"THE EPISTLE OF JAMES" The Sin Of Partiality (2:1-13) by Mark Copeland

"THE EPISTLE OF JAMES"

The Sin Of Partiality (2:1-13)
                                 
INTRODUCTION

1. In the first century, A.D., polarized conditions governed society;
   people were either rich or poor, slaves or free, Jew or Gentile,
   Greek or barbarian

2. However, part of the good news of the gospel was that in Christ
   Jesus social barriers lost much of their strength
   a. As Paul wrote to the Galatians:  "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. (Ga 3:28)
   b. Again, in writing to the Colossians:  "Where there is neither
      Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian,
      Scythian, bond [nor] free: but Christ [is] all, and in all.
      (Col 3:11)

3. But it took a while for this truth to sink into the hearts of those
   who were Christians; even the apostle Peter had to be told this
   truth through a vision and then a special outpouring of the Holy
   Spirit - cf. Ac 10:34-35

4. From the second chapter of the epistle of James, it is apparent that
   showing partiality was still being practiced and its sinfulness
   needed to be pointed out

5. Because "The Sin Of Partiality" is still prevalent in some forms
   today, let's examine Jm 2:1-13 and consider what James has to say
   on this subject

[Consider, first of all, exactly what is...]

I. THE SIN OF PARTIALITY

   A. AS MANIFESTED IN JAMES' DAY...
      1. We know from other scriptures that Jewish Christians often
         showed partiality in regards to the Gentiles
      2. But in this epistle, the problem was one of showing partiality
         between the rich and poor - Jm 2:2-4

   B. TODAY, WE CAN ALSO BE GUILTY OF PARTIALITY...
      1. By showing partiality between rich and poor
         a. For example, giving preferential treatment to visitors at
            our assemblies based upon their apparel
         b. Or showing hospitality towards our rich friends, while
            ignoring those who are poor (sometimes, it is the poor who
            despise the rich)
      2. By showing partiality between people of different races (again,
         this can easily go both ways)
      3. Even by showing partiality between friends and visitors to our
         services

[Sadly, the sin of partiality (i.e., being biased, prejudiced, racist)
is probably just as prevalent if not more so than it was in the days
when James wrote his epistle!

This makes the words of James very relevant and worth our consideration.
Let's therefore notice...]

II. WHY CHRISTIANS CAN'T SHOW PARTIALITY

   A. JESUS CHRIST IS A "GLORIOUS" LORD! (2:1)
      1. It is possible that this point was being implied by James in
         using his appellation of Jesus to introduce the subject
      2. What does OUR partiality have to do with the LORD OF GLORY?
         a. As Christians, we profess to be Christ's disciples, or
            followers, whose goal is to imitate Him - Lk 6:40
         b. As such, our actions are likely to be considered by others
            as a reflection of what Christ teaches
         c. If we show partiality as Christians, we leave the impression
            that Jesus Himself is partial (prejudiced, biased, racist)
      3. Therefore, if we are not careful, the glory of the Lord can be
         tainted by OUR partiality!

   B. WE BECOME JUDGES WITH EVIL THOUGHTS (2:4)
      1. God has always hated unjust judges
      2. Jesus Himself warned about:
         a. The dangers of judging - Mt 7:1
         b. The need to make righteous judgment - Jn 7:24
      3. If we judge against the poor due to our prejudice against them,
         we will find ourselves fighting against God! - Ps 109:31

   C. WE DESPISE THOSE GOD HAS HONORED (2:5)
      1. Both then and today God has chosen to honor the poor
         a. The gospel was proclaimed to the poor - Lk 7:22
         b. The majority of those who responded were from among the poor
            - 1Co 1:26-29
      2. Both then and today God has chosen to honor ALL men - Ac 10:
         34-35
         a. Therefore, when we show partiality because of a person's
            race...
         b. Or because they are a stranger we do not know...
         ...then we despise those whom God has honored by His offering
            to them salvation through the gospel!
      3. Do we want to face God on the Day of Judgment guilty of such
         a crime?

   D. WE HONOR THOSE MOST CAPABLE AND LIKELY OF OPPRESSING US (2:6-7)
      1. The rich were doing this to the Christians in James' day
      2. Who are the ones most likely to oppress Christians today if it
         ever came down to "push and shove"?
         a. Those who have the resources to do so
         b. And most likely that would be the "majority" and the 
            "affluent"

   E. WE BREAK "THE ROYAL LAW" (2:8-11)
      1. Which is "You shall love your neighbor as your self"
      2. This is one of the most fundamental laws that God has ever
         given!
         a. As proclaimed by Christ - Mt 22:36-40
         b. As taught by Paul - Ro 13:8-10
      3. And, as emphasized by James, by breaking one law, we become
         guilty of ALL the Law!
         a. I.e., to show partiality is to make one as guilty as if they
            committed adultery or murder!
         b. This illustrates just how terrible any sin is!

   F. WE WILL ONE DAY BE JUDGED BY "THE LAW OF LIBERTY" (2:12-13)
      1. This refers to the law of Christ, or the gospel
         a. A law that has set us free from the bondage of sin through
            the mercy shown in Christ - cf. Jn 8:31-36
         b. And a law that sets us free from man-made restrictions 
            - cf. Col 2:20-22
      2. But if we:
         a. Apply man-made restrictions upon others (like showing
            partiality)
         b. Do not show mercy toward others
         ...then NO MERCY will be shown toward us! - cf. Mt 6:14-15

CONCLUSION

1. In view of all these things, we can understand why James would say:

   "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the
   Lord] of glory, with respect of persons." (Jm 2:1)

2. We can also better understand Peter's reasoning why he had to accept
   the Gentiles:

   "Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as [he did] unto us,
   who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could
   withstand God?" (Ac 11:17)

3. And we are more likely to heed the prayer and admonition of KPaul:

   5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be
   likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 6  That ye
   may with one mind [and] one mouth glorify God, even the Father of
   our Lord Jesus Christ. 7  Wherefore receive ye one another, as
   Christ also received us to the glory of God. (Romans 15)

Brethren, we serve A GLORIOUS LORD, we serve to do things to His glory;
may we NEVER allow the sin of partiality, bias, prejudice, or racism to
taint that wonderful glory in any way!

