What causes murder?

Today was a day of one errand after another.  When I came home this afternoon, I saw the president of the United States of America on the television, commenting about the recent shootings in our Northern states.  It appeared he was quite saddened by these horrific occurrences, but I think we will have to wait for the other shoe to drop.  What I mean is that the more liberal element within our government will use these recent shootings to try to eliminate our second amendment rights.  The back of the T-shirt only tells half of the story; read below to see the rest...


Exodus, Chapter 20
  1 God spoke all these words, saying,  2 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

  3  “You shall have no other gods before me. 

  4  “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:  5 you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,  6 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 

  7  “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 

  8  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  9 You shall labor six days, and do all your work,  10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates;  11 for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

  12  “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 

  13  “You shall not murder. 

  14  “You shall not commit adultery. 

  15  “You shall not steal. 

  16  “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 

  17  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Murder (see vs. 13 above) is one of the Old testament commandments.  Notice that there is not a list of the "Hows". The methods used in murders are as variable as the people who commit them.  Don't blame the ownership of guns on the act; it is the sinful human heart that is the culprit.  We don't need more legislation, we need education.  Instruction in the ways of God should be our aim.  Human governments are inherently flawed and can not provide a permanent solution, The Word of GOD CAN!!!    Which brings me to another passage from the Bible, this time from the New Testament.

Luke, Chapter 10
 25  Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 

  26  He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” 

  27  He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

  28  He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”

<sup>Both the passage from Exodus and Luke could be condensed further to: LOVE GOD AND DO WHAT YOU LIKE.  For if you really love GOD, then you will live as HE wants you to.  Simple, straightforward and effective; the best murder control I can imagine!!!

PS.  Please do not misunderstand today's post; my heart goes out to all involved in today's events.  I pray that God will comfort them in their time of sorrow!!!!</sup>

Bible Reading, Dec. 14

Dec. 14

Hosea 9-12

Hos 9:1 Don't rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations; for you were unfaithful to your God. You love the wages of a prostitute at every grain threshing floor.

Hos 9:2 The threshing floor and the winepress won't feed them, and the new wine will fail her.

Hos 9:3 They won't dwell in Yahweh's land; but Ephraim will return to Egypt, and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.

Hos 9:4 They won't pour out wine offerings to Yahweh, neither will they be pleasing to him. Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat of it will be polluted; for their bread will be for their appetite. It will not come into the house of Yahweh.

Hos 9:5 What will you do in the day of solemn assembly, and in the day of the feast of Yahweh?

Hos 9:6 For, behold, they have gone away from destruction. Egypt will gather them up. Memphis will bury them. Nettles will possess their pleasant things of silver. Thorns will be in their tents.

Hos 9:7 The days of visitation have come. The days of reckoning have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, and the man who is inspired to be insane, because of the abundance of your sins, and because your hostility is great.

Hos 9:8 A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God. A fowler's snare is on all of his paths, and hostility in the house of his God.

Hos 9:9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity. He will punish them for their sins.

Hos 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at its first season; but they came to Baal Peor, and consecrated themselves to the shameful thing, and became abominable like that which they loved.

Hos 9:11 As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird. There will be no birth, none with child, and no conception.

Hos 9:12 Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them, so that not a man shall be left. Indeed, woe also to them when I depart from them!

Hos 9:13 I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place; but Ephraim will bring out his children to the murderer.

Hos 9:14 Give them--Yahweh what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

Hos 9:15 "All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house! I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels.

Hos 9:16 Ephraim is struck. Their root has dried up. They will bear no fruit. Even though they bring forth, yet I will kill the beloved ones of their womb."

Hos 9:17 My God will cast them away, because they did not listen to him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.

 

Hos 10:1 Israel is a luxuriant vine that puts forth his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.

Hos 10:2 Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones.

Hos 10:3 Surely now they will say, "We have no king; for we don't fear Yahweh; and the king, what can he do for us?"

Hos 10:4 They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants. Therefore judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.

Hos 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror for the calves of Beth Aven; for its people will mourn over it, Along with its priests who rejoiced over it, for its glory, because it has departed from it.

Hos 10:6 It also will be carried to Assyria for a present to a great king. Ephraim will receive shame, and Israel will be ashamed of his own counsel.

Hos 10:7 Samaria and her king float away, like a twig on the water.

Hos 10:8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, "Cover us!" and the hills, "Fall on us!"

Hos 10:9 "Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they remained. The battle against the children of iniquity doesn't overtake them in Gibeah.

