Matthew 25:24 “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for err...

25:24 MSG

逐节对照

The Message - “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’
新标点和合本 - 那领一千的也来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，没有种的地方要收割，没有散的地方要聚敛，
和合本2010（上帝版-简体） - 那领一千的也进前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你，你是个严厉的人：没有种的地方也要收割，没有播的地方也要收获，
和合本2010（神版-简体） - 那领一千的也进前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你，你是个严厉的人：没有种的地方也要收割，没有播的地方也要收获，
当代译本 - “得到一千银币的奴仆也上前说，‘主人，我知道你为人苛刻，没有播种的地方也要收割，没有撒种的地方也要收获。
圣经新译本 - 那领了六千的也前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是个严厉的人，没有撒种的地方，你要收割；没有散播的地方，你要收聚。
中文标准译本 - “接着，那领了一千两银子的也上前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是个严厉的人，不是你播种的地方，你收获；不是你投放的地方，你收集。
现代标点和合本 - 那领一千的也来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，没有种的地方要收割，没有散的地方要聚敛。
和合本（拼音版） - 那领一千的也来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，没有种的地方要收割，没有散的地方要聚敛。
New International Version - “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
New International Reader's Version - “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest where you have not planted. You gather crops where you have not scattered seed.
English Standard Version - 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 scattered no seed,
New Living Translation - “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.
Christian Standard Bible - “The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed.
New American Standard Bible - “Now the one who had received the one talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed.
New King James Version - “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
Amplified Bible - “The one who had received one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a harsh and demanding man, reaping [the harvest] where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed.
American Standard Version - And he also that had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering where thou didst not scatter;
King James Version - Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
New English Translation - Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed,
World English Bible - “He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow, and gathering where you didn’t scatter.
新標點和合本 - 那領一千的也來，說：『主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，沒有種的地方要收割，沒有散的地方要聚斂，
和合本2010（上帝版-繁體） - 那領一千的也進前來，說：『主啊，我知道你，你是個嚴厲的人：沒有種的地方也要收割，沒有播的地方也要收穫，
和合本2010（神版-繁體） - 那領一千的也進前來，說：『主啊，我知道你，你是個嚴厲的人：沒有種的地方也要收割，沒有播的地方也要收穫，
當代譯本 - 「得到一千銀幣的奴僕也上前說，『主人，我知道你為人苛刻，沒有播種的地方也要收割，沒有撒種的地方也要收穫。
聖經新譯本 - 那領了六千的也前來，說：‘主啊，我知道你是個嚴厲的人，沒有撒種的地方，你要收割；沒有散播的地方，你要收聚。
呂振中譯本 - 那領了六千的也上前來，說：「主啊，我知道你是苛刻的人，沒有撒種的地方你就收割；沒有簸散的地方你就收集，
中文標準譯本 - 「接著，那領了一千兩銀子的也上前來，說：『主啊，我知道你是個嚴厲的人，不是你播種的地方，你收穫；不是你投放的地方，你收集。
現代標點和合本 - 那領一千的也來，說：『主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，沒有種的地方要收割，沒有散的地方要聚斂。
文理和合譯本 - 受一千者亦至、曰、主、我知爾乃忍人、未播之處而穫、未散之處而斂、
