Category
VERSES DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND
I've found that there's a lot of truth in saying that the Bible is generally easy to understand. Most of it is pretty straightforward, you know? But, yeah, every now and then you stumble across a passage that really makes you scratch your head. Figuring out what those tricky parts mean can be a real challenge.
Thankfully, I'd say 99% of Scripture is clear as a bell. And that's the stuff we really need to focus on living out. The Bible itself talks about how God's word is meant to be understandable, accessible to everyone.
But let's be real, sometimes we run into those verses that feel a bit murky. Even with all the great commentaries and resources we have available today, including stuff online, even theologians will tell you some passages are just tough nuts to crack.
But I believe that with God's help, and by digging a little deeper with the tools available to us, we can gain a better understanding of even those difficult verses. He'll give us the wisdom we need if we seek it.
“And no one has gone up into the heaven except He who came down from the heaven – the Son of Aḏam.
“And it came to be that the beggar died, and was carried by the messengers to the bosom of Aḇraham. And the rich man also died and was buried.
For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know naught, nor do they have any more reward, for their remembrance is forgotten.
“And crying out he said, ‘Father Aḇraham, have compassion on me, and send El‛azar to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering in this flame.’
But the natural man does not receive the matters of the Spirit of Elohim, for they are foolishness to him, and he is unable to know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
And it came to be, when men began to increase on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,And Noaḥ brought forth three sons: Shĕm, Ḥam, and Yapheth.And the earth was corrupt before Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence.And Elohim looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt – for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth –and Elohim said to Noaḥ, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. And see, I am going to destroy them from the earth.“Make yourself an ark of gopherwood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with a covering.“And this is how you are to make it: The length of the ark is three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.“Make a window for the ark, and complete it to a cubit from above. And set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.“And see, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heavens – all that is on the earth is to die.“And I shall establish My covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.“And of all the living of all flesh, two of each, you are to bring into the ark, to keep them alive with you – a male and a female.that the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men, that they were good. And they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.“Of the birds after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, and of all creeping creatures of the ground after their kind, two of each are to come to you, to keep them alive.“As for you, take of all food that is eaten and gather it to yourself. And it shall be food for you and for them.”And Noaḥ did according to all that Elohim commanded him, so he did.And יהוה said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever in his going astray. He is flesh, and his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of Elohim came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, the men of name.
you do not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, יהוה your Elohim am a jealous Ěl, visiting the crookedness of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,”
which no one of the rulers of this age knew, for if they had known, they would not have impaled the Master of esteem.
‘Only, these you do not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have a split hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;‘And he who eats of its carcass has to wash his garments, and shall be unclean until evening. And he who picks up its carcass has to wash his garments, and shall be unclean until evening.‘And every swarming creature – the one that swarms on the earth is an abomination, it is not eaten.‘Whatever crawls on its stomach, and whatever goes on all fours, and whatever has many feet among all swarming creatures – the ones swarming on the earth, these you do not eat, for they are an abomination.‘Do not make yourselves abominable with any swarming creature – the one swarming, and do not make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them.‘For I am יהוה your Elohim, and you shall set yourselves apart. And you shall be set-apart, for I am set-apart. And do not defile yourselves with any swarming creature – the one creeping on the earth.‘For I am יהוה who is bringing you up out of the land of Mitsrayim, to be your Elohim. And you shall be set-apart, for I am set-apart.‘This is the Torah of the beasts and the birds and every living being – the creeping creature in the waters, and of every being that swarms on the earth,to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living creature that is eaten and the living creature that is not eaten.’ ”and the rabbit, because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;and the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;and the pig, though it has a split hoof, completely divided, yet does not chew the cud, it is unclean to you.‘Their flesh you do not eat, and their carcasses you do not touch. They are unclean to you.