Hos 10:10 When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.

Hos 10:11 Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh; so I will put a yoke on her beautiful neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah will plow. Jacob will break his clods.

Hos 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Yahweh, until he comes and rains righteousness on you.

Hos 10:13 You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men.

Hos 10:14 Therefore a battle roar will arise among your people, and all your fortresses will be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in the day of battle. The mother was dashed in pieces with her children.

Hos 10:15 So Bethel will do to you because of your great wickedness. At daybreak the king of Israel will be destroyed.

 

Hos 11:1 "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Hos 11:2 They called to them, so they went from them. They sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to engraved images.

Hos 11:3 Yet I taught Ephraim to walk. I took them by his arms; but they didn't know that I healed them.

Hos 11:4 I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love; and I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks; and I bent down to him and I fed him.

Hos 11:5 "They won't return into the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian will be their king, because they refused to repent.

Hos 11:6 The sword will fall on their cities, and will destroy the bars of their gates, and will put an end to their plans.

Hos 11:7 My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won't exalt them.

Hos 11:8 "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me, my compassion is aroused.

Hos 11:9 I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you; and I will not come in wrath.

Hos 11:10 They will walk after Yahweh, who will roar like a lion; for he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.

Hos 11:11 They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will settle them in their houses," says Yahweh.

Hos 11:12 Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit. Judah still strays from God, and is unfaithful to the Holy One.

 

Hos 12:1 Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.

Hos 12:2 Yahweh also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds he will repay him.

Hos 12:3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he contended with God.

Hos 12:4 Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us,

Hos 12:5 even Yahweh, the God of Armies; Yahweh is his name of renown!

Hos 12:6 Therefore turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your God.

Hos 12:7 A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud.

Hos 12:8 Ephraim said, "Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won't find in me any iniquity that is sin."

Hos 12:9 "But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.

Hos 12:10 I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.

Hos 12:11 If Gilead is wicked, surely they are worthless. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field.

Hos 12:12 Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.

Hos 12:13 By a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.

Hos 12:14 Ephraim has bitterly provoked anger. Therefore his blood will be left on him, and his Lord will repay his contempt.

Dec. 14

1 John 4

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1Jn 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,

1Jn 4:3 and every spirit who doesn't confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already.

1Jn 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.

1Jn 4:5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them.

1Jn 4:6 We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn't listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

1Jn 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God.

1Jn 4:8 He who doesn't love doesn't know God, for God is love.

1Jn 4:9 By this God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

1Jn 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

1Jn 4:11 Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.

1Jn 4:12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.

1Jn 4:13 By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

1Jn 4:14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.

1Jn 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.

1Jn 4:16 We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

1Jn 4:17 In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world.

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.

1Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

1Jn 4:20 If a man says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn't love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

1Jn 4:21 This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.

Proverbs, Two invitations 9:1-18, Mark Copeland

                         "THE BOOK OF PROVERBS"

                        Two Invitations (9:1-18)

INTRODUCTION

1. In his discourses on the value of seeking after wisdom, Solomon has
   varied his approach...
   a. He makes his own appeal as a father to his son and children - cf.
      Pr 1:8; 4:1
   b. He personifies wisdom as a lady who invites people to pay heed
      - cf. Pr 1:20; 8:1

2. His final discourse presents a picture of two women, both extending
   invitations...
   a. One woman personifies wisdom - Pr 9:1-12
   b. The other personifies folly - Pr 9:13-18

[Whose invitation will we accept?  That of Lady Wisdom, or that of Woman
Folly?  Consider first...]

I. THE INVITATION OF LADY WISDOM (9:1-12)

   A. HER PREPARATION...
      1. Her beautiful home:  a large house with seven pillars - Pr 9:1
         a. The number seven suggests to many the idea of completeness
         b. Compare the seven-fold qualities of wisdom described by
            James - Jm 3:17
      2. Her sumptuous feast:  meat and wine, a furnished table - Pro
         9:2
         a. Carefully prepared
         b. Beautifully presented
      -- Lady Wisdom has made great effort in making provisions

   B. HER PLEA...
      1. She wants to be heard - Pr 9:3
         a. She has sent out her maidens (reminding us of Jesus, sending
            His apostles)
         b. She cries out from the highest places of the city
      2. She invites the simple and those who lack understanding - Pro
         9:4-6
         a. To eat and drink of her prepared feast
         b. To forsake foolishness and live, to go in the way of
            understanding
      3. Why She won't invite scoffers - Pr 9:7-9
         a. Correcting a scoffer only shames and harms the one doing the
            correcting
         b. The wise and just, however, appreciate and will learn from
            correction
      -- Lady Wisdom makes great effort to reach those who will listen

