Reflections on the Sunday Gospel and Morning and Evening Office (audio) for Sunday 24, 2008

February 24th, 2008 by thedivinelamp

Biblical Musings on the Responsorial Psalm (95) used at todays Mass. 9:27

On the Gospel John 5:4-42 by Monsignor Daniel Muggenberger 1:00:51

RCIA Podcast  contains Mass readings, reflection on the first scrutiny.  Time unknown but I guess an hour

Morning Office 11:14

Evening Office 8:05

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John 5:4-42
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek
4And an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water, was made whole, of whatsoever infirmity he lay under.
5And there was a certain man there, that had been eight and thirty years under his infirmity.
6Him when Jesus had seen lying, and knew that he had been now a long time, he saith to him: Wilt thou be made whole?
7The infirm man answered him: Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pond. For whilst I am coming, another goeth down before me.
8Jesus saith to him: Arise, take up thy bed, and walk.
9And immediately the man was made whole: and he took up his bed, and walked. And it was the sabbath that day.
10The Jews therefore said to him that was healed: It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed.
11He answered them: He that made me whole, he said to me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
12They asked him therefore: Who is that man who said to thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
13But he who was healed, knew not who it was; for Jesus went aside from the multitude standing in the place.
14Afterwards, Jesus findeth him in the temple, and saith to him: Behold thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee.
15The man went his way, and told the Jews, that it was Jesus who had made him whole.
16Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath.
17But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now; and I work.
18Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the sabbath, but also said God was his Father, making himself equal to God.
19Then Jesus answered, and said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you, the Son cannot do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doth, these the Son also doth in like manner.
20For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things which himself doth: and greater works than these will he shew him, that you may wonder.
21For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and giveth life: so the Son also giveth life to whom he will.
22For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son.
23That all men may honour the Son, as they honour the Father. He who honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father, who hath sent him.
24Amen, amen I say unto you, that he who heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath life everlasting; and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life.
25Amen, amen I say unto you, that the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.
26For as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given the Son also to have life in himself:
27And he hath given him power to do judgment, because he is the Son of man.
28Wonder not at this; for the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God.
29And they that have done good things, shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.
30I cannot of myself do any thing. As I hear, so I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me.
31If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
32There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
33You sent to John, and he gave testimony to the truth.
34But I receive not testimony from man: but I say these things, that you may be saved.
35He was a burning and a shining light: and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.
36But I have a greater testimony than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to perfect; the works themselves, which I do, give testimony of me, that the Father hath sent me.
37And the Father himself who hath sent me, hath given testimony of me: neither have you heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
38And you have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him you believe not.
39Search the scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting; and the same are they that give testimony of me.
40And you will not come to me that you may have life.
41I receive glory not from men.
42But I know you, that you have not the love of God in you.

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Introduction to a Sermon I’ll Never Preach

February 24th, 2008 by thedivinelamp

Text: Isaiah 1:2-31 

The Prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, was born in the Kingdom of Judah during the profitable but immoral reign of King Uzziah, who appears to have reigned from about 783 to 742 BC.  At about the time of Isaiah’s call to prophecy he contracted leprosy as punishment for an attempted usurpation of the priestly office and became one of “the lving dead,” and this forced him to step down from his throne and install his son as regent, Uzziah would die in 733 BC.

A statesman saint, Isaiah is the Thomas More of the Old Testament.  Like More he is a family man, a counselor of kings, a skilled writer, and in the end a martyr for his faith at the hands of his king.  His response to his call, (probably narrated in chapter 6) shows a generous, spontaneous, and naturally courageous nature in contrast to Moses and Jeremiah.  His poetry and preaching reflect a soul sensitive and refined and endowed with extraordinary power of expression.

Isaiah was born during the prosperous but immoral reign of King Uzziah.  He was a contemporary of Amos and Hosea, prophets in the northern kingdom, and of Micah in Judah.  He preached during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.  His position as a counselor to Ahaz and Hezekiah, his knowledge of political affairs, his poetic language and exquisite Hebrew style, all indicate a cultured nobleman of high rank in the royal court.  Married and the father of two sons with prophetic names, Shear-yashub and Maher-shallal-hash-baz, he appears to have done most of his preaching in Jerusalem.  According to Hebrew tradition he died a martyr for the faith around 687, when, by order of the infamous King Manasseh, he was placed in a hollow tree and sawn in half. Excerpted from THE MEN AND MESSAGE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT by Peter Ellis. 

