Christians - Scripture Passage ?

one or more passages are ok also

Kinda like this one, although no one seems to pay any attention to it:

Yep - that Isaiah what a book.

A favorite scripture for me because it says that the Lord is the strength of my life and that I have absolutely nothing and no one to fear. My spirit is renewed after each reading. With the knowledge that God has my back.

PS 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation--
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life--
of whom shall I be afraid?

PS 27:2 When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.

PS 27:3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

PS 27:4 One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

PS 27:5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.

PS 27:6 Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.

PS 27:7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me.

PS 27:8 My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, LORD, I will seek.

PS 27:9 Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.

PS 27:10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.

PS 27:11 Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.

PS 27:12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.

PS 27:13 I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

PS 27:14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

If God is for you who can be against you?

I can not cite chapter and verse but I do like the Biblical story of the servant and the talents from the New Testament. Always felt that story had the most wisdom in it, particularly as a frustrated job seeker.

I think it start here:
MT 25:14 "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

Good luck in your job search.

I'm sure you don't want to hear this, Husker, but...

...My favorite biblical passage is the one at Leviticus 25:44ff"

I was trying to get at "what is special and meaningful for you" not what what you which to criticize about the bible - Slavery was permitted by God and rules of treatment of slaves were given so that they would not be mistreated. You have 2 entire topics on the matter.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Ecc 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted;

Ecc 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Ecc 3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

Ecc 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

Ecc 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

Ecc 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

colorbook - beautiful

I Cor 15:58
I think it goes something like:
"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, for you know that nothing done for the Lord is wasted as it would be if there were no resurrection."

I like Hebrews 11 (the whole chapter). It's one of my favorites and I can recite it to this day.

It's meaningless, but poignant.

NIV version:
1CO 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33

&

Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. John 20:21

&

I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. John 11:25-26

because it is the basis for the be a christian/get into heaven theory.

Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Matthew 26:52

&

But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Luke 6:27-29


because it is advice the crusaders & merciless missionaries ignored. The second remindes me of a loved zen buddhist parable.

Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back. Luke 6:37-38

Becuase it is like Christian karma.

Hear me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him. - Mark 7:14-15

I just think this is interesting.

For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. Luke 9:24

Because I think this is dumb.




For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness Mathew 25:14-30


because I find it interesting. This is very archaic in terms of modern society.

You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. This I command you, to love one another. John 15:14-17


Sounds good, but it doesn't really work that way.


Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. Mark 16:15-18

Basis for baptisms, snake handling, and speaking in tongues. Also sounds good but really doesn't work that way.


Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. Mark 10:14-15

&

Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil. Mathew 5:33-37

Because these passages are revealing of the ideals of christianity.


For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? Mathew 16:26

I like this one because it is good advice.

I also like the ones Apisa and colorbook mentioned, and I like the "do not dwell in a temple made of hands... " Which was, unfortunately, part of the basis for the Iconoclasm. I do not have that one on file though. Do you have it, Husker?

I prefer the King James version:

First Corinthians 13

King James Version

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.


Revised Standard Version

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;
it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect;
but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.
So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Hmmm - I had no idea what Hebrews 11 was - so, in case you didn't either, here it is:

King James Version of the Bible
Book of Hebrews
Chapter 11

11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

11:2
For by it the elders obtained a good report.

11:3
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

11:4
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

11:5
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

11:7
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

11:8
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

11:9
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

11:10
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11:11
Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

11:12
Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

11:13
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

11:14
For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

11:15
And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

11:16
But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

11:17
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

11:18
Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

11:19
Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

11:20
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

11:21
By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

11:22
By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

11:23
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

11:24
By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

11:25
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

11:26
Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

11:27
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

11:28
Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

11:29
By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

11:30
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.

11:31
By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

11:32
And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

11:33
Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.

11:34
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

11:35
Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

11:36
And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

11:37
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

11:38
(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

11:39
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

11:40
God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

You're right, the King James version has more poetry to it! Too bad we will probably never know the original text. It would be interesting to see how it changed over time.

I can't stand anything but the King James Version.

It's lyrical qualities are great.

I like Hebrews 11 for it's language and for it's poignant tale of people believing blindly. Not something I recommend but their dedication is admirable on some level.

My favorite passages from that chapter are:

13, 25-26, 32-38

I love the Songs of Solomon. (song of songs)

Especially this one:

How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter!
The joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the works of the hands
Of cunning workmen.

I have tried forever to find the short story based on that verse.

I like many of the psalms, and I especially like the great music that has come from so much of the King James version of the Bible.