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You were a wise man Jonah (Frank) and I miss you.
God bless,
Jason
Amen! He has risen!!
Personally I think logic -reasoning - common sense
Also help understanding Bible teachings --
All scriptures on a teaching must be in agreement
If not then checking other Bible translations may be
Necessary -
Parables are never to be taken literally
Most of the time if symbolic language is used
In a scripture - another scripture will give the
Meaning
For example - revelation 21 says there will be no more
Sea in the cleansed new earth
Isaiah 57 says the wicked are like the sea so
What revelation meant is there would be no more
Wicked -
lol- we have a lot in common Franklyn
Actually my name is franklyn
But most call me frank
But like is said
I don" t care what they call me as long as they don't
Call me - late for dinner --
Thank you JONAH 2 or should i say Frank or Sir, or mr. (inset last name) Let me know- lol.
CORRECTION --FACETS
Jehovah never turns a deaf ear --naturally he would want to be called by name as it brings a close relationship just as when we call our friends by name ---but he is the Creator and he is God so naturally will respond if words are directed to him-- and he is aware when they are --having incomprehensible communicating ability --
able to hear thousands and thousands of prayers at any given moment --
He is a heavenly Father -the personification of love -and all it's faucets --like kindness-compassion-mercy-forgiving -
THE FOLLOWING QUOTE MIGHT ALSO ANSWER THE QUESTION-
"FOR centuries Judaism has taught that the divine name, Jehovah, is too holy to pronounce. (Psalm 83:18) Many theologians have reasoned that it is disrespectful to address the glorious Creator in such a familiar fashion or even that it constitutes a breaking of the third of the Ten Commandments, which prohibits ‘taking the Lord’s name in vain.’ (Exodus 20:7, King James Version)
In the third century C.E., the Mishnah declared that “he who pronounces the divine Name as it is spelled out” has “no portion in the world to come.”—Sanhedrin 10:1.
Interestingly, many scholars in Christendom follow the spirit of this Jewish tradition when translating the Bible. For example, The New Oxford Annotated Bible comments in its preface: “The use of any proper name for the one and only God, as though there were other gods from whom the true God had to be distinguished, began to be discontinued in Judaism before the Christian era and is inappropriate for the universal faith of the Christian Church.” Therefore, in that translation the word “LORD” is substituted for the divine name.
What Is God’s View?
But do the views of such translators and theologians reflect God’s thinking? After all, God did not choose to hide his name from mankind; rather, he revealed it to them. In the Hebrew portion of the Bible, commonly called the Old Testament, God’s name, Jehovah, appears more than 6,800 times. The Bible record shows that the first human pair, Adam and Eve, were among those who knew and used God’s name. On giving birth to her first son, Eve proclaimed: “I have produced a man with the aid of Jehovah.”—Genesis 4:1.
Centuries later, when God called Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, Moses asked God: “Suppose I am now come to the sons of Israel and I do say to them, ‘The God of your forefathers has sent me to you,’ and they do say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?” Moses may well have wondered whether God would reveal himself by some new name.
God said to Moses: “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘Jehovah the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name to time indefinite, and this is the memorial of me to generation after generation.” (Exodus 3:13, 15) Clearly, the true God did not feel that his name was too holy for his people to pronounce.
In fact, God’s faithful servants of every generation have freely and respectfully pronounced God’s name. Boaz, a loyal servant of God, regularly greeted his workers in the field with the words, “Jehovah be with you.” Did the workers express shock at such a greeting? No. The account relates: “In turn they would say to him: ‘Jehovah bless you.’” (Ruth 2:4) Instead of viewing this greeting as an affront to God, they viewed it as a way of giving him glory and honor in their daily affairs. In this same spirit, Jesus taught his disciples to pray: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.”—Matthew 6:9.
The Third Commandment
But what about the prohibition mentioned in the third of the Ten Commandments? Exodus 20:7 forcefully states: “You must not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way, for Jehovah will not leave the one unpunished who takes up his name in a worthless way.”
What exactly does it mean to take up God’s name “in a worthless way”? The JPS Torah Commentary, published by the Jewish Publication Society, explains that the Hebrew term rendered above as “in a worthless way” (lash·shaw’') can mean “falsely” or “for nothing, in vain.” The same reference work continues: “The ambiguities [of this Hebrew term] allow for the proscription [prohibition] of perjury by the principals in a lawsuit, swearing falsely, and the unnecessary or frivolous use of the divine Name.”
This Jewish commentary correctly highlights that ‘taking up God’s name in a worthless way’ involves using the name in an improper way. But could pronouncing God’s name when teaching others about him or when turning to our heavenly Father in prayer be rightly termed “unnecessary or frivolous”? Jehovah expresses his view through the words of Psalm 91:14: “Because on me he has set his affection, I shall also provide him with escape. I shall protect him because he has come to know my name.”
Does It Matter?
The modern-English translation entitled The Five Books of Moses, by Everett Fox, breaks away from tradition. This translation uses, not the traditional “LORD,” but “YHWH” to represent God’s name “out of a desire to reflect the experience of the Hebrew reader.” Fox emphasizes: “The reader will immediately notice that the personal name of the Biblical God appears in this volume as ‘YHWH.’” He admits that the sight of God’s name may be “jarring” to the reader. But after taking the commendable step of not covering over God’s name in translation, he adds: “I would recommend the use of traditional ‘the LORD’ in reading aloud, but others may wish to follow their own custom.” However, is it just a matter of personal choice, tradition, or following one’s own custom?
No. The Bible not only encourages the proper use of God’s name but commands it! At Isaiah 12:4a, God’s people are pictured as crying out in no uncertain terms: “Give thanks to Jehovah, you people! Call upon his name.” In addition, the psalmist speaks of those deserving God’s adverse judgment: “Pour out your rage upon the nations that have not known you, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon your own name.”—Psalm 79:6; see also Proverbs 18:10; Zephaniah 3:9.
So although some refrain from pronouncing Jehovah’s glorious name out of a misunderstanding of the third commandment, those who truly love God seek to call upon his name. Yes, at every appropriate opportunity, they ‘make known among the peoples his dealings, making mention that his name is put on high’!—Isaiah 12:4b."
What is the punishment handed out by Jehovah if you don't address him properly? What happens if you call Him Creator, God, Friend- but never Jehovah? Does he turn a deaf ear or other?
COMMUNICATED ---CORRECTION
PLEASE NOTE ISAIAH CHAPTER 53 --ESPECIALLY FINAL VERSE--
ISAIAH 9:6,7 REFERS TO THE MESSIAH BEING GIVEN KINGDOM RULE THRU THE ZEAL OF JEHOVAH FOR HUMANKINDS BENEFIT -
DANIEL 9:27 IT SAYS THE MESSIAH WOULD CAUSE THE SACRIFICES UNDER THE LAW COVENANT TO CEASE WHICH HE DID IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 70TH WEEK -3 1/2 YEARS AFTER HE WAS BAPTISED BY HOLY SPIRIT AT THE AGE OF 30 IN 29 AD - HE WAS PUT TO DEATH NISAN 14 33 AD-
THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT PROPHECY REGARDING THE PROMISED MESSIAH CHRIST JESUS --NOTE VERSE 26 SAYS HE WOULD BE CUT OFF OR PUT TO DEATH BUT NOT FOR HIMSELF - BUT FOR THE BENEFIT OF HUMANKIND-
OTHER SIGNIFICANT SCRIPTURES ARE ISAIAH 28:16 -PSALM CHAPTER 2 -PSALM 22 --AND PSALM 16:8-11 -JONAH 1:17 AND 2:10 -
AND GENESIS 3:15 FORETELLS HIS BRUISING IN THE HEEL BY SATAN -HIS BEING PUT TO A TEMPORARY DEATH AS THE PROMISED SEED -
IN TIMES PAST JEHOVAH DID COMMUNICASTE WITH MEN THRU ANGELS -TODAY HE DOES SO THRU HIS INSPIRED WORD --2 TIMOTHY 3:16,17 -TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THAT INSPIRED WORD HE MAKES HIS HOLY SPIRIT AVAILABLE TO THOSE WHOSE HEARTS ARE INCLINED TOWARD GOODNESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS - SINCERE PRAYER IN THAT REGARD IS IMPORTANT -
QUOTE--
"The Divine Name and Alfonso de Zamora’s Quest for Textual Accuracy
IN THE year 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella, the king and queen of Spain, issued a decree: “We order all Jews and Jewesses . . . that by the end of July of this year, they leave all of our stated kingdoms and dominions with their sons and daughters and male servants and maids and all Jewish familiars, both great and small, regardless of age, and that they dare not return to them.”
