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 man ascendeth [or goeth up] into heaven, but he that came down from heaven, man’s Son that is in heaven [or the Son of man which is in heaven].
And it was done, that the beggar died, and was borne of angels into Abraham’s bosom. And the rich man was dead also, and was buried in hell.
For they that live know that they shall die; but dead men know nothing more, neither have meed further; for their mind is given to forgetting.
And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he dip the end of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
For a beastly man perceiveth not those things that be of the Spirit of God; for it is folly to him, and he may not understand, for it is examined, [or assayed], ghostly.
And when men began to be multiplied on [the] earth, and had begat daughters,and begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.Forsooth the earth was corrupt before God, and was filled with wickedness.And when God saw, that the earth was corrupt, for each flesh, or man, had corrupted his way on [the] earth,he said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; the earth is filled with wickedness of the face of them, and I shall destroy them with the earth.Make thou to thee a ship of wood hewn and planed; thou shalt make dwelling places in the ship, and thou shalt anoint it with pitch within and withoutforth. And so thou shalt make it. The length of the ship shall be of three hundred cubits, the breadth shall be of fifty cubits, and the highness thereof shall be of thirty cubits.Thou shalt make a window in the ship, and thou shalt end the highness thereof in a cubit; soothly thou shalt set the door of the ship in the side beneath; thou shalt make solars or upper rooms, and places of three chambers in the ship.Lo! I shall bring waters of deluge, or great flood, on the earth, and I shall slay each flesh in which is the spirit of life under heaven, and all things that be in [the] earth, shall be wasted.And I shall set my covenant of peace with thee; and thou shalt enter into the ship, [thou], and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy sons shall enter with thee.And of all living beasts of all flesh, thou shalt bring into the ship twain [or two] and twain, of male kind and female, that they live with thee;the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and took wives to them of all which they had chosen.of birds by their kind, and of work beasts in their kind, and of each creeping beast of [the] earth, by their kind; twain [or two] and twain of all shall enter with thee, that they may live.Therefore thou shalt take with thee of all meats that may be eaten, and thou shalt bear together at thee, and those shall be as well to thee as to the beasts into meat.Therefore Noah did all things which God commanded to him.And God said, My spirit shall not dwell in man without end, for he is flesh; and the days of him shall be an hundred and twenty years.Soothly giants were on the earth in those days, forsooth after that the sons of God entered [in] to the daughters of men, and those daughters begat; these were mighty of the world and famous men.
thou shalt not bow down to them, neither worship them; for I am thy Lord God, a strongly jealous lover; I visit the wickedness of fathers in children into the third and fourth generation of them that hated me,
which none of the princes of this world knew; for if they had known, they should never have crucified the Lord of glory.
soothly whatever thing cheweth cud, and hath a claw, but parteth not it, as a camel, and other beasts, ye shall not eat it, and ye shall areckon it among unclean things.and he that eateth thereof anything, either beareth it, shall wash his clothes, and shall be unclean till to eventide.All thing that creepeth upon earth, shall be abominable, neither it shall be into meat.Whatever thing goeth upon the breast, and on four feet, and hath many feet, either is drawn by the earth, ye shall not eat it, for it is abominable.Do not ye defoul your souls, neither touch ye anything of them, lest ye be unclean;for I am your Lord God; be ye holy, for I am holy. Defoul ye not your souls in each creeping thing that is moved upon earth;for I am the Lord, that led you out of the land of Egypt, that I should be to you into God; ye shall be holy, for I am holy.This is the law of living beasts, and of fowls, and of each living thing that is moved in water, and creepeth in earth;that ye know the differences of clean thing and unclean, and that ye know what ye shall eat, and what ye owe to forsake.A coney, which cheweth cud, and parteth not the claw, is unclean;and an hare, for also he cheweth cud, but parteth not the claw;and a swine, that cheweth not the cud, though he parteth the claw.Ye shall not eat the flesh of these beasts, neither ye shall touch their dead bodies, for those [or they] be unclean to you.
and the Lord said to him, Make thou a [brazen] serpent, and set thou it in a perch; he that is smitten and beholdeth it, shall live.Therefore Moses made a serpent of brass, and setted in a perch; and men hurt, and beholding it, were healed.
