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Bible - Gospel of Mark

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GRM 186.2.5-8 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Jesus, after crossing the lake from north-west to south-east, asks Peter to land near Hippos. Peter obeys without objection and takes the boat down to the mouth of a little river, which is in flood because of the springtime rains and of the recent storm and flows into the lake through one of the wild rocky gorges common to this coastal area. The assistants – there is one in each boat – fasten the boats and are ordered to wait until evening to go back to Capernaum.
«And be as dumb as an ox» suggests Peter. «If they ask you where the Master is, reply without hesitation: “I don’t know”. And if anyone wants to know where He is going to, give the same reply. In any case it is the truth, for you don’t know.»
They part and Jesus begins to ascend a steep path which climbs the almost upright cliff. The apostles follow Him along a very hard path up to the top of the cliff which levels over to a tableland strewn with oak-trees under which there are many pigs pasturing.
«Stinking animals!» exclaims Bartholomew. «They prevent us from passing…»
«No, they do not. There is room for everybody» replies Jesus calmly.
In any case the swineherds, when they see the Israelites, endeavour to gather the pigs under the oak-trees, leaving the path free. And the apostles pass by, making endless grimaces, among the filth left by the grouting animals, which fat as they are, seem anxious to become even fatter.
Jesus passes without any fuss, saying to the swineherds: «May God reward you for your kindness.»
The swineherds, poor people not much cleaner than their pigs but infinitely thinner, look at Him amazed and then whisper to one another. One of them says: «Is He perhaps not an Israelite?» And the others reply to him: «Don’t you see that His tunic is fringed?»
The group of the apostles gather together, now that they can proceed in one group along a fairly wide path. (...)
186.5
But what are these ruins?»
«They all move away from the side of the mountain because stones and earth are rolling down and bouncing on the slope and they all look around amazed.
«There, there! Over there! Two men completely naked… are coming towards us gesticulating. Mad…»
«Or demoniacs» replies Jesus to the Iscariot, who was the first to see the two demoniacs come towards Jesus.
They must have come out of some cave on the mountain side. They are howling. And one, who is running faster, rushes towards Jesus. He is running so fast and moving his arms up and down so much as if they were wings, that he looks like a strange ugly big bird stripped of its feathers. He collapses at Jesus’ feet shouting: «You are here, Master of the world? What have I got to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Has the hour of our punishment already come? Why have You come to torture us before the time?» The other demoniac, both because his tongue is tied and because he is possessed by a demon who causes him to be dullwitted, does nothing but throw himself on the ground, face down, and weep. He then sits up, remains inert, playing with little stones and his bare feet. The demon continues to speak through the lips of the other man who writhes on the ground in a paroxysm of terror. I would say that he wants to react, whereas he can but worship, attracted and rejected at the same time by Jesus’ power. He howls: «I entreat You in the name of God, stop tormenting me. Let me go.»
«Yes. But out of this man. Unclean spirit, go out of them and tell Me your name.»
«Legion is my name because we are many. We have possessed these men for years and through them we break bonds and chains, and there is no strength of man capable of holding them. They are a terror, because of us, and we make use of them to have You cursed. We revenge ourselves on them for Your anathema. We degrade man below a beast to mock at You and there is no wolf, jackal, hyena, vulture or vampire like these whom we possess. But don’t cast us out. Hell is too horrid!…»
«Go out! In the name of Jesus, go out!» Jesus’ voice thunders and His eyes fire splendour.
«At least let us go into the herd of pigs You met.»