Under that expulsion order, every Jewish family in Spain was given a choice either to go into exile or to renounce their religion.
A rabbi by the name of Juan de Zamora may have felt that it was a better option to convert to Catholicism and remain in Spain, where his ancestors had lived for generations. In view of his Jewish background, it is possible that Juan sent his son Alfonso to the renowned school of Hebrew studies in Zamora. Later, Alfonso became versed in Latin, Greek, and Aramaic. After finishing his studies, he started teaching Hebrew at the University of Salamanca. Soon thereafter, his linguistic expertise was put to good use in behalf of Bible scholars all over Europe.
In 1512 the new University of Alcalá de Henares elected Alfonso de Zamora to the chair of Hebrew studies. Since Zamora was one of the foremost scholars of his day, cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros, the university founder, enlisted his help in preparing the monumental Complutensian Polyglot. This six-volume Bible contains the sacred text in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, as well as portions in Aramaic.
About this project, Bible scholar Mariano Revilla Rico notes: “Of the three Jewish converts that participated in the work of the Cardinal [Cisneros], the most celebrated is Alfonso de Zamora, grammarian, philosopher and expert on the Talmud, apart from being a scholar of Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic.” Zamora’s studies led him to the conclusion that accurate Bible translation required a comprehensive knowledge of the original ancient languages. In fact, he became one of the main promoters of the renaissance in Biblical scholarship that began to flower at the beginning of the 16th century.
Nevertheless, Zamora lived at a difficult time and in a dangerous place for the promotion of Bible scholarship. The Spanish Inquisition was at its height, and the Catholic Church venerated the Latin Vulgate translation as the only “authorized” version of the Bible. However, since the Middle Ages, Catholic scholars had already noted that the Latin text of the Vulgate was far from perfect. By the early 16th century, Alfonso de Zamora and others embarked on the task of doing something about it.
‘Salvation Required Translation’
Among the projects that Zamora worked on, the Hebrew edition of what is commonly called the Old Testament, along with its translation into Latin, was undoubtedly the most significant. He probably intended that this material be used extensively for the projected Complutensian Polyglot. One of his manuscripts is in El Escorial library near Madrid, Spain. Cataloged as G-I-4, it contains the complete book of Genesis in Hebrew, along with an interlinear, or word-for-word, translation into Latin.
In the prologue is this acknowledgment: “Salvation of the nations required the translation of the Holy Scriptures into other languages. . . . We have considered it . . . absolutely necessary that the faithful have a word-for-word Bible translation, done in such a way that for each Hebrew word there is an equivalent one in Latin.” Alfonso de Zamora had the qualifications needed to undertake such a new translation into Latin because he was a recognized scholar of Hebrew.
‘My Spirit Cannot Find a Resting Place’
In one respect, 16th-century Spain was the ideal place for scholars like Zamora to work. During the Middle Ages, Spain had become a center of Jewish culture. The Encyclopædia Britannica explains: “With its large Muslim and Jewish populations, medieval Spain was the only multiracial and multireligious country in western Europe, and much of the development of Spanish civilization in religion, literature, art, and architecture during the later Middle Ages stemmed from this fact.”
Since there was a large Jewish population in Spain, Hebrew Bible manuscripts abounded. Jewish scribes in many parts of Spain had laboriously copied those manuscripts for use in the public reading of the Scriptures in the synagogues. L. Goldschmidt, in his book The Earliest Editions of the Hebrew Bible, notes that “not only the Spanish-Portuguese prints of the Pentateuch enjoyed the highest reputation for accuracy amongst Jewish Scholars, but also the manuscripts from which these and the scholarly polyglots were printed.”
Despite the advantages Spain offered, dark clouds of opposition loomed over would-be Bible translators. In 1492, the Catholic armies of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella conquered the final Moorish enclave in Spain. As mentioned earlier, in that same year the monarchs decreed that all those holding to the Jewish religion be expelled from Spain. A similar edict banished the Muslims ten years later. From that time on, Catholicism became the State religion of Spain, and other religions were no longer permitted.
How would this new religious climate affect the translation of the Bible? The experience of Alfonso de Zamora is a case in point. Although this scholarly Jew had become a Catholic convert, the Spanish hierarchy refused to overlook his background. Some opposers criticized Cardinal Cisneros for using the expertise of Jewish converts in the preparation of his Polyglot Bible. These attacks caused Zamora much suffering. In a comment in a manuscript that can be found at the University of Madrid, Zamora laments: “I, . . . abandoned and hated by all my friends—who have become my enemies—cannot find a resting place either for my spirit or the soles of my feet.”
One of his principal enemies was Juan Tavera, the archbishop of Toledo, who later held the post of chief inquisitor. Zamora became so disheartened by Tavera’s attacks that he even appealed to the pope. His letter said in part: “We request and beg that Your Holiness help us . . . and preserve us from our enemy the bishop of Toledo, Don Juan Tavera. Every day, without letup, he causes us numerous, unpleasant afflictions. . . . We certainly find ourselves in great anguish, since we are just like beasts for the slaughter house in his eyes. . . . If Your Holiness heeds this petition directed to you, ‘Yahweh will be your security and he will preserve your foot from capture.’ (Prov. 3:23)”
Alfonso de Zamora’s Legacy
Despite these attacks, Zamora’s work continued and prospered for the benefit of many Bible students. Although he never translated the Scriptures into the vernacular languages of his day, he rendered an invaluable service to other translators. To understand his contribution, we must remember that Bible translation invariably depends on two types of scholars. First, there must be scholars who study copies of the sacred text in the original languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—to produce a refined and accurate text in these languages. Then a translator can use this work as a starting point for his translation into a vernacular language.
Alfonso de Zamora was the principal scholar who prepared and refined the Hebrew text that was finally published in the Complutensian Polyglot in 1522. (His Hebrew-Latin vocabulary and Hebrew grammar that appeared in the same work also facilitated the efforts of translators.) Erasmus, a contemporary of Zamora, performed a similar task for the Christian Greek Scriptures, commonly called the New Testament. Once these refined texts in Hebrew and Greek became available, other translators could embark on the vital task of putting the Bible into the language of the people. When William Tyndale translated the Bible into English, he was one of the first translators to take advantage of the Hebrew text of the Complutensian Polyglot.
The wide distribution of the Bible today is a fitting tribute to the labors of men like Zamora, who dedicated their lives to improving our knowledge of the Scriptures. As Zamora realized, salvation depends on people’s understanding God’s Word and following it. (John 17:3) That, in turn, requires translation of the Bible into languages that people can understand, for only then can its message touch the hearts and minds of millions.
