Rules. Rules. Rules. Regulations upon regulations. Civil statutes upon civil statutes. Then legal. Now illegal. Then illegal. Now legal.
Isaiah 28:5 In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of His people;
6 and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused with wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.
8 All tables are full of vomit, no place is without filthiness.
9 To whom will He teach knowledge, and to whom will He explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast?
10 It is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.
11 No, but by men of strange lips and with an alien language the LORD will speak to this people,
12 to whom He has said: "This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose"; yet they would not hear.
13 Therefore the word of the LORD will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said: "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us, because we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter";
16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "See and perceive, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'He who believes will not be hurried.'
17 And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.
18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it passes through it will take you, because by morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it."
To and of the few on the narrow and difficult road to eternal life and joy, contrasted to and of the many on the broad and easy road to eternal death and misery, as not only regarding and concerning the past and present of not merely Americans but also all those of every nation on planet Earth, the journey toward discernment and balance has been a time-consuming and arduous one.
Lu 16:16 "The law and the prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and every one enters it violently.
Violently. Kicking and screaming.
Correct a child, or even an adult . . . and expect retaliatory reaction and at least initial stubborn denial or resistance.
Pr 9:7 He who corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.
9:8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
13:1 A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
15:12 A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.
Hence:
Ac 14:22 . . . through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Not that trouble from others, or from ourselves because of temptational duress imposed by others, saves us, nor is mandatory to unduly walk into attack, or suffer from it for salvation, nor cause it:
Ec 11:10 Remove vexation from your mind, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
Mt 18:7 Woe to the world for temptations to sin! It is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the person by whom the temptation comes!
Lu 17:1 And He said to His disciples: "Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to whoever by whom they come!
If we really mean it when praying "lead us not into temptation but deliver us away from evil" it first off does not mean that God is in the business of sadistically leading people into temptation then blaming them for stumbling thereby and needs to be reminded to not do that, but does mean that we want God to keep us away from, and out of, situations we could not handle with our understandably limited measure of faith (keep the nude female streakers and seducers away from me, especially when alone with them in private!). And we alone have to do what we can ourselves to avoid overpowering temptational situations we know we would probably cave in to.
Pr 22:3 A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the naive go on, and suffer for it.
Pr 27:12 A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the gullible go on, and suffer for it.
Mt 4:7 Jesus said to him: "Again it is written, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"
Lu 4:12 And Jesus answered him: "It is said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"
1Co 10:9 We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents.
That temptation-based-and-caused trouble results in the death of both guilty trouble-causers and the innocent consequentially trouble-afflicted:
Ps 49:10 Yes, he shall see that even the wise die, the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.
As previously stated, to and of the few on the narrow and difficult road to eternal life and joy, contrasted to and of the many on the broad and easy road to eternal death and misery, as not only regarding and concerning the past and present of not merely Americans but also all those of every nation on planet Earth, the journey toward discernment and balance has been a time-consuming and arduous one:
Ec 7:11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.
12 For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money; and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
13 Consider the work of God; who can make straight what He has made crooked?
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other, so that humans cannot find out anything that will be after them.
15 In my vain life I have seen everything; there is a "righteous" man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a "wicked" man who prolongs his life in his evil-doing.
16 Be not righteous overmuch, and do not make yourself overwise; why should you destroy yourself?
17 Be not wicked overmuch, neither be a fool; why should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand; for he who fears God shall come forth from them all.
In what ways have those in the past (and even those yet in the present) been "righteous overmuch" and "wicked overmuch?"
Several areas of interest come to mind: prejudice and bigotry because of skin color, language and cultural differences; abolition versus promotion of slavery (slavery in not the ultimate evil, according to Scripture); teetotaling "temperance" versus free-reined drunkenness, prudish deprivatory anti-erotic abstinence versus unrestrained sexual aberration with porno indecent exposure; gun acquisition, possession, and utilization; tobacco and nicotine use and abuse; hallucinogenic narcotics acquisition, possession, and utilization; etc.