That if thou wilt not hear the voice of thy Lord God, that thou keep and do all his behests, and ceremonies, which I command to thee today, all these cursings shall come upon thee, and shall take thee.Thou shalt be cursed in city, and cursed in field.Cursed shall be thy barn, and cursed shall be thy remnants.Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, the droves of thine oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep.Thou shalt be cursed going in, and cursed going out.And all these blessings shall come [up] on thee, and shall take thee; if nevertheless thou hearest his behests.The Lord shall send upon thee hunger, and thirst, and blaming, into all the works which thou shalt do, till he all-break thee, and lose thee swiftly, for thy full wicked findings, in which thou hast forsaken me.The Lord shall join pestilence to thee, till he waste thee from the land, to which thou shalt enter to wield.The Lord shall smite thee with neediness, with fever, and cold, with burning, and heat, with corrupt air, and mildew, either rust; and he shall pursue thee till thou perish.Heaven, that is above thee, be it brazen; and the earth, that thou tread-est on, be it iron.The Lord give dust for rain to thy land, and ash come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be all-broken.The Lord give thee falling before thine enemies; by one way go thou [out] against them, and by seven ways flee thou from them, and be thou scattered by all the realms of [the] earth;and thy dead body be it into meat to all birds of heaven, and to beasts of the earth, and none be that may drive them away.The Lord smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and the Lord smite the part of body whereby ordures, or turds, be voided out; also the Lord smite thee with scab, and itching, so that thou mayest not be cured.The Lord smite thee with madness, and blindness, and wildness of thought;and grope thou in midday, as a blind man is wont to grope in dark-nesses; and dress he not thy ways; in all time suffer thou false challenge, and be thou oppressed by violence, neither have thou any that shall deliver thee.Thou shalt be blessed in [the] city, and blessed in the field;Take thou a wife, and another man sleep with her; build thou an house, and dwell thou not therein; plant thou a vinery [or vine], and gather thou not grapes thereof.Thine ox be offered before thee, and eat thou not thereof; thine ass be ravished in thy sight, and be it not yielded again to thee; thy sheep be given to thine enemies, and none be that help thee to recover them.Thy sons and thy daughters be given to another people, while thine eyes see, and fail at the sight of them all day; and no strength be in thine hand.A people whom thou knowest not, eat the fruits of thy land, and all thy travails; and ever[more] be thou suffering false challenges, and be thou oppressed in all days, or all time,and be thou wondering at the fearfulness of those things which thine eyes shall see.The Lord smite thee with the worst botch in the knees, and in the hinder parts of the leg; and thou may not be healed from the sole of thy foot till to thy top or unto the noll.And the Lord shall lead thee, and thy king, whom thou shalt ordain on thee, into a folk which thou knowest not, thou, and thy fathers; and thou shalt serve there to alien gods, to tree, and to stone.And thou shalt be lost, or forgotten, into a proverb, and into a fable, to all peoples, to whom the Lord shall bring thee in.Thou shalt cast much seed into the earth, and thou shalt gather again little; for locusts shall devour all things.Thou shalt plant, and dig a vinery [or vine], and thou shalt not drink the wine of it, neither thou shalt gather thereof anything; for it shall be wasted with worms.blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, and the fruit of thy beasts, the flocks of thy great beasts, and the folds of thy sheep;Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy coasts, and thou shalt not be anointed with oil of them; for they shall fall down, and perish.Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, and thou shalt not use them; for they shall be led into captivity.Rust, or mildew, shall waste all thy trees and the fruits of thy land.A comeling, that dwelleth with thee in the land, shall go up upon thee, and he shall be the higher; forsooth thou shalt go down, and shalt be the lower.He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be into the head, and thou shalt be into the tail.And all these cursings shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and take thee, till thou perish; for thou heardest not the voice of thy Lord God, neither keptest his commandments and ceremonies, which he commanded to thee.And signs, and great wonders shall be in thee, and in thy seed, till into without end;for thou servedest not thy Lord God in joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things that God sent thee.Thou shalt serve thine enemy, whom God shall send to thee, in hunger, and thirst, and in nakedness, and in poverty of all things; and he shall put an iron yoke on thy noll, till he all-break thee.The Lord shall bring on thee a folk from far place, and from the last ends of [the] earth, into the likeness of an eagle flying with rush, of which folk thou mayest not understand their language;blessed shall be thy barns, and blessed shall be thy remnants;a folk most greedy asker this shall be, that shall not give reverence to an eld [or old] man, neither have mercy upon a little child.And it shall devour the fruit of thy beasts, and the fruits of thy land, till thou perishest, and this folk shall not leave to thee wheat, wine, and oil, nor droves of oxen, and flocks of sheep, till he lose thee,and all-break [thee] in all thy cities, and till thy firm and high walls be destroyed, in which thou haddest trust in all thy land. Thou shalt be besieged within thy gates in all thy land, which thy Lord God