[Footnotes]
It is interesting that Zamora used the divine name, not a title, in his appeal to the pope of Rome. In a Spanish translation of Zamora’s petition, the name appears as “Yahweh.” It is uncertain in what form it appeared in the original Latin.
Translating the Divine Name
It is of special interest to note how Alfonso de Zamora, a learned man of Hebrew background, transliterated the divine name. As can be seen in the accompanying photograph, a marginal note in his Hebrew-Latin interlinear translation of Genesis contains God’s name written as “jehovah.”
Evidently, Zamora accepted this translation of the divine name into Latin. During the 16th century, when the Bible was translated into principal European languages, this spelling or a very similar one was adopted by many Bible translators, including William Tyndale (English, 1530), Sebastian Münster (Latin, 1534), Pierre-Robert Olivétan (French, 1535) and Casiodoro de Reina (Spanish, 1569).
Thus Zamora became one of the first of many 16th-century Bible scholars who helped shed light on the divine name. The ignorance regarding God’s name occurred first as a result of Jewish superstition that did not allow the name to be pronounced. Under the influence of this Jewish tradition, Bible translators of Christendom—Jerome, the translator of the Latin Vulgate, for example—replaced the divine name with such terms as “Lord” or “God.”----"
END OF QUOTE
What is Jehovah communicating through the written word?
A lot of Jews read the Old Testament over and over and over again. But nowhere in there do the see Jesus was sent by the creator to earth to save our souls and bring us closer to Him. - and a lot of these Jehovah lovers read the original text.
It takes a more than reading to hear from God - IMO.
SEEMS QUESTION MARKS ARE PUT DOWN INSTEAD OF GREEK LETTERS WHEN I COPY TO POST THIS INFORMATION --SORRY --
Understanding what was originally written is key. Hearing from the Holy Spirit- even more so.
CORRECTION --
"6D “God, Who Is Over All”
Ro 9:5—Gr., ?a? ?? ?? ? ???st?? t? ?at? s???a, ? ?? ?p? p??t??, ?e?? e?????t?? e?? t??? a???a?? ?µ??
(kai ex hon ho khri·stos' to ka·ta' sar'ka, ho on e·pi' pan'ton, The·os' eu·lo·ge·tos' eis tous ai·o'nas; a·men')
1934 “and from whom by physical descent The Riverside New
the Christ came. God who is over Testament, Boston
all be blessed through the ages! and New York.
Amen.”
1935 “and theirs too (so far as natural A New Translation
descent goes) is the Christ. of the Bible, by
(Blessed for evermore be the God James Moffatt,
who is over all! Amen.)” New York and London.
1950 “and from whom Christ sprang New World Translation
according to the flesh: God who of the Christian Greek
is over all be blest forever. Scriptures, Brooklyn.
Amen.”
1952 “and of their race, according to Revised Standard
the flesh, is the Christ. God who Version, New York.
is over all be blessed for ever.
Amen.”
1961 “and from them, in natural The New English
descent, sprang the Messiah. May Bible, Oxford and
God, supreme above all, be blessed Cambridge.
for ever! Amen.”
1966 “and Christ, as a human being, Today’s English
belongs to their race. May God, Version, American Bible
who rules over all, be praised Society, New York.
for ever! Amen.”
1970 “and from them came the Messiah The New American
(I speak of his human origins). Bible, New York and
Blessed forever be God who is over London.
all! Amen.”
These translations take ? ?? (ho on) as the beginning of an independent sentence or clause referring to God and pronouncing a blessing upon him for the provisions he made. Here and in Ps 67:19 LXX the predicate e?????t?? (eu·lo·ge·tos', “blessed”) occurs after the subject ?e?? (The·os', “God”).—See Ps 68:19 ftn.
In his work A Grammar of the Idiom of the New Testament, seventh ed., Andover, 1897, p. 551, G. B. Winer says that “when the subject constitutes the principal notion, especially when it is antithetical to another subject, the predicate may and must be placed after it, cf. Ps. lxvii. 20 Sept [Ps 67:19 LXX]. And so in Rom. ix. 5, if the words ? ?? ?p? p??t?? ?e?? e?????t?? etc. [ho on e·pi' pan'ton The·os' eu·lo·ge·tos' etc.] are referred to God, the position of the words is quite appropriate, and even indispensable.”
A detailed study of the construction in Ro 9:5 is found in The Authorship of the Fourth Gospel and Other Critical Essays, by Ezra Abbot, Boston, 1888, pp. 332-438. On pp. 345, 346 and 432 he says: “But here ? ?? [ho on] is separated from ? ???st?? [ho khri·stos'] by t? ?at? s???a [to ka·ta' sar'ka], which in reading must be followed by a pause,—a pause which is lengthened by the special emphasis given to the ?at? s???a [ka·ta' sar'ka] by the t? [to]; and the sentence which precedes is complete in itself grammatically, and requires nothing further logically; for it was only as to the flesh that Christ was from the Jews. On the other hand, as we have seen (p. 334), the enumeration of blessings which immediately precedes, crowned by the inestimable blessing of the advent of Christ, naturally suggests an ascription of praise and thanksgiving to God as the Being who rules over all; while a doxology is also suggested by the ??µ?? [A·men'] at the end of the sentence. From every point of view, therefore, the doxological construction seems easy and natural. . . . The naturalness of a pause after s???a [sar'ka] is further indicated by the fact that we find a point after this word in all our oldest MSS. that testify in the case,—namely, A, B, C, L, . . . I can now name, besides the uncials A, B, C, L, . . . at least twenty-six cursives which have a stop after s???a, the same in general which they have after a???a? [ai·o'nas] or ??µ?? [A·men'].”
Therefore, Ro 9:5 ascribes praise and thanksgiving to God. This scripture does not identify Jehovah God with Jesus Christ."
IMPORTANCE OF USEING VARIOUS TRANSLATIONS --
" 6D “God, Who Is Over All”
Ro 9:5—Gr., ?a? ?? ?? ? ???st?? t? ?at? s???a, ? ?? ?p? p??t??, ?e?? e?????t?? e?? t??? a???a?? ?µ??
(kai ex hon ho khri·stos' to ka·ta' sar'ka, ho on e·pi' pan'ton, The·os' eu·lo·ge·tos' eis tous ai·o'nas; a·men')
1934 “and from whom by physical descent The Riverside New
the Christ came. God who is over Testament, Boston
all be blessed through the ages! and New York.
Amen.”
1935 “and theirs too (so far as natural A New Translation
descent goes) is the Christ. of the Bible, by
(Blessed for evermore be the God James Moffatt,
who is over all! Amen.)” New York and London.
1950 “and from whom Christ sprang New World Translation
according to the flesh: God who of the Christian Greek
is over all be blest forever. Scriptures, Brooklyn.
Amen.”
1952 “and of their race, according to Revised Standard
the flesh, is the Christ. God who Version, New York.
is over all be blessed for ever.
Amen.”
1961 “and from them, in natural The New English
descent, sprang the Messiah. May Bible, Oxford and
God, supreme above all, be blessed Cambridge.
for ever! Amen.”
1966 “and Christ, as a human being, Today’s English
belongs to their race. May God, Version, American Bible
who rules over all, be praised Society, New York.
for ever! Amen.”
1970 “and from them came the Messiah The New American
(I speak of his human origins). Bible, New York and
Blessed forever be God who is over London.
all! Amen.”
These translations take ? ?? (ho on) as the beginning of an independent sentence or clause referring to God and pronouncing a blessing upon him for the provisions he made. Here and in Ps 67:19 LXX the predicate e?????t?? (eu·lo·ge·tos', “blessed”) occurs after the subject ?e?? (The·os', “God”).—See Ps 68:19 ftn.
