| |
Genesis
30:25-34 |
| 25 |
When Rachel had borne
Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own home
and country. |
| 26 |
Give me my wives and my
children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the
service which I have given you." |
| 27 |
But Laban said to him, "If
you will allow me to say so, I have learned by divination that the LORD
has blessed me because of you; |
| 28 |
name your wages, and I will
give it." |
| 29 |
Jacob said to him, "You
yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with
me. |
| 30 |
For you had little before I
came, and it has increased abundantly; and the LORD has blessed you
wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household
also?" |
| 31 |
He said, "What shall I give
you?" Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything; if you will do this
for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it: |
| 32 |
let me pass through all
your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and
every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such
shall be my wages. |
| 33 |
So my honesty will answer
for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one
that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the
lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen." |
| 34 |
Laban said, "Good! Let it
be as you have said." |
| |
Judges
4-5 |
| 1 |
And the people of Israel
again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, after Ehud died. |
| 2 |
And the LORD sold them into
the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of
his army was Sisera, who dwelt in Harosheth-ha-goiim. |
| 3 |
Then the people of Israel
cried to the LORD for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron,
and oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years. |
| 4 |
Now Deborah, a prophetess,
the wife of Lapp'doth, was judging Israel at that time. |
| 5 |
She used to sit under the
palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim;
and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. |
| 6 |
She sent and summoned Barak
the son of Abino-am from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, "The LORD,
the God of Israel, commands you, 'Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor,
taking ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. |
| 7 |
And I will draw out Sisera,
the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his
chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.'" |
| 8 |
Barak said to her, "If you
will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not
go." |
| 9 |
And she said, "I will
surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will
not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a
woman." Then Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. |
| 10 |
And Barak summoned Zeb'ulun
and Naph'tali to Kedesh; and ten thousand men went up at his heels; and
Deb'orah went up with him. |
| 11 |
Now Heber the Kenite had
separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law
of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Za-anan'nim,
which is near Kedesh. |
| 12 |
When Sisera was told that
Barak the son of Abino-am had gone up to Mount Tabor, |
| 13 |
Sisera called out all his
chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the men who were with
him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the river Kishon. |
| 14 |
And Deborah said to Barak,
"Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sis'era into your
hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?" So Barak went down from
Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. |
| 15 |
And the LORD routed Sis'era
and all his chariots and all his army before Barak at the edge of the
sword; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. |
| 16 |
And Barak pursued the
chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim, and all the army of Sisera
fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. |
| 17 |
But Sisera fled away on
foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was
peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Ken'ite. |
| 18 |
And Ja'el came out to meet
Sis'era, and said to him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have
no fear." So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him
with a rug. |
| 19 |
And he said to her, "Pray,
give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty." So she opened a skin
of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. |
| 20 |
And he said to her, "Stand
at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, 'Is any one
here?' say, No." |
| 21 |
But Jael the wife of Heber
took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him
and drove the peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground, as
he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. |
| 22 |
And behold, as Barak
pursued Sis'era, Ja'el went out to meet him, and said to him, "Come, and
I will show you the man whom you are seeking." So he went in to her
tent; and there lay Sis'era dead, with the tent peg in his temple. |
| 23 |
So on that day God subdued
Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. |
| 24 |
And the hand of the people
of Israel bore harder and harder on Jabin the king of Canaan, until they
destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. |
| |
Judges 5 |
| 1 |
Then sang Deborah and Barak
the son of Abinoam on that day: |
| 2 |
"That the leaders took the
lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the
LORD! |
| 3 |
"Hear, O kings; give ear, O
princes; to the LORD I will sing, I will make melody to the LORD, the
God of Israel. |
| 4 |
"LORD, when thou didst go
forth from Seir, when thou didst march from the region of Edom, the
earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, yea, the clouds dropped water. |
| 5 |
The mountains quaked before
the LORD, yon Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel. |
| 6 |
"In the days of Shamgar,
son of Anath, in the days of Jael, caravans ceased and travelers kept to
the byways. |
| 7 |
The peasantry ceased in
Israel, they ceased until you arose, Deborah, arose as a mother in
Israel. |
| 8 |
When new gods were chosen,
then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty
thousand in Israel? |
| 9 |
My heart goes out to the
commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people.