[And a concluding word for the NON-Christian:

   1) Notice that in our text James speaks of:
      a) The terribleness of even one sin (2:10)
      b) The fact of judgment (2:12)

   2) Won't you accept the mercy God offers to you in the gospel of His
      Son Jesus Christ?
      a) Remember, God is not a partial judge - cf. Ro 2:4-11
      b) Why should He show mercy to you when you despise His mercy
         just as much as the vilest sinner?

Accept His mercy in obedience to the gospel today!]

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

 

God and Katrina by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=1556

God and Katrina

by	Dave Miller, Ph.D.

In the early morning hours of August 29, 2005,

Courtesy of ORBIMAGE

hurricane Katrina made landfall, devastating the Gulf Coast of the United States from New Orleans to Mobile, earning for itself recognition as one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. Though the city was placed under a mandatory evacuation order, many residents remained due to lack of transportation, health, or age. The furry of the hurricane created three breaches in the Lake Pontchartrain levee system—causing a second, even greater disaster: heavy flooding inundated 80% of the city, making it uninhabitable. While the final death toll is still unknown, thousands are believed to have been killed. More than a million people have been displaced, creating a humanitarian crisis on a scale unseen in America since the American Civil War (“Hurricane Katrina,” 2005).

As shocking and heart-rending as this event may seem, many other natural disasters have occurred in human history that exceed Katrina and even the 2004 tsunami in their toll of death and destruction. For example, throughout China’s history, extensive flooding has occurred countless times as a result of the mighty 3,000-mile-long Hwang Ho River. Several of the most terrible floods, with their ensuing famines, have been responsible for the deaths of more than a million people at a time. The southern levee of the river failed in Hunan Province in 1887, affecting a 50,000 square mile area (“Hwang Ho,” 2004). More than 2 million people died from drowning, starvation, or the epidemics that followed (“Huang He,” 2004).

In reality, such events have occurred repetitiously throughout the history of the world, and continue to do so—constantly: hurricanes, cyclones, earthquakes, tornados, floods, tsunamis, droughts, and volcano eruptions. In fact, natural disasters kill one million people around the world each decade, and leave millions more homeless, according to the United Nation’s International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (“Disasters...,” 1997).

This circumstance inevitably elicits the pressing question: “WHY?” “Why would God allow such loss of life, inflicted on countless numbers of seemingly innocent people?” The number one argument marshaled by atheists to advocate their disbelief in God is the presence of widespread, seemingly purposeless suffering. They insist that if an infinite Being existed, He would exercise His perfect compassion and His omnipotence to prevent human suffering (e.g., Lowder, 2004; cf. Jackson, 2001). Even for many people who do not embrace formal atheism, the fact that God apparently seems willing to allow misery and suffering to run rampant in the world, elicits a gamut of reactions—from perplexity and puzzlement to anger and resentment.

THE BIBLE HAS THE ANSWERS

But the Bible provides the perfect explanations for such occurrences. Its handling of the subject is logical, sufficient, and definitive. It sets forth the fact that God created the world to be the most appropriate, suitable environment in which humans are enabled to make their own decisions concerning their ultimate destiny (Genesis 1:27; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). We humans have been provided with the ideal environment in which we may freely accept or reject God’s will for our lives. Natural disasters and nature’s destructive forces are the result of specific conditions that are necessary to God’s providing humanity with this ideal environment.

God is not blameworthy for having created such a world, since He had a morally justifiable reason for having done so. Human existence on Earth was not intended to be permanent. Rather, the Creator intended life on Earth to serve as a temporary interval of time for the development of one’s spirit. Life on Earth is a probationary period in which people are given the opportunity to attend to their spiritual condition as it relates to God’s will for living. Natural disasters provide people with conclusive evidence that life on Earth is brief and uncertain. God has even harnessed natural calamities for the purpose of punishing wickedness (see Miller, “Is America’s Iniquity...?”, 2005). [NOTE: For further study on this thorny issue, see Thompson, 1997 and Warren, 1972.]

Christians understand that no matter how catastrophic, tragic, or disastrous an event may be, it fits into the overall framework of soul-making—preparation for one’s departure from life into eternity. Likewise, the Christian knows that although the great pain and suffering caused by natural disasters may be unpleasant, and may test one’s mettle; nevertheless, such suffering is not intrinsically evil. Nor is it a reflection on the existence of an omnibenevolent God. The only intrinsic evil is violation of God’s will. What is required of all accountable persons is obedience to God’s revealed Word (given in the Bible)—even amid pain, suffering, sickness, disease, death, and, yes, hurricanes.

REFERENCES

“Disasters: A Deadly and Costly Toll Around the World” (1997), FEMA News, [On-line], URL: http://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/stats.pdf.

“Huang He, or Hwang Ho” (2004), Britannica Student Encyclopedia, [On-line], URL: http://www.britannica.com/ebi/article?tocId=9274966.

“Hurricane Katrina” (2005), Wikipedia, [On-line], URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina.

“Hwang Ho” (2004), LoveToKnow 1911 Online Encyclopedia, [On-line], URL: http://32.1911encyclopedia.org/H/HW/HWANG_HO.htm.

Jackson, Roy (2001), “The Problem of Evil,” The Philosopher’s Magazine Online, [On-line], URL: http://www.philosophers.co.uk/cafe/rel_six.htm.

Lowder, Jeffery (2004), “Logical Arguments From Evil,” Internet Infidels, [On-line], URL: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/nontheism/atheism/evil-logical.html.

Miller, Dave (2005), “Is America’s Iniquity Full,” [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/305.

Thompson, Bert (1997), “Divine Benevolence, Human Suffering, and Intrinsic Value,” [On-line], URL: http://apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=12&article=229.

Warren, Thomas (1972), Have Atheists Proved There Is No God? (Jonesboro, AR: National Christian Press).

Geography as the Most Important Predictor of Religion—Revisited by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=4133

Geography as the Most Important Predictor of Religion—Revisited

by	Kyle Butt, M.Div.

