Interpreting the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus: It's Really Good News!

TheLearner · Mar 12, 2022

encouragement: "
In place of the first paragraph, the Ḳaddish recited after burial has the following:

"Magnified and sanctified be His Great Name in the world that is to be created anew when He will revive the dead and raise them up into life eternal, and when He will rebuild the city of Jerusalem and establish His Temple in the midst thereof, and uproot all false worship from the earth, and restore the worship of the true God. May the Holy One, blessed be He! reign in His sovereignty and glory during your life and in your days, and in the days of the whole household of Israel, speedily and at a near time. So say ye 'Amen!'""
https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9110-kaddish

TheLearner · Mar 12, 2022

""Gehenna" in the New Testament, where it is described as a place where both soul and body could be destroyed (Matthew 10:28) in "unquenchable fire" (Mark 9:43). The word is translated as either "Hell" or "Hell fire" in many English versions
...
By the third to second century BC, the idea had grown to encompass separate divisions in sheol for the righteous and wicked (cf. the Book of Enoch),[6] and by the time of Jesus, some Jews had come to believe that those in Sheol awaited the resurrection of the dead either in comfort (in the bosom of Abraham) or in torment.
...
Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. ...whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.

— Matthew 25:41–43 (NIV)

"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_in_Christianity#Jewish_background

TheLearner · Mar 12, 2022

HELL IS A PLACE OF FIRE

The man in Luke 16:24 cries: ". . .I am tormented in this FLAME."
In Matthew 13:42, Jesus says: "And shall cast them into a FURNACE OF FIRE: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
In Matthew 25:41, Jesus says: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting FIRE,. . ."
Revelation 20:15 says, " And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the LAKE OF FIRE."
https://www2.gvsu.edu/pontiusd/hell.html

TheLearner · Mar 12, 2022

Deuteronomy 4
Easy-to-Read Version
Moses’ Warning to Obey God’s Laws
4 “Now, Israel, listen to the laws and to the commands that I teach you. Obey them and you will live. Then you can go in and take the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must not add to what I command you. And you must not take anything away. You must obey the commands of the Lord your God that I have given you.

3 “You have seen what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed all your people who followed the false god Baal at that place. 4 But all of you who stayed with the Lord your God are alive today.

5 “I taught you the laws and rules that the Lord my God commanded me. I did this so you could obey them in the land you are ready to enter and take for your own. 6 Obey these laws carefully. This will show the people of the other nations that you are wise and sensible. They will hear about these laws and say, ‘Truly, the people of this great nation are wise and sensible.’

7 “The Lord our God is near when we ask him to help us. No other nation has a god like that! 8 And no other nation is great enough to have laws and rules as good as the teachings I give you today. 9 But you must be careful! Be sure that as long as you live you never forget what you have seen. You must teach these things to your children and grandchildren. 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Horeb. The Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people together to listen to what I have to say. Then they will learn to respect me as long as they live on earth. And they will teach these things to their children.’ 11 You came near and stood at the bottom of the mountain. The mountain burned with fire that reached up to the sky. There were thick black clouds and darkness. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You heard the sound of someone speaking, but you did not see any form. There was only a voice. 13 The Lord told you about his agreement, which he commanded you to obey. He told you about the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two stone tablets. 14 At that time the Lord also commanded me to teach you the other laws and rules that you must follow in the land you are going to take and live in.

15 “On the day the Lord spoke to you from the fire at Mount Horeb, you did not see him—there was no shape for God. 16 So be careful! Don’t sin and destroy yourselves by making false gods or statues in the shape of any living thing. Don’t make an idol that looks like a man or a woman, 17 or like an animal on the earth, or like a bird that flies in the sky. 18 And don’t make an idol that looks like anything that crawls on the ground or like a fish in the sea. 19 And be careful when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon, and the stars—all the many things in the sky. Be careful that you are not tempted to worship and serve them. The Lord your God lets the other people in the world do this. 20 But the Lord brought you out of Egypt to make you his own special people. He saved you from Egypt. It was as if he pulled you from a hot furnace.[a] And now you are his people.

21 “The Lord was angry with me because of you. He swore that I could not go across the Jordan River into the good land that the Lord your God is giving you. 22 So I must die here in this land. I cannot go across the Jordan River, but you will soon go across it and take that good land and live there. 23 You must be careful not to forget the agreement that the Lord your God made with you. You must obey the Lord’s command. Don’t make any idols in any form, 24 because the Lord your God hates for his people to worship other gods. And he can be like a fire that destroys!

