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Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 26

1And it will be, when you come into the land which the Lord, your God, gives you for an inheritance, and you possess it and settle in it,2that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you will bring from your land, which the Lord, your God, is giving you. And you shall put [them] into a basket and go to the place which the Lord, your God, will choose to have His Name dwell there.3And you shall come to the kohen who will be [serving] in those days, and say to him, "I declare this day to the Lord, your God, that I have come to the land which the Lord swore to our forefathers to give us."4And the kohen will take the basket from your hand, laying it before the altar of the Lord, your God.5And you shall call out and say before the Lord, your God, "An Aramean [sought to] destroy my forefather, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there with a small number of people, and there, he became a great, mighty, and numerous nation.6And the Egyptians treated us cruelly and afflicted us, and they imposed hard labor upon us.7So we cried out to the Lord, God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.8And the Lord brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, with great awe, and with signs and wonders.9And He brought us to this place, and He gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.10And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground which you, O Lord, have given to me." Then, you shall lay it before the Lord, your God, and prostrate yourself before the Lord, your God.11Then, you shall rejoice with all the good that the Lord, your God, has granted you and your household you, the Levite, and the stranger who is among you.


Luke 11:37–44 (NLT):

Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders

37 As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.

42 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

43 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”




Second Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 26

12When you have finished tithing all the tithes of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give [them] to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that they can eat to satiety in your cities.13Then you shall say before the Lord, your God, "I have removed the holy [portion] from the house, and I have also given it to the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, according to all Your commandment that You commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten [them].14I did not eat any of it [second tithe] while in my mourning, nor did I consume any of it while unclean; neither did I use any of it for the dead. I obeyed the Lord, my God; I did according to all that You commanded me.15Look down from Your holy dwelling, from the heavens, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground which You have given to us, as You swore to our forefathers a land flowing with milk and honey.


Monday

Mark 7:1–8 (NLT): Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity

One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. 3 (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. 4 Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”

6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

7 Their worship is a farce,

for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”




Third Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 26

16This day, the Lord, your God, is commanding you to fulfill these statutes and ordinances, and you will observe and fulfill them with all your heart and with all your soul.17You have selected the Lord this day, to be your God, and to walk in His ways, and to observe His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and to obey Him.18And the Lord has selected you this day to be His treasured people, as He spoke to you, and so that you shall observe all His commandments,19and to make you supreme, above all the nations that He made, [so that you will have] praise, a [distinguished] name and glory; and so that you will be a holy people to the Lord, your God, as He spoke.


Tuesday

1 Samuel 1:19–23 (NLT):

Samuel’s Birth and Dedication

19 The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, 20 and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”

21 The next year Elkanah and his family went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and to keep his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “Wait until the boy is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the Lord permanently.”

23 “Whatever you think is best,” Elkanah agreed. “Stay here for now, and may the Lord help you keep your promise.” So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned.




Fourth Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 27

1And Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Observe all of the commandment that I command you this day.2And it will be, on the day that you cross the Jordan to the land the Lord, your God, is giving you, that you shall set up for yourself huge stones, and plaster them with lime.3When you cross, you shall write upon them all the words of this Torah, in order that you may come to the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, God of your forefathers, has spoken to you.4And it will be, when you cross the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, [regarding] which I command you this day on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with lime.5And there, you shall build an altar to the Lord, your God, an altar of stones. You shall not wield any iron upon them.6You shall build the altar of the Lord, your God, out of whole stones. And on it, you shall offer up burnt offerings to the Lord, your God.7And you shall slaughter peace offerings, and you shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the Lord, your God.8You shall write upon the stones all the words of this Torah, very clearly.9Moses and the Levitic priests spoke to all Israel, saying, "Pay attention and listen, O Israel! This day, you have become a people to the Lord, your God.10You shall therefore obey the Lord, your God, and fulfill His commandments and His statutes, which I command you this day.


Wednesday

Psalm 6:1–10 (NLT):

1 O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your rage.

2 Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak.

Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

3 I am sick at heart.

How long, O Lord, until you restore me?

4 Return, O Lord, and rescue me.

Save me because of your unfailing love.

5 For the dead do not remember you.

Who can praise you from the grave?

6 I am worn out from sobbing.

All night I flood my bed with weeping,

drenching it with my tears.

7 My vision is blurred by grief;

my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.

8 Go away, all you who do evil,

for the Lord has heard my weeping.

9 The Lord has heard my plea;

the Lord will answer my prayer.

10 May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified.

May they suddenly turn back in shame.