«Go.»
With a beastly howl the demons part from the two wretched men and in a sudden whirlwind, which causes the oak-trees to sway like reeds, they run into the large herd of pigs that with real demoniac cries begin to run, as possessed beings, through the oak trees, pushing, wounding, biting one another and hurl themselves into the lake, when, after reaching the edge of the cliff, they have but the water below as a shelter. The swineherds are overwhelmed and dumbfounded and while they shout seized by fear, hundreds of animals fall headlong into the calm water in a succession of splashes, causing the water to surge and foam; they sink, refloat, showing in turn their round bellies or their pointed snouts with terrified eyes, and in the end drown.
186.6
The swineherds run towards the town howling.
The apostles go towards the place of the disaster and come back saying: «Not one of them is saved! He has done them a bad turn.»
Jesus replies calmly: «It is better if two thousand pigs perish than one man. Give them some clothes. They cannot stay like that.»
The Zealot opens his bag and gives one of his tunics. Thomas another one. The two men are still somewhat stunned as if they were just awaking from a sound sleep full of nightmares.
«Give them some food. Let them go back to the normal life of men.»
Jesus watches them while they eat the bread and olives given to them and they drink out of Peter’s flask.
At last they speak: «Who are You?» asks one.
«Jesus of Nazareth.»
«We don’t know You» says the other.
«Your souls know Me. Get up now and go home.»
«We have suffered very much, I think, but I cannot remember very well. Who is this man?» asks the one who spoke on behalf of the demon, and he points at his companion.
«I do not know. He was with you.»
«Who are you? Why are you here?» he asks his companion.
The one who was dumb, and is still more inert, says: «I am Demetrius. Is this Sidon?»
«Sidon is on the sea, man. Here you are beyond the lake of Galilee.»
«Why am I here?»
Nobody can reply.
186.7
Some people are arriving followed by the swineberds. They look frightened and curious. When they see the two men dressed and tidy, their astonishment increases.
«That is Mark of Josiah!… And that is the son of the heathen merchant!…»
«And He is the one who cured them and caused our pigs to perish, because they became mad when the demons entered them» say the swineherds.
«Lord, You are powerful, we admit it. But You have already caused us too much harm! A damage of many talents. Go away, please, lest Your power should bring the mountain down and hurl it into the lake. Go away…»
«I will go. I do not impose Myself on anybody» and Jesus without further discussion goes back the way He came.
The demoniac who spoke follows Him, behind the apostles. Farther back, at some distance, there are many citizens watching whether He is really leaving.
186.8
They go down the steep path back to the mouth of the little rent, near the boats. The citizens remain on the terrace watching. The demoniac who has been cured goes down behind Jesus.
In the boats the assistants are terrified. They saw the pigs raining into the lake and are still contemplating their bodies which surface more and more numerous, more and more swollen, with their round bellies in the air and their stiff short legs like four pegs stuck into a huge fat bladder. «What happened?» they ask.
«We will tell you later. Loosen the boats and let us go… Where, my Lord?»
«To the gulf of Tarichea.»
The man who has followed them, now that he sees them getting into the boats, implores: «Take me with You, Lord.»
«No. Go home: your relatives are entitled to have you. Speak to them of the great things the Lord has done to you and tell them how He had mercy on you. This area is in need of faith. Light the flames of faith out of gratitude to the Lord. Go. Goodbye.»
«Comfort me at least with Your blessing, that the demon may not possess me again.»
«Be not afraid. If you do not want, he will not come. But I bless you. Go in peace.»
The boats depart from the shore westwards. Only then, when the boats are ploughing through the waters strewn with the swine victims, the inhabitants of the town, which did not want the Lord, withdraw from the terrace and go away.

