Catholic Bible 101

A lot of people say that the Bible says this, and the Bible says that. Here is what the Bible says on many different topics, verbatim, so you can judge for yourself what the Bible really says. For instance, there are people who refuse to call Catholic Priests "Father", because of the hyperbole Jesus used in Matthew 23:9.  See what else the Bible has to say about that.  Others say that celibacy is evil and causes priests to do evil things with altar boys.  See what the Bible has to say about celibacy. For Purgatory, click here.

            Tobit and the Archangel Raphael

 And is your salvation a sure thing once you accept Jesus for the first time?

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1. Abortion
2. Alcohol OK?
3. The Antichrist
4. Anxiety
5. Apostolic Succession
6. Baptism
7. The Bible Alone?
8. The  Blessed Virgin Mary
9. Call No Man on Earth Father?
10. Celibacy
11. Church Unity
12. Confession
13. Confirmation
14. Contraception (Artificial Birth Control)
15. Divorce and Remarriage
16. The End of the World
17. The Eucharist
18. The Eucharist is not Symbolic
19. Exorcism
20. Faith Alone; Works Not Necessary?
21. Family Tree Curses and Blessings
22. Fasting
23. The Forgiveness of Sin
24. Hair Length
    
25. Holy Orders
26. Holy Water
27. Homosexuality
28. Humility and Meekness
29. Infallibility
    
30. Infant Baptism
31. Kosher Dietary Laws done away with
32. Last Rites 
33. Man’s Suffering
34. Marriage
35. Mary is Our Mother
36. Mary, Queen of Heaven
37. The Mass
38. Money
39. Mortal Sin
40. None Righteous?
41. Once Saved, Always Saved?
42. One Mediator...Of what?
43. Oral Tradition
44. Original Sin
45. The Papacy
46. Personal Interpretation of Scripture Forbidden
47. Pornography
48. Predestination or Free Will?
49. Pre-Marital Sex
50. The Primacy of the Church
51. Purgatory
    
52. Reincarnation?
53. Relics
54. Repetitive Prayer Forbidden?
55. The Saints
56. Saved by Faith Alone?
57. Self - Mortification for Spiritual Benefit
    
58. Sex is Sacred
59. Statues are OK
60. Suffering and Its Benefits
61. Tattoos
62. Tradition - Good or Bad
63. Vow of Virginity while Married
    
64. The Whore of Babylon
65. Witchcraft and Sorcery Forbidden
    

Deuteronomy 30:19: "I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live".

Jeremiah 1:5: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Psalm 139:13: "For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb."

Isaiah 44:2:Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

Isaiah 44:24:Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things,  who stretched out the heavens alone, who spread out the earth -- Who was with me?

Isaiah 49:1: Listen to me, O coastlands, and hearken, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.

Isaiah 49:5: And now the LORD says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength

Luke 1:43-44: “And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy."

(**Note - Elizabeth called Mary "the mother" while Jesus was still in the womb. John the Baptist, while still a "fetus", leapt in Elizabeth's womb for joy, which proves that the unborn can feel emotions, a very human thing indeed.  The unborn are therefore not something, but rather, somebody.)

Luke 23: 29 “For behold, the days are coming when they will say, `Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck!”

(**NOTE - This negative prophecy of Jesus is not something that we should be proud of in our abortion-saturated countries today).

Deuteronomy 14:26: and spend the money for whatever you desire, oxen, or sheep, or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves; and you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.

Psalm 104:15: and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart.

Sirach 31:29: Wine drunk to excess is bitterness of soul, with provocation and stumbling.

Sirach 40:20: Wine and music gladden the heart, but the love of wisdom is better than both.

2 Macabees 15:39: For just as it is harmful to drink wine alone, or, again, to drink water alone, while wine mixed with water is sweet and delicious and enhances one's enjoyment, so also the style of the story delights the ears of those who read the work. And here will be the end.

John 2:3-10: When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."  Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.  He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it.  When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom  and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now."

(**Note - Here Jesus creates wine from water, a prefigurement of changing wine into His Precious Blood at the Last Supper).

Ephesians 5:18: And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit,

1 Timothy 5: 23: No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

(**NOTE - The Bible is clear that alcohol is permissible, although only in moderation. It is NEVER permissible to get drunk, as the Bible condemns that.)

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1 John 2:18: Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour.

1 John 2:22: Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.

1 John 4:3: and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of Antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already.

