus, the Abana and Pharpar, are better than any of the waters of Israel! Could I not wash in them and be healed?” So he turned around and went away angry.

5:13 His servants approached and said to him, “O master, if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, you would have been willing to do it. It seems you should be happy that he simply said, “Wash and you will be healed.”

5:14 So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, as the prophet had instructed. His skin became as smooth as a young child’s and he was healed.

5:15 He and his entire entourage returned to the prophet. Naaman came and stood before him. He said, “For sure I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel! Now, please accept a gift from your servant.”

5:16 But Elisha replied, “As certainly as the Lord lives (whom I serve), I will take nothing from you.” Naaman insisted that he take it, but he refused.

5:17 Naaman said, “If not, then please give your servant a load of dirt, enough for a pair of mules to carry, for your servant will never again offer a burnt offering or sacrifice to a god other than the Lord.

5:18 May the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to worship, and he leans on my arm and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”

5:19 Elisha 29 said to him, “Go in peace.”

When he had gone a short distance,

5:20 Gehazi, the prophet Elisha’s servant, thought, “Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him. As certainly as the Lord lives, I will run after him and accept something from him.”

5:21 So Gehazi ran after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?”

5:22 He answered, “Everything is fine. My master sent me with this message, ‘Look, two servants of the prophets just arrived from the Ephraimite hill country. Please give them a talent of silver and two suits of clothes.’”

5:23 Naaman said, “Please accept two talents of silver. He insisted, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, along with two suits of clothes. He gave them to two of his servants and they carried them for Gehazi.

5:24 When he arrived at the hill, he took them from the servants and put them in the house. Then he sent the men on their way.

5:25 When he came and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant hasn’t been anywhere.”

5:26 Elisha replied, “I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you. This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants.

5:27 Therefore Naaman’s skin disease will afflict you and your descendants forever!” When Gehazi went out from his presence, his skin was as white as snow.

John 10

10:22 Then came the feast of the Dedication in Jerusalem.

10:23 It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area in Solomon’s Portico.

10:24 The Jewish leaders surrounded him and asked, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

10:25 Jesus replied, “I told you and you do not believe. The deeds I do in my Father’s name testify about me.

10:26 But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep.

10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand.

10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand.

10:30 The Father and I are one.”

10:31 The Jewish leaders picked up rocks again to stone him to death.

10:32 Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good deeds from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?”

10:33 The Jewish leaders replied, “We are not going to stone you for a good deed but for blasphemy, because you, a man, are claiming to be God.”

10:34 Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?

10:35 If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken),

10:36 do you say about the one whom the Father set apart and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

10:37 If I do not perform the deeds of my Father, do not believe me.

10:38 But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds, so that you may come to know and understand that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”

10:39 Then they attempted again to seize him, but he escaped their clutches.

Jews and now also Muslims are unwilling to accept Jesus as the legitimate Son of God sent to replace the physical temple with an eternal spiritual temple now accessible to all that look for it.

John 12

12:37 Although Jesus had performed so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him,

12:38 so that the word of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

12:39 For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said,

12:40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart,

so that they would not see with their eyes

and understand with their heart,

and turn to me, and I would heal them.”

12:41 Isaiah said these things because he saw Christ's glory, and spoke about him.

12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue.

12:43 For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

12:44 But Jesus shouted out, “The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me,

12:45 and the one who sees me sees the one who sent me.

12:46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness.

12:47 If anyone hears my words and does not obey them, I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

12:48 The one who rejects me and does not accept my words has a judge; the word I have spoken will judge him at the last day.

12:49 For I have not spoken from my own authority, but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me what I should say and what I should speak.

12:50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me.

 

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Teaching of the 12 Apostles

Chapter 4

4:7 {Be not thou found holding out thy hands to receive, but drawing them in as to giving.}
4:8 If thou hast ought passing through thy hands, thou shalt give a ransom for thy sins.
4:9 Thou shalt not hesitate to give, neither shalt thou murmur when giving;
4:10 for thou shalt know who is the good paymaster of thy reward.
4:11 Thou shalt not turn away from him that is in want, but shalt make thy brother partaker in all things, and shalt not say {that anything is thine own.}
4:12 For if ye are fellow-partakers in that which is imperishable, how much rather in the things which are perishable? Thou shalt not withhold thy hand from thy son or from thy daughter, but from their youth thou shalt teach them the fear of God.

Give what is at your disposal to help atone for your transgressions against God. For our Father knows the root of all our intentions.

Job 35

35:6 If you sin, how does it affect God?

If your transgressions are many,

what does it do to him?

35:7 If you are righteous, what do you give to God,

or what does he receive from your hand?

Proverbs 28

28:27 The one who gives to the poor will not lack,

but whoever shuts his eyes to them will receive many curses.

Hebrews 10

10:26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us,

10:27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God’s enemies.

10:28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

10:29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for the Son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant that made him holy, and insults the Spirit of grace?

10:30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

10:31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 11

11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.

11:2 For by it the people of old received God’s commendation.

11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.

11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead.

11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God.

11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

11:7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going.

11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.

11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.

11:12 So in fact children were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand 15 on the seashore.

11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.

11:14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

11:15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

11:16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son.

11:18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,”

11:19 and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.

11:20 By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future.

11:21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.

11:22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial.

11:23 By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

11:24 By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,

11:25 choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure.

11:26 He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward.

11:27 By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible.

11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

11:29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up.

11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days.

11:31 By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.

11:32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.

11:33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions,

11:34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight,

11:35 and women received back their dead raised to life. But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life.

11:36 And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

11:37 They were stoned, sawed apart, murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated

11:38 (the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth.

11:39 And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.

11:40 For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us.

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,

12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

12:3 Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up.

12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin.

12:5 And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?

“My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline

or give up when he corrects you.

12:6 “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts."

12:7 Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?

12:8 But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons.

12:9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life?

12:10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness.

12:11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it.

12:12 Therefore, strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees,

12:13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.

Acts 3

3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time for prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon.

3:2 And a man lame from birth was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called “the Beautiful Gate” every day so he could beg for money from those going into the temple courts.

3:3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple courts, he asked them for money.

3:4 Peter looked directly at him (as did John) and said, “Look at us!”

3:5 So the lame man paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.

3:6 But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, stand up and walk!”

3:7 Then Peter took hold of him by the right hand and raised him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong.

3:8 He jumped up, stood and began walking around, and he entered the temple courts with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

3:9 All the people saw him walking and praising God,

3:10 and they recognized him as the man who used to sit and ask for donations at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with astonishment and amazement at what had happened to him.

Matthew 6

6:1 “Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

6:2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, they have their reward.

6:3 But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

6:4 so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 10

10:5 Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them as follows: “Do not go to Gentile regions and do not enter any Samaritan town.

10:6 Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

10:7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’

10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

10:9 Do not take gold, silver, or copper in your belts,

10:10 no bag for the journey, or an extra tunic, or sandals or staff, for the worker deserves his provisions.

10:11 Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy there and stay with them until you leave.

10:12 As you enter the house, give it greetings.

10:13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

10:14 And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or that town.

Matthew 25

25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

25:32 All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

25:33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

25:34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,

25:36 I was unclothed and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

25:37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?

25:38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or unclothed and clothe you?

25:39 When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

25:40 And the king will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.’

25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!

25:42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink.

25:43 I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, unclothed and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

25:44 Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or unclothed or sick or in prison, and did not give you whatever you needed?’

25:45 Then he will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’

25:46 And these will depart into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Luke 6

6:38 Give, and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive.”

This post is dedicated to my life-long friend, Alan Greenstreet and his wife Becky. May the Holy Spirit bless their ministry.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Teaching of the 12 Apostles

Chapter 4

4:12 For if ye are fellow-partakers in that which is imperishable, how much rather in the things which are perishable? Thou shalt not withhold thy hand from thy son or from thy daughter, but from their youth thou shalt teach them the fear of God.

