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Appendix A: Does the State Have Authority Over the Church?

Introduction

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As a whole, the Westminster Confession of Faith is both a classic and a masterpiece. Still, the WCF is a human work that is a product of its place in turbulent times and geography. God has continued to raise up able theologians in the intervening 370 years, and we now know that there do exist a very few theological errors in the WCF. The editor is conscience-bound to point out these errors for fear of propagating that which is not in accordance with Scripture. Let the reader be as the Bereans, searching the Scriptures, guided by the Holy Spirit.

In defense of the Westminster Divines, before addressing the relationship between Church and state, the editor wishes to comment on the two other errors already addressed and refuted in the footnotes:[1] In Ch. 25:6, the Roman Catholic pontiff is designated as “the man of sin.” This error is quite understandable given the deep and vile corruption of an institution that billed itself as the only true Church but that bitterly persecuted Protestants. Also, Christians through the centuries have had a tendency to mistakenly apply eschatological passages to events of their own time. In Ch. 24:4, the biblical set of forbidden marriage unions is extended to include the relatives of a deceased spouse. Although the prohibition was controversial in the Assembly,[2] it came out of a long history of medieval superstition, speculative theology,[3] and scientific ignorance. Progress does not come all at once, and while we respect those who went before us, we must not be bound by their errors.

That the Westminster Divines were a product of their era[4] brings us directly to the third point of disagreement, and the focus of this appendix: Does the state have any authority over the Church? The editor insists that the answer is no. The teaching that the state has authority over Christ’s Church is an error. Four areas will be examined in the refutation of these errors:

1. The historical background showing that the error was commonly accepted at the time of the writing of the WCF, and that it had a long history

2. The false assumption that a nation could have only one denomination

3. The incorrect exegesis of Scripture behind the error

4. An examination of Scripture, which refutes the error.

Historical Background

It is not possible to study European post-apostolic history and miss the numerous conflicts between Church and state. From the time of Constantine’s conversion, both Church and state meddled in one another’s affairs. The Westminster Divines could look back on a long history of Church versus state conflicts, each trying to dominate the other. Also, sometimes Protestant princes[5] protected the Reformation, while in other regions, Roman Catholic princes persecuted Protestants. This religious conflict also spawned military conflicts and wars. It was thus natural for Protestants to seek military protection from their prince.

It is not a very large step to go from expecting physical protection from the prince to expecting the prince to also protect Protestant doctrine, worship, and practice. This would be the more so in cases where there was diplomatic or military tension or war between a Protestant prince and a Roman Catholic prince due (at least partly) to religion. Indeed, for centuries, the Church of Rome had insisted that civil magistrates punish or execute those whom Roman Catholic prelates had condemned for heresy or other religious reasons. Civil rulers routinely installed and removed Church officials, established the boundaries of parishes (congregations), and meddled in various other ways. The reverse was also true: the Pope arrogated to himself the authority to raise up and depose kings and princes and to set national boundaries with more or less success at different times. It cannot be at all doubted that sinful ambition and failure to rely on the Holy Spirit to change the hearts of sinners were also factors. So, in a sense, “everybody did it,” and the Assembly was not able to entirely disentangle the truth from cultural norms.

False Assumptions

It is a modern commonplace that multiple religions and multiple Christian denominations can coexist in the same place. Yet, this was not always the case. It will be recalled that Christ has one Church, the invisible Church as discussed in the WCF (Ch. 25). Various true branches of the visible Church will contain some members of the invisible Church and some hypocrites, but there is one Church, one Body of Christ, with one Head. But even today, certain denominations assume and teach that His one body must be one human organization or a group of organizations meeting narrow, unscriptural criteria. A similar notion is the assumption that any nation must have just one national church. The assumed logical conclusion from this is that dissenting groups must thus be suppressed by the national civil government as sinful, divisive, and injurious to the people of the nation.

None of these assumptions has any scriptural support; Christ’s one body has many members as individuals, and these individuals may organize themselves in many kinds of groups, be they weekly Bible studies or multinational denominations. Such diversity of organization does not need to imply disunity, as is unfortunately often the case. Still, these assumptions did not come out of an exegetical vacuum.

Faulty Exegesis of Scripture

The state of the theology of the relationship between Church and state also suffered from some serious exegetical errors. These errors arose fairly naturally as the Roman Catholic Church presumed to temporally rule the entire world; they needed scriptural justification for their practices. Kings, likewise, needed justification for their claimed “divine right of kings.” Thus, such errors continued even as the Reformers and the Westminster Divines sought to disentangle the truth from centuries of error. The present appendix cannot hope to exhaustively treat the subject, so only the relevant Scripture passages referenced in Ch. 20:4, 23:3 will be examined here. Prior to doing so, however, the matter of the relationship of Old Testament Israel to modern states and the Church demands a brief examination.