Today’s text is taken from the opening prophecy of the book which bears Isaiah’s name.  The sermons and events narrated in this book do not appear to always be in chronological order; rather, they were compiled according to a theological/thematic ordering.  Some scholars believe that the prophecy of chapter 1, verses 2-31, describe the situation facing Judah at the end of Jotham reign, or perhaps at the beginning of his successor, Ahaz’s reign.  Thus they date the text to about 735 and the beginning of the Syro-Ephramite war.  This war began when Syria, also called Damascus, formed and alliance with the northern kingdom of Israel, sometimes called “Ephraim” because that was the name of the largest northern tribe.  The purpose of this alliance was to oppose the rising power and expansion of the Assyrian Empire.  The two nations sought an alliance with Judah but, when that kingdom refused, they foolishly attacked it, hoping to set up a puppet king on the throne.  Judah, in spite of Isaiah’s warnings to the contrary, appealed to Assyria for help instead of to God.  Assyria moved quickly, destroying the Kingdom of Syria/Damascus and devastating Israel, taking land and captives.  They then proceeded to invade Judah, forcing that kingdom into vassalage and the payment of heavy tribute.

More scholars, and I believe they are correct, attribute this sermon to the period of King Sennacherib of Assyria and his invasion of Judah in 701 BC.  The circumstances are as follows:

In 705 BC King Sargon of Assyria was murdered and a civil war ensued which required Sargon’s son, Sennacherib to gain his inheritance by force of arms.  At this time, and as a result of this situation, King Merodach-baladan of Babylon, long a trouble-maker to Assyria, sought to free his kingdom from Assyrian domination by beginning a rebellion.  Toward this end he sought the aid of other subjected peoples and kingdoms, including the tiny Kingdom of Judah.  King Hezekiah of Judah resisted for a while, giving heed to the Prophet Isaiah, but then, in 702 BC, he joined the anti-Assyrian alliance after receiving assurance of help from Egypt.  By this time, however, Sennacherib had consolidated his power at home and was ready to move against his enemies; this he did with a brutal efficiency and methodology seldom seen in the annals of ancient warfare.  He first occupied Babylon and then moved against the western kingdoms.  As Isaiah had predicted, Egypt turned out to be an untrustworthy and worthless ally, Sennacherib invaded the kingdom of Judah in 702 BC.      He began to systematically lay siege to the fortified towns and cities surrounding Jerusalem and demanded that the city of Jerusalem itself surrender or suffer the consequences.  However, in accord with the prophecy of Isaiah given in 2 Kings 19, a plague struck the Assyrian army, forcing its withdrawal.

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John 5:4-42
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek
4And an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water, was made whole, of whatsoever infirmity he lay under.
5And there was a certain man there, that had been eight and thirty years under his infirmity.
6Him when Jesus had seen lying, and knew that he had been now a long time, he saith to him: Wilt thou be made whole?
7The infirm man answered him: Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pond. For whilst I am coming, another goeth down before me.
8Jesus saith to him: Arise, take up thy bed, and walk.
9And immediately the man was made whole: and he took up his bed, and walked. And it was the sabbath that day.
10The Jews therefore said to him that was healed: It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed.
11He answered them: He that made me whole, he said to me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
12They asked him therefore: Who is that man who said to thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
13But he who was healed, knew not who it was; for Jesus went aside from the multitude standing in the place.
14Afterwards, Jesus findeth him in the temple, and saith to him: Behold thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee.
15The man went his way, and told the Jews, that it was Jesus who had made him whole.
16Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath.
17But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now; and I work.
18Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the sabbath, but also said God was his Father, making himself equal to God.
19Then Jesus answered, and said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you, the Son cannot do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doth, these the Son also doth in like manner.
20For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things which himself doth: and greater works than these will he shew him, that you may wonder.
21For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and giveth life: so the Son also giveth life to whom he will.
22For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son.
23That all men may honour the Son, as they honour the Father. He who honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father, who hath sent him.
24Amen, amen I say unto you, that he who heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath life everlasting; and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life.
25Amen, amen I say unto you, that the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.
26For as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given the Son also to have life in himself:
27And he hath given him power to do judgment, because he is the Son of man.
28Wonder not at this; for the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God.
29And they that have done good things, shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.
30I cannot of myself do any thing. As I hear, so I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me.
31If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
32There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
33You sent to John, and he gave testimony to the truth.
34But I receive not testimony from man: but I say these things, that you may be saved.
35He was a burning and a shining light: and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.
36But I have a greater testimony than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to perfect; the works themselves, which I do, give testimony of me, that the Father hath sent me.
37And the Father himself who hath sent me, hath given testimony of me: neither have you heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
38And you have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him you believe not.
39Search the scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting; and the same are they that give testimony of me.
40And you will not come to me that you may have life.
41I receive glory not from men.
42But I know you, that you have not the love of God in you.
Isaiah 1:2-31
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg LXX Hebrew
2Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me.
3The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.
4Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards.
5For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad.
6From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil.
7Your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your country strangers devour before your face, and it shall be desolate as when wasted by enemies.
8And the daughter of Sion shall be left as a covert in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a city that is laid waste.
9Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom, and we should have been like to Gomorrha.
10Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrha.
11To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck goats.
12When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts?
13Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, and the sabbaths, and other festivals I will not abide, your assemblies are wicked.
14My soul hateth your new moons, and your solemnities: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them.
15And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood.
16Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes: cease to do perversely,
17Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow.
18And then come, and accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool.
19If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land.
20But if you will not, and will provoke me to wrath: the sword shall devour you because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
21How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a harlot? justice dwelt in it, but now murderers.
22Thy silver is turned into dress: thy wine is mingled with water.
23Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, the run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless: and the widow’s cometh not in to them.
24Therefore saith the Lord the God of hosts, the mighty one of Israel: Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries: and I will be revenged of my enemies.
25And I will turn my hand to thee, and I will clean purge away thy dress, and I will take away all thy tin.
26And I will restore thy judges as they were before, and thy counsellors as of old. After this thou shalt be called the city of the just, a faithful city.
27Sion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they shall bring her back in justice.
28And he shall destroy the wicked, and the sinners together: and they that have forsaken the Lord, shall be consumed.
29For they shall be confounded for the idols, to which they have sacrificed: and you shall be ashamed of the gardens which you have chosen.
30When you shall be as an oak with the leaves falling off, and as a garden without water.
31And your strength shall be as the ashes of tow, and your work as a spark: and both shall burn together, and there shall be none to quench it.

