AME Zion Universal Reading November 7th 2021

Revelation 7:9–17 (NLT): Praise from the Great Crowd

9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. 10 And they were shouting with a great roar,

“Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne

and from the Lamb!”

11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God. 12 They sang,

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom

and thanksgiving and honor

and power and strength belong to our God

forever and ever! Amen.”

13 Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?”

14 And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.”

Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.

15 “That is why they stand in front of God’s throne

and serve him day and night in his Temple.

And he who sits on the throne

will give them shelter.

16 They will never again be hungry or thirsty;

they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun.

17 For the Lamb on the throne

will be their Shepherd.

He will lead them to springs of life-giving water.

And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

First Portion

Genesis Chapter 25

19And these are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham; Abraham begot Isaac.20And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to himself for a wife.21And Isaac prayed to the Lord opposite his wife because she was barren, and the Lord accepted his prayer, and Rebecca his wife conceived.22And the children struggled within her, and she said, "If [it be] so, why am I [like] this?" And she went to inquire of the Lord.23And the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two kingdoms will separate from your innards, and one kingdom will become mightier than the other kingdom, and the elder will serve the younger.24And her days to give birth were completed, and behold, there were twins in her womb.25And the first one emerged ruddy; he was completely like a coat of hair, and they named him Esau.26And afterwards, his brother emerged, and his hand was grasping Esau's heel, and he named him Jacob. Now Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.27And the youths grew up, and Esau was a man who understood hunting, a man of the field, whereas Jacob was an innocent man, dwelling in tents.28And Isaac loved Esau because [his] game was in his mouth, but Rebecca loved Jacob.29Now Jacob cooked a pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was faint.30And Esau said to Jacob, "Pour into [me] some of this red, red [pottage], for I am faint"; he was therefore named Edom.31And Jacob said, "Sell me as of this day your birthright."32Esau replied, "Behold, I am going to die; so why do I need this birthright?"33And Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this day"; so he swore to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob.34And Jacob gave Esau bread and a pottage of lentils, and he ate and drank and arose and left, and Esau despised the birthright.

Genesis Chapter 26

1And there was a famine in the land, aside from the first famine that had been in the days of Abraham, and Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, to Gerar.2And the Lord appeared to him, and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land that I will tell you.3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and I will bless you, for to you and to your seed will I give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham, your father.4And I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and I will give your seed all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will bless themselves by your seed,5Because Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My instructions."

Second Portion

Genesis Chapter 26

6And Isaac dwelt in Gerar.7And the men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to say, "[She is] my wife," [because he said,] "Lest the men of the place kill me because of Rebecca, for she is of comely appearance."8And it came to pass, when he had been there for many days, that Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, looked out of the window, and he saw, and behold, Isaac was jesting with Rebecca his wife.9So Abimelech called Isaac, and he said, "Behold, she is your wife; so how could you have said, 'She is my sister'?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die because of her. '"10And Abimelech said, "What have you done to us? The most prominent of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us."11And Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, "Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death."12And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found in that year a hundred fold, and the Lord blessed him.

Monday

Psalm 67:title–7 (NLT):

For the choir director: A song. A psalm, to be accompanied by stringed instruments.

1 May God be merciful and bless us.

May his face smile with favor on us.

Interlude

2 May your ways be known throughout the earth,

your saving power among people everywhere.

3 May the nations praise you, O God.

Yes, may all the nations praise you.

4 Let the whole world sing for joy,

because you govern the nations with justice

and guide the people of the whole world.

Interlude

5 May the nations praise you, O God.

Yes, may all the nations praise you.

6 Then the earth will yield its harvests,

and God, our God, will richly bless us.

7 Yes, God will bless us,

and people all over the world will fear him.

