15

May

May 15

Judges 19

1Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was living in the inmost parts of the hill-country of Ephraim, and he got for himself a servant-wife from Beth-lehem-judah.

2And his servant-wife was angry with him, and went away from him to her father’s house at Beth-lehem-judah, and was there for four months.

3Then her husband got up and went after her, with the purpose of talking kindly to her, and taking her back with him; he had with him his young man and two asses: and she took him into her father’s house, and her father, when he saw him, came forward to him with joy.

4And his father-in-law, the girl’s father, kept him there for three days; and they had food and drink and took their rest there.

5Now on the fourth day they got up early in the morning and he made ready to go away; but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, Take a little food to keep up your strength, and then go on your way.

6So seating themselves they had food and drink, the two of them together; and the girl’s father said to the man, If it is your pleasure, take your rest here tonight, and let your heart be glad.

7And the man got up to go away, but his father-in-law would not let him go, so he took his rest there again for the night.

8Then early on the morning of the fifth day he got up to go away; but the girl’s father said, Keep up your strength; so the two of them had a meal, and the man and his woman and his servant did not go till after the middle of the day.

9And when they got up to go away, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, Now evening is coming on, so do not go tonight; see, the day is almost gone; take your rest here and let your heart be glad, and tomorrow early, go on your way back to your house.

10But the man would not be kept there that night, and he got up and went away and came opposite to Jebus (which is Jerusalem); and he had with him the two asses, ready for travelling, and his woman.

11When they got near Jebus the day was far gone; and the servant said to his master, Now let us go from our road into this town of the Jebusites and take our night’s rest there.

12But his master said to him, We will not go out of our way into a strange town, whose people are not of the children of Israel; but we will go on to Gibeah.

13And he said to his servant, Come, let us go on to one of these places, stopping for the night in Gibeah or Ramah.

14So they went on their way; and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the land of Benjamin.

15And they went off the road there with the purpose of stopping for the night in Gibeah: and he went in, seating himself in the street of the town, for no one took them into his house for the night.

16Now when it was evening they saw an old man coming back from his work in the fields; he was from the hill-country of Ephraim and was living in Gibeah: but the men of the place were Benjamites.

17And when he saw the traveller in the street of the town, the old man said, Where are you going? and where do you come from?

18And he said to him, We are on our way from Beth-lehem-judah to the inmost parts of the hill-country of Ephraim: I came from there and went to Beth-lehem-judah: now I am on my way back to my house, but no man will take me into his house.

19But we have dry grass and food for our asses, as well as bread and wine for me, and for the woman, and for the young man with us: we have no need of anything.

20And the old man said, Peace be with you; let all your needs be my care; only do not take your rest in the street.

21So he took them into his house and gave the asses food; and after washing their feet they took food and drink.

22While they were taking their pleasure at the meal, the good-for-nothing men of the town came round the house, giving blows on the door; and they said to the old man, the master of the house, Send out that man who came to your house, so that we may take our pleasure with him.

23So the man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said, No, my brothers, do not this evil thing; this man has come into my house, and you are not to do him this wrong.

24See, here is my daughter, a virgin, and his servant-wife: I will send them out for you to take them and do with them whatever you will. But do no such thing of shame to this man.

25But the men would not give ear to him: so the man took his woman and sent her out to them; and they took her by force, using her for their pleasure all night till the morning; and when dawn came they let her go.

26Then at the dawn of day the woman came, and, falling down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, was stretched there till it was light.

27In the morning her master got up, and opening the door of the house went out to go on his way; and he saw his servant-wife stretched on the earth at the door of the house with her hands on the step.

28And he said to her, Get up and let us be going; but there was no answer; so he took her up and put her on the ass, and went on his way and came to his house.

29And when he had come to his house, he got his knife, and took the woman, cutting her up bone by bone into twelve parts, which he sent through all Israel.

30And he gave orders to the men whom he sent, saying, This is what you are to say to all the men of Israel, Has ever an act like this been done from the day when the children of Israel came out of Egypt to this day? Give thought to it, turning it over in your minds, and give your opinion of it.

Psalms 44

To the chief music-maker. Of the sons of Korah Maschil.

1 It has come to our ears, O God, our fathers have given us the story, of the works which you did in their days, in the old times,

2Uprooting the nations with your hand, and planting our fathers in their place; cutting down the nations, but increasing the growth of your people.

3For they did not make the land theirs by their swords, and it was not their arms which kept them safe; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your face, because you had pleasure in them.

4You are my King and my God; ordering salvation for Jacob.

5Through you will we overcome our haters; by your name will they be crushed under our feet who are violent against us.

6I will not put faith in my bow, my sword will not be my salvation.

7But it is you who have been our saviour from those who were against us, and have put to shame those who had hate for us.

8Our pride is in God at all times, to his name we give praise for ever. (Selah.)

9But now you have sent us away from you, and put us to shame; you do not go out with our armies.

10Because of this we are turned back by the attacker: those who have hate for us take our goods for themselves.

11You have made us like sheep which are taken for meat; we are put to flight among the nations.

12You let your people go for nothing; your wealth is not increased by their price.

13You have made us to be looked down on by our neighbours, we are laughed at and shamed by those who are round about us.

14Our name is a word of shame among the nations, a sign for the shaking of heads among the peoples.

15My downfall is ever before me, and I am covered with the shame of my face;

16Because of the voice of him who says sharp and bitter words; because of the hater and him who is the instrument of punishment.

17All this has come on us, but still we have kept you in our memory; and we have not been false to your word.

18Our hearts have not gone back, and our steps have not been turned out of your way;

19Though you have let us be crushed in the place of jackals, though we are covered with darkest shade.

20If the name of our God has gone out of our minds, or if our hands have been stretched out to a strange god,

21Will not God make search for it? for he sees the secrets of the heart.

22Truly, because of you we are put to death every day; we are numbered like sheep for destruction.

23Why are you sleeping, O Lord? awake! and come to our help, do not give us up for ever.

24Why is your face covered, and why do you give no thought to our trouble and our cruel fate?

25For our souls are crushed down to the dust: our bodies are stretched out on the earth.

26Up! and come to our help, and give us salvation because of your mercy.

Acts 22:30

30But on the day after, desiring to have certain knowledge of what the Jews had to say against him, he made him free, and gave orders for the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to come together, and he took Paul and put him before them.

Acts 23:1-22

1And Paul, looking fixedly at the Sanhedrin, said, My brothers, my life has been upright before God till this day.

2And the high priest, Ananias, gave orders to those who were near him to give him a blow on the mouth.

3Then Paul said to him, God will give blows to you, you whitewashed wall: are you here to be my judge by law, and by your orders am I given blows against the law?

4And those who were near said, Do you say such words against God’s high priest?

5And Paul said, Brother, I had no idea that he was the high priest: for it has been said, You may not say evil about the ruler of your people.

6But when Paul saw that half of them were Sadducees and the rest Pharisees, he said in the Sanhedrin, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees: I am here to be judged on the question of the hope of the coming back from the dead.

7And when he had said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and a division in the meeting.

8For the Sadducees say that there is no coming back from the dead, and no angels or spirits: but the Pharisees have belief in all these.

9And there was a great outcry: and some of the scribes on the side of the Pharisees got up and took part in the discussion, saying, We see no evil in this man: what if he has had a revelation from an angel or a spirit?

10And when the argument became very violent, the chief captain, fearing that Paul would be pulled in two by them, gave orders to the armed men to take him by force from among them, and take him into the army building.

11And the night after, the Lord came to his side and said, Be of good heart, for as you have been witnessing for me in Jerusalem, so will you be my witness in Rome.

12And when it was day, the Jews came together and put themselves under an oath that they would take no food or drink till they had put Paul to death.

13And more than forty of them took this oath.

14And they came to the chief priests and the rulers and said, We have taken a great oath to take no food till we have put Paul to death

15So now, will you and the Sanhedrin make a request to the military authorities to have him sent down to you, as if you were desiring to go into the business in greater detail; and we, before ever he gets to you, will be waiting to put him to death.

16But Paul’s sister’s son had word of their design, and he came into the army building and gave news of it to Paul.

17And Paul sent for a captain and said, Take this young man to your chief, for he has news for him.

18So he took him to the chief captain and said, Paul, the prisoner, made a request to me to take this young man to you, for he has something to say to you.

19And the chief took him by the hand and, going on one side, said to him privately, What is it you have to say to me?

20And he said, The Jews are in agreement together to make a request to you for Paul to be taken, on the day after this, into the Sanhedrin, to be questioned in greater detail.

21But do not give way to them, for more than forty of them are waiting for him, having taken an oath not to take food or drink till they have put him to death: and now they are ready, waiting for your order.

22So the chief captain let the young man go, saying to him, Do not say to anyone that you have given me word of these things.

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14

May

May 14

Judges 17

1Now there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim named Micah.

2And he said to his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver which were taken from you, about which you took an oath and said in my hearing, I have given this silver to the Lord from my hand for myself, to make a pictured image and a metal image: see, I have the silver, for I took it: so now I will give it back to you. And his mother said, May the blessing of the Lord be on my son.

3And he gave back the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, and his mother said, I have made the silver holy to the Lord from me for my son, to make a pictured image and a metal image.

4So he gave the silver back to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a metal-worker who made a pictured image and a metal image from them: and it was in the house of Micah.

5And the man Micah had a house of gods; and he made an ephod and family gods and put one of his sons in the position of priest.

6In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did as seemed right to him.

7Now there was a young man living in Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah and a Levite, who was not a townsman of the place.

8And he went away from the town of Beth-lehem-judah, looking for somewhere to make his living-place; and on his journey he came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah.

9And Micah said to him, Where do you come from? And he said to him, I am a Levite from Beth-lehem-judah, and I am looking for a living-place.

10Then Micah said to him, Make your living-place with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver a year and your clothing and food.

11And the Levite said he would make his living-place with the man, and he became to him as one of his sons.

12And Micah gave the position to the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.

13Then Micah said, Now I am certain that the Lord will do me good, seeing that the Levite has become my priest.

Judges 18

1In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the Danites were looking for a heritage for themselves, to be their living-place; for up to that time no distribution of land had been made to them among the tribes of Israel.

2So the children of Dan sent five men from among their number, strong men, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to take a look at the land and make a search through it; and they said to them, Go and make a search through the land; and they came to the hill-country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, where they made a stop for the night.

3When they were near the house of Micah, hearing a voice which was not strange to them, that of the young Levite, they went out of their road to his place, and said to him, How did you come here? and what are you doing in this place? and why are you here?

4And he said to them, This is what Micah did for me, and he gave me payment and I became his priest.

5Then they said, Do get directions from God for us, to see if the journey on which we are going will have a good outcome.

6And the priest said to them, Go in peace: your way is guided by the Lord.

7Then the five men went on their way and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, living without thought of danger, like the Zidonians, quiet and safe; for they had everything on earth for their needs, and they were far from the Zidonians and had no business with Aram.

8So they came back to their brothers in Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, What news have you?

9And they said, Up! and let us go against Laish; for we have seen the land, and it is very good: why are you doing nothing? Do not be slow to go in and take the land for your heritage.

10When you come there you will come to a people living without thought of danger; and the land is wide, and God has given it into your hands: a place where there is everything on earth for man’s needs.