Bless the LORD. |
| 10 |
"Tell of it, you who ride
on tawny asses, you who sit on rich carpets and you who walk by the way. |
| 11 |
To the sound of musicians
at the watering places, there they repeat the triumphs of the LORD, the
triumphs of his peasantry in Israel. "Then down to the gates marched the
people of the LORD. |
| 12 |
"Awake, awake, De'orah!
Awake, awake, utter a song! Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son
of Abin'oam. |
| 13 |
Then down marched the
remnant of the noble; the people of the LORD marched down for him
against the mighty. |
| 14 |
From Ephraim they set out
thither into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;
from Machir marched down the commanders, and from Zebulun those who bear
the marshal's staff; |
| 15 |
the princes of Issachar
came with Deborah, and Issachar faithful to Barak; into the valley they
rushed forth at his heels. Among the clans of Reuben there were great
searchings of heart. |
| 16 |
Why did you tarry among the
sheepfolds, to hear the piping for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart. |
| 17 |
Gilead stayed beyond the
Jordan; and Dan, why did he abide with the ships? Asher sat still at the
coast of the sea, settling down by his landings. |
| 18 |
Zebulun is a people that
jeoparded their lives to the death; Naphtali too, on the heights of the
field. |
| 19 |
"The kings came, they
fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Taanach, by the waters of
Megiddo; they got no spoils of silver. |
| 20 |
From heaven fought the
stars, from their courses they fought against Sisera. |
| 21 |
The torrent Kishon swept
them away, the onrushing torrent, the torrent Kishon. March on, my soul,
with might! |
| 22 |
"Then loud beat the horses'
hoofs with the galloping, galloping of his steeds. |
| 23 |
"Curse Meroz, says the
angel of the LORD, curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they came not
to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty. |
| 24 |
"Most blessed of women be
Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed. |
| 25 |
He asked water and she gave
him milk, she brought him curds in a lordly bowl. |
| 26 |
She put her hand to the
tent peg and her right hand to the workmen's mallet; she struck Sisera a
blow, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. |
| 27 |
He sank, he fell, he lay
still at her feet; at her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he
fell dead. |
| 28 |
"Out of the window she
peered, the mother of Sisera gazed through the lattice: 'Why is his
chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?' |
| 29 |
Her wisest ladies make
answer, nay, she gives answer to herself, |
| 30 |
'Are they not finding and
dividing the spoil? --A maiden or two for every man; spoil of dyed
stuffs for Sisera, spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered, two pieces of dyed
work embroidered for my neck as spoil?' |
| 31 |
"So perish all thine
enemies, O LORD! But thy friends be like the sun as he rises in his
might." And the land had rest for forty years. |
| |
The Book
of Job
The Book of Job is about a man who faces adversity with faith and hope
in God. Still, it wasn't easy for him. It isn't easy for Christians
today, either. Perhaps Chapter 12 helps put Job into perspective. Maybe
it can help with your life, too. |
| 1 |
Then Job answered: |
| 2 |
"No doubt you are the
people, and wisdom will die with you. |
| 3 |
But I have understanding as
well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as
these? |
| 4 |
I am a laughingstock to my
friends; I, who called upon God and he answered me, a just and blameless
man, am a laughingstock. |
| 5 |
In the thought of one who
is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose
feet slip. |
| 6 |
The tents of robbers are at
peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in
their hand. |
| 7 |
"But ask the beasts, and
they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; |
| 8 |
or the plants of the earth,
and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. |
| 9 |
Who among all these does
not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? |
| 10 |
In his hand is the life of
every living thing and the breath of all mankind. |
| 11 |
Does not the ear try words
as the palate tastes food? |
| 12 |
Wisdom is with the aged,
and understanding in length of days. |
| 13 |
"With God are wisdom and
might; he has counsel and understanding. |
| 14 |
If he tears down, none can
rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. |
| 15 |
If he withholds the waters,
they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. |
| 16 |
With him are strength and
wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. |
| 17 |
He leads counselors away
stripped, and judges he makes fools. |
| 18 |
He looses the bonds of
kings, and binds a waistcloth on their loins. |
| 19 |
He leads priests away
stripped, and overthrows the mighty. |
| 20 |
He deprives of speech those
who are trusted, and takes away the discernment of the elders. |
| 21 |
He pours contempt on
princes, and looses the belt of the strong. |
| 22 |
He uncovers the deeps out
of darkness, and brings deep darkness to light. |
| 23 |
He makes nations great, and
he destroys them: he enlarges nations, and leads them away. |
| 24 |
He takes away understanding
from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and makes them wander in a
pathless waste. |
| 25 |
They grope in the dark
without light; and he makes them stagger like a drunken man. |
| |
The Book
of Amos
Amos knows how to lay it on the line. For his time and for now.