25 “You will live in the country a long time. You will have children and grandchildren there. After all that time, be sure that you do not then ruin your lives by making any kind of idol! That is something the Lord your God considers evil, and it would make him very angry! 26 So I am warning you now. Heaven and earth are my witnesses! If you do such an evil thing, you will quickly be destroyed! You are crossing the Jordan River now to take that land. But if you make any idols, you will not live there very long. No, you will be destroyed completely! 27 The Lord will scatter you among the nations. And only a few of you will be left alive to go to the countries where the Lord will send you. 28 There you will serve gods made by men—things made of wood and stone that cannot see or hear or eat or smell! 29 But there in these other lands you will look for the Lord your God. And if you look for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him. 30 When you are in trouble—when all these things happen to you—then you will come back to the Lord your God and obey him. 31 The Lord your God is a merciful God! He will not leave you there or destroy you completely. He will not forget the agreement that he made with your ancestors.

Think About the Great Things God Did
32 “Has anything this great ever happened before? Never! Look at the past. Think about everything that happened before you were born. Go all the way back to the time when God made people on the earth. Look at everything that has happened anywhere in the world. Has anyone ever heard about anything as great as this? No! 33 You people heard God speaking to you from a fire, and you are still alive. Has that ever happened to anyone else? No! 34 Has any other god ever tried to go and take a people for himself from inside another nation? No! But you yourselves have seen everything that the Lord your God did for you. He showed you his power and strength. You saw the troubles that tested the people. You saw miracles and wonders. You saw war and the terrible things that happened. 35 The Lord showed you all this so that you would know that he is God. There is no other god like him. 36 He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could teach you a lesson. On earth he let you see his great fire, and he spoke to you from it.

37 “He loved your ancestors. That is why he chose you, their descendants. And that is why he brought you out of Egypt. He was with you and brought you out with his great power. 38 When you moved forward, he forced out nations that were greater and more powerful than you. And he led you into their land. He gave you their land to live in, as he is still doing today.

39 “So today you must remember and accept that the Lord is God. He is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other god! 40 And you must obey his laws and commands that I give you today. Then everything will go well with you and your children who live after you. And you will live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving you—it will be yours forever.”

Moses Chooses the Cities of Safety
41 Then Moses chose three cities on the east side of the Jordan River. 42 Any person who killed someone by accident and not out of hate could run away to one of these three cities and not be put to death. 43 The three cities that Moses chose were Bezer in the high plains for the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.

Introduction to the Law of Moses
44 Moses gave God’s law to the Israelites. 45 Moses gave these teachings, laws, and rules to the people after they came out of Egypt. 46 He gave them these laws while they were on the east side of the Jordan River, in the valley across from Beth Peor. They were in the land of Sihon, the Amorite king who lived at Heshbon. Moses and the Israelites had defeated Sihon when they came out of Egypt. 47 They took Sihon’s land to keep. They also took the land of King Og of Bashan. These two Amorite kings lived on the east side of the Jordan River. 48 This land goes from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley all the way to Mount Sirion, that is, Mount Hermon. 49 This land also included the whole Jordan Valley on the east side of the Jordan River. To the south, this land reached to the Dead Sea.[c] To the east, it reached to the foot of Mount Pisgah.

Footnotes
Deuteronomy 4:20 furnace Literally, “iron furnace,” that is, a furnace hot enough to soften iron.
Deuteronomy 4:48 Sirion Or “Siyon.”
Deuteronomy 4:49 Dead Sea Literally, “Arabah Sea.”
Deuteronomy 3
Deuterono

TheLearner · Mar 12, 2022

Deuteronomy 9
Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord Will Be With Israel
9 “Listen, you Israelites! You will go across the Jordan River today. You will go into that land to force out nations greater and stronger than you. Their cities are big and have walls as high as the sky! 2 The people there are tall and strong. They are the Anakites. You know about them. You heard our spies say, ‘No one can win against the Anakites.’ 3 But you can be sure that it is the Lord your God who goes across the river before you—and God is like a fire that destroys! He will destroy those nations and make them fall before you. You will force those nations out and quickly destroy them. The Lord has promised you that this will happen.

4 “The Lord your God will force those nations out for you. But don’t say to yourselves, ‘The Lord brought us to live in this land because we are such good people.’ No, the Lord forced those nations out because they were evil, not because you were good. 5 You are going in to take their land, but not because you are good and live right. You are going in, and the Lord your God is forcing those people out because of the evil way they lived. And the Lord wants to keep the promise he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 The Lord your God is giving you that good land to live in, but you should know that it is not because you are good. The truth is that you are very stubborn people!