And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole. And it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”So Mosheh made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole. And it came to be, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
And it shall be, if you do not obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, to guard to do all His commands and His laws which I command you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.”“Cursed are you in the city, and cursed are you in the field.“Cursed is your basket and your kneading bowl.“Cursed is the fruit of your body and the fruit of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.“Cursed are you when you come in, and cursed are you when you go out.“And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim:“יהוה sends on you the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings by which you have forsaken Me.“יהוה makes the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess.“יהוה strikes you with wasting disease, and with inflammation, and with burning, and with extreme heat, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew. And they shall pursue you until you perish.“And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you iron.“יהוה makes the rain of your land powder and dust; from the heavens it comes down on you until you are destroyed.“יהוה causes you to be defeated before your enemies – you go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall become a horror to all the reigns of the earth.“And your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth, with no one to frighten them away.“יהוה shall strike you with the boils of Mitsrayim, with tumours, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you are unable to be healed.“יהוה shall strike you with madness and blindness and bewilderment of heart.“And you shall be groping at noon, as a blind man gropes in darkness, and not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and plundered all the days, with no one to save you.“Blessed are you in the city, and blessed are you in the field.“You become engaged to a wife, but another man does lie with her. You build a house, but do not dwell in it. You plant a vineyard, but do not use its fruit.“Your ox is slaughtered before your eyes, but you do not eat of it. Your donkey is violently taken from before you, and it is not given back to you. Your sheep are given to your enemies, with no one to save them.“Your sons and your daughters are given to another people, and your eyes look and fail for them all day long, and your hand powerless.“A people whom you have not known eat the fruit of your land and all your labours. And you shall be only oppressed and crushed all the days.“And you shall be maddened because of the sight which your eyes see.“יהוה strikes you in the knees and on the legs with evil boils of which you are unable to be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.“יהוה brings you and the sovereign whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other mighty ones, wood and stone.“Thus you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a mockery among all the peoples to which יהוה drives you.“You take much seed out into the field but gather little in, for the locust consumes it.“You plant vineyards, and shall labour, but you neither drink of the wine nor gather, for the worm eats it.“Blessed is the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your livestock – the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.“You have olive trees in all your border, but do not anoint with oil, for your olives drop off.“You bring forth sons and daughters, but they are not with you, for they go into captivity.“Locusts possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground.“The sojourner who is among you rises higher and higher above you, but you come down lower and lower.“He lends to you, but you do not lend to him. He is the head, and you are the tail.“And all these curses shall come upon you, and they shall pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, to guard His commands and His laws which He commanded you.“And they shall be upon you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed, forever.Because you did not serve יהוה your Elohim with joy and gladness of heart for all the plenty,”you shall serve your enemies whom יהוה sends against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in need of all. And he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.“יהוה shall bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you shall not understand,“Blessed is your basket and your kneading bowl.a fierce-looking nation, which shall show no regard for the elderly nor show favour to the young,and they shall eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your land, until you are destroyed. They leave you no grain, nor new wine, nor oil, nor the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you.“And they shall besiege you at all your gates till your high and fenced walls, in which you are trusting, come down in all your land. And they shall besiege you at all your gates in all your land which יהוה your Elohim has given you.“And you shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom יהוה your Elohim has given you, in the siege and distress in which your enemies distress you.The man among you who is tender, and who is very delicate, his eye is evil against his brother, against the wife of his bosom, and against the rest of his children whom he leaves behind,”against giving any of them the flesh of his children that he eats, because it is all that has been left to him in the siege and distress with which your enemy distresses you in all your gates.“The tender and the delicate woman among you, who has not tried to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and tenderness, her eye is evil against the husband of her bosom, and against her son, and against her daughter,and against her seed which comes out from between her feet, and her children whom she bears, for she eats them in secret for lack of all, in the siege and distress with which your enemy distresses you in all your gates.If you do not guard to do all the Words of this Torah that are written in this book, to fear this esteemed and awesome Name, יהוה your Elohim,”then יהוה shall bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues, great and lasting plagues, and grievous and lasting sicknesses.“Blessed are you when you come in, and blessed are you when you go out.“And He shall bring back on you all the diseases of Mitsrayim, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you,also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in the book of this Torah, יהוה does bring upon you until you are destroyed.“And you shall be left with few men, although you had become as numerous as the stars of the heavens, because you did not obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim.“And it shall be, that as יהוה rejoiced over you to do you good and increase you, so יהוה does rejoice over you to destroy you and lay you waste. And you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.“And יהוה shall scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other mighty ones, which neither you nor your fathers have known, wood and stone.“And among those nations you are to find no rest, nor have a resting place for the sole of your foot. But there יהוה shall give you a trembling heart, and failing eyes, and sorrow of being.“And your life shall be hanging in suspense before you, and you shall fear night and day, and not be certain of your life.“In the morning you say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear of your heart, with which you fear, and because of the sight which your eyes see.“And יהוה shall bring you back to Mitsrayim in ships, by a way of which I said to you, ‘You are never to see it again.’ And there you shall be sold to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one to buy.”
