Thematic Bible: Turning


Thematic Bible



He won't examine mankind further, that they would go before God to judgment. He shatters valiant men without a need to investigate, and he raises others in their place. Thus he acknowledges their behavior, and overcomes them; when night time comes, they are crushed. read more.
"He strikes the wicked among them in a place where they can be seen because they've abandoned their pursuit of him and had no respect for any of his ways. As a result, the cries of the poor have reached him and he has heard the cry of the afflicted.

The Amalekites and Canaanites are there waiting for you. You'll die violently, since you've turned your back and have stopped following the LORD. The LORD won't be with you."

because I know that after my death, you'll surely act wickedly and turn from the road that I've instructed you. As a result, evil will fall on you in days to come, because you'll act wickedly in the sight of the LORD, causing him to become angry due to your behavior."

"Pay attention to me, you descendants of Levi! Consecrate yourselves and the Temple of the LORD God of your ancestors by taking out from the Holy Place whatever is unclean. Our ancestors have been unfaithful. They practiced what the LORD considers to be evil, abandoned him, turned their faces away from the place where the LORD resides, and turned their backs to him. They shut the doors to the vestibule of the Temple, extinguished its lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel in the Holy Place. That's why the LORD was angry with Judah and Jerusalem and made them an object of terror, horror, and derision, as you've seen with your own eyes. read more.
Now look! Our ancestors have been killed with swords and our sons, daughters, and wives are being held captive because of all of this.

You have seen their detestable practices, their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold that they had with them. Be alert so there is no man, woman, family, or a tribe whose heart is turning away from the LORD your God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Be alert so there will be no root among you that produces poisonous and bitter fruit, because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he will bless himself and say: "I will have a peaceful life, even though I'm determined to be stubborn.' By doing this he will be sweeping away both watered and parched ground alike.' read more.
"The LORD won't forgive such a person. Instead, the zealous anger of the LORD will blaze against him. All the curses that were written in this book will fall on him. Then the LORD will wipe out his memory from under heaven. The LORD will set him apart from all the tribes of Israel for destruction, according to the curses of the covenant that were written in this Book of the Law." "Then the generation to come your descendants after you and the foreigners who come from afar will see plagues and illnesses infecting the land that the LORD will inflict on it. The whole land will be covered with salt pits and burning sulfur, with nothing planted, nothing sprouting, and producing no vegetation overthrown like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, when the LORD overthrew them in his raging fury. All the nations will ask, "Why did the LORD do this to this land? What is the meaning of this fierce and great anger?' Then they will answer themselves, "Because they've abandoned the covenant of their LORD, the God of their ancestors that he had made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshipped other gods whom they had not known and whom he did not assign to them. For this reason, the anger of the LORD raged against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that were written in this book. The LORD uprooted them from the land in his anger, wrath, and great fury, deporting them to another land, and that's the way things are today.' "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but what has been revealed belongs to us and to our children forever, so that we might observe the words of this Law."

Be careful! Otherwise, your hearts will deceive you and you will turn away to serve other gods and worship them. The wrath of God will burn against you so that he will restrain the heavens and it won't rain. The ground won't yield its produce and you'll be swiftly destroyed from the good land that the LORD is about to give you. Take these commands to heart and keep them in mind, tying them as reminders on your arm and as bands on your forehead.

"Look! Today I have set before you life and what is good, along with death and what is evil. That's why I'm commanding you today to love the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by observing his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live long, increase, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are about to enter to possess. But if you turn your heart away, and do not obey, but instead if you stray away to worship and serve other gods, read more.
I'm declaring to you today that you will surely be destroyed. You won't live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan River to enter and possess.

But if you or your descendants abandon me, and do not keep my commandments and statutes that I have given to you, and if you go away, serve other gods, and worship them, then I will eliminate Israel from the land that I gave them and from the Temple that I've consecrated for my name. I will throw them out of my sight, and Israel will become the butt of jokes and a means of ridicule among people worldwide! "This Temple will become a pile of ruins. Everyone who passes by it will be so astounded that they will ask, "Why did the LORD do this to this land and to this Temple?' read more.
They will answer, "Because they abandoned the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and served them. That's why the Lord has brought all of this disaster on them.'"