2 John 1:7:  For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the Antichrist.

(**NOTE - The Pope therefore cannot be the antichrist, since no Pope has ever denied that Jesus is God.  Also note that the word "antichrist" is NOT found in the Book of Revelation, which refers more to the destruction of Jerusalem, the harlot, than it does to the end of our world.)

Matthew 6:27:And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?

Matthew 6:28: And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin;

Matthew 6:31: Therefore do not be anxious, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?'

Matthew 6:34: "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day.

(**NOTE - This is great advice for our modern world, which seems to be anxious about everything.  Forget all that, and just trust in God our loving Father to provide for you. Then, you don't have to worry about anything!).

Acts 1: 15-26: In those days Peter stood up among the brethren (the company of persons was in all about a hundred and twenty), and said, "Brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David, concerning Judas who was guide to those who arrested Jesus.  For he was numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry.  (Now this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) For it is written in the book of Psalms, `Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'; and `His office let another take.' So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,  beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us -- one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection."  And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, "Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two thou hast chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, to go to his own place." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.

Acts 14:23: And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed. 

Acts 18:24-28: Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, well versed in the scriptures.  He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.  He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aq'uila heard him, they took him and expounded to him the way of God more accurately.  And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed,  for he powerfully confuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

Titus 1:5: This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you

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1 Peter 3:30-21: who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. "Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ"

John 3:5: Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

John 3:22: After this Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea; there he remained with them and baptized.

Mark 1:4-11: John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  Now John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove;  and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased."

Acts 2:38: And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

 (**NOTE- There was no Christian Bible until the late 4th Century, when Pope Damasus I put the Canon together, which was ratified at the Councils of Rome, Hippo, and Carthage.  Therefore, it would have been impossible for the first Christians to have used "Sola Scriptura", or the Bible Alone as a guide to salvation. It wasn't until the 16th Century that this doctrine was invented by Martin Luther.)

Acts 15: 1-30: But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, reporting the conversion of the Gentiles, and they gave great joy to all the brethren. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up, and said, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses." The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them, Brethren, you know that in the early days God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knows the heart bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you make trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will." And all the assembly kept silence; and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, "Brethren, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written,  `After this I will return, and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up, that the rest of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who has made these things known from of old. 'Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled and from blood. For from early generations Moses has had in every city those who preach him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues." Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, with the following letter: "The brethren, both the apostles and the elders, to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting. Since we have heard that some persons from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:  that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell." So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 

(**NOTE - Here the apostles had to make a decision on whether or not Gentile Christians had to be circumcised like Jews before being able to be a Christian.  The Apostles did NOT search the scriptures (The Old Testament).  Rather, they had a conclave and invoked the Holy Spirit as their guide.)

Acts 10: 9-16: The next day, as they were on their journey and coming near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. And he became hungry and desired something to eat; but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heaven opened, and something descending, like a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "No, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has cleansed, you must not call common." This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

(**NOTE - Peter would have been searching the scriptures a very long time to find a verse that would say that eating unclean animals was OK.  That was strictly forbidden by the Old Testament at that time).

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Genesis 3:15: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head,and you shall bruise his heel."

Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Luke 1:26-35: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,  to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.  And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!"  But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be.  And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,  and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?"  And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

Luke 1:41-47: And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit  and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!   And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?   For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.  And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."  And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,  and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

Luke 2:25-35: Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law,  he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,  "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples,  a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel." And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against  (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."

John 2:1-5: On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.  When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."  And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

John 19:26-27: When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!"  Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Revelation 11:19, 12:1-2: Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;  she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. 

Revelation 12:13-17: And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child.  But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.  The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood.  But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth.   Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

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Luke 2:48:And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously

John 8: 54-56: Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is your God.  But you have not known him; I know him. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad."

Acts 7:2: And Stephen said: "Brethren and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopota'mia, before he lived in Haran,

Romans 4:12:  and likewise the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but also follow the example of the faith which our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

1 Corinthians 4:15: For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Matthew 19:12 :  When the disciples questioned Jesus about not marrying, He said "Some  are  incapable  of  marriage,  because  they  were  born  so; some,  because  they  were made  so by  others; some,  because  they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."

Luke 18:29-30 Jesus said to the Apostles "Amen, I say to you, there is no one  who  has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God  who  will  not receive an overabundant return..."

1 Corinthians 7: 25-27: Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress it is well for a person to remain as he is.  Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage.