文理委辦譯本 - 受一千者至、曰、主也、我知爾乃忍人、未播之處而穫、未散之處而斂、
施約瑟淺文理新舊約聖經 - 受一他連得者、曰、主人、我知爾乃忍人、於未播之處而穫、於未散之處而斂、
吳經熊文理聖詠與新經全集 - 受一千者繼至、曰：「素知吾主刻薄寡恩、不播而穫、不散而斂；
Nueva Versión Internacional - »Después llegó el que había recibido solo mil monedas. “Señor —explicó—, yo sabía que usted es un hombre duro, que cosecha donde no ha sembrado y recoge donde no ha esparcido.
현대인의 성경 - 그런데 한 달란트 받은 사람은 와서 ‘주인님, 저는 주인님이 아무 수고도 하지 않고 남이 심고 뿌려 놓은 것을 거둬들이는 지독한 분으로 알았습니다.
Новый Русский Перевод - Затем пришел и тот, кому был доверен один талант. «Господин, – говорит он, – я знал, что ты человек суровый, жнешь там, где не сеял, и собираешь там, где не рассыпал.
Восточный перевод - Затем пришёл и тот, кому был доверен один мешок. «Господин, – говорит он, – я знал, что ты человек суровый, жнёшь там, где не сеял, и собираешь там, где не рассыпал.
Восточный перевод, версия с «Аллахом» - Затем пришёл и тот, кому был доверен один мешок. «Господин, – говорит он, – я знал, что ты человек суровый, жнёшь там, где не сеял, и собираешь там, где не рассыпал.
Восточный перевод, версия для Таджикистана - Затем пришёл и тот, кому был доверен один мешок. «Господин, – говорит он, – я знал, что ты человек суровый, жнёшь там, где не сеял, и собираешь там, где не рассыпал.
La Bible du Semeur 2015 - Enfin, celui qui n’avait reçu qu’un lingot vint à son tour et dit : « Maître, je savais que tu es un homme dur : tu moissonnes là où tu n’as rien semé, tu récoltes où tu n’as pas répandu de semence.
リビングバイブル - 最後に、一タラント受け取った男が進み出て言いました。『ご主人様。あなたはたいそうひどい方でございます。私は前々からそれを知っておりましたから、せっかくお金をもうけても、あなたが取り上げてしまうのではないかと、こわくてしかたがなかったのです。それで、あなたのお金を土の中に隠しておきました。はい、これがそのお金でございます。』
Nestle Aland 28 - Προσελθὼν δὲ καὶ ὁ τὸ ἓν τάλαντον εἰληφὼς εἶπεν· κύριε, ἔγνων σε ὅτι σκληρὸς εἶ ἄνθρωπος, θερίζων ὅπου οὐκ ἔσπειρας καὶ συνάγων ὅθεν οὐ διεσκόρπισας,
unfoldingWord® Greek New Testament - προσελθὼν δὲ καὶ ὁ τὸ ἓν τάλαντον εἰληφὼς εἶπεν, Κύριε, ἔγνων σε, ὅτι σκληρὸς εἶ ἄνθρωπος, θερίζων ὅπου οὐκ ἔσπειρας, καὶ συνάγων ὅθεν οὐ διεσκόρπισας.
Nova Versão Internacional - “Por fim, veio o que tinha recebido um talento e disse: ‘Eu sabia que o senhor é um homem severo, que colhe onde não plantou e junta onde não semeou.
Hoffnung für alle - Schließlich kam der Diener, dem der Herr einen Zentner Silberstücke gegeben hatte, und erklärte: ›Ich kenne dich als strengen Herrn und dachte: Du erntest, was andere gesät haben; du nimmst dir, wofür du nichts getan hast.
Kinh Thánh Hiện Đại - Người nhận một túi bạc đến phân trần: ‘Thưa chủ, tôi biết chủ khắt khe, hay gặt hái trong chỗ không gieo, thu hoạch ở nơi không trồng.
พระคริสตธรรมคัมภีร์ไทย ฉบับอมตธรรมร่วมสมัย - “แล้วคนที่ได้รับตะลันต์เดียวมาเรียนว่า ‘นายเจ้าข้า ข้าพเจ้ารู้ว่าท่านเป็นคนใจแข็งซึ่งเก็บเกี่ยวสิ่งที่ท่านไม่ได้เพาะปลูกและรวบรวมผลที่ท่านไม่ได้หว่าน
พระคัมภีร์ ฉบับแปลใหม่ - คนที่ได้รับ 1 ตะลันต์ก็มาหาด้วย และพูดว่า ‘นายท่าน ข้าพเจ้าทราบว่าท่านเป็นคนเข้มงวด ท่านเก็บเกี่ยวสิ่งที่ท่านไม่ได้หว่าน และเก็บรวบรวมสิ่งที่ท่านไม่ได้โปรยเมล็ดไว้