Remember the Lord’s Anger
7 “Remember how you made the Lord your God angry in the desert. Never forget that! From the day you left the land of Egypt to the day you came to this place, you have refused to obey the Lord. 8 You made the Lord angry at Mount Horeb. The Lord was angry enough to destroy you! 9 I went up the mountain to get the stone tablets. The agreement that the Lord made with you was written on those stones. I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat any food or drink any water. 10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets. He wrote his commands on the stones with his finger. The Lord wrote everything he said to you from the fire when you were gathered together at the mountain.

11 “So at the end of 40 days and 40 nights, the Lord gave me two stone tablets—the stones of the agreement. 12 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and quickly go down from here. The people you brought out of Egypt have ruined themselves. They stopped obeying my commands so quickly. They melted gold and made an idol for themselves.’

13 “The Lord also said to me, ‘I have watched these people. They are very stubborn! 14 Let me destroy these people completely, so no one will even remember their names. Then I will make another nation from you that is stronger and greater than these people.’

The Golden Calf
15 “Then I turned and came down from the mountain. The mountain was burning with fire. And the two stone tablets of the agreement were in my hands. 16 I looked and I saw you had sinned against the Lord your God. I saw the calf you made from melted gold! You stopped obeying the Lord so quickly. 17 So I took the two stone tablets and threw them down. There before your eyes I broke the stones into pieces. 18 Then I bowed down before the Lord with my face to the ground for 40 days and 40 nights, as I did before. I did not eat any food or drink any water. I did this because you had sinned so badly. You did the thing that is evil to the Lord, and you made him angry. 19 I was afraid of the Lord’s terrible anger. He was angry enough to destroy you, but the Lord listened to me again. 20 The Lord was very angry with Aaron—enough to destroy him! So I also prayed for Aaron at that time. 21 I took that terrible thing, the calf you made, and burned it in the fire. I broke it into small pieces. And I crushed the pieces until they were dust. Then I threw the dust into the river that came down from the mountain.

Moses Asks God to Forgive Israel
22 “Also, at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth Hattaavah you made the Lord angry. 23 And you did not obey when the Lord told you to leave Kadesh Barnea. He said, ‘Go up and take the land I am giving you.’ But you refused to obey the Lord your God. You did not trust him. You did not listen to his command. 24 All the time that I have known you, you have refused to obey the Lord.

25 “So I bowed down before the Lord 40 days and 40 nights, because the Lord said he would destroy you. 26 I prayed to the Lord. I said, ‘Lord God, don’t destroy your people. They belong to you. You freed them and brought them out of Egypt with your great power and strength. 27 Remember your promise to your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Forget how stubborn these people are. Don’t look at their evil ways or their sins. 28 If you punish your people, the Egyptians might say, “The Lord was not able to take his people into the land he promised them. And he hated them. So he took them into the desert to kill them.” 29 But they are your people, Lord. They belong to you. You brought them out of Egypt with your great power and strength.’

TheLearner · Mar 12, 2022

Hebrews 12
Easy-to-Read Version
We Also Should Follow Jesus’ Example
12 We have all these great people around us as examples. Their lives tell us what faith means. So we, too, should run the race that is before us and never quit. We should remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall. 2 We must never stop looking to Jesus. He is the leader of our faith, and he is the one who makes our faith complete. He suffered death on a cross. But he accepted the shame of the cross as if it were nothing because of the joy he could see waiting for him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne. 3 Think about Jesus. He patiently endured the angry insults that sinful people were shouting at him. Think about him so that you won’t get discouraged and stop trying.

God Is Like a Father
4 You are struggling against sin, but you have not had to give up your life for the cause. 5 You are children of God, and he speaks words of comfort to you. You have forgotten these words:

“My child, don’t think the Lord’s discipline is worth nothing,
and don’t stop trying when he corrects you.
6 The Lord disciplines everyone he loves;
he punishes everyone he accepts as a child.”

7 So accept sufferings like a father’s discipline. God does these things to you like a father correcting his children. You know that all children are disciplined by their fathers. 8 So, if you never receive the discipline that every child must have, you are not true children and don’t really belong to God. 9 We have all had fathers here on earth who corrected us with discipline. And we respected them. So it is even more important that we accept discipline from the Father of our spirits. If we do this, we will have life. 10 Our fathers on earth disciplined us for a short time in the way they thought was best. But God disciplines us to help us so that we can be holy like him. 11 We don’t enjoy discipline when we get it. It is painful. But later, after we have learned our lesson from it, we will enjoy the peace that comes from doing what is right.

