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102 Difficult to Interpret Bible Verses
Sometimes I find it hard to grasp everything God’s trying to tell me through the Bible. Our minds are limited, you know? But His word is so powerful, so essential. It’s the bedrock of everything.
If you’re wrestling with a passage, just take it to God. I promise you, through the Holy Spirit, He’ll give you the clarity you need. He'll light your way with wisdom and understanding, revealing the mysteries hidden within His word.
Spending quality time in the Bible is key. It’s like a mental reset button. It helps you understand what God has in store for you, and for those around you, with so much more clarity.
And no man hath ascended to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man who is in heaven.
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried:
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue: for I am tormented in this flame.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all whom they chose.And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them: the same became mighty men, who were of old, men of renown.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Nevertheless, these shall ye not eat, of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean to you.And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean to you.And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof: he is unclean to you.And the swine, though he divideth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.
And the LORD said to Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou undertakest to perform, until thou shalt be destroyed, and until thou shalt perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings by which thou hast forsaken me.The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave to thee, until he shall have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew: and they shall pursue thee until thou dost perish.And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou art destroyed.The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thy enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them; and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.And thy carcass shall be food to all fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the earth, and no man shall drive them away.The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, of which thou canst not be healed.The LORD shall smite thee with the madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:And thou shalt grope at noon-day, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell in it: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes of it.Thy ox shall be slain before thy eyes, and thou shalt not eat of it: thy ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given to thy enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given to another people, and thy eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thy hand.The fruit of thy land, and all thy labors, shall be eaten by a nation which thou knowest not: and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed always:So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thy eyes which thou shalt see.The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot to the top of thy head.The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, to a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.Thou shalt carry much seed into the field, and shalt gather but little: for the locust shall consume it.Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes: for the worm shall eat them.Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil: for thy olive shall cast its fruit.Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them: for they shall go into captivity.All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.The stranger that is within thee shall rise above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou art destroyed: because thou hearkenedst not to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.Because thou didst not serve the LORD thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things:Therefore shalt thou serve thy enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he hath destroyed thee.The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth, a nation whose language thou shalt not understand:A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young:And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou art destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy cattle, or flocks of thy sheep, until he hath destroyed thee.And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fortified walls come down, in which thou didst trust, throughout all thy land; and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land which the LORD thy God hath given thee.And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the straitness with which thy enemies shall distress thee:So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil towards his brother, and towards the wife of his bosom, and towards the remnant of his children whom he shall leave:So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege and in the straitness with which thy enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil towards the husband of her bosom, and towards her son, and towards her daughter,And towards her young one, her own offspring, and towards her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness with which thy enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses, and of long continuance.Moreover, he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, of which thou wast afraid; and they shall cleave to thee.Also every sickness, and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou art destroyed.And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldst not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to naught; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people from the one end of the earth even to the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have no assurance of thy life:In the morning thou shalt say, O that it were evening, and at evening thou shalt say, O that it were morning! for the fear of thy heart with which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thy eyes which thou shalt see.And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I have said to thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold to your enemies for bond-men and bond-women, and no man shall buy you.
Jesus answered and said to them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
And Jesus answering, said to them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?
And Jephthah vowed a vow to the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into my hands,Then it shall be, that whatever cometh out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it for a burnt-offering.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
And when they came to Nachon's threshing-floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it: for the oxen shook it.And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.
Jesus answered and said to him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.And the LORD said to Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down upon it.And the LORD said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and shunneth evil?Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for naught?Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
For he supposed his brethren to understand that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like him.Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yes, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast: for all is vanity.All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and elevated, and his train filled the temple.Above it stood seraphim: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thy iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
But he was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,And caused me to pass by them around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry.And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? and I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.Again he said to me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say to them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.Thus saith the Lord GOD to these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.Then said he to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you out of your graves,And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and sixty and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.And after sixty and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war desolations are determined.And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go take to thee a wife addicted to lewdness and children of lewdness; for the land hath committed great lewdness, departing from the LORD.So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; who conceived, and bore him a son.
Shalt a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what the LORD doth require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn my hand upon the little ones.And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
And if thy right eye shall cause thee to sin, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.And if thy right hand shall cause thee to sin, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.And a man's foes will be they of his own household.
Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot causeth thee to sin, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire.And if thy eye causeth thee to sin, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell-fire.
And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And he said to them, To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but to them that are without, all these things are done in parables:That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
If any man cometh to me, and hateth not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Then Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.Whoever eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers ate manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,And kept back part of the price, (his wife also being privy to it) and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.But Peter said, Ananias, Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?While it remained, was it not thy own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thy heart? thou hast not lied to men, but to God.And Ananias hearing these words, fell down, and expired. And great fear came on all them that heard these things.And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.And Peter answered to her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yes, for so much.Then Peter said to her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold the feet of them who have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.Then she fell down immediately at his feet, and expired. And the young men came in, and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) to this day.And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling-block, and a recompense to them:Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back always.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are:That no flesh should glory in his presence.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh condemnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
For to you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,And not holding the head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
Notwithstanding, she will be saved in child-bearing, if they continue in faith, and charity, and holiness, with sobriety.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
For it is impossible for those who have been once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit.And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,If they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
By which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison;Who formerly were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, in which few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water.
If any man shall see his brother sin a sin which is not to death, he shall ask, and he will give him life for them that sin not to death. There is a sin to death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.So then, because thou art luke-warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit thee out of my mouth:
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, to the third and to the fourth generation.
The LORD is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation.
If a man shall have a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not hearken to them:Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place;And they shall say to the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he may die: so shalt thou remove evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth to them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light.And her lord rose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and behold, the woman his concubine had fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshhold.And he said to her, Rise, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her upon an ass, and the man rose, and went to his place.And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the borders of Israel.And it was so, that all that saw it, said, There hath been no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came from the land of Egypt to this day: consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds.
And it came to pass in an evening, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned to her house.And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
Then came there two women, that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him.And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save us two in the house.And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.And when I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I bore.And the other woman said, No; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spoke before the king.Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead; and the other saith, No; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.Then spoke the woman whose the living child was to the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother of it.And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.
And he went up from thence to Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, thou bald-head; go up, thou bald-head.And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tore forty and two children of them.
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
The wicked are estranged from their birth: they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.I will praise thee: for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: wonderful are thy works; and that my soul well knoweth.
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.What profit hath a man of all his labor, which he taketh under the sun?
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
But though he causeth grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Woe to you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores,And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried:And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue: for I am tormented in this flame.But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house:For I have five brethren; that he may testify to them, lest they also come into this place of torment.Abraham saith to him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.And he said, No, father Abraham: but if one shall go to them from the dead, they will repent.And he said to him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one shall rise from the dead.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him may be saved.He that believeth on him, is not condemned: but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
And hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth)It was said to her, The elder shall serve the younger.As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor?Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again?For from him, and by him, and to him are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Else what will they do, who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Yes doubtless, and I count all things to be loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them to be dung, that I may win Christ,And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith:
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell;And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they are things on earth, or things in heaven.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Study to show thyself approved to God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
For there are many disorderly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of sordid gain.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things have passed away.
For I testify to every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book:And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.