Matthew in verse, pt 3

Now when they had departed there, behold
An angel of the Lord appeared in dream
To Joseph, said, “Arise and take the Child
And mother by night, flee to Egypt. There
Remain until I tell you; Herod soon
Is going to search for Him to destroy
Him.” He arose and took the Child by night,
Departed for Egypt and there remained
Until the death of Herod, that what had
Been spoken by the Lord through prophets might
Be yet fulfilled, that “Out of Egypt did
I call my Son.” When Herod saw that by
the Magi he was tricked, he then became
Enraged, and sent and slew the male children
Who were in Bethlehem and all of its
Environs, two years old and younger, that
According to the time which he had heard
From Magi. Then that which was spoken through
The prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled,
“A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and
Great Mourning, Rachel weeping, weeping for
Her children; and refusing comfort, for
They were no more.” When Herod died, behold,
An angel of the Lord appeared in dream
to Joseph while in Egypt, said, “Arise
and take the Child and mother and go to
The land of Israel; those who sought His life
are dead.” And so he rose and took the Child
And mother, and came then into the land
Of Israel. But when he heard Archelaus
Was reigning ov’r Judea in place of
His father Herod, he was frightened to
Go there. And being warned in a dream by God,
Departed for the regions Galilee,
And came, resided in the city called
There Nazareth, that what was spoken through
The prophets be fulfilled, “He shall be called
a Nazarene.”

Matthew in verse, pt 2

Now after Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem,
Judea, in the days of Herod King,
Behold, the Magi from the east arrived,
In Jerusalem to ask, “Where is He
Who’s born the King of Jews? We saw His star,
And came to worship Him.” When Herod heard,
The king was troubled, and all Jerusalem.
And gathering together the chief priests
And scribes of all the people, he began
Inquiring where Christ was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem, Judah,
For so it has been written by prophets:
“And you, oh Bethlehem, in Judah’s land,
Among the leaders of Judah are by
No means the least, for out of you shall come
A ruler who will shepherd my Israel,
My people.” Then Herod secretly called
The Magi, ascertained from them the time
The star appeared, and sent to Bethlehem,
And said, “Go make a careful search, the Child
Go find, and when you found Him report back
To me, that I may come and worship Him.”
And having heard the king, they went their way;
And, lo, the star, which they had seen when east,
Went on before, until it came and stood
O’er where the Child was. And on coming to
The house they saw the Child, and Mary, now
His mother. They fell down and worshipped Him;
And, opening their treasures, gave to Him
Their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
And, warned by God in dream not to return
To Herod, departed another way
for home.

Matthew in verse, pt 1

The Advent season coming again...

The birth of Jesus Christ as follows was.
His mother, Mary, had been betrothed then,
To Joseph, but now before they had come
Together she was found to be with child
The Holy Spirit by, and Joseph, as
A righteous man, did not want to disgrace
Her publicly, and so desired to put
Away her secretly. But when he had
Considered this, an angel of the Lord
Appeared to him in dream, and saying, “Son
Of David, do not fear to Mary take
As wife, for that which is conceived in her
Is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear
A Son, and you will call His name Jesus,
For it is He who’ll save His people from
Their sins.” Now all took place that what was said
By God through prophet be fulfilled, as such:
“Behold, the Virgin shall with child be, and
Shall bear a Son, and they shall call His Name
Immanuel;” that which means, God with Us.
And Joseph arose from sleep, and did as he
Had been commanded by the angel then,
And he took her as wife, though virgin still
Until was born a Son. He called His name
Jesus.

The Last Word

This is a work in progress, and you must forgive the limitations of this blog. Much of my poetry has to be altered when I post it here, because it won't let me indent anything, or center part of it without centering the whole thing, and it often eliminates spaces between lines for me. The original version is a little easier to read because of these things, but I hope you will enjoy it anyway.

“Behold, I am the Lord your God.
I, the Lord, am the maker of all things,
I am He.
I am He who forms light and creates darkness.
I, even I, am the Lord,
and there is no savior besides Me.”

“It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed—
who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
Is it not from mouth of the Most High
— there is none who can deliver out of My hand—
that both good and ill go forth?
—I act and who can reverse it?”

Then the angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of
great joy which will be to all people. For there is
born to you this day in the city of David
a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Thus says the Lord,
Who makes a way through the sea
And a path through the mighty
waters,
Who brings forth the chariot and the horse,
The army and the mighty man,
“I, even I, am the one who
wipes out your transgressions
for My own sake.
Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom?
Do not tremble, and do not
be afraid.
I am the first—
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
—and I am the last—
that both calamities and good things come?
—And there is no God besides Me!”

“For My own sake,
for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And My glory
I will not give to another.”
.
What shall we say, then?
There is no injustice with God, is there?...
May it never be!

“Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven.”

And the Word of the Lord came to me,
saying,
“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross
to Me, therefore
--Then they will know
I will gather you in My anger
--that I am the Lord
and in My wrath and I
--their God.
will lay you there and melt you.”
For, says the Lord,
“I, I will vindicate the HOLINESS
of My Name.
I, the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt.”

“Hear, O Israel,
the LORD your God is
one God.”

BUT NOW
the righteousness of God
apart from the law
--O the depth of the riches
of the wisdom and knowledge of God! --
is revealed;
Even the righteousness of God, through
faith in Jesus Christ
--So His visage was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men; --
to all and
on all
who believe, for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
--How unsearchable are His judgments--
being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
--and His ways past finding out! --
Whom God set forth
--He was oppressed, and He was afflicted
yet He opened not His mouth--
as a propitiation by His blood,
--He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter;--
through faith,
to demonstrate His righteousness, because
in His forbearance God had passed over
the sins that were previously committed,
--But He was wounded for our transgressions,--
to demonstrate at the present time
--He was bruised for our iniquities--
His righteousness, that He
--The chastisement for our peace was upon Him--
might be JUST, and
the JUSTIFIER
of the one who has faith in Jesus.
--And by His stripes we are healed.

Who are you, O man, who
answers back to God?
For from Him and through Him
and to Him are all things!

“Have you ever in your life
commanded the morning,
and caused the dawn to
know its place?
You shall not make other gods
of silver or gold,
for I am He.

“Whoever comes to Me,
and hears My sayings
and does them,
I will show you whom he is like:
He is like a man
building a house,
who dug deep
and laid the foundation on the rock.”

In triumph I will parcel out
Shechem,
and measure off the Valley of Succoth.
Gilead is mine, and Manesseh
is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet,
Judah is my sceptor.
Moab is my washbasin,
upon Edom I toss my sandal;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

Hosea 3:1-5

Sometimes, lacking inspiration of my own, I have been known to work at turning Scripture passages into blank verse. I try to stay as close to the original text as possible, just rearranging the words slightly to fit the necessary rhythm. This usually works better with narrative passages than didactic (where I don't want to change anything). Pursuing my current theme, I offer up this passage of Hosea.

The Lord said to me, “Go again, and love
a woman who is loved by husband, yet
adult’ress, even as the Lord still loves
the sons of Israel, though they turn away
to other gods and love the raisin cakes.”
And so I bought her for myself; the price
was fifteen shekels silver, and half and
one homer barley. Then I said to her,
“You shall stay with me many days. You shall
not play the harlot, nor shall you have men;
so I will also be to you.” For so
the sons of Israel also will remain
for many days without a king or prince,
or sacrifice, or sacred pillar, and
without ephod, or household idols. And
then after, sons of Israel will return
and seek the Lord their God and David, King;
and trembling they will come unto the Lord,
and to His goodness in the last of days.