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Some Rambling Thoughts on the First Reading for Ash Wednesday.

February 5th, 2008 by thedivinelamp

Since the New American Bible text is under copyright, I’ll be quoting from the RSV. See the copyright statement below. The text is taken from the first reading of the day, Joel 2:12-18.

2:12 “Yet even now,” Says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
2:13 And rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.

Yet even now indicates that the situation is dire, the day of the Lord is looming (2:1). it will be a day of destruction (1:15), of darkness and gloom (2:2; cf, Amos 5:17-20), for the sun and moon will be darkened, and an invading army will bring “blackness…spread upon the mountains” (2:2). Joel is unclear concerning the specific sins of the people but it is rather evident that they are guilty of grievous covenant infidelity. Locust plagues (1:4), destruction of the produce of the land (1:7, 9-12), military invasion and the destruction it brings (2:1-11), were all punishments which God threatened the people with if they broke his covenant (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

What covenant infidelities are you guilty of? What do you need to repent of in this season of covenant renewal? “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6-78).

Would you put off this conversion for a more opportune time? For a day more to your liking? Would you presume to know when the day of the Lord and the establishment of his Kingdom will happen? God is not on your timetable; and if you act thus, are you any better than those who mock his coming?

“…you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandments of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation. They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed out of water and by means of water, through which the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly men. But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forebearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night…What sort of persons ought you to be? Living lives of of holiness and godliness.” All this St Peter tells us in his second letter. And the Lord himself says: But of theat day and hour no one know, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in a field; one is taken, one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Not without reason then, my brothers and sister, does Holy Mother Church give us the words of St Paul in the second reading for today: Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” “Be reconciled with God.”

Yet even now, exhorts the prophet Joel, return to the Lord with all your heart, with fasting, and weeping, and with mourning, rending your heart rather than your clothes, for conversion is a matter for the inner man, for sin is not outside of us. We are carnal, says St Paul, sold under sin:

17 So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:17-24). In such a condition what can man possibly do to begin to repair the damage done to his relationship with God? The catechism answers “nothing.” The initiative belongs wholly to God (grace), who is, the prophet tells us, “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil. Who knows whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him?…” If such is the case in the Old Covenant, how much more gracious is the New one. The law, the Old Covenant, says St John, was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death,” St Paul had asked. He himself knew the answer: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!…There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do, : sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” (Rom 7:24-8:9).

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God! yet you would still put off the season of repentance? The season that reaches its culmination with a renewal of your baptismal vows?

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin…? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For he who has died is freed from sin. 8 But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. 9 For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:1-14).

Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Be reconciled with God.

From the RSV copyright statement (which I think I’ve understood correctly):

Source: Transcribed from: The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version containing the Old and New Testaments, translated from the original tongues: being the version set forth A.D. 1611, revised A.D. 1946-52.-2nd ed. of New Testament A.D. 1971. There should be enough in the rest of the description to identify the text.

Language: English.

Availability: Freely available for non-commercial use provided that this header is included in its entirety with any copy distributed.

