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Note: The reader is
cautioned/reminded that various Old Testament practices are not
binding under the New Covenant. Jesus tells us that not only
should we not kill, but that "whoever is angry with his
brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his
brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever
says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna" (see MT
5:22). Also, we are told "do not look for revenge but leave
room for the wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will
repay, says the Lord'" (see ROM 12:19). Various Old Testament
passages are included below for reference purposes only.
"If a man strikes another with an iron
instrument and causes his death, he is a murderer and shall be put
to death. If a man strikes another with a death-dealing stone in
his hand and causes his death, he is a murderer and shall be put
to death. If a man strikes another with a death-dealing club in
his hand and causes his death, he is a murderer and shall be put
to death. The avenger of blood may execute the murderer, putting
him to death on sight. If a man pushes another out of
hatred, or after lying in wait for him throws something at him,
and causes his death, or if he strikes another out of enmity and
causes his death, he shall be put to death as a murderer. The
avenger of blood may execute the murderer on sight. However,
if a man pushes another accidentally and not out of enmity, or if
without lying in wait for him he throws some object at him, or
without seeing him throws a death-dealing stone which strikes him
and causes his death, although he was not his enemy nor seeking to
harm him: then the community, deciding the case between the slayer
and the avenger of blood in accordance with these norms, shall
free the homicide from the avenger of blood and shall remand him
to the city of asylum where he took refuge; and he shall stay
there until the death of the high priest who has been anointed
with sacred oil. If the homicide of his own accord leaves the
bounds of the city of asylum where he has taken refuge, and the
avenger of blood finds him beyond these bounds and kills him, the
avenger incurs no bloodguilt; the homicide was bound to stay in
his city of asylum until the death of the high priest. Only after
the death of the high priest may the homicide return to his own
district. These shall be norms for you and all your
descendants, wherever you live, for rendering judgment. Whenever someone kills another, the evidence of witnesses is
required for the execution of the murderer. The evidence of a
single witness is not sufficient for putting a person to death. You shall not accept indemnity in place of the life of a
murderer who deserves the death penalty; he must be put to death.
Nor shall you accept indemnity to allow a refugee to leave his
city of asylum and again dwell elsewhere in the land before the
death of the high priest. You shall not desecrate the land where
you live. Since bloodshed desecrates the land, the land can have
no atonement for the blood shed on it except through the blood of
him who shed it. Do not defile the land in which you live and in
the midst of which I dwell; for I am the LORD who dwells in the
midst of the Israelites." [NUM 35:16-34] [Important
Reminder: Revenge is condemned in the New Testament. See note
above]
So all the Israelites came out as one man: from
Dan to Beer-sheba, and from the land of Gilead, the community was
gathered to the LORD at Mizpah. The leaders of all the people and
all the tribesmen of Israel, four hundred thousand foot soldiers
who were swordsmen, presented themselves in the assembly of the
people of God. Meanwhile, the Benjaminites heard that the
Israelites had gone up to Mizpah. The Israelites asked to be told
how the crime had taken place, and the Levite, the husband of the
murdered woman, testified: "My concubine and I went into
Gibeah of Benjamin for the night. But the citizens of Gibeah rose
up against me by night and surrounded the house in which I was. Me
they attempted to kill, and my concubine they abused so that she
died." [Taken from JUDG 20:1-5]
As David was approaching Bahurim, a man named Shimei, the son
of Gera of the same clan as Saul's family, was coming out of the
place, cursing as he came. He threw stones at David and at all the
king's officers, even though all the soldiers, including the royal
guard, were on David's right and on his left. Shimei was saying as
he cursed: "Away, away, you murderous and wicked man! The
LORD has requited you for all the bloodshed in the family of Saul,
in whose stead you became king, and the LORD has given over the
kingdom to your son Absalom. And now you suffer ruin because you
are a murderer." [Taken from 2SAM 16:5-8]
Long afterward, in the third year, the LORD spoke to Elijah,
"Go, present yourself to Ahab," he said, "that I
may send rain upon the earth." So Elijah went to present
himself to Ahab. Now the famine in Samaria was bitter, and Ahab
had summoned Obadiah, his vizier, who was a zealous follower of
the LORD. When Jezebel was murdering the prophets of the LORD,
Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them away fifty each in two
caves, and supplied them with food and drink. [Taken from 1KGS 18:1-4]
But the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite: "Start down to
meet Ahab, king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be in the
vineyard of Naboth, of which he has come to take possession. This
is what you shall tell him, 'The LORD says: After murdering, do
you also take possession? For this, the LORD says: In the place
where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall lick
up your blood, too.'" [1KGS 21:17-19]
Meanwhile, Elisha was sitting in his house in conference with
the elders. The king had sent a man ahead before he himself should
come to him. Elisha had said to the elders: "Do you know that
this son of a murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? When
the messenger comes, see that you close the door and hold it fast
against him. His master's footsteps are echoing behind him."