Much in history has been the proverbial "throwing out the baby with the bathwater" reminiscent of:
Ge 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman: "DID GOD say, 'You shall not eat of ANY tree of the Garden'?"
Col 2:16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you with questions of [meatless?] food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon [eclipse?] or a sabbath.
17 These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on [catholic or mormon or islamic?] visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,
19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations:
21 "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch"
22 (referring to things which all perish as they are used), according to human precepts and doctrines?
23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in thwarting the indulgence of the flesh.
The Divine Source of restitution and rectification has been ignored and disdained, while manipulation with or against peripherals has been the substitutionary replacement:
Joh 5:36 But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John, because the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish - these very works which I am doing - bear me witness that the Father has sent me.
37 And the Father who sent me has Himself borne witness to me. His voice you have never heard, His form you have never seen;
38 and you do not have His Word residing in you, because you do not believe Him whom He has sent.
39 You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they which bear witness to me;
40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
Not that searching the Scriptures or going to church is evil, because - for one thing - the opposite is even worse:
Ps 14:1 The [atheist] fool says in his heart: "There is no God." They are corrupt (NOT "some of the nicest people I've known"), they (as faulty hypocrites themselves) do abominable deeds, there are none who do good.
39:8 Deliver me from all my transgressions. Make me not the scorn of the fool!
53:1 The [agnostic] fool says in his heart: "There might be no God." They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none that does good.
Incidentally, note that the following Scripture verses plainly reveal that "we are all equal" is NOT the case whatsoever, that there are NO "shades of gray" and "no compromises" nor "you're just as good as I am" or "you're no worse than I am" - but instead there is clear righteous judgmental distinction between the "wise" in contrast to the "fool" and between the "good" compared to the "evil:"
Prov 10:8 The wise of heart will heed commandments, but a prating fool will come to ruin.
10:14 Wise men lay up knowledge, but the babbling of a fool brings ruin near.
10:18 He/She who conceals hatred has lying lips, and he who utters slander is a fool.
10:23 It is like sport to a fool to do wrong, but wise conduct is pleasure to a man/woman of understanding.
11:29 He who troubles his household will inherit wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise.
12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.
12:16 The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent man ignores an insult.
14:3 The talk of a fool is a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will preserve them.
14:7 Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
14:16 A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool throws off restraint and is careless.
15:5 A fool despises his father's instruction, but he who heeds admonition is prudent.
17:10 A rebuke goes deeper into a man/woman of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.
17:12 Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs, rather than a fool in his/her folly.
17:21 A stupid son is a grief to a father; and the father of a fool has no joy.
17:24 A man of understanding sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
17:28 Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
18:6 A fool's lips bring strife, and his mouth invites a flogging.
Pr 29:18 Where there is no prophecy the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the Law.
Ps 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to "thy" word.
119:11 I have laid up thy word in my heart, that I might not sin against "thee".
119:16 I will delight in thy statutes; I will not forget thy word.
119:17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live and observe thy word.
119:25 My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to thy word!
119:28 My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to thy word!
119:42 then shall I have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust in thy word.
119:89 Forever, LORD, thy word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
119:101 I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep thy word.
119:105 Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
119:160 The sum of thy word is truth; and every one of thy righteous ordinances endures forever.
119:162 I rejoice at thy word like one who finds great treasure.
119:172 My tongue will sing of thy word, for all thy commandments are right.
Joh 17:6 "I have manifested "thy" name to the men whom "thou" gavest me out of the world; "thine" they were, and thou "gavest" them to me, and they have kept thy word.
