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Abraham: Our Patriarch of Loving-Kindness

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TheLionWithin.Us: Navigating AI Through a Biblical Lens

Mentoring Lessons- Freely Give

Week 3: Navigating AI With Wisdom

An Attitude of Gratitude

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch22" data-usfm="EZK.22">
 <div class="label">22</div><div class="s1">Judgment on Jerusalem&#8217;s Sins</div><div class="p"> 1The word of the Lord came to me:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 2&#8220;Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices 3and say: &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, 4you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries. 5Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil.</div><div class="p"> 6&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood. 7In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow. 8You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths. 9In you are slanderers who are bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts. 10In you are those who dishonor their father&#8217;s bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean. 11In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor&#8217;s wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father&#8217;s daughter. 12In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst. 14Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries; and I will put an end to your uncleanness. 16When you have been defiled#22:16 Or When I have allotted you your inheritance in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the Lord.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Then the word of the Lord came to me: 18&#8220;Son of man, the people of Israel have become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver. 19Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: &#8216;Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem. 20As silver, copper, iron, lead and tin are gathered into a furnace to be melted with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you. 21I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her. 22As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath on you.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23Again the word of the Lord came to me: 24&#8220;Son of man, say to the land, &#8216;You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.&#8217; 25There is a conspiracy of her princes#22:25 Septuagint; Hebrew prophets within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her. 26Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. 28Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says&#8217;&#8212;when the Lord has not spoken. 29The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.</div><div class="p"> 30&#8220;I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. 31So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch23" data-usfm="EZK.23">
 <div class="label">23</div><div class="s1">Two Adulterous Sisters</div><div class="p"> 1The word of the Lord came to me: 2&#8220;Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother. 3They became prostitutes in Egypt, engaging in prostitution from their youth. In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed. 4The older was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.</div><div class="p"> 5&#8220;Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine; and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians&#8212;warriors 6clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted horsemen. 7She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after. 8She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her.</div><div class="p"> 9&#8220;Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she lusted. 10They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women, and punishment was inflicted on her.</div><div class="p"> 11&#8220;Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister. 12She too lusted after the Assyrians&#8212;governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men. 13I saw that she too defiled herself; both of them went the same way.</div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;But she carried her prostitution still further. She saw men portrayed on a wall, figures of Chaldeans#23:14 Or Babylonians portrayed in red, 15with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers, natives of Chaldea.#23:15 Or Babylonia; also in verse 16 16As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust. 18When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her naked body, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. 19Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. 21So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.#23:21 Syriac (see also verse 3); Hebrew caressed because of your young breasts</div><div class="p"> 22&#8220;Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stir up your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side&#8212; 23the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses. 24They will come against you with weapons,#23:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. chariots and wagons and with a throng of people; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish you according to their standards. 25I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire. 26They will also strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry. 27So I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore.</div><div class="p"> 28&#8220;For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to deliver you into the hands of those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust. 29They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything you have worked for. They will leave you stark naked, and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your lewdness and promiscuity 30have brought this on you, because you lusted after the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31You have gone the way of your sister; so I will put her cup into your hand.</div><div class="p"> 32&#8220;This is what the Sovereign Lord says:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;You will drink your sister&#8217;s cup,</div><div class="q2">a cup large and deep;</div><div class="q1">it will bring scorn and derision,</div><div class="q2">for it holds so much.</div><div class="q1"> 33You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,</div><div class="q2">the cup of ruin and desolation,</div><div class="q2">the cup of your sister Samaria.</div><div class="q1"> 34You will drink it and drain it dry</div><div class="q2">and chew on its pieces&#8212;</div><div class="q2">and you will tear your breasts.</div><div class="m">I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 35&#8220;Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 36The Lord said to me: &#8220;Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then confront them with their detestable practices, 37for they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me, as food for them. 38They have also done this to me: At that same time they defiled my sanctuary and desecrated my Sabbaths. 39On the very day they sacrificed their children to their idols, they entered my sanctuary and desecrated it. That is what they did in my house.</div><div class="p"> 40&#8220;They even sent messengers for men who came from far away, and when they arrived you bathed yourself for them, applied eye makeup and put on your jewelry. 41You sat on an elegant couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed the incense and olive oil that belonged to me.</div><div class="p"> 42&#8220;The noise of a carefree crowd was around her; drunkards were brought from the desert along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets on the wrists of the woman and her sister and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, &#8216;Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is.&#8217; 44And they slept with her. As men sleep with a prostitute, so they slept with those lewd women, Oholah and Oholibah. 45But righteous judges will sentence them to the punishment of women who commit adultery and shed blood, because they are adulterous and blood is on their hands.</div><div class="p"> 46&#8220;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Bring a mob against them and give them over to terror and plunder. 47The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses.</div><div class="p"> 48&#8220;So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not imitate you. 49You will suffer the penalty for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1PE">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="1PE.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">To God&#8217;s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">Grace and peace be yours in abundance.</div><div class="s1">Praise to God for a Living Hope</div><div class="p"> 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God&#8217;s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith&#8212;of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire&#8212;may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.</div><div class="p"> 10Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.</div><div class="s1">Be Holy</div><div class="p"> 13Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: &#8220;Be holy, because I am holy.&#8221;#1:16 Lev. 11:44,45; 19:2</div><div class="p"> 17Since you call on a Father who judges each person&#8217;s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.</div><div class="p"> 22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.#1:22 Some early manuscripts from a pure heart 23For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24For,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;All people are like grass,</div><div class="q2">and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;</div><div class="q1">the grass withers and the flowers fall,</div><div class="q2"> 25but the word of the Lord endures forever.&#8221;#1:25 Isaiah 40:6-8 (see Septuagint)</div><div class="m">And this is the word that was preached to you.</div>
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