Annotation

The employees tie up the boats - there is one per boat - and are ordered to wait until evening for the return to Capernaum. They are two anonymous figures, obviously carrying out maneuvers. They were undoubtedly present in EMV 185.

At least, let me into this herd of pigs: The original text speaks in the singular here: Lasciami. This singular request will be ingenuously interpreted by Peter in EMV 203.3.

Gospel of Matthew 8, 28-34

Mt 8, 28-34 : As Jesus reached the other side of the river, in the land of the Gadarenes, two possessed men came out from among the tombs to meet him; they were so aggressive that no one could pass by that way. Behold, they cried out, "What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come to torment us before the appointed time?" Now there was a large herd of pigs in the distance, looking for food. The demons begged Jesus, "If you expel us, send us into the herd of swine." He replied, "Go." They went out and into the pigs; and behold, from the top of the cliff, the whole herd rushed into the sea, and the pigs died in the waves. The guardians fled and went into the city to report all this, and in particular what had happened to the possessed. And behold, the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, the people begged him to leave their territory.

Gospel of Mark 5:1-20

Mk 5, 1-20 : They came to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, in the country of the Gerasenes. As Jesus got out of the boat, immediately a man possessed by an unclean spirit came forward from the tombs to meet him; he lived in the tombs and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain; indeed he had often been bound with leg irons and chains, but he had broken the chains, broken the irons, and no one could restrain him. Constantly, night and day, he was among the tombs and on the hills, shouting and hurting himself with stones. Seeing Jesus from afar, he ran to him, bowed before him and cried out in a loud voice: "What do you want from me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!" For Jesus was saying to him, "Unclean spirit, come out of this man!" And he asked him, "What is your name?" The man said to him, "My name is Legion, for there are many of us." And they begged Jesus insistently not to drive them out of the country.

Now, on the hillside there was a large herd of pigs looking for food. So the unclean spirits begged Jesus, "Send us to these swine, and we will enter them." He allowed them to do so. They came out of the man and entered the pigs. From the top of the cliff, the herd rushed into the sea: there were about two thousand pigs, and they were drowning in the sea. Their guardians fled and spread the news in town and country, and people came to see what had happened.

When they came to Jesus, they saw the demon-possessed man sitting up, clothed, and coming to his senses, he who had had the legion of demons, and they were seized with fear. Those who had seen all this told them the story of the demon-possessed man and what had happened to the pigs. So they began to beg Jesus to leave their territory.

As Jesus climbed back into the boat, the possessed man begged him to be allowed to be with him. He did not consent, but said to him, "Go home to your family, and tell them all that the Lord has done for you in His mercy." So the man went away, and began to proclaim in the Decapolis region what Jesus had done for him, and everyone was in awe.

Gospel of Luke 8, 26-39

Lk 8, 26-39 : They landed in the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As Jesus disembarked, a demon-possessed man from the city came to meet him. For some time he had not put on clothes, nor lived in a house, but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell at his feet and said in a loud voice: "What do you want from me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please don't torment me." Indeed, Jesus was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of this man, for the spirit had taken hold of him many times. He was then kept bound in chains, with fetters on his feet, but he broke his bonds and the demon dragged him away to deserted places. Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "Legion". Indeed, many demons had entered him. And these demons begged Jesus not to order them to go into the abyss. Now, there was a sizeable herd of pigs foraging on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to allow them to enter the pigs, and he did. They went out of the man and into the pigs. From the top of the cliff, the herd rushed into the lake and drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled; they spread the news in the town and in the countryside, and people went out to see what had happened.

When they came to Jesus, they found the man whom the demons had left, seated, clothed and restored to his senses, at Jesus' feet. And they were seized with fear. Those who had seen told them how the demon-possessed man had been saved. Then all the people in the territory of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave their home, because they were in great fear. Jesus got back into the boat and sailed away.

The man the demons had left asked if he could be with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, "Go back home and tell everyone what God has done for you." So the man set off to proclaim throughout the town all that Jesus had done for him.