The disregard and disdain against that "word" (the contents of The Holy Bible) in the past and particularly presently in public schools and elsewhere (no thanks to such nefarious wicked groups as the ACLU, AUSCS, PAW, PP, FFRF, SPLC, and a motley conglomerations of activist secular humanists, homosexuals, and atheists) has been the basis for national deviances of both wrongly-discriminatory evil segregation and exclusionism plus evil indiscriminate and pollution-containing inclusive diversity (the latter of which, in fact, is itself errantly discriminatory against the Source and His Biblical human-operating-manual doctrines):
1Ki18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?"
18 And he answered: "I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father's house, because you have forsaken (i.e. rejected) the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals.
Partial moral compliance is not enough:
Jos 7:1 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, because Achan . . . took some of the devoted things; and the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.
7:18 and he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
7:19 Then Joshua said to Achan: "My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and render (i.e. give) praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me."
7:20 And Achan answered Joshua: "Of a truth I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did:
7:24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the mantle and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters, and his oxen and asses and sheep, and his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor.
7:25 And Joshua said: "Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today." And all Israel stoned him with stones; they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones.
22:20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.'"
1sa 15:1 And Samuel said to Saul: "The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore hearken (i.e. positively respond) to the words of the LORD.
2 Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I will punish what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way, when they came up out of Egypt.
3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly (i.e. completely) destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill (execute - not murder) both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.'"
4 So Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah.
8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly (completely) destroy them; all that was despised and worthless they utterly (completely) destroyed.
10 The word of the LORD came to Samuel:
11 "I regret (NOT "repent") that I have made Saul king, because he has turned back from following me, and has not performed (NOT "committed") my commandments." And Samuel was angry; and he cried (wept?) to the LORD all night.
12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel: "Saul came to Carmel, and "behold", he set up a monument for himself and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal."
13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him: "Blessed be you to the LORD; I have performed the commandment of the LORD."
14 And Samuel replied: "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"
15 Saul said: "They have brought them from the Amalekites, because the people (pass the buck, Saul) spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed."
16 Then Samuel said to Saul: "Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night." And he said to him: "Say on."
17 And Samuel continued: "Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.
18 And the LORD sent you on a mission, and said: 'Go, completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.'
19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop on the spoil, and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?"
20 And Saul said to Samuel: "I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But the people (there he went again, trying to excuse himself) took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your (not my?) God in Gilgal."
22 And Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Hey, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to "hearken" than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king."
24 And Saul said to Samuel: "I have sinned (too late, Saul), because I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice (ah, THAT was the cause!) .
25 Now therefore, I "pray", pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD." (too late, Saul)
26 And Samuel said to Saul: "I will not return with you, because you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel."
Which ties in with:
Jos 24:19 But Joshua said to the people: "You cannot serve the LORD, because He is a holy God; he is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
So much for alleged "unconditional love" and "non-conditional forgiveness."
Isa 29:16 You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay; that the thing made should say of its maker: "He did not make me"; or the [anti-Intelligent-Designer] thing formed say of him who formed it: "He has no understanding"?
Disdaining the moral Law in the so-called holy cause of "by grace through faith you have been saved not by doing good works of the Law" is indirect conflict against St Paul's admission:
Ro 7:22 I delight in the Law of God, in my inmost self . . .
Notice in that particular verse he did not state that his delight was in the grace of God, faith in God, faith in Jesus, the gospel of atonement and redemption through Christ's shed blood on a cross . . . but instead:
Ro 7:22 For I delight in the Law of God, in my inmost self . . .
And the antinomian anti-Law pseudo-"evangelical" pastors and preachers who instead, by default, preach that we are saved by doing evil works against the Law while yet supposedly having "saving faith in Christ" are the worse deceivers in existence, being to blame for much national prejudice and imbalance pertaining to the issues of slaves, guns, liquor, and more mentioned above.
Tit 1:16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their deeds; they are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
Is it any wonder that St James wrote:
Jas 2:24 You see that a person (i.e. man or woman) is justified by works and not by faith alone.