Fifth Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 27

11And Moses commanded the people on that day, saying,12When you cross the Jordan, the following shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.13And the following shall stand upon Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naftali.14The Levites shall speak up, saying to every individual of Israel, in a loud voice:15"Cursed be the man who makes any graven or molten image an abomination to the Lord, the handiwork of a craftsman and sets it up in secret! And all the people shall respond, saying, 'Amen!'16Cursed be he who degrades his father and mother. And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'17Cursed be he who moves back his neighbor's landmark. And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'18Cursed be he who misguides a blind person on the way. And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'19Cursed be he who perverts the judgment of the stranger, the orphan, or the widow. And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'20Cursed be he who lies with his father's wife, thus uncovering the corner of his father's garment. And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'21Cursed be he who lies with any animal. And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'22Cursed be he who lies with his sister, his father's daughter or his mother's daughter. And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'23Cursed be he who lies with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'24Cursed be he who strikes his fellow in secret. And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'25Cursed be he who takes a bribe to put an innocent person to death. And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'26Cursed be he who does not uphold the words of this Torah, to fulfill them. And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 28

1And it will be if you obey the Lord, your God, to observe to fulfill all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord, your God, will place you supreme above all the nations of the earth.2And all these blessings will come upon you and cleave to you, if you obey the Lord, your God.3You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field.4Blessed will be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your soil, the fruit of your livestock, the offspring of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep.5Blessed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.6You shall be blessed when you come, and you shall be blessed when you depart.


Thursday

Luke 7:24–34 (NLT):

24 After John’s disciples left, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? 25 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people who wear beautiful clothes and live in luxury are found in palaces. 26 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. 27 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

and he will prepare your way before you.’

28 I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!”

29 When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.

31 “To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them? 32 They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,

‘We played wedding songs,

and you didn’t dance,

so we played funeral songs,

and you didn’t weep.’

