Amos 7:7-8 :
The Lord showed me a vision of himself standing beside a wall and holding a string with a weight tied to the end of it. The string and weight had been used to measure the straightness of the wall.
Then he asked, “Amos, what do you see ?”
“A measuring line,” I answered.
The Lord said, “I’m using this measuring line to show that my people Israel don’t measure up, and I won’t forgive them any more.
And : Amos 7:10, 7:12, 7:14-15 :
[10] Amaziah the priest at Bethel sent this message to King Jeroboam of Israel, “Amos is plotting against you in the very heart of Israel. Our nation cannot put up with his message for very long.
(…)
[12] Then Amaziah told me, “Amos, take your visions and get out! Go back to Judah and earn your living there as a prophet.
(…)
[14] I answered : I’m not a prophet ! And I wasn’t trained to be a prophet. I am a shepherd, and I take care of fig trees. But the Lord told me to leave my herds and preach to the people of Israel.
Amos 8:4-8 :
You people crush those in need and wipe out the poor.
You say to yourselves, “How much longer before the end of the New Moon Festival ? When will the Sabbath be over ? Our wheat is ready, and we want to sell it now. We can’t wait to cheat and charge high prices for the grain we sell. We will use dishonest scales and mix dust in the grain. Those who are needy and poor don’t have any money, we will make them our slaves for the price of a pair of sandals.”
I, the Lord, won’t forget any of this, though you take great pride in your ancestor Jacob. Your country will tremble, and you will mourn. It will be like the Nile River that rises and overflows, then sinks back down.
Amos 8:11, 8:13 :
I, the Lord, also promise you a terrible shortage, but not of food and water. You will hunger and thirst to hear my message.
(…)
Your beautiful young women and your young men will faint from thirst.
John 8:31-47 :
Jesus told the people who had faith in him,
“If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
They answered, “We are Abraham’s children ! We have never been anyone’s slaves.
How can you say we will be set free ?”
Jesus replied : I tell you for certain that anyone who sins is a slave of sin !
And slaves don’t stay in the family forever, though the Son will always remain in the family.
[the Son will always remain in the family ? I guess that i shouldn’t have started with John’s Gospel]
If the Son gives you freedom, you are free !
I know that you are from Abraham’s family. Yet you want to kill me, because my message [, and the the message of Moses through the ten commandments,] isn’t really in your hearts.
I am telling you what my Father has shown me, just as you are doing what your father has taught you.
The people said to Jesus, “Abraham is our father !”
Jesus replied, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did.
[So, if we were God’s children we would do what God/Perfection/Truth/… would do, ok]
Instead, you want to kill me for telling you the truth that God gave me.
Abraham never did anything like that. But you are doing exactly what your father does.”
“Don’t accuse us of having someone else as our father !” they said.
“We just have one father, and he is God.”
[Huh, ok.]
Jesus answered :
If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God [= i am as virtuous/perfect as humanly possible ?], and now I am here.
He sent me. I did not come on my own.
Why can’t you understand what I am talking about ? Can’t you stand to hear what I am saying ? Your father is the devil, and you do exactly what he wants. He has always been a murderer and a liar. There is nothing truthful about him. He speaks on his own, and everything he says is a lie. Not only is he a liar himself, but he is also the father of all lies.
Everything I have told you is true, and you still refuse to have faith in me.
Can any of you accuse me of sin ? If you cannot, why won’t you have faith in me ? After all, I am telling you the truth.
Anyone who belongs to God will listen to his message. But you refuse to listen, because you don’t belong to God.
*[A lot of explanations of symbols here, such formulations probably permeated our common language in christian cultures of the past but i don’t see where it survived nowadays :
- “I come from God” apparently means “i’m virtuous(/truthful/…) in all aspects” ;
- “I belong to God” means "i love virtue(/…)“ ;
- “I speak on my own” would mean "I don’t believe in morality/virtues/‘God’s judgment’/… ;
- Being worthy of calling yourself Abraham’s or God’s children would mean observing his legacy ;
- The truth sets us free from the slavery of sins ;
- The Son will always remain in the family because… what was written about him is set in stone and won’t ever be tainted by the presence of sins ?
