Monthly Archives: April 2010

Hebrews 13:  ¹⁸ Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. ¹⁹ I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon. ²⁰ May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹ equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. ²² Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter. ²³ I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. ²⁴ Greet all your leaders and all God’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings. ²⁵ Grace be with you all. James 1     James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Trials and Temptations ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴ Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. ⁹ The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. ¹⁰ But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. ¹¹ For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. ¹² Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

  Two Adulterous Sisters  Ezekiel 23:1  The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother. ³ They became prostitutes in Egypt, engaging in prostitution from their youth. In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed. ⁴ The older was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. ⁵ “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine; and she lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors ⁶ clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all of them handsome young men, and mounted horsemen. ⁷ She gave herself as a prostitute to all the elite of the Assyrians and defiled herself with all the idols of everyone she lusted after. ⁸ She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when during her youth men slept with her, caressed her virgin bosom and poured out their lust upon her. ⁹ “Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she lusted. ¹⁰ They stripped her naked, took away her sons and daughters and killed her with the sword. She became a byword among women, and punishment was inflicted on her. ¹¹ “Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister. ¹² She too lusted after the Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, all handsome young men. ¹³ I saw that she too defiled herself; both of them went the same way. ¹⁴ “But she carried her prostitution still further. She saw men portrayed on a wall, figures of Chaldeans^a portrayed in red, ¹⁵ with belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers, natives of Chaldea.^b ¹⁶ As soon as she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷ Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. After she had been defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust. ¹⁸ When she carried on her prostitution openly and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust, just as I had turned away from her sister. ¹⁹ Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. ²⁰ There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. ²¹ So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.^c ²² “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stir up your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side— ²³ the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, handsome young men, all of them governors and commanders, chariot officers and men of high rank, all mounted on horses. ²⁴ They will come against you with weapons,^d chariots and wagons and with a throng of people; they will take up positions against you on every side with large and small shields and with helmets. I will turn you over to them for punishment, and they will punish you according to their standards. ²⁵ I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and your ears, and those of you who are left will fall by the sword. They will take away your sons and daughters, and those of you who are left will be consumed by fire. ²⁶ They will also strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry. ²⁷ So I will put a stop to the lewdness and prostitution you began in Egypt. You will not look on these things with longing or remember Egypt anymore. ²⁸ “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to hand you over to those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust. ²⁹ They will deal with you in hatred and take away everything you have worked for. They will leave you naked and bare, and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your lewdness and promiscuity ³⁰ have brought this upon you, because you lusted after the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. ³¹ You have gone the way of your sister; so I will put her cup into your hand. ³² “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “You will drink your sister’s cup, a cup large and deep; it will bring scorn and derision, for it holds so much. ³³     You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of ruin and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria. ³⁴     You will drink it and drain it dry; you will dash it to pieces and tear your breasts. I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. ³⁵ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotten me and thrust me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.” ³⁶ The Lord said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then confront them with their detestable practices, ³⁷ for they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me,^e as food for them. ³⁸ They have also done this to me: At that same time they defiled my sanctuary and desecrated my Sabbaths. ³⁹ On the very day they sacrificed their children to their idols, they entered my sanctuary and desecrated it. That is what they did in my house. ⁴⁰ “They even sent messengers for men who came from far away, and when they arrived you bathed yourself for them, painted your eyes and put on your jewelry. ⁴¹ You sat on an elegant couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed the incense and oil that belonged to me. ⁴² “The noise of a carefree crowd was around her; Sabeans^f were brought from the desert along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets on the arms of the woman and her sister and beautiful crowns on their heads. ⁴³ Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, ‘Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is.’ ⁴⁴ And they slept with her. As men sleep with a prostitute, so they slept with those lewd women, Oholah and Oholibah. ⁴⁵ But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of women who commit adultery and shed blood, because they are adulterous and blood is on their hands. ⁴⁶ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Bring a mob against them and give them over to terror and plunder. ⁴⁷ The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses. ⁴⁸ “So I will put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not imitate you. ⁴⁹ You will suffer the penalty for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.”

  Sayings of Agur. Proverbs 30:1   The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh—an oracle^a: This man declared to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ucal:^b ²     “I am the most ignorant of men; I do not have a man’s understanding. ³     I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. ⁴     Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know! ⁵     “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. ⁶     Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. ⁷     “Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: ⁸     Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. ⁹     Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. ¹⁰     “Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will pay for it. ¹¹     “There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers; ¹²     those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth; ¹³     those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful; ¹⁴     those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth, the needy from among mankind. ¹⁵     “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: ¹⁶     the grave,^c the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’ ¹⁷     “The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures. ¹⁸     “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: ¹⁹     the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden. ²⁰     “This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’ ²¹     “Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: ²²     a servant who becomes king, a fool who is full of food, ²³     an unloved woman who is married, and a maidservant who displaces her mistress. ²⁴     “Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: ²⁵     Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; ²⁶     coneys^d are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; ²⁷     locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks; ²⁸     a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces. ²⁹     “There are three things that are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing: ³⁰     a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing; ³¹     a strutting rooster, a he-goat, and a king with his army around him.^e ³²     “If you have played the fool and exalted yourself, or if you have planned evil, clap your hand over your mouth! ³³     For as churning the milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.”

Hebrews 12:  ¹⁸ You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ¹⁹ to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, ²⁰ because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”^a ²¹ The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”^b ²² But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³ to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. ²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶ At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”^c ²⁷ The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our “God is a consuming fire.”^d Concluding Exhortations  Hebrews 13:1   Keep on loving each other as brothers. ² Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. ³ Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. ⁴ Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. ⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”^a ⁶ So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”^b ⁷ Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹ Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. ¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹ The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹² And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. ¹³ Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. ¹⁴ For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. ¹⁵ Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. ¹⁶ And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. ¹⁷ Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Psalm 132:  ³     “I will not enter my house or go to my bed— ⁴     I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, ⁵     till I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.” ⁶     We heard it in Ephrathah, we came upon it in the fields of Jaar  ⁷     “Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool— ⁸     arise, O Lord, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. ⁹     May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your saints sing for joy.”