1 Corinthians 15

15:50 Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

15:51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed –

15:52 in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

15:53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

15:54 Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen,

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

15:55 “Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

1 Peter 1

1:13 Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1:14 Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance,

1:15 but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct,

1:16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”

1:17 And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary residence here in reverence.

1:18 You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed – not by perishable things like silver or gold,

1:19 but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ.

1:20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for your sake.

1:21 Through him you now trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

1:22 You have purified your souls by obeying the truth in order to show sincere mutual love. So love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

1:23 You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

1:24 For all flesh is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of the grass;

the grass withers and the flower falls off,

1:25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.

And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.

Luke 8

8:4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from one town after another, he spoke to them in a parable:

8:5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds devoured it.

8:6 Other seed fell on rock, and when it came up, it withered because it had no moisture.

8:7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and they grew up with it and choked it.

8:8 But other seed fell on good soil and grew, and it produced a hundred times as much grain.” As he said this, he called out, “The one who has ears to hear had better listen!”

8:9 Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant.

8:10 He said, “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand.

8:11 “Now the parable means this: The seed is the word of God.

8:12 Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

8:13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in a time of testing fall away.

8:14 As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

8:15 But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing the word, cling to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance.

John 3

3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven – the Son of Man.

3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

3:15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

3:16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

3:18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

3:19 Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.

3:20 For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.

3:21 But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.

Matthew 19

19:16 Now someone came up to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to gain eternal life?”

19:17 He said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

19:18 “Which ones?” he asked. Jesus replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,

19:19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

19:20 The young man said to him, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws. What do I still lack?”

19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

19:22 But when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.

Psalms 34

34:11 Come children! Listen to me!

I will teach you what it means to fear the Lord.

34:12 Do you want to really live?

Would you love to live a long, happy life?

34:13 Then make sure you don’t speak evil words

or use deceptive speech!

34:14 Turn away from evil and do what is right!

Strive for peace and promote it!

34:15 The Lord pays attention to the godly

and hears their cry for help.

34:16 But the Lord opposes evildoers

and wipes out all memory of them from the earth.

34:17 The godly cry out and the Lord hears;

he saves them from all their troubles.

34:18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;

he delivers those who are discouraged.

34:19 The godly face many dangers,

but the Lord saves them from each one of them.

34:20 He protects all his bones;

not one of them is broken.

34:21 Evil people self-destruct;

those who hate the godly are punished.

34:22 The Lord rescues his servants;

all who take shelter in him escape punishment.

Revelation 14

14:6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, and he had an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth – to every nation, tribe, language, and people.

14:7 He declared in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”

 

Luke 12

12:4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more they can do.

12:5 But I will warn you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

 

 

Revelation 21

21:5 And the one seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new!” Then he said to me, “Write it down, because these words are reliable and true.”

21:6 He also said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water free of charge from the spring of the water of life.

21:7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

21:8 But to the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, idol worshipers, and all those who lie, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. That is the second death.”

Fear God and a lake of fire will not be your fate.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

 

Chapter 4

 

4:13 Thou shalt not command thy bondservant or thine handmaid in thy bitterness, who trust in the same God as thyself, lest haply they should cease to fear the God who is over both of you;

 

4:14 for He cometh, not to call men with respect of persons, but He cometh to those whom the Spirit hath prepared.

 

4:15 But ye, servants, shall be subject unto your masters, as to a type of God, in shame and fear.

Today's world has mostly eradicated the institutions of slavery and debt bondage. We now have a not so perfect a wage based system that ranges from union based employees to sweat shop workers. The names may have changed, but everyone still has the same Master in Heaven who judges equally according to our free will to follow or transgress His commands.

 

Executives, small business owners, and those with power over others should pay attention to the passages directed to masters.

 

Employees, servants, and those that follow orders should pay attention passages directed to slaves and bondservants.

 

Colossians 3

 

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

We must respect authority and petition problems in the proper manner.

 

1 Peter 2

 

2:13 Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether to a king as supreme

 

2:14 or to governors as those he commissions to punish wrongdoers and praise those who do good.

 

2:15 For God wants you to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.

 

2:16 Live as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God’s slaves.

 

2:17 Honor all people, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the king.

 

2:18 Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are perverse.

 

2:19 For this finds God’s favor, if because of conscience toward God someone endures hardships in suffering unjustly.

 

2:20 For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it? But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God.

 

2:21 For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps.

 

2:22 He committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth.

 

2:23 When he was maligned, he did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened no retaliation, but committed himself to God who judges justly.

 

2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning 54 and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.

 

2:25 For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

1 Timothy 6

 

6:1 Those who are under the yoke as slaves must regard their own masters as deserving of full respect. This will prevent the name of God and Christian teaching from being discredited.

 

6:2 But those who have believing masters must not show them less respect because they are brothers. Instead they are to serve all the more, because those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved.

Ephesians 6

 

6:10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

 

6:11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

 

6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

 

6:13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.

 

6:14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness,

 

6:15 by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace,

 

6:16 and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

 

6:17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 

6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

 

6:19 Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak – that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel,

 

6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.

Matthew 24

 

24:45 “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their food at the proper time?

 

24:46 Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work when he comes.

 

24:47 I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions.

 

24:48 But if that evil slave should say to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’

 

24:49 and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with drunkards,

 

24:50 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee,

 

24:51 and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Daniel 1

 

1:5 So the king assigned them a daily ration from his royal delicacies and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king’s service.

 

1:6 As it turned out, among these young men were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

 

1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego.

 

1:8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine. He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

 

1:9 Then God made the overseer of the court officials sympathetic to Daniel.

Ephesians 6

 

6:5 Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ,

 

6:6 not like those who do their work only when someone is watching – as people-pleasers – but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart.

 

6:7 Obey with enthusiasm, as though serving the Lord and not people,

 

6:8 because you know that each person, whether slave or free, if he does something good, this will be rewarded by the Lord.

 

6:9 Masters, treat your slaves the same way, giving up the use of threats, because you know that both you and they have the same master in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

James 5

 

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming on you.

 

5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten.

 

5:3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure!

 

5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

 

5:5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

 

5:6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you.

 

Deuteronomy 23

 

 

23:15 You must not return an escaped slave to his master when he has run away to you.

 

23:16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages he prefers; you must not oppress him.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

Chapter 4

4:16 Thou shalt hate all hypocrisy, and everything that is not pleasing to the Lord.

Isaiah 32

32:5 A fool will no longer be called honorable;

a deceiver will no longer be called principled.

32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things;

his mind plans out sinful deeds.

He commits godless deeds

and says misleading things about the Lord;

he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite

and gives the thirsty nothing to drink.

32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil;

he dreams up evil plans

to ruin the poor with lies,

even when the needy are in the right.

Proverbs 14

14:24 The crown of the wise is their riches,

but the folly of fools is folly.

14:25 A truthful witness rescues lives,

but the one who breathes lies brings deception.

Ezekiel 14

14:6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Return! Turn from your idols, and turn your faces away from your abominations.

14:7 For when anyone from the house of Israel, or the foreigner who lives in Israel, separates himself from me and erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet to seek something from me, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally.

14:8 I will set my face against that person and will make him an object lesson and a byword and will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

14:9 “‘As for the prophet, if he is made a fool by being deceived into speaking a prophetic word – I, the Lord, have made a fool of that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.

Matthew 23

23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

23:2 “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat.

23:3 Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach.

23:4 They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them.

23:5 They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long.

23:6 They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues

23:7 and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’

23:8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers.

23:9 And call no one your 'father' on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

23:10 Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one teacher, the Christ.

23:11 The greatest among you will be your servant.

23:12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.

23:14 “Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ property, and as a show you pray long prayers! Therefore you will receive a more severe punishment.”

23:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves!

23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’

23:17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred?

23:18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’

23:19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

23:20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

23:21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it.

23:22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You should have done these things without neglecting the others.

23:24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel!

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

23:26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean too!

23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean.

23:28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.

23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

23:31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors!

23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?