Be Careful How You Live
12 You have become weak, so make yourselves strong again. 13 Live in the right way so that you will be saved and your weakness will not cause you to be lost.

14 Try to live in peace with everyone. And try to keep your lives free from sin. Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord. 15 Be careful that no one fails to get God’s grace. Be careful that no one loses their faith and becomes like a bitter weed growing among you. Someone like that can ruin your whole group. 16 Be careful that no one commits sexual sin. And be careful that no one is like Esau and never thinks about God. As the oldest son, Esau would have inherited everything from his father. But he sold all that for a single meal. 17 You remember that after Esau did this, he wanted to get his father’s blessing. He wanted that blessing so much that he cried. But his father refused to give him the blessing, because Esau could find no way to change what he had done.

18 You have not come to a place that can be seen and touched, like the mountain the people of Israel saw, which was burning with fire and covered with darkness, gloom, and storms. 19 There is no sound of a trumpet or a voice speaking words like those they heard. When they heard the voice, they begged never to hear another word. 20 They did not want to hear the command: “If anything, even an animal, touches the mountain, it must be killed with stones.”[a] 21 What they saw was so terrible that Moses said, “I am shaking with fear.”[c]

22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.[d] You have come to a place where thousands of angels have gathered to celebrate. 23 You have come to the meeting of God’s firstborn[e] children. Their names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all people. And you have come to the spirits of good people who have been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus—the one who brought the new agreement from God to his people. You have come to the sprinkled blood[f] that tells us about better things than the blood of Abel.

25 Be careful and don’t refuse to listen when God speaks. Those people refused to listen to him when he warned them on earth. And they did not escape. Now God is speaking from heaven. So now it will be worse for those who refuse to listen to him. 26 When he spoke before, his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, “Once again I will shake the earth, but I will also shake heaven.”[g] 27 The words “once again” clearly show us that everything that was created will be destroyed—that is, the things that can be shaken. And only what cannot be shaken will remain.

28 So we should be thankful because we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And because we are thankful, we should worship God in a way that will please him. We should do this with respect and fear, 29 because our God is like a fire that can destroy us.

Footnotes
Hebrews 12:20 Quote from Ex. 19:12-13.
Hebrews 12:21 Quote from Deut. 9:19.
Hebrews 12:21 These verses refer to things that happened to the people of Israel in the time of Moses as described in Ex. 19.
Hebrews 12:22 Jerusalem Here, the spiritual city of God’s people.
Hebrews 12:23 firstborn The first son born in a Jewish family had the most important place in the family and received special blessings. All of God’s children are like that.
Hebrews 12:24 sprinkled blood The blood (death) of Jesus.
Hebrews 12:26 Quote from Hag. 2:6.
Hebrews 11

TheLearner · Mar 12, 2022

Habakkuk 3
Easy-to-Read Version
Habakkuk’s Prayer
3 The prayer of Habakkuk the prophet.[a]

2 Lord, I have heard the news about you.
I am amazed, Lord, at the powerful things you did in the past.
Now I pray that you will do great things in our time.
Please make these things happen in our own days.
But in your anger,
remember to show mercy to us. Selah

3 God is coming from Teman.
The Holy One is coming from Mount Paran. Selah

His glory covers the heavens,
and his praise fills the earth!
4 Rays of light shine from his hand, a bright, shining light.
There is such power hiding in that hand.
5 The sickness went before him,
and the destroyer followed behind him.
6 He stood and judged the earth.
He looked at the people of all the nations,
and they shook with fear.
For many years the mountains stood strong,
but those mountains fell to pieces.
Those old, old hills fell down.
God has always been able to do that.

7 I saw that the cities of Cushan were in trouble
and that the houses of Midian trembled with fear.
8 Lord, were you angry at the rivers?
Were you angry at the streams?
Were you angry at the sea?
Were you angry when you rode your horses and chariots to victory?

9 Even then you showed your rainbow.
It was proof of your agreement with the families of the earth.[c] Selah

And the dry land split the rivers.
10 The mountains saw you and shook.
The water flowed off the land.
The water from the sea made a loud noise
as it lost its power over the land.
11 The sun and the moon lost their brightness.
They stopped shining when they saw your bright flashes of lightning.
That lightning was like spears and arrows shooting through the air.
12 In anger you walked on the earth
and punished the nations.
13 You came to save your people
and to lead your chosen king[d] to victory.
You killed the leader in every evil family,
from the least important person
to the most important in the land.[e] Selah

14 You used Moses’ walking stick
to stop the enemy soldiers.
Those soldiers came
like a powerful storm to fight against us.
They thought they could defeat us easily,
as robbing the poor in secret.
15 But you marched your horses
through the deep water, stirring up the mud.
16 My whole body shook when I heard the story.
My lips trembled.
I felt weak deep down in my bones
and stood there shaking.
But I will wait patiently for destruction to come to those who attack us.