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John 5:4-42
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek
4And an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water, was made whole, of whatsoever infirmity he lay under.
5And there was a certain man there, that had been eight and thirty years under his infirmity.
6Him when Jesus had seen lying, and knew that he had been now a long time, he saith to him: Wilt thou be made whole?
7The infirm man answered him: Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pond. For whilst I am coming, another goeth down before me.
8Jesus saith to him: Arise, take up thy bed, and walk.
9And immediately the man was made whole: and he took up his bed, and walked. And it was the sabbath that day.
10The Jews therefore said to him that was healed: It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed.
11He answered them: He that made me whole, he said to me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
12They asked him therefore: Who is that man who said to thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
13But he who was healed, knew not who it was; for Jesus went aside from the multitude standing in the place.
14Afterwards, Jesus findeth him in the temple, and saith to him: Behold thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee.
15The man went his way, and told the Jews, that it was Jesus who had made him whole.
16Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath.
17But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now; and I work.
18Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the sabbath, but also said God was his Father, making himself equal to God.
19Then Jesus answered, and said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you, the Son cannot do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doth, these the Son also doth in like manner.
20For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things which himself doth: and greater works than these will he shew him, that you may wonder.
21For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and giveth life: so the Son also giveth life to whom he will.
22For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son.
23That all men may honour the Son, as they honour the Father. He who honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father, who hath sent him.
24Amen, amen I say unto you, that he who heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath life everlasting; and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life.
25Amen, amen I say unto you, that the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.
26For as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given the Son also to have life in himself:
27And he hath given him power to do judgment, because he is the Son of man.
28Wonder not at this; for the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God.
29And they that have done good things, shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.
30I cannot of myself do any thing. As I hear, so I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me.
31If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
32There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
33You sent to John, and he gave testimony to the truth.
34But I receive not testimony from man: but I say these things, that you may be saved.
35He was a burning and a shining light: and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.
36But I have a greater testimony than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to perfect; the works themselves, which I do, give testimony of me, that the Father hath sent me.
37And the Father himself who hath sent me, hath given testimony of me: neither have you heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
38And you have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him you believe not.
39Search the scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting; and the same are they that give testimony of me.
40And you will not come to me that you may have life.
41I receive glory not from men.
42But I know you, that you have not the love of God in you.
Isaiah 1:2-31
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg LXX Hebrew
2Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me.
3The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.
4Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards.
5For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad.
6From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil.
7Your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your country strangers devour before your face, and it shall be desolate as when wasted by enemies.
8And the daughter of Sion shall be left as a covert in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a city that is laid waste.
9Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom, and we should have been like to Gomorrha.
10Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrha.
11To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck goats.
12When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts?
13Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, and the sabbaths, and other festivals I will not abide, your assemblies are wicked.
14My soul hateth your new moons, and your solemnities: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them.
15And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood.
16Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes: cease to do perversely,
17Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow.
18And then come, and accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool.
19If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land.
20But if you will not, and will provoke me to wrath: the sword shall devour you because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
21How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a harlot? justice dwelt in it, but now murderers.
22Thy silver is turned into dress: thy wine is mingled with water.
23Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, the run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless: and the widow’s cometh not in to them.
24Therefore saith the Lord the God of hosts, the mighty one of Israel: Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries: and I will be revenged of my enemies.
25And I will turn my hand to thee, and I will clean purge away thy dress, and I will take away all thy tin.
26And I will restore thy judges as they were before, and thy counsellors as of old. After this thou shalt be called the city of the just, a faithful city.
27Sion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they shall bring her back in justice.
28And he shall destroy the wicked, and the sinners together: and they that have forsaken the Lord, shall be consumed.
