What Is Your Favorite Passage, Book, and/or Verse In The Holy Bible?

[storyG]

My favorite biblical passage is Matthew chapter 12. Jesus talks about hypocrisy and prophecizes the coming of the Queen of the South who lived before as the Queen of Sheba (reincairnation, yes). It's like everything you wanted/needed to know about the bible that Christians never talk about. I especially like Jesus defining evil/unforgiveable damnedness as the blasephemy against the holy spirit 12:31. It is about cults and religion. It is what is most evil when they usurp your spirituality for their evil egos. To me all organized religions are cults, period. The latin root word of the word religio means to bind 12:29. Rules of cults/churches/hypocrites bind back hands, wreck souls.

12:1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the
corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the
ears of corn, and to eat.
12:2 But when the Pharisees saw [it], they said unto him,
Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon
the sabbath day.
12:3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did,
when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
12:4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the
showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for
them which were with him, but only for the priests?
12:5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath
days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are
blameless?
12:6 But I say unto you, That in this place is [one] greater
than the temple.
12:7 But if ye had known what [this] meaneth, I will have
mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the
guiltless.
12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
12:9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their
synagogue:
12:10 And, behold, there was a man which had [his] hand
withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on
the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.
12:11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among
you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on
the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift [it] out?
12:12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore
it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
12:13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And
he stretched [it] forth; and it was restored whole, like as the
other.
12:14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against
him, how they might destroy him.
12:15 But when Jesus knew [it], he withdrew himself from
thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them
all;
12:16 And charged them that they should not make him known:
12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias
the prophet, saying,
12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in
whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him,
and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles.
12:19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man
hear his voice in the streets.
12:20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax
shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.
12:21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
12:22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil,
blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and
dumb both spake and saw.
12:23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this
the son of David?
12:24 But when the Pharisees heard [it], they said, This
[fellow] doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince
of the devils.
12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them,
Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation;
and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
12:26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against
himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your
children cast [them] out? therefore they shall be your judges.
12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the
kingdom of God is come unto you.
12:29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house,
and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and
then he will spoil his house.
12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that
gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy
[against] the [Holy] Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man,
it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this
world, neither in the [world] to come.
12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else
make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is
known by [his] fruit.
12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak
good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh.
12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart
bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil
treasure bringeth forth evil things.
12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall
speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy
words thou shalt be condemned.
12:38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees
answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and
adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no
sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the
whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth.
12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this
generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the
preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas [is]
here.
12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment
with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from
the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and, behold, a greater than Solomon [is] here.
12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he
walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
12:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence
I came out; and when he is come, he findeth [it] empty, swept,
and garnished.
12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other
spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell
there: and the last [state] of that man is worse than the
first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
12:46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, [his] mother
and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
12:47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy
brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
12:48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is
my mother? and who are my brethren?
12:49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples,
and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is
in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

[storyG]

With that in mind, have you read any of the non-canonical books - books that were rejected by the Holy Roman Church?[/QUOTE]


I have read the Book of Enoch. Very interesting. It supposedly supports the widely spread theory that the fallen angles in Genesis that took the daughters of earth/men for wife were actually extraterrestrials. The fell from the sky/heaven, get it? I am in agreement with the folks that support that theory. Basically Enoch repeats the Genesis story and sort of nutshells some of the rest of the bible-- sort of. It is available online in its entirety for free or you can buy a bound copy. I think you have to put something like "The Book of Enoch complete text" in your search engine to find it.

I find some of those Ecclesiastes quotes very spooky and dark. I sometimes think parts of the bible were written by the devil himself. I am very suspicious that way. I like Jesus, though. . . Makes me see why Jesus is the saviour anyway.

By the way, One Raven, is that a picture of Charles Manson?

I like the poeticness of the KJV myself. Having done time with Shakespeare the language doesn't bother me much anymore as far as readability goes. It is better that than the dry stilted translations-- sound like death to me. Maybe I am just used to iKJV by now and I like consistency for comparisons sake.

Boy, what a lot of stuff to wade through this whole thread. I like when people express why they liked stuff rather than just post quotes. I like to hear your rational. Give me a reason to read the quote.

[Drkshadow03]

I see we are rather New Testament heavy. That's cool. I'll pick one of my favorite lines from the Hebrew Bible.

"We must all die; we are like water that is poured out on the ground and cannot be gathered up." - II Samuel 14:14

Probably one of the most powerful lines about death in the entire Bible. It comes from the JPS Tanakh translation.

[Wintermute]

"We must all die; we are like water that is poured out on the ground and cannot be gathered up." - II Samuel 14:14

Probably one of the most powerful lines about death in the entire Bible. It comes from the JPS Tanakh translation.

Hi Drkshadow,

Being agnostic and sort of literal minded I'm not sure I understand why this is a powerful line. This morning, prior to leaving for work, I went out an watered a little vegetable garden i've started--I poured water on the ground. The water, from all that I know, is gathered up by my plants--say my tomatoes. In the next few weeks, I will gather these and eat them. The water they contain will, in a sense, be returned to me.

In fact, the entire water cycle of the planet is a closed system and is indeed 'gathered up' by nature. Very few H2O molecules actually leave the planet.

So, how is spilling water on the ground like death?

Doug

[Drkshadow03]

Well, I only quoted part of the line. The full line at II Samuel 14:13 - 14 reads as follows:

13: And the woman said, "why then have you planned the like against God's people? In making this pronouncement, Your Majesty condemns himself in that Your Majesty does not bring back his own banished one. 14: We must all die; we are like water that is poured out on the ground and cannot be gathered up. God will not take away the life of one who makes plans so that no one may be kept banished.