shall give to thee.And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb, and the flesh of thy sons, and of thy daughters, which thy Lord God shall give to thee, in the anguish, and in the destroying, by which thine enemies shall oppress thee.A man delicate of life, and full lecherous, shall have envy greatly to his brother, and to his wife that lieth in his bosom, and also toward the remnant of his children, that he hath left,lest he give to them of the flesh of his sons which he shall eat; for he hath none other thing in [the] besieging, and poverty, by which thine enemies shall waste thee within all thy gates.A tender woman and delicate, that might not go upon the earth, neither set a step of [the] foot, for her most softness and tenderness, shall have envy to her husband that lieth in her bosom, on the flesh of her son, and daughter,and on the filth of [the] skins, wherein the child is wrapped in the mother’s womb, that go out of the midst of her hip bones, or loins, and on [the] free children that be born in the same hour. They shall eat those children privily, for the scarcity of all things in besieging and destroying, by which thine enemy shall oppress thee within thy gates.No but thou shalt keep and do all the words of this law, that be written in this volume, either book, and shalt dread his glorious name and fearful, that is, thy Lord God,the Lord shall increase thy wounds, or torments, and the wounds of thy seed; great wounds and continual, sicknesses worst and everlasting.thou shalt be blessed entering in, and going out.And he shall turn into thee all the torments of Egypt, which thou dread-edest, and those [or they] shall cleave to thee.Furthermore the Lord shall bring upon thee also all the sorrows and wounds, that be not written in the book of this law, till he all-break thee.And ye shall dwell few in number, that were before as the stars of heaven for multitude, for thou heardest not the voice of thy Lord God.And as the Lord was glad before upon you, and did well to you, and multiplied you; so he shall be glad to lose [or scatter] you, and to destroy you, that ye be taken away from the land, to which thou shalt enter to wield.The Lord shall scatter thee into all peoples, from [the] highness of the earth unto the coasts thereof; and thou shalt serve there to alien gods, which thou knowest not, and thy fathers knew not, to trees and stones.Also thou shalt not rest in those folks, neither rest shall be to the step of thy foot. For the Lord shall give to thee there a fearful heart, and eyes failing, and a soul wasted with privy sorrow.And thy life shall be as hanging before thee; thou shalt dread night and day, and thou shalt not trust to thy life.In the morrowtide thou shalt say, Who shall give the eventide to me? and in the eventide thou shalt say, Who shall give the morrowtide to me? for the dread of thine heart, by which thou shalt be made afeared, and for those things which thou shalt see with thine eyes.The Lord shall lead thee again by ships into Egypt, by the way of which he said to thee, Thou shouldest no more see it. There thou shalt be sold to thine enemies, into menservants and womenservants; and none shall be that shall deliver thee.
Jesus answered, and said to them, Ye err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the virtue of God.
And Jesus answered, and said to them, Whether ye err not therefore, that ye know not [the] scriptures, neither the virtue of God?
and he made a vow to the Lord, and said, If thou shalt betake the sons of Ammon into mine hands,whoever goeth out first of the doors of mine house, and cometh against me turning again with peace from the sons of Ammon, I shall offer him burnt sacrifice to the Lord.
The Lord of hosts saith these things, I have brought to mind what-ever things Amalek hath done to Israel; how Amalek against-stood Israel in the way, when Israel went up from Egypt.And Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I heard the voice of the Lord, and I have gone in the way, by which the Lord sent me, and I have brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and I have killed Amalek.Forsooth the people took of the prey, sheep and oxen, the first fruits or the chief fruits of those things that be slain, that they make sacrifice to their Lord God in Gilgal.And Samuel said, Whether the Lord will or desireth burnt sacrifices, either slain sacrifices, and not more, rather, that men obey to the voice of the Lord? Forsooth obedience to him is better than sacrifices, and to take heed to his word is more than to offer the inner fatness of rams;for it is as the sin of maumetry to fight against God’s behest, and it is as the wickedness of idolatry to not assent to God’s behest. Therefore for that, that thou castedest away the word of the Lord, the Lord casted thee away, that thou be not king.And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have broken the word of the Lord, and thy words; and I dreaded the people, and obeyed to the voice of them;but now, I beseech thee, bear thou my sin, and turn thou again with me, that I worship the Lord.And Samuel said to Saul, I shall not turn again with thee, for thou castedest away the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath cast away thee, that thou be not king upon Israel.And Samuel turned to go away; soothly Saul took the end of the mantle of Samuel, which also was rent.And Samuel said to him, The Lord hath cut the realm of Israel from thee today, and he hath given it to thy neighbour, better than thou;certainly the Overcomer in Israel shall not spare them that will not obey to him, and he shall not be bowed by repentance; for he is not man, that is, changeable, that he do repentance.Now therefore go thou, and slay Amalek, and destroy thou all his things; spare thou not him, nor covet thou anything of his things; but slay thou from man unto woman, and little child, and sucking, ox, and sheep, and camel, and ass.