Old Testament Israel was a body politic with different forms of civil government at different times. Israel was also the primitive visible Church (Ch. 7:5). Because of this, Israel has been called a theocracy. However, this term is not entirely correct in light of such passages as Exodus 18:17–24 $vr$PESV_Exodus 18$17-24.doc@01985@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Exodus 18$17-24.doc@01987@NASB WEB) and Deuteronomy 17:14–20 (ESV KJ3 NASB WEB) . God intended Israel to be a republic. God’s Law and His Covenant were its constitution, and civil magistrates were to rule according to that constitution. Instead of a Supreme Court (USA), Israel had the Urim and Thummim and the prophets by which to directly appeal to God. God also assigned to Israel and its tribes specific boundaries. Thus, during this unique period of history, the visible Church and the nation-state of Israel were the same people group within the same geographic boundaries. As a direct result of this constitution, God’s Law, civil magistrates were to punish and suppress not only “normal” civil crimes such as theft and murder, but religious crimes such as false worship, enticement of citizens away from God, or even true worship in unauthorized places. Another result was that the civil rulers could also serve as religious administrators. The actual sacrifices, rituals, and teaching of Scripture were the job of the priests and Levites. However, kings, with God’s approval, set up and deposed priests, sent out priests and Levites on teaching missions, built the Temple, provided for its maintenance, called religious assemblies, and provided for various religious feasts. They even, under the prophets, arranged some of the auxiliary features of the temple worship (2 Chronicles 29:25–27 (ESV KJ3 NASB WEB) ). In spite of this, however, there were normally distinct and separate judicial systems for religious affairs and for civil affairs (2 Chronicles 19:8–11 (ESV KJ3 NASB WEB) ). With the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD, the ancient nation-church-state of Israel was permanently dissolved. (The believing Gentiles have been permanently grafted into the Church.) No other nation can have, or will ever have, the same constitution. It is for this reason that making applications from Old Testament passages regarding civil rulers in ancient Israel must be done with great care. This is the more so because much Bible history is given without comment as to the morality of actions depicted.

We will begin the exegetical analysis with the first relevant reference given in Ch. 23:3, Isaiah 49:23 $vr$PESV_Isaiah 49$23.doc@04269@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Isaiah 49$23.doc@04271@NASB WEB) ‍: “Kings shall be your foster fathers, And their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, And lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.” The WCF uses this passage as support for the idea that the civil ruler should provide administrative and civil support to preserve unity and peace in the Church, suppress heresies, and so forth. Now certainly the Church and its members are entitled to the same protection under the law as all citizens. But chapter 49 of Isaiah is a messianic prophecy. Christ will be given not only to Israel, but to the Gentiles. All kinds of people, even kings and princes, will worship and serve the King of kings and Lord of lords. Israel, the Church, will be greatly blessed and will expand greatly after the coming of the Messiah. To make verse 23 teach that kings will have authority to call synods, set the manner of worship (“correct abuses”), and preserve Church doctrine is to take the verse out of its broader context.

Some of the other passages are quickly dismissed. Psalm 122:9 $vr$PESV_Psalm 122$9.doc@05085@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Psalm 122$9.doc@05087@NASB WEB) speaks of seeking the good of Jerusalem. Other than the psalm’s title, “A Psalm of David,” there is nothing that could even hint that this psalm is particular to the civil magistrate instead of all of God’s people. Ezra 7:23, 25–26 $vr$PESV_Ezra 7$23, 25-26.doc@01525@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Ezra 7$23, 25-26.doc@01527@NASB WEB) is a quote from a decree by the pagan king Artaxerxes providing for the rebuilding of the Temple. The idolatrous king was merely hedging all of his bets. Although God providentially moved the king to it, this was not any kind of prophecy concerning Church and state generally; far less was it a continuing command from God.

Leviticus 24:16 $vr$PESV_Leviticus 24$16.doc@02109@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Leviticus 24$16.doc@02111@NASB WEB) prescribes the death penalty for blasphemy. Deuteronomy 13:5–13 $vr$PESV_Deuteronomy 13$5-13.doc@00713@(ESV KJ3 NASB WEB) (cited by Ch. 20:4, Ch. 23:3) speaks of two different crimes: blasphemy and enticing a believer away from God. “Heresy” is absent. Ch. 23:3 states that “The civil magistrate … has authority, and it is his duty … that all blasphemies and heresies be suppressed …” Thus, we have three offenses here:

1. Only the WCF mentions heresy.

2. The WCF and Scripture both mention blasphemy.

3. Only the Scripture mentions enticing a believer away from God. It is arguable that this could take the form of either blasphemy or heresy, but since the WCF does not mention it directly, we will exclude this as outside the scope of this appendix.

Nowhere in Scripture is heresy a crime actionable by the civil magistrate. This is consistent with the rest of Scripture, for heresy is an expression of unbelief of such a nature as to render a person an unbeliever; he who knowingly disagrees with a clear Scripture teaching does not believe God. To punish unbelief is to hideously insult the Holy Spirit and to invite rank hypocrisy. Strangers were to be accepted and protected in ancient Israel (Exodus 12:49 $vr$PESV_Exodus 12$49.doc@04009@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Exodus 12$49.doc@04011@NASB WEB) ; Exodus 22:21 $vr$PESV_Exodus 22$21.doc@04021@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Exodus 22$21.doc@04023@NASB WEB) ; and others) and it is unrealistic to expect that they were all converted to the worship of the true God immediately. Interestingly, in the time of Christ’s earthly ministry, sinners were Jews who openly did not practice the Jewish religion. Though held in contempt, there seems to be no indication that they were punished by the authorities.

Blasphemy is a different issue. Jesus Christ Himself stated that slander or insult against a human is actionable in court (Matthew 5:22 $vr$PESV_Matthew 5$22.doc@04469@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Matthew 5$22.doc@04471@NASB WEB) ). In Romans 3:8 $vr$PESV_Romans 3$8.doc@06005@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Romans 3$8.doc@06007@NASB WEB) , the Greek word that is translated “slanderously” is blasphemeo. And, yes, the same word is also translated “blaspheme” in James 2:7 $vr$PESV_James 2$7.doc@06237@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_James 2$7.doc@06239@NASB WEB) in reference to the name of Christ. So the idea that slander against God would be actionable by the civil magistrate seems to be not at all unreasonable. The question of whether and how civil governments should legislate in this area has been variously interpreted by good and faithful adherents to the WCF. But the question of whether magistrates should punish blasphemers generally is outside the scope of this appendix. Rather, we must examine the matter of collusion or force between Church and state in the punishment of blasphemers. (Heresy has already been shown to not be a civil crime.) This collusion or force is a topic of WCF Ch. 23:3,[6] and the focus of the present discussion.

