the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
January 15 - Old & New Testament
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Job 17,18,19
1 My spirit is broken.
My days are extinguished.
A graveyard(a) awaits me.
2 Surely mockers surround[a] me
and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.(b)
3 Make arrangements! Put up security for me.[b](c)
Who else will be my sponsor?[c]
4 You have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore You will not honor them.
5 If a man informs on his friends for a price,
the eyes of his children will fail.
6 He has made me an object of scorn to the people;
I have become a man people spit at.[d](d)
7 My eyes have grown dim from grief,
and my whole body has become but a shadow.
8 The upright are appalled(e) at this,
and the innocent are roused against the godless.
9 Yet the righteous person will hold to his way,
and the one whose hands are clean(f) will grow stronger.
10 But come back and try again, all of you.[e]
I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have slipped by;
my plans have been ruined,
even the things dear to my heart.
12 They turned night into day
and made light seem near in the face of darkness.(g)
13 If I await Sheol as my home,
spread out my bed in darkness,
14 and say to corruption: You are my father,
and to the maggot: My mother or my sister,(h)
15 where then is my hope?(i)
Who can see any hope for me?
16 Will it go down to the gates of Sheol,(j)
or will we descend together to the dust?
Bildad Speaks
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite(a) replied:
2 How long until you stop talking?
Show some sense, and then we can talk.
3 Why are we regarded as cattle,
as stupid in your sight?
4 You who tear yourself in anger[a]—
should the earth be abandoned on your account,
or a rock be removed from its place?
5 Yes, the light(b) of the wicked(c) is extinguished;
the flame of his fire does not glow.
6 The light in his tent grows dark,(d)
and the lamp beside him is put out.
7 His powerful stride is shortened,
and his own schemes trip him up.(e)
8 For his own feet lead him into a net,
and he strays into its mesh.
9 A trap catches him by the heel;
a noose seizes him.
10 A rope lies hidden for him on the ground,
and a snare waits for him along the path.
11 Terrors frighten him on every side(f)
and harass him at every step.
12 His strength is depleted;
disaster lies ready for him to stumble.[b]
13 Parts of his skin are eaten away;
death's firstborn consumes his limbs.
14 He is ripped from the security of his tent
and marched away to the king of terrors.
15 Nothing he owned remains in his tent.
Burning sulfur(g) is scattered over his home.
16 His roots below dry up,
and his branches above wither away.(h)
17 All memory(i) of him perishes from the earth;
he has no name anywhere.[c]
18 He is driven from light to darkness
and chased from the inhabited world.
19 He has no children or descendants among his people,
no survivor where he used to live.(j)
20 Those in the west are appalled(k) at his fate,
while those in the east tremble in horror.
21 Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man,
and this is the place of the one who does not know God.(l)
Job's Reply to Bildad
1 Then Job answered:
2 How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
3 You have humiliated me ten times now,
and you mistreat[a] me without shame.(a)
4 Even if it is true that I have sinned,
my mistake concerns only[b] me.
5 If you really want to appear superior(b) to me
and would use my disgrace as evidence against me,
6 then understand that it is God who has wronged me
and caught me in His net.(c)
7 I cry out: "Violence!" but get no response;(d)
I call for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has blocked(e) my way so that I cannot pass through;
He has veiled my paths with darkness.(f)
9 He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.
10 He tears me down on every side so that I am ruined.[c]
He uproots my hope like a tree.(g)
11 His anger(h) burns against me,
and He regards me as one of His enemies.(i)
12 His troops advance together;
they construct a ramp[d] against me
and camp(j) around my tent.
13 He has removed my brothers from me;
my acquaintances have abandoned me.(k)
14 My relatives stop coming by,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 My house guests[e] and female servants regard me as a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their sight.(l)
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer,
even if I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
and my own family[f] finds me repulsive.
18 Even young boys scorn me.
When I stand up, they mock me.(m)
19 All of my best friends[g] despise me,(n)
and those I love have turned against me.(o)
20 My skin and my flesh cling to my bones;
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have mercy on me, my friends,(p) have mercy,
for God's hand(q) has struck me.(r)
22 Why do you persecute me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 I wish that my words were written down,
that they were recorded on a scroll
24 or were inscribed in stone forever
by an iron stylus and lead!
25 But I know my living Redeemer,[h](s)
and He will stand on the dust[i] at last.[j](t)
26 Even after my skin has been destroyed,[k]
yet I will see God in[l] my flesh.(u)
27 I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.[m]
My heart longs[n] within me.(v)
28 If you say, "How will we pursue him,
since the root of the problem lies with him?"[o]
29 then be afraid of the sword,
because wrath brings punishment by the sword,(w)
so that you may know there is a judgment.
Matthew 10:21-42
Chapter 10
21 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will even rise up against their parents and have them put to death.(w) 22 You will be hated by everyone because of My name.(x) But the one who endures to the end will be delivered. [g](y) 23 When they persecute you in one town, escape to another.(z) For I assure you: You will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 A disciple[h] is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master.(aa) 25 It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,' how much more the members of his household! (ab)
Fear God
26 "Therefore,(ac) don't be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won't be uncovered and nothing hidden that won't be made known.(ad) 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper,[i] proclaim on the housetops.(ae) 28 Don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul;(af) rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (ag) 29 Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny?[j] Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's(ah) consent.[k] 30 But even the hairs of your head have all been counted.(ai) 31 So don't be afraid therefore; you are worth more than many sparrows. (aj)
Acknowledging Christ
32 "Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven.(ak) 33 But whoever denies Me before men,(al) I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. 34 Don't assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.(am) 35 For I came to turn
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36
and a man's enemies will be
the members of his household.
(an)[l]
37 The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me;(ao) the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And whoever doesn't take up his cross and follow[m] Me is not worthy of Me. 39 Anyone finding[n] his life will lose it,(ap) and anyone losing[o] his life because of Me will find it. (aq)
A Cup of Cold Water
40 "The one who welcomes you welcomes Me,(ar) and the one who welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me.(as) 41 Anyone who[p] welcomes a prophet(at) because he is a prophet[q] will receive a prophet's reward. And anyone who[r] welcomes a righteous person because he's righteous[s] will receive a righteous person's reward. 42 And whoever gives(au) just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple [t](av) —I assure you: He will never lose his reward!"
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