In his work A Grammar of the Idiom of the New Testament, seventh ed., Andover, 1897, p. 551, G. B. Winer says that “when the subject constitutes the principal notion, especially when it is antithetical to another subject, the predicate may and must be placed after it, cf. Ps. lxvii. 20 Sept [Ps 67:19 LXX]. And so in Rom. ix. 5, if the words ? ?? ?p? p??t?? ?e?? e?????t?? etc. [ho on e·pi' pan'ton The·os' eu·lo·ge·tos' etc.] are referred to God, the position of the words is quite appropriate, and even indispensable.”
A detailed study of the construction in Ro 9:5 is found in The Authorship of the Fourth Gospel and Other Critical Essays, by Ezra Abbot, Boston, 1888, pp. 332-438. On pp. 345, 346 and 432 he says: “But here ? ?? [ho on] is separated from ? ???st?? [ho khri·stos'] by t? ?at? s???a [to ka·ta' sar'ka], which in reading must be followed by a pause,—a pause which is lengthened by the special emphasis given to the ?at? s???a [ka·ta' sar'ka] by the t? [to]; and the sentence which precedes is complete in itself grammatically, and requires nothing further logically; for it was only as to the flesh that Christ was from the Jews.
On the other hand, as we have seen (p. 334), the enumeration of blessings which immediately precedes, crowned by the inestimable blessing of the advent of Christ, naturally suggests an ascription of praise and thanksgiving to God as the Being who rules over all; while a doxology is also suggested by the ??µ?? [A·men'] at the end of the sentence. From every point of view, therefore, the doxological construction seems easy and natural. . . . The naturalness of a pause after s???a [sar'ka] is further indicated by the fact that we find a point after this word in all our oldest MSS. that testify in the case,—namely, A, B, C, L, . . .
I can now name, besides the uncials A, B, C, L, . . . at least twenty-six cursives which have a stop after s???a, the same in general which they have after a???a? [ai·o'nas] or ??µ?? [A·men'].”
Therefore, Ro 9:5 ascribes praise and thanksgiving to God. This scripture does not identify Jehovah God with Jesus Christ."
if i have anything to post re: The Message- (Bible Translation) - i will be posting here:
http://investorshub.advfn.com/Christian-Prayer-and-Discussion-Room-9826/
Ecclesiastes 1
1 These are the words of the Quester, David's son and king in Jerusalem: 2 Smoke, nothing but smoke. [That's what the Quester says.] There's nothing to anything - it's all smoke. 3 What's there to show for a lifetime of work, a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone? 4 One generation goes its way, the next one arrives, but nothing changes - it's business as usual for old planet earth. 5 The sun comes up and the sun goes down, then does it again, and again - the same old round. 6 The wind blows south, the wind blows north. Around and around and around it blows, blowing this way, then that - the whirling, erratic wind. 7 All the rivers flow into the sea, but the sea never fills up. The rivers keep flowing to the same old place, and then start all over and do it again. 8 Everything's boring, utterly boring - no one can find any meaning in it. Boring to the eye, boring to the ear. 9 What was will be again, what happened will happen again. There's nothing new on this earth. Year after year it's the same old thing. 10 Does someone call out, "Hey, this is new"? Don't get excited - it's the same old story. 11 Nobody remembers what happened yesterday. And the things that will happen tomorrow? Nobody'll remember them either. Don't count on being remembered. 12 Call me "the Quester." I've been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I looked most carefully into everything, searched out all that is done on this earth. And let me tell you, there's not much to write home about. God hasn't made it easy for us. 14 I've seen it all and it's nothing but smoke - smoke, and spitting into the wind. 15 Life's a corkscrew that can't be straightened, A minus that won't add up. 16 I said to myself, "I know more and I'm wiser than anyone before me in Jerusalem. I've stockpiled wisdom and knowledge." 17 What I've finally concluded is that so-called wisdom and knowledge are mindless and witless - nothing but spitting into the wind. 18 Much learning earns you much trouble. The more you know, the more you hurt.
Hebrews 5
1 Every high priest selected to represent men and women before God and offer sacrifices for their sins 2 should be able to deal gently with their failings, since he knows what it's like from his own experience. 3 But that also means that he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as the people's. 4 No one elects himself to this honored position. He's called to it by God, as Aaron was. 5 Neither did Christ presume to set himself up as high priest, but was set apart by the One who said to him, "You're my Son; today I celebrate you!" 6 In another place God declares, "You're a priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek." 7 While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. 8 Though he was God's Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. 9 Then, having arrived at the full stature of his maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, 10 he became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey him. 11 I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you've picked up this bad habit of not listening. 12 By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one - baby's milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! 13 Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God's ways; 14 solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.
Psalm 88
1 God, you're my last chance of the day. I spend the night on my knees before you. 2 Put me on your salvation agenda; take notes on the trouble I'm in. 3 I've had my fill of trouble; I'm camped on the edge of hell. 4 I'm written off as a lost cause, one more statistic, a hopeless case. 5 Abandoned as already dead, one more body in a stack of corpses, And not so much as a gravestone - I'm a black hole in oblivion. 6 You've dropped me into a bottomless pit, sunk me in a pitch-black abyss. 7 I'm battered senseless by your rage, relentlessly pounded by your waves of anger. 8 You turned my friends against me, made me horrible to them. I'm caught in a maze and can't find my way out, 9 blinded by tears of pain and frustration. I call to you, God; all day I call. I wring my hands, I plead for help. 10 Are the dead a live audience for your miracles? Do ghosts ever join the choirs that praise you? 11 Does your love make any difference in a graveyard? Is your faithful presence noticed in the corridors of hell? 12 Are your marvelous wonders ever seen in the dark, your righteous ways noticed in the Land of No Memory? 13 I'm standing my ground, God, shouting for help, at my prayers every morning, on my knees each daybreak. 14 Why, God, do you turn a deaf ear? Why do you make yourself scarce? 15 For as long as I remember I've been hurting; I've taken the worst you can hand out, and I've had it. 16 Your wildfire anger has blazed through my life; I'm bleeding, black and blue. 17 You've attacked me fiercely from every side, raining down blows till I'm nearly dead. 18 You made lover and neighbor alike dump me; the only friend I have left is Darkness.
Song of Solomon 1
1 The Song - best of all songs - Solomon's song! 2 Kiss me - full on the mouth! Yes! For your love is better than wine, 3 headier than your aromatic oils. The syllables of your name murmur like a meadow brook. No wonder everyone loves to say your name! 4 Take me away with you! Let's run off together! An elopement with my King-Lover! We'll celebrate, we'll sing, we'll make great music. Yes! For your love is better than vintage wine. Everyone loves you - of course! And why not? 5 I am weathered but still elegant, oh, dear sisters in Jerusalem, Weather-darkened like Kedar desert tents, time-softened like Solomon's Temple hangings. 6 Don't look down on me because I'm dark, darkened by the sun's harsh rays. My brothers ridiculed me and sent me to work in the fields. They made me care for the face of the earth, but I had no time to care for my own face. 7 Tell me where you're working - I love you so much - Tell me where you're tending your flocks, where you let them rest at noontime. Why should I be the one left out, outside the orbit of your tender care? 8 If you can't find me, loveliest of all women, it's all right. Stay with your flocks. Lead your lambs to good pasture. Stay with your shepherd neighbors. 9 You remind me of Pharaoh's well-groomed and satiny mares. 10 Pendant earrings line the elegance of your cheeks; strands of jewels illumine the curve of your throat. 11 I'm making jewelry for you, gold and silver jewelry that will mark and accent your beauty. 12 When my King-Lover lay down beside me, my fragrance filled the room. 13 His head resting between my breasts - the head of my lover was a sachet of sweet myrrh. 14 My beloved is a bouquet of wildflowers picked just for me from the fields of Engedi. 15 Oh, my dear friend! You're so beautiful! And your eyes so beautiful - like doves! 16 And you, my dear lover - you're so handsome! And the bed we share is like a forest glen. 17 We enjoy a canopy of cedars enclosed by cypresses, fragrant and green.