Keywords

GRM 217.3-4 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

« But in the meantime, since You say that You are a saint, why do You allow certain things? Since You say that You are a Master, why do You not teach Your apostles before anybody else? Look at them, behind You!… They still have in their hands the instrument of their sin! Can You see them? They have picked corn and this is the Sabbath. They have picked ears of corn, which do not belong to them. They have infringed the Sabbath and they have stolen.»
«They were hungry. In the village where we arrived yesterday evening, we asked for bread and lodgings. They drove us away. Only an old woman gave us some of her bread and a handful of olives. May God give her one hundredfold, because she gave us everything she had, and she only asked for a blessing. We walked for a mile and then we stopped, complying with the law, and we drank the water of a stream. Then, at sunset, we went to that house… They rejected us. You can see that we were willing to obey the Law», Peter replies.
«But you did not. It is not legal to do manual work on Sabbaths and it is never legal to take what belongs to other people. My friends and I are scandalised.»
«But I am not. Have you not read[1] how David at Nob took the consecrated bread of the Proposition for himself and his companions? The sacred loaves belonged to God, in His house, and by a perpetual order were to be kept for the priests. It is written[2]: “They will belong to Aaron and his sons, who shall eat them in a holy place, because they are a most holy thing”. And yet David took them for himself and his companions, because he was hungry. If, therefore, the holy king entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Proposition on a Sabbath, although it was not legal for him to eat it, and yet it was not imputed to him as a sin, because also after that event God continued to love him, how can you say that we have sinned it we pick on the soil of God the ears of corn that have grown and ripened through His will, the ears that belong also to birds, and you deny that men, the sons of the Father, may eat?»
«They asked for those loaves, they did not take them without asking. And that makes the difference. In any case it is not true that God did not impute that sin to David. God struck him very hard!»
«Not because of that. It was because of his lewdness, of the census, not because…»
«Oh! That’s enough. It is not legal, and that is all. You have no right to do it and you shall not do it.
217.4
Go away. We do not want you on our land. We do not need you. We do not know what to do with you.»
«We shall go.»
«And forever, remember that. Let Jonathan of Uziel never find you again in his presence. Go!»
«Yes, we will go. But we will meet again. And then it will be Jonathan who wants to see Me to repeat his judgement, and to rid the world of Me forever. But then it will be Heaven that will say to you: “It is not legal for you to do it”, and that “it is not legal” will resound in your heart like the sound of a bugle-horn throughout your life and beyond. As on Sabbaths the priests in the Temple infringe the Sabbath rest but do not commit sin, so we, servants of the Lord, can attain love and help from the Most Holy Father, without thus committing sin, since man denies us his love. There is One here Who is by far greater than the Temple and can take anything He wants of what exists in creation, because God has made everything a footstool for the Word. And I take and give. And that applies both to the ears of corn of the Father, laid on the immense table of the Earth, and to the Word. I take and give. Both to the good and to the wicked. Because I am Mercy. But you do not know what is Mercy. If you knew what My being Mercy means, you would also know that I want nothing but mercy. If you knew what Mercy is, you would not have condemned innocent people. But you do not know. You do not even know that I do not condemn you, you do not know that I will forgive you and, more than that, I will ask the Father to forgive you. Because I want mercy and not punishment. But you do not know. You do not want to know. And that is a greater sin than the one you impute to Me, it is greater than the one you say these innocent men have committed. You must know that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath and that the Son of man is also master of the Sabbath. Goodbye…»
He turns to His disciples: «Come. Let us go and look for a place where to lie down among the sands that are now near. The stars will keep us company and dew will refresh us. God, Who sent manna to Israel, will provide nourishment also for us, His poor faithful servants.» And Jesus leaves the rancorous group and goes away with His disciples, while night is falling with its first violet shadows…
They find at last a hedge of Indian figs, on the top leaves of which, bristling with thorns, is some fruit which is beginning to ripen. Anything is good when one is hungry. And stinging themselves, they pick the ripest ones and proceed thus until the fields become sandy dunes. The noise of the sea can be heard in the distance.
«Let us rest here. The sand is soft and warm. Tomorrow we will go to Ashkelon» says Jesus and tired as they are, they all lie down at the foot of a high dune.

Detail

The apostles were hungry and began to pick ears of wheat from the fields when the locals did not provide them with food (EMV 217.1). Jesus then encounters a group of Pharisees, including Jonathas ben Ouziel, a member of the Sanhedrin. He is hostile toward Jesus and reproaches the Master for the disciples’ behavior. Simon Peter and Jude intervene briefly in 217.3.

Annotation

Have you never read how David, at Nob, took the consecrated bread to feed himself and his companions? The consecrated bread belonged to God, in His house, set aside by an eternal decree for the priests. It is written: “They shall belong to Aaron and his sons, who shall eat them in a holy place, for it is a most holy thing.” See 1 Samuel 21:1–4 and Leviticus 24:9.

God punished David severely for his lust and for his census: regarding his lust, see 2 Samuel 12:9–14 (see also 94.7). For the census, see 2 Samuel 24:1–17 and 1 Chronicles 21:1–17.