1 Corinthians 7:32-38: I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord;  but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife,  and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband.  I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.  If any one thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry -- it is no sin. But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well.  So that he who marries his betrothed does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better.

Revelation 14:3-5: and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.  It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste; it is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes; these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb,  and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are spotless.

John 10:16: And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.  

John 17:18-23: As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.  And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.  "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word,  that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,  I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.

1 Corinthians 1:10-13: I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.  For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brethren.  What I mean is that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ."  Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

Proverbs 28:13: He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

(**NOTE - Besides being unbiblical, not confessing your sins to God's duly appointed ministers (John 20:22) would be like not ever telling your doctor where your physical ailments are).

Sirach 4:26: Do not be ashamed to confess your sins, and do not try to stop the current of a river.

Mark 1:4-5: John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 

John 20:22-23:"And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 

James 5:16: Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.

1 John 1:9:  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness

2 Corinthians 5:18-20: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Acts 8:14-17:  Now when the Apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord, Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.   

Genesis 1:28:  "God blessed male and female, saying: 'Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it..."

Psalms 127:3-5:  Children too are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children born in one's youth. Blessed are they whose quivers are full."   

Genesis 38:8-10: Then Judah said to Onan, "Unite with your brother's widow, in fulfillment of your duty as brother-in-law, and thus preserve your brother's line." Onan however, knew that the descendants would not be counted as his; so whenever he had relations with his brother's widow, he wasted his seed on the ground, to avoid contributing offspring for his brother. What he did greatly offended the Lord, and the Lord took his life too."

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Luke 21:34-36: "But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare;  for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth.  But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man."Matthew 24:3: As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?"  And Jesus answered them, "Take heed that no one leads you astray.  For many will come in my name, saying, `I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places:  all this is but the beginning of the birth-pangs. "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.  And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another.  And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end will be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come. "So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),  then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;  let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house;  and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle.  And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days!  Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath.  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.  And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.  Then if any one says to you, `Lo, here is the Christ!' or `There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.  Lo, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, `Lo, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out; if they say, `Lo, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.  For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man.  Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;  then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory;  and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.  So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. "But of that day and hour no one knows, 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 men will be in the field; one is taken and 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. "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?  Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing.  Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.  But if that wicked servant says to himself, `My master is delayed,'  and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken,  the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know,  and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.

Matthew 25:31-46: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,  and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.  Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;  for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'  Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?  And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?  And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'  And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'  Then he will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;  for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?'  Then he will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.'  And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

"John 6:54:“he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day”

John 12:48:“He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.”

1 Thessolonians 4:15-17: For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. 

2 Timothy 3:1-5: But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  holding the form of religion but denying the power of it.

2 Peter 3:3-12: 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 earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and 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 forbearing 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, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.  Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,  waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! 

Jude 1:17-19: But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;  they said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions."  It is these who set up divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.

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Exodus 16:14-15: And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as hoarfrost on the ground.  When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.

Matthew 26:26-28: Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you;  for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

(**NOTE - The Eucharist is a communal meal, a sacrificial meal, a memorial meal, and a sin-forgiving meal, according to Jesus.)

John 6:53-58, 66-67 : "So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.' After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve, 'Will you also go away?'"

1 Corinthians 11:27 : "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord."

Luke 24: 28-31: So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further,  but they constrained him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." So he went in to stay with them.  When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them.  And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.

Matthew 26:26: Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." 

John 6:51:  I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." 

John 6:55: For my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed.

1 Corinthians 10:16: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

1 Corinthians 11:27: Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.

 (**Note: The word "symbolic" is not to be found in any passage concerning the Eucharist.  Catholics walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7))

Matthew 7:22: On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?

Matthew 18:16:That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick

Matthew 8:28-32:And when he came to the other side, to the country of the adarenes, two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.  And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them.  And the demons begged him, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine."  And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters.

Mark 3:13-15: And he went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him.  And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons:

Mark 6:13: And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.

Mark 16:9: Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.

Luke 4:41:And demons also came out of many, crying, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

Acts 19:13-16: Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."  Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.  But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"  And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Revelation 16:13-14: And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs;  for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

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Matthew 5:16: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 

John 14:12: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.

Romans 2:6: For he will render to every man according to his works:

Titus 3:8: The saying is sure. I desire you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to apply themselves to good deeds; these are excellent and profitable to men.

James 2:17: So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

James 2:24: "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone."

Galatians 2:16:  yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. 