11So six hundred men of the Danites from Zorah and Eshtaol went out armed with instruments of war.

12And they went up and put up their tents in Kiriath-jearim in Judah: so that place is named Mahaneh-dan to this day. It is to the west of Kiriath-jearim.

13From there they went on to the hill-country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.

14Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the country of Laish, said to their brothers, Have you knowledge that in these houses there is an ephod and family gods and a pictured image and a metal image? So now you see what to do.

15And turning from their road they came to the house of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and said to him, Is it well with you?

16And the six hundred armed men of the Danites took their places by the doorway.

17Then the five men who had gone to make a search through the land, went in and took the pictured image and the ephod and the family gods and the metal image; and the priest was by the doorway with the six hundred armed men.

18And when they went into Micah’s house and took out the pictured image and the ephod and the family gods and the metal image, the priest said to them, What are you doing?

19And they said to him, Be quiet; say nothing, and come with us and be our father and priest; is it better for you to be priest to one man’s house or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?

20Then the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod and the family gods and the pictured image and went with the people.

21So they went on their way again, putting the little ones and the oxen and the goods in front of them.

22When they had gone some way from the house of Micah, the men from the houses near Micah’s house came together and overtook the children of Dan,

23Crying out to them. And the Danites, turning round, said to Micah, What is your trouble, that you have taken up arms?

24And he said, You have taken my gods which I made, and my priest, and have gone away; what is there for me now? Why then do you say to me, What is your trouble?

25And the children of Dan said to him, Say no more, or men of bitter spirit may make an attack on you, causing loss of your life and the lives of your people.

26Then the children of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were stronger than he, he went back to his house.

27And they took that which Micah had made, and his priest, and came to Laish, to a people living quietly and without thought of danger, and they put them to the sword without mercy, burning down their town.

28And they had no saviour, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with Aram; and it was in the valley which is the property of Beth-rehob. And building up the town again they took it for their living-place.

29And they gave the town the name of Dan, after Dan their father, who was the son of Israel: though the town had been named Laish at first.

30(And the children of Dan put up the pictured image for themselves; and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of the Danites till the day when the ark was taken prisoner.)

31And they put up for themselves the image which Micah had made, and it was there all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Psalms 43

1Be my judge, O God, supporting my cause against a nation without religion; O keep me from the false and evil man.

2You are the God of my strength; why have you put me from you? why do I go in sorrow because of the attacks of my haters?

3O send out your light and your true word; let them be my guide: let them take me to your holy hill, and to your tents.

4Then I will go up to the altar of God, to the God of my joy; I will be glad and give praise to you on an instrument of music, O God, my God.

5Why are you crushed down, O my soul? and why are you troubled in me? put your hope in God, for I will again give him praise who is my help and my God.

Acts 21:37-40

37And when Paul was about to be taken into the building, he said to the chief captain, May I say something to you? And he said, Have you a knowledge of Greek?

38Are you by chance the Egyptian who, before this, got the people worked up against the government and took four thousand men of the Assassins out into the waste land?

39But Paul said, I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is not an unimportant town: I make a request to you to let me say a word to the people.

40And when he let him do so, Paul, from the steps, made a sign with his hand to the people, and when they were all quiet, he said to them in the Hebrew language,

Acts 22:1-29

1My brothers and fathers, give ear to the story of my life which I now put before you.

2And, hearing him talking in the Hebrew language, they became the more quiet, and he said,

3I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia by birth, but I had my education in this town at the feet of Gamaliel, being trained in the keeping of every detail of the law of our fathers; given up to the cause of God with all my heart, as you are today.

4And I made attacks on this Way, even to death, taking men and women and putting them in prison.

5Of which the high priest will be a witness, and all the rulers, from whom I had letters to the brothers; and I went into Damascus, to take those who were there as prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment.

6And it came about that while I was on my journey, coming near to Damascus, about the middle of the day, suddenly I saw a great light from heaven shining round me.

7And when I went down on the earth, a voice came to my ears saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly?

8And I, answering, said, Who are you; Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are attacking.

9And those who were with me saw the light, but the voice of him who was talking to me came not to their ears.

10And I said, What have I to do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Get up, and go into Damascus; and it will be made clear to you what you have to do.

11And because I was unable to see because of the glory of that light, those who were with me took me by the hand, and so I came to Damascus.

12And one Ananias, a God-fearing man, who kept the law, and of whom all the Jews in that place had a high opinion,

13Came to my side and said, Brother Saul, let your eyes be open. And in that very hour I was able to see him.

14And he said, You have been marked out by the God of our fathers to have knowledge of his purpose, and to see the Upright One and to give ear to the words of his mouth.

15For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and of what has come to your ears.

16And now, why are you waiting? get up, and have baptism, for the washing away of your sins, giving worship to his name.

17And it came about that when I had come back to Jerusalem, while I was at prayer in the Temple, my senses became more than naturally clear,

18And I saw him saying to me, Go out of Jerusalem straight away because they will not give hearing to your witness about me.

19And I said, Lord, they themselves have knowledge that I went through the Synagogues putting in prison and whipping all those who had faith in you:

20And when Stephen your witness was put to death, I was there, giving approval, and looking after the clothing of those who put him to death.

21And he said to me, Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.

22And they gave him a hearing as far as this word; then with loud voices they said, Away with this man from the earth; it is not right for him to be living.

23And while they were crying out, and pulling off their clothing, and sending dust into the air,

24The chief captain gave orders for him to be taken into the army building, saying that he would put him to the test by whipping, so that he might have knowledge of the reason why they were crying out so violently against him.

25And when they had put leather bands round him, Paul said to the captain who was present, Is it the law for you to give blows to a man who is a Roman and has not been judged?

26And hearing this, the man went to the chief captain and gave him an account of it, saying, What are you about to do? for this man is a Roman.

27And the chief captain came to him and said, Give me an answer, are you a Roman? And he said, Yes.

28And the chief captain said, I got Roman rights for myself at a great price. And Paul said, But I had them by birth.

29Then those who were about to put him to the test went away: and the chief captain was in fear, seeing that he was a Roman, and that he had put chains on him.

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30

Apr

April 30

Joshua 20

1And the Lord said to Joshua,

2Say to the children of Israel, Let certain towns be marked out as safe places, as I said to you by the mouth of Moses,

3So that any man who in error and without design has taken the life of another, may go in flight to them: and they will be safe places for you from him who has the right of punishment for blood.

4And if anyone goes in flight to one of those towns, and comes into the public place of the town, and puts his cause before the responsible men of the town, they will take him into the town and give him a place among them where he may be safe.

5And if the one who has the right of punishment comes after him, they are not to give the taker of life up to him; because he was the cause of his neighbour’s death without designing it and not in hate.

6And he is to go on living in that town till he has to come before the meeting of the people to be judged; (till the death of him who is high priest at that time:) then the taker of life may come back to his town and to his house, to the town from which he had gone in flight.

7So they made selection of Kedesh in Galilee in the hill-country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (which is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah.

8And on the east side of Jordan at Jericho, they made selection of Bezer in the waste land, in the table-land, out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.

9These were the towns marked out for all the children of Israel and for the man from a strange country living among them, so that anyone causing the death of another in error, might go in flight there, and not be put to death by him who has the right of punishment for blood till he had come before the meeting of the people.

Joshua 21

1Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel;

2And said to them in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, The Lord gave orders by Moses that we were to have towns for living in, with their grass-lands for our cattle.

3And the children of Israel out of their heritage gave to the Levites these towns with their grass-lands, by the order of the Lord.

4And the heritage came out for the families of the Kohathites: the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

5The rest of the children of Kohath by their families were given ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim and Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

6The children of Gershon by their families were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar and Asher and Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh which was in Bashan.

7The children of Merari by their families were given twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Zebulun.

8All these towns with their grass-lands the children of Israel gave by the decision of the Lord to the Levites, as the Lord had given orders by Moses.

9From the tribes of the children of Judah and the children of Simeon they gave these towns, listed here by name:

10These were for the children of Aaron among the families of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi: for they came first in the distribution.

11They gave them Kiriath-arba, the town of Arba, the father of Anak, (which is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah, with its grass-lands.

12But the open country round the town, and its unwalled places, they gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as his property.

13And to the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Libnah with its grass-lands;

14And Jattir with its grass-lands, and Eshtemoa with its grass-lands;

15And Holon with its grass-lands, and Debir with its grass-lands;

16And Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their grass-lands; nine towns from those two tribes.

17And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave Gibeon and Geba with their grass-lands;

18Anathoth and Almon with their grass-lands, four towns.

19Thirteen towns with their grass-lands were given to the children of Aaron, the priests.

20The rest of the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim.

21And they gave them Shechem with its grass-lands in the hill-country of Ephraim, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Gezer with its grass-lands;

22And Kibzaim and Beth-horon with their grass-lands, four towns.

23And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon with their grass-lands;

24Aijalon and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, four towns.

25And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, two towns.

26All the towns of the rest of the families of the children of Kohath were ten with their grass-lands.

27And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Ashtaroth with its grass-lands, two towns.

28And from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and Daberath with their grass-lands;

29Jarmuth and En-gannim with their grass-lands, four towns.

30And from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon, with their grass-lands:

31Helkath and Rehob with their grass-lands, four towns.

32And from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Hammoth-dor and Kartan with their grass-lands, three towns.

33All the towns of the Gershonites with their families were thirteen with their grass-lands.

34And to the rest of the Levites, that is, the families of the children of Merari, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah with their grass-lands;

35Dimnah and Nahalal with their grass-lands, four towns.

36And from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and Jahaz with their grass-lands;

37Kedemoth and Mephaath with their grass-lands, four towns.

38And from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Mahanaim with their grass-lands;

39Heshbon and Jazer with their grass-lands, four towns.

40All these towns were given to the children of Merari by their families, that is, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their heritage was twelve towns.

41All the towns of the Levites, among the heritage of the children of Israel, were forty-eight towns with their grass-lands.

42Every one of these towns had grass-lands round it.

43So the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he gave by oath to their fathers; so it became their heritage and their living-place.

44And the Lord gave them peace on every side, as he had said to their fathers: all those who were against them gave way before them, for the Lord gave them all up into their hands.

45The Lord kept faith with the house of Israel about all the good which he said he would do for them, and all his words came true.

Job 30

1But now those who are younger than I make sport of me; those whose fathers I would not have put with the dogs of my flocks.

2Of what use is the strength of their hands to me? all force is gone from them.

3They are wasted for need of food, biting the dry earth; their only hope of life is in the waste land.

4They are pulling off the salt leaves from the brushwood, and making a meal of roots.

5They are sent out from among their townsmen, men are crying after them as thieves

6They have to get a resting-place in the hollows of the valleys, in holes of the earth and rocks.

7They make noises like asses among the brushwood; they get together under the thorns.

8They are sons of shame, and of men without a name, who have been forced out of the land.

9And now I have become their song, and I am a word of shame to them.

10I am disgusting to them; they keep away from me, and put marks of shame on me.

11For he has made loose the cord of my bow, and put me to shame; he has sent down my flag to the earth before me.