To the good as well as to the wicked, for I am Mercy. But you do not know what mercy is. If you knew what it means, you would also understand that I desire nothing but it. Cf . Hosea 6:6, also quoted in Matthew 9:13.

They finally come upon a hedge of prickly pears, at the tops of which, bristling with thorns, figs are beginning to ripen. This mention is intriguing: the prickly pear, or Barbary fig, is said to have been imported from Mexico by Christopher Columbus. Is this a glaring anachronism or a rare piece of knowledge on Maria Valtorta’s part? See the commentary.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Leviticus 24:9

Lev 24:9: They shall belong to Aaron and his sons, who shall eat them in a holy place; for it is a most holy thing to them among the offerings made by fire to the Lord. This is a perpetual statute.

First Book of Samuel 21:1–7

1 Sam 1–7: David got up and left, and Jonathan returned to the city. David went to Nob, to the high priest Ahimelech; and Ahimelech came running out to meet David in fear and said to him, “ ‘Why are you alone, and is there no one with you?’” David replied to the priest Ahimelech, “The king gave me an order and said, ‘Let no one know anything about the matter for which I am sending you, and I have given you an order.’ I have appointed a meeting place for my men. Now, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you have.” ” The priest replied to David, saying, “I have no ordinary bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread—provided your men have abstained from women.” ” David replied to the priest and said, “We have abstained from women for the three days since I set out, and the vessels of my men are holy; and even if the journey is profane, is not the vessel itself sanctified?” ” Then the priest gave him consecrated bread, for there was no other bread there except the showbread, which had been removed from before the Lord and replaced with fresh bread at the time it was taken away.

2 Samuel 12:9–14

2 Sam. 12:9–14: “Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his sight? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you took his wife to be your own, and you killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. And now the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own wife. Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will bring disaster upon you from within your own house; I will take your wives before your very eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you acted in secret, but I will do this in the sight of all Israel and in broad daylight.”

David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord has forgiven your sin; you will not die. But because by this deed you have made the Lord a laughingstock to his enemies, the son born to you will die.”

2 Samuel 24:1–17

2 Sam. 24:1–17: The anger of the Lord was kindled again against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, take a census of Israel and Judah.” ” The king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba; take a census of the people, so that I may know the number of the people.” ” Joab said to the king, “May Yahweh your God add to the people a hundred times as many as there are now, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it! But why does my lord the king take pleasure in doing this? ” But the king’s command prevailed over Joab and the commanders of the army; so Joab and the commanders of the army set out from the king’s presence to take a census of the people of Israel.

After crossing the Jordan, they camped at Aroer, on the right side of the city, which is in the middle of the valley of Gad, and then at Jazer. They came to Gilead and to the land of Tachthim-Hodsi; then they came to Dan-Jaan and to the vicinity of Sidon. They went to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites, and they reached the Negev of Judah, at Beersheba. When they had thus surveyed the entire land, they returned to Jerusalem after nine months and twenty days. Joab presented the king with the census report: there were eight hundred thousand men of war in Israel who could wield a sword, and five hundred thousand in Judah. David’s heart was troubled after he had counted the people, and David said to Yahweh: “I have committed a great sin in what I have done! Now, O Yahweh, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

The next day, when David arose, the word of the LORD came to Gad, the prophet, David’s seer, saying: “Go and tell David: Thus says the LORD: I set before you three things; choose one of them, and I will do it to you.” ” Gad came to David and told him the word of the Lord, saying: “Shall there be a famine of seven years in your land, or shall you flee for three months before your enemies who will pursue you, or shall there be a plague for three days in your land? Now consider and see what I should answer the one who sent me.” ” David replied to Gad, “I am in great distress. Oh, let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hands of men! ” And the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning of that day until the appointed time; and seventy thousand men of the people died, from Dan to Beersheba. The angel was stretching out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it. But the Lord relented from this disaster and said to the angel who was striking down the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now.” ” The angel of Yahweh was standing near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to Yahweh: “Behold, I am the one who has sinned; I am the one who is guilty. But these sheep—what have they done? Let your hand fall on me and on my father’s house!”

