Created: 2020-03-04 Wed 11:57
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority[a] does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
From among all the land animals, these are the creatures that you may eat. Any animal that has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed and chews the cud—such you may eat. But among those that chew the cud or have divided hoofs, you shall not eat the following: the camel, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. The rock badger, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. The hare, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. The pig, for even though it has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed, it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. 8 Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean for you.
By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
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8 O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! 9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!
In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds. The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Master of the Day of Judgment. It is You we worship, and upon You we call for help. Guide us to the straight path. The path of those You have blessed, not of those against whom there is anger, nor of those who are misguided.
The Jews and the Christians will not approve of you, unless you follow their creed. Say, "God's guidance is the guidance." Should you follow their desires, after the knowledge that has come to you, you will have in God neither guardian nor helper.
Those to whom We have given the Scripture follow it, as it ought to be followed—these believe in it. But as for those who reject it—these are the losers.
O Children of Israel! Remember My blessing which I bestowed upon you, and that I have favored you over all people.
And beware of a Day when no soul will avail another soul in any way, and no ransom will be accepted from it, and no intercession will benefit it, and they will not be helped.
And when his Lord tested Abraham with certain words, and he fulfilled them. He said, "I am making you a leader of humanity." He said, "And my descendants?" He said, "My pledge does not include the wrongdoers."
And We made the House a focal point for the people, and a sanctuary. Use the shrine of Abraham as a place of prayer. And We commissioned Abraham and Ishmael, "Sanctify My House for those who circle around it, and those who seclude themselves in it, and those who kneel and prostrate."
When Abraham said, "O My Lord, make this a peaceful land, and provide its people with fruits—whoever of them believes in God and the Last Day." He said, "And whoever disbelieves, I will give him a little enjoyment, then I will consign him to the punishment of the Fire; how miserable the destiny!"
As Abraham raises the foundations of the House, together with Ishmael, “Our Lord, accept it from us, You are the Hearer, the Knower.
Mother Earth, unable to bear the burden of the sins committed by evil kings and rulers, appealed to Brahma, the Creator, for help. Brahma prayed to Supreme Lord Vishnu, who assured Brahma that Vishnu himself would soon be born on earth to annihilate tyrannical forces.
One such evil force was Kansa, the ruler of Mathura (a city in the northern India state of Uttar Pradesh). Kansa's people were utterly terrified of him. On the day that Kansa's sister Devaki was married off to Vasudeva, a voice from the sky was heard prophesying that Devaki's eighth son would be the destroyer of Kansa. The frightened Kansa immediately unsheathed his sword to kill his sister, but Vasudeva intervened. Vasudeva implored Kansa to spare his beloved Devaki, and promised to hand over every one of their newborn children to him. Kansa relented but imprisoned both Devaki and her husband, Vasudeva.
When Devaki gave birth to her first child, Kansa came to the prison cell and slaughtered the newborn. In the same way, he killed Devaki's next six children. Even before her eighth child was born, Devaki and Vasudeva started lamenting its fate and theirs. Suddenly, Lord Vishnu appeared before them and said that he himself would be born to them and would rescue them and the people of Mathura. Vishnu asked Vasudeva to carry him right after his birth to the house of Vasudeva's friend, the chief cowherd Nanda in Gokula. There, Nanda's wife Yashoda had given birth to a daughter. Vasudeva was to exchange his boy and bring Yashoda's baby daughter back to the prison. Vishnu assured them, "Nothing shall bar your path."
At midnight, the divine baby was born in Kansa's prison. Following Lord Vishnu's instructions, Vasudeva clasped the child to his bosom and started for Gokula, but he found that his legs were in chains. He jerked his legs and was unfettered! The massive, iron-barred doors unlocked and opened by themselves.
While crossing the River Yamuna, Vasudeva held the baby high over his head. The rain fell in torrents, and the river was flooded. But the water parted for Vasudeva, and miraculously a five-mouthed snake followed him from behind and provided shelter over the baby.
When Vasudeva reached Gokula, he found the door of Nanda's house open. He exchanged the babies and hurried back to Kansa's prison with the baby girl. As Vasudeva entered, the doors of the prison closed and barred themselves behind him.
When Kansa heard about the birth of the baby girl, he rushed inside the prison and tried to kill the infant. But this time the baby slipped from his hands and flew into the air, reaching toward the sky. The baby was transformed into the goddess Yogamaya, who spoke to Kansa: "O foolish one! The one who was born to kill you still lives and is elsewhere!" Then she disappeared.
Krishna grew to be a very mischievous child, who constantly annoyed his adoptive mother, Devaki, and his nanny with jokes and miraculous tricks. Demons frequently tried to kill him and his adoptive family, but even as a baby he vanquished them all.
As a young adult, Krishna killed the tyrannical ruler Kansa, along with all his cruel associates. Krishna then at long last liberated his parents from prison and reinstated Ugrasen, the true King of Mathura.
The non-existent was not; the existent was not at that time. The atmosphere was not nor the heavens which are beyond. What was concealed? Where? In whose protection? Was it water? An unfathomable abyss?There was neither death nor immortality then.
There was not distinction of day or night. That alone breathed windless by its own power. Other than that there was not anything else.
Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning. All this was an indistinguishable sea. That which becomes, that which was enveloped by the void, that alone was born through the power of heat.
Upon that desire arose in the beginning. This was the first discharge of thought. Sages discovered this link of the existent to the nonexistent, having searched in the heart with wisdom.
Their line [of vision] was extended across; what was below, what was above? There were impregnators, there were powers: inherent power below, impulses above.
Who knows truly? Who here will declare whence it arose, whence this creation?The gods are subsequent to the creation of this. Who, then, knows whence it has come into being?
Whence this creation has come into being; whether it was made or not; he in the highest heaven is its surveyor. Surely he knows, or perhaps he knows not.
The Bodhisattva Who Listens to the Sounds of All the World, with his magnifcent spiritual power, confers such abundant benefits as these. And so, living beings should always keep him in their hearts and hold his name in mind. If women seeking sons bow to and make offerings to the Bodhisattva Gwan Shr Yin, they will give birth to sons happy, virtuous, and wise. If instead, they wish for daughters, they will bear gifted daughters with deep-rooted, wholesome characters, beloved and respected by all.
Created by Dale Hathaway.