23:34 “For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town,

23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

23:36 I tell you the truth, this generation will be held responsible for all these things!

Matthew 15

15:7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,

15:8 ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me,

15:9 and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

15:10 Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand.

15:11 What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.”

15:12 Then the disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this saying they were offended?”

15:13 And he replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.

15:14 Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”

15:15 But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.”

15:16 Jesus said, “Even after all this, are you still so foolish?

15:17 Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then passes out into the sewer?

15:18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person.

15:19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

15:20 These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.

Remember to practice what you preach.

 

James 3

3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly.

3:2 For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well.

3:3 And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies.

3:4 Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs.

3:5 So too the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it has great pretensions. Think how small a flame sets a huge forest ablaze.

3:6 And the tongue is a fire! The tongue represents the world of wrongdoing among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the entire body and sets fire to the course of human existence – and is set on fire by hell.

3:7 For every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature is subdued and has been subdued by humankind.

3:8 But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

3:9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in God’s image.

3:10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters.

3:11 A spring does not pour out fresh water and bitter water from the same opening, does it?

3:12 Can a fig tree produce olives, my brothers and sisters, or a vine produce figs? Neither can a salt water spring produce fresh water.

3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings.

3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth.

3:15 Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, natural, demonic.

3:16 For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice.

3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical.

3:18 And the fruit that consists of righteousness is planted in peace among those who make peace.

Revelation 12

12:7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.

12:8 But the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels.

12:9 So that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.

12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

“The salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the ruling authority of his Christ, have now come,

because the accuser of our brothers and sisters,

the one who accuses them day and night before our God,

has been thrown down.

12:11 But they overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.

12:12 Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them!

But woe to the earth and the sea

because the devil has come down to you!

He is filled with terrible anger,

for he knows that he only has a little time!”

1 Timothy 4

4:1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings,

4:2 influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.

4:3 They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

4:4 For every creation of God is good and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.

4:5 For it is sanctified by Gods word and by prayer.

We all have our personal battles in our earthly life. Some fall to natural anger against our Lord.

Others take up their own personal cross knowing that endurance in suffering will lead to salvation.

1 Peter 1

2:1 So get rid of all evil and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

2:2 And yearnlike newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation,

2:3 if you have experienced the Lord’s kindness.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Teaching

 

Chapter 4

 

4:17 Thou shalt never forsake the commandments of the Lord;

4:18 but shalt keep those things which thou hast received, neither adding to them nor taking away from them.

Deuteronomy 10

 

10:12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, to obey all his commandments, to love him, to serve him with all your mind and being,

 

10:13 and to keep the Lords commandments and statutes that I am giving you today for your own good?

 

10:14 The heavens indeed the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it.

 

10:15 However, only to your ancestors did he show his loving favor, and he chose you, their descendants, from all peoples as is apparent today.

 

10:16 Therefore, cleanse your heart and stop being so stubborn!

 

10:17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe,

 

10:18 who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing.

 

10:19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 28

 

28:1 If you indeed obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.

 

28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance if you obey the Lord your God:

 

28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field.

 

28:4 Your children will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.

 

28:5 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed.

 

28:6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

 

28:7 The Lord will cause your enemies who attack you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction but flee from you in seven different directions.

 

28:8 The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do yes, he will bless you in the land he is giving you.

 

28:9 The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments and obey him.

 

28:10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, and they will respect you.

 

28:11 The Lord will greatly multiply your children, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he promised your ancestors he would give you.

 

28:12 The Lord will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you rain for the land in its season and to bless all you do; you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any.

 

28:13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his commandments which I am urging you today to be careful to do.

 

28:14 But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship them.

 

28:15 But if you ignore the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force:

 

28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field.

 

28:17 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed.

 

28:18 Your children will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.

 

28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

Psalms 119

 

119:9 ב (Bet)

 

How can a young person maintain a pure life?

 

By guarding it according to your instructions!

 

119:10 With all my heart I seek you.

 

Do not allow me to stray from your commands!

 

119:11 In my heart I store up your words,

 

so I might not sin against you.

 

119:12 You deserve praise, O Lord!

 

Teach me your statutes!

 

119:13 With my lips I proclaim

 

all the regulations you have revealed.

 

119:14 I rejoice in the lifestyle prescribed by your rules

 

as if 19 they were riches of all kinds.

 

119:15 I will meditate on your precepts

 

and focus on your behavior.

 

119:16 I find delight in your statutes;

 

I do not forget your instructions.

 

119:17 ג (Gimel)

 

Be kind to your servant!

 

Then I will live and keep your instructions.

 

119:18 Open my eyes so I can truly see

 

the marvelous things in your law!

 

119:19 I am like a foreigner in this land.

 

Do not hide your commands from me!

 

119:20 I desperately long to know

 

your regulations at all times.

 

119:21 You reprimand arrogant people.

 

Those who stray from your commands are doomed.

 

119:22 Spare me shame and humiliation,

 

for I observe your rules.

 

119:23 Though rulers plot and slander me,

 

your servant meditates on your statutes.

 

119:24 Yes, I find delight in your rules;

 

they give me guidance.

 

119:25 ד (Dalet)

 

I collapse in the dirt.

 

Revive me with your word!

 

119:26 I told you about my ways and you answered me.

 

Teach me your statutes!

 

119:27 Help me to understand what your precepts mean!

 

Then I can meditate on your marvelous teachings.

 

119:28 I collapse from grief.

 

Sustain me by your word!

 

119:29 Remove me from the path of deceit!

 

Graciously give me your law!

 

119:30 I choose the path of faithfulness;

 

I am committed to your regulations.

 

119:31 I hold fast to your rules.

 

O Lord, do not let me be ashamed!

 

119:32 I run along the path of your commands,

 

for you enable me to do so.

 

119:33 ה (He)

 

Teach me, O Lord, the lifestyle prescribed by your statutes,

 

so that I might observe it continually.

 

119:34 Give me understanding so that I might observe your law,

 

and keep it with all my heart.

 

119:35 Guide me in the path of your commands,

 

for I delight to walk in it.

 

119:36 Give me a desire for your rules,

 

rather than for wealth gained unjustly.

 

119:37 Turn my eyes away from what is worthless!

 

Revive me with your word!

 

119:38 Confirm to your servant your promise,

 

which you made to the one who honors you.

 

119:39 Take away the insults that I dread!

 

Indeed, your regulations are good.

 

119:40 Look, I long for your precepts.

 

Revive me with your deliverance!

1 Chronicles 28

 

28:9 “And you, Solomon my son, obey the God of your father and serve him with a submissive attitude and a willing spirit, for the Lord examines all minds and understands every motive of one’s thoughts. If you seek him, he will let you find him, but if you abandon him, he will reject you permanently.

Proverbs 2

 

2:1 My child, if you receive my words,

 

and store up my commands within you,

 

2:2 by making your ear attentive to wisdom,

 

and by turning your heart to understanding,

 

2:3 indeed, if you call out for discernment –

 

raise your voice for understanding –

 

2:4 if you seek it like silver,

 

and search for it like hidden treasure,

 

2:5 then you will understand how to fear the Lord,

 

and you will discover knowledge about God.

 

2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom,

 

and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

 

2:7 He stores up effective counsel for the upright,

 

and is like a shield for those who live with integrity,

 

2:8 to guard the paths of the righteous

 

and to protect the way of his pious ones.

 

2:9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice

 

and equity – every good way.

 

2:10 For wisdom will enter your heart,

 

and moral knowledge will be attractive to you.

 

2:11 Discretion will protect you,

 

understanding will guard you,

 

2:12 to deliver you from the way of the wicked,

 

from those speaking perversity,

 

2:13 who leave the upright paths

 

to walk on the dark ways,

 

2:14 who delight in doing evil,

 

they rejoice in perverse evil;

 

2:15 whose paths are morally crooked,

 

and who are devious in their ways;

 

2:16 to deliver you from the adulteress,

 

from the sexually loose woman who speaks flattering words;

 

2:17 who leaves the husband from her younger days,

 

and forgets her marriage covenant made before God.