In other words, we are saved (though not atoned for) by ourselves (empowered by the Lord) doing good (not evil) works (of obedience to moral, not fulfilled ceremonial, Law) and not ourselves (empowered by the Lord) by faith (in Christ Jesus and his crucified-then-resurrected gospel) alone.
Saving works and saving faith come from a benevolent God:
Jas 1:17 Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow because of change.
In view of all this, should the many on the broad and easy road to destruction
Mt 7:13 "Enter by the narrow (always try to obey the Law perfectly) gate, because the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
Mt 7:14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Lu 13:24 Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
Of those who will not be saved are those anti-Law pseudo-"evangelical" pastors and preachers who instead, by default, preach that we are saved by doing evil works against the Law while yet supposedly having "saving faith in Christ" are the worse deceivers in existence, being to blame for much national prejudice and imbalance pertaining to the issues of slaves, guns, liquor, and more mentioned above.
Matthew 7:22 On that day many (anti-Law heretics) will say to me: 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy, preach grace through faith not doing good works (but instead by default doing evil works with the gospel license to sin, presuming to get away with it) in your name, and cast (i.e. throw, or exorcise) out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
23 And then will I declare to them: 'I never knew you; go away and get outa here, you evildoers.'
Even on Judgment Day, the Lord will not judge by whether or not people received Jesus as their personal Savior and believed they could get by with a little anti-Law lawlessness because of grace through faith apart from doing good works of the Law . . . but rather by whether or not they did humanitarian works:
Mt 25:31 "When the Son of Man (related to the human, Mary) comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
32 Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
33 and he will place the sheep (NOT "sheeple") at his right hand, but the goats at the left.
34 Then the King will say to those at his right hand: 'Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
35 because I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
36 I was naked and you clothed me, (etc.)
37 Then the righteous will answer Him (not her): 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38 And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee (etc.)?
40 And the King will answer them:, 'Truthfully I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'
41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the Eternal Fire prepared for the Devil and his (demonic) "angels";
42 because I [had needs you did not help me with]
44 Then they (in unison?) also will answer: 'Lord (THEY will call Him "Lord" ALSO?), when did we see you [this and that] and did not minister to you?'
45 Then He will [reply], 'Truthfully I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.'
46 And they will go away into Eternal Punishment, but the righteous into Eternal Life."
Mt 7:26 Every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand
Lu 6:49 But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."
Lu 6:46 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?
Joh 10:38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
Joh 13:17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
And cursed are you if you do not do them. And do not try to excuse yourself by saying: "We're only human".
What is proper discrimination and exclusionism? Not reading the Bible in public schools, nor praying to the God not of Abram (i.e. "allah"?) but instead the (Jew-related) LORD (YHWH) of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel?
Such has lamentably been the case, and hence the mass-murder school shootings, race riots and unfair reparations to those allegedly "deprived" "minorities", "drug" abuse, reckless drunkenness, profanity, vandalism, road-rage rudeness and impatience, environmental pollution, wide-open access-to-all-of-all-ages internet porn of even the most extreme and bizarre types, and so on.
2Ti 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to (and disrespectful against) their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters against good,
4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people.
6 For among them are those who make their way into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and swayed by various impulses,
7 who will listen to anybody and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
8 As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith;
9 but they will not get very far, because their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.
2jo 1:6 And this is love, that we follow His commandments; this is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you follow love.
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men/women who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
8 Look to yourselves, that you may not lose what you have worked for, but may win a full reward.
9 Anyone who goes ahead and does not stay in the doctrine of Christ does not have God; he/she who resides in the doctrine has both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him/her into the house or give them any greeting;
11 because he/she who greets him/her shares his/her wicked work.
But indiscriminate "non-judgmental" (said by those holier-than-thou hypocritical who themselves are hypocritically being judgmental by their anti-judgment demand, who [as stated in Proverbs 30:12] "are not cleansed of their own filth") "love" and "tolerance" is inappropriate:
De 5:9 you shall not bow down to them or serve them, because I the LORD your God am a jealous God, [genetically] "visiting" the iniquity of the fathers upon the [mis-formed] children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
7:10 and requites to their face those who hate him, by destroying them; He will not be slack with him who hates Him, He will requite him to his-or-her face.