On September 29, 2011, I debated Blair Scott, the Director of Communications for American Atheists, Inc. During the debate, he suggested that one of the primary reasons (if not the only reason) that people are Christians is because they were born into a society that is predominantly Christian. He contended that this fact cast doubt on the legitimacy of Christianity and the sincerity of the person who claims to believe in Christianity based on the truth of its claims. Blair is not the only atheist who has used this line of reasoning. When I debated Dan Barker on February 12, 2009, he stated basically the same thing as Blair, when he said, “there are other reasons besides reason and truth that people come to their faith.” He continued:

The most obvious one is geography. Geography is the greatest single predictor of what religion a person will have. If you were born in Baghdad, you can pretty much predict what religion that person will have. If you were born in Tennessee, you can pretty much predict what kind of person you are going to be with your religion, generally. It’s the highest predictor (Butt and Barker, 2009).

While it may be true that geography is the highest predictor of a person’s religion, it is important to understand what Scott and Barker are trying to say, and why it has no bearing on the truth of the proposition that God exists. The implication is that if most people in an area hold a certain religious belief, then the mere fact that it is the “traditional” belief of that area should cast disparaging light on the belief, or at least should call into question the honesty and intellectual rigor of those who hold the belief. This is a classic example of a logical fallacy known as the genetic fallacy. The genetic fallacy is committed when a person attempts to discredit an idea based on its origin, not based on the merits of the idea itself. In this instance, Barker, Scott, and other atheists are suggesting that a belief in the God of the Bible should be questioned merely on the basis of the fact that the idea stems from certain cultures or regions.

When this accusation against belief in God is studied critically, however, it becomes apparent that these atheists are making a moot point. What does it matter if the biggest predictor of a person’s religion is geography? Does that mean that the information is necessarily false? If that were the case, we could simply lump atheism in with all other “religions” and say that geography is the single biggest predictor of whether a person will claim atheism. Polls indicate that those born in China or the former Soviet Union, and certain other areas of Europe, are much more likely to be atheists than other areas of the globe (“Major Religions of the World…,” 2007). So what does that mean about atheism? Should it be rejected soley on the basis of geography? We are forced by rationality to understand that it means nothing—other than the fact that most people, including atheists, adopt the beliefs of the people nearest to them. It says nothing whatsoever about the truth of the beliefs.

Suppose we were to suggest that geography is the single biggest predictor of whether a person will know his or her multiplication tables by age 12. Would that mean that all those who learned their “times tables” hold an incorrect view of the world? Of course not. Would it mean that the local knowledge of multiplication casts suspicion on the truth of the math being done? No. It has absolutely no bearing on the accuracy of the multiplication tables. Again, suppose that we said that geography is the single most important indicator of whether a person understands how germs are passed. Does that mean that all those people who wash their hands because that is “what their mothers taught them about germs” have been taught wrong? Certainly not.

In truth, we intuitively know that geography has nothing to do with truth claims. Is it the case that truth seekers often break away from their culturally held beliefs, forsake false ideas, and embrace the truth that God exists, the Bible is His Word, and Jesus is His Son? Yes. It is also true that many forsake the cultural truths that they were taught as children, reject the reality of God’s existence, and exchange that belief for false worldviews like atheism and agnosticism. That happens as well.

The atheistic objection that ideas concerning the God of the Bible should be questioned because they are held by more people in certain regions has no merit and can easily be dismissed. It should, however, make us stop and think about why we hold the beliefs that we do. The apostle Paul admonished all people to “test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). It is true that many people are guilty of clinging to a belief simply because their family or culture is closely tied to it, and the Bible explicitly cautions against doing so (cf. Mark 7:8-13). The fact that many people blindly cling to tradition says nothing whatsoever about the truth or falsity of the belief, but it does say something about the sincerity of the one who holds those beliefs without having truly “tested” them. If all the people in the world were to honestly assess their core beliefs based on truth and reason, they would become New Testament Christians regardless of where they were born or where they currently live. As Jesus explained to Pilate: “I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37).

REFERENCES

Butt, Kyle and Dan Barker (2009), Butt/Barker Debate: Does the God of the Bible Exist? (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).

“Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents” (2007), http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Nonreligious.

Geography as the Most Important Predictor of Religion? by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=2789

Geography as the Most Important Predictor of Religion?

by	Kyle Butt, M.Div.

Seven and a half minutes into his 10-minute rebuttal speech during our February 12, 2009 Darwin Day debate, Dan Barker noted that “there are other reasons besides reason and truth that people come to their faith.” He continued:

The most obvious one is geography. Geography is the greatest single predictor of what religion a person will have. If you were born in Baghdad, you can pretty much predict what religion that person will have. If you were born in Tennessee, you can pretty much predict what kind of person you are going to be with your religion, generally. It’s the highest predictor (Butt and Barker, 2009).

While it may be true that geography is the highest predictor of a person’s religion, it is important to understand what Barker is trying to say and why it has no bearing on the truth of the proposition that God exists. The implication is that if most people in an area hold a certain religious belief, then the mere fact that it is the “traditional” belief of that area should cast disparaging light on the belief, or at least should call into question the honesty and intellectual rigor of those who hold the belief.

When Barker’s statement is studied critically, however, it becomes apparent that his point is moot. So what if the biggest predictor of a person’s religion is geography? Does that mean that when geography is the biggest predictor of those who will hold a certain belief, then that belief is false? If that were the case, we could simply lump atheism in with all other “religions” and say that geography is the single biggest predictor of whether a person will claim atheism. Polls indicate that those born in China or the former Soviet Union, and certain other areas of Europe, are much more likely to be atheists than other areas of the globe (“Major Religions of the World...,” 2007). So what does that mean about atheism? We are forced by rationality to agree that it means nothing, other than the fact that most people, including atheists, adopt the beliefs of the people nearest to them. It says nothing whatever about the truth of the beliefs.