(**NOTE - Works of the law are like ritual hand washing, circumcision, and other laws of the Pharisees.  They are differentiated from good works, which are the good fruit of your faith, which are indeed necessary for entrance into heaven, according to the Bible. See the following verse from Matthew).

Matthew 25:31-46: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,  and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.  Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;  for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'  Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?  And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?  And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'  And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'  Then he will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;  for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?'  Then he will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.'  And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Hebrews 10:24: and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works

James 1:22-25: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror;  for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.

Revelation 20:12-13: And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done.

(**NOTE - People will be judged by what they had done, rather than in what they said they believed. "Not everyone who says Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father", Matthew 7:21)

Exodus 20:5-6: you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Deuteronomy 7:9: Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.

Luke 11:48-51: So you are witnesses and consent to the deeds of your fathers; for they killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, `I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation,  from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechari'ah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it shall be required of this generation .

Matthew 23:30-36:  saying, `If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.  You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,  that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechari'ah the son of Barachi'ah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.  Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation.

Psalm 35:13: But I, when they were sick  I wore sackcloth, I afflicted myself with fasting.I prayed with head bowed on my bosom,

Esther 4:16: "Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish."

1 Samuel 31: 11-13: But when the inhabitants of Ja'besh-gil'ead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,  all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh and burnt them there.  And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

(**NOTE - This is a primary example of doing penance for people who have died.  The reason these men fasted for the dead was for the remission of Saul's sins.)

Joel 1:14-16: Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God; and cry to the LORD. Alas for the day!  For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.  Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness  from the house of our God?

Joel 2:12 -13 "Yet even now," says the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;  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.

Matthew 6:16-18: "And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 9:14-15: Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Mark 9:28-29: And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting."

Acts 13:2-3: While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."  Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Matthew 6:15: but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 12:31: Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Matthew 18:21-22:Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

Matthew 18:34-35: And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt.  So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."

Mark 11:25: And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."

Luke 6:37:"Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Luke 7:47: Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little."

Luke 11:4:and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation."

Luke 17:4:and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, `I repent,' you must forgive him."

John 20:21-23: Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Acts 2:38:And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:43: To him all the prophets bear witness that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." :

Colossians 3:13: forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive

Hebrews 9:22: Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

James 5:14-15:Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;  and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 Corinthians 11:14-15: Does not nature itself teach you that for a man to wear long hair is degrading to him,  but if a woman has long hair, it is her pride? For her hair is given to her for a covering.

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Genesis 14:18: "Melchizedek, king of Salem brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abraham with these words..."

Luke 22:19:And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

John 20:21-23: Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Hebrews 5:5-6:  "In the same way, it was not Christ who glorified Himself in becoming high priest, but rather the one who said to Him: 'You are My Son; this day I have begotten you' just as He says in another place 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

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Numbers 5:17: and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.

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Leviticus 20:13: If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.

Genesis 19:1-7: The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the earth, and said, "My lords, turn aside, I pray you, to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise up early and go on your way." They said, "No; we will spend the night in the street."  But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.  But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house;  and they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them."  Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him,  and said, "I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.

Romans 1:26-27: For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural,  and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error.

1 Timothy 1:8-10: Now we know that the law is good, if any one uses it lawfully,  understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, immoral persons, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine. 

Psalms 10:17:O LORD, thou wilt hear the desire of the meek; thou wilt strengthen their heart, thou wilt incline thy ear.

Sirach 1:27:For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and instruction, and he delights in fidelity and meekness.

Proverbs 3:34: Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he shows favor.

Proverbs 22:4: The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.

Isaiah 57:15: For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Sirach 3:18: The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord.

Matthew 5:5: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

Matthew 23:12: whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

James 4:6: But he gives more grace; therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

James 4:10: Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

1 Peter 5:5: Likewise you that are younger be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

(**NOTE -The devil's great sin was pride.  To humble yourself to God and to your neighbor not only pleases God, but it also fights the devil and his temptations in your life).

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Matthew 16:19: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Matthew 18:18: Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Luke 10:16: "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

Luke 1:13: But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.  And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth;  for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

Luke 18:15-17: Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." 

Acts 16:31: And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."

1 Corinthians 1:16: I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any one  else.

(**NOTE -  The above verses show that the Holy Spirit can come to infants, even before they're born; that infants belong to the Kingdom of God; that other household members can be saved through the belief of another; and that whole households were baptized, which would include infants in most Jewish families of the first century).