 

2:18 For her house sinks down to death,

 

and her paths lead to the place of the departed spirits.

 

2:19 None who go in to her will return,

 

nor will they reach the paths of life.

 

2:20 So you will walk in the way of good people,

 

and will keep on the paths of the righteous.

 

2:21 For the upright will reside in the land,

 

and those with integrity will remain in it,

 

2:22 but the wicked will be removed from the land,

 

and the treacherous will be torn away from it.

 

3:1 My child, do not forget my teaching,

 

but let your heart keep my commandments,

 

3:2 for they will provide a long and full life,

 

and they will add well-being to you.

 

3:3 Do not let truth and mercy leave you;

 

bind them around your neck,

 

write them on the tablet of your heart.

 

3:4 Then you will find favor and good understanding,

 

in the sight of God and people.

 

3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

 

and do not rely on your own understanding.

 

3:6 Acknowledge him in all your ways,

 

and he will make your paths straight.

 

3:7 Do not be wise in your own estimation;

 

fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

 

3:8 This will bring healing to your body,

 

and refreshment to your inner self.

 

3:9 Honor the Lord from your wealth

 

and from the first fruits of all your crops;

 

3:10 then your barns will be filled completely,

 

and your vats will overflow with new wine.

 

3:11 My child, do not despise discipline from the Lord,

 

and do not loathe his rebuke.

 

3:12 For the Lord disciplines those he loves,

 

just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

Proverbs 28

 

28:4 Those who forsake the law praise the wicked,

 

but those who keep the law contend with them.

 

28:5 Evil people do not understand justice,

 

but those who seek the Lord understand it all.

2 Thessalonians 3

 

3:6 But we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives an undisciplined life and not according to the tradition they received from us.

 

3:7 For you know yourselves how you must imitate us, because we did not behave without discipline among you,

 

3:8 and we did not eat anyone’s food without paying. Instead, in toil and drudgery we worked night and day in order not to burden any of you.

 

3:9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give ourselves as an example for you to imitate.

 

3:10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this command: “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.”

 

3:11 For we hear that some among you are living an undisciplined life, not doing their own work but meddling in the work of others.

 

3:12 Now such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and so provide their own food to eat.

 

3:13 But you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary in doing what is right.

 

3:14 But if anyone does not obey our message through this letter, take note of him and do not associate closely with him, so that he may be ashamed.

 

3:15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

1 John 4

 

4:20 If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

 

4:21 And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too.

 

5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, and everyone who loves the father loves the child fathered by him.

 

5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and obey his commandments.

 

5:3 For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments do not weigh us down,

 

5:4 because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world.

Romans 4

 

4:13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

 

4:14 For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified.

 

4:15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either.

 

4:16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

 

4:17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”). He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do.

 

4:18 Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.”

 

4:19 Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

 

4:20 He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.

 

4:21 He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do.

 

4:22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness.

 

4:23 But the statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham’s sake,

 

4:24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

 

4:25 He was given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification.

 

5:1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

 

5:2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory.

 

5:3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

 

5:4 and endurance, character, and character, hope.

 

5:5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

Chapter 4

4:17 Thou shalt never forsake the commandments of the Lord;
4:18 but shalt keep those things which thou hast received, neither adding to them nor taking away from them.

Leviticus 19

19:18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Deuteronomy 4

4:2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to you.

Deuteronomy 12

12:32 You must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it!

13:1 Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder,

13:2 and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods” – gods whom you have not previously known – “and let us serve them.”

13:3 You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer, for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him with all your mind and being.

13:4 You must follow the Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him.

Matthew 5

5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.

5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place.

5:19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 7

7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’

7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’

Matthew 22

22:36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

22:37 Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

22:39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

22:40 All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

John 13

13:34 “I give you a new commandment – to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

13:35 Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples – if you have love for one another."

John 14

14:15 “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.

14:16 Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever –

14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you.

14:18 “I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you.

14:19 In a little while the world will not see me any longer, but you will see me; because I live, you will live too.

14:20 You will know at that time that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you.

14:21 The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.”

John 15

15:9 “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain in my love.

15:10 If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

15:11 I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.

15:12 My commandment is this – to love one another just as I have loved you.

15:13 No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life for his friends.

15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.

15:15 I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father.

15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

15:17 This I command you – to love one another.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Didache

 

Chapter 4

 

4:19 In church thou shalt confess thy transgressions, and shalt not betake thyself to prayer with an evil conscience.

Leviticus 16

 

16:21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready.

 

16:22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, so he is to send the goat away in the wilderness.

Leviticus 28

 

28:13 The one who covers his transgressions will not prosper,

 

but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy.

Deuteronomy 17

 

17:8 If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, legal claim, or assault – matters of controversy in your villages – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses.

 

17:9 You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict.

 

17:10 You must then do as they have determined at that place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught.

 

17:11 You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you.

 

17:12 The person who pays no attention to the priest currently serving the Lord your God there, or to the verdict – that person must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel.

 

17:13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and not be so presumptuous again.

Deuteronomy 19

 

19:15 A single witness may not testify against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

 

19:16 If a false witness testifies against another person and accuses him of a crime,

 

19:17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges who will be in office in those days.

 

19:18 The judges will thoroughly investigate the matter, and if the witness should prove to be false and to have given false testimony against the accused,

 

19:19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

 

19:20 The rest of the people will hear and become afraid to keep doing such evil among you.

 

19:21 You must not show pity; the principle will be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.

The word "church," which is derived from kuriakos, "of or belonging to the Lord," represents in the English Versions of the Bible of the New Testament the Greek word ekklesia; Latin, ecclesia.

 

Matthew 18

 

18:15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother.

 

18:16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that at the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established.

 

18:17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector.

 

18:18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.

 

18:19 Again, I tell you the truth, if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.

 

18:20 For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.”

 

18:21 Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother who sins against me? As many as seven times?”

 

18:22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, I tell you, but seventy-seven times!

1 Timothy 6

 

6:12 Compete well for the faith and lay hold of that eternal life you were called for and made your good confession for in the presence of many witnesses.

John 20

 

20:19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the disciples had gathered together and locked the doors of the place because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

 

20:20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

 

20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

 

20:22 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

 

20:23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.

James 5

 

5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises.

 

5:14 Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

 

5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

 

5:16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.

 

5:17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months!

 

5:18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted with a harvest.

 

1 John 1

 

1:5 Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.

 

1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.

 

1:7 But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

 

1:8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

 

1:9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.

 

1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Didache

 

Chapter 4

 

4:19 In church thou shalt confess thy transgressions, and shalt not betake thyself to prayer with an evil conscience.

John 15

 

15:1 “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.

 

15:2 He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit in me. He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit.

 

15:3 You are clean already because of the word that I have spoken to you.

 

15:4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.

 

15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me – and I in him – bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.

 

15:6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and are burned up.

 

15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you.

 

15:8 My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.

Matthew 10

 

10:1 Jesus called his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits so they could cast them out and heal every kind of disease and sickness.

Matthew 28

 

28:16 So the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain Jesus had designated.

 

28:17 When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.

 

28:18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

 

28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

 

28:20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Luke 6

 

6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.

 

6:38 Give, and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive.”

 

6:39 He also told them a parable: “Someone who is blind cannot lead another who is blind, can he? Won’t they both fall into a pit?

 

6:40 A disciple is not greater than his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher.

 

6:41 Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own?

 

6:42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while you yourself don’t see the beam in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

 

6:43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,

 

6:44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered 137 from thorns, nor are grapes picked from brambles.

 

6:45 The good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, for his mouth speaks from what fills his heart.

 

6:46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do what I tell you?

 

6:47 “Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and puts them into practice – I will show you what he is like:

 

6:48 He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep, and laid the foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.

 

6:49 But the person who hears and does not put my words into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against that house, it collapsed immediately, and was utterly destroyed!"

Acts 1

 

1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called the Mount of Olives (which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away).