12The lines of his men of war put themselves in order, and make high their ways of destruction against me:

13They have made waste my roads, with a view to my destruction; his bowmen come round about me;

14As through a wide broken place in the wall they come on, I am overturned by the shock of their attack.

15Fears have come on me; my hope is gone like the wind, and my well-being like a cloud.

16But now my soul is turned to water in me, days of trouble overtake me:

17The flesh is gone from my bones, and they give me no rest; there is no end to my pains.

18With great force he takes a grip of my clothing, pulling me by the neck of my coat.

19Truly God has made me low, even to the earth, and I have become like dust.

20You give no answer to my cry, and take no note of my prayer.

21You have become cruel to me; the strength of your hand is hard on me.

22Lifting me up, you make me go on the wings of the wind; I am broken up by the storm.

23For I am certain that you will send me back to death, and to the meeting-place ordered for all living.

24Has not my hand been stretched out in help to the poor? have I not been a saviour to him in his trouble?

25Have I not been weeping for the crushed? and was not my soul sad for him who was in need?

26For I was looking for good, and evil came; I was waiting for light, and it became dark.

27My feelings are strongly moved, and give me no rest; days of trouble have overtaken me.

28I go about in dark clothing, uncomforted; I get up in the public place, crying out for help.

29I have become a brother to the jackals, and go about in the company of ostriches.

30My skin is black and dropping off me; and my bones are burning with the heat of my disease.

31And my music has been turned to sorrow, and the sound of my pipe into the noise of weeping.

Acts 13:26-52

26My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those among you who have the fear of God, to us the word of this salvation is sent.

27For the men of Jerusalem and their rulers, having no knowledge of him, or of the sayings of the prophets which come to their ears every Sabbath day, gave effect to them by judging him.

28And though no cause of death was seen in him, they made a request to Pilate that he might be put to death.

29And when they had done all the things said in the Writings about him, they took him down from the tree, and put him in the place of the dead.

30But God gave him back from the dead:

31And for a number of days he was seen by those who came with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses before the people.

32And we are giving you the good news of the undertaking made to the fathers,

33Which God has now put into effect for our children, by sending Jesus; as it says in the second Psalm, You are my Son; this day I have given you being.

34And about his coming back from the dead, never again to go to destruction, he has said these words, I will give you the holy and certain mercies of David.

35Because he says in another Psalm, You will not let your Holy One see destruction.

36Now David, having done God’s work for his generation, went to sleep, and was put with his fathers, and his body came to destruction:

37But he, who was lifted up by God, did not see destruction.

38And so, let it be clear to you, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is offered to you:

39And through him everyone who has faith is made free from all those things, from which the law of Moses was not able to make you free.

40So take care that these words of the prophets do not come true for you;

41See, you doubters, have wonder and come to your end; for I will do a thing in your days to which you will not give belief, even if it is made clear to you.

42And when they went out, they made a request that these words might be said to them again on the Sabbath after.

43Now when the meeting was ended, a number of the Jews and of the God-fearing Gentiles who had become Jews, went after Paul and Barnabas: who put before them how important it was to keep on in the grace of God.

44And on the Sabbath after, almost all the town came together to give hearing to the word of God.

45But when the Jews saw such a great number of people, they were full of envy and said evil words against Paul’s preaching.

46Then Paul and Barnabas without fear said, It was necessary for the word of God to be given to you first; but because you will have nothing to do with it, and have no desire for eternal life, it will now be offered to the Gentiles.

47For so the Lord has given us orders, saying, I have given you for a light to the Gentiles so that you may be for salvation to the ends of the earth.

48And the Gentiles, hearing this, were glad and gave glory to the word of God: and those marked out by God for eternal life had faith.

49And the word of the Lord went through all the country.

50But the Jews, working up the feelings of the God-fearing women of high position and of the chief men of the town, got an attack started against Paul and Barnabas, driving them out of those parts.

51But they, shaking off the dust of that place from their feet, came to Iconium.

52And the disciples were full of joy and of the Holy Spirit.

24 days ago Short URL Comments

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17

Apr

April 17

Deuteronomy 28

1Now if you give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and keep with care all these orders which I have given you today, then the Lord your God will put you high over all the nations of the earth:

2And all these blessings will come on you and overtake you, if your ears are open to the voice of the Lord your God.

3A blessing will be on you in the town, and a blessing in the field.

4A blessing will be on the fruit of your body, and on the fruit of your land, on the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herd, and the young of your flock.

5A blessing will be on your basket and on your bread-basin.

6A blessing will be on your coming in and on your going out.

7By the power of the Lord, those who take arms against you will be overcome before you: they will come out against you one way, and will go in flight from you seven ways.

8The Lord will send his blessing on your store-houses and on everything to which you put your hand: his blessing will be on you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

9The Lord will keep you as a people holy to himself, as he has said to you in his oath, if you keep the orders of the Lord your God and go on walking in his ways.

10And all the peoples of the earth will see that the name of the Lord is on you, and they will go in fear of you.

11And the Lord will make you fertile in every good thing, in the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your cattle, and the fruit of your fields, in the land which the Lord, by his oath to your fathers, said he would give you.

12Opening his store-house in heaven, the Lord will send rain on your land at the right time, blessing all the work of your hands: other nations will make use of your wealth, and you will have no need of theirs.

13The Lord will make you the head and not the tail; and you will ever have the highest place, if you give ear to the orders of the Lord your God which I give you today, to keep and to do them;

14Not turning away from any of the orders which I give you today, to the right hand or to the left, or going after any other gods to give them worship.

15But if you do not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and take care to do all his orders and his laws which I give you today, then all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

16You will be cursed in the town and cursed in the field.

17A curse will be on your basket and on your bread-basin.

18A curse will be on the fruit of your body, and on the fruit of your land, on the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.

19You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

20The Lord will send on you cursing and trouble and punishment in everything to which you put your hand, till sudden destruction overtakes you; because of your evil ways in which you have been false to me.

21The Lord will send disease after disease on you, till you have been cut off by death from the land to which you are going.

22The Lord will send wasting disease, and burning pain, and flaming heat against you, keeping back the rain till your land is waste and dead; so will it be till your destruction is complete.

23And the heaven over your heads will be brass, and the earth under you hard as iron.

24The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust, sending it down on you from heaven till your destruction is complete.

25The Lord will let you be overcome by your haters: you will go out against them one way, and you will go in flight before them seven ways: you will be the cause of fear among all the kingdoms of the earth.

26Your bodies will be meat for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth; there will be no one to send them away.

27The Lord will send on you the disease of Egypt, and other sorts of skin diseases which nothing will make well.

28He will make your minds diseased, and your eyes blind, and your hearts wasted with fear:

29You will go feeling your way when the sun is high, like a blind man for whom all is dark, and nothing will go well for you: you will be crushed and made poor for ever, and you will have no saviour.

30You will take a wife, but another man will have the use of her: the house which your hands have made will never be your resting-place: you will make a vine-garden, and never take the fruit of it.

31Your ox will be put to death before your eyes, but its flesh will not be your food: your ass will be violently taken away before your face, and will not be given back to you: your sheep will be given to your haters, and there will be no saviour for you.

32Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people, and your eyes will be wasted away with looking and weeping for them all the day: and you will have no power to do anything.

33The fruit of your land and all the work of your hands will be food for a nation which is strange to you and to your fathers; you will only be crushed down and kept under for ever:

34So that the things which your eyes have to see will send you out of your minds.

35The Lord will send a skin disease, attacking your knees and your legs, bursting out from your feet to the top of your head, so that nothing will make you well.

36And you, and the king whom you have put over you, will the Lord take away to a nation strange to you and to your fathers; there you will be servants to other gods of wood and stone.

37And you will become a wonder and a name of shame among all the nations where the Lord will take you.

38You will take much seed out into the field, and get little in; for the locust will get it.

39You will put in vines and take care of them, but you will get no wine or grapes from them; for they will be food for worms.

40Your land will be full of olive-trees, but there will be no oil for the comfort of your body; for your olive-tree will give no fruit.

41You will have sons and daughters, but they will not be yours; for they will go away prisoners into a strange land.

42All your trees and the fruit of your land will be the locust’s.

43The man from a strange land who is living among you will be lifted up higher and higher over you, while you go down lower and lower.

44He will let you have his wealth at interest, and will have no need of yours: he will be the head and you the tail.

45And all these curses will come after you and overtake you, till your destruction is complete; because you did not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, or keep his laws and his orders which he gave you:

46These things will come on you and on your seed, to be a sign and a wonder for ever;

47Because you did not give honour to the Lord your God, worshipping him gladly, with joy in your hearts on account of all your wealth of good things;

48For this cause you will become servants to those whom the Lord your God will send against you, without food and drink and clothing, and in need of all things: and he will put a yoke of iron on your neck till he has put an end to you.

49The Lord will send a nation against you from the farthest ends of the earth, coming with the flight of an eagle; a nation whose language is strange to you;

50A hard-faced nation, who will have no respect for the old or mercy for the young:

51He will take the fruit of your cattle and of your land till death puts an end to you: he will let you have nothing of your grain or wine or oil or any of the increase of your cattle or the young of your flock, till he has made your destruction complete.

52Your towns will be shut in by his armies, till your high walls, in which you put your faith, have come down: his armies will be round your towns, through all your land which the Lord your God has given you.

53And your food will be the fruit of your body, the flesh of the sons and daughters which the Lord your God has given you; because of your bitter need and the cruel grip of your haters.

54That man among you who is soft and used to comfort will be hard and cruel to his brother, and to his dear wife, and to of those his children who are still living;

55And will not give to any of them the flesh of his children which will be his food because he has no other; in the cruel grip of your haters on all your towns.

56The most soft and delicate of your women, who would not so much as put her foot on the earth, so delicate is she, will be hard-hearted to her husband and to her son and to her daughter;

57And to her baby newly come to birth, and to the children of her body; for having no other food, she will make a meal of them secretly, because of her bitter need and the cruel grip of your haters on all your towns.

58If you will not take care to do all the words of this law, recorded in this book, honouring that name of glory and of fear, THE LORD YOUR GOD;

59Then the Lord your God will make your punishment, and the punishment of your seed, a thing to be wondered at; great punishments and cruel diseases stretching on through long years.

60He will send on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which were a cause of fear to you, and they will take you in their grip.

61And all the diseases and the pains not recorded in the book of this law will the Lord send on you till your destruction is complete.

62And you will become a very small band, though your numbers were like the stars of heaven; because you did not give ear to the voice of the Lord your God.

63And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and increasing you, so the Lord will take pleasure in cutting you off and causing your destruction, and you will be uprooted from the land which you are about to take as your heritage.

64And the Lord will send you wandering among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other: there you will be servants to other gods, of wood and stone, gods of which you and your fathers had no knowledge.

65And even among these nations there will be no peace for you, and no rest for your feet: but the Lord will give you there a shaking heart and wasting eyes and weariness of soul:

66Your very life will be hanging in doubt before you, and day and night will be dark with fears, and nothing in life will be certain:

67In the morning you will say, If only it was evening! And at evening you will say, If only morning would come! Because of the fear in your hearts and the things which your eyes will see.

68And the Lord will take you back to Egypt again in ships, by the way of which I said to you, You will never see it again: there you will be offering yourselves as men-servants and women-servants to your haters for a price, and no man will take you.

