Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



With what shall I present myself before the LORD, and how shall I worship the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?


With what shall I present myself before the LORD, and how shall I worship the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?


Explain your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your foundations, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring forth and declare unto us what shall happen; tell us what has happened from the beginning, and we shall consider it in our hearts; and we shall know what his end shall be, and cause us to understand that which is to come. Give us news of that which is to come hereafter that we may know that ye are gods; or at least do good or do evil that we may have something to tell, and together we shall marvel. read more.
Behold, ye are of nothing and your works of vanity; an abomination is he that chooses you.

But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Do not fear, for I have redeemed thee, I have named thee; Thou art mine. When thou dost pass through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou dost walk through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Keeper; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. read more.
Because thou wast precious in my sight, thou wast worthy of honour, and I have loved thee. Do not fear; for I am with thee: I will bring thy generation from the east and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north wind, Give up, and to the south, Do not keep back; bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth even every one that is called by my name, for I have created them for my glory; I have formed them; yea, I have made them. Bring forth the people that is blind that have eyes and the deaf that have ears. Let all the Gentiles be gathered together as one, and let the peoples be joined; who among them can declare this and show us former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses that they may be justified or let them hear and say, It is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my slave whom I have chosen that ye may know and believe me and understand that I am he; before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared and have saved, and I have showed when there was no strange god among you; therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. Even before the day was I existed; and there is no one that can deliver out of my hand; if I work, who shall hinder it? Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon and caused fugitives to descend unto all of them and the clamour of Chaldeans in the ships. I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. Thus saith the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters; when he brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall fall together, and never rise; they are extinct; they are quenched as wick. Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; it shall come to light quickly; shall ye not know it? I will again make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

I was sought of those that did not ask for me; I was found of those that did not seek me; I said, Here I am, Here I am, unto a people that did not invoke my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, who walk in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; a people that provokes me to anger continually to my face; that sacrifices in gardens, and burns incense upon altars of brick; read more.
who remain asleep among the graves, and lodge in the deserts, who eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; who say, Stand by thyself, do not come near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day. Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, For your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, who have burned incense upon the mountains and blasphemed me upon the hills; therefore, I will measure their former work into their bosom. Thus has the LORD said, As when one has found new wine in a cluster and says, Do not destroy it; for a blessing is in it; so will I do for my slaves' sakes, that I may not destroy them all. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains; and my elect shall possess the land for an inheritance, and my slaves shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be for a fold of flocks and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. But ye that forsake the LORD, that forget the mountain of my holiness, that prepare a table unto fortune, and that furnish the drink offering for destiny; I also will destine you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter because when I called, ye did not respond; I spoke, and ye did not hear, but did evil before my eyes and did choose that which displeased me. Therefore thus has the Lord GOD said, Behold, my slaves shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, my slaves shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, my slaves shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: Behold, my slaves shall rejoice by the joy of their heart, but ye shall cry for the sorrow of your heart and shall howl for the destruction of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen; for the Lord GOD shall slay thee and call his slaves by another name. He who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth because the former troubles shall be forgotten and shall be covered from my eyes.

They say, If a man puts away his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's, shall he return unto her again? Is she not a land that is now completely polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, said the LORD. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places and see if there is anywhere thou hast not been ravished. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. Therefore the rain has been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; and thou dost have a whore's forehead, thou dost refuse to be ashamed. read more.
Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done as many evil things as thou could. The LORD said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which rebellious Israel has done? She is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she did not return. And her rebellious sister Judah saw it. And I saw when for all the causes by which rebellious Israel committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce; yet her rebellious sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. And it came to pass through her judging her whoredom to be a light thing that the land became defiled and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her rebellious sister Judah has never turned unto me with her whole heart, but untruthfully, said the LORD. And the LORD said unto me, The rebellious Israel has justified her soul in comparison to the treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north wind and say, Return, thou rebellious Israel, said the LORD and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, said the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast rebelled against the LORD thy God and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not heard my voice, said the LORD. Turn, O rebellious sons, said the LORD; for I am your Lord, and I will take you one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

And if ye say, The way of the Lord is not straight. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not straight? Are not your ways crooked? When a righteous man leaves his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall die in it; for his iniquity that he has done he shall die. Again, when the wicked man leaves his wickedness that he has committed and lives according to judgment and righteousness, he shall cause his soul to live. read more.
Because he saw and left all his rebellions that he has committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. If even now the house of Israel should say, The way of the Lord is not straight. O house of Israel, are not my ways straight? Certainly your ways are not straight. Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each one according to his ways, said the Lord GOD. Repent and turn yourselves from all your iniquities, so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your iniquities by which ye have rebelled, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I do not desire the death of him that dies, said the Lord GOD; therefore turn yourselves, and ye shall live.

Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel: Ye speak thus, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are consumed because of them. How should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, said the Lord GOD, I do not desire the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and that he live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? And thou, son of man, say unto the sons of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him the day that he rebels; and the wickedness of the wicked shall not impede him in the day that he turns from his wickedness; and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness in the day that he sins. read more.
When I am saying to the righteous, Thou shalt shall surely live and he trusting in his own righteousness commits iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it. And, when I am saying unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turns from his sin, and does judgment and righteousness if the wicked restores the pledge, returns that which he had robbed, walks in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him. Has he lived according to judgment and righteousness? He shall surely live. Then the sons of thy people shall say, The way of the Lord is not straight: but their way is the one that is not straight. When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die thereby. And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does judgment and righteousness, he shall live thereby. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not straight. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you each one after his ways.

Hear ye now what the LORD saith: Arise, contend thou with the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD's controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with his people, and he will reprove Israel. O my people, what have I done unto thee? and in what have I wearied thee? testify against me. read more.
For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt and ransomed thee out of the house of slaves; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal: that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD. With what shall I present myself before the LORD, and how shall I worship the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my rebellion, the fruit of my bowels for the sin of my soul? He has declared unto thee, O man, what is good and what the LORD requires of thee: only to do right judgment, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God. The LORD's voice cries out unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and he who has established it.

Even from the days of your fathers, ye had departed from my ordinances and had never kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, said the LORD of the hosts. But ye said, In what shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, In what have we robbed thee? In the tithes and the offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye, even this whole nation, have robbed me. read more.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, and there shall be food in my house, and prove me now in this, said the LORD of the hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will reprehend the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of the ground; neither shall the vine in the field abort, said the LORD of the hosts. And all the Gentiles shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, said the LORD of the hosts. Your words have prevailed against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his law and that we walk mournfully before the LORD of the hosts? We say, therefore, now, that blessed are the proud and even that those that work wickedness are prospered; those that tempted God have escaped.


Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened; burnt offering and sin offering thou hast not required.


Thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel said: Add your burnt offerings upon your sacrifices and eat flesh. For I did not speak unto your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: But this thing I commanded them, saying, Hear my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the way that I have commanded you that it may be well unto you.

And all Lebanon is not sufficient for the fire, nor all the beasts thereof sufficient for the sacrifice.



To what purpose does this incense come to me from Sheba and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not according to my will, nor are your sacrifices sweet unto me.

He that kills an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrifices a lamb as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offers an oblation as if he offered swine's blood; he that burns incense as if he blessed iniquity. They have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.

In the sacrifices of my gifts they sacrificed flesh and ate; but the LORD does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and visit their sins; they shall return to Egypt.

When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by sword and by famine and by pestilence.

For thou dost not desire sacrifice or else would I give it; thou dost not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.


I will not reprove thee regarding thy sacrifices; thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills. read more.
I know all the fowls of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are with me. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is mine and the fullness thereof. Must I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice praise unto God and pay thy vows unto the most High

The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination; how much more, when he brings it with lewdness?

To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? shall the LORD say. I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; and I do not delight in the blood of bullocks or of lambs or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; the incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot stand them; iniquity and the solemn meeting. read more.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

I hate, I despise your solemnities, and I will not savour your assemblies. Though ye offer me your burnt offerings and your presents, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy instruments. read more.
But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

With what shall I present myself before the LORD, and how shall I worship the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my rebellion, the fruit of my bowels for the sin of my soul? He has declared unto thee, O man, what is good and what the LORD requires of thee: only to do right judgment, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God.


The conclusion of the entire sermon is heard: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole happiness of man.

And now, Israel, what does the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the LORD and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

With what shall I present myself before the LORD, and how shall I worship the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my rebellion, the fruit of my bowels for the sin of my soul? He has declared unto thee, O man, what is good and what the LORD requires of thee: only to do right judgment, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God.

When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not delay to pay it; for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.

Let us reckon men as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that each one be found faithful.