33 For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’




Sixth Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 28

7The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you, to be beaten before you; they will come out against you in one direction, but they will flee from you in seven directions.8The Lord will order the blessing to be with you in your granaries, and in every one of your endeavors, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you.9The Lord will establish you as His holy people as He swore to you, if you observe the commandments of the Lord, your God, and walk in His ways.10Then all the peoples of the earth will see that the name of the Lord is called upon you, and they will fear you.11And the Lord will grant you good surplus in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil, on the land which the Lord swore to your forefathers, to give you.12The Lord will open up for you His good treasury, the heaven, to give your land its rain in its [right] time, and to bless everything you do. And you will lend many nations, but you will not [need to] borrow.13And the Lord will set you at the head, and not at the tail, and you will be only at the top, and you will not be at the bottom, if you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I am commanding you this day, to observe to fulfill [them].14And you shall not turn right or left from all of the words I am commanding you this day, to follow other deities to worship them.15And it will be, if you do not obey the Lord, your God, to observe to fulfill all His commandments and statutes which I am commanding you this day, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.16You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.17Cursed will be your [food] basket and your kneading bowl.18Cursed will be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your soil, the fruit of your livestock, those born from your cattle and the flock of your sheep.19You shall be cursed when you come, and you shall be cursed when you depart.20The Lord will send the curse of shortages, confusion, and turmoil upon you, in every one of your endeavors which you undertake, until it destroys you and until you quickly vanish, because of your evil deeds in forsaking Me.21The Lord will make pestilence cleave to you, until it has exterminated you from upon the land, to which you are coming, to possess it.22The Lord will strike you with consumption, fever, illnesses with burning fevers, a disease which causes unquenchable thirst, with the sword, with blast, and with yellowing, and they will pursue you until you perish.23And your skies above you will be [like] copper, and the earth below you [like] iron.24The Lord will turn the rain of your land into powder and dust, raining down upon you from the heavens until you are destroyed.25The Lord will cause you to be broken before your enemy: you will come out against them in one direction, but you will flee from them in seven directions. And you will become a terrifying [example] to all the kingdoms on earth.26Your corpse will be food for all birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth, and no one will frighten them [away].27The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with hemorrhoids, with oozing sores, and with dry lesions, from which you will be unable to be cured.28The Lord will strike you with insanity, with blindness, and with bewilderment.29You will grope at midday, as the blind man gropes in the dark, and you will be unsuccessful in your ways. You will be only oppressed and robbed all the days, and no one will save [you].30You will betroth a woman, but another man will lie with her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not redeem it[s fruits].31Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat from it. Your donkey will be snatched right in front of you, and it will not return to you. Your flock will be given over to your enemies, and you will have no savior.32Your sons and daughters will be given over to another people, and your eyes will see [this] and long for them all day long, but you will be powerless.33A people unknown to you will eat up the fruit of your soil and [the result of] all your toil. You will be only wronged and crushed all the days.34You will go insane from the vision before your eyes that you will behold.35The Lord will strike you on the knees and on the legs with a terrible skin eruption from which you will be unable to be cured; [it will eventually cover you] from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.36The Lord will lead you and your king whom you will have established over you, to a nation unknown to you or your fathers; and there, you will serve other deities [made] of wood and stone.37And you will become an [object of] astonishment, an example, and a topic of discussion, among all the peoples to whom the Lord will lead you.38You will take much seed out to the field, yet you will gather in little, for the locusts will finish it.39You will plant vineyards and work [them], but you will neither drink of [their] wine, or gather [the grapes], because the worms will devour them.40You will have olive trees throughout all your boundaries, but you will not anoint with [their] oil, because your olive trees will drop off.41You will bear sons and daughters, but you will not have them, because they will go into captivity.42All your trees and all the fruit of your soil the cicada will make destitute.43The stranger who is among you will arise above you, higher and higher, while you will descend lower and lower.44He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be at the head, while you will be at the tail.45All these curses will befall you, pursuing you and overtaking you to destroy you because you did not obey the Lord, your God, to observe His commandments and statutes which He commanded you.46And they will be as a sign and a wonder, upon you and your offspring, forever,47because you did not serve the Lord, your God, with happiness and with gladness of heart, when [you had an] abundance of everything.48Therefore, you will serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, [when you are] in famine, thirst, destitution, and lacking everything, and he will place an iron yoke upon your neck, until he has destroyed you.49The Lord will bring upon you a nation from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you will not understand,50a brazen nation, which will not respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young.51They will devour the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your soil, to destroy you. They will not leave over anything for you of the grain, wine, oil, offspring of your cattle or flocks of your sheep, until they annihilate you.52And they will besiege you in all your cities, until your high and fortified walls in which you trust come down, throughout all your land. And they will besiege you in all your cities throughout all your land, which the Lord, your God, has given you.53And during the siege and the desperation which your enemies will bring upon you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord, your God, gave you.54The most tender and delicate man among you, will begrudge his own brother and the wife of his embrace and the rest of his children, whom he will leave over,55of giving any one of them of the flesh of his children that he is eating, because not a thing will remain for him in the siege and in the desperation which your enemies will bring upon you, in all your cities.56The most tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set her foot upon the ground, because of delicateness and tenderness, will begrudge the husband of her embrace and her own son and daughter,57and the infants who emerge from between her legs, and her own children whom she will bear, for she will eat them in secret, in destitution, in the siege and the desperation which your enemies will inflict upon you, in your cities.58If you do not observe to fulfill all the words of this Torah, which are written in this scroll, to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord, your God,59Then the Lord [will bring upon] you and your offspring uniquely [horrible] plagues, terrible and unyielding plagues, and evil and unyielding sicknesses.60And He will bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt which you dreaded, and they will cling to you.61Also, the Lord will bring upon you every disease and plague which is not written in this Torah scroll, to destroy you.62And you will remain few in number, whereas you were once as numerous as the stars of the heavens because you did not obey the Lord, your God.63And it will be, just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do good for you and to increase you, so will the Lord cause to rejoice over you to annihilate you and to destroy you. And you will be uprooted from the land which you enter therein, to possess it.64And the Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve other deities unknown to you or your forefathers, [deities of] wood and stone.65And among those nations, you will not be calm, nor will your foot find rest. There, the Lord will give you a trembling heart, dashed hopes, and a depressed soul.66And your life will hang in suspense before you. You will be in fear night and day, and you will not believe in your life.67In the morning, you will say, "If only it were evening! " and in the evening, you will say, "If only it were morning!" because of the fear in your heart which you will experience and because of the sights that you will behold.68And the Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships, through the way about which I had said to you, You will never see it again. And there, you will seek to be sold to your enemies for slaves and handmaids, but there will be no buyer.69These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.


Friday

Luke 14:1–14 (NLT): Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely. 2 There was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?” 4 When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he turned to them and said, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?” 6 Again they could not answer.

Jesus Teaches about Humility

7 When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice: 8 “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? 9 The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!

10 “Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. 11 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

12 Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”




Seventh Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 29

1And Moses called all of Israel and said to them, "You have seen all that the Lord did before your very eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land;2the great trials which your very eyes beheld and those great signs and wonders.3Yet until this day, the Lord has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear.4I led you through the desert for forty years [during which time] your garments did not wear out from upon you, nor did your shoes wear out from upon your feet.5You neither ate bread, nor drank new wine or old wine, in order that you would know that I am the Lord, your God.6And then you arrived at this place. And Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, came out towards us in battle, and we smote them.7And we took their land, and we gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.8And you shall observe the words of this covenant and fulfill them, in order that you will succeed in all that you do.