[2KGS 6:32]
When Jezebel learned that Jehu had arrived in Jezreel, she
shadowed her eyes, adorned her hair, and looked down from her
window. As Jehu came through the gate, she cried out, "Is all
well, Zimri, murderer of your master?" Jehu looked up to the
window and shouted, "Who is on my side? Anyone?" At
this, two or three eunuchs looked down toward him. [Taken from
2KGS 9:30-32]
When Amaziah had the kingdom firmly in hand, he slew the
officials who had murdered the king, his father. But the children
of the murderers he did not put to death, obeying the LORD'S
command written in the book of the law of Moses, "Fathers
shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children
be put to death for their fathers; each one shall die for his own
sin." [2KGS 14:5-6]
He received a letter from the prophet Elijah with this message:
"Thus says the LORD, the God of your ancestor David: 'Because
you have not followed the path of your father Jehoshaphat, nor of
Asa, king of Judah, but instead have walked in the way of the
kings of Israel and have led Judah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem into idolatry, as did the house of Ahab, and also
because you have murdered your brothers of your father's house who
were better than you, the LORD will strike your people, your
children, your wives, and all that is yours with a great plague;
and you shall have severe pains from a disease in your bowels,
while your bowels issue forth because of the disease, day after
day.'" [2CHRON 21:12-15]
At the turn of the year a force of Arameans came up against
Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, did away with all the
princes of the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of
Damascus. Though the Aramean force came with few men, the LORD
surrendered a very large force into their power, because Judah had
abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers. So punishment was
meted out to Joash. After the Arameans had departed from him,
leaving him in grievous suffering, his servants conspired against
him because of the murder of the son of Jehoiada the priest. They
killed him on his sickbed. He was buried in the City of David, but
not in the tombs of the kings. [2CHRON 24:23-25]
Thus under King Esarhaddon I returned to my home, and my wife
Anna and my son Tobiah were restored to me. Then on our festival
of Pentecost, the feast of Weeks, a fine dinner was prepared for
me, and I reclined to eat. The table was set for me, and when many
different dishes were placed before me, I said to my son Tobiah:
"My son, go out and try to find a poor man from among our
kinsmen exiled here in Nineveh. If he is a sincere worshiper of
God, bring him back with you, so that he can share this meal with
me. Indeed, son, I shall wait for you to come back." Tobiah
went out to look for some poor kinsman of ours. When he returned
he exclaimed, "Father!" I said to him, "What is it,
son?" He answered, "Father, one of our people has been
murdered! His body lies in the market place where he was just
strangled!" I sprang to my feet, leaving the dinner
untouched; and I carried the dead man from the street and put him
in one of the rooms, so that I might bury him after sunset. [TOBIT
2:1-4]
When he saw the sacrileges that were being committed in Judah
and in Jerusalem, he said: "Woe is me! Why was I born to see
the ruin of my people and the ruin of the holy city, and to sit
idle while it is given into the hands of enemies, and the
sanctuary into the hands of strangers? Her temple has become
like a man disgraced, her glorious ornaments have been carried off
as spoils, Her infants have been murdered in her streets, her
young men by the sword of the enemy. What nation has not taken its
share of her realm, and laid its hand on her possessions? All her
adornment has been taken away. From being free, she has become a
slave. We see our sanctuary and our beauty and our glory laid
waste, And the Gentiles have defiled them! Why are we still
alive?" Then Mattathias and his sons tore their garments, put
on sackcloth, and mourned bitterly. [1MACC 2:6-14]
When Simon's hostility reached such a point that murders were
being committed by one of his henchmen, Onias saw that the
opposition was serious and that Apollonius, son of Menestheus, the
governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, was abetting Simon's
wickedness. So he had recourse to the king, not as an accuser of
his countrymen, but as a man looking to the general and particular
good of all the people. He saw that, unless the king intervened,
it would be impossible to have a peaceful government, and that
Simon would not desist from his folly. [2MACC 4:3-6]