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Mark 7:18-19: And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him, since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

Acts 10:9-16: The next day, as they were on their journey and coming near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. And he became hungry and desired something to eat; but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heaven opened, and something descending, like a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.  And there came a voice to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "No, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has cleansed, you must not call common." This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

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James 5:14-15 : "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."

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Matthew 10:38-39: and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.

Colossians 1:24 : "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh and I complete what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of his body, that is, the church"

Romans 8:16-17: It is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Acts 9:15-16: But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;  for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

Romans 5:3-5: More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

2 Corinthians 1:5: For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

Philippians 1:29-30: For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,  engaged in the same conflict which you saw and now hear to be mine.

Phillipians 3:8-11: Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith;  that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

2 Timothy 2:3:  Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 11:24-26:  By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,  choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered abuse suffered for the Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the reward.

1 Peter 2:20-21:  For what credit is it, if when you do wrong and are beaten for it you take it patiently? But if when you do right and suffer for it you take it patiently, you have God's approval.  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

1 Peter 4:1:  Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin

1 Peter 4:13: But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

1 Peter 5:8-10: Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world.  And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you.

Revelation 2:10: Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life..

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Mark 10:2-12:  Jesus said to the Pharisees, "God made them male and female.  For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become as one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no man must separate..."

Romans 7:1-3: Do you not know, brethren -- for I am speaking to those who know the law -- that the law is binding on a person only during his life?  Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning the husband.  Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

1 Corinthians 7:10-16: To the married I give charge, not I but the Lord, that the wife should not separate from her husband  (but if she does, let her remain single or else be reconciled to her husband) -- and that the husband should not divorce his wife.  To the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.  If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.  For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy.  But if the unbelieving partner desires to separate, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. For God has called us to peace.  Wife, how do you know whether you will save your husband? Husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife? 

(**NOTE -- Here we see the power of one person's faith in Christ sanctifying the rest of the family, including infants.  Why?  Because the family is one in Christ, even if only one member is a believer.)

Ephesians 5:22-33: Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.  As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands.  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,  that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church,  because we are members of his body.  "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."  This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church;  however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

(**NOTE -- Here Paul compares the sacrament of marriage between a man and a wife with the relationship Christ has with His Church - That they are one, and not separate entities.  That is why Jesus said in Luke 10:16 - "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."  People who reject the teachings of the Church because of their personal opinions would do well to remember this- they aren't just rejecting what the Pope says;  they are rejecting what Jesus says.)

Hebrews 13:4: Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and adulterous. 

John 19:26-27: When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!"  Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Revelation 12:17: Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

Revelation 12:1-6: And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.  And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads.  His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,  and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Genesis 14:18: And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. 

Malachi 1:11: For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.

Mark 6:34-44: As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late;  send them away, to go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat."  But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?"  And he said to them, "How many loaves have you? Go and see." And when they had found out, they said, "Five, and two fish."  Then he commanded them all to sit down by companies upon the green grass.  So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.  And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all.  And they all ate and were satisfied.  And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

1 Corinthians 10:16-18: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.  Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar?

Luke 22:19-20: And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."

Ecclesiastes 5:10: He who loves money will not be satisfied with money; nor he who loves wealth, with gain: this also is vanity.

Psalm 49:16-19: Be not afraid when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.  Though, while he lives, he counts himself happy, and though a man gets praise when he does well for himself, he will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never more see the light. 

Luke 16:19-25: "There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  And at his gate lay a poor man named Laz'arus, full of sores,  who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried;  and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz'arus in his bosom.  And he called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz'arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.'  But Abraham said, `Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

Luke 18:24-25: Jesus looking at him said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Luke 21:1-4: He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury;  and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins.  And he said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them;  for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had."

1 Timothy 3:2-3: Now a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, dignified, hospitable, an apt teacher,  no drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and no lover of money.

1 Timothy 6:10: For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.

2 Timothy 3:1-5: But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress.  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people.

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never fail you nor forsake you." 

James 1:11: For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

James 2:5-6: Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you, is it not they who drag you into court?

James 5:1-5: Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.  Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.  Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.  You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 

Quote from the Saints - "We should have no more use or regard for money in any of its forms than we have for dust. Those who think it is worth more, or who are greedy for it, expose themselves to the danger of being deceived by the Devil."

St. Francis of Assisi

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1 John 5:16-17: If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not mortal.

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Matthew 5:20: For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 13:49:  So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous,

Matthew 6:20: for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly.