History records many sordid instances of the punishment of “heretics” and “blasphemers.” The words are in quotes in recognition of the fact that, depending upon one’s doctrinal views, the definitions may vary widely. In some cases the victims were true heretics or blasphemers, and in other cases the victims were faithful Christians. In many cases, the persecutor was the Roman Catholic Church, but in other cases, even faithful Christians were the persecutors. Common to nearly all of these events was a joint effort, possibly forced, of Church and state together. In some cases, the Church forced the state to punish a “heretic” or “blasphemer.” The WCF explicitly forbids synods or councils from meddling with state affairs in Ch. 31:5. Ch. 23:3 does not seem at all to imply that the Church should attempt to force a civil magistrate to punish either blasphemers or heretics. Thus, the remaining question is whether the state can force the Church to participate in the punishment of a “blasphemer.” This unholy practice becomes obviously unbiblical as soon as the doctrine that the civil magistrate has any authority at all over the Church is refuted. This refutation will be given below.

Other verses cited by Ch. 20:4 or Ch. 23:3 are narratives of civil magistrates in the Old Testament acting against religious crimes. These actions were sometimes consistent with a magistrate in the nation-church-state of ancient Israel, but not necessarily today.

While on the topic of bad exegesis, the WCF did not directly endorse tax-funded support for churches, but the practice has been common and persists today in some cases. Since control of funds is control over the recipient of those funds, this related topic is worth investigating. There is a single verse used to justify this practice. The editor has seen no other supposed scriptural justification in numerous documents. The verse is Isaiah 60:16 $vr$PESV_Isaiah 60$16.doc@04305@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Isaiah 60$16.doc@04307@NASB WEB) ‍: “You shall drink the milk of the Gentiles, And milk the breast of kings; You shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” This verse is also out of context; Isaiah 60 $vr$PESV_Isaiah 60.doc@06233@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Isaiah 60.doc@06235@NASB WEB) speaks partly of the return to exile, but much more of the bringing in of the Gentiles into the Church, resulting in great blessing to the Church, both Jews and Gentiles. To make verse 16 say that kings must use tax funds to support an established church is quite the stretch. Perhaps a better verse on this subject would be Exodus 23:8 $vr$PESV_Exodus 23$8.doc@04865@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Exodus 23$8.doc@04867@NASB WEB) ‍: “And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.”

What Does Scripture Say?

Having shown that none of the WCF cited Scriptures support the doctrine that the civil magistrate has any authority over Christ’s bride, the Church, we must now examine Scripture to see what is the proper relationship. With respect to the general topic of humans having authority over other humans, there is both a prohibition given to humans and a positive assertion by God of His own authority. We begin with the prohibition. There is a general human right to be left in peace without undue outside interference.[7] This right comes from the many negative commands regarding other people, such as the commandments against murder, adultery, theft, lying, and so on. More generally, Scripture condemns busybodies (meddlers in other’s affairs) in 2 Thessalonians 3:11 (ESV KJ3 NASB WEB) ; 1 Timothy 5:13 $vr$PESV_1 Timothy 5$13.doc@02313@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_1 Timothy 5$13.doc@02315@NASB WEB) ; and strongly in 1 Peter 4:5 $vr$PESV_1 Peter 4$5.doc@04789@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_1 Peter 4$5.doc@04791@NASB WEB) ‍: “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters.” It would be unreasonable if this did not extend to the activities and duties of those in authority, including civil and ecclesiastical officials. Recall also that the matter under discussion is authority; voluntary relationships have great leeway. An unjust or meddlesome law is an obvious assertion of invalid authority. But also, in a real sense, any violation of the general human right to be left in peace without undue outside interference is an assertion of invalid authority. For example, the thief asserts invalid authority over another person’s goods.

Positively, the Lord Jesus declared that all authority is given to Him (Matthew 28:18 $vr$PESV_Matthew 28$18.doc@03693@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Matthew 28$18.doc@03695@NASB WEB) ). As Christ self-identifies with His Word (John 1:1 $vr$PESV_John 1$1.doc@06565@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_John 1$1.doc@06567@NASB WEB) ), this declaration is supported by Exodus 20:2 $vr$PESV_Exodus 20$2.doc@04845@(ESV KJ3 $vr$PNASB95_Exodus 20$2.doc@04847@NASB WEB) ‍: “I am the Lord your God,” and 41 other places in Scripture where God asserts His authority with this very phrase. Also, all humans are, to put it bluntly, God’s personal property. Thus, as the Lord Jesus reserves all authority to Himself, He reserves all authority over all humans and human institutions to Himself alone. It is thus clear that God has both prohibited invalid assertions of authority of one human over another and has also positively reserved all authority to Himself alone. Therefore the only way any human can exercise valid authority over another human is if God delegates that authority in His holy Scriptures. The extent of such authority is also only that which is granted by Scripture.

It is beyond the scope of this appendix to show in detail how God has, indeed, granted limited, delegated authority in different, limited, particular, and distinct spheres to the Individual, the Family, the State, and the Church.[8]^,
[9] Fortunately, in the present case, detailed analysis is not required. It is completely unnecessary to find a proof text stating that the civil magistrate does not have authority over the Church. Rather, we need merely note that nowhere[10] does Scripture grant civil governments authority over the Church. This is because, without a grant of delegated authority from Him who has all authority, there is no authority. Period. The case is thus closed. However, it seems useful to add two buttressing arguments. The first is Bezalel’s summary on limited civil government:

It would be helpful to recapitulate in compressed fashion how it is that the Holy Bible gives us the human and civil rights to limited civil government and limited taxation, both of which are limited by the job description given in the Holy Bible:

Your boss is King Jesus. You work for Him and under Him. You are His servant with special duties. Your job is to praise those who are righteous. King Jesus defines righteousness for you. Your job is also to punish those who do wickedly. King Jesus tells you what is wicked, and what kinds of punishments to use. You will be paid enough to do this job.