While these things were taking place, the people of Tarsus and
Mallus rose in revolt, because their cities had been given as a
gift to Antiochis, the king's mistress. The king, therefore, went
off in haste to settle the affair, leaving Andronicus, one of his
nobles, as his deputy. Then Menelaus, thinking this a good
opportunity, stole some gold vessels from the temple and presented
them to Andronicus; he had already sold some other vessels in Tyre
and in the neighboring cities. When Onias had clear evidence of
the facts, he made a public protest, after withdrawing to the
inviolable sanctuary at Daphne, near Antioch. Thereupon Menelaus
approached Andronicus privately and asked him to lay hands on
Onias. So Andronicus went to Onias, and by treacherously
reassuring him through sworn pledges with right hands joined,
persuaded him, in spite of his suspicions, to leave the sanctuary.
Then, without any regard for justice, he immediately put him to
death. As a result, not only the Jews, but many people of other
nations as well, were indignant and angry over the unjust murder
of the man. When the king returned from the region of Cilicia, the
Jews of the city, together with the Greeks who detested the crime,
went to see him about the murder of Onias. Antiochus was deeply
grieved and full of pity; he wept as he recalled the prudence and
noble conduct of the deceased. Inflamed with anger, he immediately
stripped Andronicus of his purple robe, tore off his other
garments, and had him led through the whole city to the very place
where he had committed the outrage against Onias; and there he put
the murderer to death. Thus the Lord rendered him the punishment
he deserved. [2MACC 4:30-38]
So this murderer and blasphemer, after extreme sufferings, such
as he had inflicted on others, died a miserable death in the
mountains of a foreign land. [Taken from 2MACC 9:28]
As soon as Judas heard of the barbarous deed perpetrated against his countrymen, he summoned his men; and after calling upon God, the just judge, he marched against the murderers of his kinsmen. In a night attack he set the harbor on fire, burnt the boats, and put to the sword those who had taken refuge there. [2MACC
12:5-6]
There are those who are rebels against the light; they know not
its ways; they abide not in its paths. When there is no light the
murderer rises, to kill the poor and needy. The eye of the
adulterer watches for the twilight; he says, "No eye will see
me." In the night the thief roams about, and he puts a mask
over his face; in the dark he breaks into houses. By day they shut
themselves in; none of them know the light, for daylight they
regard as darkness. Their portion in the land is accursed, and
wickedness is splintered like wood. [JOB 24:13-20]
You are not a god who delights in evil; no wicked person finds
refuge with you; the arrogant cannot stand before you. You hate
all who do evil; you destroy all who speak falsely. Murderers and
deceivers the LORD abhors. [PS 5:5-7]
Why, LORD, do you stand at a distance and pay no heed to these
troubled times? Arrogant scoundrels pursue the poor; they trap
them by their cunning schemes. The wicked even boast of their
greed; these robbers curse and scorn the LORD. In their insolence
the wicked boast: "God doesn't care, doesn't even
exist." Yet their affairs always succeed; they ignore your
judgment on high; they sneer at all who oppose them. They say in
their hearts, "We will never fall; never will we see
misfortune." Their mouths are full of oaths, violence, and
lies; discord and evil are under their tongues. They wait in
ambush near towns; their eyes watch for the helpless. to murder
the innocent in secret... The helpless are crushed, laid low; they
fall into the power of the wicked, Who say in their hearts,
"God pays no attention, shows no concern, never bothers to
look." Rise up, LORD God! Raise your arm! Do not forget the
poor! Why should the wicked scorn God, say in their hearts,
"God doesn't care"? But you do see; you do observe this
misery and sorrow; you take the matter in hand. To you the
helpless can entrust their cause; you are the defender of
orphans. [Taken from PS 10:1-8,10-14]
How long, LORD, shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked
glory? How long will they mouth haughty speeches, go on boasting,
all these evildoers? They crush your people, LORD, torment your
very own. They kill the widow and alien; the fatherless they
murder. They say, "The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob
takes no notice." Understand, you stupid people! You fools,
when will you be wise? Does the one who shaped the ear not hear?