29For they shall be confounded for the idols, to which they have sacrificed: and you shall be ashamed of the gardens which you have chosen.
30When you shall be as an oak with the leaves falling off, and as a garden without water.
31And your strength shall be as the ashes of tow, and your work as a spark: and both shall burn together, and there shall be none to quench it.
Joel 2:12-18
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg LXX Hebrew
12Now therefore saith the Lord: Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning.
13And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil.
14Who knoweth but he will return, and forgive, and leave a blessing behind him, sacrifice and libation to the Lord your God?
15Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly,
16Gather together the people, sanctify the church, assemble the ancients, gather together the little ones, and them that suck at the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth from his bed, and the bride out of her bride chamber.
17Between the porch and the altar the priests the Lord’s ministers shall weep, and shall say: Spare, O Lord, spare thy people: and give not thy inheritance to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them. Why should they say among the nations: Where is their God?
18The Lord hath been zealous for his land, and hath spared his people.
Amos 5:17-20
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg LXX Hebrew
17And in all vineyards there shall be wailing: because I will pass through in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.
18Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.
19As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him: or enter into the house, and lean with his hand upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him.
20Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light: and obscurity, and no brightness in it?
Deuteronomy 28:15-68
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg LXX Hebrew
15But if thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep and to do all his commandments and ceremonies, which I command thee this day, all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.
16Cursed shalt thou be in the city, cursed in the field.
17Cursed shall be thy barn, and cursed thy stores.
18Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, the herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep.
19Cursed shalt thou be coming in, and cursed going out.
20The Lord shall send upon thee famine and hunger, and a rebuke upon all the works which thou shalt do: until he consume and destroy thee quickly, for thy most wicked inventions, by which thou hast forsaken me.
21May the Lord set the pestilence upon thee, until he consume thee out of the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.
22May the Lord afflict thee with miserable want, with the fever and with cold, with burning and with heat, and with corrupted air and with blasting, and pursue thee till thou perish.
23Be the heaven, that is over thee, of brass: and the ground thou treadest on, of iron.
24The Lord give thee dust for rain upon thy land, and let ashes come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be consumed.
25The Lord make thee to fall down before thy enemies, one way mayst thou go out against them, and flee seven ways, and be scattered throughout all the kingdoms of the earth.
26And be thy carcass meat for all the Fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth, and be there none to drive them away.
27The Lord strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of thy body, by which the dung is cast out, with the scab and with the itch: so that thou canst not be healed.
28The Lord strike thee with madness and blindness and fury of mind.
29And mayst thou grope at midday as the blind is wont to grope in the dark, and not make straight thy ways. And mayst thou at all times suffer wrong, and be oppressed with violence, and mayst thou have no one to deliver thee.
30Mayst thou take a wife, and another sleep with her. Mayst thou build a house, and not dwell therein. Mayest thou plant a vineyard and not gather the vintage thereof.
31May thy ox be slain before thee, and thou not eat thereof. May thy ass be taken away in thy sight, and not restored to thee. May thy sheep be given to thy enemies, and may there be none to help thee.
32May thy sons and thy daughters be given to another people, thy eyes looking on, and languishing at the sight of them all the day, and may there be no strength in thy hand.
33May a people which thou knowest not, eat the fruits of thy land, and all thy labours: and mayst thou always suffer oppression, and be crushed at all times.
34And be astonished at the terror of those things which thy eyes shall see:
35May the Lord strike thee with a very sore ulcer in the knees and in the legs, and be thou incurable from the sole of the foot to the top of the head.
36The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king, whom thou shalt have appointed over thee, into a nation which thou and thy fathers know not: and there thou shalt serve strange gods, wood and stone.
37And thou shalt be lost, as a proverb and a byword to all people, among whom the Lord shall bring thee in.
38Thou shalt cast much seed into the ground, and gather little: because the locusts shall consume all.
39Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dig it, and shalt not drink the wine, nor gather any thing thereof: because it shall be wasted with worms.
40Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy borders, and shalt not be anointed with the oil: for the olives shall fall off and perish.
41Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, and shalt not enjoy them: because they shall be led into captivity.
42The blast shall consume all the trees and the fruits of thy ground.
43The stranger that liveth with thee in the land, shall rise up over thee, and shall be higher: and thou shalt go down, and be lower.
44He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him. He shall be as the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
45And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue and overtake thee, till thou perish: because thou heardst not the voice of the Lord thy God, and didst not keep his commandments and ceremonies which he commanded thee.
46And they shall be as signs and wonders on thee, and on thy seed for ever.
47Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things:
48Thou shalt serve thy enemy, whom the Lord will send upon thee, in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put an iron yoke upon thy neck, till he consume thee.
