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106 Bible verses that are difficult to explain
I've found that the best way to explain something truly difficult is to have lived it firsthand. Walking the walk every day gives you the tools you need to share a message of salvation that can really reach people. There's just nothing like sharing a life-changing message that's rooted in your own experiences.
But here's the thing: it's so important to remember the role of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has the full picture and the patience to guide us into a deeper understanding. We can't just rely on our own thinking or even other people's stories, because we might find ourselves at a loss when we try to share something we haven't truly encountered ourselves.
The Holy Spirit is ready and willing to teach us today. It's all about being open to that guidance.
For the Messiah himself died for sins, once and for all, a righteous person on behalf of unrighteous people, so that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but brought to life by the Spirit;and in this form he went and made a proclamation to the imprisoned spirits,
Another day came when the sons of God came to serve Adonai, and among them came the Adversary to serve Adonai.
This is where wisdom is needed; those who understand should count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person, and its number is 666.
In time, when men began to multiply on earth, and daughters were born to them,Noach fathered three sons, Shem, Ham and Yefet.The earth was corrupt before God, the earth was filled with violence.God saw the earth, and, yes, it was corrupt; for all living beings had corrupted their ways on the earth.God said to Noach, “The end of all living beings has come before me, for because of them the earth is filled with violence. I will destroy them along with the earth.Make yourself an ark of gofer-wood; you are to make the ark with rooms and cover it with pitch both outside and inside.Here is how you are to build it: the length of the ark is to be 450 feet, its width seventy-five feet and its height forty-five feet.You are to make an opening for daylight in the ark eighteen inches below its roof. Put a door in its side; and build it with lower, second and third decks.“Then I myself will bring the flood of water over the earth to destroy from under heaven every living thing that breathes; everything on earth will be destroyed.But I will establish my covenant with you; you will come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives with you.“From everything living, from each kind of living being, you are to bring two into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they are to be male and female.the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were attractive; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.Of each kind of bird, each kind of livestock, and each kind of animal creeping on the ground, two are to come to you, so that they can be kept alive.Also take from all the kinds of food that are eaten, and collect it for yourself; it is to be food for you and for them.”This is what Noach did; he did all that God ordered him to do.Adonai said, “My Spirit will not live in human beings forever, for they too are flesh; therefore their life span is to be 120 years.”The N’filim were on the earth in those days, and also afterwards, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; these were the ancient heroes, men of renown. (Maftir)
But my face,” he continued, “you cannot see, because a human being cannot look at me and remain alive.
while the pig is unclean for you, because, although it has a separate and completely divided hoof, it doesn’t chew the cud.
“As for the towns of these peoples, which Adonai your God is giving you as your inheritance, you are not to allow anything that breathes to live.Rather you must destroy them completely — the Hitti, the Emori, the Kena‘ani, the P’rizi, the Hivi and the Y’vusi — as Adonai your God has ordered you;
Yiftach made a vow to Adonai: “If you will hand the people of ‘Amon over to me,then whatever comes out the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the people of ‘Amon will belong to Adonai; I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”
The anger of Adonai blazed up against Isra’el, so he moved David to act against them by saying, “Go, take a census of Isra’el and Y’hudah.”
The other said to him, “I too am a prophet, just like you; and an angel spoke to me by the word of Adonai and said, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he can eat food and drink water.’” But he was lying to him.
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously and without reproach; and it will be given to him.