We must all submit graciously to civil governments. This is especially true because God established civil governments. Those legitimate civil governments that exist are established by God. They are God’s servants. To rebel against them is to rebel against God.

We pay taxes because civil authorities deserve their wages and the civil government needs funds to function. Civil rulers also deserve respect because of their position as God’s ministers. At the same time, while submission implies obedience, obedience is not required when to obey humans is to disobey God.

“You shall not murder.” Under this commandment is a command against manstealing. For a busybody to butt into another’s affairs is a lesser form of manstealing as the effect is to steal a person’s liberty. The Holy Bible condemns busybodies. This creates a general human right to be left in peace by others. God has ordained civil governments to defend our right to be left in peace. Where we violate the rights of others, civil government has specific authority, against our general rights, to bring us to justice and punish us. God tells us what crimes are to be punished by civil authorities and the type of punishment to use.

Since all authority comes from God, civil authorities have only limited authority where specifically granted by God. All other exertion of spurious authority is a violation of our general human right to be left in peace. Thus, valid civil government is necessarily limited. Since the functions of valid civil government are limited, so are the taxes needed to pay for it.[11]

Although this quote speaks of individual human rights, the same principles must certainly apply to groups of people and other spheres of authority, including the Church.

The second buttressing argument is positive evidence in favor of the independence of Christ’s Church from civil and other authorities. Ephesians 1:22–23 $vr$PESV_Ephesians 1$22-23.doc@01277@(ESV KJ3 NASB WEB) ‍: “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Since Christ is head over all things, including civil governments, and since He is specifically given to the Church, it would seem quite unreasonable for a civil government to have authority over the Church.

Resources

The reader desiring to learn more of the history mentioned in this appendix may wish to consult the following resources:

· William M. Hetherington’s History of the Westminster Assembly of Divines[12] is, as the title indicates, specific to the WCF.

· George Park Fisher’s History of the Christian Church[13] is a one-volume work that will give a brief overview of the history of the Church from the time of the birth of Christ up to the nineteenth century.

· Phillip Schaff’s History of the Christian Church[14] is an eight-volume history beginning with the apostolic age and ending with the Reformation. Schaff’s History is perhaps the gold standard of Church history.

· Benjamin B. Warfield, The Westminster Assembly and Its Work.[15]

· John Foxe’s History of the Christian Martyrs (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs)[16] is a valuable and edifying classic. The edition by M.G. King is one of many that has appended to it accounts of martyrs after Foxe’s death.

All of these works are available free on the Internet in electronic form.
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Appendices

Exodus 18:17–24 (ESV) Back

¹⁷Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. ¹⁹Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, ²⁰and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. ²¹Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. ²²And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. ²³If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.” ²⁴So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.

Exodus 18:17-24 (KJ3) Back

¹⁷ And the father-in-law of Moses said to him, The thing which you do is not good.

¹⁸ Wearing you will wear out, both you and this people with you. For the thing is heavy for you. You are not able to do it by yourself.

¹⁹ Now listen to my voice. I will counsel you, and may God be with you. You be for this people before God, and you bring the matters to God.

²⁰ And you warn them as to the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they should walk, and the work which they should do.

²¹ And you, you shall look on men of ability out of all the people, who fear God, men of truth, hating unjust gain. And you place these over them as rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

²² And let them judge the people at all times. And it shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, and every small matter they shall judge. And you make it easy on yourself, and let them bear with you.

²³ If you do this thing, and God command you, you will be able to stand; and also this people will go in peace to their place.

²⁴ And Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and he did all that he had said.

Exodus 18:17–24 (NASB95) Back

¹⁷Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. ¹⁸“You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. ¹⁹“Now listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, ²⁰then teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do. ²¹“Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. ²²“Let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. ²³“If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.” ²⁴So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said.

Exodus 18:17-24 (WEB) Back

¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good.

¹⁸ You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it yourself alone.

¹⁹ Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before God, and bring the causes to God.

²⁰ You shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do.

²¹ Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

²² Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you.

²³ If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.”

²⁴ So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said.

Deuteronomy 17:14–20 (ESV) Back

¹⁴“When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ ¹⁵you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. ¹⁶Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ ¹⁷And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. ¹⁸“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. ¹⁹And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, ²⁰that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20 (KJ3) Back

¹⁴¶ When you come into the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you, and have dispossessed it, and settled in it; and you shall say, Let me set a king over me like all the nations around me,

¹⁵ then you shall certainly set a king over you. You may not give a man, a foreign one the rule over you, one who is not your brother.

¹⁶ Only, he shall not heap up horses to himself, nor cause the people to turn back to Egypt so as to heap up horses, since Jehovah has said to you, You shall not again turn back in this way any more.

¹⁷ And he shall not heap up wives to himself, and his heart shall not turn aside. And he shall not greatly heap up to himself silver and gold.

¹⁸ And it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this Law in a book, from before the Levitical priests.

¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear Jehovah your God, to keep all the words of this Law and these statutes, to do them;

²⁰ so that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or to the left; so that he may prolong his days over his kingdom, he and his sons in the midst of Israel.