And יהושע answering, said to them, “You go astray, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of Elohim.
And יהושע answering, said to them, “Is this not why you go astray, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of Elohim?
And Yiphtaḥ made a vow to יהוה, and said, “If You give the children of Ammon into my hands,then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall belong to יהוה, and I shall offer it up as an ascending offering.”
“Thus said יהוה of hosts, ‘I shall punish Amalĕq for what he did to Yisra’ĕl, how he set himself against him on the way when he came up from Mitsrayim.And Sha’ul said to Shemu’ĕl, “I did obey the voice of יהוה, and I went on the way on which יהוה sent me, and brought back Aḡaḡ sovereign of Amalĕq, and I put Amalĕq under the ban.“But the people took of the spoil, of the sheep and cattle, the best of that which should have been put under the ban, to slaughter to יהוה your Elohim in Gilgal.”Then Shemu’ĕl said, “Does יהוה delight in ascending offerings and slaughterings, as in obeying the voice of יהוה? Look, to obey is better than a slaughtering, to heed is better than the fat of rams.“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of יהוה, He also does reject you as sovereign.”And Sha’ul said to Shemu’ĕl, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the mouth of יהוה and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.“And now, please pardon my sin, and return with me, and let me bow myself to יהוה.”But Shemu’ĕl said to Sha’ul, “I do not return with you, for you have rejected the word of יהוה, and יהוה does reject you from being sovereign over Yisra’ĕl.”And as Shemu’ĕl turned around to go away, Sha’ul took hold of the edge of his robe, and it tore.And Shemu’ĕl said to him, “יהוה has torn the reign of Yisra’ĕl from you today, and has given it to a neighbour of yours, better than you.“Moreover, the Eminence of Yisra’ĕl does not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”Now go, and you shall strike Amalĕq and put under the ban all that he has, and you shall not spare them, and put to death from man to woman, from infant to nursing child, from ox to sheep, from camel to donkey.’ ”
And when they came to the threshing-floor of Naḵon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of Elohim and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.And the wrath of יהוה burned against Uzzah, and Elohim struck him there for the fault. And he died there by the ark of Elohim.
יהושע answered and said to him, “You do not know what I am doing now, but you shall know after this.”
And it came to be, as they continued on and spoke, that see, a chariot of fire with horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Ěliyahu went up by a whirlwind into the heavens.
“And he thought that his brothers would have understood that Elohim would give deliverance to them by his hand, but they did not understand.
Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also become like him.Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he become wise in his own eyes.
For the event of the sons of men is also the event of beasts – one event befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Indeed, they all have one breath – man has no advantage over beasts. For all is futile.A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot;All are going to one place – all came from the dust, and all return to dust.
In the year that Sovereign Uzziyahu died, I saw יהוה sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the Hĕḵal.“Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and shall turn and be healed.”
But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our crookednesses. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
For I know the plans I am planning for you,’ declares יהוה, ‘plans of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and an expectancy.
The hand of יהוה was upon me and took me out by the Spirit of יהוה, and set me down in the midst of the valley. And it was filled with bones.And I prophesied as He commanded me, and the spirit came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, a very great army.And He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Yisra’ĕl. See, they say, ‘Our bones are dry, our expectancy has perished, and we ourselves have been cut off!’“Therefore prophesy, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “See, O My people, I am opening your burial-sites and shall bring you up from your burial-sites, and shall bring you into the land of Yisra’ĕl.“And you shall know that I am יהוה, when I open your burial-sites, My people, and bring you up from your burial-sites.“And I shall put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall settle you in your own land. And you shall know that I יהוה have spoken, and I have done it,” declares יהוה.’ ”
“Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and for your set-apart city, to put an end to the transgression, and to seal up sins, and to cover crookedness, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Most Set-apart.“Know, then, and understand: from the going forth of the command to restore and build Yerushalayim until Messiah the Prince is seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It shall be built again, with streets and a trench, but in times of affliction.“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off and have naught. And the people of a coming prince shall destroy the city and the set-apart place. And the end of it is with a flood. And wastes are decreed, and fighting until the end.“And he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. And in the middle of the week he shall put an end to slaughtering and meal offering. And on the wing of abominations he shall lay waste, even until the complete end and that which is decreed is poured out on the one who lays waste.”