De 7:15 [If you obey the LORD, He] will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt (e.g. cancer, stroke, heart attack, diabetes, etc. etc.) which you knew, will He inflict upon you, but He will lay them upon all who hate you.
Ps 97:10 The LORD loves those who hate evil; He preserves the lives of His saints; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Pr 12:1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
17:19 He who loves transgression loves strife; he who makes his door high seeks destruction. (so much for "All Are Welcome" homeowner lawn signs)
Ec 5:10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth, with gain: this also is vanity.
Isa 1:23 Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Every one loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them.
Mal 2:11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, because Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.
2Co 6:14 Do not be mismated with disbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
Mt 10:37 He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me (so much for family-members adoration and worship, especially engraving tattoos in memory of such!); and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
Heb 12:6 The Lord disciplines him/her whom He loves, and chastises every son/daughter whom He receives."
1Jo 2:10 He who loves his/her brother/sister stays in the light, and in it there is no cause for stumbling.
Joh 3:16 God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will (NOT "should") not perish but have Eternal Life.
1Jo 2:15 Do not love the world or the things (such as brothers/sisters) in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him-or-her.
Joh 3:18 He/She who believes in [Christ Jesus] is not condemned; he-or-her who does not believe is condemned already, because he/she has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Re 22:15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practices falsehood.
Godly hate, not love, is frequently the answer to national problems of abusing oneself with nicotine, drugs, guns (including childish misuse of BB guns by the underaged-and-other foolishly irresponsible), vandalism, profanity, impoliteness, insensitive inconsideration, impatience, etc.
Ideally, only true and genuine Christians (of whatever First-Amendment non-established/non-prohibited denominational religion) should acquire, possess, and use guns. But at least only those who obey civil laws based on the Christian Bible should acquire, possess, and use guns.
Instead of imposing satanically-overbroad anti-wine and anti-beer production, distribution, and consumption with a satanically-overbroad non-enforced 18th Amendment (thankfully repealed), outlaw drunkenness (properly and realistically defined and enforced by Proverbs 23:29-35 and current legislators, cops and courts).
1Ti 5:23 No longer drink only water, but use a little [communion-cup-quantity?] wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
To all baptist weasel-wording/revisionist kooks out there, possibly-intoxicating-in-excess wine is and always was possibly-intoxicating-in-excess wine, not grape juice nor grape water - then and now. The Greeks of the New Testament were not semantical dummies and knew the difference between and had different words for wine and grape juice (whether or not ALL water was polluted back then -- worse than non-certified-liquor-store, non-government-inspected, non-kosher gut-rot disseminated by bootlegging gangsters during Prohibition).
Ps 60:3 Thou hast made thy people suffer hard things; thou hast given us wine to drink that made us reel.
Ps 104:15 and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart.
Pr 31:6 Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress;
Ec 9:7 Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart, because God has already approved what you do.
Isa 24:7 The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh.
So 8:2 I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother, and into the chamber of her who (NOT "that") conceived me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranates.
Jer 35:2 "Go to the house of the [liquor-refusing] Rechabites, and speak with them, and bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink."
Instead of imposing sexist insubordination and sexual harassment against males by females with a misworded ("gender" - not "sex") 19th Amendment (which needs to be repealed), promote patriarchal authority concordant with:
Ex 19:15 And he said to the people, "Be ready by the third day; do not go near a woman."
Nu 5:18 And the priest shall set the [adultery-suspected] woman before the LORD, and unbind the hair of the woman's head, and place in her hands the cereal offering of remembrance, which is the cereal offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.
Nu 5:31 The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity."
De 32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh--with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired (mopheaded female) heads of the enemy.'
Eccl 7:26 And I found more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters; he who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.