The one who formed the eye not see? Does the one who guides
nations not rebuke? The one who teaches humans not have knowledge?
The LORD does know human plans; they are only puffs of air. [PS
94:3-11]
Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them, and
remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon
their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD! For truly, the
ancient inhabitants of your holy land, whom you hated for deeds
most odious...These merciless murderers of children, and parents
who took with their own hands defenseless lives, You willed to
destroy by the hands of our fathers, that the land that is dearest
of all to you might receive a worthy colony of God's children. But
even these, as they were men, you spared, and sent wasps as
forerunners of your army that they might exterminate them by
degrees. Not that you were without power to have the wicked
vanquished in battle by the just, or wiped out at once by terrible
beasts or by one decisive word; But condemning them bit by bit,
you gave them space for repentance. You were not unaware that
their race was wicked and their malice ingrained, And that their
dispositions would never change; for they were a race accursed
from the beginning. Neither out of fear for anyone did you grant
amnesty for their sins. For who can say to you, "What have
you done?" or who can oppose your decree? Or when peoples
perish, who can challenge you, their maker; or who can come into
your presence as vindicator of unjust men? For neither is there
any god besides you who have the care of all, that you need show
you have not unjustly condemned; Nor can any king or prince
confront you on behalf of those you have punished. But as you are
just, you govern all things justly; you regard it as unworthy of
your power to punish one who has incurred no blame. For your might
is the source of justice; your mastery over all things makes you
lenient to all. For you show your might when the perfection of
your power is disbelieved; and in those who know you, you rebuke
temerity. But though you are master of might, you judge with
clemency, and with much lenience you govern us; for power,
whenever you will, attends you. And you taught your people, by
these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; And you gave
your sons good ground for hope that you would permit repentance
for their sins. [Taken from WISDOM 12:2-19]
They no longer safeguard either lives or pure wedlock; but each
either waylays and kills his neighbor, or aggrieves him by
adultery. And all is confusion-blood and murder, theft and guile,
corruption, faithlessness, turmoil, perjury, Disturbance of good
men, neglect of gratitude, besmirching of souls, unnatural lust,
disorder in marriage, adultery and shamelessness. For the worship
of infamous idols is the reason and source and extremity of all
evil. [Taken from WISDOM 14:24-27]
Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD: Though your
sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they
be crimson red, they may become white as wool. If you are willing,
and obey, you shall eat the good things of the land; But if you
refuse and resist, the sword shall consume you: for the mouth of
the LORD has spoken! How has she turned adulteress, the faithful
city, so upright! Justice used to lodge within her, but now,
murderers. Your silver is turned to dross, your wine is mixed with
water. Your princes are rebels and comrades of thieves; Each one
of them loves a bribe and looks for gifts. The fatherless they
defend not, and the widow's plea does not reach them. [Taken from
ISA 1:18-23]
Are you to steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn
incense to Baal, go after strange gods that you know not, and yet
come to stand before me in this house which bears my name, and
say: "We are safe; we can commit all these abominations
again"? Has this house which bears my name become in your
eyes a den of thieves? I too see what is being done, says the
LORD. You may go to Shiloh, which I made the dwelling place of my
name in the beginning. See what I did to it because of the
wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because you have
committed all these misdeeds, says the LORD, because you did not
listen, though I spoke to you untiringly; because you did not
answer, though I called you, I will do to this house named after
me, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and
your fathers, just as I did to Shiloh. I will cast you away from
me, as I cast away all your brethren, all the offspring of
Ephraim. [Taken from JER 7:9-15]
Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: I will smelt them and
test them; how else should I deal with their wickedness? A
murderous arrow is his tongue, his mouth utters deceit; He speaks
cordially with his friends, but in his heart he lays an ambush!