Luke 1:5-6:In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Luke 2:25: Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

Luke 23:50: Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man,

Romans 3:10: as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;"

(**NOTE - Here Paul is quoting Psalm 14 --"as it is written"-- which is talking about atheists)

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Mark 13:13: and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

1 Corinthians 9:27: but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

2 Peter 2: 20-22: For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first.  For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.  It has happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog turns back to his own vomit, and the sow is washed only to wallow in the mire.

Hebrews 10:26-29: For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,  but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries.  A man who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy at the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? 

1 Samuel 10:6: Then the spirit of the LORD will come mightily upon you(Saul), and you shall prophesy with them and be turned into another man.

1 Samuel 16:14: Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.

(**Note--The example of Saul)

Philippians 2:12: Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

Matthew 13:18-23: "Hear then the parable of the sower.  When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path.  As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.  As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Romans 11:22: Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off.

Revelation 2:4-5: Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first. Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

Luke 15:32: "It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"

1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

Hebrews 9: 15: Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.

Hebrews 12:24: and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel

2 Thessalonians 2:15: "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter."

Romans 5:12: Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world and by sin death: and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned.

Isaiah 22:20-22: " In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,  and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open."

Matthew 16:18-19: "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Acts 8:29-31:And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot."  So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"  And he said, "How can I, unless some one guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

2 Peter 1:20: First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,  because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

2 Peter 3:15-16: And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.

Leviticus 18:17: You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are your near kinswomen; it is wickedness.

Matthew 5:28: But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Gen. 38:8-10: Then Judah said to Onan, "Unite with your brother's widow, in fulfillment of your duty as brother-in-law, and thus preserve your brother's line." Onan however, knew that the descendants would not be counted as his; so whenever he had relations with his brother's widow, he wasted his seed on the ground, to avoid contributing offspring for his brother. What he did greatly offended the Lord, and the Lord took his life too."

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Deuteronomy 30:19-20: "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him."

 Proverbs 1:24: "Because I called and you refused, I extended my hand and no one took notice"

2 Corinthians 8: For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will,

Philemon 1:14: but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will.

Matthew 15:19:  Jesus said to His "For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, and blasphemy."

Ephesians 5:5: "Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure or greedy person, that is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."

Colossians 3:5: Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Revelation 21:8: But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."

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1Timothy 3:15: "If I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth."

Matthew 16:18: And I tell you, you are Peter,  and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death  shall not prevail against it.

Ephesians 5: 23: For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior

Matthew 18:17-18: If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.  Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven

Ephesians 1: 20-23: which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come;  and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,  which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. 

Colossians 1: 18:  He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent.

Isaiah 6:1-7: In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.  Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then flew one of the seraphim (*seraphim means "burning one") to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven."

2 Maccabees 12:43-45: "He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.".

Matthew 5:25-26: “Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.”

Matthew 12:31-32: Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.  And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Matthew 18:32-35: Then his lord summoned him and said to him, `You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me;  and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'  And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt.  So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."

Mark 9:49: For every one will be salted with fire.

Hebrews 12:22-24: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel. "

Revelation 21:27: But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

1 Corinthians 3:12-15: Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw; each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Hebrews 12:29: "For our God is a consuming fire."

1 Peter 1:7: "The  genuineness  of  your  faith,  more  precious  than  gold  that is perishable  even  though tested by  fire, may  prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Hebrews 9:27: And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment

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2 Kings 2: 8 Then Elijah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.

2 Kings 13:21 : And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood on his feet.

Acts 19:11 -12: And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

Matthew 14: 35-36: And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent round to all that region and brought to him all that were sick, and besought him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.

Psalm 136 repeats the phrase "for his steadfast love endures for ever" twenty six times.

Matthew 26:39-44: And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."  And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour?  Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done."  And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.  So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words.

2 Maccabees 11-16: He armed each of them not so much with confidence in shields and spears as with the inspiration of brave words, and he cheered them all by relating a dream, a sort of vision, which was worthy of belief. What he saw was this: Onias, who had been high priest, a noble and good man, of modest bearing and gentle manner, one who spoke fittingly and had been trained from childhood in all that belongs to excellence, was praying with outstretched hands for the whole body of the Jews. Then likewise a man appeared, distinguished by his gray hair and dignity, and of marvelous majesty and authority. And Onias spoke, saying, "This is a man who loves the brethren and prays much for the people and the holy city, Jeremiah, the prophet of God." Jeremiah stretched out his right hand and gave to Judas a golden sword, and as he gave it he addressed him thus: "Take this holy sword, a gift from God, with which you will strike down your adversaries."