- “Doing what my Father has taught me” means doing what we managed to discern to be as close to the Truth as possible ?
- “you are doing exactly as your fathers does” is a powerful&meaningful insult/critic, wouldn’t have thought of it that way before.]*
Surah Al-Baqarah(, “The Cow”) 2:221-237 :
And do not marry idolatresses/polytheists till they believe(/‘worship God Alone’).
And indeed a slave woman who believes is better than a (free )idolatress, even though she pleases you.
And give not (your children/daughters )in marriage to polytheists till they believe( in God Alone) ; and, verily, a believing slave is better than a (free )idolater, even though he pleases you.
Those( idolat’er/res’s) invite you to the Fire, but God invites( you) to Paradise and Forgiveness by H…er.is Leave, and makes H…er.is verses/proofs/… clear to mankind that they may remember.
They ask you concerning menstruation.
Say : that is an Adha(/‘harmful thing for a husband to have a sexual intercourse with his wife while she is having her menses’), therefore keep away from women during menses and go not unto them till they are purified(/‘have taken a bath’).
And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as God has ordained for you(, as long as it is in their vagina).
Truly, God loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves(, by taking a bath, and cleaning and washing thoroughly their private parts, bodies, for their prayers).
Your wives are a tilth for you, so go to your tilth, when or how you will, and send( good deeds, or ask God to bestow upon you pious offspring,) for your ownselves beforehand.
And fear God, and know that you are to meet Him( in the Hereafter), and give good tidings to the believers( O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم)
And make not God’s( Name) an excuse in your oaths against your doing good and acting piously, and making peace among humankind.
And God is All-Hearer, All-Knower(, i.e., do not swear much and if you have sworn against doing something good then give an expiation for the oath and do good).
God will not call you to account for that which is unintentional in your oaths, but He will call you to account for that which your hearts have earned.
And God is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Forbearing.
Those who take an oath not to have sexual relation with their wives must wait for four months, then if they return(, change their idea in this period), verily, God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
And if they decide upon divorce, then God is All-Hearer, All-Knower.
And divorced women shall wait(, as regards their marriage,) for three menstrual periods, and it is not lawful for them to conceal what God has created in their wombs, if they believe in God and the Last Day.
And their husbands have the better right to take them back in that period, if they wish for reconciliation.
And they(, women,) have rights( over their husbands as regards living expenses) similar( to those of their husbands) over them(, as regards obedience and respect,) to what is reasonable, but men have a degree( of responsibility) over them. And God is All-Mighty, All-Wise.
The divorce is twice, after that, either you retain her on reasonable terms or release her with kindness.
And it is not lawful for you(, men,) to take back( from your wives) any of your Mahr(, bridal-money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage,) which you have given them, except when both parties fear that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by God(, e.g., to deal with each other on a fair basis).
Then if you fear that they would not be able to keep the limits ordained by God, then there is no sin on either of them if she gives back(, the Mahr or a part of it,) for her Al-Khul(, divorce of a wife from her husband by giving him a certain compensation).
These are the limits ordained by God, so do not transgress them. And whoever transgresses the limits ordained by God, then such are the wrong-doers.
[Narrated Ibn ‘Abbâs رضي الله عنهما :
The wife of Thâbit bin Qais came to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and said, “O God’s Messenger ! I do not blame Thâbit for defects in his character or his religion, but I, being a Muslim, dislike to behave in an un-Islâmic manner( if I remain with him)”.
On that God’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said( to her), “Will you give back the garden which your husband has given you as Mahr ?”
She said, “Yes.”
Then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said to Thâbit, “O Thabît ! Accept your garden, and divorce her once.”