Deuteronomy 17:14–20 (NASB95) Back

¹⁴“When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ ¹⁵you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. ¹⁶“Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ ¹⁷“He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. ¹⁸“Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹“It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, ²⁰that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20 (WEB) Back

¹⁴ When you have come to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and possess it, and dwell in it, and say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me;”

¹⁵ you shall surely set him king over yourselves, whom Yahweh your God chooses. You shall set as king over you one from among your brothers. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.

¹⁶ Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because Yahweh has said to you, “You shall not go back that way again.”

¹⁷ He shall not multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away. He shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

¹⁸ It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites.

¹⁹ It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them;

²⁰ that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn away from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the middle of Israel.

2 Chronicles 29:25–27 (ESV) Back

2 Chronicles 29:25-27 (KJ3) Back

²⁵ And he made stand the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres, by the command of David, and of Gad, the seer of the king, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was by the hand of Jehovah, by the hand of His prophets.

²⁶ And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

²⁷ And Hezekiah commanded to offer burnt offering on the altar; and at the time the burnt offering began, the song of Jehovah began, and of the trumpets, even by the hand of the instruments of David the king of Israel.

2 Chronicles 29:25–27 (NASB95) Back

2 Chronicles 29:25-27 (WEB) Back

²⁵ He set the Levites in Yahweh’s house with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was from Yahweh by his prophets.

²⁶ The Levites stood with David’s instruments, and the priests with the trumpets.

²⁷ Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, Yahweh’s song also began, along with the trumpets and David king of Israel’s instruments.

2 Chronicles 19:8–11 (ESV) Back

⁸Moreover, in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed certain Levites and priests and heads of families of Israel, to give judgment for the Lord and to decide disputed cases. They had their seat at Jerusalem. ⁹And he charged them: “Thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart: ¹⁰whenever a case comes to you from your brothers who live in their cities, concerning bloodshed, law or commandment, statutes or rules, then you shall warn them, that they may not incur guilt before the Lord and wrath may not come upon you and your brothers. Thus you shall do, and you will not incur guilt. ¹¹And behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the governor of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters, and the Levites will serve you as officers. Deal courageously, and may the Lord be with the upright!”

2 Chronicles 19:8-11 (KJ3) Back

⁸ And also in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat caused to stand from the Levites and from the priests, and from the heads of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of Jehovah, and for strife; and they returned to Jerusalem.

⁹ And he charged them, saying, So shall you do in the fear of Jehovah, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

¹⁰ And when any contention shall come to you from your brothers who are living in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, then you shall warn them, and they shall not be guilty before Jehovah; and wrath shall not be on you and on your brothers; so you shall do, and you shall not be guilty.

¹¹ And, behold, Amariah the chief priest shall be over you for every matter of Jehovah, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, shall be for every matter of the king; and the Levites shall be officers before you. Be strong and act; and Jehovah shall be with the good.

2 Chronicles 19:8–11 (NASB95) Back

⁸In Jerusalem also Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites and priests, and some of the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel, for the judgment of the Lord and to judge disputes among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ⁹Then he charged them saying, “Thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and wholeheartedly. ¹⁰“Whenever any dispute comes to you from your brethren who live in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, you shall warn them so that they may not be guilty before the Lord, and wrath may not come on you and your brethren. Thus you shall do and you will not be guilty. ¹¹“Behold, Amariah the chief priest will be over you in all that pertains to the Lord, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all that pertains to the king. Also the Levites shall be officers before you. Act resolutely, and the Lord be with the upright.”

2 Chronicles 19:8-11 (WEB) Back

⁸ Moreover in Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed Levites and priests, and of the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel, for the judgment of Yahweh, and for controversies. They returned to Jerusalem.

⁹ He commanded them, saying, “You shall do this in the fear of Yahweh, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

¹⁰ Whenever any controversy comes to you from your brothers who dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, you must warn them, that they not be guilty towards Yahweh, and so wrath come on you and on your brothers. Do this, and you will not be guilty.

¹¹ Behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of Yahweh; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters. Also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and may Yahweh be with the good.”

Isaiah 49:23 (ESV) Back

²³Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”

Isaiah 49:23 (KJ3) Back

²³ And kings shall be supporting you, and their princesses ones nursing you. They shall bow to you, faces down to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am Jehovah, by whom they who wait for Me shall not be ashamed.

Isaiah 49:23 (NASB95) Back

²³“Kings will be your guardians, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you will know that I am the Lord; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.

Isaiah 49:23 (WEB) Back

²³ Kings shall be your foster fathers,

Psalm 122:9 (ESV) Back

⁹For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

Psalm 122:9 (KJ3) Back

⁹ Because of the house of Jehovah, our God, I will seek your good.

Psalm 122:9 (NASB95) Back

⁹For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

Psalm 122:9 (WEB) Back

⁹ For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God,

Ezra 7:23, 25–26 (ESV) Back

²³Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons.

²⁵“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach. ²⁶Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”

Ezra 7:23, 25-26 (KJ3) Back

²³ Whatever is commanded by the God of Heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of Heaven. For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

²⁵ And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God in that is your hand, you appoint judges and magistrates who may judge all the people who are Beyond the River; all who know the laws of your God; and those who do not know, you cause to know.

²⁶ And whoever will not do the Law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be made diligently on him, whether to death, or to exile, or to confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.

Ezra 7:23, 25–26 (NASB95) Back

²³“Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons.

²⁵“You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the River, even all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them. ²⁶“Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods or for imprisonment.”

Ezra 7:23, 25-26 (WEB) Back

²³ Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

²⁵ You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people who are beyond the River, who all know the laws of your God; and teach him who doesn’t know them.