Psalm 86
1 Bend an ear, God; answer me. I'm one miserable wretch! 2 Keep me safe - haven't I lived a good life? Help your servant - I'm depending on you! 3 You're my God; have mercy on me. I count on you from morning to night. 4 Give your servant a happy life; I put myself in your hands! 5 You're well-known as good and forgiving, bighearted to all who ask for help. 6 Pay attention, God, to my prayer; bend down and listen to my cry for help. 7 Every time I'm in trouble I call on you, confident that you'll answer. 8 There's no one quite like you among the gods, O Lord, and nothing to compare with your works. 9 All the nations you made are on their way, ready to give honor to you, O Lord, Ready to put your beauty on display, 10 parading your greatness, And the great things you do - God, you're the one, there's no one but you! 11 Train me, God, to walk straight; then I'll follow your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind; then, undivided, I'll worship in joyful fear. 12 From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord; I've never kept secret what you're up to. 13 You've always been great toward me - what love! You snatched me from the brink of disaster! 14 God, these bullies have reared their heads! A gang of thugs is after me - and they don't care a thing about you. 15 But you, O God, are both tender and kind, not easily angered, immense in love, and you never, never quit. 16 So look me in the eye and show kindness, give your servant the strength to go on, save your dear, dear child! 17 Make a show of how much you love me so the bullies who hate me will stand there slack-jawed, As you, God, gently and powerfully put me back on my feet.
Yes. Please forgive me.
Proverbs 1
1 These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king - 2 Written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; 3 A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; 4 To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality. 5 There's something here also for seasoned men and women, 6 still a thing or two for the experienced to learn - Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women. Start with God 7 Start with God - the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning. 8 Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you; never forget what you learned at your mother's knee. 9 Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers. 10 Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you, don't go along with them. 11 If they say - "Let's go out and raise some hell. Let's beat up some old man, mug some old woman. 12 Let's pick them clean and get them ready for their funerals. 13 We'll load up on top-quality loot. We'll haul it home by the truckload. 14 Join us for the time of your life! With us, it's share and share alike!" - 15 Oh, friend, don't give them a second look; don't listen to them for a minute. 16 They're racing to a very bad end, hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on. 17 Nobody robs a bank with everyone watching, 18 Yet that's what these people are doing - they're doing themselves in. 19 When you grab all you can get, that's what happens: the more you get, the less you are. Lady Wisdom 20 Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts. At the town center she makes her speech. 21 In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand. At the busiest corner she calls out: 22 "Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance? Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism? Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn? 23 About face! I can revise your life. Look, I'm ready to pour out my spirit on you; I'm ready to tell you all I know. 24 As it is, I've called, but you've turned a deaf ear; I've reached out to you, but you've ignored me. 25 "Since you laugh at my counsel and make a joke of my advice, 26 How can I take you seriously? I'll turn the tables and joke about your troubles! 27 What if the roof falls in, and your whole life goes to pieces? What if catastrophe strikes and there's nothing to show for your life but rubble and ashes? 28 You'll need me then. You'll call for me, but don't expect an answer. No matter how hard you look, you won't find me. 29 "Because you hated Knowledge and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-God, 30 Because you wouldn't take my advice and brushed aside all my offers to train you, 31 Well, you've made your bed - now lie in it; you wanted your own way - now, how do you like it? 32 Don't you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots? Carelessness kills; complacency is murder. 33 First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy - you're in good hands."
Philemon 1
1 I, Paul, am a prisoner for the sake of Christ, here with my brother Timothy. I write this letter to you, Philemon, my good friend and companion in this work - 2 also to our sister Apphia, to Archippus, a real trooper, and to the church that meets in your house. 3 God's best to you! Christ's blessings on you! 4 Every time your name comes up in my prayers, I say, "Oh, thank you, God!" 5 I keep hearing of the love and faith you have for the Master Jesus, which brims over to other Christians. 6 And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it. 7 Friend, you have no idea how good your love makes me feel, doubly so when I see your hospitality to fellow believers. 8 In line with all this I have a favor to ask of you. As Christ's ambassador and now a prisoner for him, I wouldn't hesitate to command this if I thought it necessary, 9 but I'd rather make it a personal request. 10 While here in jail, I've fathered a child, so to speak. And here he is, hand-carrying this letter - Onesimus! 11 He was useless to you before; now he's useful to both of us. 12 I'm sending him back to you, but it feels like I'm cutting off my right arm in doing so. 13 I wanted in the worst way to keep him here as your stand-in to help out while I'm in jail for the Message. 14 But I didn't want to do anything behind your back, make you do a good deed that you hadn't willingly agreed to. 15 Maybe it's all for the best that you lost him for a while. You're getting him back now for good - 16 and no mere slave this time, but a true Christian brother! That's what he was to me - he'll be even more than that to you. 17 So if you still consider me a comrade-in-arms, welcome him back as you would me. 18 If he damaged anything or owes you anything, chalk it up to my account. 19 This is my personal signature - Paul - and I stand behind it. (I don't need to remind you, do I, that you owe your very life to me?) 20 Do me this big favor, friend. You'll be doing it for Christ, but it will also do my heart good. 21 I know you well enough to know you will. You'll probably go far beyond what I've written. 22 And by the way, get a room ready for me. Because of your prayers, I fully expect to be your guest again. 23 Epaphras, my cellmate in the cause of Christ, says hello. 24 Also my coworkers Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke. 25 All the best to you from the Master, Jesus Christ!
Deuteronomy 29
1 These are the terms of the Covenant that God commanded Moses to make with the People of Israel in the land of Moab, renewing the Covenant he made with them at Horeb. 2 Moses called all Israel together and said, You've seen with your own eyes everything that God did in Egypt to Pharaoh and his servants, and to the land itself - 3 the massive trials to which you were eyewitnesses, the great signs and miracle-wonders. 4 But God didn't give you an understanding heart or perceptive eyes or attentive ears until right now, this very day. 5 I took you through the wilderness for forty years and through all that time the clothes on your backs didn't wear out, the sandals on your feet didn't wear out, 6 and you lived well without bread and wine and beer, proving to you that I am in fact God, your God. 7 When you arrived here in this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan met us primed for war but we beat them. 8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 9 Diligently keep the words of this Covenant. Do what they say so that you will live well and wisely in every detail. 10 You are all standing here today in the Presence of God, your God - the heads of your tribes, your leaders, your officials, all Israel: 11 your babies, your wives, the resident foreigners in your camps who fetch your firewood and water 12 - ready to cross over into the solemnly sworn Covenant that God, your God, is making with you today, 13 the Covenant that this day confirms that you are his people and he is God, your God, just as he promised you and your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 I'm not making this Covenant and its oath with you alone. 15 I am making it with you who are standing here today in the Presence of God, our God, yes, but also with those who are not here today. 16 You know the conditions in which we lived in Egypt and how we crisscrossed through nations in our travels. 17 You got an eyeful of their obscenities, their wood and stone, silver and gold junk-gods. 18 Don't let down your guard lest even now, today, someone - man or woman, clan or tribe - gets sidetracked from God, our God, and gets involved with the no-gods of the nations; lest some poisonous weed sprout and spread among you, 19 a person who hears the words of the Covenant-oath but exempts himself, thinking, "I'll live just the way I please, thank you," and ends up ruining life for everybody. 20 God won't let him off the hook. God's anger and jealousy will erupt like a volcano against that person. The curses written in this book will bury him. God will delete his name from the records. 21 God will separate him out from all the tribes of Israel for special punishment, according to all the curses of the Covenant written in this Book of Revelation. 22 The next generation, your children who come after you and the foreigner who comes from a far country, will be appalled when they see the widespread devastation, how God made the whole land sick. 23 They'll see a fire-blackened wasteland of brimstone and salt flats, nothing planted, nothing growing, not so much as a blade of grass anywhere - like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which God overthrew in fiery rage. 24 All the nations will ask, "Why did God do this to this country? What on earth could have made him this angry?" 25 Your children will answer, "Because they abandoned the Covenant of the God of their ancestors that he made with them after he got them out of Egypt; 26 they went off and worshiped other gods, submitted to gods they'd never heard of before, gods they had no business dealing with. 27 So God's anger erupted against that land and all the curses written in this book came down on it. 28 God, furiously angry, pulled them, roots and all, out of their land and dumped them in another country, as you can see." 29 God, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. It's up to us and our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation.