Third Portion

Genesis Chapter 26

13And the man became great, and he grew constantly greater until he had grown very great.14And he had possessions of sheep and possessions of cattle and much production, and the Philistines envied him.15And all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with earth.16And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you have become much stronger than we."17And Isaac went away from there, and he encamped in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there.18And Isaac again dug the wells of water which they had dug in the days of his father, Abraham, and the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham's death; and he gave them names like the names that his father had given them.19And Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and they found there a well of living waters.20And the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's shepherds, saying, "The water is ours"; so he named the well Esek, because they had contended with him.21And they dug another well, and they quarreled about it also; so he named it Sitnah.22And he moved away from there, and he dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, and he said, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land."

Tuesday

Isaiah 2:1–5 (NLT): The Lord’s Future Reign

This is a vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2 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.

3 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.

4 The Lord will mediate between nations

and will settle international disputes.

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.

A Warning of Judgment

5 Come, descendants of Jacob,

let us walk in the light of the Lord!

Fourth Portion

Genesis Chapter 26

23And he went up from there to Beer sheba.24And the Lord appeared to him on that night and said, "I am the God of Abraham, your father. Fear not, for I am with you, and I will bless you and multiply your seed for the sake of Abraham, My servant."25And he built an altar there, and he called in the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there, and Isaac's servants dug a well there.26And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and a group of his companions and Pichol, his general.27And Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and you sent me away from you?"28And they said, "We have seen that the Lord was with you; so we said: Let there now be an oath between us, between ourselves and you, and let us form a covenant with you.29If you do [not] harm us, as we have not touched you, and as we have done with you only good, and we sent you away in peace, [so do] you now, blessed of the Lord."

Wednesday

Matthew 28:16–20 (NLT): The Great Commission

16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Fifth Portion

Genesis Chapter 26

30So he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.31And they arose early in the morning, and they swore one to the other, and Isaac escorted them, and they went away from him in peace.32And it came to pass on that day, that Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug, and they said to him, "We have found water."33And he named it Shibah; therefore, the city is named Beer sheba until this very day.34And Esau was forty years old, and he married Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.35And they were a vexation of the spirit to Isaac and to Rebecca.

Genesis Chapter 27

1It came to pass when Isaac was old, and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called Esau his elder son, and he said to him, "My son," and he said to him, "Here I am."2And he said, "Behold now, I have grown old; I do not know the day of my death.3So, now, sharpen your implements, your sword [and take] your bow, and go forth to the field, and hunt game for me.4And make for me tasty foods as I like, and bring them to me, and I will eat, in order that my soul will bless you before I die."5But Rebecca overheard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son, and Esau went to the field to hunt game, to bring [it].6And Rebecca said to Jacob her son, saying, "Behold I have heard your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying,7'Bring me game and make me tasty foods, and I will eat, and I will bless you before the Lord before my death.'8And now my son, hearken to my voice, to what I am commanding you.9Go now to the flock, and take for me from there two choice kids, and I will make them tasty foods for your father, as he likes.10And you shall bring [them] to your father that he may eat, in order that he bless you before his death."11And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother, "Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, whereas I am a smooth man.12Perhaps my father will touch me, and I will appear to him as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing."13And his mother said to him, "On me is your curse, my son. Only hearken to my voice and go, take [them] for me."14So he went, and he took, and he brought [them] to his mother, and his mother made tasty foods, as his father liked.15And Rebecca took the costly garments of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and she dressed Jacob, her younger son.16And the hides of the kids she put on his hands and on the smoothness of his neck.17And she gave the tasty foods and the bread that she had made, into the hand of Jacob her son.18And he came to his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"19And Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you have spoken to me. Please rise, sit down and eat of my game, so that your soul will bless me."20And Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found [it] so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the Lord your God prepared it before me."21And Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come closer, so that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."22So Jacob drew near to Isaac his father, and he felt him, and he said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."23And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like the hands of his brother Esau, and he blessed him.24And he said, "Are you [indeed] my son Esau?" And he said, "I am."25And he said, "Serve [it] to me that I may eat of the game of my son, so that my soul will bless you." And he served him, and he ate, and he brought him wine, and he drank.26And his father Isaac said to him, "Please come closer and kiss me, my son."27And he came closer, and he kissed him, and he smelled the fragrance of his garments, and he blessed him, and he said, "Behold, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field, which the Lord has blessed!

