Today's Readings
Genesis 24 : 1 - 9
1 | Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. |
2 | So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please, put your hand under my thigh, |
3 | and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; |
4 | but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac." |
5 | And the servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?" |
6 | But Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there. |
7 | The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, "To your descendants I give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. |
8 | And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there." |
9 | So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. |
Numbers 20 : 1 - 13
1 | Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there. |
2 | Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. |
3 | And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: "If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! |
4 | Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? |
5 | And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink." |
6 | So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them. |
7 | Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, |
8 | "Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals." |
9 | So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. |
10 | And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" |
11 | Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. |
12 | Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." |
13 | This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed among them. |
Proverbs 1 : 10 - 23
10 | My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent. |
11 | If they say, "Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause; |
12 | Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit; |
13 | We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil; |
14 | Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse"-- |
15 | My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path; |
16 | For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood. |
17 | Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird; |
18 | But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives. |
19 | So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners. |
20 | Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. |
21 | She cries out in the chief concourses, At the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words: |
22 | "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge. |
23 | Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. |
Isaiah 59 : 1 - 17
1 | Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. |
2 | But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. |
3 | For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. |
4 | No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. |
5 | They hatch vipers' eggs and weave the spider's web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out. |
6 | Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands. |
7 | Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths. |
8 | The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. |
9 | Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness! |
10 | We grope for the wall like the blind, And we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places. |
11 | We all growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We look for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us. |
12 | For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them: |
13 | In transgressing and lying against the LORD, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. |
14 | Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter. |
15 | So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice. |
16 | He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him. |
17 | For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak. |
Zechariah 11 : 11 - 14
11 | So it was broken on that day. Thus the poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the LORD. |
12 | Then I said to them, "If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain." So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. |
13 | And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"--that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter. |
14 | Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. |