Job 17

1My spirit is broken, my days are ended, the last resting-place is ready for me.

2Truly, those who make sport of me are round about me, and my eyes become dark because of their bitter laughing.

3Be pleased, now, to be responsible for me to yourself; for there is no other who will put his hand in mine.

4You have kept their hearts from wisdom: for this cause you will not give them honour.

5As for him who is false to his friend for a reward, light will be cut off from the eyes of his children.

6He has made me a word of shame to the peoples; I have become a mark for their sport.

7My eyes have become dark because of my pain, and all my body is wasted to a shade.

8The upright are surprised at this, and he who has done no wrong is troubled because of the evil-doers.

9Still the upright keeps on his way, and he who has clean hands gets new strength.

10But come back, now, all of you, come; and I will not see a wise man among you.

11My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the desires of my heart.

12They are changing night into day; they say, The light is near the dark.

13If I am waiting for the underworld as my house, if I have made my bed in the dark;

14If I say to the earth, You are my father; and to the worm, My mother and my sister;

15Where then is my hope? and who will see my desire?

16Will they go down with me into the underworld? Will we go down together into the dust?

Acts 6

1Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was increasing, protests were made by the Greek Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were not taken care of in the distribution of food every day.

2And the Apostles sent for all the disciples and said, It is not right for us to give up preaching the word of God in order to make distribution of food.

3Take then from among you seven men of good name, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, to whom we may give control of this business.

4Then we will give all our time to prayer and the teaching of the word.

5And this saying was pleasing to all of them: and they made selection of Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas of Antioch, who had become a Jew:

6These they took to the Apostles, who, after prayer, put their hands on them.

7And the word of God was increasing in power; and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem became very great, and a great number of priests were in agreement with the faith.

8And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

9But some of those who were of the Synagogue named that of the Libertines, and some of the men of Cyrene and of Alexandria and those from Cilicia and Asia, had arguments with Stephen.

10But they were not able to get the better of him, for his words were full of wisdom and of the Spirit.

11Then they got men to say, He has said evil against Moses and against God, in our hearing.

12And the people, with the rulers and the scribes, were moved against him, and they came and took him before the Sanhedrin,

13And they got false witnesses who said, This man is for ever saying things against this holy place and against the law:

14For he has said in our hearing that this Jesus of Nazareth will put this place to destruction and make changes in the rules which were handed down to us by Moses.

15And all those who were in the Sanhedrin, looking at him, saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

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16

Apr

April 16

Deuteronomy 25

1If there is an argument between men and they go to law with one another, let the judges give their decision for the upright, and against the wrongdoer.

2And if the wrongdoer is to undergo punishment by whipping, the judge will give orders for him to go down on his face and be whipped before him, the number of the blows being in relation to his crime.

3He may be given forty blows, not more; for if more are given, your brother may be shamed before you.

4Do not keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it.

5If brothers are living together and one of them, at his death, has no son, the wife of the dead man is not to be married outside the family to another man: let her husband’s brother go in to her and make her his wife, doing as it is right for a brother-in-law to do.

6Then the first male child she has will take the rights of the brother who is dead, so that his name may not come to an end in Israel.

7But if the man says he will not take his brother’s wife, then let the wife go to the responsible men of the town, and say, My husband’s brother will not keep his brother’s name living in Israel; he will not do what it is right for a husband’s brother to do.

8Then the responsible men of the town will send for the man, and have talk with him: and if he still says, I will not take her;

9Then his brother’s wife is to come to him, before the responsible men of the town, and take his shoe off his foot, and put shame on him, and say, So let it be done to the man who will not take care of his brother’s name.

10And his family will be named in Israel, The house of him whose shoe has been taken off.

11If two men are fighting, and the wife of one of them, coming to the help of her husband, takes the other by the private parts;

12Her hand is to be cut off; have no pity on her.

13Do not have in your bag different weights, a great and a small;

14Or in your house different measures, a great and a small.

15But have a true weight and a true measure: so that your life may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

16For all who do such things, and all whose ways are not upright, are disgusting to the Lord your God.

17Keep in mind what Amalek did to you on your way from Egypt;

18How, meeting you on the way, he made an attack on you when you were tired and without strength, cutting off all the feeble ones at the end of your line; and the fear of God was not in him.

19So when the Lord your God has given you rest from all who are against you on every side, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, see to it that the memory of Amalek is cut off from the earth; keep this in mind.

Deuteronomy 26

1Now when you have come into the land which the Lord is giving you for your heritage, and you have made it yours and are living in it;

2You are to take a part of the first-fruits of the earth, which you get from the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket, and go to the place marked out by the Lord your God, as the resting-place of his name.

3And you are to come to him who is priest at that time, and say to him, I give witness today before the Lord your God, that I have come into the land which the Lord made an oath to our fathers to give us.

4Then the priest will take the basket from your hand and put it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.

5And these are the words which you will say before the Lord your God: My father was a wandering Aramaean, and he went down with a small number of people into Egypt; there he became a great and strong nation:

6And the Egyptians were cruel to us, crushing us under a hard yoke:

7And our cry went up to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord’s ear was open to the voice of our cry, and his eyes took note of our grief and the crushing weight of our work:

8And the Lord took us out of Egypt with a strong hand and a stretched-out arm, with works of power and signs and wonders:

9And he has been our guide to this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10So now, I have come here with the first of the fruits of the earth which you, O Lord, have given me. Then you will put it down before the Lord your God and give him worship:

11And you will have joy in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and to your family; and the Levite, and the man from a strange land who is with you, will take part in your joy.

12When you have taken out a tenth from the tenth of all your produce in the third year, which is the year when this has to be done, give it to the Levite, and the man from a strange land, and the child without a father, and the widow, so that they may have food in your towns and be full;

13And say before the Lord your God, I have taken all the holy things out of my house and have given them to the Levite, and the man from a strange land, and him who has no father, and the widow, as you have given me orders: I have kept in mind all your orders, in nothing have I gone against them:

14No part of these things has been used for food in a time of weeping, or put away when I was unclean, or given for the dead: I have given ear to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done all you have given me orders to do.

15So, looking down from your holy place in heaven, send your blessing on your people Israel and on the land which you have given us, as you said in your oath to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

16Today the Lord your God gives you orders to keep all these laws and decisions: so then keep and do them with all your heart and all your soul.

17Today you have given witness that the Lord is your God, and that you will go in his ways and keep his laws and his orders and his decisions and give ear to his voice:

18And the Lord has made it clear this day that you are a special people to him, as he gave you his word; and that you are to keep all his orders;

19And that he will make you high over all the nations he has made, in praise, in name, and in honour, and that you are to be a holy people to the Lord your God as he has said.

Deuteronomy 27

1Then Moses and the responsible men of Israel gave the people these orders: Keep all the orders which I have given you this day;

2And on the day when you go over Jordan into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, put up great stones, coating them with building-paste,

3And writing on them all the words of this law, after you have gone over; so that you may take the heritage which the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has said.

4And when you have gone over Jordan, you are to put up these stones, as I have said to you today, in Mount Ebal, and have them coated with building-paste.

5There you are to make an altar to the Lord your God, of stones on which no iron instrument has been used.

6You are to make the altar of the Lord your God of uncut stones; offering on it burned offerings to the Lord your God:

7And you are to make your peace-offerings, feasting there with joy before the Lord your God.

8And put on the stones all the words of this law, writing them very clearly.

9Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, said to all Israel, Be quiet and give ear, O Israel; today you have become the people of the Lord your God.

10For this cause you are to give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and do his orders and his laws which I give you this day.

11That same day Moses said to the people,

12These are to take their places on Mount Gerizim for blessing the people when you have gone over Jordan: Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Joseph and Benjamin;

13And these are to be on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

14Then the Levites are to say in a loud voice to all the men of Israel,

15Cursed is the man who makes any image of wood or stone or metal, disgusting to the Lord, the work of man’s hands, and puts it up in secret. And let all the people say, So be it.

16Cursed is he who does not give honour to his father or mother. And let all the people say, So be it.

17Cursed is he who takes his neighbour’s landmark from its place. And let all the people say, So be it.

18Cursed is he by whom the blind are turned out of the way. And let all the people say, So be it.

19Cursed is he who gives a wrong decision in the cause of a man from a strange land, or of one without a father, or of a widow. And let all the people say, So be it.

20Cursed is he who has sex relations with his father’s wife, for he has put shame on his father. And let all the people say, So be it.

21Cursed is he who has sex relations with any sort of beast. And let all the people say, So be it.

22Cursed is he who has sex relations with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother. And let all the people say, So be it.

23Cursed is he who has sex relations with his mother-in-law. And let all the people say, So be it.

24Cursed is he who takes his neighbour’s life secretly. And let all the people say, So be it.

25Cursed is he who for a reward puts to death one who has done no wrong. And let all the people say, So be it.

26Cursed is he who does not take this law to heart to do it. And let all the people say, So be it.

Job 16

1And Job made answer and said,

2Such things have frequently come to my ears: you are comforters who only give trouble.

3May words which are like the wind be stopped? or what is troubling you to make answer to them?

4It would not be hard for me to say such things if your souls were in my soul’s place; joining words together against you, and shaking my head at you:

5I might give you strength with my mouth, and not keep back the comfort of my lips.

6If I say what is in my mind, my pain becomes no less: and if I keep quiet, how much of it goes from me?

7But now he has overcome me with weariness and fear, and I am in the grip of all my trouble.

8It has come up as a witness against me, and the wasting of my flesh makes answer to my face.

9I am broken by his wrath, and his hate has gone after me; he has made his teeth sharp against me: my haters are looking on me with cruel eyes;

10Their mouths are open wide against me; the blows of his bitter words are falling on my face; all of them come together in a mass against me.

11God gives me over to the power of sinners, sending me violently into the hands of evil-doers.

12I was in comfort, but I have been broken up by his hands; he has taken me by the neck, shaking me to bits; he has put me up as a mark for his arrows.

13His bowmen come round about me; their arrows go through my body without mercy; my life is drained out on the earth.

14I am broken with wound after wound; he comes rushing on me like a man of war.

15I have made haircloth the clothing of my skin, and my horn is rolled in the dust.

16My face is red with weeping, and my eyes are becoming dark;

17Though my hands have done no violent acts, and my prayer is clean.

18O earth, let not my blood be covered, and let my cry have no resting-place!

19Even now my witness is in heaven, and the supporter of my cause is on high.

20My friends make sport of me; to God my eyes are weeping,

21So that he may give decision for a man in his cause with God, and between a son of man and his neighbour.

22For in a short time I will take the journey from which I will not come back.

Acts 5:17-42

17But the high priest and those who were with him (the Sadducees) were full of envy,

18And they took the Apostles and put them in the common prison.

19But in the night an angel of the Lord, opening the doors of the prison, took them out and said,

20Go, take your place in the Temple and give the people all the teaching about this Life.

21And hearing this, they went into the Temple at dawn, and were teaching. But the high priest and those who were with him got together the Sanhedrin and the representatives of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to get them.

22But the men who were sent saw that they were not in the prison, and came back with the news,

23Saying, The doors of the prison were safely shut, and the keepers were at the doors, but when they were open, there was nobody inside.

24Now, at these words, the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were greatly troubled about what might be the end of this business.