Thursday

Zechariah 8:18–23 (NLT):

18 Here is another message that came to me from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 19 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The traditional fasts and times of mourning you have kept in early summer, midsummer, autumn, and winter are now ended. They will become festivals of joy and celebration for the people of Judah. So love truth and peace.

20 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: People from nations and cities around the world will travel to Jerusalem. 21 The people of one city will say to the people of another, ‘Come with us to Jerusalem to ask the Lord to bless us. Let’s worship the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. I’m determined to go.’ 22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and to ask for his blessing.

23 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In those days ten men from different nations and languages of the world will clutch at the sleeve of one Jew. And they will say, ‘Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”

Sixth Portion

Genesis Chapter 27

28And may the Lord give you of the dew of the heavens and [of] the fatness of the earth and an abundance of grain and wine.29Nations shall serve you and kingdoms shall bow down to you; you shall be a master over your brothers, and your mother's sons shall bow down to you. Those who curse you shall be cursed, and those who bless you shall be blessed."30And it came to pass, when Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and it came to pass Jacob had just left his father Isaac's presence, that his brother Esau came from his hunt.31And he too had made tasty foods, and he brought [them] to his father, and he said to his father, "Let my father arise and eat of the game of his son, so that your soul will bless me. "32And his father Isaac said to him, "Who are you?" And he said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau."33And Isaac shuddered a great shudder, and he said, "Who then is the one who hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate of everything while you had not yet come, and I blessed him? He, too, shall be blessed."34When Esau heard his father's words, he cried out a great and bitter cry, and he said to his father, "Bless me too, O my father!"35And he said, "Your brother came with cunning and took your blessing."36And he said, "Is it for this reason that he was named Jacob? For he has deceived me twice; he took my birthright, and behold, now he has taken my blessing." And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"37And Isaac answered and said to Esau, "Behold, I made him a master over you, and I gave him all his brothers as servants, and I have sustained him with corn and wine; so for you then, what shall I do, my son?"38And Esau said to his father, "Have you [but] one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father." And Esau raised his voice and wept.39And his father Isaac answered and said to him, "Behold, your dwelling place shall be the fat places of the earth and of the dew of the heaven from above.40And you shall live by your sword, and you shall serve your brother, and it will be, when you grieve, that you will break his yoke off your neck."41And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing that his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, "Let the days of mourning for my father draw near, I will then kill my brother Jacob. "42And Rebecca was told of the words of Esau, her elder son, and she sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and she said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau regrets [his relationship] to you [and wishes] to kill you.43And now, my son, hearken to my voice, and arise, flee to my brother Laban, to Haran.44And you shall dwell with him for a few days until your brother's wrath has subsided.45Until your brother's rage subsides from you, and he forgets what you did to him, and I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of both of you on one day?"46And Rebecca said to Isaac, "I am disgusted with my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth like these, from the daughters of the land, of what use is life to me?"

Genesis Chapter 28

1And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and he commanded him and said to him, "You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.2Arise, go to Padan aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take yourself from there a wife of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.3And may the Almighty God bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and you shall become an assembly of peoples.4And may He give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you, that you may inherit the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham."

Friday

Psalm 86:title–11 (NLT): A prayer of David.

1 Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer;

answer me, for I need your help.

2 Protect me, for I am devoted to you.

Save me, for I serve you and trust you.

You are my God.

3 Be merciful to me, O Lord,

for I am calling on you constantly.

4 Give me happiness, O Lord,

for I give myself to you.

5 O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,

so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.

6 Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord;

hear my urgent cry.

7 I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble,

and you will answer me.

8 No pagan god is like you, O Lord.

None can do what you do!

9 All the nations you made

will come and bow before you, Lord;

they will praise your holy name.

10 For you are great and perform wonderful deeds.

You alone are God.