Forsooth after that they came to the cornfloor of Nachon, Uzzah held forth his hand to the ark of God, and held it, for the oxen kicked, and bowed it.And the Lord was wroth by indignation against Uzzah, and smote him on the folly; and he was dead there beside the ark of God.
Jesus answered, and said to him, What I do, thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know afterward.
And when they went, and spake going, lo! a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, parted ever either; and Elijah ascended [or went up] by a whirlwind into heaven.
For he guessed that his brethren should understand, that God should give to them health by the hand of him; but they understood not.
Answer thou not to a fool after his folly, lest thou be made like him.Answer thou a fool after his folly, lest he seem to himself to be wise.
Therefore one is the perishing of man and of beasts, and even condition is of ever either; as a man dieth, so and those beasts die; all those breathe in like manner, and a man hath nothing more than a beast. All things be subject to vanity,Time of birth, and time of dying; time to plant, and time to draw up that that is planted.and all things go to one place; those be made of earth, and those turn again altogether into earth.
In the year in which the king Uzziah was dead, I saw the Lord sitting on an high seat, and raised [up]; and the house of the Lord was full of his majesty, and those things that were under him filled the temple.Make thou blind the heart of this people, and aggrieve thou the ears thereof, and close thou the eyes thereof; lest peradventure it see with his eyes, and hear with his ears, and understand with his heart, and it be converted, and I make it whole.
Forsooth he was wounded for our wickednesses, he was defouled for our great trespasses; the learning of our peace was on him, and we be made whole by his wanness.
For I know the thoughts which I think on you, saith the Lord, the thoughts of peace, and not of torment, that I give to you an end and patience.
The hand of the Lord was made on me, and led me out in the spirit of the Lord; and he let me go in the midst of a field that was full of bones;And I prophesied, as he com-manded to me; and the spirit entered into those bones, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a full great host.And the Lord said to me, Thou, son of man, all these bones is the house of Israel; they say, Our bones dried, and our hope perished, and we be cut away.Therefore prophesy thou, and thou shalt say to them, The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall open your graves, and I shall lead you out of your sepulchres, my people, and I shall lead you into your land [of] Israel.And ye shall know, that I am the Lord, when I shall open your sepulchres, and shall lead you out of your burials, my people;and I shall give my spirit in you, and ye shall live. And I shall make you for to rest on your land; and ye shall know, that I the Lord spake, and did, saith the Lord God.
Seventy weeks of years be abridged on thy people, and on thine holy city, that trespassing be ended, and sin take an end, and that wickedness be done away, and everlasting right-fulness [or rightwiseness] be brought, and that the vision and prophecy be [ful] filled, and the Holy Place of saints be anointed.Therefore know thou, and perceive; from the going out of the word that Jerusalem be builded again, till to Christ, the duke, shall be seven weeks of years and two and sixty weeks of years; and again the street shall be builded, and walls, in the anguish of times.And after two and sixty weeks of years Christ shall be slain. And it shall not be his people, that shall deny him. And the people with the duke to coming shall destroy the city, and the saintuary; and the end thereof shall be destroying, and after the end of battle shall be ordained desolation.Forsooth one week of years shall confirm the covenant to many men, and the offering and sacrifice shall fail in the midst of the week of years; and abomination of desolation shall be in the temple, and the desolation shall continue till to the performing and end.
The beginning of the speaking to the Lord in Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go thou, take to thee a wife of fornications, and make to thee sons of fornications, for the land doing fornication shall do fornication, going away from the Lord.And he went, and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and childed a son to him.
Whether a trump shall sound in a city, and the people shall not dread? Whether evil shall be in a city, which evil the Lord shall not make?
I shall show to thee, thou man, what is good, and what the Lord asketh of thee; forsooth for to do doom, and for to love mercy, and be busy for to walk with thy God.
Sword, be thou raised on my shepherd, and on a man cleaving to me, saith the Lord of hosts; smite thou the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered. And I shall turn mine hand to the little ones.And two parts of the people shall be in each land, saith the Lord, and they shall be scattered, and shall fail, and the third part shall be left in it.And I shall lead the third part by fire, and I shall burn them, as silver is burnt, and I shall prove them, as gold is proved. He shall call to help my name, and I shall graciously hear him; and I shall say, Thou art my people, and he shall say, Thou art my Lord God.