Saturday

Exodus 30:17–21 (NLT): Plans for the Washbasin

17 Then the Lord said to Moses, 18 “Make a bronze washbasin with a bronze stand. Place it between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water. 19 Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet there. 20 They must wash with water whenever they go into the Tabernacle to appear before the Lord and when they approach the altar to burn up their special gifts to the Lord—or they will die! 21 They must always wash their hands and feet, or they will die. This is a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants, to be observed from generation to generation.”



Maftir Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 29

6And then you arrived at this place. And Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, came out towards us in battle, and we smote them.7And we took their land, and we gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.8And you shall observe the words of this covenant and fulfill them, in order that you will succeed in all that you do.

Haftarah

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) Chapter 60

1Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has shone upon you.2For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and a gross darkness the kingdoms, and the Lord shall shine upon you, and His glory shall appear over you.3And nations shall go by your light and kings by the brilliance of your shine.4Lift up your eyes all around and see, they all have gathered, they have come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be raised on [their] side.5Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart shall be startled and become enlarged, for the abundance of the west shall be turned over to you, the wealth of the nations that will come to you.6A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah, all of them shall come from Sheba; gold and frankincense they shall carry, and the praises of the Lord they shall report.7All the sheep of Kedar shall be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall serve you; they shall be offered up with acceptance upon My altar, and I will glorify My glorious house.8Who are these that fly like a cloud and like doves to their cotes?9For the isles will hope for Me, and the ships of Tarshish [as] in the beginning, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, in the name of the Lord your God and for the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you.10And foreigners shall build your walls, and their kings shall serve you, for in My wrath I struck you, and in My grace have I had mercy on you.11And they shall open your gates always; day and night they shall not be closed, to bring to you the wealth of the nations and their kings in procession.12For the nation and the kingdom that shall not serve you shall perish, and the nations shall be destroyed.13The glory of the Lebanon shall come to you, box trees, firs, and cypresses together, to glorify the place of My sanctuary, and the place of My feet I will honor.14And the children of your oppressors shall go to you bent over, and those who despised you shall prostrate themselves at the soles of your feet, and they shall call you 'the city of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.'15Instead of your being forsaken and hated without a passerby, I will make you an everlasting pride, the joy of every generation.16And you shall suck the milk of nations and the breast of kings you shall suck, and you shall know that I am the Lord, your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.17Instead of the copper I will bring gold, and instead of the iron I will bring silver, and instead of the wood, copper, and instead of the stones, iron, and I will make your officers peace and your rulers righteousness.18Violence shall no longer be heard in your land, neither robbery nor destruction within your borders, and you shall call salvation your walls and your gates praise.19You shall no longer have the sun for light by day, and for brightness, the moon shall not give you light, but the Lord shall be to you for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory.20Your sun shall no longer set, neither shall your moon be gathered in, for the Lord shall be to you for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be completed.21And your people, all of them righteous, shall inherit the land forever, a scion of My planting, the work of My hands in which I will glory.22The smallest shall become a thousand and the least a mighty nation; I am the Lord, in its time I will hasten it.

 
 
 


First Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 21

10If you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord, your God, will deliver him into your hands, and you take his captives,11and you see among the captives a beautiful woman and you desire her, you may take [her] for yourself as a wife.12You shall bring her into your home, and she shall shave her head and let her nails grow.13And she shall remove the garment of her captivity from upon herself, and stay in your house, and weep for her father and her mother for a full month. After that, you may be intimate with her and possess her, and she will be a wife for you.14And it will be, if you do not desire her, then you shall send her away wherever she wishes, but you shall not sell her for money. You shall not keep her as a servant, because you have afflicted her.15If a man has two wives-one beloved and the other despised-and they bear him sons, the beloved one and the despised one, and the firstborn son is from the despised one.16Then it will be, on the day he [the husband] bequeaths his property to his sons, that he will not be able to give the son of the beloved [wife] birthright precedence over the son of the despised [wife]-the [real] firstborn son.17Rather, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the despised [wife] and give him a double share in all that he possesses, because he [this firstborn son] is the first of his strength, then he has the birthright entitlement.18If a man has a wayward and rebellious son, who does not obey his father or his mother, and they chasten him, and [he still] does not listen to them,19his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place.20And they shall say to the elders of his city, "This son of ours is wayward and rebellious; he does not obey us; [he is] a glutton and a guzzler."21And all the men of his city shall pelt him to death with stones, and he shall die. So shall you clear out the evil from among you, and all Israel will listen and fear.



1 Corinthians 15:15–28 (NLT):

15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

24 After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. 25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. 26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For the Scriptures say, “God has put all things under his authority.” (Of course, when it says “all things are under his authority,” that does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.) 28 Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.




