Thematic Bible: Straying
Thematic Bible
Straying » Those that go astray
Like a bird that wanders from her nest [with its comfort and safety],
So is a man who wanders from his home.
Thus says the Lord to this people [Judah], “In the manner and to the degree [already pointed out] they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; He will now remember [in detail] their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”
I hate the thoughts of undecided [in religion], double-minded people, but Your law do I love. You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word. Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them]. read more.
Uphold me according to Your promise, that I may live; and let me not be put to shame in my hope! Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for Your statutes continually! You spurn and set at nought all those who stray from Your statutes, for their own lying deceives them and their tricks are in vain.
Uphold me according to Your promise, that I may live; and let me not be put to shame in my hope! Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for Your statutes continually! You spurn and set at nought all those who stray from Your statutes, for their own lying deceives them and their tricks are in vain.
A man who wanders from the way of understanding (godly wisdom)
Will remain in the assembly of the dead.
Straying » Who strays from the right path
But also [in those days] there arose false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among yourselves, who will subtly and stealthily introduce heretical doctrines (destructive heresies), even denying and disowning the Master Who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their immoral ways and lascivious doings; because of them the true Way will be maligned and defamed. And in their covetousness (lust, greed) they will exploit you with false (cunning) arguments. From of old the sentence [of condemnation] for them has not been idle; their destruction (eternal misery) has not been asleep. read more.
For God did not [even] spare angels that sinned, but cast them into hell, delivering them to be kept there in pits of gloom till the judgment and their doom. And He spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven other persons, when He brought a flood upon the world of ungodly [people]. And He condemned to ruin and extinction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes [and thus] set them forth as an example to those who would be ungodly; And He rescued righteous Lot, greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of the ungodly and lawless -- " For that just man, living [there] among them, tortured his righteous soul every day with what he saw and heard of [their] unlawful and wicked deeds -- " Now if [all these things are true, then be sure] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptations and trials, and how to keep the ungodly under chastisement until the day of judgment and doom, And particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. Presumptuous [and] daring [self-willed and self-loving creatures]! They scoff at and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling, Whereas [even] angels, though superior in might and power, do not bring a defaming charge against them before the Lord. But these [people]! Like unreasoning beasts, mere creatures of instinct, born [only] to be captured and destroyed, railing at things of which they are ignorant, they shall utterly perish in their [own] corruption [in their destroying they shall surely be destroyed], Being destined to receive [punishment as] the reward of [their] unrighteousness [suffering wrong as the hire for their wrongdoing]. They count it a delight to revel in the daytime [living luxuriously and delicately]. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions and carousing together [even] as they feast with you. They have eyes full of harlotry, insatiable for sin. They beguile and bait and lure away unstable souls. Their hearts are trained in covetousness (lust, greed), [they are] children of a curse [ exposed to cursing]! Forsaking the straight road they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam [the son] of Beor, who loved the reward of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his own transgression when a dumb beast of burden spoke with human voice and checked the prophet's madness. These are springs without water and mists driven along before a tempest, for whom is reserved forever the gloom of darkness. For uttering loud boasts of folly, they beguile and lure with lustful desires of the flesh those who are barely escaping from them who are wrongdoers. They promise them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of depravity and defilement -- "for by whatever anyone is made inferior or worse or is overcome, to that [person or thing] he is enslaved.
For God did not [even] spare angels that sinned, but cast them into hell, delivering them to be kept there in pits of gloom till the judgment and their doom. And He spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven other persons, when He brought a flood upon the world of ungodly [people]. And He condemned to ruin and extinction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes [and thus] set them forth as an example to those who would be ungodly; And He rescued righteous Lot, greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of the ungodly and lawless -- " For that just man, living [there] among them, tortured his righteous soul every day with what he saw and heard of [their] unlawful and wicked deeds -- " Now if [all these things are true, then be sure] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptations and trials, and how to keep the ungodly under chastisement until the day of judgment and doom, And particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. Presumptuous [and] daring [self-willed and self-loving creatures]! They scoff at and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling, Whereas [even] angels, though superior in might and power, do not bring a defaming charge against them before the Lord. But these [people]! Like unreasoning beasts, mere creatures of instinct, born [only] to be captured and destroyed, railing at things of which they are ignorant, they shall utterly perish in their [own] corruption [in their destroying they shall surely be destroyed], Being destined to receive [punishment as] the reward of [their] unrighteousness [suffering wrong as the hire for their wrongdoing]. They count it a delight to revel in the daytime [living luxuriously and delicately]. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions and carousing together [even] as they feast with you. They have eyes full of harlotry, insatiable for sin. They beguile and bait and lure away unstable souls. Their hearts are trained in covetousness (lust, greed), [they are] children of a curse [ exposed to cursing]! Forsaking the straight road they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam [the son] of Beor, who loved the reward of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his own transgression when a dumb beast of burden spoke with human voice and checked the prophet's madness. These are springs without water and mists driven along before a tempest, for whom is reserved forever the gloom of darkness. For uttering loud boasts of folly, they beguile and lure with lustful desires of the flesh those who are barely escaping from them who are wrongdoers. They promise them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of depravity and defilement -- "for by whatever anyone is made inferior or worse or is overcome, to that [person or thing] he is enslaved.
These wrongdoers are of those who rebel against the light; they know not its ways nor stay in its paths. The murderer rises with the light; he kills the poor and the needy, and in the night he becomes as a thief. The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me, and he puts a disguise upon his face. read more.
In the dark, they dig through [the penetrable walls of] houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the sunlight. For midnight is morning to all of them; for they are familiar with the terrors of deep darkness. [You say] Swiftly such men pass away on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth; [no treader] turns into their vineyards.
In the dark, they dig through [the penetrable walls of] houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the sunlight. For midnight is morning to all of them; for they are familiar with the terrors of deep darkness. [You say] Swiftly such men pass away on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth; [no treader] turns into their vineyards.
Discretion shall watch over you, understanding shall keep you, To deliver you from the way of evil and the evil men, from men who speak perverse things and are liars, Men who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, read more.
Who rejoice to do evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, Who are crooked in their ways, wayward and devious in their paths. [Discretion shall watch over you, understanding shall keep you] to deliver you from the alien woman, from the outsider with her flattering words, Who forsakes the husband and guide of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. For her house sinks down to death and her paths to the spirits [of the dead]. None who go to her return again, neither do they attain or regain the paths of life.
Who rejoice to do evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, Who are crooked in their ways, wayward and devious in their paths. [Discretion shall watch over you, understanding shall keep you] to deliver you from the alien woman, from the outsider with her flattering words, Who forsakes the husband and guide of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. For her house sinks down to death and her paths to the spirits [of the dead]. None who go to her return again, neither do they attain or regain the paths of life.
For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord, and He [Who would have us live soberly, chastely, and godly] carefully weighs all man's goings. His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked man, and he shall be held with the cords of his sin. He will die for lack of discipline and instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he will go astray and be lost.
Straying » Those that cause others to go astray
He who leads the upright astray on an evil path
Will himself fall into his own pit,
But the blameless will inherit good.
‘Cursed is he who misleads a blind person on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’