Suppose we were to suggest that geography is the single biggest predictor of whether a person will know his or her multiplication tables by age 12? Would that mean that all those who learned their “times tables” hold an incorrect view of the world? Of course not. Would it mean that the local knowledge of multiplication casts suspicion on the truth of the math being done? No. It has absolutely no bearing on the accuracy of the multiplication tables. Again, suppose that we said that geography is the single most important indicator of whether a person understands how germs are passed. Does that mean that all those people who wash their hands because that is “what their mothers taught them about germs” have been taught wrong? Certainly not.

In truth, everyone knows that geography has nothing to do with truth claims. Is it the case that truth seekers often break away from their culturally held beliefs, forsake false ideas, and embrace the truth that God exists, the Bible is His Word, and Jesus is His Son? Yes. It is also true that many forsake the cultural truths that they were taught as children, reject the reality of God’s existence, and exchange that belief for false worldviews like atheism and agnosticism. Yes, that happens as well.

In logic, there is a common fallacy known as a “red herring.” The term comes from the idea of dragging a fish across an animal’s scent trail in an attempt to throw the hounds off the scent. In logic, a “red herring” is a device used to divert the attention of the audience from the real point that is being addressed. When we look at Barker’s use of the “geography” idea, something smells very fishy.

REFERENCES

Butt, Kyle and Dan Barker (2009), Butt/Barker Debate: Does the God of the Bible Exist? (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).

“Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents” (2007), [On-line]: URL:http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Nonreligious.

David (Part 2) A man after God’s own Heart – what it is. (By Ben Fronczek)

http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?p=1595

David (Part 2) A Man After God’s Own Heart

David (Part 2) A man after God’s own Heart – what it is.

(By Ben Fronczek)

Last week we started a series of lesson on what it means to be a man (or woman) after God’s own heart, which is part of a larger series of lesson I would like to do on David.

First of all, in the last lesson, I talked about an individual that was not a man after God’s own heart, and that being Saul, the first Jewish king. What was his problem? He was more concerned about doing things his way, the way he wanted and not necessarily the way God wanted things done. Simply put he was out right disobedient by not obeying God’s will for him, and by disobeying the Holy laws God put forth in the Mosaic covenant. And when Saul was confronted with his sin, he made excuses and tried to blame others. He claimed he was sorry, but in all reality God could see something different in his heart. Maybe God saw that he was more sorry about getting caught than he was about disobeying God’s will.

Then we read where Samuel is instructed to go and anoint another who would eventually take Saul’s place. In Bethlehem, the little town where Jesus the Christ was born more than one thousand years later, lived a man named Jesse, who was the grandson of Ruth. Jesse had eight sons, and God told Samuel that He would choose a successor to Saul from among them.

God told Samuel to go to Bethlehem and offer a sacrifice, and invite Jesse to be present. He told Jesse to have his sons pass in front of him, that he might see them.

The first son was a tall, handsome man, and Samuel thought he must be the one who was to rule over Israel. But God told him that “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Then one by one seven sons of Jesse were brought forward, but Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen these.”

It think the lesson in this for us is that we need to remember that God is more concerned about what’s in our heart than with how we look, what we say, or do.

Then Samuel asked Jesse if he had any more sons; and Jesse replied that he had seen all except David the youngest, who was in the fields, tending the sheep. Samuel ordered David to be brought to him. The text described David as “ruddy with a fine appearance and handsome features.” The Lord told Samuel to anoint him, for this was the one He has chosen.

Many years prior, God had prepared another shepherd boy for a special work in connection with His chosen people, Joseph. And now He had selected David, another shepherd boy, to rule over them. The same was true for Moses having spent 40 in the wilderness shepherding before God sent him to Egypt.

The Bible says little of what happened to David immediately after than memorable day, but we can assume he went back to his flock and continued to take care of them. How much he was affected by the ceremony through which he had passed, we do not know, but we are told this: “The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.”

David grew up strong and brave, not afraid of the wild beasts which prowled around and tried to carry away his sheep. All alone most of the day and with not much else to do, he probably practiced throwing stones with his sling, until he could strike the place he aimed for.

He also must have loved music and learned to play the harp during this period, because shortly after he is called into the kings service to play for him We read that after Spirit left Saul, another spirit tormented him, and music help make him feel better and David was chosen because of his talent.

This young man was to be the one to replace Saul, the one God considered a man after His own heart, and now he got to see the inner workings of the royal palace.

But the Question I posed in the last lesson was, “How could David be considered a man after God’s own heart knowing what we know about him?” We read that he went on to become a man of war spilling blood, and later he would also go on to commit adultery and murder?

His story can be read 1 and 2 Chronicles and 1 and 2 Kings. Even in the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul is speaking before the men of Israel, tells them about God’s feelings for David. Speaking first of King Saul the Apostle Paul states, “After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do’” (Acts 13:22). Maybe this was the key!

Where we find the most about his character and heart is actually seen the book of Psalms. There he opened up his life for all to examine. David’s life was a portrait of success and failure, and far from perfect. But what made David a cut above the rest was the fact that God was almost always at the center of his Heart. He did his best to obey Him.

When we look at his story, you soon realize that all David’s early life was a preparation for kingship. Beginning as a shepherd was certainly training for one who would one day shepherd the flock of God, Israel. Then he has time to learn the inner workings of the royal court.

If David was divinely destined to be a king, is it possible that he also was destined to first be a shepherd? Or did God leave the first thirty years of David’s life up to chance?

Or was the Lord just killing time waiting for David to grow up and reach the right age to fulfill his divine destiny to be king, or was he meant to learn something from that early life in the wilderness?

We can apply this to ourselves. Often, what we perceive as wasted periods of time in our life are actually part of God’s training process—periods that prepare us for His ultimate purpose for our lives. These period of time may just be divinely determined. God can use these period of time to mold us in ways we may not understand at the time.

So how did God prepare David for the big challenges he would face one day as king? Just as you may have guessed. He used the same method He used to prepare Israel to take Canaan and the same method He used to train Jesus’ twelve disciples, and ever us. God permitted small difficulties, one after the other, to challenge David as a shepherd. He was tested over and over; and so are we.