Second Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 21

22If a man commits a sin for which he is sentenced to death, and he is put to death, you shall [then] hang him on a pole.23But you shall not leave his body on the pole overnight. Rather, you shall bury him on that [same] day, for a hanging [human corpse] is a blasphemy of God, and you shall not defile your land, which the Lord, your God, is giving you as an inheritance.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 22

1You shall not see your brother's ox or sheep straying, and ignore them. [Rather,] you shall return them to your brother.2But if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, you shall bring it into your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seeks it out, whereupon you shall return it to him.3So shall you do with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment, and so shall you do with any lost article of your brother which he has lost and you have found. You shall not ignore [it].4You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen [under its load] on the road, and ignore them. [Rather,] you shall pick up [the load] with him.5A man's attire shall not be on a woman, nor may a man wear a woman's garment because whoever does these [things] is an abomination to the Lord, your God.6If a bird's nest chances before you on the road, on any tree, or on the ground, and [it contains] fledglings or eggs, if the mother is sitting upon the fledglings or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother upon the young.7You shall send away the mother, and [then] you may take the young for yourself, in order that it should be good for you, and you should lengthen your days.


Monday

Isaiah 6:1–8 (NLT): Isaiah’s Cleansing and Call

It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!

The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

I said, “Here I am. Send me.”




Third Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 22

8When you build a new house, you shall make a guard rail for your roof, so that you shall not cause blood [to be spilled] in your house, that the one who falls should fall from it [the roof].9You shall not sow your vineyard [together with] a mixed variety of species, lest the increase, even the seed that you sow and the yield of the vineyard [both] become forbidden.10You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.11You shall not wear a mixture of wool and linen together.12You shall make yourself twisted threads, on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself.13If a man takes a wife, is intimate with her and despises her,14and he makes libelous charges against her and gives her a bad name, saying, "I took this woman, and when I came to her, I did not find any evidence of virginity for her."15Then the girl's father and her mother shall obtain evidence of the girl's virginity, and take it out to the elders of the city, to the gate.16And the girl's father shall say to the elders, "I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, and he despised her;17And behold, he made libelous charges, saying, 'I did not find evidence of your daughter's virginity.' But this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity!' And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city.18Then, the elders of that city shall take the man and chasten him.19And they shall fine him one hundred [shekels of] silver because he defamed a virgin of Israel, and he should give it to the girl's father. And she shall be his wife; he shall not send her away all the days of his life.20But if this matter was true: [indeed,] no evidence of the girl's virginity was found.21they shall take the girl out to the entrance of her father's house, and the men of her city shall pelt her with stones, and she shall die, for she did a disgraceful thing in Israel, to commit adultery [in] her father's house. So shall you clear away the evil from among you.22If a man is found lying with a married woman, even both of them shall die the man lying with the woman and the woman. So shall you clear away the evil from Israel.23If there is a virgin girl betrothed to a man, and [another] man finds her in the city, and lies with her,24you shall take them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall pelt them with stones, and they shall die: the girl, because she did not cry out [even though she was] in the city, and the man, because he violated his neighbor's wife. So shall you clear away the evil from among you.25But if a man finds the betrothed girl in the field, and the man overpowers her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.26Whereas to the girl, you shall do nothing the girl did not commit a sin deserving of death, for just as a man rises up against his fellow and murders him, so is this case.27Because he found her in the field. The betrothed girl had cried out, but there was no one to save her.28If a man finds a virgin girl who was not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found,29the man who lay with her shall give fifty [shekels of] silver to the girl's father, and she shall become his wife, because he violated her. He shall not send her away all the days of his life.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 23

1A man shall not take his father's wife, nor shall he uncover the corner of his father's [cloak].2[A man] with injured testicles or whose member is cut, may not enter the assembly of the Lord.3A bastard shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even the tenth generation shall not enter the assembly of the Lord.4An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even the tenth generation shall never enter the assembly of the Lord.5Because they did not greet you with bread and water on the way, when you left Egypt, and because he [the people of Moab] hired Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim against you, to curse you.6But the Lord, your God, did not want to listen to Balaam. So the Lord, your God, transformed the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord, your God, loves you.7You shall not ever seek out their welfare or their good, all your days.


