Thematic Bible: The measure of responsibility


Thematic Bible



But he said to him, "A certain man was giving a large banquet and invited many. And he sent his slave at the hour of the banquet to say to those who have been invited, 'Come, because now it is ready!' And they all {alike} began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, 'I have purchased a field, and {I must} go out to look at it. I ask you, consider me excused.' read more.
And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them. I ask you, consider me excused.' And another said, 'I have married a wife, and for this [reason] I am not able to come.' And the slave came [and] reported these [things] to his master. Then the master of the house became angry [and] said to his slave, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame!' And the slave said, 'Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.' And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and hedges and press [them] to come in, so that my house will be filled! For I say to you that none of those persons who were invited will taste my banquet!'"

Therefore he said, "A certain nobleman traveled to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. And summoning ten of his own slaves, he gave them ten minas and said to them, 'Do business {until I come back}.' But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to be king over us!' read more.
And it happened that when he returned [after] receiving the kingdom, he ordered these slaves to whom he had given the money to be summoned to him, so that he could know what they had gained by trading. So the first arrived, saying, 'Sir, your mina has made ten minas more!' And he said to him, 'Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small thing, {have authority} over ten cities.' And the second came, saying, 'Sir, your mina has made five minas.' So he said to this one also, 'And you be over five cities.' And another came, saying, 'Sir, behold your mina, which I had put away for safekeeping in a piece of cloth. For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man--you withdraw what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow!' He said to him, '{By your own words} I will judge you, wicked slave! You knew that I am a severe man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. And why did you not give my money to the bank, and I, [when I] returned, would have collected it with interest?' And to the bystanders he said, 'Take away from him the mina and give [it] to the one who has the ten minas!' And they said to him, 'Sir, he has ten minas.' 'I tell you that to everyone who has, [more] will be given. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. But these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring [them] here and slaughter them [in] my presence!'"

Then he began to reproach the towns in which the majority of his miracles had been done, because they did not repent: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and for Sidon on the day of judgment than for you! read more.
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. Nevertheless I tell you that it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you!"

With their flocks and herds they will go to seek Yahweh, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.

Because I called out and you refused me, I stretched out my hand, yet there is none who heeds. You have ignored all my counsel, and my reproof you are not willing [to accept]. I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic comes [upon] you. read more.
When your panic comes like a storm, and your calamity arrives like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you, then they will call me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but not find me. Since they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Yahweh, they were not willing [to accept] my counsel, they despised all my reproof. They shall eat from the fruit of their way, and they shall be sated from their own schemes, for the waywardness of the simple ones will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. Whoever listens to me will dwell in security and rest securely from dread and disaster."

And you, if you do warn [the] wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness and from his wicked way, on account of his guilt he will die, and you yourself will have saved your life.


And that slave who knew the will of his master and did not prepare or do according to his will {will be given a severe beating}.

And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying}, "Son of man, speak to {your people}, and you must say to them, 'A land, if I bring over it a sword and the people of the land take a man, one from their number, and they appoint him for them as a watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land, and he blows on the horn and he warns the people, read more.
and {anyone who listens} hears the sound of the horn and {he does not take warning} and [the] sword comes and it takes him, his blood will be on his [own] head. [For] he heard the sound of the horn and he did not take warning; his blood will be on him. But [if] he took warning, he saved his life. And [as for] the watchman, if he sees the sword coming and {he does not blow} the horn, and the people [are] not warned, and [the] sword comes and it takes {their lives}, he will be taken through his guilt, but his blood from the hand of the watchman I will seek.' "And you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; if you hear a word from my mouth, then you must warn them from me. {When I say} to the wicked, 'Wicked [one], you will certainly die,' and you {did not speak} to warn [the] wicked from his way, he, [the] wicked, will die by his guilt, but his blood I will seek from your hand. But, you, if you warn [the] wicked from his way, to turn from it, and {he does not turn} from his way, he will die by his guilt, and you will have saved your life. "And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, {saying}, 'So you said, {saying}, "Indeed, our transgressions and our sins [are] on us, and because of them we [are] rotting, and how can we live?" ' Say to them, '{As I live},' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, '{Surely I have no delight} in the death of the wicked, {except} in [the] wicked returning from his way, and he lives. Turn back! Turn back from your ways, O evil [ones], for why should you die, house of Israel?' "So you, son of man, say to {your people} [that] the righteousness of the righteous shall not save him in the day of his transgression, and the wickedness of the wicked {will not cause him to stumble} on the day of his returning from his wickedness; and [the] righteous will not be able to live by it on the day when he returns to his sin. When I say to the righteous, 'Certainly he will live,' and he trusted in his righteousness, and he [turns and he] does injustice, all of his righteousness will not be remembered, and because of his injustice that he did, because of it he will die. And when I say to the wicked, 'Certainly you will die,' but he returns from his sin and he does justice and righteousness-- [for example], [the] wicked returns a pledge for a loan, he restores {stolen property}, he goes in the statutes of life [so as] not to do injustice--certainly he will live; he will not die. All of his {sins that he committed}, they will not be remembered against him, and he did justice and righteousness; certainly he will live. "Yet {your people} say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair!' [yet] their way is not fair.

And whoever does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet [as you] are going out of that house or [that] town. Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town!

For this [reason], behold, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and scribes. [Some] of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and will pursue from town to town, so that upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous Abel up to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these [things] will come upon this generation! read more.
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How many times I wanted to gather your children together {the way} a hen gathers her young together under [her] wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house has been left to you desolate

when once the master of the house has gotten up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock [on] the door, saying, 'Lord, open [the door] for us!' And he will answer [and] say to you, 'I do not know where you are from!' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets!' And he will reply, saying to you, 'I do not know where you are from! Go away from me, all [you] {evildoers}!' read more.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside!