14 – Abortion

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.

"Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast."

You shall not murder.

Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.

If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband demands and as the court allows. But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life-

You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits. Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites, 'Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him. And I will set My face against that man and cut him off from his people, because by giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name. And if the people of the land ever hide their eyes and fail to put to death the man who gives one of his children to Molech, then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.

And if a man takes the life of anyone else, he must surely be put to death.

If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a lone witness. You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death.

Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

You shall not murder.

You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery,

Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.' And let all the people say, 'Amen!' 'Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice.' And let all the people say, 'Amen!'

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live,

Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of the Sepharvaim.

He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

Moreover, Ahaz burned incense in the Valley of Hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me? Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust? Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.

because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.

Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb?

You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will incline Your ear, to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed, that the men of the earth may strike terror no more.

Yet You brought me forth from the womb; You made me secure at my mother's breast. From birth I was cast upon You; from my mother's womb You have been my God.

Deliver me from workers of iniquity, and save me from men of bloodshed. See how they lie in wait for me. Fierce men conspire against me for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD. For no fault of my own, they move swiftly to attack me. Arise to help me, and take notice.

A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in His holy habitation.

I have leaned on You since birth; You pulled me from my mother's womb. My praise is always for You.

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; save them from the hand of the wicked. They do not know or understand; they wander in the darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

They kill the widow and the foreigner; they murder the fatherless. They say, "The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed." Take notice, O senseless among the people! O fools, when will you be wise?

Can a corrupt throne be Your ally- one devising mischief by decree? They band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the LORD has been my stronghold, and my God is my rock of refuge. He will bring upon them their own iniquity and destroy them for their wickedness. The LORD our God will destroy them.

They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood- the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds. So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.

Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding to learn Your commandments. May those who fear You see me and rejoice, for I have hoped in Your word.

Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.

For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses the children within you.

If they say, "Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause, let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.

Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery. There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter. If you say, "Behold, we did not know about this," does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?

A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil! Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow." "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.

For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.

This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: "Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,

"Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth.

Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.

And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him- for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength-

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you! Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.

Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?" says the LORD. "Or will I who deliver close the womb?" says your God.

The word of the LORD came to me, saying: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Also on your skirts is found The blood of the lives of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, But plainly on all these things. Yet you say, 'Because I am innocent, Surely His anger shall turn from me.' Behold, I will plead My case against you, Because you say, 'I have not sinned.'

They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire- something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.

because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in this place to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have ever known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal- something I never commanded or mentioned, nor did it even enter My mind. So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. And in this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hands of those who seek their lives, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.

because he did not kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb forever enlarged.

"But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression."

This is what the LORD says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech- something I never commanded them, nor had it ever entered My mind, that they should commit such an abomination and cause Judah to sin.

You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols. And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood. Woe! Woe to you, declares the Lord GOD. And in addition to all your other wickedness,

This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them, therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked. And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.

Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!

For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols. They have also done this to Me: On that very same day, they defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths. On the very day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary to profane it. Yes, they did this inside My house.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of the Ammonites, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory.

When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.

You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'Do not murder' and 'Anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.'

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.

If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life lame or crippled than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. See that you do not look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven. For the Son of Man came to save the lost.

In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat others, honor your father and mother.'"

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: "Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord"),

You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.'"

Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me!

A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.

Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

But when God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood,

On the contrary, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children.

In this way they can train the young women to love their husbands and children,

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.

And they cried out in a loud voice, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?"

But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death."