First Nation Christian

Isaiah 54:14-17 AMPC
You shall establish yourself in righteousness (rightness, in conformity with God's will and order): you shall be far from even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you. [15] Behold, they may gather together and stir up strife, but it is not from Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall and surrender to you. [16] Behold, I have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals and who produces a weapon for its purpose; and I have created the devastator to destroy. [17] But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 6:1-12 AMPC
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavily upon men: [2] A man to whom God has given riches, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he might desire, yet God does not give him the power or capacity to enjoy them [things which are gifts from God], but a stranger [in whom he has no interest succeeds him and] consumes and enjoys them. This is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility); it is a sore affliction! [3] If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, but his life is not filled with good, and also he is given no burial [honors nor is laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], I say that [he who had] an untimely birth [resulting in death] is better off than he, [4] For [the untimely one] comes in futility and goes into darkness, and in darkness his name is covered. [5] Moreover, he has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge, yet he [the stillborn child] has rest rather than he [who is aware of all that he has missed and all that he would not have had to suffer]. [6] Even though he lives a thousand years twice over and yet has seen no good and experienced no enjoyment-do not all go to one place [the place of the dead]? [7] All the labor of man is for his mouth [for self-preservation and enjoyment], and yet his desire is not satisfied. [8] For what advantage has the wise man over the fool [being worldly-wise is not the secret to happiness]? What advantage has the poor man who has learned how to walk before the living [publicly, with men's eyes upon him; being poor is not the secret to happiness either]? [9] Better is the sight of the eyes [the enjoyment of what is available to one] than the cravings of wandering desire. This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility) and a striving after the wind and a feeding on it! [10] Whatever [man] is, he has been named that long ago, and it is known that it is man [Adam]; nor can he contend with Him who is mightier than he [whether God or death]. [11] Seeing that there are [all these and] many other things and words that increase the emptiness, falsity, vainglory, and futility [of living], what profit and what outcome is there for man? [12] For who [limited to human wisdom] knows what is good for man in his life, all the days of his vain life which he spends as a shadow [going through the motions but accomplishing nothing]? For who can tell a man what will happen [to his work, his treasure, his plans] under the sun after he is gone?

Matthew 12:41-50 AMPC
The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, Someone more and greater than Jonah is here! [42] The queen of the South will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, Someone more and greater than Solomon is here. [43] But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through dry [arid] places in search of rest, but it does not find any. [44] Then it says, I will go back to my house from which I came out. And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, put in order, and decorated. [45] Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So also shall it be with this wicked generation. [46] Jesus was still speaking to the people when behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to Him. [47] Someone said to Him, Listen! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You. [48] But He replied to the man who told Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers? [49] And stretching out His hand toward [not only the twelve disciples but all] His adherents, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers. [50] For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!

Psalm 68:1-19 AMPC
God is [already] beginning to arise, and His enemies to scatter; let them also who hate Him flee before Him! [2] As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before the presence of God. [3] But let the [uncompromisingly] righteous be glad; let them be in high spirits and glory before God, yes, let them [jubilantly] rejoice! [4] Sing to God, sing praises to His name, cast up a highway for Him Who rides through the deserts-His name is the Lord-be in high spirits and glory before Him! [5] A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows is God in His holy habitation. [6] God places the solitary in families and gives the desolate a home in which to dwell; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. [7] O God, when You went forth before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness-Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!- [8] The earth trembled, the heavens also poured down [rain] at the presence of God; yonder Sinai quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel. [9] You, O God, did send a plentiful rain; You did restore and confirm Your heritage when it languished and was weary. [10] Your flock found a dwelling place in it; You, O God, in Your goodness did provide for the poor and needy. [11] The Lord gives the word [of power]; the women who bear and publish [the news] are a great host. [12] The kings of the enemies' armies, they flee, they flee! She who tarries at home divides the spoil [left behind]. [13] Though you [the slackers] may lie among the sheepfolds [in slothful ease, yet for Israel] the wings of a dove are covered with silver, its pinions excessively green with gold [are trophies taken from the enemy]. [14] When the Almighty scattered kings in [the land], it was as when it snows on Zalmon [a wooded hill near Shechem]. [15] Is Mount Bashan the high mountain of summits, Mount Bashan [east of the Jordan] the mount of God? [16] Why do you look with grudging and envy, you many-peaked mountains, at the mountain [of the city called Zion] which God has desired for His dwelling place? Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever. [17] The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands. The Lord is among them as He was in Sinai, [so also] in the Holy Place (the sanctuary in Jerusalem). [18] You have ascended on high. You have led away captive a train of vanquished foes; You have received gifts of men, yes, of the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell there with them. [19] Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even the God Who is our salvation! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