49The Lord will bring upon thee a nation from afar, and from the uttermost ends of the earth, like an eagle that flyeth swiftly, whose tongue thou canst not understand,
50A most insolent nation, that will shew no regard to the ancients, nor have pity on the infant,
51And will devour the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruits of thy land: until thou be destroyed, and will leave thee no wheat, nor wine, nor oil, nor herds of oxen, nor flocks of sheep: until he destroy thee.
52And consume thee in all thy cities, and thy strong and high walls be brought down, wherein thou trustedst in all thy land. Thou shalt be besieged within thy gates in all thy land which the Lord thy God will give thee:
53And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb, and the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in the distress and extremity wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee.
54The man that is nice among you, and very delicate, shall envy his own brother, and his wife, that lieth in his bosom,
55So that he will not give them of the flesh of his children, which he shall eat: because he hath nothing else in the siege and the want, wherewith thy enemies shall distress thee within all thy gates.
56The tender and delicate woman, that could not go upon the ground, nor set down her foot for over much niceness and tenderness, will envy her husband who lieth in her bosom, the flesh of her son, and of her daughter,
57And the filth of the afterbirths, that come forth from between her thighs, and the children that are born the same hour. For they shall eat them secretly for the want of all things, in the siege and distress, wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee within thy gates.
58If thou wilt not keep, and fulfill all the words of this law, that are written in this volume, and fear his glorious and terrible name: that is, The Lord thy God:
59The Lord shall increase thy plagues, and the plagues of thy seed, plagues great and lasting, infirmities grievous and perpetual.
60And he shall bring back on thee all the afflictions of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of, and they shall stick fast to thee.
61Moreover the Lord will bring upon thee all the diseases, and plagues, that are not written in the volume of this law till he consume thee:
62And you shall remain few in number, who before were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because thou heardst not the voice of the Lord thy God.
63And as the Lord rejoiced upon you before doing good to you, and multiplying you: so he shall rejoice destroying and bringing you to nought, so that you shall be taken away from the land which thou shalt go in to possess.
64The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the farthest parts of the earth to the ends thereof: and there thou shalt serve strange gods, which both thou art ignorant of and thy fathers, wood and stone.
65Neither shalt thou be quiet, even in those nations, nor shall there be any rest for the sole of thy foot. For the Lord will give thee a fearful heart, and languishing eyes, and a soul consumed with pensiveness:
66And thy life shall be as it were hanging before thee. Thou shalt fear night and day, neither shalt thou trust thy life.
67In the morning thou shalt say: Who will grant me evening? and at evening: Who will grant me morning? for the fearfulness of thy heart, wherewith thou shalt be terrified, and for those things which thou shalt see with thy eyes.
68The Lord shall bring thee again with ships into Egypt, by the way whereof he said to thee that thou shouldst see it no more. There shalt thou be set to sale to thy enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
1 Corinthians 5:6-78
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek
6Your glorying is not good. Know you not that a little leaven corrupteth the whole lump?
7Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new paste, as you are unleavened. For Christ our pasch is sacrificed.
8Therefore let us feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9I wrote to you in an epistle, not to keep company with fornicators.
10I mean not with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or the extortioners, or the servers of idols; otherwise you must needs go out of this world.
11But now I have written to you, not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother, be a fornicator, or covetous, or a server of idols, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner: with such a one, not so much as to eat.
12For what have I to do to judge them that are without? Do not you judge them that are within?
13For them that are without, God will judge. Put away the evil one from among yourselves.
Romans 7:17-24
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek
17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18For I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good. For to will, is present with me; but to accomplish that which is good, I find not.
19For the good which I will, I do not; but the evil which I will not, that I do.
20Now if I do that which I will not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21I find then a law, that when I have a will to do good, evil is present with me.
22For I am delighted with the law of God, according to the inward man:
23But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my members.
24Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
John 1:17
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek
17For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:1-14
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek
1What shall we say, then? shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2God forbid. For we that are dead to sin, how shall we live any longer therein?
3Know you not that all we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death?
4For we are buried together with him by baptism into death; that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.
5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
6Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may serve sin no longer.
7For he that is dead is justified from sin.
8Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also together with Christ:
9Knowing that Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him.
10For in that he died to sin, he died once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God:
11So do you also reckon, that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12Let no sin therefore reign in your mortal body, so as to obey the lusts thereof.
13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of iniquity unto sin; but present yourselves to God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of justice unto God.
14For sin shall not have dominion over you; for you are not under the law, but under grace.