1 Peter 3
1 The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated 2 by your life of holy beauty. 3 What matters is not your outer appearance - the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes - 4 but your inner disposition. 5 The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way, and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. 6 Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as "my dear husband." You'll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated. 7 The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don't run aground. Suffering for Doing Good 8 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. 9 That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless - that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing. 10 Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, Here's what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; 11 Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you're worth. 12 God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he's asked; But he turns his back on those who do evil things. 13 If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? 14 Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. 15 Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. 16 Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. 17 It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. 18 That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all - was put to death and then made alive - to bring us to God. 19 He went and proclaimed God's salvation to earlier generations who ended up in the prison of judgment 20 because they wouldn't listen. You know, even though God waited patiently all the days that Noah built his ship, only a few were saved then, eight to be exact - saved from the water by the water. 21 The waters of baptism do that for you, not by washing away dirt from your skin but by presenting you through Jesus' resurrection before God with a clear conscience. 22 Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He's standing right alongside God, and what he says goes.
Acts 2
1 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force - no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. 3 Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, 4 and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them. 5 There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. 6 When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck. 7 They couldn't for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, "Aren't these all Galileans? 8 How come we're hearing them talk in our various mother tongues? 9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene; 11 both Jews and proselytes; Even Cretans and Arabs! "They're speaking our languages, describing God's mighty works!" 12 Their heads were spinning; they couldn't make head or tail of any of it. They talked back and forth, confused: "What's going on here?" 13 Others joked, "They're drunk on cheap wine." 14 That's when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: "Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight. 15 These people aren't drunk as some of you suspect. They haven't had time to get drunk - it's only nine o'clock in the morning. 16 This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen: 17 "In the Last Days," God says, "I will pour out my Spirit on every kind of people: Your sons will prophesy, also your daughters; Your young men will see visions, your old men dream dreams. 18 When the time comes, I'll pour out my Spirit On those who serve me, men and women both, and they'll prophesy. 19 I'll set wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, Blood and fire and billowing smoke, 20 the sun turning black and the moon blood-red, Before the Day of the Lord arrives, the Day tremendous and marvelous; 21 And whoever calls out for help to me, God, will be saved." 22 "Fellow Israelites, listen carefully to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man thoroughly accredited by God to you - the miracles and wonders and signs that God did through him are common knowledge - 23 this Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands, and was handed over to you. And you pinned him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God untied the death ropes and raised him up. Death was no match for him. 25 David said it all: I saw God before me for all time. Nothing can shake me; he's right by my side. 26 I'm glad from the inside out, ecstatic; I've pitched my tent in the land of hope. 27 I know you'll never dump me in Hades; I'll never even smell the stench of death. 28 You've got my feet on the life-path, with your face shining sun-joy all around. 29 "Dear friends, let me be completely frank with you. Our ancestor David is dead and buried - his tomb is in plain sight today. 30 But being also a prophet and knowing that God had solemnly sworn that a descendant of his would rule his kingdom, 31 seeing far ahead, he talked of the resurrection of the Messiah - 'no trip to Hades, no stench of death.' 32 This Jesus, God raised up. And every one of us here is a witness to it. 33 Then, raised to the heights at the right hand of God and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out the Spirit he had just received. That is what you see and hear. 34 For David himself did not ascend to heaven, but he did say, God said to my Master, "Sit at my right hand 35 Until I make your enemies a stool for resting your feet." 36 "All Israel, then, know this: There's no longer room for doubt - God made him Master and Messiah, this Jesus whom you killed on a cross." 37 Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?" 38 Peter said, "Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away - whomever, in fact, our Master God invites." 40 He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, "Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!" 41 That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. 42 They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. 43 Everyone around was in awe - all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! 44 And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. 45 They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met. 46 They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, 47 as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.
1 Peter 1
1 I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. 2 God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours! 3 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, 4 including a future in heaven - and the future starts now! 5 God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all - life healed and whole. 6 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. 7 Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory. 8 You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don't see him, yet you trust him - with laughter and singing. 9 Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation. 10 The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. 11 The Messiah's Spirit let them in on some of it - that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. 12 All they were told was that they were serving you, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves - through the Holy Spirit - the Message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this! 13 So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. 14 Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now. 15 As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. 16 God said, "I am holy; you be holy." 17 You call out to God for help and he helps - he's a good Father that way. But don't forget, he's also a responsible Father, and won't let you get by with sloppy living. 18 It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. 19 He paid with Christ's sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. 20 And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately - at the end of the ages - become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. 21 It's because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God. 22 Now that you've cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. 23 Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God's living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! 24 That's why the prophet said, The old life is a grass life, its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; Grass dries up, flowers droop, 25 God's Word goes on and on forever. This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.