The beginning of the word of יהוה with Hoshĕa. And יהוה said to Hoshĕa, “Go, take yourself a woman of whoring and children of whoring, for the land has utterly whored away from יהוה.”So he went and took Gomer, daughter of Diḇlayim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
If a shophar is blown in a city, do the people not tremble? If there is calamity in a city, shall not יהוה have done it?
He has declared to you, O man, what is good. And what does יהוה require of you but to do right, and to love loving-commitment, and to walk humbly with your Elohim?
“O sword, awake against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” declares יהוה of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and let the sheep be scattered. But I shall turn My hand upon the little ones.And it shall be throughout all the soil,” declares יהוה, “that two thirds therein are cut off and die, and one third is left therein.“And I shall bring the third into fire, and refine them as silver is refined, and try them as gold is tried. They shall call on My Name, and I shall answer them. I shall say, ‘This is My people,’ while they say, ‘יהוה is my Elohim.’ ”
And if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is better for you that one of your members perish, than for your entire body to be thrown into GĕHinnom.“Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the reign of the heavens.“And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. For it is better for you that one of your members perish, than for your entire body to be thrown into GĕHinnom.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword,for I have come to bring division, a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law –and a man’s enemies are those of his own household.
“And if your hand or foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be thrown into the everlasting fire.“And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be thrown into the fire of GĕHinnom.
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 reign of Elohim.”
And about the ninth hour יהושע cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Ěli, Ěli, lemah sheḇaqtani?” that is, “My Ěl, My Ěl, why have You forsaken Me?”
And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the secret of the reign of Elohim, but to those who are outside, all are done in parables,so that ‘seeing they see but do not perceive, and hearing they hear but do not understand, lest they should turn and their sins be forgiven them.’ ”
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and his own life too, he is unable to be My taught one.
And the Master said, “Shim‛on, Shim‛on! See, Satan has asked for you to sift you as wheat.But I have prayed for you, that your belief should not fail. And when you have turned, strengthen your brothers.
יהושע therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Aḏam and drink His blood, you possess no life in yourselves.“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood possesses everlasting life, and I shall raise him up in the last day.“For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink.“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood stays in Me, and I in him.“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me shall live because of Me.This is the bread which came down out of the heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever.
But a certain man named Ḥananyah, with Shappirah his wife, sold a possession.And immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, they buried her beside her husband.And great fear came upon all the assembly and upon all who heard of this.
But Elohim has chosen the foolish matters of the world to put to shame the wise, and Elohim has chosen the weak of the world to put to shame the strong.And Elohim has chosen the low-born of the world and the despised, and the ones that are not, that He might bring to naught the ones that are,so that no flesh should boast in His presence.
For the one who is eating and drinking unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Master.
Because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against authorities, against the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual matters of wickedness in the heavenlies.
Because to you it has been given as a favour, on behalf of Messiah, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,
Let no one deprive you of the prize, one who takes delight in false humility and worship of messengers, taking his stand on what he has not seen, puffed up by his fleshly mind,and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the Body – nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments – grows with the growth of Elohim.
But she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in belief, and love, and set-apartness, with sensibleness.
All Scripture is breathed out by Elohim and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for setting straight, for instruction in righteousness,
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Set-apart Spirit,and have tasted the good Word of Elohim and the powers of the age to come,and fall away, to renew them again to repentance – having impaled for themselves the Son of Elohim again, and put Him to open shame.
in which also He went and proclaimed unto the spirits in prison,having seen your blameless behaviour in fear.who were disobedient at one time when the patience of Elohim waited in the days of Noaḥ, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight beings, were saved through water,
If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin, not unto death, he shall ask, and He shall give him life for those not sinning unto death. There is a sin unto death. I do not say that he should pray about that.
“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot.“So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth.
And all those dwelling on the earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the slain Lamb, from the foundation of the world shall worship him.
watching over loving-commitment for thousands, forgiving crookedness and transgression and sin, but by no means leaving unpunished, visiting the crookedness of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
יהוה is patient and of great loving-commitment, forgiving crookedness and transgression, but by no means leaving unpunished; visiting the crookedness of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’
When a man has a wayward and rebellious son who is not listening to the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have disciplined him, does not listen to them,”then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city,then your elders and your judges shall go out, and they shall measure the distance from the slain man to the cities round about.and shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is wayward and rebellious. He is not listening to our voice, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’“Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. Thus you shall purge the evil from your midst. And let all Yisra’ĕl hear, and fear.