Matthew 22: 31-32: And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God, `I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living."

Luke 20:35-36: but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,  for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

Hebrews 13:7: Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith.

James 5:10: As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.   

John 17:21-22: so that they may all be one, as  you, Father,  are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you  sent  me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

1 Corinthians 6:17: But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.  

1 Timothy 2:1: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men

James 5: 16: Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.

2 Peter 1: 3- 4: His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.

Luke 9:28-31: Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Luke 16:19-31: "There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  And at his gate lay a poor man named Laz'arus, full of sores,  who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried;  and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz'arus in his bosom.  And he called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz'arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.'  But Abraham said, `Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz'arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'  And he said, `Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house,  for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.'  But Abraham said, `They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'  And he said, `No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, `If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.

Revelation 5:8: And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints;

Revelation 8:3: And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne;

Quote from St. Thomas More, before he was martyred by Henry VIII:    "You say you see no reason why we should pray to the Saints since God can hear us and help us just as well, and will do so gladly, as any Saint in Heaven. Well, then, what need, I ask, do you have to ask any physician to help your fever, or to ask and pay any surgeon to heal your sore leg? For God can both hear you and help you as well as the best of doctors. He loves you more than they do, and He can help you sooner. Besides-----His poultices are cheaper and He will give you more for your words alone than they will for your money! "

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Acts 15:11: But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will."

Ephesians 2:5: even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

Ephesians 2:8: For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God –

1 Corinthians 13:13: So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Peter 3:21: Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

John 6:53-58:  So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you;  he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.  He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."

Matthew 25:34-40: Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;  for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'  Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?  And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?  And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?'  And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'

Matthew 4:2: And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.

1 Corinthians 9:27:  but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Tobit 8:1-9:  When they had finished eating, they escorted Tobias in to her.  As he went he remembered the words of Raphael, and he took the live ashes of incense and put the heart and liver of the fish upon them and made a smoke. And when the demon smelled the odor he fled to the remotest parts of Egypt, and the angel bound him.  When the door was shut and the two were alone, Tobias got up from the bed and said, "Sister, get up, and let us pray that the Lord may have mercy upon us."  And Tobias began to pray, "Blessed art thou, O God of our fathers, and blessed be thy holy and glorious name for ever. Let the heavens and all thy creatures bless thee.  Thou madest Adam and gavest him Eve his wife as a helper and support. From them the race of mankind has sprung. Thou didst say, `It is not good that the man should be alone; let us make a helper for him like himself.'  And now, O Lord, I am not taking this sister of mine because of lust, but with sincerity. Grant that I may find mercy and may grow old together with her."  And she said with him, "Amen."  Then they both went to sleep for the night.

Exodus 25: 16-20: And you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you. Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.

Numbers 21: 8-9: And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

2 Chronicles 3:1-17: Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. He began to build in the second month of the fourth year of his reign. These are Solomon's measurements for building the house of God: the length, in cubits of the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house; and its height was a hundred and twenty cubits. He overlaid it on the inside with pure gold. The nave he lined with cypress, and covered it with fine gold, and made palms and chains on it. He adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim. So he lined the house with gold -- its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls. And he made the most holy place; its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits; he overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. The weight of the nails was one shekel to fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold. In the most holy place he made two cherubim of wood and overlaid them with gold. The wings of the cherubim extended twenty cubits; the cherubim stood on their feet, facing the nave. And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and worked cherubim on it. In front of the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits high, with a capital of five cubits on the top of each. He made chains like a necklace and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.  He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the south, the other on the north; that on the south he called Jachin, and that on the north Boaz.

Acts 5:41: Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

Acts 9:16: for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

Romans 5:3-5: More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

Romans 8:17-18: and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

1 Corinthians 12:26: If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

2 Corinthians 1:5-7: For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

Phillipians 1:29: For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,

Phillipians 3:8-11: Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Colossians 1:24: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

1 Thessalonians 2:14: For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judea; for you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,

2 Timothy 2:3: Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 4:5: As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Hebrews 2:10: For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Hebrews 11:26: He considered abuse suffered for the Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the reward.

James 5:10,13 : As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise.

