Sermon on the Mountain XVIII

The Fast is over

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

And out of the ground made the - Lord God - to grow - every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good - for food; the tree of life - also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

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And the earth was without form, and void;

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And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light,

and God saw that it was good.

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?

Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

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And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father,

and - told his two brethren without.

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And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, - one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou move-dst me against him, to destroy him - without cause.

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And they heard the voice of the - Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:

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My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away; Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid: - What time - they wax warm, - they vanish: when it is hot, - they are consumed out of their place. The paths of their way are turned aside; - they go to nothing, and perish.

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Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.

And they - gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.

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Job, that there is none like him in the earth,

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For the Lord had - fast closed up - all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.

For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his - old age, - at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

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Where-fore have we fasted, - say they, - and thou seest not? where-fore have we - afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, - in the day of your fast - ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: - ye shall not fast - as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?

Is not this - the fast - that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye - break every yoke?

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, - that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself - from thine own flesh?

But unto Cain and to his offering he had - not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art - thou wroth? and why is - thy countenance fallen?

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

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Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth:

thou changest his countenance, against him, and he passeth:

thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them. But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

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And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.

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I have heard many such things: - miserable comforters are ye all. Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my souls stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.

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And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to - pass over - the earth, and the waters assuaged;

The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the ra-in from heaven was restrained;

And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the - hundred and fifty days - the waters were abated.

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But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief. Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?

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And, behold, - there came up out of the river - seven kine, fat-fleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:

And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up - the first -seven fat kine:

And when they had eaten them up, - it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning.  So I awoke.

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But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company. And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.

He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.

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And the Lord said unto him, There-fore who-so-ever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him - should kill - him.

And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place - should kill - me - for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.

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God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up - for his mark.

His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.

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Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

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There were giants in the earth in - those days; and also - after that, - when the sons of God - came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same - became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

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Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; - let me, - I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for there - fore came they under the shadow of my roof.

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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.

 Moreover when ye fast, - be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: - for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

ISamuelyeaon-Am-Allah

Sermon on the Mountain XVII

tres-pass

(tresps, -pas)v. intr. tres-passed, tres-pass-ing, tres-pass-es. 1. To commit an offense or a sin; transgress or err. 2. Law. To commit an unlawful injury to the person, property, or rights of another, with actual or implied force or violence, especially to enter onto another's land wrongfully. 3. To infringe on the privacy, time, or attention of another: "I must ... not trespass too far on the patience of a good-natured critic" (Henry Fielding).n. (trespas, -ps). 1. Transgression of a moral or social law, code, or duty. 2.   Law. The act of trespassing. A suit brought for trespassing. 3. An intrusion or infringement on another. See Synonyms at breach

Excerpted from American Heritage Talking Dictionary

So shall ye say unto Joseph,-  Forgive, - I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: -

and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God - of thy father.

And Joseph wept - when they spake unto him.

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And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, - they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

So they sat down with him upon the ground - seven days - and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: - for they saw that his grief was very great.

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And God made the firmament, and divided the waters - which were under the firmament - from the waters - which were above the firmament: and it was so

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  Their land - also is full of idols; - they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:

And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: - there-fore forgive them not.

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God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

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And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell there-in shall be forgiven their iniquity.

Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is there-in; the world, and all things that come forth of it.

For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, - he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

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And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.

Of their - flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

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But now - they that are younger than I - have me in derision, whose fathers - I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of - my flock.

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Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and - turn again and rend you.

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And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence com-est thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: where-fore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.

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Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

If we assay to commune with thee, - wilt thou be grieved? - but who can withhold himself from speaking?

Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.

Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.

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But now it is come upon thee, and thou faint-est; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?

Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?

Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.

The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.

visions

Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear - received a little thereof.

In thoughts - from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,

Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

Then a spirit passed before - my face; the hair of my flesh - stood up:

It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

Shall mortal man - be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:

How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish - for ever without any regarding it.

Doth not their excellency which is in them - go away? - they die, even without wisdom.

Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?

For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly - I cursed his habitation.

His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.

Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

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There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and - that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

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 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:

Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things - without number:

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and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

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 Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:

To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.

He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness:

fro-ward

(frowrd, -rd)adj. Stubbornly contrary and disobedient; obstinate.--fro'ward-ly adv. --fro'ward-ness n.

 and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. They meet with darkness in the day-time, and grope in the noon-day as in the night.

But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.

So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: there-fore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.

He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.

Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

And thou - shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.

Thou shalt know - also - that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in - in his season.

Lo this, we have searched it, - so it is; - hear it, and know thou it - for thy good.

Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me? When I say, My bed shall  - comfort me, -my couch shall ease my complaint;

Then thou scar-est me with dreams, and terrifi-est me through visions: So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life. I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.

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And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

There-fore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

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And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

  

uni

Single; one: uni-cycle.

For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Boz-rah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

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There-fore God - give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

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And the uni-corns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him:

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will - also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

ISamuelyeaon