   C. HER PROMISE...
      1. Wisdom and understanding - Pr 9:10
         a. To those who fear the Lord
         b. To those who know the Lord
      2. Long life - Pr 9:11; cf. 3:2,16
         a. Days will be multiplied
         b. Years will be added
      3. To benefit one's self - Pr 9:12
         a. Wisdom will bless one's self (for you will have God's aid)
         b. Scorn, on the other hand, will hurt one's self (for you will
            bear things alone)
      -- Lady Wisdom wants you to have the best life possible!

[The invitation of Lady Wisdom is really quite tempting (in a good way).
Especially when we carefully consider the alternative...]

II. THE INVITATION OF WOMAN FOLLY (9:13-18)

   A. HER PREPARATION...
      1. She really makes no preparation
      2. Instead, she is "loud; she is seductive and knows nothing"
         (ESV) - Pr 9:13
      3. The Believers' Bible Commentary describes her as "loudmouthed,
         empty-headed, and brazenfaced"
      -- Compare her lack of preparation with that of Lady Wisdom

   B. HER PLEA...
      1. She sits at the door of her house - Pr 9:14a
         a. Unlike Lady Wisdom
         b. Who sent out Her maidens to be heard
      2. She sits on a high seat by the highest places of the city - Pro
         9:14b
         a. Where Lady Wisdom also cries out - cf. Pr 9:3
         b. Note that Woman Folly cries out from a seated position
            (lazy?)
      3. She calls to those who pass by - Pr 9:15-16
         a. Especially the simple
         b. And those who lack understanding
      -- Woman Folly competes with Lady Wisdom for the souls of men

   C. HER PROMISE...
      1. That stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is
         pleasant - Pr 9:17
         a. An allusion to illicit intercourse - cf. Pr 5:15
         b. But it is a false promise - cf. Pr 20:17; 5:3-5
      2. The true promise is unknown to the simple lacking understanding
         - Pr 9:18
         a. Her home is the house of the dead - cf. Pr 2:18-19
         b. Her house is the way to hell - cf. Pr 5:5; 7:27
      -- Woman Folly, known best for her adulterous ways, promises much
         but delivers the worst life possible!

CONCLUSION

1. Whose invitation shall we accept...?
   a. That of Lady Wisdom, who has prepared much and delivers what she
      promises?
   b. Or that of Woman Folly, who promises much and delivers the
      opposite?
   c. The choice should be obvious, even to the simple and those lacking
      understanding!

2. Thus ends the discourses of Solomon...
   a. Designed to encourage the acquisition of wisdom
   b. Illustrating the superiority of wisdom over folly

In our next study, we will continue our survey of Proverbs using a
topical approach...

"Mr Sensitivity"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AllhU-qRRbs&feature=endscreen&NR=1

 

Click on the above link to view the video

Don Rickles: Now there is a name that evokes emotion!!!  This man has the sharpest (biting, harsh) humor I have ever heard!!!  He was big in show business when I was quite young and the attached video shows him "roasting" Jerry Lewis.  No one is real life could get away with talking like Don and although most of the video is vitriolic in nature, yet at the very end, he goes beyond the "comedy" and says what he really feels.  I am reminded of this passage from the book of proverbs...

Proverbs 27

  21 The crucible is for silver,
and the furnace for gold;
but man is refined by his praise.
  22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain,
yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.

 Jerry Lewis is a great man; his telethons have helped untold millions of suffering children.  Does he deserve this "praise"?  For that matter, does Don Rickles deserve to be on the same stage as him?  Good question!  All I know is that a person should say what they mean or nothing at all.  Perhaps the last few seconds of the video are the only thing worth watching... you be the judge!

Bible Reading, Dec.13

Dec. 13

Hosea 5-8

Hos 5:1 "Listen to this, you priests! Listen, house of Israel, and give ear, house of the king! For the judgment is against you; for you have been a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread on Tabor.

Hos 5:2 The rebels are deep in slaughter; but I discipline all of them.

Hos 5:3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, Ephraim, you have played the prostitute. Israel is defiled.

Hos 5:4 Their deeds won't allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don't know Yahweh.

Hos 5:5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity. Judah also will stumble with them.

Hos 5:6 They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Yahweh; but they won't find him. He has withdrawn himself from them.