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Biblical study, Preaching, and Meditation Aids from the Congregation for the Clergy

December 9th, 2007 by thedivinelamp

A tip of the hat to Argent by the Tiber for the following.
The Congregation for the Clergy has as part of its website this feature:

READING THE WORD OF GOD WITH THE CHURCH :

This program offers Sacred Scripture, its interpretation in light of Sacred Tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium, with appropriate theological commentary and exegesis.
The downloadable version allows you to connect Sacred Scripture to the complete works of many Doctors of the Church, Councils, Encyclicals, teachings of the Popes, Catechisms, as well as commentaries from secular literature, etc.
Note: At the moment, the content may differ according to the language used. You are invited to expand your inquiry by researching in other languages.

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John 5:4-42
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek
4And an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water, was made whole, of whatsoever infirmity he lay under.
5And there was a certain man there, that had been eight and thirty years under his infirmity.
6Him when Jesus had seen lying, and knew that he had been now a long time, he saith to him: Wilt thou be made whole?
7The infirm man answered him: Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pond. For whilst I am coming, another goeth down before me.
8Jesus saith to him: Arise, take up thy bed, and walk.
9And immediately the man was made whole: and he took up his bed, and walked. And it was the sabbath that day.
10The Jews therefore said to him that was healed: It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed.
11He answered them: He that made me whole, he said to me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
12They asked him therefore: Who is that man who said to thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
13But he who was healed, knew not who it was; for Jesus went aside from the multitude standing in the place.
14Afterwards, Jesus findeth him in the temple, and saith to him: Behold thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee.
15The man went his way, and told the Jews, that it was Jesus who had made him whole.
16Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath.
17But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now; and I work.
18Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the sabbath, but also said God was his Father, making himself equal to God.
19Then Jesus answered, and said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you, the Son cannot do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doth, these the Son also doth in like manner.
20For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things which himself doth: and greater works than these will he shew him, that you may wonder.
21For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and giveth life: so the Son also giveth life to whom he will.
22For neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son.
23That all men may honour the Son, as they honour the Father. He who honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father, who hath sent him.
24Amen, amen I say unto you, that he who heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath life everlasting; and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life.
25Amen, amen I say unto you, that the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.
26For as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given the Son also to have life in himself:
27And he hath given him power to do judgment, because he is the Son of man.
28Wonder not at this; for the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God.
29And they that have done good things, shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.
30I cannot of myself do any thing. As I hear, so I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me.
31If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
32There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
33You sent to John, and he gave testimony to the truth.
34But I receive not testimony from man: but I say these things, that you may be saved.
35He was a burning and a shining light: and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.
36But I have a greater testimony than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to perfect; the works themselves, which I do, give testimony of me, that the Father hath sent me.
37And the Father himself who hath sent me, hath given testimony of me: neither have you heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
38And you have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him you believe not.
39Search the scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting; and the same are they that give testimony of me.
40And you will not come to me that you may have life.
41I receive glory not from men.
42But I know you, that you have not the love of God in you.
Isaiah 1:2-31
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg LXX Hebrew
2Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me.
3The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.
4Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards.
5For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad.
6From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil.
7Your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your country strangers devour before your face, and it shall be desolate as when wasted by enemies.
8And the daughter of Sion shall be left as a covert in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a city that is laid waste.
9Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom, and we should have been like to Gomorrha.
10Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrha.
11To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck goats.
12When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts?
13Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, and the sabbaths, and other festivals I will not abide, your assemblies are wicked.
14My soul hateth your new moons, and your solemnities: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them.
15And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood.
16Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes: cease to do perversely,
17Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow.
18And then come, and accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool.
19If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land.
20But if you will not, and will provoke me to wrath: the sword shall devour you because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
21How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a harlot? justice dwelt in it, but now murderers.
22Thy silver is turned into dress: thy wine is mingled with water.
23Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, the run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless: and the widow’s cometh not in to them.
24Therefore saith the Lord the God of hosts, the mighty one of Israel: Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries: and I will be revenged of my enemies.
25And I will turn my hand to thee, and I will clean purge away thy dress, and I will take away all thy tin.
26And I will restore thy judges as they were before, and thy counsellors as of old. After this thou shalt be called the city of the just, a faithful city.
27Sion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they shall bring her back in justice.
28And he shall destroy the wicked, and the sinners together: and they that have forsaken the Lord, shall be consumed.
29For they shall be confounded for the idols, to which they have sacrificed: and you shall be ashamed of the gardens which you have chosen.
30When you shall be as an oak with the leaves falling off, and as a garden without water.
31And your strength shall be as the ashes of tow, and your work as a spark: and both shall burn together, and there shall be none to quench it.
Joel 2:12-18
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg LXX Hebrew
12Now therefore saith the Lord: Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning.
13And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil.
14Who knoweth but he will return, and forgive, and leave a blessing behind him, sacrifice and libation to the Lord your God?
15Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly,
16Gather together the people, sanctify the church, assemble the ancients, gather together the little ones, and them that suck at the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth from his bed, and the bride out of her bride chamber.
17Between the porch and the altar the priests the Lord’s ministers shall weep, and shall say: Spare, O Lord, spare thy people: and give not thy inheritance to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them. Why should they say among the nations: Where is their God?