Always Rejoice in the Lord
17 Figs might not grow on the fig trees,
and grapes might not grow on the vines.
Olives might not grow on the olive trees,
and food might not grow in the fields.
There might not be any sheep in the pens
or cattle in the barns.
18 But I will still be glad in the Lord
and rejoice in God my Savior.

19 The Lord God gives me my strength.
He helps me run fast like a deer.
He leads me safely on the mountains.

To the music director. On my stringed instruments.

Footnotes
Habakkuk 3:1 The Hebrew text adds “according to shigyonoth,” which may be an instruction for a special style of music.
Habakkuk 3:5 This probably refers to the diseases and the angel of death that God sent against the Egyptians when God freed Israel from slavery.
Habakkuk 3:9 rainbow … earth See Gen. 9.
Habakkuk 3:13 chosen king Literally, “anointed one.”
Habakkuk 3:13 You killed … in the land Literally, “You struck the head from the wicked house. From the foundation to the neck they were laid bare.”
Habakkuk 2

TheLearner · Mar 12, 2022

Habakkuk 1
Easy-to-Read Version
Habakkuk Complains to God
1 This is the message that was given to Habakkuk the prophet.

2 Lord, I continue to ask for help. When will you listen to me? I cried to you about the violence, but you did nothing! 3 People are stealing things and hurting others. They are arguing and fighting. Why do you make me look at these terrible things? 4 The law is weak and not fair to people. Evil people win their fights against good people. So the law is no longer fair, and justice does not win anymore.

The Lord Answers Habakkuk
5 “Look at the other nations! Watch them, and you will be amazed. I will do something in your lifetime that will amaze you. You would not believe it even if you were told about it. 6 I will make the Babylonians[a] a strong nation. They are cruel and powerful fighters. They will march across the earth. They will take houses and cities that don’t belong to them. 7 The Babylonians will scare the other people. They will do what they want to do and go where they want to go. 8 Their horses will be faster than leopards and more dangerous than wolves at sunset. Their horse soldiers will come from faraway places. They will attack their enemies quickly, like a hungry eagle swooping down from the sky. 9 The one thing they all want to do is fight. Their armies will march fast like the wind in the desert. And the Babylonian soldiers will take many prisoners—as many as the grains of sand.

10 “The Babylonian soldiers will laugh at the kings of other nations. Foreign rulers will be like jokes to them. The Babylonian soldiers will laugh at the cities with tall, strong walls. They will simply build dirt roads up to the top of the walls and easily defeat the cities. 11 Then they will leave like the wind and go on to fight against other places. The only thing the Babylonians worship is their own strength.”

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12 Lord, you are the one who lives forever!
You are my holy God who never dies!
Lord, you created the Babylonians to do what must be done.
Our Rock, you created them to punish people.
13 Your eyes are too good to look at evil.
You cannot stand to see people doing wrong.
So why do you permit such evil?
How can you watch while the wicked destroy people who are so much better?

14 You made people like fish in the sea.
They are like little sea animals without a leader.
15 The enemy catches all of them with hooks and nets.
The enemy catches them in his net and drags them in,
and the enemy is very happy with what he caught.
16 His net helps him live like the rich
and enjoy the best food.
So the enemy worships his net.
He makes sacrifices and burns incense to honor his net.
17 Will he continue to take riches with his net?
Will he continue destroying people without showing mercy?

Footnotes
Habakkuk 1:6 Babylonians Literally, “Chaldeans,” a tribe of Arameans who gained control in Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar was from this tribe.
Habakkuk 1:12 Lord, you are … never dies Or “Lord, you have been my holy God forever! Surely we will not die.”
Nahum 3
Habakkuk

TheLearner · Mar 12, 2022

Micah 5
Easy-to-Read Version
5 Now strong city,[a] gather your soldiers!
They are surrounding us for the attack!
They will hit the Judge of Israel
on the cheek with a stick.

The Messiah to Be Born in Bethlehem
2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
are the smallest town in Judah.
Your family is almost too small to count,
but the “Ruler of Israel” will come from you to rule for me.
His beginnings are from ancient times,
from long, long ago.
3 The Lord will let his people be defeated
until the woman gives birth to her child, the promised king.
Then the rest of his brothers will come back
to join the people of Israel.
4 He will begin to rule Israel in the power of the Lord.
Like a shepherd, he will lead his people in the wonderful name of the Lord his God.
And they will live in safety
because then his greatness will be known all over the world.
5 He will bring a time of peace.