(Sahih Al-Bukhâri, Vol.7, Hadîth No. 197).]
And if he has divorced her( the third time), then she is not lawful unto him thereafter until she has married another husband.
Then, if the other husband divorces her, it is no sin on both of them that they reunite, provided they feel that they can keep the limits ordained by God. These are the limits of God, which He makes plain for the people who have knowledge.
And when you have divorced women and they have fulfilled the term of their prescribed period, either take them back on reasonable basis or set them free on reasonable basis.
But do not take them back to hurt them, and whoever does that, then he has wronged himself.
And treat not the Verses(/Laws) of God as a jest, but remember God’s favours on you, and that which He has sent down to you of the Book(/Qur’ân) and Al-Hikmah(reasoning), whereby He instructs you.
And fear God, and know that God is All-Aware of everything.
And when you have divorced women and they have fulfilled the term of their prescribed period, do not prevent them from marrying their (former )husbands, if they mutually agree on reasonable basis.
This( instruction) is an admonition for him among you who believes in God and the Last Day.
That is more virtuous and purer for you. God knows and you know not.
The mothers shall give suck to their children for two whole years, (that is )for those( parents) who desire to complete the term of suckling, but the father of the child shall bear the cost of the mother’s food and clothing on a reasonable basis.
No person shall have a burden laid on him greater than he can bear.
No mother shall be treated unfairly on account of her child, nor father on account of his child.
And on the (father’s )heir is incumbent the like of that( which was incumbent on the father).
If they both decide on weaning, by mutual consent, and after due consultation, there is no sin on them.
And if you decide on a foster suckling-mother for your children, there is no sin on you, provided you pay( the mother) what you agreed( to give her) on reasonable basis. And fear God and know that God is All-Seer of what you do.
And those of you who die and leave wives behind them, they(, the wives,) shall wait( as regards their marriage) for four months and ten days, then when they have fulfilled their term, there is no sin on you if they(, the wives,) dispose of themselves in a just and honourable manner(, i.e., they can marry). And God is Well-Acquainted with what you do.
And there is no sin on you if you make a hint of betrothal or conceal it in yourself, God knows that you will remember them, but do not make a promise of contract with them in secret, except that you speak an honourable saying according to the Islâmic law.
And do not consummate the marriage until the term prescribed is fulfilled.
And know that God knows what is in your minds, so fear Him.
And know that God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Forbearing.
There is no sin on you, if you divorce women while yet you have not touched/‘had relations with’ them, nor appointed unto them their Mahr(/bridal-money).
But bestow on them( a suitable gift), the rich according to his means, and the poor according to his means, a gift of reasonable amount is a duty on the doers of good.
And if you divorce them before you have touched/‘had relation with’ them, and you have appointed unto them the Mahr/bridal-money, then pay half of that Mahr, unless they(, the women,) agree to forego it, or he(, the husband), in whose hands is the marriage tie, agrees to forego and give her full appointed Mahr.
And to forego and give( her the full Mahr) is nearer to piety/righteousness.
And do not forget liberality between yourselves. Truly, God is All-Seer of what you do.
Saints of yesterday :
St. Adeodatus I, Pope
Sts. Crowned Martyrs : Ultimately, Christians cannot create a statue of a pagan god.
The decision not to carve a statue of Aesculapius cost Christian sculptors Claudius, Castorius, Symphorian, and Nicostratus their lives.
They were condemned by Diocletian, placed in lead barrels, and drowned in the Danube.
Saints of the day : St.Theodore, soldier, Martyr
Sts. Mary and Neone, Martyrs in the cemetery of Callistus on the via Appia : Together with their parents, Adria and Pauline ; an uncle, Hippolytus ; and several others ; Martia (or Martana) and Neon were martyred in the persecution launched by Valerian in the year 257.
In the 8th century, their relics were translated to the Roman church of Sant’Agata dei Goti.