27 See and perceive, this is what I found, says the Preacher, adding one thing to another to find the sum,
28 which my mind has repeatedly sought, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.
29 Hey, this alone I found, that God made humans upright, but they have sought out many devices.
Is 3:9 Their partiality witnesses against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom, they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil upon themselves.
10 Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
11 Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have done shall be done to him.
12 My people: children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. Oh my people, your leaders mislead you, and confuse the course of your paths.
13 The LORD has taken His place to contend, He stands to judge His people.
14 The LORD enters into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: "It is you who have devoured the vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?" says the Lord GOD of hosts.
16 The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet;
17 the Lord will smite with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts (R-to-XXX-rated?)."
Nah 3:12 All your fortresses are like fig trees with first-ripe figs: if shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater.
13 Hey! (or "See and Perceive), your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your foes; fire has devoured your fortresses.
[No male officer needs to salute a female officer, but all female officers need to salute male officers!]
1Co 11:3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.
4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head,
5 but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head: it is the same as if her head were shaven.
6 For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her wear a veil.
7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.
8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man.
9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
10 That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels.
11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman;
12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.
13 Judge for yourselves; is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
14 Does not nature itself teach you that for a man to wear long hair is degrading to him,
15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering (though not adequate for a prayer shawl or veil covering)
16 If anyone is wants to be contentious, we recognize no such custom (of allowing a women to misregard her mopheaded loose long hair hanging below mouth-level as adequate for a prayer shawl or veil covering), nor do the churches of God.
1Co 14:33 God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
34 As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the churches, because they are not allowed to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the Law says.
35 If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home, because it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
36 What? Did the word of God originate with you, or are you the only ones it has reached?
37 If any one thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord.
1Ti 2:8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
9 also that women should adorn themselves modestly and sensibly in decent apparel, not with broided hair (negros love to twist their hairs and stick stuff in it) or gold or pearls or costly attire
10 but by good works, as befits women who profess religion.
11 Let a woman learn in silence with all subjection.
12 I allow NO woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent.
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve;
14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
15 Yet woman will be saved by bearing children (not doing penis-withdrawing coitus interruptus nor using condoms nor committing abortion homicide), if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with sobriety.
1Pe 3:1 Likewise you wives, be submissive to your husbands, so that some, though they do not obey the word, may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,
2 when they see your reverent and chaste behavior.
3 Let not yours be the outward adorning with broided hair, decoration of gold, and wearing of fine clothing,
4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.
5 So once the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves and were submissive to their husbands,
6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him 'sir'. And you are now her children if you do right and let nothing terrify you (so why suddenly and demonically//terroristically shriek at the top of your voice or scream in terror at the sight of a mouse or during a circus ride on the midway?).
7 Likewise you husbands, live considerately with your wives, bestowing honor on the woman as the weaker gender (NOT: "sex"), being that you are joint heirs of the grace of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered.
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren, a tender heart and a humble mind.
9 Do not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling; but on the contrary bless, for to this you have been called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Semantics are important. Rather than mouthing the mantra buzz phrase: "gun control" the aim-carefully term should instead be: "people control" in that guns and ammunition by themselves do not have a mind of their own to come into existence and assemble themselves by themselves (contrary to the presumptions of big-bang evolutionist heretics).
All types of guns and gun use (whether non-gunpowder ones or gunpowder-driven ones) concerning which we have been brainwashed by non-realistic cowboys-and-indians/cops-and-robbers shoot-'em-dead-but-show-up-alive-in-the-next-movie scenarios must be acquired, retained, and used by those who are not irresponsible, having the safety philosophy of: "Never point a gun at anything you do not intend to shoot" and never given nor allowed to be given to those harboring bitter resentment nor even the slightest homicidal inclinations or threatenings.
Especially immature children:
Pr 19:3 When a man's/woman's folly brings his/her way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.
22:15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him-or-her.
24:9 The devising of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to men.
26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.