Tuesday

Acts 17:22–31 (NLT):

22 So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.

24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”




Fourth Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 23

8You shall not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not despise an Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in his land.9Children who are born to them [in] the third generation may enter the assembly of the Lord.10When a camp goes out against your enemies, you shall beware of everything evil.11If there is among you a man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he shall go outside the camp. He shall not come within the camp.12And it shall be, towards evening, he shall bathe in water, and when the sun sets, he may come within the camp.13And you shall have a designated place outside the camp, so that you can go out there [to use it as a privy].14And you shall keep a stake in addition to your weapons; and it shall be, when you sit down outside [to relieve yourself], you shall dig with it, and you shall return and cover your excrement.15For the Lord, your God, goes along in the midst of your camp, to rescue you and to deliver your enemies before you. [Therefore,] your camp shall be holy, so that He should not see anything unseemly among you and would turn away from you.16You shall not deliver a slave to his master if he seeks refuge with you from his master.17[Rather,] he shall [be allowed to] reside among you, wherever he chooses within any of your cities, where it is good for him. You shall not oppress him.18There shall not be a prostitute of the daughters of Israel, and there shall not be a male prostitute of the sons of Israel.19You shall not bring a prostitute's fee or the price of a dog, to the House of the Lord, your God, for any vow, because both of them are an abomination to the Lord, your God.20You shall not give interest to your brother, [whether it be] interest on money, interest on food or interest on any [other] item for which interest is [normally] taken.21You may [however,] give interest to a gentile, but to your brother you shall not give interest, in order that the Lord, your God, shall bless you in every one of your endeavors on the land to which you are coming to possess.22When you make a vow to the Lord, your God, you shall not delay in paying it, for the Lord, your God, will demand it of you, and it will be [counted as] a sin for you.23But if you shall refrain from making vows, you will have no sin.24Observe and do what is emitted from your lips just as you have pledged to the Lord, your God, as a donation, which you have spoken with your mouth.


Wednesday

Micah 4:1–7 (NLT): The Lord’s Future Reign

1 In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house

will be the highest of all—

the most important place on earth.

It will be raised above the other hills,

and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.

2 People from many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of Jacob’s God.

There he will teach us his ways,

and we will walk in his paths.”

For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion;

his word will go out from Jerusalem.

3 The Lord will mediate between peoples

and will settle disputes between strong nations far away.

They will hammer their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will no longer fight against nation,

nor train for war anymore.

4 Everyone will live in peace and prosperity,

enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees,

for there will be nothing to fear.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies

has made this promise!

5 Though the nations around us follow their idols,

we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.

Israel’s Return from Exile

6 “In that coming day,” says the Lord,

“I will gather together those who are lame,

those who have been exiles,

and those whom I have filled with grief.

7 Those who are weak will survive as a remnant;

those who were exiles will become a strong nation.

Then I, the Lord, will rule from Jerusalem

as their king forever.”




Fifth Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 23

25When you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you desire, until you are sated, but you shall not put [any] into your vessel.26When you enter your neighbor's standing grain, you may pick the ears with your hand, but you shall not lift a sickle upon your neighbor's standing grain.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 24

1When a man takes a wife and is intimate with her, and it happens that she does not find favor in his eyes because he discovers in her an unseemly [moral] matter, and he writes for her a bill of divorce and places it into her hand, and sends her away from his house,2and she leaves his house and goes and marries another man,3if the latter husband hates her and writes her a bill of divorce, and places it into her hand and sends her away from his house, or if the latter husband who took her as a wife, dies4her first husband, who had sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, since she was defiled [to him], for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin to the land the Lord, your God, gives you for an inheritance.


Thursday

Hebrews 7:11–25 (NLT):

11 So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?

12 And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. 13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.

Jesus Is like Melchizedek

15 This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. 16 Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 17 And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied,

“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

18 Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. 19 For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

20 This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath, 21 but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him,

“The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow:

‘You are a priest forever.’ ”

22 Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.

23 There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.




Sixth Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 24

5When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, nor shall he be subjected to anything associated with it. He shall remain free for his home for one year and delight his wife, whom he has taken.6One shall not take the lower or the upper millstone as security [for a loan], because he is taking a life as security.7If a man is discovered kidnapping any person from among his brothers, of the children of Israel, and treats him as a slave and sells him that thief shall die, so that you shall clear out the evil from among you.8Be cautious regarding the lesion of tzara'ath, to observe meticulously and you shall do according to all that the Levite priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, [so shall you] observe to do.9Remember what the Lord, your God, did to Miriam on the way, when you went out of Egypt.10When you lend your fellow [Jew] any item, you shall not enter his home to take his security.11You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you are extending the loan shall bring the security to you outside.12And if he is a poor man, you shall not lie down [to sleep] with his security.13You shall return the security to him by sunset, so that he may lie down [to sleep] in his garment, and he will bless you, and it will be counted for you as merit before the Lord, your God.


Friday

Isaiah 26:12–21 (NLT):

12 Lord, you will grant us peace;

all we have accomplished is really from you.

13 O Lord our God, others have ruled us,

but you alone are the one we worship.

14 Those we served before are dead and gone.

Their departed spirits will never return!