That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” David went up, as Gad had said, just as the Lord had commanded. When Araunah looked up, he saw the king and his servants coming toward him; Araunah went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground, saying, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David replied: “To buy this threshing floor from you, so that I may build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be lifted from the people.” Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take the threshing floor and offer whatever sacrifice he deems fit! Here are the oxen for the burnt offering, along with the sleds and the ox yokes for the wood. All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said further to the king, “May the Lord your God be gracious to you!” ” But the king said to Areuna, “No! I want to buy it from you for a price in silver, and I will not offer to Yahweh, my God, burnt offerings that cost me nothing. ” And David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25And David built an altar to Yahweh there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

Thus the Lord was appeased toward the land, and the plague was lifted from Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:1–17

1 Chr 21:1–17: Satan stood against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. And David said to Joab and the leaders of the people, “Go, count Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and report the number to me, so that I may know how many there are.” ” Joab replied, “May Yahweh add to his people a hundred times as many as there are! O king, my lord, are they not all servants of my lord? Why then does my lord ask this? Why bring sin upon Israel?” But the king’s word prevailed over Joab. Joab set out and traveled throughout all Israel, and he returned to Jerusalem. And Joab presented to David the results of the census of the people: there were in all Israel eleven hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, and in Judah four hundred seventy thousand men who could handle a sword. He did not count the Levites and the Benjamites among them, for Joab was reluctant to carry out the king’s command.

God was displeased with this matter, and He struck Israel. Then David said to God, “I have committed a great sin in doing this. Now, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” ” Yahweh spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying: “Go and speak to David, saying: Thus says Yahweh: I set before you three things; choose one of them, and I will do it to you.” Gad came to David and said to him: “Thus says Yahweh: Choose either three years of famine, or three months during which you will be swept away before your adversaries and struck down by the sword of your enemies, or three days during which the sword of the LORD and the plague will be in the land, and the angel of the LORD will bring destruction throughout the territory of Israel. Now see what I should answer the one who sent me.” David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Oh, that I might fall into the hands of the Lord—for his mercy is very great—rather than into the hands of men!”

And the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men in Israel fell. And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as the angel was destroying it, the Lord saw what was happening and relented from this disaster, and He said to the angel who was destroying it, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now.” ” The angel of Yahweh was standing near the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. David looked up and saw the angel of Yahweh standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand, pointed toward Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded that the people be counted? It is I who have sinned and done wrong; but these—these sheep—what have they done? Yahweh, my God, let your hand be against me and against my father’s house, but not against your people to bring about their ruin.”

Book of Hosea 6:6

Hos 6:6: She became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-Ruhama (that is, ‘Not Loved’), for I no longer love the house of Israel and will no longer forgive them.”

Gospel of Matthew 9:13

Mt 9:13: “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Gospel of Matthew 12:1–8

Mt 12:1–8: At that time, on a Sabbath, Jesus was walking through the wheat fields; his disciples were hungry, so they began to pluck heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him: “Look, your disciples are doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath!” But he said to them: “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? He entered the house of God, and they ate the bread of the Presence; yet neither he nor those with him had the right to eat it, but only the priests. Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath rest without being guilty of a sin? But I tell you: there is one here who is greater than the temple. If you had understood what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned those who have committed no offense. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Gospel of Mark 2:23–28

Mk 2:23–28: One Sabbath, Jesus was walking through the grain fields; and as they went along, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look what they are doing on the Sabbath! That is not permitted.” And Jesus said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, both he and those with him? During the time of the high priest Abiathar, he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which no one is allowed to eat except the priests, and he also gave some to those who were with him. ” He also said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Gospel of Luke 6:1–5

Luke 6:1–5: One Sabbath, Jesus was walking through the fields; his disciples were plucking heads of grain and eating them after rubbing them in their hands. Some of the Pharisees then said, “Why are you doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?” Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? He went into the house of God, took the bread of the Presence, ate it, and gave some to those who were with him—even though only the priests are allowed to eat it.” He also said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”