Daniel 2:28
27-28 Daniel answered the king, “No mere human can solve the king’s mystery, I don’t care who it is—no wise man, enchanter, magician, diviner. But there is a God in heaven who solves mysteries, and he has solved this one. He is letting King Nebuchadnezzar in on what is going to happen in the days ahead. This is the dream you had when you were lying on your bed, the vision that filled your mind:
Daniel 11
1 "'And I, in my turn, have been helping him out as best I can ever since the first year in the reign of Darius the Mede.' The Kings of the South and the North 2 "'But now let me tell you the truth of how things stand: Three more kings of Persia will show up, and then a fourth will become richer than all of them. When he senses that he is powerful enough as a result of his wealth, he will go to war against the entire kingdom of Greece. 3 "'Then a powerful king will show up and take over a huge territory and run things just as he pleases. 4 But at the height of his power, with everything seemingly under control, his kingdom will split into four parts, like the four points of the compass. But his heirs won't get in on it. There will be no continuity with his kingship. Others will tear it to pieces and grab whatever they can get for themselves. 5 "'Next the king of the south will grow strong, but one of his princes will grow stronger than he and rule an even larger territory. 6 After a few years, the two of them will make a pact, and the daughter of the king of the south will marry the king of the north to cement the peace agreement. But her influence will weaken and her child will not survive. She and her servants, her child, and her husband will be betrayed. 7 a member of the royal family will show up and take over. He will take command of his army and invade the defenses of the king of the north and win a resounding victory. 8 He will load up their tin gods and all the gold and silver trinkets that go with them and cart them off to Egypt. Eventually, the king of the north will recover 9 and invade the country of the king of the south, but unsuccessfully. He will have to retreat. 10 "'But then his sons will raise a huge army and rush down like a flood, a torrential attack, on the defenses of the south. 11 "'Furious, the king of the south will come out and engage the king of the north and his huge army in battle and rout them. 12 As the corpses are cleared from the field, the king, inflamed with bloodlust, will go on a bloodletting rampage, massacring tens of thousands. But his victory won't last long, 13 for the king of the north will put together another army bigger than the last one, and after a few years he'll come back to do battle again with his immense army and endless supplies. 14 "'In those times, many others will get into the act and go off to fight against the king of the south. Hotheads from your own people, drunk on dreams, will join them. But they'll sputter out. 15 "'When the king of the north arrives, he'll build siege works and capture the outpost fortress city. The armies of the south will fall to pieces before him. Not even their famous commando shock troops will slow down the attacker. 16 He'll march in big as you please, as if he owned the place. He'll take over that beautiful country, Palestine, and make himself at home in it. 17 Then he'll proceed to get everything, lock, stock, and barrel, in his control. He'll cook up a peace treaty and even give his daughter in marriage to the king of the south in a plot to destroy him totally. But the plot will fizzle. It won't succeed. 18 "'Later, he'll turn his attention to the coastal regions and capture a bunch of prisoners, but a general will step in and put a stop to his bullying ways. The bully will be bullied! 19 He'll go back home and tend to his own military affairs. But by then he'll be washed up and soon will be heard of no more. 20 "'He will be replaced shortly by a real loser, his rule, reputation, and authority already in shreds. And he won't last long. He'll slip out of history quietly, without even a fight. 21 "'His place will be taken by a reject, a man spurned and passed over for advancement. He'll surprise everyone, seemingly coming out of nowhere, and will seize the kingdom. 22 He'll come in like a steamroller, flattening the opposition. Even the Prince of the Covenant will be crushed. 23 After negotiating a cease-fire, he'll betray its terms. With a few henchmen, he'll take total control. 24 Arbitrarily and impulsively, he'll invade the richest provinces. He'll surpass all his ancestors, near and distant, in his rape of the country, grabbing and looting, living with his cronies in corrupt and lavish luxury. 25 He'll get a great army together, all charged up to fight the king of the south. The king of the south in response will get his army - an even greater army - in place, ready to fight. But he won't be able to sustain that intensity for long because of the treacherous intrigue 26 in his own ranks, his court having been honeycombed with vicious plots. His army will be smashed, the battlefield filled with corpses. 27 "'The two kings, each with evil designs on the other, will sit at the conference table and trade lies. Nothing will come of the treaty, which is nothing but a tissue of lies anyway. But that's not the end of it. There's more to this story. 28 "'The king of the north will go home loaded down with plunder, but his mind will be set on destroying the holy covenant as he passes through the country on his way home. 29 "'One year later he will mount a fresh invasion of the south. But the second invasion won't compare to the first. 30 When the Roman ships arrive, he will turn tail and go back home. But as he passes through the country, he will be filled with anger at the holy covenant. He will take up with all those who betray the holy covenant, favoring them. 31 The bodyguards surrounding him will march in and desecrate the Sanctuary and citadel. They'll throw out the daily worship and set up in its place the obscene sacrilege. 32 The king of the north will play up to those who betray the holy covenant, corrupting them even further with his seductive talk, but those who stay courageously loyal to their God will take a strong stand. 33 "'Those who keep their heads on straight will teach the crowds right from wrong by their example. They'll be put to severe testing for a season: some killed, some burned, some exiled, some robbed. 34 When the testing is intense, they'll get some help, but not much. Many of the helpers will be halfhearted at best. 35 The testing will refine, cleanse, and purify those who keep their heads on straight and stay true, for there is still more to come. 36 "'Meanwhile, the king of the north will do whatever he pleases. He'll puff himself up and posture himself as greater than any god. He will even dare to brag and boast in defiance of the God of gods. And he'll get by with it for a while - until this time of wrathful judgment is completed, for what is decreed must be done. 37 He will have no respect for the gods of his ancestors, not even that popular favorite among women, Adonis. Contemptuous of every god and goddess, the king of the north will puff himself up greater than all of them. 38 He'll even stoop to despising the God of the holy ones, and in the place where God is worshiped he will put on exhibit, with a lavish show of silver and gold and jewels, a new god that no one has ever heard of. 39 Marching under the banner of a strange god, he will attack the key fortresses. He will promote everyone who falls into line behind this god, putting them in positions of power and paying them off with grants of land. 40 "'In the final wrap-up of this story, the king of the south will confront him. But the king of the north will come at him like a tornado. Unleashing chariots and horses and an armada of ships, he'll blow away anything in his path. 41 As he enters the beautiful land, people will fall before him like dominoes. Only Edom, Moab, and a few Ammonites will escape. 42 As he reaches out, grabbing country after country, not even Egypt will be exempt. 43 He will confiscate the treasuries of Egyptian gold and silver and other valuables. The Libyans and Ethiopians will fall in with him. 44 Then disturbing reports will come in from the north and east that will throw him into a panic. Towering in rage, he'll rush to stamp out the threat. 45 But he'll no sooner have pitched camp between the Mediterranean Sea and the Holy Mountain - all those royal tents! - than he'll meet his end. And not a soul around who can help!
Daniel 10
In the third year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, a message was made plain to Daniel, whose Babylonian name was Belteshazzar. The message was true. It dealt with a big war. He understood the message, the understanding coming by revelation: 2 "During those days, I, Daniel, went into mourning over Jerusalem for three weeks. 3 I ate only plain and simple food, no seasoning or meat or wine. I neither bathed nor shaved until the three weeks were up. 4 "On the twenty-fourth day of the first month I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris. 5 I looked up and to my surprise saw a man dressed in linen with a belt of pure gold around his waist. 6 His body was hard and glistening, as if sculpted from a precious stone, his face radiant, his eyes bright and penetrating like torches, his arms and feet glistening like polished bronze, and his voice, deep and resonant, sounded like a huge choir of voices. 7 "I, Daniel, was the only one to see this. The men who were with me, although they didn't see it, were overcome with fear and ran off and hid, fearing the worst. 8 Left alone after the appearance, abandoned by my friends, I went weak in the knees, the blood drained from my face. 9 "I heard his voice. At the sound of it I fainted, fell flat on the ground, face in the dirt. 10 A hand touched me and pulled me to my hands and knees. 11 "'Daniel,' he said, 'man of quality, listen carefully to my message. And get up on your feet. Stand at attention. I've been sent to bring you news.' "When he had said this, I stood up, but I was still shaking. 12 "'Relax, Daniel,' he continued, 'don't be afraid. From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you. 13 But I was waylaid by the angel-prince of the kingdom of Persia 14 and was delayed for a good three weeks. But then Michael, one of the chief angel-princes, intervened to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. And now I'm here to help you understand what will eventually happen to your people. The vision has to do with what's ahead.' 15 "While he was saying all this, I looked at the ground and said nothing. 16 Then I was surprised by something like a human hand that touched my lips. I opened my mouth and started talking to the messenger: 'When I saw you, master, I was terror-stricken. My knees turned to water. I couldn't move. 17 How can I, a lowly servant, speak to you, my master? I'm paralyzed. I can hardly breathe!' 18 "Then this humanlike figure touched me again and gave me strength. 19 He said, 'Don't be afraid, friend. Peace. Everything is going to be all right. Take courage. Be strong.' "Even as he spoke, courage surged up within me. I said, 'Go ahead, let my master speak. You've given me courage.' 20 "He said, 'Do you know why I've come here to you? I now have to go back to fight against the angel-prince of Persia, and when I get him out of the way, the angel-prince of Greece will arrive. 21 But first let me tell you what's written in The True Book. No one helps me in my fight against these beings except Michael, your angel-prince.
