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Matthew 13:11
He replied,“ Because you have been given the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. It has not been given to outsiders.
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2 Timothy 3 15-2 Timothy 3 17
You have known the Holy Scriptures ever since you were a little child. They are able to teach you how to be saved by believing in Christ Jesus.God has breathed life into all Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right.By using Scripture, the servant of God can be completely prepared to do every good thing.
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Deuteronomy 4:6-8
Be careful to keep them. That will show the nations how wise and understanding you are. They will hear about all these rules. They’ll say,“ That great nation certainly has wise and understanding people.”The Lord our God is near us every time we pray to him. What other nation is great enough to have its gods that close to them?I’m giving you the laws of the Lord today. What other nation is great enough to have rules and laws as fair as these?
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Matthew 11:25
At that time Jesus said,“ I praise you, Father. You are Lord of heaven and earth. You have hidden these things from wise and educated people. But you have shown them to little children.
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Matthew 23:24-36
You blind guides! You remove the smallest insect from your food. But you swallow a whole camel!“ How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You clean the outside of a cup and dish. But on the inside you are full of greed. You only want to satisfy yourselves.Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish. Then the outside will also be clean.“ How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You are like tombs that are painted white. They look beautiful on the outside. But on the inside they are full of the bones of the dead. They are also full of other things that are not pure and‘ clean.’It is the same with you. On the outside you seem to be doing what is right. But on the inside you are full of what is wrong. You pretend to be what you are not.“ How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You build tombs for the prophets. You decorate the graves of the godly.And you say,‘ If we had lived in the days of those who lived before us, we wouldn’t have done what they did. We wouldn’t have helped to kill the prophets.’So you are witnesses against yourselves. You admit that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets.So go ahead and finish the sins that those who lived before you started!“ You nest of poisonous snakes! How will you escape from being sentenced to hell?So I am sending you prophets, wise people, and teachers. You will kill some of them. You will nail some to a cross. Others you will whip in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town.So you will pay for all the godly people’s blood spilled on earth. I mean from the blood of godly Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berekiah. Zechariah was the one you murdered between the temple and the altar.What I’m about to tell you is true. All this will happen to those who are now living.
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Psalms 119:24
Your covenant laws are my delight. They give me wise advice. Daleth
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2 Chronicles 30 22
Hezekiah spoke words that gave hope to all the Levites. They understood how to serve the Lord well. For the seven days of the feast they ate the share given to them. They also sacrificed friendship offerings. They praised the Lord, the God of their people.
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2 Chronicles 29 15-2 Chronicles 29 36
All these Levites gathered the other Levites together. They set themselves apart to the Lord. Then they went in to purify the Lord’ s temple. That’s what the king had ordered them to do. They did what the Lord told them to.The priests went into the Lord’ s temple to make it pure. They brought out to the temple courtyard everything that was“ unclean.” They had found“ unclean” things in the Lord’ s temple. The Levites took them and carried them out to the Kidron Valley.On the first day of the first month they began to set everything in the temple apart to the Lord. By the eighth day of the month they reached the Lord’ s porch. For eight more days they set the Lord’ s temple itself apart to him. They finished on the 16th day of the first month.Then they went to King Hezekiah. They reported,“ We’ve purified the whole temple of the Lord. That includes the altar for burnt offerings and all its tools. It also includes the table for the holy bread and all its objects.We’ve prepared all the things King Ahaz had removed. We’ve set them apart to the Lord. Ahaz had removed them while he was king. He wasn’t faithful to the Lord. Those things are now in front of the Lord’ s altar.”Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered together the city officials. They all went up to the Lord’ s temple.They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats with them. They sacrificed the animals as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the temple and for Judah. The king commanded the priests to offer them on the Lord’ s altar. The priests were from the family line of Aaron.They killed the bulls. Then they splashed the blood against the altar. Next they killed the rams and splashed the blood against the altar. Then they killed the lambs and splashed the blood against the altar.The goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the whole community. They placed their hands on them.Then the priests killed the goats. They put the blood on the altar as a sin offering. It paid for the sin of the whole nation of Israel. The king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for the whole nation.Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the Lord’ s temple. They had cymbals, harps and lyres. They did everything in the way King David, his prophet Gad, and Nathan the prophet had required. The Lord had given commands about all these things through his prophets.So the Levites stood ready with David’s musical instruments. And the priests had their trumpets ready.Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. The offering began. Singing to the Lord also began. The singing was accompanied by the trumpets and by the instruments of David. He had been king of Israel.The whole community bowed down. They worshiped the Lord. At the same time the musicians played their musical instruments. The priests blew their trumpets. All of that continued until the burnt offering had been sacrificed.So the offerings were finished. King Hezekiah got down on his knees. He worshiped the Lord. So did everyone who was with him.The king and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord. They used the words of David and Asaph the prophet. They sang praises with joy. They bowed down and worshiped the Lord.Then Hezekiah said,“ You have set yourselves apart to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to his temple.” So the whole community brought sacrifices and thank offerings. Everyone who wanted to brought burnt offerings.The whole community brought 70 bulls, 100 rams and 200 male lambs. They brought all of them as burnt offerings to the Lord.The total number of animals set apart as sacrifices to the Lord was 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep and goats.But there weren’t enough priests to skin all the burnt offerings. So their relatives, the Levites, helped them. They worked until the task was finished. By that time other priests had been set apart to the Lord. The Levites had been more careful than the priests when they set themselves apart.There were large numbers of burnt offerings, along with the drink offerings and the fat from the friendship offerings. They were offered along with the burnt offerings. So the service of the Lord’ s temple was started up again.Hezekiah and all the people were filled with joy. That’s because everything had been done so quickly. God had provided for his people in a wonderful way.
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Matthew 15:6-9
So they do not need to honor their father or mother with their gift. You make the word of God useless in order to follow your own teachings.You pretenders! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. He said,“‘ These people honor me by what they say. But their hearts are far away from me.Their worship doesn’t mean anything to me. They teach nothing but human rules.’ ”( Isaiah 29:13)
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2 Samuel 15 24-2 Samuel 15 26
Zadok also went with them. Some of the Levites went with him. They were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark. Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had left the city.Then the king said to Zadok,“ Take the ark of God back into the city. If the Lord is pleased with me, he’ll bring me back. He’ll let me see the ark again. He’ll also let me see Jerusalem again. That’s the place where he lives.But suppose he says,‘ I am not pleased with you.’ Then I accept that. Let him do to me what he thinks is best.”
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1 Chronicles 15 11-1 Chronicles 15 13
David sent for Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. He also sent for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab. They were Levites.He said to them,“ You are the leaders of the families of Levi. You and the other Levites must set yourselves apart to serve the Lord and his people. You must carry up the ark of the Lord. He is the God of Israel. Put the ark in the place I’ve prepared for it.Remember when the anger of the Lord our God broke out against us? That’s because it wasn’t you Levites who tried to carry up the ark the first time. We didn’t ask the Lord how to do it in the way the law requires.”
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Hebrews 5:12
By this time you should be teachers. But in fact, you need someone to teach you all over again. You need even the simple truths of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food.
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Matthew 15:14
Leave the Pharisees. They are blind guides. If one blind person leads another blind person, both of them will fall into a pit.”
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Jeremiah 2:8
The priests did not ask,‘ Where is the Lord?’ Those who taught my law did not know me. The leaders refused to obey me. The prophets prophesied in the name of Baal. They worshiped worthless statues of gods.
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Jeremiah 8:8-9
“‘ “How can you people say,‘ We are wise. We have the law of the Lord’? Actually, the teachers of the law have told lies about it. Their pens have not written what is true.Those who think they are wise will be put to shame. They will become terrified. They will be trapped. They have not accepted my message. So what kind of wisdom do they have?