For these things, says the LORD, shall I not punish them? On a
nation such as this shall I not take vengeance? [JER 9:6-8]
I will inflict on you the sentence of adulteresses and
murderesses; I will wreak fury and jealousy upon you. [Taken from
EZEK 16:38]
But if he begets a son who is a thief, a murderer, or who does
any of these things (though the father does none of them), a son
who eats on the mountains, defiles the wife of his neighbor,
oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not give back
a pledge, raises his eyes to idols, does abominable things, lends
at interest and exacts usury - this son certainly shall not live.
Because he practiced all these abominations, he shall surely die;
his death shall be his own fault. [EZEK 18:10-13]
But just men shall punish them with the sentence meted out to
adulteresses and murderesses, for they have committed adultery,
and blood is on their hands. [Taken from EZEK 23:45]
Because you have thought yourself to have the mind of a god,
Therefore I will bring against you foreigners, the most barbarous
of nations. They shall draw their swords against your beauteous
wisdom, they shall run them through your splendid apparel. They
shall thrust you down to the pit, there to die a bloodied corpse,
in the heart of the sea. Will you then say, "I am a
god!" when you face your murderers? No, you are a man, not a
god, handed over to those who will slay you. You shall die the
death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners, for I have
spoken, says the Lord GOD. [Taken from EZEK 28:6-10]
Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel, for the LORD has
a grievance against the inhabitants of the land: There is no
fidelity, no mercy, no knowledge of God in the land. False
swearing, lying, murder, stealing and adultery! In their
lawlessness, bloodshed follows bloodshed. [Taken from HOSEA 4:1-2]
Then Peter said to him in reply, "Explain (this) parable
to us." He said to them, "Are even you still without
understanding? Do you not realize that everything that enters the
mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine?
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and
they defile. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder,
adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are
what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not
defile." [MT 15:15-20]
Jesus again in reply spoke to them in parables, saying,
"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a
wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon
the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A
second time he sent other servants... Some ignored the invitation
and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest
laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The
king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers,
and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is
ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out,
therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever
you find.' The servants went out into the streets and gathered all
they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with
guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man
there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, 'My
friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding
garment?' But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his
attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the
darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of
teeth.' Many are invited, but few are chosen." [Taken from MT 22:1-14]
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You
build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the
righteous, and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our
ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets'
blood.' Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the
children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your
ancestors measured out! You serpents, you brood of vipers, how can
you flee from the judgment of Gehenna? Therefore, behold, I send
to you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will
kill and crucify, some of them you will scourge in your synagogues
and pursue from town to town, so that there may come upon you all
the righteous blood shed upon earth, from the righteous blood of
Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, whom you
murdered between the sanctuary and the altar." [Taken from MT 23:29-35]
When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned
him about the parable. He said to them, "Are even you
likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything
that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it
enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the
latrine?"... "But what comes out of a person, that is
what defiles. From within people, from their hearts, come evil
thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice,
deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All
these evils come from within and they defile." [Taken from MK
7:17-23]
Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one
prisoner whom they requested. A man called Barabbas was then in
prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a
rebellion. The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for
them as he was accustomed. Pilate answered, "Do you want me
to release to you the king of the Jews?" For he knew that it
was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. But
the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release
Barabbas for them instead. Pilate again said to them in reply,
"Then what (do you want) me to do with (the man you call) the
king of the Jews?" They shouted again, "Crucify
him." Pilate said to them, "Why? What evil has he
done?" They only shouted the louder, "Crucify him."