You attacked them and destroyed them,

and they are long forgotten.

15 O Lord, you have made our nation great;

yes, you have made us great.

You have extended our borders,

and we give you the glory!

16 Lord, in distress we searched for you.

We prayed beneath the burden of your discipline.

17 Just as a pregnant woman

writhes and cries out in pain as she gives birth,

so were we in your presence, Lord.

18 We, too, writhe in agony,

but nothing comes of our suffering.

We have not given salvation to the earth,

nor brought life into the world.

19 But those who die in the Lord will live;

their bodies will rise again!

Those who sleep in the earth

will rise up and sing for joy!

For your life-giving light will fall like dew

on your people in the place of the dead!

Restoration for Israel

20 Go home, my people,

and lock your doors!

Hide yourselves for a little while

until the Lord’s anger has passed.

21 Look! The Lord is coming from heaven

to punish the people of the earth for their sins.

The earth will no longer hide those who have been killed.

They will be brought out for all to see.




Seventh Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 24

14You shall not withhold the wages of a poor or destitute hired worker, of your brothers or of your strangers who are in your land within your cities.15You shall give him his wage on his day and not let the sun set over it, for he is poor, and he risks his life for it, so that he should not cry out to the Lord against you, so that there should be sin upon you.16Fathers shall not be put to death because of sons, nor shall sons be put to death because of fathers; each man shall be put to death for his own transgression.17You shall not pervert the judgment of a stranger or an orphan, and you shall not take a widow's garment as security [for a loan].18You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord, your God, redeemed you from there; therefore, I command you to do this thing.19When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to take it; it shall be [left] for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord, your God, will bless you in all that you do.20When you beat your olive tree, you shall not deglorify it [by picking all its fruit] after you; it shall be [left] for the stranger, the orphan and the widow.21When you pick the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean after you: it shall be [left] for the stranger, the orphan and the widow.22You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt: therefore, I command you to do this thing.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 25

1If there is a quarrel between men, and they approach the tribunal, and they [the judges] judge them, and they acquit the innocent one and condemn the guilty one2and it shall be, if the guilty one has incurred [the penalty of] lashes, that the judge shall make him lean over and flog him in front of him, commensurate with his crime, in number.3He shall flog him with forty [lashes]; he shall not exceed, lest he give him a much more severe flogging than these [forty lashes], and your brother will be degraded before your eyes.4You shall not muzzle an ox when it is threshing [the grain].5If brothers reside together, and one of them dies having no son, the dead man's wife shall not marry an outsider. [Rather,] her husband's brother shall be intimate with her, making her a wife for himself, thus performing the obligation of a husband's brother with her.6And it will be, that the eldest brother [who performs the levirate marriage, if] she [can] bear will succeed in the name of his deceased brother, so that his [the deceased brother's] name shall not be obliterated from Israel.7But if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, the brother's wife shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and say, "My husband's brother has refused to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel he does not wish to perform the obligation of a husband's brother with me."8Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and he shall stand up and say, "I do not wish to take her."9Then his brother's wife shall approach him before the eyes of the elders and remove his shoe from his foot. And she shall spit before his face and answer [him] and say, "Thus shall be done to the man who will not build up his brother's household!"10And that family shall be called in Israel, "The family of the one whose shoe was removed."11If [two] men, a man and his brother, are fighting together, and the wife of one of them approaches to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she stretches forth her hand and grabs hold of his private parts12you shall cut off her hand You shall not have pity.13You shall not keep in your pouch two different weights, one large and one small.14You shall not keep in your house two different ephah measures, one large and one small.15[Rather,] you shall have a full and honest weight, [and] a full and honest ephah measure, in order that your days will be prolonged on the land which the Lord, your God, gives you.16For whoever does these things, whoever perpetrates such injustice, is an abomination to the Lord, your God.17You shall remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you went out of Egypt,18how he happened upon you on the way and cut off all the stragglers at your rear, when you were faint and weary, and he did not fear God.19[Therefore,] it will be, when the Lord your God grants you respite from all your enemies around [you] in the land which the Lord, your God, gives to you as an inheritance to possess, that you shall obliterate the remembrance of Amalek from beneath the heavens. You shall not forget!


Saturday

1 Corinthians 15:1–15 (NLT): The Resurrection of Christ

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. 9 For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.

10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 11 So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed.

The Resurrection of the Dead

12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? 13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead.



Maftir Portion

Devarim (Deuteronomy) Chapter 25

17You shall remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you went out of Egypt,18how he happened upon you on the way and cut off all the stragglers at your rear, when you were faint and weary, and he did not fear God.19[Therefore,] it will be, when the Lord your God grants you respite from all your enemies around [you] in the land which the Lord, your God, gives to you as an inheritance to possess, that you shall obliterate the remembrance of Amalek from beneath the heavens. You shall not forget!