Yes, the Assyrian army will come into our country
and march through our land.[c]
But we have plenty of leaders[d]
we can send against them.
6 With swords in hand our leaders will defeat the Assyrians
and rule the land of Nimrod.[e]
They[f] will save us from the Assyrians
when they come into our land and march through our territory.
7 But those from Jacob who are still living and scattered among the nations
will be like dew from the Lord that does not depend on anyone.
They will be like rain on the grass
that does not wait for anyone.
8 Those from Jacob who are still living
are scattered among the nations.
But they will be like a lion among the animals in the forest.
They will be like a young lion among flocks of sheep.
If the lion passes through,
he goes where he wants to go.
If he attacks an animal,
no one can save it.
The survivors will be like that.
9 You will lift your hand against your enemies,
and you will destroy them.

People Will Depend on God
10 The Lord says,
“At that time I will take away your horses,
and I will destroy your chariots.
11 I will destroy the cities in your country.
I will pull down all your fortresses.
12 You will no longer try to do magic.
You will have no more fortunetellers.
13 I will destroy your statues of false gods.
I will pull down your memorial stones.
You will not worship what your hands have made.
14 I will destroy the Asherah poles
and your false gods.[g]
15 Some nations will not listen to me,
but I will show my anger and get my revenge.”

Footnotes
Micah 5:1 strong city Literally, “daughter of troops.”
Micah 5:2 beginnings Or “family origins.”
Micah 5:5 march … land Or “trample our palaces.”
Micah 5:5 plenty of leaders Literally, “seven shepherds, no eight leaders.”
Micah 5:6 land of Nimrod Another name for Assyria.
Micah 5:6 They Literally, “He.”
Micah 5:14 false gods Or “cities.”
Micah 4

TheLearner · Mar 12, 2022

Isaiah 33
Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord Will Show His Power
33 Look at you. You attack others when you have not been attacked. You turn against others when no one has turned against you. So when you stop your attacks, you will be attacked. When you stop turning against others, they will turn against you.

2 Lord, be kind to us.
We have waited for your help.
Give us strength every morning.
Save us when we are in trouble.
3 Your powerful voice makes people run away in fear.
Your greatness causes the nations to run away.

4 You people stole things in war. Those things will be taken from you. Many will come and take your wealth. It will be like the times when locusts come and eat all your crops.

5 The Lord is very great. He lives in a very high place. He fills Zion with justice and goodness.

6 Jerusalem, you are rich with wisdom and knowledge of God. You are rich with salvation. You respect the Lord, and that makes you rich.

7 But listen! The messengers are crying outside. The messengers[a] who bring peace are crying very hard. 8 The roads are empty; there is no one walking along the paths. People don’t respect each other. They have broken the agreements they made, and they refuse to believe what witnesses tell them. 9 The land is sick and dying. Lebanon is dying and Sharon Valley is dry and empty. Bashan and Carmel once grew beautiful plants—but now those plants have stopped growing.

10 The Lord says, “Now, I will stand and show people how great and powerful I am. 11 You people have done useless things. These things are like hay and straw. They are worth nothing! Your breath will be like a fire and burn you. 12 People will be burned until their bones become lime.[c] They will burn quickly like thorns and dry bushes.

13 “You people in faraway lands, listen to what I have done. You people who are near me, learn about my power.”

14 The sinners in Zion are afraid. Those who do wrong shake with fear. They say, “Can any of us live through this fire that destroys? Who can live near this fire that burns forever?”[d]

15 Good, honest people who refuse to hurt others for money will live through that fire. They refuse to take bribes or listen to plans to murder other people. They refuse to look at plans for doing bad things. 16 They will live safely in high places. They will be protected in high rock fortresses. They will always have food and water.

17 Your eyes will see the King in his beauty. You will see the great land. 18-19 When you think about the troubles you had in the past, you will wonder, “Where are those foreigners who spoke languages we could not understand. Where are the officials and tax collectors from other lands? Where are the spies who counted our defense towers?”

God Will Protect Jerusalem
20 Look at Zion, the city of our religious festivals. Look at Jerusalem—that beautiful place of rest. Jerusalem is like a tent that will never be moved. The pegs that hold her in place will never be pulled up. Her ropes will never be broken, 21-23 because the Lord is our powerful leader there. That land is a place with streams and wide rivers, but there will be no enemy boats or powerful ships on those rivers. You men who work on such boats can stop your work with the ropes. You cannot make the mast strong enough. You will not be able to open your sails, because the Lord is our judge. He makes our laws. He is our king. He saves us. The Lord will give us our wealth. Even crippled people will get their share. 24 No one living there will say, “I am sick,” because everyone living there has had their guilt removed.