That if thy right eye cause thee to stumble, pull it out, and cast it from thee; for it speedeth to thee, that one of thy members perish, than that all thy body go into hell.Blessed be poor men in spirit, for the kingdom of heavens is theirs. [Blessed be the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.]And if thy right hand cause thee to stumble, cut it away, and cast [it] from thee; for it speedeth to thee, that one of thy members perish, than that all thy body go into hell.
Do not ye deem that I came to send peace into [the] earth; I came not to send peace, but sword.For I came to part a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the son’s wife against the husband’s mother;and the enemies of a man be they, that be at home with him.
And if thine hand or thy foot cause thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it away from thee. It is better to thee to enter [in] to life feeble, either crooked, than having twain hands or two feet to be sent into everlasting fire.And if thine eye cause thee to stumble, pull it out, and cast it away from thee. It is better to thee, with one eye to enter into life, than having twain eyes to be sent into the fire of hell [or into hellfire].
And again I say to you, it is lighter [or easier] a camel to pass through a needle’s eye [or the hole of a needle], than a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heavens.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a great voice, and said, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And he said to them, To you it is given to know the private [or the mystery] of the kingdom of God. But to them that be withoutforth, all things be made in parables,that they seeing see, and see not, and they hearing hear, and understand not; lest sometime they be converted, and sins be forgiven to them.
If any man cometh to me, and hateth not his father, and mother, and wife, and sons, and brethren, and sisters or sistren, and yet his own life, he may not be my disciple.
And the Lord said to Simon, Simon, lo! Satan hath asked you, that he should riddle you as wheat;but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and thou sometime converted, confirm thy brethren.
Therefore Jesus saith to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, but ye eat the flesh of man’s Son, and drink his blood, ye shall not have life in you.He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life, and I shall again-raise him in the last day.For my flesh is very meat, and my blood is very drink.He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.As my Father living sent me, and I live for the Father, and he that eateth me, he shall live for me.This is bread, that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers ate manna, and be dead; he that eateth this bread, shall live without end.
But a man, Ananias by name, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a field,Anon she felled down at his feet, and died. And the young men entered, and found her dead, and they bare her out, and buried [her] to her husband.And great dread was made in all the church, and into all that heard these things.
But God chose those things that be fond [or foolish] of the world, to confound wise men; and God chose the feeble, [or frail], things of the world, to confound the strong things;and God chose the unnoble things and despisable things of the world, and those things that be not, to destroy those things that be;that each man have not glory in his sight.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh doom, [or damnation], to him[self], not wisely deeming the body of the Lord.
I would that they were cut away, that disturb you. [I would that they that distrouble you, be also cut off.]
For why striving [or battle] is not to us against flesh and blood, but against [the] princes and potentates, against governors of the world of these darknesses, against spiritual things of wickedness, in heavenly things.
For it is given to you for Christ, that not only ye believe in him, but also that ye suffer for him;
No man deceive you, willing to teach in meekness, and [the] religion of angels, those things which he hath not seen, walking vainly, swollen [or in-blown] with wit of his flesh,and not holding the head, of which all the body, by bands and joinings together under-ministered and made, waxeth into [the] increasing of God.
But she shall be saved by generation of children, if she dwell perfectly in faith, and love, and holiness, with soberness.
For all scripture inspired of God is profitable to teach, to reprove, to chastise, [for] to learn in rightwiseness,
But it is impossible, that they that be once enlightened [or illumined], and have tasted also an heavenly gift, and be made partners of the Holy Ghost,and nevertheless have tasted the good word of God, and the virtues of the world to coming [or to come],and be slid far away, that they be renewed again to penance. Which again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and have him to scorn.
For which thing he came in Spirit, and also to them that were enclosed together in prison;And behold ye in dread your holy conversation.which were sometime unbelieve-ful, when they abided the patience of God in the days of Noah, when the ship [or the ark] was made, in which a few, that is to say, eight souls were made safe by water.
He that knoweth that his brother sinneth a sin not to death, ask he, and life shall be given to him that sinneth not to death. There is a sin to death; not for it I say, that any man pray.
I know thy works, for neither thou art cold, neither thou art hot; I would that thou were cold, either hot;but for thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, neither hot, I shall begin to cast [or to vomit] thee out of my mouth.
And all men worshipped it, that dwell in earth, whose names be not written in the book of life of the lamb, that was slain from the beginning of the world.
which keepest covenant and mercy into thousands, which doest away wickedness, and trespasses, and sins, and no man by himself is innocent with thee, which yieldest the wicked-ness of fathers to their sons, and to the sons of their sons, into the third and the fourth generation.