Then Adonai answered Iyov out of the storm:when I made the breakers its boundary set its gates and bars,and said, ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?“Have you ever in your life called up the dawn and made the morning know its place,so that it could take hold of the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?Then the earth is changed like clay under a seal, until its colors are fixed like those of a garment.But from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm raised [to strike] is broken.“Have you gone down to the springs of the sea or explored the limits of the deep?Have the gates of death been revealed to you, the gates of death-like darkness?Have you surveyed the full extent of the earth? Say so, if you know it all!“Which way leads to where light has its home? and darkness, where does it dwell?“Who is this, darkening my plans with his ignorant words?If you knew, you could take each to its place and set it on its homeward path.You know, of course, because you were born then; by now you must be very old!“Have you gone into the storehouses for snow or seen the storehouses for hail,which I save for times of trouble, for days of battle and war?“By what path is light dispersed, or the east wind poured out on the land?Who cut a channel for the downpours, or a way for the lightning and thunder,causing it to rain where no one is, in a desert without anyone there,drenching the waste and desolate [ground], till the tender grass sprouts?Does the rain have a father? Who is the father of dewdrops?From whose womb does ice come? Who gives birth to the frost of heaven,Stand up like a man, and brace yourself; I will ask questions; and you, give the answers!when water becomes as hard as stone, and the surface of the deep freezes solid?“Can you tie up the cords of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion?Can you lead out the constellations of the zodiac in their season or guide the Great Bear and its cubs?Do you know the laws of the sky? Can you determine how they affect the earth?“Can you raise your voice to the clouds and make them cover you with a flood of rain?Can you send lightning bolts on their way? Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?“Who put wisdom in people’s inner parts? Who gave understanding to the mind?Who, by wisdom, can number the clouds? Who can tilt the water-skins of heaven,so that the dust becomes a mass [of mud], and its clods stick together?“Can you hunt prey for a lioness or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,“Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.
the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were attractive; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
the God of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the glorious Father, to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you will have full knowledge of him.
Haven’t you known, haven’t you heard that the everlasting God, Adonai, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow tired or weary? His understanding cannot be fathomed.
Don’t answer a fool in terms of his folly, or you will be descending to his level;but answer a fool as his folly deserves, so that he won’t think he is wise.
After all, the same things that happen to people happen to animals, the very same thing — just as the one dies, so does the other. Yes, their breath is the same; so that humans are no better than animals; since nothing matters, anyway.a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,They all go to the same place; they all come from dust, and they all return to dust.Who knows if the spirit of a human being goes upward and the spirit of an animal goes downward into the earth?”
I form light, I create darkness; I make well-being, I create woe; I, Adonai, do all these things.
The children gather the wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and, just to provoke me, they pour out drink offerings to other gods!
I also gave them laws which did them no good and rulings by which they did not live;and I let them become defiled by their own gifts, in that they offered up their firstborn sons, so that I could fill them with revulsion, so that they would [finally] realize that I am Adonai.’
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and for your holy city for putting an end to the transgression, for making an end of sin, for forgiving iniquity, for bringing in everlasting justice, for setting the seal on vision and prophet, and for anointing the Especially Holy Place.Know, therefore, and discern that seven weeks [of years] will elapse between the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Yerushalayim until an anointed prince comes. It will remain built for sixty-two weeks [of years], with open spaces and moats; but these will be troubled times.Then, after the sixty-two weeks, Mashiach will be cut off and have nothing. The people of a prince yet to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but his end will come with a flood, and desolations are decreed until the war is over.He will make a strong covenant with leaders for one week [of years]. For half of the week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and the grain offering. On the wing of detestable things the desolator will come and continue until the already decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.”
If your right eye makes you sin, gouge it out and throw it away! Better that you should lose one part of you than have your whole body thrown into Gei-Hinnom.“How blessed are the poor in spirit! for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.And if your right hand makes you sin, cut it off and throw it away! Better that you should lose one part of you than have your whole body thrown into Gei-Hinnom.
“Don’t suppose that I have come to bring peace to the Land. It is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword!
Because of this, I tell you that people will be forgiven any sin and blasphemy, but blaspheming the Ruach HaKodesh will not be forgiven.One can say something against the Son of Man and be forgiven; but whoever keeps on speaking against the Ruach HaKodesh will never be forgiven, neither in the ‘olam hazeh nor in the ‘olam haba.
At about three, Yeshua uttered a loud cry, “Eli! Eli! L’mah sh’vaktani? (My God! My God! Why have you deserted me?)”
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, his mother, his wife, his children, his brothers and his sisters, yes, and his own life besides, he cannot be my talmid.