 

1:13 When they had entered Jerusalem, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James were there.

 

1:14 All these continued together in prayer with one mind, together with the women, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

 

1:15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty people) and said,

 

1:16 “Brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through David concerning Judas – who became the guide for those who arrested Jesus –

 

1:17 for he was counted as one of us and received a share in this ministry.”

 

1:18 (Now this man Judas acquired a field with the reward of his unjust deed, and falling headfirst he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.

 

1:19 This became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so that in their own language they called that field Hakeldama, that is, “Field of Blood.”)

 

1:20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his house become deserted, and let there be no one to live in it,’ and ‘Let another take his position of responsibility.’

 

1:21 Thus one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time the Lord Jesus associated with us,

 

1:22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day he was taken up from us – one of these must become a witness of his resurrection together with us.”

 

1:23 So they proposed two candidates: Joseph called Barsabbas (also called Justus) and Matthias.

 

1:24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know the hearts of all. Show us which one of these two you have chosen

 

1:25 to assume the task of this service and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”

 

1:26 Then they cast lots for them, and the one chosen was Matthias; so he was counted with the eleven apostles.

Acts 2

 

2:42 They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

 

2:43 Reverential awe came over everyone, and many wonders and miraculous signs came about by the apostles.

 

2:44 All who believed were together and held everything in common,

 

2:45 and they began selling their property and possessions and distributing the proceeds to everyone, as anyone had need.

 

2:46 Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts,

 

2:47 praising God and having the good will of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved.

Acts 11

 

11:17 Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse.

 

11:18 For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

 

11:19 For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident.

 

11:20 Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper.

 

11:21 For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk.

 

11:22 Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this!

 

11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,

 

11:24 and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

 

11:25 In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

 

11:26 For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

 

11:27 For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

 

11:28 A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup.

 

11:29 For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself.

 

11:30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead.

 

11:31 But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged.

 

11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world.

 

11:33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

 

11:34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.

1 Timothy 2

 

2:1 First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people,

 

2:2 even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

 

2:3 Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior,

 

2:4 since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

 

2:5 For there is one God and one intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human,

 

2:6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, revealing Gods purpose at his appointed time.

 

2:7 For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle I am telling the truth; I am not lying and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

 

2:8 So I want the men to pray in every place, lifting up holy hands without anger or dispute.

1 Timothy 5

 

5:17 Elders who provide effective leadership must be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard in speaking and teaching.

 

5:18 For the scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The worker deserves his pay.”

 

5:19 Do not accept an accusation against an elder unless it can be confirmed by two or three witnesses.

 

5:20 Those guilty of sin must be rebuked before all, as a warning to the rest.

 

5:21 Before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, I solemnly charge you to carry out these commands without prejudice or favoritism of any kind.

 

5:22 Do not lay hands on anyone hastily and so identify with the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

 

5:23 (Stop drinking just water, but use a little wine for your digestion and your frequent illnesses.)

 

5:24 The sins of some people are obvious, going before them into judgment, but for others, they show up later.

 

5:25 Similarly good works are also obvious, and the ones that are not cannot remain hidden.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Didache

 

Chapter 4

 

4:19 In church thou shalt confess thy transgressions, and shalt not betake thyself to prayer with an evil conscience.

Genesis 6

 

6:1 When humankind began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,

 

6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose.

 

6:3 So the Lord said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years."

 

6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also after this) when the sons of God were having sexual relations with the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty heroes of old, the famous men.

 

6:5 But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time.

 

6:6 The Lord regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended.

 

6:7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them."

Leviticus 5

 

4:27 “‘If an ordinary individual sins by straying unintentionally when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, and he pleads guilty

 

4:28 or his sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring a flawless female goat as his offering for the sin that he committed.

 

4:29 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter the sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.

 

4:30 Then the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar.

 

4:31 Then he must remove all of its fat (just as fat was removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf and he will be forgiven.

 

4:32 “‘But if he brings a sheep as his offering, for a sin offering, he must bring a flawless female.

 

4:33 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.

 

4:34 Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar.

 

4:35 Then the one who brought the offering must remove all its fat (just as the fat of the sheep is removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the Lord. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven.

 

5:1 “‘When a person sins in that he hears a public curse against one who fails to testify and he is a witness (he either saw or knew what had happened) and he does not make it known, then he will bear his punishment for iniquity.

 

5:2 Or when there is a person who touches anything ceremonially unclean, whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal, or the carcass of an unclean domesticated animal, or the carcass of an unclean creeping thing, even if he did not realize it, but he himself has become unclean and is guilty;

 

5:3 or when he touches human uncleanness with regard to anything by which he can become unclean, even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty;

 

5:4 or when a person swears an oath, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips, whether to do evil or to do good, with regard to anything which the individual might speak thoughtlessly in an oath, even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty with regard to one of these oaths –

 

5:5 when an individual becomes guilty with regard to one of these things he must confess how he has sinned,

 

5:6 and he must bring his penalty for guilt to the Lord for his sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, whether a female sheep or a female goat, for a sin offering. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin.

 

5:7 “‘If he cannot afford an animal from the flock, he must bring his penalty for guilt for his sin that he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, to the Lord, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering.

 

5:8 He must bring them to the priest and present first the one that is for a sin offering. The priest must pinch its head at the nape of its neck, but must not sever the head from the body.

 

5:9 Then he must sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the wall of the altar, and the remainder of the blood must be squeezed out at the base of the altar – it is a sin offering.

 

5:10 The second bird he must make a burnt offering according to the standard regulation. So the priest will make atonement on behalf of this person for his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven.

 

5:11 “‘If he cannot afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he must bring as his offering for his sin which he has committed a tenth of an ephah of choice wheat flour for a sin offering. He must not place olive oil on it and he must not put frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering.

 

5:12 He must bring it to the priest and the priest must scoop out from it a handful as its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the Lord – it is a sin offering.

 

5:13 So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed by doing one of these things, and he will be forgiven. The remainder of the offering will belong to the priest like the grain offering.'"

 

5:14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

 

5:15 “When a person commits a trespass and sins by straying unintentionally from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, then he must bring his penalty for guilt to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, for a guilt offering.

 

5:16 And whatever holy thing he violated he must restore and must add one fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf with the guilt offering ram and he will be forgiven.”

Unknown trespass

 

5:17 “If a person sins and violates any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated (although he did not know it at the time, but later realizes he is guilty), then he will bear his punishment for iniquity

 

5:18 and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his error which he committed (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven.

 

5:19 It is a guilt offering; he was surely guilty before the Lord.”

Trespass by Deception and False Oath

 

6:1 1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

 

6:2 “When a person sins and commits a trespass against the Lord by deceiving his fellow citizen in regard to something held in trust, or a pledge, or something stolen, or by extorting something from his fellow citizen,

 

6:3 or has found something lost and denies it and swears falsely concerning any one of the things that someone might do to sin –

 

6:4 when it happens that he sins and he is found guilty, then he must return whatever he had stolen, or whatever he had extorted, or the thing that he had held in trust, or the lost thing that he had found,

 

6:5 or anything about which he swears falsely. He must restore it in full and add one fifth to it; he must give it to its owner when he is found guilty.

 

6:6 Then he must bring his guilt offering to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, for a guilt offering to the priest.

 

6:7 So the priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord and he will be forgiven for whatever he has done to become guilty.”

Leviticus 26

 

26:39 “‘As for the ones who remain among you, they will rot away because of their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, and they will also rot away because of their ancestors’ iniquities which are with them.

 

26:40 However, when they confess their iniquity and their ancestors’ iniquity which they committed by trespassing against me, by which they also walked in hostility against me

 

26:41 (and I myself will walk in hostility against them and bring them into the land of their enemies), and then their uncircumcised hearts become humbled and they make up for their iniquity,

 

26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

 

26:43 The land will be abandoned by them in order that it may make up for its Sabbaths while it is made desolate without them, and they will make up for their iniquity because they have rejected my regulations and have abhorred my statutes.