Hard to not find ourselves, our times in his writing. Read these verses
from chapter 5, and check out the rest of the book for more hopeful
words for your daily living! |
| 10 |
They hate him who reproves
in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth. |
| 11 |
Therefore because you
trample upon the poor and take from him exactions of wheat, you have
built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have
planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. |
| 12 |
For I know how many are
your transgressions, and how great are your sins--you who afflict the
righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate. |
| 13 |
Therefore he who is prudent
will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. |
| 14 |
Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said. |
| 15 |
Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of
hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. |
| |
Matthew
20:1-16 |
| 1 |
"For the kingdom of heaven
is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers
for his vineyard. |
| 2 |
After agreeing with the
laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. |
| 3 |
And going out about the
third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; |
| 4 |
and to them he said, 'You
go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' So
they went. |
| 5 |
Going out again about the
sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. |
| 6 |
And about the eleventh hour
he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, 'Why do you
stand here idle all day?' |
| 7 |
They said to him, 'Because
no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' |
| 8 |
And when evening came, the
owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and pay
them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' |
| 9 |
And when those hired about
the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. |
| 10 |
Now when the first came,
they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a
denarius. |
| 11 |
And on receiving it they
grumbled at the householder, |
| 12 |
saying, 'These last worked
only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the
burden of the day and the scorching heat.' |
| 13 |
But he replied to one of
them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a
denarius? |
| 14 |
Take what belongs to you,
and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. |
| 15 |
Am I not allowed to do what
I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' |
| 16 |
So the last will be first,
and the first last." |
| |
Luke
16:1-13 |
| 1 |
He also said to the
disciples, "There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were
brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. |
| 2 |
And he called him and said
to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your
stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' |
| 3 |
And the steward said to
himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship
away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. |
| 4 |
I have decided what to do,
so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the
stewardship.' |
| 5 |
So, summoning his master's
debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my
master?' |
| 6 |
He said, 'A hundred
measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down
quickly and write fifty.' |
| 7 |
Then he said to another,
'And how much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He
said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' |
| 8 |
The master commended the
dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world are
more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. |
| 9 |
And I tell you, make
friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it
fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations. |
| 10 |
"He who is faithful in a
very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very
little is dishonest also in much. |
| 11 |
If then you have not been
faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true
riches? |
| 12 |
And if you have not been
faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is
your own? |
| 13 |
No servant can serve two
masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will
be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and
mammon." |
| |
John
21:1-14 |
| 1 |
After this Jesus revealed
himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberi-as; and he revealed
himself in this way. |
| 2 |
Simon Peter, Thomas called
the Twin, Nathan'a-el of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two
others of his disciples were together. |
| 3 |
Simon Peter said to them,
"I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went
out and got into the boat; but that night they caught nothing. |
| 4 |
Just as day was breaking,
Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was
Jesus. |
| 5 |
Jesus said to them,
"Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." |
| 6 |
He said to them, "Cast the
net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast
it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. |
| 7 |
That disciple whom Jesus
loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it
was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and
sprang into the sea. |
| 8 |
But the other disciples
came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far
from the land, but about a hundred yards off. |
| 9 |
When they got out on land,
they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. |
| 10 |
Jesus said to them, "Bring
some of the fish that you have just caught." |
| 11 |
So Simon Peter went aboard
and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three
of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. |
| 12 |
Jesus said to them, "Come
and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are
you?" They knew it was the Lord. |
| 13 |
Jesus came and took the
bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. |
| 14 |
This was now the third time
that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the
dead. |