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them
and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified.
[Taken from MK
15:6-15]
But all together they shouted out, "Away with this man!
Release Barabbas to us." (Now Barabbas had been imprisoned
for a rebellion that had taken place in the city and for murder.)
Again Pilate addressed them, still wishing to release Jesus, but
they continued their shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify
him!" Pilate addressed them a third time, "What evil has
this man done? I found him guilty of no capital crime. Therefore I
shall have him flogged and then release him." With loud
shouts, however, they persisted in calling for his crucifixion,
and their voices prevailed. The verdict of Pilate was that their
demand should be granted. So he released the man who had been
imprisoned for rebellion and murder, for whom they asked, and he
handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they wished. [Taken from
LK 23:18-25]
They answered and said to him, "Our father is
Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's
children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. But now you are
trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard
from God; Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your
father!" (So) they said to him, "We are not
illegitimate. We have one Father, God." Jesus said to them,
"If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from
God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me. Why do
you not understand what I am saying? Because you cannot bear to
hear my word. You belong to your father the devil and you
willingly carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from
the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because
he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the
truth, you do not believe me. Can any of you charge me with sin?
If I am telling the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever
belongs to God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not
listen, because you do not belong to God." [JN 8:39-47]
As he clung to Peter and John, all the people hurried in
amazement toward them in the portico called "Solomon's
Portico." When Peter saw this, he addressed the people,
"You Israelites, why are you amazed at this, and why do you
look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power
or piety? The God of Abraham, (the God) of Isaac, and (the God) of
Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus
whom you handed over and denied in Pilate's presence, when he had
decided to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and
asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of life you
put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are
witnesses. And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and
know, his name has made strong, and the faith that comes through
it has given him this perfect health, in the presence of all of
you. Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance, just
as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfillment what
he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets,
that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be wiped away, and that the Lord may
grant you times of refreshment and send you the Messiah already
appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the times
of universal restoration of which God spoke through the mouth of
his holy prophets from of old." [Taken from ACTS 3:11-21]
"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always oppose the Holy Spirit; you are just like your
ancestors. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?
They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous
one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. You
received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe
it." [Taken from ACTS 7:51-53]
Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the
disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for
letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any
men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to
Jerusalem in chains. On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a
light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the
ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are
you persecuting me?" He said, "Who are you, sir?"
The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now
get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must
do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless,
for they heard the voice but could see no one. Saul got up from
the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing; so
they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. For three
days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank. [Taken
from ACTS 9:1-9]
"After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying
in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord saying to me,
'Hurry, leave Jerusalem at once, because they will not accept your
testimony about me.' But I replied, 'Lord, they themselves know
that from synagogue to synagogue I used to imprison and beat those
who believed in you. And when the blood of your witness Stephen
was being shed, I myself stood by giving my approval and keeping
guard over the cloaks of his murderers.' Then he said to me, 'Go,
I shall send you far away to the Gentiles.'" [ACTS 22:17-21]
As the commander dismissed the young man he directed him,
"Tell no one that you gave me this information." Then he
summoned two of the centurions and said, "Get two hundred
soldiers ready to go to Caesarea by nine o'clock tonight, along
with seventy horsemen and two hundred auxiliaries. Provide mounts
for Paul to ride and give him safe conduct to Felix the
governor." Then he wrote a letter with this content:
"Claudius Lysias to his excellency the governor Felix,
greetings. This man, seized by the Jews and about to be murdered
by them, I rescued after intervening with my troops when I learned
that he was a Roman citizen. I wanted to learn the reason for
their accusations against him so I brought him down to their
Sanhedrin. I discovered that he was accused in matters of
controversial questions of their law and not of any charge
deserving death or imprisonment. Since it was brought to my
attention that there will be a plot against the man, I am sending
him to you at once, and have also notified his accusers to state