Then Yeshua said to them, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.
Then they drew lots to decide between the two, and the lot fell to Mattityahu. So he was added to the eleven emissaries.
What follows is that Isra’el has not attained the goal for which she is striving. The ones chosen have obtained it, but the rest have been made stonelike,just as the Tanakh says, “God has given them a spirit of dullness — eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear, right down to the present day.”
Therefore, whoever eats the Lord’s bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of desecrating the body and blood of the Lord!So let a person examine himself first, and then he may eat of the bread and drink from the cup;for a person who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.But I want you to understand that the head of every man is the Messiah, and the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of the Messiah is God.This is why many among you are weak and sick, and some have died!
Were it otherwise, what would the people accomplish who are immersed on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not actually raised, why are people immersed for them?
Therefore, to keep me from becoming overly proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from the Adversary to pound away at me, so that I wouldn’t grow conceited.Three times I begged the Lord to take this thing away from me;but he told me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is brought to perfection in weakness.” Therefore, I am very happy to boast about my weaknesses, in order that the Messiah’s power will rest upon me.
I wish the people who are bothering you would go the whole way and castrate themselves!
In the Messiah he chose us in love before the creation of the universe to be holy and without defect in his presence.
because for the Messiah’s sake it has been granted to you not only to trust in him but also to suffer on his behalf,
because in connection with him were created all things — in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities — they have all been created through him and for him.He existed before all things, and he holds everything together.
For when people have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become sharers in the Ruach HaKodesh,and tasted the goodness of God’s Word and the powers of the ‘olam haba —and then have fallen away — it is impossible to renew them so that they turn from their sin, as long as for themselves they keep executing the Son of God on the stake all over again and keep holding him up to public contempt.
For if we deliberately continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,but only the terrifying prospect of Judgment, of raging fire that will consume the enemies.
You see that a person is declared righteous because of actions and not because of faith alone.
If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not lead to death, he will ask; and God will give him life for those whose sinning does not lead to death. There is sin that does lead to death; I am not saying he should pray about that.
He who wins the victory will, like them, be dressed in white clothing; and I will not blot his name out of the Book of Life; in fact, I will acknowledge him individually before my Father and before his angels.
Next I saw a great white throne and the One sitting on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.And I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened; and another book was opened, the Book of Life; and the dead were judged from what was written in the books, according to what they had done.The sea gave up the dead in it; and Death and Sh’ol gave up the dead in them; and they were judged, each according to what he had done.Then Death and Sh’ol were hurled into the lake of fire. This is the second death — the lake of fire.Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was hurled into the lake of fire.
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,burn for burn, wound for wound and bruise for bruise.
“If men are fighting with each other, and the wife of one comes up to help her husband get away from the man attacking him by grabbing the attacker’s private parts with her hand,you are to cut off her hand; show no pity.
She said, “Shimshon! The P’lishtim have come for you!” He awoke from his sleep and said, “I’ll get out this time, just as I shook myself loose before.” But he didn’t know that Adonai had left him.
Now go and attack ‘Amalek, and completely destroy everything they have. Don’t spare them, but kill men and women, children and babies, cows and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
Suddenly, as they were walking on and talking, there appeared a fiery chariot with horses of fire; and as it separated the two of them from each other, Eliyahu went up into heaven in a whirlwind.Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Isra’el!” Then he lost sight of him. Seizing his clothes, he tore them in half.
he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. Adonai gave; Adonai took; blessed be the name of Adonai.”
For you fashioned my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb.I thank you because I am awesomely made, wonderfully; your works are wonders — I know this very well.My bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.Your eyes could see me as an embryo, but in your book all my days were already written; my days had been shaped before any of them existed.
In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God.But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises* we are healed.
For I know what plans I have in mind for you,’ says Adonai,‘plans for well-being, not for bad things; so that you can have hope and a future.