[The] Lord is patient, and of much mercy, doing away wickedness and trespasses, and leaving no man unguilty, which visitest the sins of fathers into sons into the third and fourth generation,
If a man beget a son rebel, and a froward, that heareth not the behest of his father and mother, and he is chastised, and despiseth to obey to them,they shall take him, and lead him to the elder men of that city, and to the gate of doom;the greater men in birth and thy judges shall go out, and they shall mete from the place of the carrion the spaces of all the cities about;and they shall say to them, This our son is overthwart, and rebel; he despiseth to hear our behests, or admonishings, he giveth attention to gluttonies, and to lechery, and to feasts.The people of the city shall oppress him with stones, and he shall die, that ye do away evil from the midst of you, and that all Israel hear it, and dread.
They would not assent to his words; the which thing the man seeing, he led out his [secondary] wife to them, and he betook to them her to be defouled. And when they had misused her all night, they let her go in the morrowtide.And when the darknesses of night departed, the woman came to the door of the house, where her lord dwelled, and there she felled down.And when the morrowtide was made, the man rose, and opened the door, for to go forth on his journey; and lo! his [secondary] wife lay at the door, her hands spread abroad in the threshold.And he guessed her to rest, and spake to her, Rise thou, and go we. And when she answered nothing, he understood that she was dead; and he took her, and put on the ass, and turned again into his house.And when he entered into that house, he took a sword, and parted into twelve parts and gobbets, the dead body of the secondary wife, [with her bones], and sent into all the terms of Israel.And her husband pursued [or followed] her, and he would be reconciled to her, and to speak fair with her, and to lead her again with him; and he had in his company a servant, and twain [or two] asses. And she received him, and brought him into her father’s house; and when his wife’s father had heard this, and saw him, he ran gladly to him, and embraced the man.And when all men had heard this, they cried, Never such a thing was done in Israel, from that day in which our fathers ascended [or went up] from Egypt, till into [the] present time; say ye sentence, and deem ye in common, what is needed to be done.
While these things were done, it befelled, that David rose in a day from his bed after midday, and walked in the solar of the king’s house; and he saw a woman washing herself even against him upon her solar; and the woman was full fair.if thou seest, that he is wroth, and saith, Why nighed ye to the wall to fight? whether ye knew not, that many darts, or arrows, be sent out from the wall above?who smote Abimelech, the son of Jerubbesheth? whether not a woman sent on him a gobbet of a millstone from the wall, and killed him in Thebez? why nighed ye beside the wall? thou shalt say, Also thy servant, Uriah the Hittite, died.Therefore the messenger went, [and came], and told to David all things which Joab had commanded to him.And the messenger said to David, [The] Men had the mastery against us, and they went out to us into the field; and with great fierceness we pursued them unto the gate of the city.And [the] archers sent darts to thy servants from the wall above, and some of the king’s servants be dead; and also thy servant, Uriah the Hittite, is dead.And David said to the messenger, Thou shalt say these things to Joab, This thing break not thee; for the hap of battle is diverse, and sword wasteth now this man, [and] now that man; comfort thy fighters against the city, that thou destroy it, and stir or excite thou them.And the wife of Uriah heard, that Uriah her husband was dead, and she bewailed him.And when the mourning was passed, David sent, and brought her into his house; and she was made wife to him, and she childed a son to him. And this word or thing that David had done displeased before the Lord.Therefore the king sent, and inquired, what woman it was; and it was told to him that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, and she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite.Then by messengers sent, David took her; and when she entered to him, he slept with her, and anon she was hallowed from her uncleanness. And she turned again into her house, with a child conceived; and she sent, and told to David, and said, I have conceived.
Then two women whores came to the king, and stood before him;of which one said, My lord, I beseech, I and this woman dwelled in one house, and I childed at her in a couch.And in the third day after that I had childed, also this woman childed; and we were together in the house, and none other was with us in the house, except us twain [or two].And the son of this woman was dead in the night, for she slept, and over-lay him;Nevertheless the people offered in high places; for the temple was not builded to the name of the Lord till into that day.and she rose up in the fourth part of the night in silence, and took my son from the side of me, while thine handmaid was sleeping, and she laid it in her bosom; and she putted [or put] in my bosom her son, that was dead.And when I had risen early, to give milk to my son, he appeared dead; whom I beheld more diligently by clear light, and I perceived, that he was not mine, whom I had engendered.The tother woman answered, It is not as thou sayest, but thy son is dead; forsooth my son liveth. The contrary, she said, Thou liest; for my son liveth, and thy son is dead. And by this manner they strove before the king.Then the king said, This woman saith, My son liveth, and thy son is dead; and this woman answereth, Nay, but thy son is dead, and my son liveth.Therefore the king said, Bring ye to me a sword. And when they had brought a sword before the king,he said, Part ye the quick young child in two parts, and give ye the half part to the one, and the half part to the tother.And the woman, whose son was quick, said to the king; for her entrails were moved on her son; Lord, I beseech, give ye to her the quick child, and do not ye slay him. The contrary, she said, Be he neither to me, neither to thee, but be he parted.The king answered, and said, Give ye to this woman the young child quick, and be he not slain; forsooth this is his mother.Therefore all Israel heard the doom, which the king had deemed; and they dreaded the king, and saw, that the wisdom of God was in him, to make doom.
