Sermon on the Mountain XV

Now judgment

I say, say-est thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebel-est against me?

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And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it:

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Unto the work-man he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;

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For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.

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Unto the work-man he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Ad-am, and he slept:

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Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.

There-fore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they - be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

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For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; - and there is none else.

I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

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But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for - they think that they shall be heard - for their much speaking.

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Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews - for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.

And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, - for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at - Jerusalem, let it be given them - day by day - without fail:

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Be not ye there-fore - like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

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After this manner there-fore pray ye:

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And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man - in the earth to come in unto us - after the manner - of all the earth:

And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.

And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my - sabbaths.

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Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

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And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: - for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.

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Thy kingdom come.

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And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.

But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

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Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

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Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not aught of your work shall be diminished.

So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble - instead of straw.

And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.

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Give us - this day - our daily bread.

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Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.  Be not thou - one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.

Yet, Lord, thou know-est all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the great-est of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin - no more.

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And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

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Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Unto thee it was shewed, that thou might- est know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.

The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out: so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.

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And lead us not into temptation,

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Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now there-fore receive no more money of your acquaintance, but deliver it - for the breaches of the house.

And the priests consented to receive no more money of the people, neither to repair the breaches of the house.

Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

  For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noi-some beast, and the pestilence, to cut off - from it man and beast?

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but deliver us from evil:

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Withdraw thine hand far from - me: and let not thy dread make me afraid. Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.

How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.

Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and hold-est me for thine enemy?    

The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give -thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink - thy wine, for the which thou has laboured:

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For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. A-men.

ISamuelyeaon

Sermon on the Mountain VX

Secret

And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas,

and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: - yea, I have cursed them already, - because ye do not lay it to heart.

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, - to be seen of them: other-wise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Where-fore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand? Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.

There-fore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly.

The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

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He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes - from seeing evil;

He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

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And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.

He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.

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There-fore when thou do-est thine alms, do not sound a trumpet be-fore thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues. . .

They, and every beast - after - his kind, and all the cattle - after - their kind, . .

. . . and in the streets, that they may have - glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

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Behold, - I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: - But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

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But when thou do-est alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

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He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant. I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust. My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; - Not for any injustice in mine hands: - also my prayer is pure.

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And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth?-  this breach be upon thee: - there-fore his name was called Pharez.

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And when thou pray-est, - thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may - be seen of men. . .

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But bring your young-est brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall - not die. And they did so.

And they said one to an-other, We are - verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; - there-fore is this distress come upon us.

Verily I say unto you, They have - their reward.

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Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

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But thou, - when thou pray-est, enter into thy closet,

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And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou may-est know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

For Jacob  my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God - beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known - me:

That they may know - from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none be-side me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.

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and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father - which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

ISamuelyeaon-AmAllah

Sermon on the Mount XIV

Other

Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast - not - thou made an hedge about him, - and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

    But put forth thine hand now, and touch all - that he hath, and he will curse thee to - thy face. . .

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

. . .For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt - my throne above the stars of God:

Thou hast multiplied - thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and - flieth away.

Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth - they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them. . . .

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And I will put enmity - between thee and the work-man, and between - thy seed - and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

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And Lamech said unto his wives, Ad-ah - and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

. . .There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom - hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

And he said, Take now - thy son, - thine only son Isaac, whom - thou lov-est, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer - him there for a - burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

But I say unto you, - Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

That ye may be the children of your Father - which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

pub-li-can

(publi-kn)n. 1. Chiefly British. The keeper of a public house or tavern. 2. A collector of public taxes or tolls in the ancient Roman Empire. 3. A collector of taxes or tribute from the public.[Middle English, tax collector, from Old French, from Latin publicanus, from publicum, public revenue, from neuter of publicus, public. See PUBLIC.]

              Excerpted from American Heritage Dictionary

In antiquity, publicans (Greek τελώνης telōnēs; Latin publicanus (singular); publicani (plural)) were public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects. In addition, they served as tax collectors for the Republic (and later the Roman Empire), bidding on contracts (from the Senate in Rome) for the collection of various types of taxes. Importantly, this role as tax collectors was not emphasized until late into the history of the Republic (c. 1st century BC). The publicans were usually of the class of equites.

                                                                           Wikipedia

For if - ye love them which love you, - what reward have ye? do not even the Re-publicans - the same? . . .

And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated - from off the earth.

And he stayed yet other -seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not - again unto him any more.

If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.

. . . And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Re-publicans - so?

Because - I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

He is the Rock, his work - is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity,  - just and right - is he.

Be ye – there-fore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven - is perfect.

ISamuelyeaon-AmAllah