We know that as a boy David had an opportunity to exercise his faith when he fought with a lion and a bear to protect his flock (see 1 Sam. 17:34-36). Could God have stopped that lion and bear before they got near enough to stalk David’s sheep? Of course He could have, but He didn’t because He was preparing David for the greater challenges that He would ultimately face.

David’s next trial recorded for us in Scripture was a giant one—literally!          It wasn’t so much his skill with a sling and stone that brought down Goliath. Rather, it was his faith. Every challenge we face can serve as a stepping stone in our personal growth. It all depends on if we will trust God or not.

And that’s the first thing we need to be a man or woman after God’s own heart; First of all, David had absolute faith in God.

Nowhere in Scripture is this point better illustrated than in 1 Samuel 17 where David as a young shepherd boy fearlessly confronts and slew the Philistine giant, Goliath. Shortly before the duel, we see direct evidence of David’s faith in his words to King Saul. Read 17:32-37 “3 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.  Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”    David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”  They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”  When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”   

“Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,  I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.  Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.  The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

David was fully aware that God was in control of his life, and he had faith that God would deliver him from impending danger. How else could one venture into a potentially fatal situation with such confidence?

David knew early on in life that God was to be trusted and obeyed. But it’s one thing to talk the talk, but quite another to walk the walk. David did both. After talking the talk before Saul he boldly went out and confronted Goliath. And then the giant Goliath curse him on the battle field David approached the giant, listen to his confident words starting in verses 45-50.

“David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LordAlmighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that thehttps://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+27%3A1-6&version=NIVre is a God in Israel.  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lordsaves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.  Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.”

From these verses, we know exactly why David had so much courage and how he was able to approach Goliath with such confidence. It was because his confidence, and courage, and strength was fully grounded and based on his faith in God’s protection. That’s faith in action! David’s faith pleased God, and he is rewarded for it with success.

There was nothing wishy washy about his faith. He didn’t kinda believe and hope one minute and doubt the next. He absolutely trusted the Lord. If you are going to be a man or woman after God’s own heart that’s the kind of faith in God that you need to have. I’m not only talking just about saying the right words, it’s more about what you REALLY believe in your heart. David believed and proved his faith in God that day.

As you read David’s psalms, over and over they declares David’s faith in the Lord. Read a few examples Psalm 3:1-6, 16:7-11, 23, 27:1-6, 34,…

David learned to trust and have faith in the Lord early on in life. The more he leaned on the Lord and saw the Lord active in his own life, the more faith he had. As little challenges were overcome by faith and trust in the Lord, it strengthen him for even greater challenges that would come later. I believe this is how we grow as a Christian; from one act of faith to another.

Continually putting faith in the Lord is an essential part of being a man after God’s own heart. The same will become true for us. We not only need to believe in God and His deliverance from the bottom of our heart, we also need to back that up with steps of faith as David did so long ago.

You say that you believe and trust God. Good.

Do you believe in Him enough to help you overcome a particular challenge or maybe a particular sin or bad habits in your life? Do you believe in Him enough to step out by that faith to do something you’ve never tried before, maybe something His Spirit is prompting you to do? I challenge you to stand firm in your faith in God and you too like the Apostle Paul will be able to say, “I can do all things thru Christ who give me strength.” And then you will have taken your first step in becoming a man or woman after God’s own heart!

For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

All comments can be emailed to: bfronzek@gmail.com

“There will be false teachers among you” (2 Peter 2:1) by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/falsetea.html

“There will be false teachers among you” (2 Peter 2:1).

Jeremiah lived 600 years before Christ. Jacob’s descendants had divided into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The people worshipped idols and were immoral.

God called Jeremiah to make His message known. He was a true prophet of God. There were also many false prophets in the land, who told the people what they wanted to hear. In Jeremiah, chapter 23, God warns the people not to listen to the false prophets. And He warns the false prophets, that they will be punished. From this chapter we learn important truths to help us avoid false teachers today.

God’s word contains many warnings against false teachers!

Peter warns Christians: “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways” (2 Peter 2:1, 2).

In our time, false teachers abound.

Jesus warned: “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (Matthew 24:11). The fact that there are many false teachers among us and that many people listen to them is a fulfillment of the prediction of Christ.

He also said: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). False teachers are false not only in doctrine but also in their appearance. They pretend to be something they are not. On the inside they are vicious wolves who kill and scatter the sheep. But they present themselves as innocent and harmless. They wear a sheepskin to trick the sheep. Yet, discerning eyes can tell the difference. As Little Red Riding Hood said, “But grandmother! What big teeth you have!”

John warned: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

Paul told the elders at Ephesus: “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:29, 30).

How can we recognize false teachers?

These warnings of Christ and His apostles would be meaningless if there were no way to distinguish between those who speak the truth and those who teach error.

When one considers the thousands of preachers and priests in the world, it is obvious that most of them are not speaking for God because they teach conflicting things.

One man I baptized started reading the Bible because different priests in his own church were teaching contradictory things.

His reaction was: “Since the priests say different things, I will read the Bible for myself. What it says will certainly be right.” The first time I met him he said: “I don’t know where it will lead me, but I have decided to do what the Bible says.” I thought, “If he really means that, he will become a Christian.” And he did. Have we decided to do what the Bible says?

God’s word enables us to distinguish truth from error.

What does God think about false teachers?

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” (Jeremiah 23:1). They will be punished for their evil deeds: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings” (Jeremiah 23:2).

In verses 9 and 10 Jeremiah laments the terrible state of the land “because of the prophets.” “For both prophet and priest are profane” (Jeremiah 23:11). Profane means ‘secular’, ‘not holy’. The prophets and priests were supposed to be spiritual and holy. Instead, they were secular, they were worldly.

A tourist visiting a monastery hospital in Italy was astounded by a sign in botched English: “We harbor all kinds of diseases and have no respect for religion. Please donate some small arms for our hospital.”

False teachers do indeed harbor all kinds of spiritual diseases and have no respect for true religion.

Beware of false prophets, preachers and priests. They are more concerned about worldly things than spiritual values. Jesus said to religious leaders: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.” ... “Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:25 and 28).