²⁶ Whoever will not do the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with all diligence, whether it is to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

Leviticus 24:16 (ESV) Back

¹⁶Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

Leviticus 24:16 (KJ3) Back

¹⁶ And he who blasphemes the name of Jehovah dying shall die. All the congregation stoning shall cast stones at him. As to the alien, so to a native, when he blasphemes the Name, he shall die.

Leviticus 24:16 (NASB95) Back

¹⁶‘Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

Leviticus 24:16 (WEB) Back

¹⁶ He who blasphemes Yahweh’s name, he shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

Deuteronomy 13:5–13 (ESV) Back

⁵But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. ⁶“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, ⁷some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, ⁸you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. ⁹But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. ¹⁰You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹¹And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you. ¹²“If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, ¹³that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known,

Deuteronomy 13:5-13 (KJ3) Back

⁵ And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be caused to die, because he has spoken apostasy against Jehovah your God, who is bringing you out of the land of Egypt, and has redeemed you out of the house of slaves, to drive you out of the way in which Jehovah your God has commanded you to walk. And you shall put away the evil thing from among you.

⁶¶ If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, shall entice you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, you and your fathers,

⁷ of the gods of the people around you, those near you or far off from you, from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth,

⁸ you shall not consent to him, and not listen to him, and not shall your eye have pity on him, and not shall you spare, and not shall you hide him.

⁹ But killing you shall kill him; your hand shall be first upon him to cause him to die, and the hand of all the people last.

¹⁰ And you shall stone him with stones, and he shall die, for he has sought to drive you away from Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves.

¹¹ And all Israel shall hear and fear, and shall not again do any such an evil thing as this among you.

¹²¶ If, in one of your cities which Jehovah your God is giving you to live in, you hear one saying,

¹³ Certain men, sons of Belial, have gone out from among you and have drawn away those who live in their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known;

Deuteronomy 13:5–13 (NASB95) Back

⁵“But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you. ⁶“If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, ⁷of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), ⁸you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. ⁹“But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. ¹⁰“So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹¹“Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you. ¹²“If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that ¹³some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known),

Deuteronomy 13:5-13 (WEB) Back

⁵ That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

⁶ If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods,” which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;

⁷ of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth;

⁸ you shall not consent to him, nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him;

⁹ but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

¹⁰ You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

¹¹ All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more wickedness like this among you.

¹² If you shall hear about one of your cities, which Yahweh your God gives you to dwell there, that

¹³ certain wicked fellows have gone out from among you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods,” which you have not known;

Exodus 12:49 (ESV) Back

⁴⁹There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”

Exodus 12:49 (KJ3) Back

⁴⁹ One law shall be to the native, and to the sojourner, the one staying in your midst.

Exodus 12:49 (NASB95) Back

⁴⁹“The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.”

Exodus 12:49 (WEB) Back

⁴⁹ One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you.”

Exodus 22:21 (ESV) Back

²¹“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 22:21 (KJ3) Back

²¹ You shall not be violent toward a sojourner. You shall not oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 22:21 (NASB95) Back

²¹“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 22:21 (WEB) Back

²¹ “You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Matthew 5:22 (ESV) Back

²²But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Matthew 5:22 (KJ3) Back

²² But I say to you, Everyone who is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to the Judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the sanhedrin; but whoever says, Fool! shall be liable to be thrown into the fire of Hell.

Matthew 5:22 (NASB95) Back

²²“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Matthew 5:22 (WEB) Back

²² But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause§ will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’* will be in danger of the council. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.

Romans 3:8 (ESV) Back

⁸And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

Romans 3:8 (KJ3) Back

⁸ And not (as we are spoken evil of, and as some report us to say), Let us do the bad things so that the good things may come, the judgment of whom is just.

Romans 3:8 (NASB95) Back

⁸And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.

Romans 3:8 (WEB) Back

⁸ Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), “Let’s do evil, that good may come?” Those who say so are justly condemned.

James 2:7 (ESV) Back

⁷Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

James 2:7 (KJ3) Back

⁷ Do they not blaspheme the good Name, the one being called on you?

James 2:7 (NASB95) Back

⁷Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?

James 2:7 (WEB) Back

⁷ Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?

Isaiah 60:16 (ESV) Back

¹⁶You shall suck the milk of nations; you shall nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

Isaiah 60:16 (KJ3) Back

¹⁶ You shall also suck the milk of nations, and you shall suck the breast of kings. And you shall know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Isaiah 60:16 (NASB95) Back

¹⁶“You will also suck the milk of nations And suck the breast of kings; Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

Isaiah 60:16 (WEB) Back

¹⁶ You will also drink the milk of the nations,

Isaiah 60 (ESV) Back

¹Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. ²For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. ³And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. ⁴Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. ⁵Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. ⁶A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord. ⁷All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on my altar, and I will beautify my beautiful house. ⁸Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows? ⁹For the coastlands shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful. ¹⁰Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you. ¹¹Your gates shall be open continually; day and night they shall not be shut, that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. ¹²For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. ¹³The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet glorious. ¹⁴The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁵Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age. ¹⁶You shall suck the milk of nations; you shall nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ¹⁷Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness. ¹⁸Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. ¹⁹The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. ²⁰Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. ²¹Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. ²²The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the Lord; in its time I will hasten it.

Isaiah 60 (KJ3) Back

¹¶ Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of Jehovah has risen on you!

² For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples. But Jehovah shall rise on you, and His glory shall be seen on you.

³ And nations shall walk to Your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawning.

⁴ Lift up Your eyes all around and see; they are all gathering; they are coming to you. Your sons shall come from far away, and Your daughters shall be supported on the side.

⁵ Then you shall see and be bright; and your heart shall dread and enlarge. For the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you; the wealth of nations shall come to you.