(their case) against him before you." So the soldiers,
according to their orders, took Paul and escorted him by night to
Antipatris. [ACTS 23:22-31]
When the natives saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said
to one another, "This man must certainly be a murderer;
though he escaped the sea, Justice has not let him remain
alive." [Taken from ACTS 28:4]
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and
worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed
forever. Amen. Therefore, God handed them over to degrading
passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural,
and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and
burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with
males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for
their perversity. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge
God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is
improper. They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil,
greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and
spite. They are gossips and scandalmongers and they hate God. They
are insolent, haughty, boastful, ingenious in their wickedness,
and rebellious toward their parents. They are senseless,
faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know the just decree
of God that all who practice such things deserve death, they not
only do them but give approval to those who practice them. [Taken
from ROM
1:25-32]
I repeat the request I made of you when I was on my way to
Macedonia, that you stay in Ephesus to instruct certain people not
to teach false doctrines or to concern themselves with myths and
endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the
plan of God that is to be received by faith. The aim of this
instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a
sincere faith. Some people have deviated from these and turned to
meaningless talk, wanting to be teachers of the law, but without
understanding either what they are saying or what they assert with
such assurance. We know that the law is good, provided that one
uses it as law, with the understanding that law is meant not for a
righteous person but for the lawless and unruly, the godless and
sinful, the unholy and profane, those who kill their fathers or
mothers, murderers, the unchaste, practicing homosexuals,
kidnapers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is opposed to sound
teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God,
with which I have been entrusted. [1TM 1:3-11]
You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he
offers you no resistance. [Taken from JMS 5:6]
Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring
among you, as if something strange were happening to you. But
rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ,
so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice
exultantly. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed
are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But
let no one among you be made to suffer as a murderer, a thief, an
evildoer, or as an intriguer. But whoever is made to suffer as a
Christian should not be ashamed but glorify God because of the
name. For it is time for the judgment to begin with the household
of God; if it begins with us, how will it end for those who fail
to obey the gospel of God? "And if the righteous one is
barely saved, where will the godless and the sinner appear?"
As a result, those who suffer in accord with God's will hand their
souls over to a faithful creator as they do good. [1PT 4:12-19]
We know that we have passed from death to life because we love
our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who
hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has
eternal life remaining in him. The way we came to know love was
that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our
lives for our brothers. If someone who has worldly means sees a
brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of
God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but
in deed and truth. [Taken from 1JN 3:14-18]
Now in my vision this is how I saw the horses and their riders.
They wore red, blue, and yellow breastplates, and the horses'
heads were like heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire,
smoke, and sulfur. By these three plagues of fire, smoke, and
sulfur that came out of their mouths a third of the human race was
killed. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in
their tails; for their tails are like snakes, with heads that
inflict harm. The rest of the human race, who were not killed by
these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, to give
up the worship of demons and idols made from gold, silver, bronze,
stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they
repent of their murders, their magic potions, their unchastity, or
their robberies. [Taken from RV 9:17-21]
The one who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all
things new." Then he said, "Write these words down, for
they are trustworthy and true." He said to me, "They are
accomplished. I (am) the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and
the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of
life-giving water. The victor will inherit these gifts, and I
shall be his God, and he will be my son. But as for cowards, the
unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers,
idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the
burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death." [RV
21:5-8]
Then he said to me, "Do not seal up the prophetic words of
this book, for the appointed time is near. Let the wicked still
act wickedly, and the filthy still be filthy. The righteous must
still do right, and the holy still be holy." "Behold, I
am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each
according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first
and the last, the beginning and the end." Blessed are they
who wash their robes so as to have the right to the tree of life
and enter the city through its gates. Outside are the dogs, the
sorcerers, the unchaste, the murderers, the idol-worshipers, and
all who love and practice deceit. [RV 22:10-15]
Also try:
command
/ commandments [C5a]
sin
/ sins / sinned / sinful / sinner [S18a]
Jesus'
Passion (from Gospels) [J]
wrath
[W13a]
repent
/ repentance [R4]
Other
resources:
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