26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
26:11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool that repeats his folly.
27:22 Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.
23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you beat him/her with a rod, he-or-she will not die.
23:14 If you beat him with the rod you will save his life from Sheol.
29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself/herself brings shame to his/her mother.
Spanking which does not cause unnatural bruises or bleeding is NOT "child abuse" but mandatory for courageous parents not afraid of their hostile and resentful misbehaving children.
Heb 12:15 See to it that no one fail to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" spring up and cause trouble, and by it the many become defiled
Mt 5:39 But I say to you: Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also;
Lu 6:29 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.
Pr 24:29 Do not say: "I will do to him/her as he/she has done to me; I will pay the man/woman back for what he-or-she has done."
Mt 6:15 but if you do not forgive men/women their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Mt 18:35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother/sister from your heart."
1Pe 3:9 Do not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling; but on the contrary bless, for to this you have been called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Ro 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written: "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," says the Lord.
No school nor business-premise nor other murderous shootings.
Pr 28:17 If a murderer is burdened with the blood of another, let him (or her) be a fugitive until death; let no one help him (or her).
Many times the wicked accuse the righteous of dangerous "hate" while they themselves hypocritically (and terroristically) hate the righteous!
Back to the righteous-vs-wicked hate and hatred:
Ps 25:19 Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.
26:5 I hate the company of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.
34:21 Evil shall slay the wicked; and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
35:19 Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause.
38:19 Those who are my foes without cause are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
41:7 All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me.
45:7 you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows;
50:17 For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.
97:10 The LORD loves those who hate evil; he preserves the lives of his saints; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
101:3 I will not set before my eyes anything that is base. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cleave to me.
105:25 He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.
109:3 They beset me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.
118:7 The LORD is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
119:113 I hate double-minded men, but I love thy law.
119:128 Therefore I direct my steps by all thy precepts; I hate every false way.
119:163 I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love thy law.
120:6 Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.
129:5 May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward!
139:21 Do I not hate those who hate thee, LORD? And do I not loathe them that rise up against thee?
139:22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I consider them my enemies.
Pr 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
8:36 but he who misses me injures himself; all who hate me love death."
9:8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he/she will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
19:7 All a poor man's brothers hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but does not have them.
25:17 Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house lest he/she become weary of you and hate you.
29:10 Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless, and the wicked seek his life.
Ec 3:8 . . . a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Mic 3:2 you who hate the good and love the evil . . .
Pr 3:29 Do not plan evil against your neighbor who dwells trustingly beside you.
Pr 3:30 Do not contend against (NOT "with") a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.
Zec 8:17 "Do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, because all these things I hate," says the LORD.
Mt 5:43 "You have heard that it was said: 'You shall love your [nice-to-you/complimentary] neighbor and hate your [critiquing] enemy.'
6:24 "No one can serve two masters, because either he/she will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
24:10 And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another.
Lu 1:71 . . . be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us;
6:22 Blessed are you when men/women hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast (i.e. throw) out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man!
6:27 "But I say to you that hear, Love your [critiquing] enemies, do good to those who hate you,
14:26 If any one comes to me and does not hate! (NOTE: IF "hate" is not hate, then "love" is not love!) his/her own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters (don't get mad at God for them or someone else killing them because of human sinful intentions!), yes, and even his own life, he/she cannot be my disciple. [Some not only do not hate their parents and close relatives, but sin even more by getting tattoos glorifying or lauding them, thus violating the anti-tattoo Torah passage of Leviticus 19:28 stating: "You shall not make any piercings in your flesh . . . nor tattoo any marks upon you: I am the LORD."]
16:13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he/she will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
Joh 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil.
Ro 7:15 I do not understand my own actions, because I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
Ro 12:9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;
Re 2:6 Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans (whatever that was), which I also hate.
Re 17:16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate "the harlot" (has deep far-reaching meaning!); they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire...
Thanks for reading through this entire unusually-lengthy essay!