Haftarah

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) Chapter 54

1"Sing you barren woman who has not borne; burst out into song and jubilate, you who have not experienced birth pangs, for the children of the desolate one are more than the children of the married woman," says the Lord.2Widen the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations, do not spare; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.3For right and left shall you prevail, and your seed shall inherit nations and repeople desolate cities.4Fear not, for you shall not be ashamed, and be not embarrassed for you shall not be put to shame, for the shame of your youth you shall forget, and the disgrace of your widowhood you shall no longer remember.5For your Master is your Maker, the Lord of Hosts is His name, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, shall be called the God of all the earth.6For, like a wife who is deserted and distressed in spirit has the Lord called you, and a wife of one's youth who was rejected, said your God.7"For a small moment have I forsaken you, and with great mercy will I gather you.8With a little wrath did I hide My countenance for a moment from you, and with everlasting kindness will I have compassion on you," said your Redeemer, the Lord.9"For this is to Me [as] the waters of Noah, as I swore that the waters of Noah shall never again pass over the earth, so have I sworn neither to be wroth with you nor to rebuke you.10For the mountains shall depart and the hills totter, but My kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of My peace totter," says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.

 
 
 



1 Corinthians 4:7–21 (NLT):

7 For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?

8 You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you. 9 Instead, I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike.

10 Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed. 11 Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. 12 We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. 13 We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment.

14 I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. 15 For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. 16 So I urge you to imitate me.

17 That’s why I have sent Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go.

18 Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will not visit you again. 19 But I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power. 20 For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power. 21 Which do you choose? Should I come with a rod to punish you, or should I come with love and a gentle spirit?


Monday

Isaiah 41:1–14 (NLT): God’s Help for Israel

1 “Listen in silence before me, you lands beyond the sea.

Bring your strongest arguments.

Come now and speak.

The court is ready for your case.

2 “Who has stirred up this king from the east,

rightly calling him to God’s service?

Who gives this man victory over many nations

and permits him to trample their kings underfoot?

With his sword, he reduces armies to dust.

With his bow, he scatters them like chaff before the wind.

3 He chases them away and goes on safely,

though he is walking over unfamiliar ground.

4 Who has done such mighty deeds,

summoning each new generation from the beginning of time?

It is I, the Lord, the First and the Last.

I alone am he.”

5 The lands beyond the sea watch in fear.

Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war.

6 The idol makers encourage one another,

saying to each other, “Be strong!”

7 The carver encourages the goldsmith,

and the molder helps at the anvil.

“Good,” they say. “It’s coming along fine.”

Carefully they join the parts together,

then fasten the thing in place so it won’t fall over.

8 “But as for you, Israel my servant,

Jacob my chosen one,

descended from Abraham my friend,

9 I have called you back from the ends of the earth,

saying, ‘You are my servant.’

For I have chosen you

and will not throw you away.

10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.

Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.

I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

11 “See, all your angry enemies lie there,

confused and humiliated.

Anyone who opposes you will die

and come to nothing.

12 You will look in vain

for those who tried to conquer you.

Those who attack you

will come to nothing.

13 For I hold you by your right hand—

I, the Lord your God.

And I say to you,

‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.

14 Though you are a lowly worm, O Jacob,

don’t be afraid, people of Israel, for I will help you.

I am the Lord, your Redeemer.

I am the Holy One of Israel.’


Tuesday

Romans 8:1–15 (NLT): Life in the Spirit

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”


Wednesday

Romans 8:15–25 (NLT):

16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

The Future Glory

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)


Thursday

Romans 8:26–39 (NLT):

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.


Friday

Psalm 82:1–8 (NLT):

1 God presides over heaven’s court;

he pronounces judgment on the heavenly beings:

2 “How long will you hand down unjust decisions

by favoring the wicked?

Interlude

3 “Give justice to the poor and the orphan;

uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.

4 Rescue the poor and helpless;

deliver them from the grasp of evil people.

5 But these oppressors know nothing;

they are so ignorant!

They wander about in darkness,

while the whole world is shaken to the core.

6 I say, ‘You are gods;

you are all children of the Most High.

7 But you will die like mere mortals

and fall like every other ruler.’ ”

8 Rise up, O God, and judge the earth,

for all the nations belong to you.


Saturday

1 Corinthians 4:1–6 (NLT): Paul’s Relationship with the Corinthians

So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. 2 Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. 3 As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.

5 So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

6 Dear brothers and sisters, I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I’ve been saying. If you pay attention to what I have quoted from the Scriptures, you won’t be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another.



 
 
 
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