⁶ A multitude of camels shall cover you, young camels of Midian and Ephah. All of them shall come from Sheba, they shall bear gold and incense; and they shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah.

⁷ All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; rams of Nebaioth shall serve you; they shall come up for acceptance on My altar; and I will glorify the house of My beauty.

⁸ Who are these who fly like a cloud, and with the doves to their windows?

⁹¶ For the isles shall wait for Me, and the ships of Tarshish at the first, to bring your sons from far away, their silver and their gold to them, to the name of Jehovah your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He has beautified you.

¹⁰ And the sons of the foreigner shall build your walls; and their kings shall serve you. For I struck you in My wrath, but I pitied you in My favor.

¹¹ And your gates shall be always open; they shall not be shut day or night, so that men may bring to you the force of nations, and that their kings may be led captive.

¹² For the nations and the kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yea, destroying, the nations shall be destroyed.

¹³ The glory of Lebanon shall come to you: the juniper, the box tree, and the cypress together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; yea, I will glorify the place of My feet.

¹⁴ And the sons of ones afflicting you shall bow down to you. And all who despised you shall fall at the soles of your feet. And they shall call you, The City of Jehovah, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵¶ Instead of your being forsaken and hated, so that no one passes through, I will set you for everlasting majesty, a joy of generations and generations.

¹⁶ You shall also suck the milk of nations, and you shall suck the breast of kings. And you shall know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

¹⁷ Instead of bronze, I will bring gold; and instead of iron, I will bring silver. And instead of timber, bronze; and instead of stones, iron. And I will set your overseers peace, and those oppressing you righteousness.

¹⁸ Violence shall not still be heard in your land, or wasting and ruin within your bor- ders; but you shall call your walls, Salvation, and your gates, Praise.

¹⁹ The sun shall not still be your light by day, or the brightness of the moon give you light; but Jehovah shall be for everlasting light to you, and your God for your beauty.

²⁰ Your sun shall not go in any more, and your moon shall not be removed; for Jehovah will become your everlasting light; and the days of your mourning shall end.

²¹ And your people, all of them, shall be righteous ones; they shall possess the earth forever, a branch of My planting, a work of My hands, to beautify Myself.

²² A little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation. I, Jehovah, will hasten it in its time.

Isaiah 60 (NASB95) Back

¹“Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. ²“For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. ³“Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. ⁴“Lift up your eyes round about and see; They all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, And your daughters will be carried in the arms. ⁵“Then you will see and be radiant, And your heart will thrill and rejoice; Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, The wealth of the nations will come to you. ⁶“A multitude of camels will cover you, The young camels of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba will come; They will bring gold and frankincense, And will bear good news of the praises of the Lord. ⁷“All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you, The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you; They will go up with acceptance on My altar, And I shall glorify My glorious house. ⁸“Who are these who fly like a cloud And like the doves to their lattices? ⁹“Surely the coastlands will wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, For the name of the Lord your God, And for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you. ¹⁰“Foreigners will build up your walls, And their kings will minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, And in My favor I have had compassion on you. ¹¹“Your gates will be open continually; They will not be closed day or night, So that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, With their kings led in procession. ¹²“For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish, And the nations will be utterly ruined. ¹³“The glory of Lebanon will come to you, The juniper, the box tree and the cypress together, To beautify the place of My sanctuary; And I shall make the place of My feet glorious. ¹⁴“The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet; And they will call you the city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁵“Whereas you have been forsaken and hated With no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, A joy from generation to generation. ¹⁶“You will also suck the milk of nations And suck the breast of kings; Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ¹⁷“Instead of bronze I will bring gold, And instead of iron I will bring silver, And instead of wood, bronze, And instead of stones, iron. And I will make peace your administrators And righteousness your overseers. ¹⁸“Violence will not be heard again in your land, Nor devastation or destruction within your borders; But you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise. ¹⁹“No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. ²⁰“Your sun will no longer set, Nor will your moon wane; For you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be over. ²¹“Then all your people will be righteous; They will possess the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified. ²²“The smallest one will become a clan, And the least one a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.”

Isaiah 60 (WEB) Back

¹“Arise, shine; for your light has come,

² For, behold, darkness will cover the earth,

³ Nations will come to your light,

⁴“Lift up your eyes all around, and see:

⁵ Then you shall see and be radiant,

⁶ A multitude of camels will cover you,

⁷ All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you.

⁸“Who are these who fly as a cloud,

⁹ Surely the islands will wait for me,

¹⁰“Foreigners will build up your walls,

¹¹ Your gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive.

¹² For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

¹³“The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress tree, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.

¹⁴ The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you;

¹⁵“Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,

¹⁶ You will also drink the milk of the nations,

¹⁷ For bronze I will bring gold;

¹⁸ Violence shall no more be heard in your land,

¹⁹ The sun will be no more your light by day;

²⁰ Your sun will not go down any more,

²¹ Then your people will all be righteous.

²² The little one will become a thousand,

Exodus 23:8 (ESV) Back

⁸And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

Exodus 23:8 (KJ3) Back

⁸ And you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe blinds the seeing ones, and it perverts the words of the righteous ones.

Exodus 23:8 (NASB95) Back

⁸“You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just.

Exodus 23:8 (WEB) Back

⁸ “You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.

2 Thessalonians 3:11 (ESV) Back

¹¹For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.

2 Thessalonians 3:11 (KJ3) Back

¹¹ For we hear some are walking in a disorderly way among you, not working at all, but bustling about uselessly.

2 Thessalonians 3:11 (NASB95) Back

¹¹For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.

2 Thessalonians 3:11 (WEB) Back

¹¹ For we hear of some who walk among you in rebellion, who don’t work at all, but are busybodies.