Hos 5:7 They are unfaithful to Yahweh; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.

Hos 5:8 "Blow the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!

Hos 5:9 Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke. Among the tribes of Israel, I have made known that which will surely be.

Hos 5:10 The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark. I will pour out my wrath on them like water.

Hos 5:11 Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.

Hos 5:12 Therefore I am to Ephraim like a moth, and to the house of Judah like rottenness.

Hos 5:13 "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.

Hos 5:14 For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.

Hos 5:15 I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly."

 

Hos 6:1 "Come, and let us return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.

Hos 6:2 After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him.

Hos 6:3 Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth."

Hos 6:4 "Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early.

Hos 6:5 Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning.

Hos 6:6 For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Hos 6:7 But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me, there.

Hos 6:8 Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood.

Hos 6:9 As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, so the company of priests murder in the way toward Shechem, committing shameful crimes.

Hos 6:10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing. There is prostitution in Ephraim. Israel is defiled.

Hos 6:11 "Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you, when I restore the fortunes of my people.

 

Hos 7:1 When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, also the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in, and the gang of robbers ravages outside.

Hos 7:2 They don't consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have engulfed them. They are before my face.

Hos 7:3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.

Hos 7:4 They are all adulterers. They are burning like an oven that the baker stops stirring, from the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened.

Hos 7:5 On the day of our king, the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine. He joined his hand with mockers.

Hos 7:6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all the night. In the morning it burns as a flaming fire.

Hos 7:7 They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges. All their kings have fallen. There is no one among them who calls to me.

Hos 7:8 Ephraim, he mixes himself among the nations. Ephraim is a pancake not turned over.

Hos 7:9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he doesn't realize it. Indeed, gray hairs are here and there on him, and he doesn't realize it.

Hos 7:10 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they haven't returned to Yahweh their God, nor sought him, for all this.

Hos 7:11 "Ephraim is like an easily deceived dove, without understanding. They call to Egypt. They go to Assyria.

Hos 7:12 When they go, I will spread my net on them. I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them, as their congregation has heard.

Hos 7:13 Woe to them! For they have wandered from me. Destruction to them! For they have trespassed against me. Though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

Hos 7:14 They haven't cried to me with their heart, but they howl on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They turn away from me.

Hos 7:15 Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet they plot evil against me.

Hos 7:16 They return, but not to the Most High. They are like a faulty bow. Their princes will fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt.

 

Hos 8:1 "Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh's house, because they have broken my covenant, and rebelled against my law.

Hos 8:2 They cry to me, 'My God, we Israel acknowledge you!'

Hos 8:3 Israel has cast off that which is good. The enemy will pursue him.

Hos 8:4 They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I didn't approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off.

Hos 8:5 Let Samaria throw out his calf idol! My anger burns against them! How long will it be until they are capable of purity?

Hos 8:6 For this is even from Israel! The workman made it, and it is no God; indeed, the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.

Hos 8:7 For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.

Hos 8:8 Israel is swallowed up. Now they are among the nations like a worthless thing.

Hos 8:9 For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.

Hos 8:10 But although they sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them; and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones.

Hos 8:11 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they became for him altars for sinning.

Hos 8:12 I wrote for him the many things of my law; but they were regarded as a strange thing.

Hos 8:13 As for the sacrifices of my offerings, they sacrifice flesh and eat it; But Yahweh doesn't accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins. They will return to Egypt.

Hos 8:14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire on his cities, and it will devour its fortresses."

Dec. 13

1 John 3

1Jn 3:1 Behold, how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know him.

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.

1Jn 3:3 Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

1Jn 3:4 Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.

1Jn 3:5 You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin.

1Jn 3:6 Whoever remains in him doesn't sin. Whoever sins hasn't seen him, neither knows him.

1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

1Jn 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

1Jn 3:9 Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can't sin, because he is born of God.

1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn't do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn't love his brother.

1Jn 3:11 For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;

1Jn 3:12 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

1Jn 3:13 Don't be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.

1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn't love his brother remains in death.

1Jn 3:15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

1Jn 3:16 By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

1Jn 3:17 But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart of compassion against him, how does the love of God remain in him?

1Jn 3:18 My little children, let's not love in word only, neither with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.

1Jn 3:19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him,

1Jn 3:20 because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

1Jn 3:21 Beloved, if our hearts don't condemn us, we have boldness toward God;

1Jn 3:22 and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.

1Jn 3:23 This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded.

1Jn 3:24 He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.