In Jeremiah 23, God says that He will bring disaster on the false prophets. The prophets of the northern kingdom caused Israel to err through idol worship. (Do some religious leaders today encourage people to bow down before images?) Of the prophets in the southern kingdom, God says: “Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they also strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah” (Jeremiah 23:14).

False teachers want to be popular with the people of the world.

But whoever “wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).

False teachers strengthen the hands of evildoers: “They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You shall have peace”’; and to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you’” (Jeremiah 23:17).

This explains why false teachers are popular! They are politically correct. They go along with the times. They adapt their message so it will not be offensive. They tell people what they want to hear.

Are people who follow their own heart in our time told by some religious leaders that no evil will come upon them? Do some religious leaders condone the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah? Do some preachers say that no evil will come upon those who Jesus says commit adultery because of unscriptural divorce and remarriage (Matthew 5:31, 32; 19:9)?

Beware of false prophets, preachers and priests who tickle the itching ears of evildoers (2 Timothy 4:3, 4).

“For from the prophets of Jerusalem profaneness has gone out into all the land” (Jeremiah 23:15). They were profane themselves, and profaneness spread from them to the whole country.

We live in a secular society, a society that wants freedom from religion rather than freedom of religion. We must be careful that we do not become a secular church by listening to bootlicking false teachers.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord’” (Jeremiah 23:16). False teachers tell you what they think, rather than what God says.

Because of the neglect of the false prophets, the people did not repent: “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings” (Jeremiah 23:21, 22).

We have been warned.

We must distinguish between what comes from God and what comes from man: “‘The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?’ says the Lord. ‘Is not My word like a fire?’ says the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?’” (Jeremiah 23:28, 29).

If a man has a dream and wants to tell it, ok, but he should not claim that it came from God. Man’s word is chaff. God’s word is nutritious grain. They who have God’s word must speak it faithfully. It is powerful, like a burning fire and a hammer that pulverizes rocks.

Peter said: “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11).

How can we distinguish between the word of man and the word of God? Through Isaiah, God commanded the people: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). We recognize false teachers by comparing what they say with the word of God.

There are false teachers among us, just like there were false prophets in the Old Testament. Do not listen to them. False teachers are secular, more concerned about popularity than purity. Their profaneness spreads like cancer. False teachers strengthen the hands of evildoers, comforting them in their sin rather than calling them to repentance. God has given us the Scriptures so we can know the difference between the word of man and the word of God. “To the law and to the testimony!”

“Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17, 18). Beware of false teachers! Amen.
Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise. Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
http://www.oldpaths.com

Bible Reading April 3, 4 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading April 3, 4

World  English  Bible

Apr. 3

Leviticus 23, 24

Lev 23:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Lev 23:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The set feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.

Lev 23:3 " 'Six days shall work be done: but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no manner of work. It is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings.

Lev 23:4 " 'These are the set feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season.

Lev 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh's Passover.

Lev 23:6 On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.

Lev 23:7 In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.

Lev 23:8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.' "

Lev 23:9 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Lev 23:10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its the harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest:

Lev 23:11 and he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

Lev 23:12 On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without blemish a year old for a burnt offering to Yahweh.

Lev 23:13 The meal offering with it shall be two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire to Yahweh for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.

Lev 23:14 You shall eat neither bread, nor roasted grain, nor fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Lev 23:15 " 'You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be completed:

Lev 23:16 even to the next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Yahweh.

Lev 23:17 You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to Yahweh.

Lev 23:18 You shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their meal offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to Yahweh.

Lev 23:19 You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.

Lev 23:20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before Yahweh, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest.

Lev 23:21 You shall make proclamation on the same day: there shall be a holy convocation to you; you shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

Lev 23:22 " 'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap into the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest: you shall leave them for the poor, and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.' "

Lev 23:23 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Lev 23:24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

Lev 23:25 You shall do no regular work; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh.' "

Lev 23:26 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Lev 23:27 "However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

Lev 23:28 You shall do no manner of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Yahweh your God.

Lev 23:29 For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day; shall be cut off from his people.

Lev 23:30 Whoever it is who does any manner of work in that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.

Lev 23:31 You shall do no manner of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Lev 23:32 It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath."

Lev 23:33 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Lev 23:34 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say, 'On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tents for seven days to Yahweh.

Lev 23:35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.

Lev 23:36 Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work.

Lev 23:37 " 'These are the appointed feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, and a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day;

Lev 23:38 besides the Sabbaths of Yahweh, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to Yahweh.

Lev 23:39 " 'So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahweh seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.

Lev 23:40 You shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God seven days.

Lev 23:41 You shall keep it a feast to Yahweh seven days in the year: it is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month.

Lev 23:42 You shall dwell in booths seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in booths,

Lev 23:43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.' "

Lev 23:44 Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of Yahweh.

Lev 24:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Lev 24:2 "Command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually.

Lev 24:3 Outside of the veil of the Testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, shall Aaron keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh continually: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.

Lev 24:4 He shall keep in order the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before Yahweh continually.

Lev 24:5 "You shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it: two tenth parts of an ephah shall be in one cake.

Lev 24:6 You shall set them in two rows, six on a row, on the pure gold table before Yahweh.

Lev 24:7 You shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be to the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

Lev 24:8 Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before Yahweh continually. It is on the behalf of the children of Israel an everlasting covenant.

Lev 24:9 It shall be for Aaron and his sons; and they shall eat it in a holy place: for it is most holy to him of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire by a perpetual statute."

Lev 24:10 The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and the son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp.

Lev 24:11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.

Lev 24:12 They put him in custody, until the will of Yahweh should be declared to them.

Lev 24:13 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Lev 24:14 "Bring out of the camp him who cursed; and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

Lev 24:15 You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.

Lev 24:16 He who blasphemes the name of Yahweh, he shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him: the foreigner as well as the native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

Lev 24:17 " 'He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death.

Lev 24:18 He who strikes an animal mortally shall make it good, life for life.

Lev 24:19 If anyone injures his neighbor; as he has done, so shall it be done to him:

Lev 24:20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has injured someone, so shall it be done to him.

Lev 24:21 He who kills an animal shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death.