Forsooth Elisha went up from thence into Bethel; and when he went up by the way, little children went out of the city, and scorned him, and said, Go up, thou bald one! go up, thou bald one!And when he had beheld, he saw them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two bears went out of the forest, and rent two and forty children of them.
A man is born of a woman, and liveth short time, and he is full-filled with many wretchednesses.But when a man is dead, and made naked, and wasted; I pray, where is he?As if waters go away from the sea, and as a river made void of waters wax dry,so a man, when he hath slept, that is, died, he shall not rise again, till heaven be broken, or made new; he shall not wake, neither he shall rise altogether from his sleep.Who giveth this to me, that thou defend me in hell, and that thou hide me, till thy great vengeance pass by; and that thou set to me a time, in which thou have mind on me?Guessest thou, whether a dead man shall live again? Now in all the days, in which I hold knighthood, I abide, till my exchanging come.Thou shalt call me, and I shall answer thee; thou shalt dress the right half, that is, bless, to the work of thine hands.Soothly thou hast numbered my steps; but spare thou my sins.Thou hast sealed as in a bag my trespasses, but thou hast cured my wickedness.An hill falling droppeth down, and a rock of stone is borne over from his place.Waters make stones hollow, and the earth is wasted little and little by washing away of water; and thou shalt lose men in like manner.And he goeth out, and is defouled as a flower; and he fleeth away as a shadow, and dwelleth never perfectly in that same state.
Sinners were made aliens from the womb; they erred from the womb, they spake false things.
For mine heart is enflamed, and my reins be changed;and I am driven to nought, and I knew not. As a work beast I am made with thee;
For thou haddest in possession my reins; thou tookest me up from the womb of my mother.I shall acknowledge to thee, for thou art magnified dreadfully; thy works be wonderful, and my soul shall know that full much.
The beginning of wisdom, wield thou wisdom; and in all thy possession, get thou prudence.
Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes; vanity of vanities, and all things be vanity.What hath a man more[over] of all his travail, by which he travaileth under the sun?
For if he casted away, and he shall do mercy after the multitude of his mercies.For he maked not low of his heart; and casted not away the sons of men.
Seventy weeks of years be abridged on thy people, and on thine holy city, that trespassing be ended, and sin take an end, and that wickedness be done away, and everlasting right-fulness [or rightwiseness] be brought, and that the vision and prophecy be [ful] filled, and the Holy Place of saints be anointed.
Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord; whether to desire ye it to you? This day of the Lord shall be darknesses, and not light.As if a man run from the face of a lion, and a bear run to him; and he enter into the house, and lean with his hand on the wall, and a serpent dwelling in shadow bite him.The house of Israel fell down, he shall not put to, that it rise again; the virgin of Israel is cast down into her land, none is that shall raise her. [The maiden of Israel fell down, she shall not put to, that she rise again; she is cast down into her earth, there is not that shall raise her up again.]Whether the day of the Lord shall not be darknesses, and not light; and mist, and not shining therein?
There was a rich man, and was clothed in purple, and white silk, and ate every day shiningly.And he called him, and said to him, What hear I this thing of thee? yield reckoning of thy bailiffship, for thou might not now be bailiff, [yield reason of thy farm, or for now thou shalt no more hold the farm].And there was a beggar, Lazarus by name, that lay at his gate full of boils,and coveted to be fulfilled of [or with] the crumbs, that fell down from the rich man’s board, and no man gave to him; but hounds came, and licked his boils.And it was done, that the beggar died, and was borne of angels into Abraham’s bosom. And the rich man was dead also, and was buried in hell.And he raised up his eyes, when he was in torments, and saw Abraham afar, and Lazarus in his bosom.And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he dip the end of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.And Abraham said to him, Son, have mind, for thou hast received good things in thy life, and Lazarus also evil things; but he is now comforted, and thou art tormented.And in all these things a great dark place [or great dark depth] is stablished betwixt us and you; that they that will from hence pass to you, may not, neither from thence pass over hither.And he said, Then I pray thee, father, that thou send him into the house of my father.For I have five brethren, that he witness to them, lest also they come into this place of torments.And Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the prophets; hear they them.And the bailiff said within himself, What shall I do, for my lord taketh away from me the bailiffship? delve may I not, I shame to beg. [Forsooth the farmer said within himself, What shall I do, for my lord taketh away from me the farm? I may not delve, I am ashamed to beg?]And he said, Nay, father Abraham, but if any of dead men go to them, they shall do penance.And he said to him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither if any of dead men rise again, they shall believe to him.