Psalm 55:1-16 AMPC
Listen to my prayer, O God, and hide not Yourself from my supplication! [2] Attend to me and answer me; I am restless and distraught in my complaint and must moan [3] [And I am distracted] at the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression and threats of the wicked; for they would cast trouble upon me, and in wrath they persecute me. [4] My heart is grievously pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. [5] Fear and trembling have come upon me; horror and fright have overwhelmed me. [6] And I say, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. [7] Yes, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! [8] I would hasten to escape and to find a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest. [9] Destroy [their schemes], O Lord, confuse their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city. [10] Day and night they go about on its walls; iniquity and mischief are in its midst. [11] Violence and ruin are within it; fraud and guile do not depart from its streets and marketplaces. [12] For it is not an enemy who reproaches and taunts me-then I might bear it; nor is it one who has hated me who insolently vaunts himself against me-then I might hide from him. [13] But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend. [14] We had sweet fellowship together and used to walk to the house of God in company. [15] Let desolations and death come suddenly upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol (the place of the dead), for evils are in their habitations, in their hearts, and their inmost part. [16] As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me.

Isaiah 48:1-7 AMPC
Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and who come forth from the seed of Judah, you who swear allegiance by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel-but not in truth and sincerity, nor in righteousness (rightness and moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation)- [2] For they call themselves [citizens] of the holy city and depend on the God of Israel-the Lord of hosts is His name. [3] I have declared from the beginning the former things [which happened in times past to Israel]; they went forth from My mouth and I made them known; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass [says the Lord]. [4] Because I knew that you were obstinate, and your neck was an iron sinew and your brow was brass, [5] Therefore I have declared things to come to you from of old; before they came to pass I announced them to you, so that you could not say, My idol has done them, and my graven image and my molten image have commanded them. [6] You have heard [these things foretold], now you see this fulfillment. And will you not bear witness to it? I show you specified new things from this time forth, even hidden things [kept in reserve] which you have not known. [7] They are created now [called into being by the prophetic word], and not long ago; and before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, Behold, I knew them!

Psalm 54:1-7 AMPC
Save me, O God, by Your name; judge and vindicate me by Your mighty strength and power. [2] Hear my pleading and my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. [3] For strangers and insolent men are rising up against me, and violent men and ruthless ones seek and demand my life; they do not set God before them. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! [4] Behold, God is my helper and ally; the Lord is my upholder and is with them who uphold my life. [5] He will pay back evil to my enemies; in Your faithfulness [Lord] put an end to them. [6] With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks and praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good. [7] For He has delivered me out of every trouble, and my eye has looked [in triumph] on my enemies.

Psalm 129:1-8 AMPC
Many a time and much have they afflicted me from my youth up-let Israel now say- [2] Many a time and much have they afflicted me from my youth up, yet they have not prevailed against me. [3] The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows. [4] The Lord is [uncompromisingly] righteous; He has cut asunder the thick cords by which the wicked [enslaved us]. [5] Let them all be put to shame and turned backward who hate Zion. [6] Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers before it grows up, [7] With which the mower fills not his hand, nor the binder of sheaves his bosom- [8] While those who go by do not say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you! We bless you in the name of the Lord!

Philippians 4:1-7 AMPC
Therefore, my brethren, whom I love and yearn to see, my delight and crown (wreath of victory), thus stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. [2] I entreat and advise Euodia and I entreat and advise Syntyche to agree and to work in harmony in the Lord. [3] And I exhort you too, [my] genuine yokefellow, help these [two women to keep on cooperating], for they have toiled along with me in [the spreading of] the good news (the Gospel), as have Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the Book of Life. [4] Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice! [5] Let all men know and perceive and recognize your unselfishness (your considerateness, your forbearing spirit). The Lord is near [He is coming soon]. [6] Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition ( definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. [7] And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

2 Chronicles 15:1-19 AMPC
The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. [2] And he went out to meet Asa and said to him, Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him [inquiring for and of Him, craving Him as your soul's first necessity], He will be found by you; but if you [become indifferent and] forsake Him, He will forsake you. [3] Now for a long time Israel was without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law. [4] But when they in their trouble turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and [in desperation earnestly] sought Him, He was found by them. [5] And in those times there was no peace to him who went out nor to him who came in, but great and vexing afflictions and disturbances were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. [6] Nation was broke in pieces against nation, and city against city, for God vexed and troubled them with all sorts of adversity. [7] Be strong, therefore, and let not your hands be weak and slack, for your work shall be rewarded. [8] And when Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage and put away the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim; and he repaired the altar [of burnt offering] of the Lord which was in front of the porch or vestibule [of the house] of the Lord. [9] And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and the strangers with them out of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to Asa out of Israel in large numbers when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. [10] So they gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. [11] And they sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil which they had brought-700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. [12] And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to yearn for Him with all their heart's desire and with all their soul; [13] And that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. [14] They took an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with cornets. [15] And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him [yearning for Him] with their whole desire, and He was found by them. And the Lord gave them rest and peace round about. [16] Also Maacah, King Asa's mother, he removed from being queen mother, because she had made an abominable image for [the goddess] Asherah. Asa cut down her idol, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. [17] But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was blameless all his days. [18] And he brought into the house of God the things that his father [Abijah] had dedicated and those he himself had dedicated-silver and gold and vessels. [19] And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.