Psalm 100
1 On your feet now - applaud God! 2 Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. 3 Know this: God is God, and God, God. He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep. 4 Enter with the password: "Thank you!" Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. 5 For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.
John 3:16
16 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.
Isaiah 11:9
A Living Knowledge of God
6-9 The wolf will romp with the lamb,
the leopard sleep with the kid.
Calf and lion will eat from the same trough,
and a little child will tend them.
Cow and bear will graze the same pasture,
their calves and cubs grow up together,
and the lion eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens,
the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent.
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
on my holy mountain.
The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive,
a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.
Ecclesiastes 2
1 I said to myself, "Let's go for it - experiment with pleasure, have a good time!" But there was nothing to it, nothing but smoke. 2 What do I think of the fun-filled life? Insane! Inane! My verdict on the pursuit of happiness? Who needs it? 3 With the help of a bottle of wine and all the wisdom I could muster, I tried my level best to penetrate the absurdity of life. I wanted to get a handle on anything useful we mortals might do during the years we spend on this earth. I Never Said No to Myself 4 Oh, I did great things: built houses, planted vineyards, 5 designed gardens and parks and planted a variety of fruit trees in them, 6 made pools of water to irrigate the groves of trees. 7 I bought slaves, male and female, who had children, giving me even more slaves; then I acquired large herds and flocks, larger than any before me in Jerusalem. 8 I piled up silver and gold, loot from kings and kingdoms. I gathered a chorus of singers to entertain me with song, and - most exquisite of all pleasures - voluptuous maidens for my bed. 9 Oh, how I prospered! I left all my predecessors in Jerusalem far behind, left them behind in the dust. What's more, I kept a clear head through it all. 10 Everything I wanted I took - I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task - my reward to myself for a hard day's work! 11 Then I took a good look at everything I'd done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing. 12 And then I took a hard look at what's smart and what's stupid. What's left to do after you've been king? That's a hard act to follow. You just do what you can, and that's it. 13 But I did see that it's better to be smart than stupid, just as light is better than darkness. 14 Even so, though the smart ones see where they're going and the stupid ones grope in the dark, they're all the same in the end. One fate for all - and that's it. 15 When I realized that my fate's the same as the fool's, I had to ask myself, "So why bother being wise?" It's all smoke, nothing but smoke. 16 The smart and the stupid both disappear out of sight. In a day or two they're both forgotten. Yes, both the smart and the stupid die, and that's it. 17 I hate life. As far as I can see, what happens on earth is a bad business. It's smoke - and spitting into the wind. 18 And I hated everything I'd accomplished and accumulated on this earth. I can't take it with me - no, I have to leave it to whoever comes after me. 19 Whether they're worthy or worthless - and who's to tell? - they'll take over the earthly results of my intense thinking and hard work. Smoke. 20 That's when I called it quits, gave up on anything that could be hoped for on this earth. 21 What's the point of working your fingers to the bone if you hand over what you worked for to someone who never lifted a finger for it? Smoke, that's what it is. A bad business from start to finish. 22 So what do you get from a life of hard labor? 23 Pain and grief from dawn to dusk. Never a decent night's rest. Nothing but smoke. 24 The best you can do with your life is have a good time and get by the best you can. The way I see it, that's it - divine fate. 25 Whether we feast or fast, it's up to God. 26 God may give wisdom and knowledge and joy to his favorites, but sinners are assigned a life of hard labor, and end up turning their wages over to God's favorites. Nothing but smoke - and spitting into the wind.
Genesis 1
1 First this: God created the Heavens and Earth - all you see, all you don't see. 2 Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. 3 God spoke: "Light!" And light appeared. 4 God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. 5 God named the light Day, he named the dark Night. It was evening, it was morning - Day One. 6 God spoke: "Sky! In the middle of the waters; separate water from water!" 7 God made sky. He separated the water under sky from the water above sky. And there it was: 8 he named sky the Heavens; It was evening, it was morning - Day Two. 9 God spoke: "Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place; Land, appear!" And there it was. 10 God named the land Earth. He named the pooled water Ocean. God saw that it was good. 11 God spoke: "Earth, green up! Grow all varieties of seed-bearing plants, Every sort of fruit-bearing tree." And there it was. 12 Earth produced green seed-bearing plants, all varieties, And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts. God saw that it was good. 13 It was evening, it was morning - Day Three. 14 God spoke: "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, 15 Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth." And there it was. 16 God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, The smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. 17 God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth 18 And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. God saw that it was good. 19 It was evening, it was morning - Day Four. 20 God spoke: "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!" 21 God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters, And every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean! Birds, reproduce on Earth!" 23 It was evening, it was morning - Day Five. 24 God spoke: "Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind: cattle and reptiles and wild animals - all kinds." And there it was: 25 wild animals of every kind, Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug. God saw that it was good. 26 God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." 27 God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. 28 God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth." 29 Then God said, "I've given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. 30 To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food." And there it was. 31 God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning - Day Six.
Job 10
1 I can't stand my life - I hate it! -I'm putting it all out on the table, all the bitterness of my life - I'm holding back nothing." 2 Job prayed: "Here's what I want to say: Don't, God, bring in a verdict of guilty without letting me know the charges you're bringing. 3 How does this fit into what you once called 'good' - giving me a hard time, spurning me, a life you shaped by your very own hands, and then blessing the plots of the wicked? 4 You don't look at things the way we mortals do. You're not taken in by appearances, are you? 5 Unlike us, you're not working against a deadline. You have all eternity to work things out. 6 So what's this all about, anyway - this compulsion to dig up some dirt, to find some skeleton in my closet? 7 You know good and well I'm not guilty. You also know no one can help me. 8 "You made me like a handcrafted piece of pottery - and now are you going to smash me to pieces? 9 Don't you remember how beautifully you worked my clay? Will you reduce me now to a mud pie? 10 Oh, that marvel of conception as you stirred together semen and ovum - 11 What a miracle of skin and bone, muscle and brain! 12 You gave me life itself, and incredible love. You watched and guarded every breath I took. 13 "But you never told me about this part. I should have known that there was more to it - 14 That if I so much as missed a step, you'd notice and pounce, wouldn't let me get by with a thing. 15 If I'm truly guilty, I'm doomed. But if I'm innocent, it's no better - I'm still doomed. My belly is full of bitterness. I'm up to my ears in a swamp of affliction. 16 I try to make the best of it, try to brave it out, but you're too much for me, relentless, like a lion on the prowl. 17 You line up fresh witnesses against me. You compound your anger and pile on the grief and pain! 18 "So why did you have me born? I wish no one had ever laid eyes on me! 19 I wish I'd never lived - a stillborn, buried without ever having breathed. 20 Isn't it time to call it quits on my life? Can't you let up, and let me smile just once 21 Before I die and am buried, before I'm nailed into my coffin, sealed in the ground, 22 And banished for good to the land of the dead, blind in the final dark?"
1 From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in - we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. 2 The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. 3 We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy! 5 This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him. 6 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth - we're not living what we claim. 7 But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin. 8 If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. 9 On the other hand, if we admit our sins - make a clean breast of them - he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. 10 If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God - make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.
1 John 1
With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best— as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)
1. GOD, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.
2. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.
3. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.
4. Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure.
Psalm 23:1-4
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language was created by Eugene H. Peterson and published in segments from 1993 to 2002. It is a non literal translation, tending towards paraphrase, of the original languages of the Bible
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Message_%28Bible%29
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