"I afflicted you with blight and fungus; and the locust swarm devoured the harvest of your gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. "I sent plagues among you as I did with Egypt. I killed your choicest young men with the sword. I took your horses away from you. I filled your noses with the stench of your encampments, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. "I overthrew your cities, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You've become like a burning ember, snatched from the fire, but you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. read more.
"Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel. Because I am about to do this, prepare to be summoned to your God, Israel!"


"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Turn back to me with your whole heart, with fasting, tears, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not your garments; and turn back to the LORD your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to become angry, overflowing in gracious love, and grieves about this evil.

Why should anyone living complain, any mortal, about being punished for sin? Let us examine our lifestyles, putting them to the test, and turn back to the LORD.

"When a man divorces his wife, she leaves him and becomes another man's wife, will the first husband return to her again? The land would be deeply polluted, would it not? Since you have committed fornication with many lovers, would you now return to me?" declares the LORD.


Now in Lystra there was a man sitting down who couldn't use his feet. He had been crippled from birth and had never walked. He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed, he said in a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" Then the man jumped up and began to walk. read more.
When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have become like men and have come down to us!" They began to call Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the main speaker. The priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, "Men, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings with natures like yours. We are telling you the good news so you'll turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.


Do not enter the path of the wicked, or go along the way of evil men. Avoid it! Don't travel on it! Turn away from it, and pass on by.

Nevertheless, the LORD had warned both Israel and Judah by means of every prophet and seer: "Turn away from your evil practices and keep my commandments and statutes according to the entire Law that I gave your ancestors and that I sent to you through my servants, the prophets."

Now in Lystra there was a man sitting down who couldn't use his feet. He had been crippled from birth and had never walked. He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed, he said in a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" Then the man jumped up and began to walk. read more.
When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have become like men and have come down to us!" They began to call Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the main speaker. The priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, "Men, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings with natures like yours. We are telling you the good news so you'll turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.

Yet Israel's house keeps saying, "The LORD isn't being consistent with his standards.' Is it my behavior that's inconsistent with my standards? Is it not your behavior that's inconsistent with my standards?" "Therefore, Israel, I'm going to judge you according to the behavior of each and every one of you," declares the Lord GOD. "So repent and turn from all your sins so that sin won't keep on being a stumbling block for you.

Don't be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets proclaimed: "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "It's time to turn from your evil lifestyles and from your evil actions," "but they would neither listen nor pay attention to me,'" declares the LORD.'


Later, the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night and told him: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for a sacrificial temple to me. Whenever I close the skies so there is no rain, or whenever I command locusts to lay waste to the land, or whenever I send epidemics among my people, when my people humble themselves the ones who are called by my name and pray, seek me, and turn away from their evil practices, I myself will listen from heaven, I will pardon their sins, and I will restore their land.

Then this message from the LORD came to me: "Israel, can't I deal with you like this potter?" declares the LORD. "Look, Israel, like clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand. At one moment I may speak about a nation or a kingdom to uproot it, pull it down, or destroy it. read more.
But if that nation about which I spoke turns from its evil way, I'll change my mind about the disaster that I had planned for it.


Only be strong and very courageous to ensure that you obey all the instructions that my servant Moses gave you turn neither to the right nor to the left from it so that you may succeed wherever you go.

Stand very strong, then, so you can obey and carry out everything written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning neither to the right nor to the left of it.

You must be careful to do what the LORD your God commanded you, turning neither to the left nor to the right. You are to walk in every pathway that the LORD your God commanded you, so that life may go well for you, and so that you will prolong your days in the land that you will possess.'"