Lev 24:22 You shall have one kind of law, for the foreigner as well as the native-born: for I am Yahweh your God.' "

Lev 24:23 Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they brought forth him who had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. The children of Israel did as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Apr. 4

Leviticus 25 – 27

Lev 25:1 Yahweh said to Moses in Mount Sinai,

Lev 25:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to Yahweh.

Lev 25:3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruits;

Lev 25:4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to Yahweh. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.

Lev 25:5 What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and the grapes of your undressed vine you shall not gather. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.

Lev 25:6 The Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you.

Lev 25:7 For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase be for food.

Lev 25:8 " 'You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years.

Lev 25:9 Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land.

Lev 25:10 You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.

Lev 25:11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines.

Lev 25:12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field.

Lev 25:13 " 'In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.

Lev 25:14 " 'If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.

Lev 25:15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you.

Lev 25:16 According to the length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you.

Lev 25:17 You shall not wrong one another; but you shall fear your God: for I am Yahweh your God.

Lev 25:18 " 'Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety.

Lev 25:19 The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.

Lev 25:20 If you said, "What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;"

Lev 25:21 then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for the three years.

Lev 25:22 You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits, the old store; until the ninth year, until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.

Lev 25:23 " 'The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.

Lev 25:24 In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.

Lev 25:25 " 'If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold.

Lev 25:26 If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it;

Lev 25:27 then let him reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property.

Lev 25:28 But if he isn't able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee: and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.

Lev 25:29 " 'If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption.

Lev 25:30 If it isn't redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee.

Lev 25:31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be reckoned with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.

Lev 25:32 " 'Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.

Lev 25:33 The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.

Lev 25:34 But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.

Lev 25:35 " 'If your brother has become poor, and his hand can't support him among you; then you shall uphold him. As a stranger and a sojourner he shall live with you.

Lev 25:36 Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God; that your brother may live among you.

Lev 25:37 You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.

Lev 25:38 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

Lev 25:39 " 'If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a slave.

Lev 25:40 As a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee:

Lev 25:41 then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers.

Lev 25:42 For they are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves.

Lev 25:43 You shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your God.

Lev 25:44 " 'As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have; of the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.

Lev 25:45 Moreover of the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property.

Lev 25:46 You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them may you take your slaves forever: but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.

Lev 25:47 " 'If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living among you, or to a member of the stranger's family;

Lev 25:48 after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him;

Lev 25:49 or his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, he may redeem himself.

Lev 25:50 He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; according to the time of a hired servant shall he be with him.

Lev 25:51 If there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.

Lev 25:52 If there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back the price of his redemption.

Lev 25:53 As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him: he shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight.

Lev 25:54 If he isn't redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he, and his children with him.

Lev 25:55 For to me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.

Lev 26:1 " 'You shall make for yourselves no idols, neither shall you raise up an engraved image or a pillar, neither shall you place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it: for I am Yahweh your God.

Lev 26:2 " 'You shall keep my Sabbaths, and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am Yahweh.

Lev 26:3 " 'If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

Lev 26:4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

Lev 26:5 Your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

Lev 26:6 " 'I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one will make you afraid; and I will remove evil animals out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

Lev 26:7 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

Lev 26:8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

Lev 26:9 " 'I will have respect for you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you.

Lev 26:10 You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall move out the old because of the new.

Lev 26:11 I will set my tent among you: and my soul won't abhor you.

Lev 26:12 I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you will be my people.

Lev 26:13 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.

Lev 26:14 " 'But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments;

Lev 26:15 and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant;

Lev 26:16 I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away; and you will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it.

Lev 26:17 I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.

Lev 26:18 " 'If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins.

Lev 26:19 I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your sky like iron, and your soil like brass;

Lev 26:20 and your strength will be spent in vain; for your land won't yield its increase, neither will the trees of the land yield their fruit.

Lev 26:21 " 'If you walk contrary to me, and won't listen to me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins.

Lev 26:22 I will send the wild animals among you, which will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your roads will become desolate.

Lev 26:23 " 'If by these things you won't be reformed to me, but will walk contrary to me;

Lev 26:24 then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins.

Lev 26:25 I will bring a sword upon you, that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; and you will be gathered together within your cities: and I will send the pestilence among you; and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

Lev 26:26 When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight: and you shall eat, and not be satisfied.

Lev 26:27 " 'If you in spite of this won't listen to me, but walk contrary to me;

Lev 26:28 then I will walk contrary to you in wrath; and I also will chastise you seven times for your sins.

Lev 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.

Lev 26:30 I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you.

Lev 26:31 I will lay your cities waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not take delight in the sweet fragrance of your offerings.

Lev 26:32 I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein will be astonished at it.

Lev 26:33 I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you: and your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

Lev 26:34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies' land. Even then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths.

Lev 26:35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it didn't have in your sabbaths, when you lived on it.

Lev 26:36 " 'As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies: and the sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword; and they will fall when no one pursues.

Lev 26:37 They will stumble over one another, as it were before the sword, when no one pursues: and you will have no power to stand before your enemies.

Lev 26:38 You will perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies will eat you up.

Lev 26:39 Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.

Lev 26:40 " 'If they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me, and also that, because they walked contrary to me,

Lev 26:41 I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies: if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity;

Lev 26:42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob; and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land.

Lev 26:43 The land also will be left by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them: and they will accept the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they rejected my ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes.

Lev 26:44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them; for I am Yahweh their God;

Lev 26:45 but I will for their sake remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am Yahweh.' "

Lev 26:46 These are the statutes, ordinances and laws, which Yahweh made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by Moses.

Lev 27:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Lev 27:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'When a man makes a vow, the persons shall be for Yahweh by your valuation.

Lev 27:3 Your valuation shall be of a male from twenty years old even to sixty years old, even your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

Lev 27:4 If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels.

Lev 27:5 If the person is from five years old even to twenty years old, then your valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

Lev 27:6 If the person is from a month old even to five years old, then your valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver.

Lev 27:7 If the person is from sixty years old and upward; if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels.

Lev 27:8 But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be set before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to the ability of him who vowed shall the priest value him.