In this biblical scene a clever woman from Tekoa has been sent by Joab the king's advisor to convince King David to forgive his banished son, Absalom. This figure is in fact where William Faulkner got the title for his book, "Absolom! Absolom!" Well, actually the line comes from David's lament when in fact his son is eventually killed (if I remember correctly).

The line that I quoted implores the king to forgive his son basically because as we might say today, "life is too short." It's particularly too short to live in anger and grief at the people you love. Let's look at it again with this in mind:

"We must all die; we are like water that is poured out on the ground and cannot be gathered up." - II Samuel 14:14 (in part).

The Bible should always be read in context. The Ancient Israelites lived in extremely arrid land where it was difficult to grow plants and water was probably an extremely precious commodity. For example, this explains why the Garden of Eden, a veritable paradise of lush green and fruits, is a kind of paradise. This also puts the line into context. Since water would've been precious to them, the line is connecting that symbolic value of "preciousness" with life, while still recognizing we all must die at some point (every single human being on this planet, from kings to the poorest woman and man).

So in context within the Hebrew Bible, it is a line that suggests, "life is too short to hold on to anger and grief, revenge and sorrow." In social-cultural-historical context it's extremely existential in that all people must eventually die and life like water is a precious commodity to be held onto as long as possible. As we age our life is slowly poured out of us, until we are empty (at which point we die).

Now does the line make sense? And do you see why I like it so much?

[Wintermute]

Now does the line make sense? And do you see why I like it so much?

Yes indeed Drk, thanks for spending the time to explain it to me. I'm still a little uncertain of why a believer would consider life precious since what awaits her afterwards is seemingly so much more precious, but that's a different topic. Thanks again.

Doug

[NickAdams]

5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 'Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.' 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies."

11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I'm a man with smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing."

13 His mother said to him, "My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me."

14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

18 He went to his father and said, "My father."
"Yes, my son," he answered. "Who is it?"

19 Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing."

20 Isaac asked his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?"
"The LORD your God gave me success," he replied.

21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not."

22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 "Are you really my son Esau?" he asked.
"I am," he replied.

25 Then he said, "My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing."
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here, my son, and kiss me."

27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,"

I find this story funny. I always picture Woody Allen as Jacob, with poorly placed patches of sheep hair on his face and hands and his brothers clothes are way too big for him.

[Drkshadow03]

Yes indeed Drk, thanks for spending the time to explain it to me. I'm still a little uncertain of why a believer would consider life precious since what awaits her afterwards is seemingly so much more precious, but that's a different topic. Thanks again.

Doug

Ah, but I'm a Jew, not a Christian. I don't necessarily believe in heaven or at least I don't believe that life isn't as equally a gift from God and equally as precious. More explanation can be found at my blog post here, which elaborates om a post I did here on this forum: http://beyondassumptions.wordpress.c...s-the-messiah/

[DapperDrake]

"...the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" - Galatians 5:22

I don't have a good reason (theologically) for this being my favourite but it is the verse written on a bookmark given to me by my primary school teacher (16 years ago) and I guess its one of the things that eventually lead me to Christianity. Also I think it gave me a glimpse of what Christianity was about, I didn't understand it at all at the time other than the concept that there was a God.

Kind of ironic really that something simple like that would get through to me when both my infants and secondary schools were C of E, which meant hymns and bible readings every morning. The bible readings were pretty much exclusively old testament though and to me it was just a bunch of odd stories with complicated moral lessons.

[djy78usa]

Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
"Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

[Wintermute]

Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
"Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Hi Djy,

Might I ask why this is your favorite passage from the Bible? I was hoping you'd include a sentence or two giving some insight into why you like it so.

Now I did learn something from your post. I read a bit of the section in Isaiah that you quoted from. I found out what a seraphim is. Apparently its an angel that is fond of saying things like, "'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. . ."

Now from what I can gather, the speaker of the quote is offering to go into the land and make people fat and lazy so that the society eventually dies out. Is this right? Why? Is the Lord saying basically that these folks are refusing to accept him/her/it as the creator of the universe and as such need to be smited? I wonder if that is an vision of what is happening today--folks to seem to be getting fatter?

Cheers,
Doug

[djy78usa]

Hi Doug. This verse is my favorite because it illustrates my favorite of the U.S. Army's values, selfless service. Isaiah, without being pressed into service, volunteers for a difficult task that others refused. I must admit that I am no expert on the Bible, and I might be taking this verse somewhat out of context, but the words really speak to mindset of many of my fellow soldiers. I can't count the number of times I've heard a chaplain quote Isaiah

[Drkshadow03]

Hi Doug. This verse is my favorite because it illustrates my favorite of the U.S. Army's values, selfless service. Isaiah, without being pressed into service, volunteers for a difficult task that others refused. I must admit that I am no expert on the Bible, and I might be taking this verse somewhat out of context, but the words really speak to mindset of many of my fellow soldiers. I can't count the number of times I've heard a chaplain quote Isaiah

Thanks for the perspective. That gives the line a whole new dimension I never thought about.

Also thanks for serving and defending our country!

[fragilistik]

"For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." - II Thessalonians 3:10

It's really hard to put into words what this verse means to me. All I can say is that it agrees with my life-long belief that everyone should contribute to their environment - their home, their community, their city, their state, their country, their planet.

[chckn648]

Psalm 27: 1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation- so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?" (New Living Translation)

Also, Proverbs 27:14 "A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!"