11 Teach me your ways, O Lord,

that I may live according to your truth!

Grant me purity of heart,

so that I may honor you.

Seventh Portion

Genesis Chapter 28

5And Isaac sent Jacob, and he went to Padan aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.6And Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan aram, to take himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him, he commanded him, saying, "You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan."7And Jacob listened to his father and his mother, and he went to Padan aram.8And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were displeasing to his father Isaac.9So Esau went to Ishmael, and he took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, the sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his other wives as a wife.

Saturday

Revelation 7:1–8 (NLT): God’s People Will Be Preserved

Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm land and sea, 3 “Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.”

4 And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:

5 from Judah 12,000

from Reuben 12,000

from Gad 12,000

6 from Asher 12,000

from Naphtali 12,000

from Manasseh 12,000

7 from Simeon 12,000

from Levi 12,000

from Issachar 12,000

8 from Zebulun 12,000

from Joseph 12,000

from Benjamin 12,000

Maftir Portion

Genesis Chapter 28

7And Jacob listened to his father and his mother, and he went to Padan aram.8And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were displeasing to his father Isaac.9So Esau went to Ishmael, and he took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, the sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his other wives as a wife.

Haftarah

Malachi Chapter 1

1The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel in the hand of Malachi.2I loved you, said the Lord, and you said, "How have You loved us?" Was not Esau a brother to Jacob? says the Lord. And I loved Jacob.3And I hated Esau, and I made his mountains desolate and his heritage into [a habitat for] the jackals of the desert.4Should Edom say, "We were poor, but we will return and build the ruins"? So said the Lord of Hosts: They shall build, but I will demolish; and they shall be called the border of wickedness and the people whom the Lord has damned forever.5And your eyes shall see, and you shall say, "The Lord is great beyond the border of Israel."6A son honors a father, and a slave his master. Now if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My fear? says the Lord of Hosts to you, the priests, who despise My name. But you said, "How have we despised Your Name?"7You offer on My altar defiled food, yet you say, "How have we defiled You?" By your saying, "God's table is contemptible."8When you offer a blind [animal] for a sacrifice, is there nothing wrong? And when you offer a lame or a sick one, is there nothing wrong? Were you to offer it to your governor, would he accept you or would he favor you? says the Lord of Hosts.9And now, will you pray before the Lord that He be gracious to us? This has come from your hand. Will He favor any of you? says the Lord of Hosts.10O that there were even one among you that would close the doors [of the Temple] and that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain! I have no desire in you, says the Lord of Hosts. Neither will I accept an offering from your hand.11For, from the rising of the sun until its setting, My Name is great among the nations, and everywhere offerings are burnt and offered up to My Name; yea, a pure oblation, for My Name is great among the nations, says the Lord of Hosts.12But you are profaning it by your saying, "The Lord's table is defiled"; and its expression is "Its food is contemptible."13And you say, "Here is a weary one," and you cause it pain, says the Lord of Hosts. And you brought that which was taken by violence, and the lame and the sick. And you bring an offering-will I accept it from your hand? says the Lord.14And cursed is he who deals craftily; although there is a ram in his flock, he vows and sacrifices a blemished one. For I am a great King, says the Lord of Hosts, and My Name is feared among the nations.

Malachi Chapter 2

1And now, to you is this commandment, O priests.2If you do not heed, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My Name, says the Lord of Hosts, I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed I have [already] cursed it, for you do not take it to heart.3Behold! I rebuke the seed because of you, and I will scatter dung upon your face-the dung of your festive sacrifices, and it shall take you to itself.4And you shall know that I have sent you this commandment, that My covenant be with Levi, says the Lord of Hosts.5My covenant was with him, life and peace, and I gave them to him [with] fear; and he feared Me, and because of My Name, he was over-awed.6True teaching was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. In peace and equity he went with Me, and he brought back many from iniquity.7For a priest's lips shall guard knowledge, and teaching should be sought from his mouth, for he is a messenger of the Lord of Hosts.