1 Timothy 5:13 (ESV) Back

¹³Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.

1 Timothy 5:13 (KJ3) Back

¹³ and with it all, they also learn to be idle, going around the houses, and not only idle, but also bubbling gossip, and trifling ones, speaking the things not proper.

1 Timothy 5:13 (NASB95) Back

¹³At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.

1 Timothy 5:13 (WEB) Back

¹³ Besides, they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house. Not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.

1 Peter 4:5 (ESV) Back

⁵but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

1 Peter 4:5 (KJ3) Back

⁵ who will give account to Him having readily to judge the living and dead.

1 Peter 4:5 (NASB95) Back

⁵but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

1 Peter 4:5 (WEB) Back

⁵ who will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

Matthew 28:18 (ESV) Back

¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Matthew 28:18 (KJ3) Back

¹⁸ And coming up, Jesus spoke with them, saying, All authority in Heaven and on earth was given to Me.

Matthew 28:18 (NASB95) Back

¹⁸And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Matthew 28:18 (WEB) Back

¹⁸ Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

John 1:1 (ESV) Back

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1 (KJ3) Back

¹¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1 (NASB95) Back

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1 (WEB) Back

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Exodus 20:2 (ESV) Back

²“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Exodus 20:2 (KJ3) Back

² I am Jehovah your God, who has brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Exodus 20:2 (NASB95) Back

²“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Exodus 20:2 (WEB) Back

²“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Ephesians 1:22–23 (ESV) Back

²²And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 1:22-23 (KJ3) Back

²² and He “put all things under His feet” and gave Him to be Head over all things to the Assembly,†

²³ which is His body: the fullness of the One filling all things in all;

Ephesians 1:22–23 (NASB95) Back

²²And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, ²³which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 1:22-23 (WEB) Back

²² He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly,

²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Footnotes

2 Chronicles 29:25–30 (ESV) Back

²⁵And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king’s seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets. ²⁶The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ²⁹When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. ³⁰And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.

2 Chronicles 29:25-30 (KJ3) Back

²⁶ And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

²⁸ And all the assembly were bowing, and the singers singing, and the trumpeters blowing; all until the completion of the burnt offering.

²⁹ And at the completion of the offering the king and all those found with him bowed and worshiped.

³⁰ And Hezekiah the king and the leaders commanded the Levites to give praise to Jehovah in the words of David, and of Asaph the seer; and they praised with joy, and they bowed and worshiped.

2 Chronicles 29:25–30 (NASB95) Back

²⁵He then stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with harps and with lyres, according to the command of David and of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the Lord through His prophets. ²⁶The Levites stood with the musical instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord also began with the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel. ²⁸While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ²⁹Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.

2 Chronicles 29:25-30 (WEB) Back

²⁶ The Levites stood with David’s instruments, and the priests with the trumpets.

²⁷ Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, Yahweh’s song also began, along with the trumpets and David king of Israel’s instruments.

²⁸ All the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

²⁹ When they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped.

³⁰ Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

[1] Other points of disagreement are merely matters of emphasis, wording, or manner of expression.

[2] Alex F. Mitchell, John Struthers, Minutes of the Sessions of the Westminster Assembly of Divines (Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1874), 415.

[3] Philippe Aries, Georges Duby, General Editors, Paul Veyne, Editor, A History of Private Life, Vol. 1 (Cambridge, London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1987), 470–1, 536–7.

[4] Edward D. Morris, DD, LLD, Theology of the Westminster Symbols: A Commentary Historical, Doctrinal, Practical, on the Confession of Faith and Catechisms and the Related Formularies of the Presbyterian Churches (Columbus, OH: Unknown Original Publisher, 1900, Reprinted Still Waters Revival Books on Puritan Hard Drive, www.puritandownloads.com), 563–8.

[5] prince: as used here, a generic term for the highest-ranking civil magistrate over a particular area in a feudal society or monarchy

[7] Jeremiah Bezalel, Jesus Christ: Rock of Human Rights and Freedom (www.jeremiahbezalel.org, accessed May 8, 2011), 50–3. A copy of this work is available at BeForgiven.INFO (http://www.beforgiven.info/JCRoHRaF.pdf) as it seems to no longer be available elsewhere.

[9] William Symington, Messiah the Prince (Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1990). This is a most excellent book, with the single exception of Symington’s approval of tax-funded support for the Church. (A couple of other editions are also available at http://www.crownandcovenant.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=messiah+the+prince, accessed July 13, 2015)

[10] This was true in the ancient nation-church-state of Israel as well. Where kings validly acted as religious administrators, it was at the direct command of God, either directly to them or via prophets. Such commands are sometimes mentioned in Scripture, but the commands themselves are not recorded and there is not a continuing grant of authority to the king or other magistrate. See for example 2 Chronicles 29:25–30 (ESV KJ3 NASB WEB) , where God specified certain musical instruments to be used in His worship, but the nature of these instruments and their use are not recorded. More to the point: there is no grant of authority to any king following David to specify or change these instruments.

[12] William Maxwell, DD, Hetherington, LLD, History of the Westminster Assembly of Divines (Edmonton, AB: Still Waters Revival Books), 1991.

[13] George Park Fisher, History of the Christian Church (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons), 1904.

[14] Phillip Schaff, History of the Christian Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), 1991.

[15] Benjamin B. Warfield, The Westminster Assembly and Its Work (Edmonton, AB Canada: Still Waters Revival Books), 1991.

[16] John Foxe (Marie Gentert King, Editor) History of the Christian Martyrs (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs) (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revel Company), 1970.

* “Raca” is an Aramaic insult, related to the word for “empty” and conveying the idea of empty-headedness.