With the hand of Adonai upon me, Adonai carried me out by his Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.So I prophesied as ordered, and the breath came into them, and they were alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army!Then he said to me, “Human being! These bones are the whole house of Isra’el; and they are saying, ‘Our bones have dried up, our hope is gone, and we are completely cut off.’Therefore prophesy; say to them that Adonai Elohim says, ‘My people! I will open your graves and make you get up out of your graves, and I will bring you into the land of Isra’el.Then you will know that I am Adonai — when I have opened your graves and made you get up out of your graves, my people!I will put my Spirit in you; and you will be alive. Then I will place you in your own land; and you will know that I, Adonai, have spoken, and that I have done it,’ says Adonai.”
“Go in through the narrow gate; for the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the road broad, and many travel it;but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, accompanied by all the angels, he will sit on his glorious throne.All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.The ‘sheep’ he will place at his right hand and the ‘goats’ at his left.“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world.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 made me your guest,I needed clothes and you provided them, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’Then the people who have done what God wants will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?When did we see you a stranger and make you our guest, or needing clothes and provide them?When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’whereas the others took flasks of oil with their lamps.The King will say to them, ‘Yes! I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!’“Then he will also speak to those on his left, saying, ‘Get away from me, you who are cursed! Go off into the fire prepared for the Adversary and his angels!For I was hungry and you gave me no food, thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,a stranger and you did not welcome me, needing clothes and you did not give them to me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’Then they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, a stranger, needing clothes, sick or in prison, and not take care of you?’And he will answer them, ‘Yes! I tell you that whenever you refused to do it for the least important of these people, you refused to do it for me!’They will go off to eternal punishment, but those who have done what God wants will go to eternal life.”
“Once there was a rich man who used to dress in the most expensive clothing and spent his days in magnificent luxury.So he summoned him and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in your accounts, for you can no longer be manager.’At his gate had been laid a beggar named El‘azar who was covered with sores.He would have been glad to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table; but instead, even the dogs would come and lick his sores.In time the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to Avraham’s side; the rich man also died and was buried.“In Sh’ol, where he was in torment, the rich man looked up and saw Avraham far away with El‘azar at his side.He called out, ‘Father Avraham, take pity on me, and send El‘azar just to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, because I’m in agony in this fire!’However, Avraham said, ‘Son, remember that when you were alive, you got the good things while he got the bad; but now he gets his consolation here, while you are the one in agony.Yet that isn’t all: between you and us a deep rift has been established, so that those who would like to pass from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’“He answered, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house,where I have five brothers, to warn them; so that they may be spared having to come to this place of torment too.’But Avraham said, ‘They have Moshe and the Prophets; they should listen to them.’“‘What am I to do?’ said the manager to himself. ‘My boss is firing me, I’m not strong enough to dig ditches, and I’m ashamed to go begging.However, he said, ‘No, father Avraham, they need more. If someone from the dead goes to them, they’ll repent!’But he replied, ‘If they won’t listen to Moshe and the Prophets, they won’t be convinced even if someone rises from the dead!’”
In my Father’s house are many places to live. If there weren’t, I would have told you; because I am going there to prepare a place for you.When that day comes, you will know that I am united with my Father, and you with me, and I with you.Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me, and the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”Y’hudah (not the one from K’riot) said to him, “What has happened, Lord, that you are about to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”Yeshua answered him, “If someone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.Someone who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words — and the word you are hearing is not my own but that of the Father who sent me.“I have told you these things while I am still with you.But the Counselor, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything; that is, he will remind you of everything I have said to you.“What I am leaving with you is shalom — I am giving you my shalom. I don’t give the way the world gives. Don’t let yourselves be upset or frightened.You heard me tell you, ‘I am leaving, and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would have been glad that I am going to the Father; because the Father is greater than I.“Also, I have said it to you now, before it happens; so that when it does happen, you will trust.Since I am going and preparing a place for you, I will return to take you with me; so that where I am, you may be also.