 

26:44 In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God.

 

26:45 I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’"

Numbers 29

 

29:7 “‘On the tenth day of this seventh month you are to have a holy assembly. You must humble yourselves; you must not do any work on it.

 

29:8 But you must offer a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs one year old, all of them without blemish.

 

29:9 Their grain offering must be of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram,

 

29:10 and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs,

 

29:11 along with one male goat for a purification offering, in addition to the purification offering for atonement and the continual burnt offering with its grain offering and their drink offerings.

Psalms 32

 

32:1 How blessed is the one whose rebellious acts are forgiven,

 

whose sin is pardoned!

 

32:2 How blessed is the one whose wrongdoing the Lord does not punish,

 

in whose spirit there is no deceit.

 

32:3 When I refused to confess my sin,

 

my whole body wasted away,

 

while I groaned in pain all day long.

 

32:4 For day and night you tormented me;

 

you tried to destroy me in the intense heat of summer. (Selah)

 

32:5 Then I confessed my sin;

 

I no longer covered up my wrongdoing.

 

I said, “I will confess my rebellious acts to the Lord.”

 

And then you forgave my sins. (Selah)

 

32:6 For this reason every one of your faithful followers should pray to you

 

while there is a window of opportunity.

 

Certainly when the surging water rises,

 

it will not reach them.

For the music director; a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba.

 

Psalms 51

 

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because oyour loyal love!

 

Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts!

 

51:2 Wash away my wrongdoing!

 

Cleanse me of my sin!

 

51:3 For I am aware of my rebellious acts;

 

I am forever conscious of my sin.

 

51:4 Against you – you above all – I have sinned;

 

I have done what is evil in your sight.

 

So you are just when you confront me;

 

you are right when you condemn me.

 

51:5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,

 

a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.

 

51:6 Look, you desire 16 integrity in the inner man;

 

you want me to possess wisdom.

 

51:7 Sprinkle me with water and I will be pure;

 

wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

 

51:8 Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven!

 

May the bones you crushed rejoice!

 

51:9 Hide your face from my sins!

 

Wipe away all my guilt!

 

51:10 Create for me a pure heart, O God!

 

Renew a resolute spirit within me!

 

51:11 Do not reject me!

 

Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me!

 

51:12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance!

 

Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey!

 

51:13 Then I will teach rebels your merciful ways,

 

and sinners will turn to you.

 

51:14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder, O God, the God who delivers me!

 

Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your deliverance.

 

51:15 O Lord, give me the words!

 

Then my mouth will praise you.

 

51:16 Certainly you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it;

 

you do not desire a burnt sacrifice.

 

51:17 The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit –

 

O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject.

 

51:18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her!

 

Fortify the walls of Jerusalem!

 

51:19 Then you will accept the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;

 

then bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

1 John 1

 

1:5 Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.

 

1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.

 

1:7 But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

 

1:8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

 

1:9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.

 

1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

1 John 2

 

2:1 (My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. 2 ) But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One,

 

2:2 and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.

Matthew 9

 

9:27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, shouting, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"

 

9:28 When he went into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”

 

9:29 Then he touched their eyes saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”

 

9:30 And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about this.”

 

9:31 But they went out and spread the news about him throughout that entire region.

http://youtu.be/BIZzOc8vMqE

[Luke_Wilbur]

Didache

Chapter 4

4:19 In church thou shalt confess thy transgressions, and shalt not betake thyself to prayer with an evil conscience.

The Tanakh mentions King Hezekiah of Judah entrusting Eliakim with the finances of his kingdom.

Isaiah 22

22:20 “At that time I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah.

22:21 I will put your robe on him, tie your belt around him, and transfer your authority to him. He will become a protector of the residents of Jerusalem and of the people of Judah.

22:22 I will place the key to the house of David on his shoulder. When he opens the door, no one can close it; when he closes the door, no one can open it.

22:23 I will fasten him like a peg into a solid place; he will bring honor and respect to his father’s family.

22:24 His father’s family will gain increasing prominence because of him, including the offspring and the offshoots. All the small containers, including the bowls and all the jars will hang from this peg.’

The Gospel of Matthew mentions our Lord Jesus Christ entrusting Peter with the the keys to Heaven.

Matthew 16

16:13 When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

16:14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

16:15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?"

16:16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

16:17 And Jesus answered him, "You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!

16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven."

16:20 Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

 

1 Peter 3

3:8 Finally, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, affectionate, compassionate, and humble.

3:9 Do not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but instead bless others because you were called to inherit a blessing.

3:10 For the one who wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from uttering deceit.

3:11 And he must turn away from evil and do good;

he must seek peace and pursue it.

3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the Lord’s face is against those who do evil.

3:13 For who is going to harm you if you are devoted to what is good?

3:14 But in fact, if you happen to suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. But do not be terrified of them or be shaken.

3:15 But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess.

3:16 Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you.

3:17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil.

3:18 Because Christ also suffered once for sins,

the just for the unjust,

to bring you to God,

by being put to death in the flesh

but by being made alive in the spirit.

3:19 In it he went and preached to the spirits in prison,

3:20 after they were disobedient long ago when God patiently waited in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed. In the ark a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water.

3:21 And this prefigured baptism, which now saves you – not the washing off of physical dirt but the pledge of a good conscience to God – through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

3:22 who went into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels and authorities and powers subject to him.

Acts 10

10:1 Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort.

10:2 He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people and prayed to God regularly.

10:3 About three o’clock one afternoon he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, "Cornelius."

10:4 Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius replied, "What is it, Lord?” The angel said to him, "Your prayers and your acts of charity have gone up as a memorial before God.

10:5 Now send men to Joppa and summon a man named Simon, who is called Peter.

10:6 This man is staying as a guest with a man named Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea."

10:7 When the angel who had spoken to him departed, Cornelius called two of his personal servants and a devout soldier from among those who served him,

10:8 and when he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

10:9 About noon the next day, while they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.

10:10 He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing the meal, a trance came over him.

10:11 He saw heaven opened and an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down to earth by its four corners.

10:12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and wild birds.

10:13 Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; slaughter and eat!”

10:14 But Peter said, “Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and ritually unclean!”

10:15 The voice spoke to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!”

10:16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven.

10:17 Now while Peter was puzzling over what the vision he had seen could signify, the men sent by Cornelius had learned where Simon’s house was and approached the gate.

10:18 They called out to ask if Simon, known as Peter, was staying there as a guest.

10:19 While Peter was still thinking seriously about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Look! Three men are looking for you.

10:20 But get up, go down, and accompany them without hesitation, because I have sent them.”

10:21 So Peter went down to the men and said, “Here I am, the person you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

10:22 They said, “Cornelius the centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message from you.”

10:23 So Peter invited them in and entertained them as guests.

On the next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

10:24 The following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting anxiously for them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

10:25 So when Peter came in, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him.

10:26 But Peter helped him up, saying, “Stand up. I too am a mere mortal."

10:27 Peter continued talking with him as he went in, and he found many people gathered together.

10:28 He said to them, “You know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, yet God has shown me that I should call no person defiled or ritually unclean.

10:29 Therefore when you sent for me, I came without any objection. Now may I ask why you sent for me?”

10:30 Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock in the afternoon, I was praying in my house, and suddenly a man in shining clothing stood before me

10:31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your acts of charity have been remembered before God.

10:32 Therefore send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter. This man is staying as a guest in the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’

10:33 Therefore I sent for you at once, and you were kind enough to come. So now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to say to us."

10:34 Then Peter started speaking: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism in dealing with people,

10:35 but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is welcomed before him.

10:36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all) –

10:37 you know what happened throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John announced:

10:38 with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.

10:39 We are witnesses of all the things he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree,

10:40 but God raised him up on the third day and caused him to be seen,

10:41 not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had already chosen, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

10:42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to warn them that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.

10:43 About him all the prophets testify, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the message.

10:45 The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were greatly astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,

10:46 for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,

10:47 “No one can withhold the water for these people to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”

10:48 So he gave orders to have them baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for several days.