交叉引用

Matthew 7:21 - “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our super-spiritual projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’
Malachi 3:14 - “When you said, ‘It doesn’t pay to serve God. What do we ever get out of it? When we did what he said and went around with long faces, serious about God-of-the-Angel-Armies, what difference did it make? Those who take life into their own hands are the lucky ones. They break all the rules and get ahead anyway. They push God to the limit and get by with it.’”
Romans 9:20 - Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn’t talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, “Why did you shape me like this?” Isn’t it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show his angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show his glorious goodness, isn’t that all right? Either or both happens to Jews, but it also happens to the other people. Hosea put it well: I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved. In the place where they yelled out, “You’re nobody!” they’re calling you “God’s living children.” Isaiah maintained this same emphasis: If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered and the sum labeled “chosen of God,” They’d be numbers still, not names; salvation comes by personal selection. God doesn’t count us; he calls us by name. Arithmetic is not his focus. Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth: If our powerful God had not provided us a legacy of living children, We would have ended up like ghost towns, like Sodom and Gomorrah. How can we sum this up? All those people who didn’t seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their “God projects” that they didn’t notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together: Careful! I’ve put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion, a stone you can’t get around. But the stone is me! If you’re looking for me, you’ll find me on the way, not in the way.
Malachi 1:12 - “All except you. Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, ‘Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,’ and when you say, ‘I’m bored—this doesn’t do anything for me.’ You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it’s a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I’m going to accept it? This is God speaking to you!
Isaiah 58:3 - “Well, here’s why: “The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit. You drive your employees much too hard. You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast, but you swing a mean fist. The kind of fasting you do won’t get your prayers off the ground. Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after: a day to show off humility? To put on a pious long face and parade around solemnly in black? Do you call that fasting, a fast day that I, God, would like?
Luke 6:46 - “Why are you so polite with me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.
Ezekiel 18:25 - “Do I hear you saying, ‘That’s not fair! God’s not fair!’? “Listen, Israel. I’m not fair? You’re the ones who aren’t fair! If a good person turns away from his good life and takes up sinning, he’ll die for it. He’ll die for his own sin. Likewise, if a bad person turns away from his bad life and starts living a good life, a fair life, he will save his life. Because he faces up to all the wrongs he’s committed and puts them behind him, he will live, really live. He won’t die.
Ezekiel 18:29 - “And yet Israel keeps on whining, ‘That’s not fair! God’s not fair.’ “I’m not fair, Israel? You’re the ones who aren’t fair.
Jeremiah 2:31 - “What a generation you turned out to be! Didn’t I tell you? Didn’t I warn you? Have I let you down, Israel? Am I nothing but a dead-end street? Why do my people say, ‘Good riddance! From now on we’re on our own’? Young women don’t forget their jewelry, do they? Brides don’t show up without their veils, do they? But my people forget me. Day after day after day they never give me a thought. * * *
Luke 19:20 - “The next servant said, ‘Master, here’s your money safe and sound. I kept it hidden in the cellar. To tell you the truth, I was a little afraid. I know you have high standards and hate sloppiness, and don’t suffer fools gladly.’
Luke 19:22 - “He said, ‘You’re right that I don’t suffer fools gladly—and you’ve acted the fool! Why didn’t you at least invest the money in securities so I would have gotten a little interest on it?’