25And someone came and said to them, The men, whom you put in prison, are in the Temple teaching the people.

26Then the captain and some of the police went and took them, but not violently, for fear that they might be stoned by the people.

27And they took them into the Sanhedrin, and the high priest said to them,

28We gave you very clear orders not to give teaching in this name: and now Jerusalem is full of your teaching, and you are attempting to make us responsible for this man’s death.

29But Peter and the Apostles, answering, said, We have to do the orders of God, not of man.

30The God of our fathers gave Jesus back to life, whom you had put to death, hanging him on a tree.

31Him God has put on high at his right hand, as a Ruler and a Saviour, to give to Israel a change of heart and forgiveness of sins.

32And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep his laws.

33But when these words came to their ears, they were cut to the heart, and had a mind to put them to death.

34But one of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a man of learning in the law, of whom all the people had a high opinion, got up and made a suggestion for the men to be put outside for a little time.

35And he said to them, Men of Israel, take care what you do about these men.

36For before this there was Theudas, who said he was someone important, to whom about four hundred men gave their support: he was put to death, and his band was broken up and came to nothing.

37After this man, there was Judas of Galilee, at the time of the numbering, and some of the people went after him: he was put to death, and all his supporters were put to flight.

38And now I say to you, Do nothing to these men, but let them be: for if this teaching or this work is of men, it will come to nothing:

39But if it is of God, you will not be able to overcome them, and you are in danger of fighting against God.

40And he seemed to them to be right: and they sent for the Apostles, and, after having them whipped and giving them orders to give no teaching in the name of Jesus, they let them go.

41So they went away from the Sanhedrin, happy to undergo shame for the Name.

42And every day, in the Temple and privately, they went on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

38 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

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12

Apr

April 12

Deuteronomy 17

1No ox or sheep which has a mark on it or is damaged in any way may be offered to the Lord your God: for that is disgusting to the Lord your God.

2If there is any man or woman among you, in any of the towns which the Lord your God gives you, who does evil in the eyes of the Lord your God, sinning against his agreement,

3By becoming a servant of other gods and worshipping them or the sun or the moon or all the stars of heaven, against my orders;

4If word of this comes to your ears, then let this thing be looked into with care, and if there is no doubt that it is true, and such evil has been done in Israel;

5Then you are to take the man or woman who has done the evil to the public place of your town, and they are to be stoned with stones till they are dead.

6On the word of two or three witnesses, a man may be given the punishment of death; but he is not to be put to death on the word of one witness.

7The hands of the witnesses will be the first to put him to death, and after them the hands of all the people. So you are to put away the evil from among you.

8If you are not able to give a decision as to who is responsible for a death, or who is right in a cause, or who gave the first blow in a fight, and there is a division of opinion about it in your town: then go to the place marked out by the Lord your God;

9And come before the priests, the Levites, or before him who is judge at the time: and they will go into the question and give you a decision:

10And you are to be guided by the decision they give in the place named by the Lord, and do whatever they say:

11Acting in agreement with their teaching and the decision they give: not turning to one side or the other from the word they have given you.

12And any man who, in his pride, will not give ear to the priest whose place is there before the Lord your God, or to the judge, is to be put to death: you are to put away the evil from Israel.

13And all the people, hearing of it, will be full of fear and put away their pride.

14When you have come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken it for a heritage and are living in it, if it is your desire to have a king over you, like the other nations round about you;

15Then see that you take as your king the man named by the Lord your God: let your king be one of your countrymen, not a man of another nation who is not one of yourselves.

16And he is not to get together a great army of horses for himself, or make the people go back to Egypt to get horses for him: because the Lord has said, You will never again go back that way.

17And he is not to have a great number of wives, for fear that his heart may be turned away; or great wealth of silver and gold.

18And when he has taken his place on the seat of his kingdom, he is to make in a book a copy of this law, from that which the priests, the Levites, have in their care:

19And it is to be with him for his reading all the days of his life, so that he may be trained in the fear of the Lord his God to keep and do all the words of this teaching and these laws:

20So that his heart may not be lifted up over his countrymen, and he may not be turned away from the orders, to one side or the other: but that his life and the lives of his children may be long in his kingdom in Israel.

Deuteronomy 18

1The priests, the Levites, that is, all the tribe of Levi, will have no part or heritage with Israel: their food and their heritage will be the offerings of the Lord made by fire.

2And they will have no heritage among their countrymen: the Lord is their heritage, as he has said to them.

3And this is to be the priests’ right: those who make an offering of a sheep or an ox are to give to the priest the top part of the leg and the two sides of the head and the stomach.

4And in addition you are to give him the first of your grain and wine and oil, and the first wool cut from your sheep.

5For he, and his sons after him for ever, have been marked out by the Lord your God from all your tribes, to do the work of priests in the name of the Lord.

6And if a Levite, moved by a strong desire, comes from any town in all Israel where he is living to the place marked out by the Lord;

7Then he will do the work of a priest in the name of the Lord his God, with all his brothers the Levites who are there before the Lord.

8His food will be the same as theirs, in addition to what has come to him as the price of his property.

9When you have come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, do not take as your example the disgusting ways of those nations.

10Let there not be seen among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter go through the fire, or anyone using secret arts, or a maker of strange sounds, or a reader of signs, or any wonder-worker,

11Or anyone using secret force on people, or putting questions to a spirit, or having secret knowledge, or going to the dead for directions.

12For all who do such things are disgusting to the Lord; and because of these disgusting things the Lord your God is driving them out before you.

13You are to be upright in heart before the Lord your God.

14For these nations, whose land you are taking, give attention to readers of signs and to those using secret arts: but the Lord your God will not let you do so.

15The Lord your God will give you a prophet from among your people, like me; you will give ear to him;

16In answer to the request you made to the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the great meeting, when you said, Let not the voice of the Lord my God come to my ears again, and let me not see this great fire any more, or death will overtake me.

17Then the Lord said to me, What they have said is well said.

18I will give them a prophet from among themselves, like you, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he will say to them whatever I give him orders to say.

19And whoever does not give ear to my words which he will say in my name, will be responsible to me.

20But the prophet who takes it on himself to say words in my name which I have not given him orders to say, or who says anything in the name of other gods, will come to his death.

21And if you say in your hearts, How are we to be certain that the word does not come from the Lord?

22When a prophet makes a statement in the name of the Lord, if what he says does not take place and his words do not come true, then his word is not the word of the Lord: the words of the prophet were said in the pride of his heart, and you are to have no fear of him.

Job 12

1And Job made answer and said,

2No doubt you have knowledge, and wisdom will come to an end with you.

3But I have a mind as well as you; I am equal to you: yes, who has not knowledge of such things as these?

4It seems that I am to be as one who is a cause of laughing to his neighbour, one who makes his prayer to God and is answered! the upright man who has done no wrong is to be made sport of!

5In the thought of him who is in comfort there is no respect for one who is in trouble; such is the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

6There is wealth in the tents of those who make destruction, and those by whom God is moved to wrath are safe; even those whose god is their strength.

7But put now a question to the beasts, and get teaching from them; or to the birds of the heaven, and they will make it clear to you;

8Or to the things which go flat on the earth, and they will give you wisdom; and the fishes of the sea will give you news of it.

9Who does not see by all these that the hand of the Lord has done this?

10In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all flesh of man.

11Are not words tested by the ear, even as food is tasted by the mouth?

12Old men have wisdom, and a long life gives knowledge.

13With him there is wisdom and strength; power and knowledge are his.

14Truly, there is no building up of what is pulled down by him; when a man is shut up by him, no one may let him loose.

15Truly, he keeps back the waters and they are dry; he sends them out and the earth is overturned.

16With him are strength and wise designs; he who is guided into error, together with his guide, are in his hands;

17He takes away the wisdom of the wise guides, and makes judges foolish;

18He undoes the chains of kings, and puts his band on them;

19He makes priests prisoners, overturning those in safe positions;

20He makes the words of responsible persons without effect, and takes away the good sense of the old;

21He puts shame on chiefs, and takes away the power of the strong;

22Uncovering deep things out of the dark, and making the deep shade bright;

23Increasing nations, and sending destruction on them; making wide the lands of peoples, and then giving them up.

24He takes away the wisdom of the rulers of the earth, and sends them wandering in a waste where there is no way.

25They go feeling about in the dark without light, wandering without help like those overcome with wine.

Acts 3

1Now Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer;

2And a certain man who from birth had had no power in his legs, was taken there every day, and put down at the door of the Temple which is named Beautiful, requesting money from those who went into the Temple;

3He then, seeing Peter and John going into the Temple, made a request to them.

4And Peter, looking at him, with John, said, Keep your eyes on us.

5And he gave attention to them, hoping to get something from them.

6But Peter said, I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up on your feet.

7And he took him by his right hand, lifting him up; and straight away his feet and the bones of his legs became strong,

8And, jumping up, he got on to his feet and went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and giving praise to God.

9And all the people saw him walking and praising God:

10And they saw that it was the man who made requests for money at the door of the Temple, and they were full of wonder and surprise at what had taken place.

11And while he kept his hands on Peter and John, all the people came running together to the covered way which is named Solomon’s, full of wonder.

12And when Peter saw it he said to the people, You men of Israel, why are you so greatly surprised at this man? or why are you looking at us as if by our power or virtue we had given him the use of his legs?

13The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has given glory to his servant Jesus; whom you gave up, turning your backs on him, when Pilate had made the decision to let him go free.

14But you would have nothing to do with the Holy and Upright One, and made request for a man of blood to be given to you,

15And put to death the Lord of life; whom God gave back from the dead; of which fact we are witnesses.

16And his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and have knowledge of: yes, the faith which is through him has made him well, before you all.

17And now, my brothers, I am conscious that you did this, as did your rulers, without knowledge.

18But the things which God had made clear before, by the mouth of all the prophets, that the Christ would have to undergo, he has put into effect in this way.

19So then, let your hearts be changed and be turned to God, so that your sins may be completely taken away, and times of blessing may come from the Lord;

20And that he may send the Christ who was marked out for you from the first, even Jesus:

21Who is to be kept in heaven till the time when all things are put right, of which God has given word by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been from the earliest times.

22For Moses said, The Lord will give you a prophet from among your people, like me; you will give ear to everything which he will say to you.

23And every soul who does not give attention to that prophet, will be cut off from among the people.

24And all the prophets from Samuel and those who came after, every one of them, gave word of these days.

25You are the sons of the prophets, and of the agreement which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, Through your seed a blessing will come on all the families of the earth.

26To you, first, God sent his servant, blessing you by turning every one of you from his sins.

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11

Apr

April 11

Deuteronomy 15

1At the end of every seven years there is to be a general forgiveness of debt.

2This is how it is to be done: every creditor is to give up his right to whatever he has let his neighbour have; he is not to make his neighbour, his countryman, give it back; because a general forgiveness has been ordered by the Lord.

3A man of another nation may be forced to make payment of his debt, but if your brother has anything of yours, let it go;

4But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will certainly give you his blessing in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage;

5If only you give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and take care to keep all these orders which I give you today.

6For the Lord your God will give you his blessing as he has said: you will let other nations have the use of your money, but you will not make use of theirs; you will be rulers over a number of nations, but they will not be your rulers.