The festival of Shavu‘ot arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one place.Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome;Jews by birth and proselytes; Jews from Crete and from Arabia. . . ! How is it that we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things God has done?”Amazed and confused, they all went on asking each other, “What can this mean?”But others made fun of them and said, “They’ve just had too much wine!”Then Kefa stood up with the Eleven and raised his voice to address them: “You Judeans, and all of you staying here in Yerushalayim! Let me tell you what this means! Listen carefully to me!“These people ar en’t drunk, as you suppose — it’s only nine in the morning.No, this is what was spoken about through the prophet Yo’el:‘Adonai says: “In the Last Days, I will pour out from my Spirit upon everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.Even on my slaves, both men and women, will I pour out from my Spirit in those days; and they will prophesy.I will perform miracles in the sky above and signs on the earth below — blood, fire and thick smoke.Suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.The sun will become dark and the moon blood before the great and fearful Day of Adonai comes.And then, whoever calls on the name of Adonai will be saved.”’“Men of Isra’el! Listen to this! Yeshua from Natzeret was a man demonstrated to you to have been from God by the powerful works, miracles and signs that God performed through him in your presence. You yourselves know this.This man was arrested in accordance with God’s predetermined plan and foreknowledge; and, through the agency of persons not bound by the Torah, you nailed him up on a stake and killed him!“But God has raised him up and freed him from the suffering of death; it was impossible that death could keep its hold on him.For David says this about him: ‘I saw Adonai always before me, for he is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.For this reason, my heart was glad; and my tongue rejoiced; and now my body too will live on in the certain hopethat you will not abandon me to Sh’ol or let your Holy One see decay.You have made known to me the ways of life; you will fill me with joy by your presence.’“Brothers, I know I can say to you frankly that the patriarch David died and was buried — his tomb is with us to this day.Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them.Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that one of his descendants would sit on his throne,he was speaking in advance about the resurrection of the Messiah, that it was he who was not abandoned in Sh’ol and whose flesh did not see decay.God raised up this Yeshua! And we are all witnesses of it!“Moreover, he has been exalted to the right hand of God; has received from the Father what he promised, namely, the Ruach HaKodesh; and has poured out this gift, which you are both seeing and hearing.For David did not ascend into heaven. But he says,‘Adonai said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’Therefore, let the whole house of Isra’el know beyond doubt that God has made him both Lord and Messiah — this Yeshua, whom you executed on a stake!”On hearing this, they were stung in their hearts; and they said to Kefa and the other emissaries, “Brothers, what should we do?”Kefa answered them, “Turn from sin, return to God, and each of you be immersed on the authority of Yeshua the Messiah into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh!For the promise is for you, for your children, and for those far away — as many as Adonai our God may call!”They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and began to talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
Furthermore, we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called in accordance with his purpose;
if it is burned up, he will have to bear the loss: he will still escape with his life, but it will be like escaping through a fire.
for we must all appear before the Messiah’s court of judgment, where everyone will receive the good or bad consequences of what he did while he was in the body.
For you have been delivered by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but God’s gift.You were not delivered by your own actions; therefore no one should boast.
For many — I have told you about them often before, and even now I say it with tears — live as enemies of the Messiah’s execution-stake.They are headed for destruction! Their god is the belly; they are proud of what they ought to be ashamed of, since they are concerned about the things of the world.
Nevertheless, the woman will be delivered through childbearing, provided that she continues trusting, loving and living a holy life with modesty.
And without trusting, it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, because whoever approaches him must trust that he does exist and that he becomes a Rewarder to those who seek him out.
No one being tempted should say, “I am being tempted by God.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, and God himself tempts no one.Rather, each person is being tempted whenever he is being dragged off and enticed by the bait of his own desire.
chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and set apart by the Spirit for obeying Yeshua the Messiah and for sprinkling with his blood: Grace and shalom be yours in full measure.
The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying his commands.Anyone who says, “I know him,” but isn’t obeying his commands is a liar — the truth is not in him.
Nothing impure may enter it, nor anyone who does shameful things or lies; the only ones who may enter are those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
If you are doing what is good, shouldn’t you hold your head high? And if you don’t do what is good, sin is crouching at the door — it wants you, but you can rule over it.”
because you are not to bow down to any other god; since Adonai — whose very name is Jealous — is a jealous God.