God's acceptance of Cornelius the centurion opened the gates so everyone has invitation to become part of His kingdom.

Romans 1

1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness,

1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.

1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.

1:22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.

1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

1:26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones,

1:27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.

1:29 They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips,

1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents,

1:31 senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless.

1:32 Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.

Romans 2

2:1 Therefore you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge someone else. For on whatever grounds you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

2:2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth against those who practice such things.

2:3 And do you think, whoever you are, when you judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment?

2:4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

2:5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!

2:6 He will reward each one according to his works:

2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality,

2:8 but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness.

2:9 There will be affliction and distress on everyone who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek,

2:10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek.

2:11 For there is no partiality with God.

2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

2:13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous.

2:14 For whenever the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things required by the law, these who do not have the law are a law to themselves.

2:15 They show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend them,

2:16 on the day when God will judge the secrets of human hearts, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.

Luke 18

18:9 Jesus also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else.

18:10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers – or even like this tax collector.

18:12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’

18:13 The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!’

18:14 I tell you that this man went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Luke 23

23:39 One of the criminals who was hanging there railed at him, saying, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

23:40 But the other rebuked him, saying, "Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

23:41 And we rightly so, for we are getting what we deserve for what we did, but this man has done nothing wrong."

23:42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.”

23:43 And Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

 

Matthew 6

6:7 When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard.

6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

6:9 So pray this way:

Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,

6:10 may your kingdom come,

may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

6:11 Give us today our daily bread,

6:12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.

6:13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

6:14 For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

6:15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

4:20 This is the way of life.

For the past five months I have devoted myself to the apostles’ teaching [Didache] and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

I have learned that we must love the Lord our God with our whole mind, our whole being, and all our strength. We must love our neighbors and enemies as ourselves. We must not take vengeance or bear a grudge with those those that hate, exclude, persecute, and strike at us. Instead we must forgive, pray and hope they will see their transgression and God to have mercy on their souls.

 

We must be obedient to to lawful authority and remember God will judge those that govern us accordingly.

We should be cheerful givers to the widows, orphans, and poor without letting everyone know about it. Give to your church so they can fairly distribute to those that need. God will compensate us that keep our giving secret with treasure in heaven.

Those in need should be willing to work for their food and shelter. God does not look with favor those living an undisciplined life living off others. This implies to especially providing for our own family.

Love of God and our neighbor must be without hypocrisy. For lies lead to thievery and denies Jesus is the Christ. We must rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer without an evil conscious.

 

To love Father, we must seek to know God.

To love Jesus, we must seek to know God's only begotten Son.

To love the Holy Spirit, we must seek to know the Truth.

 

The first wisdom of Truth is to fear God. We must turn away and flee from evil.

[Luke_Wilbur]

The Didache

 

Chapter 5

 

5:1 But the way of death is this.

5:2 First of all, it is evil and full of a curse murders, adulteries, lusts, fornications, thefts, idolatries, magical arts, witchcrafts, plunderings, false witnessings, hypocrisies, doubleness of heart, treachery, pride, malice, stubbornness, covetousness, foul-speaking, jealousy, boldness, exaltation, boastfulness;

I start this New Year of Lord 2014 with a resolution of better understanding and avoiding the way of death to our spirit. In the way of life of the Didache I have found the voice of Jesus reinforces the ideal morals of his prophetic and rabbinic predecessors that we can strive to imitate. Some writers claim that Jesus was a Rabbi of the House of Hillel that preached against the House of Shammai.

 

Before continuing I plant to spend a great of time researching and sharing the thoughts on Idolatry. There are people of faith who consider Jesus and the Holy Spirit to be blasphemy. My assumption is that the words of the New Testament and Didache are misunderstood by many, including myself. It is with humility and the Grace of God that I find Truth to share with all.

 

Shimon ben Hillel, son of Hillel the Elder (brother of Judah II) continued the mantle of Nasi (Prince (of the Sanhedrin). Some Christian writers identify Shimon ben Hillel with the Simeon who blessed the infant Jesus.

 

 

Luke 2

 

2:25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who was righteous and devout, looking for the restoration of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

 

2:26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

 

2:27 So Simeon, directed by the Spirit, came into the temple courts, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law,

 

2:28 Simeon took him in his arms and blessed God, saying,

 

2:29 “Now, according to your word, Sovereign Lord, permit your servant to depart in peace.

 

2:30 For my eyes have seen your salvation

 

2:31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples:

 

2:32 a light,

 

for revelation to the Gentiles,

 

and for glory to your people Israel.”

 

2:33 So the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him.

 

2:34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Listen carefully: This child is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected.

 

2:35 Indeed, as a result of him the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul as well!"

Shimon's son, Gamaliel presented an argument to the Sanhedrin and senate against killing the apostles. In any case, Gamaliel the Elder should be considered the first Jewish leader that protected the Apostles and help perpetuate Christianity.

 

 

Acts 5

 

5:27 When they had brought them, they stood them before the council, and the high priest questioned them,

 

5:28 saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name. Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood on us!”

 

5:29 But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than people.

 

5:30 The God of our forefathers raised up Jesus, whom you seized and killed by hanging him on a tree.

 

5:31 God exalted him to his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

 

5:32 And we are witnesses of these events, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

 

5:33 Now when they heard this, they became furious and wanted to execute them.

 

5:34 But a Pharisee whose name was Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the council and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time.

 

5:35 Then he said to the council, “Men of Israel, pay close attention to what you are about to do to these men.

 

5:36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and nothing came of it.

 

5:37 After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census, and incited people to follow him in revolt. He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered.

 

5:38 So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, it will come to nothing,

 

5:39 but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found fighting against God.” He convinced them,

 

5:40 and they summoned the apostles and had them beaten. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.

 

5:41 So they left the council rejoicing because they had been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

 

5:42 And every day both in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus was the Christ.

Acts 22

 

22:1 “Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense that I now make to you.”

 

22:2 (When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.) Then Paul said,

 

22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors, and was zealous for God just as all of you are today.

 

22:4 I 17 persecuted this Way even to the point of death, tying up both men and women and putting them in prison,

 

22:5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to make arrests there and bring the prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

 

22:6 As I was en route and near Damascus, about noon a very bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.

 

22:7 Then I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

 

22:8 I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’

 

22:9 Those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

 

22:10 So I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told about everything that you have been designated to do.’

According to Photius I (810 - 893 AD), the most powerful and influential Patriarch of Constantinople since John Chrysostom, and as the most important intellectual of his time, "the leading light of the ninth-century renaissance" Gamaliel was baptized by Saint Peter and Saint John, together with his son and Nicodemus. The Clementine Literature suggested that Shimon ben Hillel maintained secrecy about the conversion and continued to be a member of the Sanhedrin for the purpose of covertly assisting his fellow Christians.

 

Gamaliel the Elder's son, Nicodemus according to the Gospel of John, showed favor to Jesus. He appears three times in Gospel of John. In this passage Nicodemus visits Jesus one night to discuss his teachings with him.

 

Rabbi Yechiel ben Joseph of Paris, a major Talmudic scholar and Tosafist from northern France. Yechiel concluded that one of the Yeshu stories in the Talmud referred to Jesus of Nazareth.

 

Tractate Sanhedrin

 

Folio 43a

 

And the children of Israel did as the Eternal had commanded Moses. If so, what is the purpose of the sentence, And they stoned him with a stone? — This is needed for what was taught:

 

And they stoned him with a stone, — him, but not his garments. With a stone, — [to teach] that if he was killed by a single stone the commandment is fulfilled. And it was necessary to write [in this instance], 'stone', and [in another], 'stones'. For had the Divine Law written [only] 'a stone', I might have said: In case he does not die through one stone, no more are to be brought to kill him. The Divine Law therefore states, 'stones'. Again, had the Divine Law written 'stones' [only], I might have said that at the outset two must be fetched. The Divine Law therefore states, 'a stone'.