7If in any of your towns in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, there is a poor man, one of your countrymen, do not let your heart be hard or your hand shut to him;

8But let your hand be open to give him the use of whatever he is in need of.

9And see that there is no evil thought in your heart, moving you to say to yourself, The seventh year, the year of forgiveness is near; and so looking coldly on your poor countryman you give him nothing; and he will make an outcry to the Lord against you, and it will be judged as sin in you.

10But it is right for you to give to him, without grief of heart: for because of this, the blessing of the Lord your God will be on all your work and on everything to which you put your hand.

11For there will never be a time when there are no poor in the land; and so I give orders to you, Let your hand be open to your countrymen, to those who are poor and in need in your land.

12If one of your countrymen, a Hebrew man or woman, becomes your servant for a price and does work for you six years, in the seventh year let him go free.

13And when you make him free, do not let him go away with nothing in his hands:

14But give him freely from your flock and from your grain and your wine: in the measure of the wealth which the Lord your God has given you, you are to give to him.

15And keep in mind that you yourself were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God made you free: so I give you this order today.

16But if he says to you, I have no desire to go away from you; because you and your family are dear to him and he is happy with you;

17Then take a sharp-pointed instrument, driving it through his ear into the door, and he will be your servant for ever. And you may do the same for your servant-girl.

18Let it not seem hard to you that you have to send him away free; for he has been working for you for six years, which is twice the regular time for a servant: and the blessing of the Lord your God will be on you in everything you do.

19All the first males to come to birth in your herd and your flock are to be holy to the Lord your God: the first birth of your ox is not to be used for work, the wool of your first lamb is not to be cut.

20But year by year you and all your house are to take a meal of it before the Lord, in the place of his selection.

21But if it has any mark on it, if it is blind or has damaged legs, or if there is anything wrong with it, it may not be offered to the Lord your God.

22It may be used for food in your houses: the unclean and the clean may take of it, as of the gazelle and the roe.

23Only do not take its blood for food, but let it be drained out on the earth like water.

Deuteronomy 16

1Take note of the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God: for in the month of Abib the Lord your God took you out of Egypt by night.

2The Passover offering, from your flock or your herd, is to be given to the Lord your God in the place marked out by him as the resting-place of his name.

3Take no leavened bread with it; for seven days let your food be unleavened bread, that is, the bread of sorrow; for you came out of the land of Egypt quickly: so the memory of that day, when you came out of the land of Egypt, will be with you all your life.

4For seven days let no leaven be used through all your land; and nothing of the flesh which is put to death in the evening of the first day is to be kept through the night till morning.

5The Passover offering is not to be put to death in any of the towns which the Lord your God gives you:

6But in the place marked out by the Lord your God as the resting-place of his name, there you are to put the Passover to death in the evening, at sundown, at that time of the year when you came out of Egypt.

7It is to be cooked and taken as food in the place marked out by the Lord: and in the morning you are to go back to your tents.

8For six days let your food be unleavened bread; and on the seventh day there is to be a holy meeting to the Lord your God; no work is to be done.

9Let seven weeks be numbered from the first day when the grain is cut.

10Then keep the feast of weeks to the Lord your God, with an offering freely given to him from the wealth he has given you:

11Then you are to be glad before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite who is with you, and the man from a strange country, and the child without a father, and the widow, who are living among you, in the place marked out by the Lord your God as a resting-place for his name.

12And you will keep in mind that you were a servant in the land of Egypt: and you will take care to keep all these laws.

13You are to keep the feast of tents for seven days after you have got in all your grain and made your wine:

14You are to keep the feast with joy, you and your son and your daughter, your man-servant and your woman-servant, and the Levite, and the man from a strange country, and the child without a father, and the widow, who are living among you.

15Keep the feast to the Lord your God for seven days, in the place marked out by the Lord: because the blessing of the Lord your God will be on all the produce of your land and all the work of your hands, and you will have nothing but joy.

16Three times in the year let all your males come before the Lord your God in the place named by him; at the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tents: and they are not to come before the Lord with nothing in their hands;

17Every man is to give as he is able, in the measure of the blessing which the Lord your God has given you.

18You are to make judges and overseers in all your towns which the Lord your God gives you, for every tribe: and they are to be upright men, judging the people in righteousness.

19You are not to be moved in your judging by a man’s position, you are not to take rewards; for rewards make the eyes of the wise man blind, and the decisions of the upright false.

20Let righteousness be your guide, so that you may have life, and take for your heritage the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

21Let no holy tree of any sort be planted by the altar of the Lord your God which you will make.

22You are not to put up stone pillars, for they are hated by the Lord your God.

Job 11

1Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,

2Are all these words to go unanswered? and is a man seen to be right because he is full of talk?

3Are your words of pride to make men keep quiet? and are you to make sport, with no one to put you to shame?

4You may say, My way is clean, and I am free from sin in your eyes.

5But if only God would take up the word, opening his lips in argument with you;

6And would make clear to you the secrets of wisdom, and the wonders of his purpose!

7Are you able to take God’s measure, to make discovery of the limits of the Ruler of all?

8They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge;

9Longer in measure than the earth, and wider than the sea.

10If he goes on his way, shutting a man up and putting him to death, who may make him go back from his purpose?

11For in his eyes men are as nothing; he sees evil and takes note of it.

12And so a hollow-minded man will get wisdom, when a young ass of the field gets teaching.

13But if you put your heart right, stretching out your hands to him;

14If you put far away the evil of your hands, and let no wrongdoing have a place in your tent;

15Then truly your face will be lifted up, with no mark of sin, and you will be fixed in your place without fear:

16For your sorrow will go from your memory, like waters flowing away:

17And your life will be brighter than day; though it is dark, it will become like the morning.

18And you will be safe because there is hope; after looking round, you will take your rest in quiet;

19Sleeping with no fear of danger; and men will be desiring to have grace in your eyes;

20But the eyes of the evil-doers will be wasting away; their way of flight is gone, and their only hope is the taking of their last breath.

Acts 2:14-47

14But Peter, getting up, with the eleven, said in a loud voice, O men of Judaea, and all you who are living in Jerusalem, take note of this and give ear to my words.

15For these men are not overcome with wine, as it seems to you, for it is only the third hour of the day;

16But this is the thing which was said by the prophet Joel;

17And it will come about, in the last days, says God, that I will send out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will be prophets, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams:

18And on my men-servants and my women-servants I will send my Spirit, and they will be prophets.

19And wonders will be seen in heaven, and signs on the earth, blood and fire and smoke:

20The sun will become dark and the moon will be turned to blood, before that great day of the Lord comes in glory:

21And whoever makes his prayer to the Lord will have salvation.

22Men of Israel, give ear to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man who had the approval of God, as was made clear to you by the great works and signs and wonders which God did by him among you, as you yourselves have knowledge,

23Him, when he was given up, by the decision and knowledge of God, you put to death on the cross, by the hands of evil men:

24But God gave him back to life, having made him free from the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be overcome by it.

25For David said of him, I saw the Lord before my face at all times, for he is at my right hand, so that I may not be moved:

26And for this cause my heart was glad and my tongue full of joy, and my flesh will be resting in hope:

27For you will not let my soul be in hell and you will not give up your Holy One to destruction.

28You have made me see the ways of life; I will be full of joy when I see your face.

29My brothers, I may say to you openly that David came to his death, and was put in the earth, and his resting-place is with us today.

30But being a prophet, and having in mind the oath which God had given to him, that of the fruit of his body one would take his place as a king,

31He, having knowledge of the future, was talking of the coming again of Christ from the dead, that he was not kept in hell and his body did not see destruction.

32This Jesus God has given back to life, of which we all are witnesses.

33And so, being lifted up to the right hand of God, and having the Father’s word that the Holy Spirit would come, he has sent this thing, which now you see and have knowledge of.

34For David has not gone up into heaven, but says, himself, The Lord said to my Lord, Be seated at my right hand,

35Till I put all those who are against you under your feet.

36For this reason, let all Israel be certain that this Jesus, whom you put to death on the cross, God has made Lord and Christ.

37Now when these words came to their ears their hearts were troubled, and they said to Peter and the other Apostles, Brothers, what are we to do?

38And Peter said, Let your hearts be changed, every one of you, and have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will have the Holy Spirit given to you.

39For the word of God is for you and for your children and for all those who are far off, even all those who may be marked out by the Lord our God.

40And with more such words he gave his witness, offering them salvation and saying, Come out from this evil generation.

41Then those who gave hearing to his words had baptism: and about three thousand souls were joined to them that day.

42And they kept their attention fixed on the Apostles’ teaching and were united together in the taking of broken bread and in prayer.

43But fear came on every soul: and all sorts of wonders and signs were done by the Apostles.

44And all those who were of the faith kept together, and had all things in common;

45And exchanging their goods and property for money, they made division of it among them all, as they had need.

46And day by day, going in agreement together regularly to the Temple and, taking broken bread together in their houses, they took their food with joy and with true hearts,

47Giving praise to God, and having the approval of all the people; and every day the number of those who had salvation was increased by the Lord.

43 days ago Short URL 2 Comments

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10

Apr

April 10

Deuteronomy 13

1If ever you have among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder,

2And the sign or the wonder takes place, and he says to you, Let us go after other gods, which are strange to you, and give them worship;

3Then give no attention to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God is testing you, to see if all the love of your heart and soul is given to him.

4But keep on in the ways of the Lord your God, fearing him and keeping his orders and hearing his voice, worshipping him and being true to him.

5And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams is to be put to death; for his words were said with the purpose of turning you away from the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt and made you free from the prison-house; and of forcing you out of the way in which the Lord your God has given you orders to go. So you are to put away the evil from among you.

6If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife of your heart, or the friend who is as dear to you as your life, working on you secretly says to you, Let us go and give worship to other gods, strange to you and to your fathers;

7Gods of the peoples round about you, near or far, from one end of the earth to the other;

8Do not be guided by him or give attention to him; have no pity on him or mercy, and give him no cover;

9But put him to death without question; let your hand be the first stretched out against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.

10Let him be stoned with stones till he is dead; because it was his purpose to make you false to the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.

11And all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear, and no one will again do such evil as this among you.

12And if word comes to you, in one of the towns which the Lord your God is giving you for your resting-place,

13That good-for-nothing persons have gone out from among you, turning the people of their town from the right way and saying, Let us go and give worship to other gods, of whom you have no knowledge;

14Then let a full search be made, and let questions be put with care; and if it is true and certain that such a disgusting thing has been done among you;

15Then take up arms against the people of that town and give it up to the curse, with all its cattle and everything in it.

16And take all the goods into the middle of its open space, burning the town and all its property with fire as an offering to the Lord your God; it is to be a waste for ever; there is to be no more building there.

17Keep not a thing of what is cursed for yourselves: so the Lord may be turned away from the heat of his wrath, and have mercy on you, and give you increase as he said in his oath to your fathers:

18So long as you give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and keep all his orders which I give you today, and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 14

1You are the children of the Lord your God: you are not to make cuts on your bodies or take off the hair on your brows in honour of the dead;

2For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has taken you to be his special people out of all the nations on the face of the earth.

3No disgusting thing may be your food.