18The Lord hath been zealous for his land, and hath spared his people.
Amos 5:17-20
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg LXX Hebrew
17And in all vineyards there shall be wailing: because I will pass through in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.
18Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.
19As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him: or enter into the house, and lean with his hand upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him.
20Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light: and obscurity, and no brightness in it?
Deuteronomy 28:15-68
View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg LXX Hebrew
15But if thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep and to do all his commandments and ceremonies, which I command thee this day, all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.
16Cursed shalt thou be in the city, cursed in the field.
17Cursed shall be thy barn, and cursed thy stores.
18Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, the herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep.
19Cursed shalt thou be coming in, and cursed going out.
20The Lord shall send upon thee famine and hunger, and a rebuke upon all the works which thou shalt do: until he consume and destroy thee quickly, for thy most wicked inventions, by which thou hast forsaken me.
21May the Lord set the pestilence upon thee, until he consume thee out of the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.
22May the Lord afflict thee with miserable want, with the fever and with cold, with burning and with heat, and with corrupted air and with blasting, and pursue thee till thou perish.
23Be the heaven, that is over thee, of brass: and the ground thou treadest on, of iron.
24The Lord give thee dust for rain upon thy land, and let ashes come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be consumed.
25The Lord make thee to fall down before thy enemies, one way mayst thou go out against them, and flee seven ways, and be scattered throughout all the kingdoms of the earth.
26And be thy carcass meat for all the Fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth, and be there none to drive them away.
27The Lord strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of thy body, by which the dung is cast out, with the scab and with the itch: so that thou canst not be healed.
28The Lord strike thee with madness and blindness and fury of mind.
29And mayst thou grope at midday as the blind is wont to grope in the dark, and not make straight thy ways. And mayst thou at all times suffer wrong, and be oppressed with violence, and mayst thou have no one to deliver thee.
30Mayst thou take a wife, and another sleep with her. Mayst thou build a house, and not dwell therein. Mayest thou plant a vineyard and not gather the vintage thereof.
31May thy ox be slain before thee, and thou not eat thereof. May thy ass be taken away in thy sight, and not restored to thee. May thy sheep be given to thy enemies, and may there be none to help thee.
32May thy sons and thy daughters be given to another people, thy eyes looking on, and languishing at the sight of them all the day, and may there be no strength in thy hand.
33May a people which thou knowest not, eat the fruits of thy land, and all thy labours: and mayst thou always suffer oppression, and be crushed at all times.
34And be astonished at the terror of those things which thy eyes shall see:
35May the Lord strike thee with a very sore ulcer in the knees and in the legs, and be thou incurable from the sole of the foot to the top of the head.
36The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king, whom thou shalt have appointed over thee, into a nation which thou and thy fathers know not: and there thou shalt serve strange gods, wood and stone.
37And thou shalt be lost, as a proverb and a byword to all people, among whom the Lord shall bring thee in.
38Thou shalt cast much seed into the ground, and gather little: because the locusts shall consume all.
39Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dig it, and shalt not drink the wine, nor gather any thing thereof: because it shall be wasted with worms.
40Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy borders, and shalt not be anointed with the oil: for the olives shall fall off and perish.
41Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, and shalt not enjoy them: because they shall be led into captivity.
42The blast shall consume all the trees and the fruits of thy ground.
43The stranger that liveth with thee in the land, shall rise up over thee, and shall be higher: and thou shalt go down, and be lower.
44He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him. He shall be as the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
45And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue and overtake thee, till thou perish: because thou heardst not the voice of the Lord thy God, and didst not keep his commandments and ceremonies which he commanded thee.
46And they shall be as signs and wonders on thee, and on thy seed for ever.
47Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things:
48Thou shalt serve thy enemy, whom the Lord will send upon thee, in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put an iron yoke upon thy neck, till he consume thee.
49The Lord will bring upon thee a nation from afar, and from the uttermost ends of the earth, like an eagle that flyeth swiftly, whose tongue thou canst not understand,
50A most insolent nation, that will shew no regard to the ancients, nor have pity on the infant,
51And will devour the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruits of thy land: until thou be destroyed, and will leave thee no wheat, nor wine, nor oil, nor herds of oxen, nor flocks of sheep: until he destroy thee.
52And consume thee in all thy cities, and thy strong and high walls be brought down, wherein thou trustedst in all thy land. Thou shalt be besieged within thy gates in all thy land which the Lord thy God will give thee:
53And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb, and the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in the distress and extremity wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee.
54The man that is nice among you, and very delicate, shall envy his own brother, and his wife, that lieth in his bosom,
55So that he will not give them of the flesh of his children, which he shall eat: because he hath nothing else in the siege and the want, wherewith thy enemies shall distress thee within all thy gates.
56The tender and delicate woman, that could not go upon the ground, nor set down her foot for over much niceness and tenderness, will envy her husband who lieth in her bosom, the flesh of her son, and of her daughter,
57And the filth of the afterbirths, that come forth from between her thighs, and the children that are born the same hour. For they shall eat them secretly for the want of all things, in the siege and distress, wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee within thy gates.
58If thou wilt not keep, and fulfill all the words of this law, that are written in this volume, and fear his glorious and terrible name: that is, The Lord thy God:
59The Lord shall increase thy plagues, and the plagues of thy seed, plagues great and lasting, infirmities grievous and perpetual.
60And he shall bring back on thee all the afflictions of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of, and they shall stick fast to thee.
61Moreover the Lord will bring upon thee all the diseases, and plagues, that are not written in the volume of this law till he consume thee:
62And you shall remain few in number, who before were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because thou heardst not the voice of the Lord thy God.
63And as the Lord rejoiced upon you before doing good to you, and multiplying you: so he shall rejoice destroying and bringing you to nought, so that you shall be taken away from the land which thou shalt go in to possess.
64The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the farthest parts of the earth to the ends thereof: and there thou shalt serve strange gods, which both thou art ignorant of and thy fathers, wood and stone.
65Neither shalt thou be quiet, even in those nations, nor shall there be any rest for the sole of thy foot. For the Lord will give thee a fearful heart, and languishing eyes, and a soul consumed with pensiveness:
66And thy life shall be as it were hanging before thee. Thou shalt fear night and day, neither shalt thou trust thy life.
67In the morning thou shalt say: Who will grant me evening? and at evening: Who will grant me morning? for the fearfulness of thy heart, wherewith thou shalt be terrified, and for those things which thou shalt see with thy eyes.
68The Lord shall bring thee again with ships into Egypt, by the way whereof he said to thee that thou shouldst see it no more. There shalt thou be set to sale to thy enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
1 Corinthians 5:6-78