"Tell them, "As certainly as I'm alive and living,' declares the Lord GOD, "I receive no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Instead, my pleasure is that the wicked repent from their behavior and live. Turn back! Turn back, all of you, from your wicked behavior! Why do you have to die, you house of Israel?'" "And now, Son of Man, say this to your people: "The righteousness of the righteous won't save them when they keep on committing crimes against me, the wickedness of the wicked won't keep them from remaining away when they're turning from their wickedness, and no righteous person will keep on living by their righteousness when they sin.' "If I tell the righteous person that he will certainly live, if he trusts in his own righteousness and commits evil, none of his righteousness will be remembered, and he will die because of the wrong that he commits. read more.
"If I tell the wicked person that he will certainly die, if he turns from his sin and acts with justice and righteousness, returning what has been placed as collateral for a loan, paying back what he has taken, following the regulations that promote life, and committing no iniquity, he will certainly live, and not die. None of the sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. Since he did what is just and right, he will certainly live. "Nevertheless, your people's children keep saying, "Living life the Lord's way isn't right,' when all the while it is their way of living that isn't right. When a righteous man forsakes his own righteousness and commits evil acts, he will die because of those acts, and when the wicked turn away from their wickedness and do what is just and right, he will certainly live because of that. "And yet you keep saying, "Living life the Lord's way isn't right,' But I will judge every one of you according to the way you live, you house of Israel!"

"When a righteous man abandons his righteousness to practice unrighteousness, I'll set a stumbling block before him. He'll die. If you don't warn him, he'll die in his sin and the righteous deeds that he had practiced won't be remembered, but you'll be held responsible for his death. If you warn the righteous person, so that he doesn't commit sin, then he'll live, since he had been warned. And you will have saved your life."

But when the righteous person abandons his righteous deeds and commits evil, detestable practices, as wicked people do, he won't live, will he? None of the righteous acts that he had done will be remembered. He'll die in his treacherous unfaithfulness and sins that he had committed." "Yet you keep saying, "The LORD isn't being consistent with his standards.' Pay attention, you house of Israel: Is my behavior really inconsistent with my standards? Isn't it your behavior that isn't just? "When a righteous person turns from his righteous deeds and does evil, he'll die because of that evil. He'll die because of his unrighteous acts that he committed.


But if the wicked person turns from all his sins, which he did and keeps my statutes, then he'll live. He won't die. None of the transgressions that he had committed will be held against him. Because of the righteous deeds that he had done, he'll live. "I don't take delight in the death of the wicked, do I?" asks the Lord GOD. "Shouldn't I rather delight when he turns from his wicked ways and lives?

"Tell them, "As certainly as I'm alive and living,' declares the Lord GOD, "I receive no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Instead, my pleasure is that the wicked repent from their behavior and live. Turn back! Turn back, all of you, from your wicked behavior! Why do you have to die, you house of Israel?'" "And now, Son of Man, say this to your people: "The righteousness of the righteous won't save them when they keep on committing crimes against me, the wickedness of the wicked won't keep them from remaining away when they're turning from their wickedness, and no righteous person will keep on living by their righteousness when they sin.' "If I tell the righteous person that he will certainly live, if he trusts in his own righteousness and commits evil, none of his righteousness will be remembered, and he will die because of the wrong that he commits. read more.
"If I tell the wicked person that he will certainly die, if he turns from his sin and acts with justice and righteousness, returning what has been placed as collateral for a loan, paying back what he has taken, following the regulations that promote life, and committing no iniquity, he will certainly live, and not die. None of the sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. Since he did what is just and right, he will certainly live. "Nevertheless, your people's children keep saying, "Living life the Lord's way isn't right,' when all the while it is their way of living that isn't right. When a righteous man forsakes his own righteousness and commits evil acts, he will die because of those acts, and when the wicked turn away from their wickedness and do what is just and right, he will certainly live because of that. "And yet you keep saying, "Living life the Lord's way isn't right,' But I will judge every one of you according to the way you live, you house of Israel!"


You must realize, however, that in the last days difficult times will come. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, read more.
traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people.


"You are not to turn to their idols or cast gods out of melted metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.


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