4These are the beasts which you may have for food: the ox, the sheep, and the goat;

5The hart, the gazelle, and the roe, the mountain goat and the pygarg and the antelope and the mountain sheep.

6Any beast which has a division in the horn of its foot and whose food comes back into its mouth to be crushed again, may be used for food.

7But even among these, there are some which may not be used for food: such as the camel, the hare, and the coney, which are unclean to you, because, though their food comes back, the horn of their feet is not parted in two.

8And the pig is unclean to you, because though it has a division in the horn of its foot, its food does not come back; their flesh may not be used for food or their dead bodies touched by you.

9And of the things living in the waters, you may take all those who have wings for swimming with and skins formed of thin plates.

10But any which have no skin-plates or wings for swimming, you may not take; they are unclean for you.

11All clean birds may be used for food.

12But these birds you may not take: the eagle and the gier-eagle and the ospray;

13The falcon and the kite, and birds of that sort;

14Every raven, and all birds of that sort;

15And the ostrich and the night-hawk and the sea-hawk and birds of that sort;

16The little owl and the great owl and the water-hen;

17And the pelican and the vulture and the cormorant;

18The stork and the heron and birds of that sort, and the hoopoe and the bat.

19Every winged thing which goes flat on the earth is unclean to you and may not be used as food.

20But all clean birds you may take.

21You may not have as food anything which has come to a natural death; the man from another country who is living with you may take it for food, or you may get a price for it from one of another nation; for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The young goat is not to be cooked in its mother’s milk.

22Put on one side a tenth of all the increase of your seed, produced year by year.

23And make a feast before the Lord your God, in the place which is to be marked out, where his name will be for ever, of the tenth part of your grain and your wine and your oil, and the first births of your herds and your flocks; so that you may have the fear of the Lord your God in your hearts at all times.

24And if the way is so long that you are not able to take these things to the place marked out by the Lord your God for his name, when he has given you his blessing, because it is far away from you;

25Then let these things be exchanged for money, and, taking the money in your hand, go to the place marked out by the Lord your God for himself;

26And with the money get whatever you have a desire for, oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your soul’s desire may be: and make a feast there before the Lord your God, and be glad, you and all your house;

27And give a thought to the Levite who is living among you, for he has no part or heritage in the land.

28At the end of every three years take a tenth part of all your increase for that year, and put it in store inside your walls:

29And the Levite, because he has no part or heritage in the land, and the man from a strange country, and the child who has no father, and the widow, who are living among you, will come and take food and have enough; and so the blessing of the Lord your God will be on you in everything you do.

Job 10

1My soul is tired of life; I will let my sad thoughts go free in words; my soul will make a bitter outcry.

2I will say to God, Do not put me down as a sinner; make clear to me what you have against me.

3What profit is it to you to be cruel, to give up the work of your hands, looking kindly on the design of evil-doers?

4Have you eyes of flesh, or do you see as man sees?

5Are your days as the days of man, or your years like his,

6That you take note of my sin, searching after my wrongdoing,

7Though you see that I am not an evil-doer; and there is no one who is able to take a man out of your hands?

8Your hands made me, and I was formed by you, but then, changing your purpose, you gave me up to destruction.

9O keep in mind that you made me out of earth; and will you send me back again to dust?

10Was I not drained out like milk, becoming hard like cheese?

11By you I was clothed with skin and flesh, and joined together with bones and muscles.

12You have been kind to me, and your grace has been with me, and your care has kept my spirit safe.

13But you kept these things in the secret of your heart; I am certain this was in your thoughts:

14That, if I did wrong, you would take note of it, and would not make me clear from sin:

15That, if I was an evil-doer, the curse would come on me; and if I was upright, my head would not be lifted up, being full of shame and overcome with trouble.

16And that if there was cause for pride, you would go after me like a lion; and again put out your wonders against me:

17That you would send new witnesses against me, increasing your wrath against me, and letting loose new armies on me.

18Why then did you make me come out of my mother’s body? It would have been better for me to have taken my last breath, and for no eye to have seen me,

19And for me to have been as if I had not been; to have been taken from my mother’s body straight to my last resting-place.

20Are not the days of my life small in number? Let your eyes be turned away from me, so that I may have a little pleasure,

21Before I go to the place from which I will not come back, to the land where all is dark and black,

22A land of thick dark, without order, where the very light is dark.

Acts 2:1-13

1And when the day of Pentecost was come, they were all together in one place.

2And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a violent wind, and all the house where they were was full of it.

3And they saw tongues, like flames of fire, coming to rest on every one of them.

4And they were all full of the Holy Spirit, and were talking in different languages, as the Spirit gave them power.

5Now there were living at Jerusalem, Jews, God-fearing men, from every nation under heaven.

6And when this sound came to their ears, they all came together, and were greatly surprised because every man was hearing the words of the disciples in his special language.

7And they were full of wonder and said, Are not all these men Galilaeans?

8And how is it that every one of us is hearing their words in the language which was ours from our birth?

9Men of Parthia, Media, and Elam, and those living in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia,

10In Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and those who have come from Rome, Jews by birth and others who have become Jews,

11Men of Crete and Arabia, to all of us they are talking in our different languages, of the great works of God.

12And they were all surprised and in doubt saying to one another, What is the reason of this?

13But others, making sport of them, said, They are full of new wine.

44 days ago Short URL 2 Comments

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03

Apr

April 03

Numbers 35

1And the Lord said to Moses in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho,

2Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns.

3These towns are to be their living-places, with land round them for their cattle and their food and all their beasts,

4Stretching from the wall of the towns a distance of a thousand cubits all round.

5The measure of this space of land is to be two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, and two thousand cubits on the south and on the west and on the north, the town being in the middle. This space will be the outskirts of their towns.

6And the towns which you give the Levites are to be the six safe places to which the taker of life may go in flight; and in addition you are to give them forty-two towns.

7Forty-eight towns are to be given to the Levites, all with land round them.

8And these towns are to be given out of the heritage of the children of Israel, taking the greater number from those who have much, and a smaller number from those who have little: everyone, in the measure of his heritage, is to give of his property to the Levites.

9And the Lord said to Moses,

10Say to the children of Israel, when you have gone over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

11Then let certain towns be marked out as safe places to which anyone who takes the life of another in error may go in flight.

12In these towns you may be safe from him who has the right of punishment; so that death may not overtake the taker of life till he has been judged by the meeting of the people.

13Six of the towns which you give will be such safe places;

14Three on the other side of Jordan and three in the land of Canaan, to be safe places for flight.

15For the children of Israel and for the man from another country who is living among them, these six towns are to be safe places, where anyone causing the death of another through error may go in flight.

16But if a man gives another man a blow with an iron instrument, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.

17Or if he gives him a blow with a stone in his hand, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.

18Or if he gave him blows with a wood instrument in his hands, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.

19He whose right it is to give punishment for blood, may himself put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.

20If in his hate he put a sword through him, or waiting secretly for him sent a spear or stone at him, causing his death;

21Or in hate gave him blows with his hand, causing death; he who gave the death-blow is to be put to death; he is a taker of life: he whose right it is to give punishment for blood may put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.

22But if a man has given a wound to another suddenly and not in hate, or without design has sent something against him,

23Or has given him a blow with a stone, without seeing him, so causing his death, though he had nothing against him and no desire to do him evil:

24Then let the meeting of the people be judge between the man responsible for the death and him who has the right of punishment for blood, acting by these rules:

25And let the people keep the man responsible for the death safe from the hands of him who has the right of punishment for blood, and send him back to his safe town where he had gone in flight: there let him be till the death of the high priest who was marked with the holy oil.

26But if ever he goes outside the walls of the safe town where he had gone in flight,

27And the giver of punishment, meeting him outside the walls of the town, puts him to death, he will not be responsible for his blood:

28Because he had been ordered to keep inside the safe town till the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the taker of life may come back to the place of his heritage.

29These rules are to be your guide in judging through all your generations wherever you may be living.

30Anyone causing the death of another is himself to be put to death on the word of witnesses: but the word of one witness is not enough.

31Further, no price may be given for the life of one who has taken life and whose right reward is death: he is certainly to be put to death.

32And no price may be offered for one who has gone in flight to a safe town, for the purpose of letting him come back to his place before the death of the high priest.

33So do not make the land where you are living unholy: for blood makes the land unholy: and there is no way of making the land free from the blood which has come on it, but only by the death of him who was the cause of it.

34Do not make unclean the land where you are living and in which is my House: for I the Lord am present among the children of Israel.

Numbers 36

1Now the heads of the families of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came to Moses, the chiefs and the heads of families of the children of Israel being present,

2And said, The Lord gave orders to my lord to make distribution of the land as their heritage to the children of Israel: and my lord was ordered by the Lord to give the heritage of Zelophehad, our brother, to his daughters.

3Now if they get married to any of the sons of other tribes of the children of Israel, then their property will be taken away from the heritage of our fathers, and become part of the heritage of the tribe into which they get married: and their heritage will be taken away from the heritage of our tribe.

4And at the time of the Jubilee of the children of Israel, their property will be joined to the heritage of the tribe of which they are part and will be taken away from the heritage of the tribe of our fathers.

5So by the direction of the Lord, Moses gave orders to the children of Israel, saying, What the tribe of the sons of Joseph have said is right.

6This is the order of the Lord about the daughters of Zelophehad: The Lord says, Let them take as their husbands whoever is most pleasing to them, but only among the family of their father’s tribe.

7And so no property will be handed from tribe to tribe among the children of Israel; but every one of the children of Israel will keep the heritage of his father’s tribe.

8And every daughter owning property in any tribe of the children of Israel is to be married to one of the family of her father’s tribe, so that every man of the children of Israel may keep the heritage of his fathers.

9And no property will be handed from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Israel will keep its heritage.

10So the daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord gave orders to Moses:

11For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, took as their husbands the sons of their father’s brothers:

12And were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, and their property was kept in the tribe of their father’s family

13These are the laws and the orders which the Lord gave to the children of Israel by Moses, in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho.

Job 3

1Then, opening his mouth, and cursing the day of his birth,

2Job made answer and said,

3Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.

4That day–let it be dark; let not God take note of it from on high, and let not the light be shining on it;

5Let the dark and the black night take it for themselves; let it be covered with a cloud; let the dark shades of day send fear on it.

6That night–let the thick dark take it; let it not have joy among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

7As for that night, let it have no fruit; let no voice of joy be sounded in it;

8Let it be cursed by those who put a curse on the day; who are ready to make Leviathan awake.

9Let its morning stars be dark; let it be looking for light, but may it not have any; let it not see the eyes of the dawn.

10Because it did not keep the doors of my mother’s body shut, so that trouble might be veiled from my eyes.

11Why did death not take me when I came out of my mother’s body, why did I not, when I came out, give up my last breath?

12Why did the knees take me, or why the breasts that they might give me milk?

13For then I might have gone to my rest in quiet, and in sleep have been in peace,

14With kings and the wise ones of the earth, who put up great houses for themselves;

15Or with rulers who had gold, and whose houses were full of silver;

16Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.

17There the passions of the evil are over, and those whose strength has come to an end have rest.

18There the prisoners are at peace together; the voice of the overseer comes not again to their ears.

