DAY 1

day1

GENESIS 1:12:17
The Beginning

In the beg inn ing God created the

heavens and the e arth. 2Now the earth
was formless and empty, darkness was
over the surface of the deep, and the Spir
it of God was hovering over the waters.

mark sacred times, and days and y ears,

15and let them be lights in the v ault of
the sky to give light on the earth. And it
was so. 16God made two g reat lights
the greater light to govern the day and
the lesser light to govern the night. He
also made the s tars. 17God set them in
the vault of the sky to give light on the
earth, 18to govern the day and the night,
and to sepa rate l ight from darkness. And
God saw that it was good. 19And t here
was evening, and t here was morning
the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the water teem with
living creat ures, and let birds fly above
the earth across the v ault of the sky.
21So God cre
ated the g reat creatures
of the sea and every living thing with
which the water teems and that moves
about in it, according to their k inds, and
every w inged bird according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good. 22God
blessed them and said, Be fruitf ul and
increase in number and fill the water in
the seas, and let the birds increase on the
earth. 23And there was even ing, and
there was morning the f ifth day.
24 And God said, Let the land produce living
creat ures according to t heir k inds: the
livestock, the creat ures that move a long
the g round, and the wild animals, each
according to its kind. And it was so.
25God made the wild an
i mals accord
ing to t heir k inds, the livestock accord
ing to t heir k inds, and all the creat ures
that move a long the g round according
to their k inds. And God saw that it was
good.
26Then God said, Let us make man
kind in our ima ge, in our likeness, so
that they may rule over the fish in the
sea and the birds in the sky, over the
livestock and all the wild animals,a and
over all the creat ures that move a long the
ground.

3 And God said, Let there be light, and

there was light. 4God saw that the light
was good, and he sepa rated the light
from the dark
ness. 5God c alled the
light day, and the darkness he called
night. And there was even ing, and
there was morning the f irst day.
6 And God said, Let there be a v ault be
tween the waters to sepa rate water from
water. 7So God made the vault and sep
arated the water under the v ault from
the water above it. And it was so. 8God
called the vault sky. And there was eve
ning, and there was morningthe sec
ond day.
9 And God said, Let the water under the
sky be gathered to one place, and let dry
g round appear. And it was so. 10God
c alled the dry g round land, and the
gathered waters he c alled seas. And
God saw that it was good.
11Then God said, Let the land pro
duce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and
trees on the land that bear f ruit with seed
in it, according to t heir var ious k inds.
And it was so. 12The land produced veg
etation: plants bearing seed according to
t heir k inds and t rees bearing fruit with
seed in it according to t heir k inds. And
God saw that it was good. 13And t here
was evening, and t here was morning
the third day.
27 So God created mankind in his own
image,
14 And God said, Let t here be lights in the
vault of the sky to sepa rate the day from in the image of God he created them;
the night, and let them serve as signs to male and female he created them.
a26 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see Syriac); Masoretic Text the earth

DAY 1
28God blessed them and said to them,
Be fruitf ul and increase in number; fill
the e arth and subdue it. Rule over the
fish in the sea and the birds in the sky
and over every living creat ure that moves
on the ground.
29Then God said, I give you every
seed-bearing p
lant on the face of the
whole earth and every tree that has fruit
with seed in it. They will be y ours for
food. 30And to all the beasts of the earth
and all the birds in the sky and all the
creat ures that move along the ground
everything that has the breath of life in
itI give every g reen p
lant for food.
And it wasso.
31God saw all that he had made, and
it was very good. And there was evening,
and there was morningthe sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were

completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the

work he had been doing; so on the sev
enth day he rested from all his work.
3Then God blessed the seventh day and
made it holy, because on it he rested from
all the work of creating that he had done.
Adam and Eve

2
t rees that were pleasing to the eye and good
for food. In the midd le of the garden were the
tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil.
10A river watering the garden f lowed from
Eden; from there it was sepa rated into four
headw aters. 11The name of the first is the
Pishon; it w inds through the entire land of
Hav i lah, where t here is gold. 12(The gold of
that land is good; aromatic resind and onyx are
also there.) 13The name of the second river is
the Gihon; it w inds through the entire land of
Cush.e 14The name of the t hird river is the Ti
gris; it runs a long the east side of Ashur. And
the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15The Lord God took the man and put
him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take
care of it. 16And the Lord God commanded
the man, You are free to eat from any tree in
the garden; 17but you must not eat from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for
when you eat from it you will certainly die.

