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Genesis 4:1-16
/RSS FeedGenesis 4:1-16
1 And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.
2 Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.
3 So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD,
4 while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
5 but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.
6 “Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen?
7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”
8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
9 And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 “What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
11 Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
12 When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
13 But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, this day You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hidden; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
15 “Not so!” replied the LORD. “If anyone slays Cain, then Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” And the LORD placed a mark on Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him.
16 So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. -
Revelation 7:9-17
/RSS FeedRevelation 7:9-17
9 After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
11 And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me: “These in white robes,” he asked, “who are they, and where have they come from?”
14 “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’
17 For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’” -
John 10:1-21
/RSS FeedJohn 10:1-21
1 “Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
2 But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.”
6 Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.
7 So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
8 All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
12 The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.
13 The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,
15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.
17 The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again.
18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”
19 Again there was division among the Jews because of Jesus’ message.
20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and insane. Why would you listen to Him?”
21 But others replied, “These are not the words of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