If a man goes to bed with a man as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they must be put to death; their blood is on them.
“You are not to eat any animal that dies naturally; although you may let a stranger staying with you eat it, or sell it to a foreigner; because you are a holy people for Adonai your God. “You are not to boil a young animal in its mother’s milk. (v)
Here is what Adonai says: ‘I will generate evil against you out of your own household. I will take your wives before your very eyes and give them to your neighbor; he will go to bed with your wives, and everyone will know about it.For you did it secretly, but I will do this before all Isra’el in broad daylight.’”David said to Natan, “I have sinned against Adonai.” Natan said to David, “Adonai also has taken away your sin. You will not die.However, because by this act you have so greatly blasphemed Adonai, the child born to you must die.”
Trust in Adonai with all your heart; do not rely on your own understanding.In all your ways acknowledge him; then he will level your paths.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says Adonai.“As high as the sky is above the earth are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
The tree you saw which grew and became strong until its crown reached the sky, and it could be seen throughout the whole earth,
My people are destroyed for want of knowledge. Because you rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as cohen for me. Because you forgot the Torah of your God, I will also forget your children.
but hated ‘Esav. I made his mountains desolate and gave his territory to desert jackals.”
Yeshua put before them another parable. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;but while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, then went away.When the wheat sprouted and formed heads of grain, the weeds also appeared.The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Then do you want us to go and pull them up?’But he said, ‘No, because if you pull up the weeds, you might uproot some of the wheat at the same time.He told them many things in parables: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.Let them both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest-time I will tell the reapers to collect the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned, but to gather the wheat into my barn.’”
Furthermore, I tell you that it is easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”
Yeshua looked at them and said, “Humanly, it is impossible, but not with God; with God, everything is possible.”
Give, and you will receive gifts — the full measure, compacted, shaken together and overflowing, will be put right in your lap. For the measure with which you measure out will be used to measure back to you!”
I can’t do a thing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is right; because I don’t seek my own desire, but the desire of the one who sent me.
Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God — to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit.
So if indeed our Good News is veiled, it is veiled only to those in the process of being lost.They do not come to trust because the god of the ‘olam hazeh has blinded their minds, in order to prevent them from seeing the light shining from the Good News about the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God.
For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.Bear with one another; if anyone has a complaint against someone else, forgive him. Indeed, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly;
What God wants is that you be holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality,that each of you know how to manage his sexual impulses in a holy and honorable manner,without giving in to lustful desires, like the pagans who don’t know God.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living;thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work.
He gave himself up on our behalf in order to free us from all violation of Torah and purify for himself a people who would be his own, eager to do good.
So then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us, too, put aside every impediment — that is, the sin which easily hampers our forward movement — and keep running with endurance in the contest set before us,For they disciplined us only for a short time and only as best they could; but he disciplines us in a way that provides genuine benefit to us and enables us to share in his holiness.Now, all discipline, while it is happening, does indeed seem painful, not enjoyable; but for those who have been trained by it, it later produces its peaceful fruit, which is righteousness.So, strengthen your drooping arms, and steady your tottering knees;and make a level path for your feet; so that what has been injured will not get wrenched out of joint but rather will be healed.Keep pursuing shalom with everyone and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.See to it that no one misses out on God’s grace, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and thus contaminates many,and that no one is sexually immoral, or godless like Esav, who in exchange for a single meal gave up his rights as the firstborn.For you know that afterwards, when he wanted to obtain his father’s blessing, he was rejected; indeed, even though he sought it with tears, his change of heart was to no avail.For you have not come to a tangible mountain, to an ignited fire, to darkness, to murk, to a whirlwind,to the sound of a shofar, and to a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further message be given to them —looking away to the Initiator and Completer of that trusting, Yeshua — who, in exchange for obtaining the joy set before him, endured execution on a stake as a criminal, scorning the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.