For God loved so the world [or Forsooth God so loved the world], that he gave his one begotten Son, that each man that believeth in him perish not, but have everlasting life.For God sent not his Son into the world, that he judge the world, but that the world be saved by him.He that believeth in him, is not deemed, [or condemned]; but he that believeth not, is now deemed [or condemned], for he believeth not in the name of the one [or the only] begotten Son of God.
and made of one all the kind of men to inhabit on all the face of the earth, determining times ordained, and terms of the dwelling [or the habitation] of them,
And when they were not yet born, neither had done anything of good either evil, that the purpose of God should dwell by election, not of works, but of God calling,it was said to him [or to her], That the more should serve the less,as it is written, I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.
O! the highness of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowing, of God; how incomprehensible be his dooms, and his ways be unsearchable.For why who knew the wit of the Lord, or who was his counsellor?or who former gave to him, and it shall be requited [again] to him?For of him, and by him, and in him be all things. To him be glory into worlds [of worlds]. Amen.
But as it is written, That eye saw not, nor ear heard, neither it ascended into the heart of man, what things God arrayed [or made ready before] to them that love him;
Else what shall they do, that be baptized for dead men, if in no wise dead men rise again? whereto be they baptized for them?
There is no Jew, nor Greek, no bondman, nor free man, no male, nor female; for all ye be one in Christ Jesus.
as he hath chosen us in himself before the making of the world, that we were holy [or that we should be holy], and without wem in his sight, in charity.
Nevertheless I guess all things to be impairment for the clear science of Jesus Christ my Lord. For whom I made all things impairment, and I deem as drit [or as turds], that I win Christ,and that I be found in him, not having my rightwiseness that is of the law, but that that is of the faith of Christ Jesus, that is of God the right-wiseness in faith,
For in him it pleased all plenty to inhabit,to them that be at Colosse, holy and faithful brethren in Christ Jesus, grace and peace to you of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.and by him all things to be reconciled into him, and made peace by the blood of his cross, those things that be in earths, either that be in heavens.
For when they shall say peace is, and secureness, then sudden death [or suddenly perishing] shall come on them, as sorrow to a woman that is with child, and they shall not escape.
And openly it is a great sacrament of piety, that thing that was showed in flesh, it is justified in Spirit, it appeared to angels, it is preached to heathen men, it is believed in the world, it is taken up into glory.
Busily keep [or Take care] to give thyself a proved, praiseable workman to God, without shame, rightly treating the word of truth.
For there be many unobedient, and vain speakers, and deceivers, most they that be of circumcision,which it behooveth to be reproved; which subvert all houses, teaching which things it behooveth not, for [the] love of foul winning.
But ye be a chosen kin [or ye be a kind chosen], a kingly priesthood, holy folk, a people of purchasing, that ye tell the virtues of him, that called you from darknesses into his wonderful light.
He that overcometh, shall be clothed thus with white clothes; and I shall not do away his name from the book of life, and I shall acknowledge his name before my Father, and before his angels.
And I saw a great white throne, and one sitting on it, from whose sight earth fled [or flew away], and heaven; and the place is not found of them.And I saw dead men, great and small, standing in the sight of the throne; and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and dead men were deemed of these things that were written in the books, after the works of them.And the sea gave his dead men, that were in it; and death and hell gave their dead, that were in them. And it was deemed of each, after the works of them.And hell and death were sent into the pool of fire. This is the second death.And he that was not found written in the book of life, was sent into the pool of fire.
And God shall wipe away each tear from the eyes of them; and death shall no more be, neither mourning, neither crying, neither sorrow, shall be over; which first things went away.
And I witness to each man hearing the words of prophecy of this book, if any man shall put to these things, God shall put on him the vengeances [or the plagues] written in this book.And if any man [shall] do away of the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away the part of him from the book of life, and from the holy city, and from these things that be written in this book.