逐节对照

交叉引用

The Message - “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’
新标点和合本 - 那领一千的也来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，没有种的地方要收割，没有散的地方要聚敛，
和合本2010（上帝版-简体） - 那领一千的也进前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你，你是个严厉的人：没有种的地方也要收割，没有播的地方也要收获，
和合本2010（神版-简体） - 那领一千的也进前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你，你是个严厉的人：没有种的地方也要收割，没有播的地方也要收获，
当代译本 - “得到一千银币的奴仆也上前说，‘主人，我知道你为人苛刻，没有播种的地方也要收割，没有撒种的地方也要收获。
圣经新译本 - 那领了六千的也前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是个严厉的人，没有撒种的地方，你要收割；没有散播的地方，你要收聚。
中文标准译本 - “接着，那领了一千两银子的也上前来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是个严厉的人，不是你播种的地方，你收获；不是你投放的地方，你收集。
现代标点和合本 - 那领一千的也来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，没有种的地方要收割，没有散的地方要聚敛。
和合本（拼音版） - 那领一千的也来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，没有种的地方要收割，没有散的地方要聚敛。
New International Version - “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
New International Reader's Version - “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest where you have not planted. You gather crops where you have not scattered seed.
English Standard Version - 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 scattered no seed,
New Living Translation - “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.
Christian Standard Bible - “The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed.
New American Standard Bible - “Now the one who had received the one talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed.
New King James Version - “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
Amplified Bible - “The one who had received one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a harsh and demanding man, reaping [the harvest] where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed.
American Standard Version - And he also that had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering where thou didst not scatter;
King James Version - Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
New English Translation - Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed,
World English Bible - “He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow, and gathering where you didn’t scatter.
新標點和合本 - 那領一千的也來，說：『主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，沒有種的地方要收割，沒有散的地方要聚斂，
和合本2010（上帝版-繁體） - 那領一千的也進前來，說：『主啊，我知道你，你是個嚴厲的人：沒有種的地方也要收割，沒有播的地方也要收穫，
和合本2010（神版-繁體） - 那領一千的也進前來，說：『主啊，我知道你，你是個嚴厲的人：沒有種的地方也要收割，沒有播的地方也要收穫，
當代譯本 - 「得到一千銀幣的奴僕也上前說，『主人，我知道你為人苛刻，沒有播種的地方也要收割，沒有撒種的地方也要收穫。
聖經新譯本 - 那領了六千的也前來，說：‘主啊，我知道你是個嚴厲的人，沒有撒種的地方，你要收割；沒有散播的地方，你要收聚。
呂振中譯本 - 那領了六千的也上前來，說：「主啊，我知道你是苛刻的人，沒有撒種的地方你就收割；沒有簸散的地方你就收集，
中文標準譯本 - 「接著，那領了一千兩銀子的也上前來，說：『主啊，我知道你是個嚴厲的人，不是你播種的地方，你收穫；不是你投放的地方，你收集。
現代標點和合本 - 那領一千的也來，說：『主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，沒有種的地方要收割，沒有散的地方要聚斂。
文理和合譯本 - 受一千者亦至、曰、主、我知爾乃忍人、未播之處而穫、未散之處而斂、
文理委辦譯本 - 受一千者至、曰、主也、我知爾乃忍人、未播之處而穫、未散之處而斂、
施約瑟淺文理新舊約聖經 - 受一他連得者、曰、主人、我知爾乃忍人、於未播之處而穫、於未散之處而斂、
吳經熊文理聖詠與新經全集 - 受一千者繼至、曰：「素知吾主刻薄寡恩、不播而穫、不散而斂；
Nueva Versión Internacional - »Después llegó el que había recibido solo mil monedas. “Señor —explicó—, yo sabía que usted es un hombre duro, que cosecha donde no ha sembrado y recoge donde no ha esparcido.
현대인의 성경 - 그런데 한 달란트 받은 사람은 와서 ‘주인님, 저는 주인님이 아무 수고도 하지 않고 남이 심고 뿌려 놓은 것을 거둬들이는 지독한 분으로 알았습니다.
Новый Русский Перевод - Затем пришел и тот, кому был доверен один талант. «Господин, – говорит он, – я знал, что ты человек суровый, жнешь там, где не сеял, и собираешь там, где не рассыпал.
Восточный перевод - Затем пришёл и тот, кому был доверен один мешок. «Господин, – говорит он, – я знал, что ты человек суровый, жнёшь там, где не сеял, и собираешь там, где не рассыпал.
Восточный перевод, версия с «Аллахом» - Затем пришёл и тот, кому был доверен один мешок. «Господин, – говорит он, – я знал, что ты человек суровый, жнёшь там, где не сеял, и собираешь там, где не рассыпал.
Восточный перевод, версия для Таджикистана - Затем пришёл и тот, кому был доверен один мешок. «Господин, – говорит он, – я знал, что ты человек суровый, жнёшь там, где не сеял, и собираешь там, где не рассыпал.
La Bible du Semeur 2015 - Enfin, celui qui n’avait reçu qu’un lingot vint à son tour et dit : « Maître, je savais que tu es un homme dur : tu moissonnes là où tu n’as rien semé, tu récoltes où tu n’as pas répandu de semence.
リビングバイブル - 最後に、一タラント受け取った男が進み出て言いました。『ご主人様。あなたはたいそうひどい方でございます。私は前々からそれを知っておりましたから、せっかくお金をもうけても、あなたが取り上げてしまうのではないかと、こわくてしかたがなかったのです。それで、あなたのお金を土の中に隠しておきました。はい、これがそのお金でございます。』
Nestle Aland 28 - Προσελθὼν δὲ καὶ ὁ τὸ ἓν τάλαντον εἰληφὼς εἶπεν· κύριε, ἔγνων σε ὅτι σκληρὸς εἶ ἄνθρωπος, θερίζων ὅπου οὐκ ἔσπειρας καὶ συνάγων ὅθεν οὐ διεσκόρπισας,
unfoldingWord® Greek New Testament - προσελθὼν δὲ καὶ ὁ τὸ ἓν τάλαντον εἰληφὼς εἶπεν, Κύριε, ἔγνων σε, ὅτι σκληρὸς εἶ ἄνθρωπος, θερίζων ὅπου οὐκ ἔσπειρας, καὶ συνάγων ὅθεν οὐ διεσκόρπισας.
Nova Versão Internacional - “Por fim, veio o que tinha recebido um talento e disse: ‘Eu sabia que o senhor é um homem severo, que colhe onde não plantou e junta onde não semeou.
Hoffnung für alle - Schließlich kam der Diener, dem der Herr einen Zentner Silberstücke gegeben hatte, und erklärte: ›Ich kenne dich als strengen Herrn und dachte: Du erntest, was andere gesät haben; du nimmst dir, wofür du nichts getan hast.
Kinh Thánh Hiện Đại - Người nhận một túi bạc đến phân trần: ‘Thưa chủ, tôi biết chủ khắt khe, hay gặt hái trong chỗ không gieo, thu hoạch ở nơi không trồng.
พระคริสตธรรมคัมภีร์ไทย ฉบับอมตธรรมร่วมสมัย - “แล้วคนที่ได้รับตะลันต์เดียวมาเรียนว่า ‘นายเจ้าข้า ข้าพเจ้ารู้ว่าท่านเป็นคนใจแข็งซึ่งเก็บเกี่ยวสิ่งที่ท่านไม่ได้เพาะปลูกและรวบรวมผลที่ท่านไม่ได้หว่าน
พระคัมภีร์ ฉบับแปลใหม่ - คนที่ได้รับ 1 ตะลันต์ก็มาหาด้วย และพูดว่า ‘นายท่าน ข้าพเจ้าทราบว่าท่านเป็นคนเข้มงวด ท่านเก็บเกี่ยวสิ่งที่ท่านไม่ได้หว่าน และเก็บรวบรวมสิ่งที่ท่านไม่ได้โปรยเมล็ดไว้

