Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know [it."]

And he was afraid and said, "How awesome [is] this place! This [is] none other than the house of God, and this [is] the gate of heaven!"

Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand [is] holy ground."

And Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying: 'By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.' " So Aaron held his peace.

Then the Commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand [is] holy." And Joshua did so.

But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to [his] destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.

God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all [those] around Him.

"When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts?

Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing [them.]

"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,

" Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.

But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword"; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise [you.]

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

For our God [is] a consuming fire.

"So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God."

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily [to find out] whether these things were so.

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.

but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

"then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.' Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering."

And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

"But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal."

Then Samuel said: "Has the LORD [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, [And] to heed than the fat of rams.

I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices Or your burnt offerings, [Which are] continually before Me.

For every beast of the forest [is] Mine, [And] the cattle on a thousand hills.

"If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world [is] Mine, and all its fullness.

Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High.

But to the wicked God says: "What [right] have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth,

When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers.

The sacrifice of the wicked [is] an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the upright [is] His delight.

The sacrifice of the wicked [is] an abomination; How much more [when] he brings it with wicked intent!

"When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts?

Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing [them.]

" He who kills a bull [is as if] he slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, [as if] he breaks a dog's neck; He who offers a grain offering, [as if he offers] swine's blood; He who burns incense, [as if] he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations,

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat.

"But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.'

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

"But like men they transgressed the covenant; There they dealt treacherously with Me.

"Who [is there] even among you who would shut the doors, So that you would not kindle fire [on] My altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you," Says the LORD of hosts, "Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.

For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name [shall be] great among the Gentiles; In every place incense [shall be] offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations," Says the LORD of hosts.

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,