1 Peter 1:6-7:  In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials,  so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:20-21: For what credit is it, if when you do wrong and are beaten for it you take it patiently? But if when you do right and suffer for it you take it patiently, you have God's approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

1 Peter 4:1,13,15,16,19: Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a wrongdoer, or a mischief-maker; yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God. Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will do right and entrust their souls to a faithful Creator.

1 Peter 5:9-10: Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you.

Revelation 2:10: Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

(**NOTE - Anybody that says that Jesus did all of the suffering for us, and that all we have to do is to profess our belief in him to be saved, without the necessity of uniting our suffering (for His Name) to His suffering, is not telling the biblical truth.  And if we aren't suffering for the name of Jesus, are we doing our job as Christians?).

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Leviticus 19:28: You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh on account of the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

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Bad Traditions (The traditions of the Pharisees and the Jewish culture)

Matthew 15:6: So, for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God. 

Mark 7:4: and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.)

Mark 7:6-9: And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, `This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'  You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.   And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition!

Colossians 2:8: See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. 

Good Traditions (The Traditions of Paul and the Catholic Church)

1 Corinthians 11:2: I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you.  

2 Thessalonians 2:15: So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.

2 Thessalonians 3:6: Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 

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Numbers 30:3-7: Or when a woman vows a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father's house, in her youth, and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself, and says nothing to her; then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if her father expresses disapproval to her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself, shall stand; and the LORD will forgive her, because her father opposed her. And if she is married to a husband, while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, and her husband hears of it, and says nothing to her on the day that he hears; then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.

(**NOTE - This explains Mary's reply to Gabriel in Luke 1:34, "How can this be, since I do not know man"?   We previously learned in Luke 1:27 that Mary was already betrothed to Joseph, so this  question of hers to Gabriel can only mean that this was to be a celibate marriage, because of her previous vow of virginity, like it says in the Book of Numbers.  Otherwise, why would she ask such a question, if she knew she was soon to be married to Joseph?).

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Revelation 17:1-18 : Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the dwellers on earth have become drunk." And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations." And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her I marveled greatly. But the angel said to me, "Why marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition; and the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to behold the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to perdition. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are of one mind and give over their power and authority to the beast;  they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful." And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot; they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and giving over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman that you saw is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth."

Revelation 11:7-8: And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them,  and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

(**NOTE - The Whore of Babylon is a city, and is probably Jerusalem, because of all of the prophets of God that were martyred there, as well as the handing over of their own Messiah to the Romans to be crucified. The beast is the Roman Empire (Rome was built on 7 Hills.  The Vatican is on one hill, Vatican Hill, which is not one of the 7 hills Rome was originally built on), who teamed up with the harlot Jerusalem to crucify Jesus.  The beast then destroyed the harlot in 70 AD (Revelation 17:16), with the same generation of people present who heard Jesus prophecy that "Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place", Mark 13:30).  The number 666 is the numeric equivalent of "Caesar Nero", the emperor at the time John was writing Revelation (all of the Roman emperors claimed to be gods, and demanded to be worshiped as such).  The dragon of Revelation 12 is the devil, and The Woman of Revelation 12 is the Blessed Virgin Mary, who represents both ancient Israel as well as the Church of Jesus Christ. Click here to read about the historical account of the destruction of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 1:21: How the faithful city has become a harlot, she that was full of justice!  Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

Deuteronomy 18:10: There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, any one who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, 

Leviticus 19:26: "You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not practice augury or witchcraft.

2 Kings 17: And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings, and used divination and sorcery, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 

2 Chronicles 33:6: And he burned his sons as an offering in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and practiced soothsaying and augury and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

Wisdom 12:4: thou didst hate for their detestable practices, their works of sorcery and unholy rites,

Galatians 5: Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit,  envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Acts 16-18: As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by soothsaying. She followed Paul and us, crying, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." And this she did for many days. But Paul was annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.

Revelation 21:8: But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."

Revelation 22:15: Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practices falsehood.

(**NOTE - God loves you when you trust in Him totally, and He really hates it when you trust in the black art of witchcraft instead.  In Acts 16:18 above, we see that there is actually an evil spirit (satan) present in the slave girl, which is why she was able to prophecy.  In Revelation 21:8 above, St. John compares sorcerers to murderers, fornicators, idolaters, and liars, so be very careful in letting your kids believe that sorcery as seen on TV and in the movies today is all just good harmless fun.  Watching that evil stuff may be opening doors in your child's mind and soul that are very harmful.)

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