Footnotes
Isaiah 33:7 messengers … messengers The Hebrew text has two different words that can also mean “angels.”
Isaiah 33:8 witnesses Literally, “cities.”
Isaiah 33:12 lime A white powder that is often used to make mortar or cement. It can be made by burning bones, shells, or limestone.
Isaiah 33:14 fire that … burns forever This might mean God, the Fire (Light) of Israel.
Isaiah 32
Isaiah 34

TheLearner · Mar 12, 2022

slept to here

TMS · Mar 12, 2022

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

notice the difference perish or everlasting life.

If i burn for ever i have everlasting life, If i never die i have everlasting life.

Jesus said we perish without Him.

Perish = G622 - apollumi = From G575 and the base of G3639; to destroy fully (reflexively to perish, or lose), literally or figuratively: - destroy, die, lose, mar, perish.

TMS · Mar 12, 2022

The term forever is used 56 times in the King James Bible in connection with things that have already ended. It is like the word “tall,” which means something different in describing men, trees, or mountains. In Jonah 2:6, “forever” means “three days and nights.” In Deuteronomy 23:3, it means 10 generations. In the case of mankind, it means “as long as he lives” or “until death.” (See 1 Samuel 1:22, 28; Exodus 21:6; Psalm 48:14.) So the wicked will burn in the fire as long as they live, or until death. This fiery punishment for sin will vary according to the degree of sins for each individual, but after the punishment, the fire will go out. The unbiblical teaching of eternal torment has done more to drive people to atheism than any other invention of the devil. It is slander upon the loving character of a gracious heavenly Father and has done untold harm to the Christian cause.

LactoseIntolerant · Mar 12, 2022

Duckybill said:

No, you said that I said "believing Jesus is "hellmongering". I said that disobeying any single verse that is written in the Scriptures is not quoting Jesus properly.

Matthew 25:31-46 is talking about the authority of Jesus and how He will wipe every tear from the face of the faithful. How mercy is so truly important. He will separate, the obedient from the disobedient. So what do you interpret from this passage?
It's hell folks! Burn baby burn. Helter Skelter!

Rev 20:7-15 Speaks of the final judgement. Those who lived in the name of Jesus but died not in his name, are finally resurrected. They are once again tested by released satan. Vessels of bad ideas are finally destroyed, satan, the beast and the false prophet and every follower thereof. Stark warning to those who seek immortality haphazardly. So what do you find important from this passage?
It's the highway to hell folks. Goin' down, party time.

No, I ain't hearing the Word from you, just some bad lyrics to catchy tunes.

posthuman · Mar 12, 2022

Phoneman-777 said:

that would have nothing at all to do with Moses's physical body, and nothing specific about Moses rather than someone like David, who was also a murderer, and is also saved.

it's not the correct understanding; it cannot be.

TheLearner · Mar 13, 2022

TMS said:

per·ish
/ˈperiSH/
Learn to pronounce
verb
suffer death, typically in a violent, sudden, or untimely way.
"a great part of his army perished of hunger and disease"
Similar:
die
lose one's life
be killed
fall
expire
meet one's death
be lost
lay down one's life
breathe one's last
draw one's last breath
pass away
go the way of all flesh
give up the ghost
go to glory
meet one's maker
go to one's last resting place
cross the great divide
bite the dust
kick the bucket
cash in one's chips
croak
flatline
turn up one's toes
shuffle off this mortal coil
go the way of the dinosaurs
conk out
buy it
snuff it
peg out
pop one's clogs
hop the twig/stick
bite the big one
buy the farm
check out
hand in one's dinner pail
go bung
exit
decease
depart this life
suffer complete ruin or destruction.
"the old regime had to perish"
Similar:
come to an end
die (away)
be destroyed
cease to exist
disappear
vanish
fade
dissolve
evaporate
melt away
pass into oblivion
wither
Opposite:
live
survive
(of rubber, a foodstuff, or other organic substance) lose its normal qualities; rot or decay.
"most domestic building was in wood and has perished"
Similar:
go bad
go off
spoil
rot
go moldy
molder
putrefy
decay

KJV Dictionary Definition: perish
perish
PER'ISH, v.i.L. pereo, supposed to be compounded of per and eo, to go; literally, to depart wholly.

1. To die; to lose life in any manner; applied to animals. Men perish by disease or decay, by the sword, by drowning, by hunger or famine, &c.