Matthew 7:21 - “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our super-spiritual projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’
Malachi 3:14 - “When you said, ‘It doesn’t pay to serve God. What do we ever get out of it? When we did what he said and went around with long faces, serious about God-of-the-Angel-Armies, what difference did it make? Those who take life into their own hands are the lucky ones. They break all the rules and get ahead anyway. They push God to the limit and get by with it.’”
Romans 9:20 - Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn’t talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, “Why did you shape me like this?” Isn’t it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show his angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show his glorious goodness, isn’t that all right? Either or both happens to Jews, but it also happens to the other people. Hosea put it well: I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved. In the place where they yelled out, “You’re nobody!” they’re calling you “God’s living children.” Isaiah maintained this same emphasis: If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered and the sum labeled “chosen of God,” They’d be numbers still, not names; salvation comes by personal selection. God doesn’t count us; he calls us by name. Arithmetic is not his focus. Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth: If our powerful God had not provided us a legacy of living children, We would have ended up like ghost towns, like Sodom and Gomorrah. How can we sum this up? All those people who didn’t seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their “God projects” that they didn’t notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together: Careful! I’ve put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion, a stone you can’t get around. But the stone is me! If you’re looking for me, you’ll find me on the way, not in the way.
Malachi 1:12 - “All except you. Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, ‘Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,’ and when you say, ‘I’m bored—this doesn’t do anything for me.’ You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it’s a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I’m going to accept it? This is God speaking to you!
Isaiah 58:3 - “Well, here’s why: “The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit. You drive your employees much too hard. You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast, but you swing a mean fist. The kind of fasting you do won’t get your prayers off the ground. Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after: a day to show off humility? To put on a pious long face and parade around solemnly in black? Do you call that fasting, a fast day that I, God, would like?
Luke 6:46 - “Why are you so polite with me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.
Ezekiel 18:25 - “Do I hear you saying, ‘That’s not fair! God’s not fair!’? “Listen, Israel. I’m not fair? You’re the ones who aren’t fair! If a good person turns away from his good life and takes up sinning, he’ll die for it. He’ll die for his own sin. Likewise, if a bad person turns away from his bad life and starts living a good life, a fair life, he will save his life. Because he faces up to all the wrongs he’s committed and puts them behind him, he will live, really live. He won’t die.
Ezekiel 18:29 - “And yet Israel keeps on whining, ‘That’s not fair! God’s not fair.’ “I’m not fair, Israel? You’re the ones who aren’t fair.
Jeremiah 2:31 - “What a generation you turned out to be! Didn’t I tell you? Didn’t I warn you? Have I let you down, Israel? Am I nothing but a dead-end street? Why do my people say, ‘Good riddance! From now on we’re on our own’? Young women don’t forget their jewelry, do they? Brides don’t show up without their veils, do they? But my people forget me. Day after day after day they never give me a thought. * * *
Luke 19:20 - “The next servant said, ‘Master, here’s your money safe and sound. I kept it hidden in the cellar. To tell you the truth, I was a little afraid. I know you have high standards and hate sloppiness, and don’t suffer fools gladly.’
Luke 19:22 - “He said, ‘You’re right that I don’t suffer fools gladly—and you’ve acted the fool! Why didn’t you at least invest the money in securities so I would have gotten a little interest on it?’