But the men would not listen to him. So the man took hold of his concubine and brought her out to them. And they knew her and rolled themselves on her all night until morning, and let her go when the day began to break.And as morning appeared the woman came back and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, till it was light.And her master rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way, and saw his concubine, fallen at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold.And he said to her, “Rise up and let us go.” But there was no answer. Then he took her on the donkey, and the man rose and went to his place,and came into his house and took a knife, then took hold of his concubine, and cut her up limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders of Yisra’ĕl.And her husband arose and went after her, to speak to her heart and bring her back, having his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. And she brought him into her father’s house. And the father of the young woman saw him, and he was glad to meet him.And it came to be that all who saw it said, “There has never been, and there has not been seen the like of this, from the day that the children of Yisra’ĕl came up from the land of Mitsrayim until this day. Set your heart on it, take counsel, and speak up!”
And it came to be, at evening time, that Dawiḏ rose up from his bed and walked about on the roof of the sovereign’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very good to look at.then it shall be, if the sovereign’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?Who struck Aḇimeleḵ the son of Yerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who threw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thĕḇĕts? Why did you go near the wall?’ Then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriyah the Ḥittite is also dead.’ ”And the messenger went, and came and reported to Dawiḏ all with which Yo’aḇ had sent him.And the messenger said to Dawiḏ, “The men have been mighty against us and came out to us in the field, but we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate.“And the archers shot from the wall at your servants. And some of the sovereign’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriyah the Ḥittite is also dead.”And Dawiḏ said to the messenger, “Say to Yo’aḇ, ‘Do not let this matter be evil in your eyes, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ And strengthen him.”And the wife of Uriyah heard that Uriyah her husband was dead, and she lamented for her husband.And when her mourning was over, Dawiḏ sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the deed that Dawiḏ had done was evil in the eyes of יהוה.And Dawiḏ sent and asked about the woman, and one said, “Is this not Bathsheḇa, the daughter of Eliyam, the wife of Uriyah the Ḥittite?”And Dawiḏ sent messengers, to fetch her. And she came to him, and he lay with her – for she was cleansing herself from her uncleanness – and she returned to her house.And the woman conceived, and sent and informed Dawiḏ, and said, “I am pregnant.”
Then two women, whores, came to the sovereign, and stood before him.And one woman said, “O my master, this woman and I dwell in the same house. And I gave birth while she was in the house.“And it came to be, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together. There was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us in the house.“Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him.Only, the people slaughtered at the high places, for a house for the Name of יהוה had not been built until those days.“And she rose up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your female servant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.“And I rose up in the morning to nurse my son and saw he was dead. But I looked at him closely in the morning, and saw he was not my son whom I had borne.”And the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” And the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” And they spoke before the sovereign.And the sovereign said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one,’ while the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ”And the sovereign said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the sovereign.And the sovereign said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”And the woman whose son was living spoke to the sovereign, for she was overcome with compassion for her son. And she said, “O my master, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”And the sovereign answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him – she is his mother.”And all Yisra’ĕl heard of the right-ruling which the sovereign had rendered. And they feared the sovereign, for they saw that the wisdom of Elohim was in him to do right-ruling.
And he went up from there to Bĕyth Ěl. And as he was going up the way, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, baldhead! Go up, baldhead!”And he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the Name of יהוה. And two female bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two of the youths.
“Man born of woman is of few days and turmoil-filled.But man dies and is powerless, and man expires, and where is he?Water disappears from the sea, and a river dries up and is parched,and man shall lie down and not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they awake not, nor are aroused from their sleep.If only You would hide me in She’ol, conceal me until Your wrath turns away. Set for me a law, and remember me!If a man dies, would he live again? All the days of my struggle I wait, till my change comes.You would call, and I would answer You. You have yearned for the work of Your hands.For now You count my steps – do You not watch over my sin?My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and You cover over my crookedness.But a falling mountain crumbles away, and a rock is moved from its place,as water wears away stones, its outpouring washes away the soil of the earth – so You have destroyed the expectancy of man.He comes forth like a flower and withers. He flees like a shadow and does not continue.
For my heart was in a ferment, And I was pierced in my kidneys.I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward You.
For You, You possessed my kidneys, You have covered me in my mother’s womb.I give thanks to You, For I am awesomely and wondrously made! Wondrous are Your works, And my being knows it well.
“Futility! Futility!” says Qoheleth. “Futility, futility, all is futile!”What does man gain from all his labour in which he toils under the sun?
For though He afflicted, Yet He shall show compassion According to the greatness of His loving-commitments.For He has not afflicted from His heart, Nor does He grieve the children of men.
“Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and for your set-apart city, to put an end to the transgression, and to seal up sins, and to cover crookedness, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Most Set-apart.
Woe to you who are longing for the day of יהוה! What does the day of יהוה mean to you? It is darkness, and not light,as when a man flees from a lion, and a bear shall meet him; or entered his house, rested his hand on the wall, and a serpent shall bite him.The maiden of Yisra’ĕl has fallen, not to rise again. She lies forsaken on her land, with no one to lift her up.Is not the day of יהוה darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
“But there was a certain rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and lived luxuriously every day.“So having called him he said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, for you are no longer able to be manager.’And there was a certain beggar named El‛azar, being covered with sores, who was placed at his gate,”and longing to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Indeed, even the dogs came and licked his sores.“And it came to be that the beggar died, and was carried by the messengers to the bosom of Aḇraham. And the rich man also died and was buried.“And while suffering tortures in She’ol, having lifted up his eyes, he saw Aḇraham far away, and El‛azar in his bosom.“And crying out he said, ‘Father Aḇraham, have compassion on me, and send El‛azar to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering in this flame.’“But Aḇraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your life you received your good, and likewise El‛azar the evil, but now he is comforted and you are suffering.And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set, so that those who wish to pass from here to you are unable, nor do those from there pass to us.’“And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,for I have five brothers, let him warn them, lest they also come to this place of torture.’Aḇraham said to him, ‘They have Mosheh and the prophets, let them hear them.’ ”“And the manager said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the managership away from me. I am unable to dig, I am ashamed to beg.“And he said, ‘No, father Aḇraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they shall repent.’“But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Mosheh and the prophets, neither would they be persuaded even if one should rise from the dead.’ ”
“For Elohim so loved the world that He gave His only brought-forth Son, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish but possess everlasting life.“For Elohim did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.“He who believes in Him is not judged, but he who does not believe is judged already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only brought-forth Son of Elohim.
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having ordained beforehand the times and the boundaries of their dwelling,
Yet, before they were born or had done any good or evil – in order that the purpose of Elohim, according to choice, might stand, not of works but of Him who calls –it was said to her, “The greater shall serve the lesser,”as it has been written, “Ya‛aqoḇ I have loved, but Ěsaw I have hated.”
Oh, the depth of riches, and wisdom and knowledge of Elohim! How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways!“For who has known the mind of יהוה? Or who has become His counsellor?”“Or who first gave to Him, and it shall be given back to him?”Because of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all, to whom be esteem forever. Amĕn.
But as it has been written, “Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, nor have entered into the heart of man what Elohim has prepared for those who love Him.”
Otherwise, what shall they do who are immersed for the dead, if the dead are not raised at all? Why indeed are they immersed for the dead?
There is not Yehuḏi nor Greek, there is not slave nor free, there is not male and female, for you are all one in Messiah יהושע.
even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be set-apart and blameless before Him, in love,
What is more, I even count all to be loss because of the excellence of the knowledge of Messiah יהושע my Master, for whom I have suffered the loss of all, and count them as refuse, in order to gain Messiah,and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through belief in Messiah, the righteousness which is from Elohim on the basis of belief,
Because in Him all the completeness was well pleased to dwell,to the set-apart ones in Colosse, and true brothers in Messiah: Favour to you and peace from Elohim our Father and the Master יהושע Messiah.and through Him to completely restore to favour all unto Himself, whether on earth or in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of His stake.
For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then suddenly destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.
And, beyond all question, the secret of reverence is great – who was revealed in the flesh, declared right in Spirit, was seen by messengers, was proclaimed among nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in esteem.
Do your utmost to present yourself approved to Elohim, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of Truth.
For there are many unruly men, senseless talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,whose mouths have to be stopped, who upset entire households, teaching what they should not teach, for the sake of filthy gain.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a set-apart nation, a people for a possession, that you should proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light,
“He who overcomes shall be dressed in white robes, and I shall by no means blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I shall confess his name before My Father and before His messengers.
And I saw a great white throne and Him who was sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged from what was written in the books, according to their works.And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and She’ol gave up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.And Death and She’ol were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death.And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
“And Elohim shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying. And there shall be no more pain, for the former matters have passed away.”
For I witness to everyone hearing the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, Elohim shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book,and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, Elohim shall take away his part from the Book of Life, and out of the set-apart city, which are written in this Book.