Lev 27:9 " 'If it is an animal, of which men offer an offering to Yahweh, all that any man gives of such to Yahweh becomes holy.

Lev 27:10 He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change animal for animal, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy.

Lev 27:11 If it is any unclean animal, of which they do not offer as an offering to Yahweh, then he shall set the animal before the priest;

Lev 27:12 and the priest shall value it, whether it is good or bad. As you the priest values it, so shall it be.

Lev 27:13 But if he will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of it to its valuation.

Lev 27:14 " 'When a man dedicates his house to be holy to Yahweh, then the priest shall evaluate it, whether it is good or bad: as the priest shall evaluate it, so shall it stand.

Lev 27:15 If he who dedicates it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall be his.

Lev 27:16 " 'If a man dedicates to Yahweh part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it: the sowing of a homer of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.

Lev 27:17 If he dedicates his field from the Year of Jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand.

Lev 27:18 But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the money according to the years that remain to the Year of Jubilee; and an abatement shall be made from your valuation.

Lev 27:19 If he who dedicated the field will indeed redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of your valuation to it, and it shall remain his.

Lev 27:20 If he will not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more;

Lev 27:21 but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to Yahweh, as a field devoted; it shall be owned by the priests.

Lev 27:22 " 'If he dedicates to Yahweh a field which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession,

Lev 27:23 then the priest shall reckon to him the worth of your valuation up to the Year of Jubilee; and he shall give your valuation on that day, as a holy thing to Yahweh.

Lev 27:24 In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs.

Lev 27:25 All your valuations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs to the shekel.

Lev 27:26 " 'Only the firstborn among animals, which is made a firstborn to Yahweh, no man may dedicate it; whether an ox or sheep, it is Yahweh's.

Lev 27:27 If it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back according to your valuation, and shall add to it the fifth part of it: or if it isn't redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.

Lev 27:28 " 'Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall devote to Yahweh of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to Yahweh.

Lev 27:29 " 'No one devoted, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.

Lev 27:30 " 'All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahweh's. It is holy to Yahweh.

Lev 27:31 If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it.

Lev 27:32 All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to Yahweh.

Lev 27:33 He shall not search whether it is good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he changes it at all, then both it and that for which it is changed shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.' "

Lev 27:34 These are the commandments which Yahweh commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Apr. 3

Luke 3

Luk 3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

Luk 3:2 in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

Luk 3:3 He came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for remission of sins.

Luk 3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.

Luk 3:5 Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth.

Luk 3:6 All flesh will see God's salvation.' "

Luk 3:7 He said therefore to the multitudes who went out to be baptized by him, "You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Luk 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and don't begin to say among yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father;' for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones!

Luk 3:9 Even now the axe also lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doesn't bring forth good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire."

Luk 3:10 The multitudes asked him, "What then must we do?"

Luk 3:11 He answered them, "He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise."

Luk 3:12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what must we do?"

Luk 3:13 He said to them, "Collect no more than that which is appointed to you."

Luk 3:14 Soldiers also asked him, saying, "What about us? What must we do?" He said to them, "Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages."

Luk 3:15 As the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he was the Christ,

Luk 3:16 John answered them all, "I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the latchet of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire,

Luk 3:17 whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Luk 3:18 Then with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people,

Luk 3:19 but Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done,

Luk 3:20 added this also to them all, that he shut up John in prison.

Luk 3:21 Now it happened, when all the people were baptized, Jesus also had been baptized, and was praying. The sky was opened,

Luk 3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form as a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying "You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased."

Luk 3:23 Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

Luk 3:24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

Luk 3:25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,

Luk 3:26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah,

Luk 3:27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

Luk 3:28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er,

Luk 3:29 the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

Luk 3:30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim,

Luk 3:31 the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

Luk 3:32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,

Luk 3:33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

Luk 3:34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

Luk 3:35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

Luk 3:36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

Luk 3:37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,

Luk 3:38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Apr. 4

Luke 4

Luk 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

Luk 4:2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry.

Luk 4:3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."

Luk 4:4 Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "

Luk 4:5 The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

Luk 4:6 The devil said to him, "I will give you all this authority, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me; and I give it to whomever I want.

Luk 4:7 If you therefore will worship before me, it will all be yours."

Luk 4:8 Jesus answered him, "Get behind me Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.' "

Luk 4:9 He led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here,

Luk 4:10 for it is written, 'He will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you;'

Luk 4:11 and, 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone.' "

Luk 4:12 Jesus answering, said to him, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' "

Luk 4:13 When the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until another time.

Luk 4:14 Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area.

Luk 4:15 He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Luk 4:16 He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

Luk 4:17 The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,

Luk 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed,

Luk 4:19 and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

Luk 4:20 He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him.

Luk 4:21 He began to tell them, "Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

Luk 4:22 All testified about him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, "Isn't this Joseph's son?"

Luk 4:23 He said to them, "Doubtless you will tell me this parable, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.' "

Luk 4:24 He said, "Most certainly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.

Luk 4:25 But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land.

Luk 4:26 Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

Luk 4:27 There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, except Naaman, the Syrian."

Luk 4:28 They were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things.

Luk 4:29 They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they might throw him off the cliff.

Luk 4:30 But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way.

Luk 4:31 He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. He was teaching them on the Sabbath day,

Luk 4:32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority.

Luk 4:33 In the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

Luk 4:34 saying, "Ah! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are: the Holy One of God!"

Luk 4:35 Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" When the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.

Luk 4:36 Amazement came on all, and they spoke together, one with another, saying, "What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!"

Luk 4:37 News about him went out into every place of the surrounding region.

Luk 4:38 He rose up from the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a great fever, and they begged him for her.

Luk 4:39 He stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her. Immediately she rose up and served them.

Luk 4:40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

Luk 4:41 Demons also came out from many, crying out, and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" Rebuking them, he didn't allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

Luk 4:42 When it was day, he departed and went into an uninhabited place, and the multitudes looked for him, and came to him, and held on to him, so that he wouldn't go away from them.

Luk 4:43 But he said to them, "I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent."

Luk 4:44 He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.