2. To die; to wither and decay; applied to plants.

3. To waste away; as, a leg or an arm has perished.

4. To be in a state of decay or passing away.

Duration, and time which is part of it, is the idea we have of perishing distance.

5. To be destroyed; to come to nothing.

Perish the lore that deadens young desire.

6. To fail entirely or to be extirpated. 2 Kings.9.

7. To be burst or ruined; as, the bottles shall perish.

Luke 5.

8. To be wasted or rendered useless. Jer.9.

9. To be injured or tormented. 1 Cor.8.

10. To be lost eternally; to be sentenced to endless misery. 2 Pet.2.

PER'ISH, v.t. To destroy. Not legitimate.

perishable
PER'ISHABLE, a. Liable to perish; subject to decay and destruction. The bodies of animals and plants are perishable. The souls of men are not perishable.

1. Subject to speedy decay.

Property of a perishable nature saved from a wreck, may be sold within a year and a day.

perishableness
PER'ISHABLENESS, n. Liableness to decay or destruction.

Definitions from Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828.
https://av1611.com/kjbp/kjv-dictionary/perish.html

TheLearner · Mar 13, 2022

TMS said:

KJV Dictionary Definition: etern
etern
ETERN', a. Eternal; perpetual; endless. Not used.

eternal
ETER'NAL, a. L. oeternus, composed of oevum and ternus, oeviternus, Varro. The origin of the last component part of the word is not obvious. It occurs in diuturnus, and seems to denote continuance.

1. Without beginning or end of existence.

The eternal God is thy refuge. Deut.33.

2. Without beginning of existence.

To know whether there is any real being, whose duration has been eternal.

3. Without end of existence or duration; everlasting; endless; immortal.

That they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 2 Tim.2.

What shall I do, that I may have eternal life? Matt.19.

Suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 7.

4. Perpetual; ceaseless; continued without intermission.

And fires eternal in thy temple shine.

5. Unchangeable; existing at all times without change; as eternal truth.

ETER'NAL, n. An appellation of God.

eternalize
ETER'NALIZE, v.t. To make eternal; to give endless duration to. We now use eternize.

eternally
ETER'NALLY, adv. Without beginning or end of duration, or without end only.

1. Unchangeably; invariably; at all times.

That which is morally good must be eternally and unchangeably so.

2. Perpetually; without intermission; at all times.

Where western gales eternally reside.

eternity
ETER'NITY, n. L. oeternitas. Duration or continuance without beginning or end.

By repeating the idea of any length of duration, with the endless addition of number, we come by the idea of eternity.

The high and lofty one who inhabiteth eternity. Is.57.

We speak of eternal duration preceding the present time. God has existed from eternity. We also speak of endless or everlasting duration in future, and dating from present time or the present state of things. Some men doubt the eternity of future punishment, though they have less difficulty in admitting the eternity of future rewards.

eternize
ETER'NIZE, v.t. Low L. oeterno.

1. To make endless.

2. To continue the existence or duration of indefinitely; to perpetuate; as, to eternize woe.

So we say, to eternize fame or glory.

3. To make forever famous; to immortalize; as, to eternize a name; to eternize exploits.

eternized
ETER'NIZED, pp. Made endless; immortalized.

eternizing
ETER'NIZING, ppr. Giving endless duration to; immortalizing.

Definitions from Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828.

TheLearner · Mar 13, 2022

KJV Dictionary Definition: everlasting
everlasting
EVERL`ASTING, a. ever and lasting. Lasting or enduring for ever; eternal; existing or continuing without end; immortal.

The everlasting God, or Jehovah. Gen.21.

Everlasting fire; everlasting punishment. Matt.18.25.

1. Perpetual; continuing indefinitely, or during the present state of things.

I will give thee, and thy seed after thee, the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. Gen.17.

The everlasting hills or mountains. Genesis. Habakkuk.

2. In popular usage, endless; continual; unintermitted; as, the family is disturbed with everlasting disputes.

EVERL`ASTING, n. Eternity; eternal duration, past and future.

From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Ps.90.

1. A plant, the Gnaphalium; also, the Xeranthenum.

everlastingly
EVERL`ASTINGLY, adv. Eternally; perpetually; continually.

Definitions from Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828.

TheLearner · Mar 13, 2022

read to here

Phoneman-777 · Mar 13, 2022

John146 said:

Couldn't have been Samuel. Job and Solomon say the dead neither return to the land of the living nor have any more to do with anything under the sun. Do you believe prophets Solomon and Job?

Interpreting the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus: It's Really Good News!

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