19The small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

20Why does he give light to him who is in trouble, and life to the bitter in soul;

21To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

22Who are glad with great joy, and full of delight when they come to their last resting-place;

23To a man whose way is veiled, and who is shut in by God?

24In place of my food I have grief, and cries of sorrow come from me like water.

25For I have a fear and it comes on me, and my heart is greatly troubled.

26I have no peace, no quiet, and no rest; nothing but pain comes on me.

Matthew 26:1-25

1And when Jesus had come to the end of all these words, he said to his disciples,

2After two days is the Passover, and the Son of man will be given up to the death of the cross.

3Then the chief priests and the rulers of the people came together in the house of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas.

4And they made designs together to take Jesus by some trick, and put him to death.

5But they said, Not while the feast is going on, for fear of trouble among the people.

6Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,

7There came to him a woman having a bottle of perfume of great price, and she put the perfume on his head when he was seated at table.

8But when the disciples saw it they were angry, saying, To what purpose is this waste?

9For we might have got much money for this and given it to the poor.

10But Jesus, seeing it, said to them, Why are you troubling the woman? she has done a kind act to me.

11For the poor you have ever with you, but me you have not for ever.

12For in putting this perfume on my body, she did it to make me ready for my last resting-place.

13Truly I say to you, Wherever this good news goes out in all the world, what this woman has done will be talked of in memory of her.

14Then one of the twelve, who was named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said,

15What will you give me, if I give him up to you? And the price was fixed at thirty bits of silver.

16And from that time he was watching for a chance to give him into their hands.

17Now on the first day of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Where are we to make ready for you to take the Passover meal?

18And he said to them, Go into the town to such a man, and say to him, The Master says, My time is near: I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.

19And the disciples did as Jesus had said to them; and they made ready the Passover.

20Now when evening was come, he was seated at table with the twelve disciples;

21And while they were taking food, he said, Truly I say to you that one of you will be false to me.

22And they were very said, and said to him, one by one, Is it I, Lord?

23And he made answer and said, He who puts his hand into the plate with me, the same will be false to me.

24The Son of man goes, even as the Writings say of him: but a curse is on that man through whom the Son of man is given up; it would have been well for that man if he had never come into the world.

25And Judas, who was false to him, made answer and said, Is it I, Master? He says to him, Yes.

51 days ago Short URL Comments

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24

Mar

March 24

Numbers 17

1And the Lord said to Moses,

2Say to the children of Israel that they are to give you rods, one for every family, for every chief, the head of his father’s house, making twelve rods; let every man’s name be placed on his rod.

3And let Aaron’s name be placed on the rod of Levi: for there is to be one rod for the head of every family.

4And let them be stored up in the Tent of meeting, in front of the ark of witness where I come to you.

5And the rod of that man who is marked out by me for myself will have buds on it; so I will put a stop to the outcries which the children of Israel make to me against you.

6So Moses gave these orders to the children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him rods, one for the head of every family, making twelve rods: and Aaron’s rod was among them.

7And Moses put the rods before the Lord in the Tent of witness.

8Now on the day after, Moses went into the Tent of witness; and he saw that Aaron’s rod, the rod of the house of Levi, had put out buds, and was covered with buds and flowers and fruit.

9Then Moses took out all the rods from before the Lord, and gave them back to the children of Israel: and they saw them, and every man took his rod.

10And the Lord said to Moses, Put Aaron’s rod back in front of the ark of witness, to be kept for a sign against this false-hearted people, so that you may put a stop to their outcries against me, and death may not overtake them.

11This Moses did: as the Lord gave orders, so he did.

12And the children of Israel said to Moses, Truly, destruction has come on us; an evil fate has overtaken us all.

13Death will overtake everyone who comes near, who comes near the House of the Lord: are we all to come to destruction?

Numbers 18

1And the Lord said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father’s family are to be responsible for all wrongdoing in relation to the holy place: and you and your sons are to be responsible for the errors which come about in your work as priests.

2Let your brothers, the family of Levi, come near with you, so that they may be joined with you and be your servants: but you and your sons with you are to go in before the ark of witness.

3They are to do your orders and be responsible for the work of the Tent; but they may not come near the vessels of the holy place or the altar, so that death may not overtake them or you.

4They are to be joined with you in the care of the Tent of meeting, doing whatever is needed for the Tent: and no one of any other family may come near you.

5You are to be responsible for the holy place and the altar, so that wrath may never again come on the children of Israel.

6Now, see, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: they are given to you and to the Lord, to do the work of the Tent of meeting.

7And you and your sons with you are to be responsible as priests for the altar and everything on it, and everything inside the veil; you are to do the work of priests; I have given you your position as priests; and any other man who comes near will be put to death.

8And the Lord said to Aaron, See, I have given into your care my lifted offerings; even all the holy things of the children of Israel I have given to you and to your sons as your right for ever, because you have been marked with the holy oil.

9This is to be yours of the most holy things, out of the fire offerings; every offering of theirs, every meal offering and sin-offering, and every offering which they make on account of error, is to be most holy for you and your sons.

10As most holy things they are to be your food: let every male have them for food; it is to be holy to you.

11And this is yours: the lifted offering which they give and all the wave offerings of the children of Israel I have given to you and to your sons and to your daughters as your right for ever: everyone in your house who is clean may have them for food.

12All the best of the oil and the wine and the grain, the first-fruits of them which they give to the Lord, to you have I given them.

13The earliest produce from their land which they take to the Lord is to be yours; everyone in your house who is clean may have it for his food.

14Everything given by oath to the Lord in Israel is to be yours.

15The first birth of every living thing which is offered to the Lord, of man or beast, is to be yours; but for the first sons of man payment is to be made, and for the first young of unclean beasts.

16Payment is to be made for these when they are a month old, at the value fixed by you, a price of five shekels by the scale of the holy place, that is, twenty gerahs to the shekel.

17But no such payment may be made for the first birth of an ox or a sheep or a goat; these are holy: their blood is to be dropped on the altar, and their fat burned for an offering made by fire, a sweet smell to the Lord.

18Their flesh is to be yours; like the breast of the wave offering and the right leg, it is to be yours.

19All the lifted offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel give to the Lord, I have given to you and to your sons and to your daughters as a right for ever. This is an agreement made with salt before the Lord, to you and to your seed for ever.

20And the Lord said to Aaron, You will have no heritage in their land, or any part among them; I am your part and your heritage among the children of Israel.

21And to the children of Levi I have given as their heritage all the tenths offered in Israel, as payment for the work they do, the work of the Tent of meeting.

22In future the children of Israel are not to come near the Tent of meeting, so that death may not come to them because of sin.

23But the Levites are to do the work of the Tent of meeting, and be responsible for errors in connection with it: this is a law for ever through all your generations; and among the children of Israel they will have no heritage.

24For the tenths which the children of Israel give as a lifted offering to the Lord I have given to the Levites as their heritage. and so I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they will have no heritage.

25And the Lord said to Moses,

26Say to the Levites, When you take from the children of Israel the tenth which I have given to you from them as your heritage, a tenth part of that tenth is to be offered as an offering lifted up before the Lord.

27And this lifted offering is to be put to your credit as if it was grain from the grain-floor and wine from the vines.

28So you are to make an offering lifted up to the Lord from all the tenths which you get from the children of Israel, giving out of it the Lord’s lifted offering to Aaron the priest.

29From everything given to you, let the best of it, the holy part of it, be offered as a lifted offering to the Lord.

30Say to them, then, When the best of it is lifted up on high, it is to be put to the account of the Levites as the increase of the grain-floor and of the place where the grapes are crushed.

31It is to be your food, for you and your families in every place: it is your reward for your work in the Tent of meeting.

32And no sin will be yours on account of it, when the best of it has been lifted up on high; you are not to make a wrong use of the holy things of the children of Israel, so that death may not overtake you.

Ecclesiastes 11:1-8

1Put out your bread on the face of the waters; for after a long time it will come back to you again.

2Give a part to seven or even to eight, because you have no knowledge of the evil which will be on the earth.

3If the clouds are full of rain, they send it down on the earth; and if a tree comes down to the south, or the north, in whatever place it comes down, there it will be.

4He who is watching the wind will not get the seed planted, and he who is looking at the clouds will not get in the grain.

5As you have no knowledge of the way of the wind, or of the growth of the bones in the body of her who is with child, even so you have no knowledge of the works of God who has made all.

6In the morning put your seed into the earth, and till the evening let not your hand be at rest; because you are not certain which will do well, this or that–or if the two will be equally good.

7Truly the light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.

8But even if a man’s life is long and he has joy in all his years, let him keep in mind the dark days, because they will be great in number. Whatever may come is to no purpose.

Matthew 21:1-27

1And when they were near Jerusalem, and had come to Beth-phage, to the Mountain of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,

2Saying to them, Go into the little town in front of you, and straight away you will see an ass with a cord round her neck, and a young one with her; let them loose and come with them to me.

3And if anyone says anything to you, you will say, The Lord has need of them; and straight away he will send them.

4Now this took place so that these words of the prophet might come true,

5Say to the daughter of Zion, See, your King comes to you, gentle and seated on an ass, and on a young ass.

6And the disciples went and did as Jesus had given them orders,

7And got the ass and the young one, and put their clothing on them, and he took his seat on it.

8And all the people put their clothing down in the way; and others got branches from the trees, and put them down in the way.

9And those who went before him, and those who came after, gave loud cries, saying, Glory to the Son of David: A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord: Glory in the highest.

10And when he came into Jerusalem, all the town was moved, saying, Who is this?

11And the people said, This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.

12And Jesus went into the Temple and sent out all who were trading there, overturning the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those trading in doves.

13And he said to them, It is in the Writings, My house is to be named a house of prayer, but you are making it a hole of thieves.

14And the blind and the broken in body came to him in the Temple, and he made them well.

15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the works of power which he did, and the children crying out in the Temple, Glory to the son of David, they were angry and said to him,

16Have you any idea what these are saying? And Jesus said to them, Yes: have you not seen in the Writings, From the lips of children and babies at the breast you have made your praise complete?

17And he went away from them, and went out of the town to Bethany, and was there for the night.

18Now in the morning when he was coming back to the town, he had a desire for food.

19And seeing a fig-tree by the wayside, he came to it, and saw nothing on it but leaves only; and he said to it, Let there be no fruit from you from this time forward for ever. And straight away the fig-tree became dry and dead.

20And when the disciples saw it they were surprised, saying, How did the fig-tree become dry in so short a time?

21And Jesus in answer said to them, Truly I say to you, If you have faith, without doubting, not only may you do what has been done to the fig-tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and put into the sea, it will be done.

22And all things, whatever you make request for in prayer, having faith, you will get.

23And when he had come into the Temple, the chief priests and those in authority over the people came to him while he was teaching, and said, By what authority do you do these things? and who gave you this authority?

24And Jesus said to them in answer, I will put one question to you, and if you give me the answer, I will say by what authority I do these things.

25The baptism of John, where did it come from? from heaven or from men? And they were reasoning among themselves, saying, If we say, From heaven; he will say to us, Why then did you not have faith in him?

26But if we say, From men; we are in fear of the people, because all take John to be a prophet.

27And they made answer and said, We have no idea. Then he said to them, And I will not say to you by what authority I do these things.

61 days ago Short URL Comments

Bible

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