 

But this Tanna states, 'Here it is written [etc.],' — He meant, If it were not written, i.e., even if this verse11 were not found, I could have adduced a gezerah shawah; seeing, however, that this verse is written, a gezerah shawah is not necessary.

 

R. Ashi said; Where did Moses reside? In the camp of the Levites And God said to him:

 

Bring forth him that hath cursed, — i.e., without the camp of the Levites; without the camp, — i.e., outside the camp of the Israelites. And they brought forth him that had cursed, — this stands for the actual fulfilment [of the command]. But the fulfilment is expressly stated:

 

And the children of Israel did as the Eternal had commanded Moses! — That is necessary to indicate that hands were laid [on the culprit] and that he was hurled down. Whereupon the Rabbis asked R. Ashi:

 

How, according to you, do you interpret all the expressions; 'briny forth', in connection with the bullocks that are [wholly] burned? This is a difficulty.

 

A MAN WAS STATIONED. R. Huna said:

 

It is obvious to me that the stone with which one is stoned, the gallows on which one is hanged, the sword with which one is decapitated, and the cloth with which one is strangled, are all provided by the Community. And why so? Because we could not tell a man to go and fetch his own property to kill himself. But, asked R. Huna, who provides the flag for signalling and the horse on which one rides to stop them? Seeing that they are for his protection, must they be provided by him, or rather, since the court is bound to endeavour to save him, by them? Again, what of R. Hiyya b. Ashi's dictum in R. Hisda's name; When one is led out to execution, he is given a goblet of wine containing a grain of frankincense, in order to benumb his senses, for it is written, Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto the bitter in soul. And it has also been taught; The noble women in Jerusalem used to donate and bring it. If these did not donate it, who provided it? As for that, it is certainly logical that it should be provided out of the public [funds]: Since it is written. 'Give', [the implication is] of what is theirs.

 

R. Aha son of R. Huna inquired of R. Shesheth:

 

What if one of the disciples said, 'I have a statement to make in his favour,' and there and then becomes speechless? R. Shesheth blew into his hand, and said; [You ask, what] if one becomes speechless! Why there may also be some one in the farthest part of the earth [who could make such a statement]! — In the latter case, however, no one has actually said so, but in the former case, such a declaration has been made! [Hence the problem,] What then? — Come and hear! For R. Jose b. Hanina said: If one of the disciples who argued for acquittal died, he is regarded as though alive and in his place. Thus, it is so only if he had actually spoken in favour of acquittal, but not otherwise. [That does not solve it:] where one has actually argued for acquittal, I have no doubts; but the problem arises if he only declared [that he could do so].

 

AND EVEN IF HE HIMSELF etc. Even the first and second time? But it has been taught: 'The first and second time, whether his statement has substance or not, he is brought back; thereafter, if there is substance in his statement, he is brought back, but not otherwise'? — Said R. Papa: Interpret it, from the second time onwards.

 

How do they [the judges] know? — Abaye said:

 

Two Rabbis are sent with him; if his statement has substance, he is [brought back]; if not, he is not [brought back]. But why not do so in the first place? — Because being terrified, he cannot say all he wishes.

 

MISHNAH. IF THEN THEY FIND HIM INNOCENT, THEY DISCHARGE HIM; BUT IF NOT, HE GOES FORTH TO BE STONED, AND A HERALD PRECEDES HIM [CRYING]: SO AND SO, THE SON OF SO AND SO, IS GOING FORTH TO BE STONED BECAUSE HE COMMITTED SUCH AND SUCH AN OFFENSE, AND SO AND SO ARE HIS WITNESSES. WHOEVER KNOWS ANYTHING IN HIS FAVOR, LET HIM COME AND STATE IT.

 

GEMARA. Abaye said; It must also be announced:

 

On such and such a day, at such and such and hour, and in such and such a place [the crime was committed], in case there are some who know [to the contrary], so that they can come forward and prove the witnesses Zomemim.

 

AND A HERALD PRECEDES HIM etc. This implies, only immediately before [the execution], but not previous thereto.[in contradiction to this] it was taught:

 

On the eve of the Passover Yeshu the Nasarean was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, 'He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favor, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.' But since nothing was brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the eve of the Sabbath — Ulla retorted:

 

'Do you suppose that he was one for whom a defense could be made? Was he not a Mesith [enticer], concerning whom Scripture says, Neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him? With Yeshu however it was different, for he was connected with the government [or royalty, i.e., influential].'

 

Our Rabbis taught:

 

Yeshu had five disciples, Matthai, Nakai, Nezer, Buni and Todah. When Matthai was brought [before the court] he said to them [the judges], Shall Matthai be executed? Is it not written, Matthai [when] shall I come and appear before God? Thereupon they retorted; Yes, Matthai shall be executed, since it is written, When Matthai [when] shall [he] die and his name perish. When Nakai was brought in he said to them; Shall Nakai be executed? It is not written, Naki [the innocent] and the righteous slay thou not? Yes, was the answer, Nakai shall be executed, since it is written, in secret places does Naki [the innocent] slay. When Nezer was brought in, he said; Shall Nezer be executed? Is it not written, And Nezer [a twig] shall grow forth out of his roots. Yes, they said, Nezer shall be executed, since it is written, But thou art cast forth away from thy grave like Nezer [an abhorred offshoot]. When Buni was brought in, he said: Shall Buni be executed? Is it not written, Beni [my son], my first born? Yes, they said, Buni shall be executed, since it is written, Behold I will slay Bine-ka [thy son] thy first born. And when Todah was brought in, he said to them; Shall Todah be executed? Is it not written, A psalm for Todah [thanksgiving]? Yes, they answered, Todah shall be executed, since it is written, Whoso offereth the sacrifice of Todah [thanksgiving] honored me.

 

John 3

 

3:1 Now a certain man, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council,

 

3:2 came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs 5 that you do unless God is with him.”

 

3:3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

 

3:4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?"

 

3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

 

3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

 

3:7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’

 

3:8 The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

 

3:9 Nicodemus replied, “How can these things be?"

 

3:10 Jesus answered, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things?

 

3:11 I tell you the solemn truth, we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony.

 

3:12 If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

 

3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven – the Son of Man.

 

3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

 

3:15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

 

3:16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

 

3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

 

3:18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

 

3:19 Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.

 

3:20 For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.

 

3:21 But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.

The second time Nicodemus of the House of Hillel is mentioned, is when he debates the law concerning whether the arrest of Jesus is valid. Nicodemus is the first Jewish leader to defend Jesus.

 

John 7

 

7:45 Then the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him back with you?”

 

7:46 The officers replied, “No one ever spoke like this man!”

 

7:47 Then the Pharisees answered, “You haven’t been deceived too, have you?

 

7:48 None of the rulers or the Pharisees have believed in him, have they?

 

7:49 But this rabble who do not know the law are accursed!”

 

7:50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before and who was one of the rulers, said,

 

7:51 “Our law doesn’t condemn a man unless it first hears from him and learns what he is doing, does it?”

 

7:52 They replied, “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you? Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet comes from Galilee!”

The last time Nicodemus appears in the Bible is Crucifixion, when he assists Joseph of Arimathea in preparing the corpse of Jesus for burial.

 

John 19

 

19:39 Nicodemus, the man who had previously come to Jesus at night, accompanied Joseph, carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about seventy-five pounds.

 

19:40 Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the aromatic spices, in strips of linen cloth according to Jewish burial customs.

 

19:41 Now at the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried.

 

19:42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of preparation and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus’ body there.

The Sadducees held a majority among the High Priests, but the Pharisees were most popular. The Pharisees were divided into two major groups, the democratic school of Hillel, which was under the leadership of Gamaliel, and the republican Shammite school, which interpreted the Torah and Oral Law legalistically. Smaller movements such as the Essenes, Zealots and Herodians added to the divisiveness.

 

For more information on the classic Torah arguments of Hillel and Shammai please go to this url.

 

http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/1451634/jewish/Classic-Arguments-of-the-Talmud-Part-1.htm