MATTHEW 1:11:25
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

This is the genea log y f of Jesus the Mes

sia h g the son of Dav id, the son of Abra
ham:

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Jud ah and his
brothers,
5Now no s
3 Jud ah the fat her of Perez and Zerah,
hrub had yet appeared on the
eartha and no plant had yet s prung up, for the
whose mother was Tamar,
Lord God had not sent rain on the e arth and Perez the father of Hezron,
there was no one to work the g round, 6but Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the fat her of Amm inadab,
streams b came up from the e arth and watered
7
the whole surface of the g round. Then the Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Lord God formed a manc from the dust of the Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Sal
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath
mon the father of Boaz, w
hose
of life, and the man became a living being.
mother was Rahab,
8Now the Lord God had plant
ed a gar Boaz the father of Obed, whose moth
den in the east, in Eden; and there he put the
er was Ruth,
man he had formed. 9The Lord God made Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the fat her of King Dav id.
all k inds of trees grow out of the g round
4This

is the account of the heavens and the

earth when they were created, when the Lord
God made the earth and the heavens.

a5Orland; also in verse6 b6Ormist c7 TheHebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be
related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah); it is also the name Adam (see verse20). d12Orgood; pearls
e13Possibly southeast Mesopotamia f1Oris an account of the origin g1OrJesus Christ. Messiah

(Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean Anointed One; also in verse 18.

DAY 1

3
Dav id was the father of Solomon, whose
mother had been Uriahs wife,
7 Solomon the fat her of Rehoboa m,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the fat her of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzzia h the fat her of Jot ham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezek iah,
10 Hezek ia h the fat her of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josia h the fat her of Jecon ia h a and

his brothers at the time of the exile
to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconia h was the father of Shea ltiel,
Shea ltiel the father of Zer ubbabel,
13 Zer ubbabel the fat her of Abihud,

Abihud the father of Eliak im,
Eliak im the father of Azor,
14 Azor the fat her of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the fat her of Eleaz ar,

Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Ja

cob the father of Joseph, the
husband of Mary, and Mary was
the mother of Jesus who is called
the Messia h.
17Thus t here were four teen generat ions in
all from Abraham to Dav id, fourteen from
Dav id to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen
from the exile to the Messiah.

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

18This is how the b
irth of Jesus the Messiah
came about b: His mother Mary was pledged to
be married to Joseph, but before they came to
gether, she was found to be pregnant t hrough
the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband
was faithf ul to the law, and yetc did not want
to expose her to public disg race, he had in
mind to divorce her quietly.

20But after he had considered this, an angel

of the Lord appeared to him in a d
ream and
said, Joseph son of Dav id, do not be a fraid to
take Mary home as your wife, because what is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She
will give birth to a son, and you are to give
him the name Jesus,d because he will save his
people from their sins.
22All this took
place to fulfill what the
Lord had said through the prophet: 23The
virg in will conceive and give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuele (which
means God withus).
24When Jo
seph woke up, he did what the
angel of the Lord had commanded him and
took Mary home as his wife. 25But he did not
consummate their marriage until she gave
birth to a son. And he gave him the name J esus.

PSALM 1:11:6
Psalm 1
1 Blessed

is the one
who does not walk in step with the
wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the
Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and
night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by
streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the
judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the
righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the
righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to
destruction.

a11 That is, Jehoiachin; also in verse12 b18OrThe origin of Jesus the Messiah was like this c19Orwas
a righteous man and d21 Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the Lord saves. e23 Isaiah7:14

DAY 2

REWIND
Genesis 1:12:17; Matthew 1; Psalm 1

ITS ALL ABOUT BEGINNINGS.

Genesis 12 describes the origination of the
universe, from nothingness to Gods creation
of everything you see. The story moves from
the beginning of space and time to the start
of every plant, animal, and person on earth.
Matthew 1 traces Jesus roots from Abraham
to Joseph, his earthly father, and tells of his
miraculous birth to a virgin, Mary. And Psalm
1 explains how you can make your first moves
toward a life close to God.
D

day2

GENESIS 2:184:16
18The Lord God said, It is not good for
the man to be a lone. I will make a helper suit
able for him.
19Now the Lord God had
formed out of
the g round all the wild animals and all the
birds in the sky. He brought them to the man
to see what he would name them; and what
ever the man called each living creat ure, that
was its name. 20So the man gave names to all
the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the
wild animals.
But for Adama no suitable helper was f ound.
21So the Lord God c
aused the man to fall
into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping,
he took one of the mans ribsb and then closed
up the p
lace with f lesh. 22Then the Lord God
made a woman from the ribc he had taken out
of the man, and he brought her to the man.

4
23The

man said,

This is now bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called woman,
for she was taken out of man.
24That

is why a man leaves his father and

mother and is united to his wife, and they be
come one flesh.
25Adam and his wife were both naked, and
they felt no shame.
The Fall

Now the serpent was more c rafty than

any of the wild animals the Lord God
had made. He said to the woman, Did God
really say, You must not eat from any tree in
the garden?
2The woma n said to the serpent, We may
eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3but
God did say, You must not eat fruit from the
tree that is in the midd le of the garden, and
you must not touch it, or you will die.
4You will not cer
tainly die, the serpent
said to the woma n. 5For God k nows that
when you eat from it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil.
6When the woma n saw that the f ruit of the
tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye,
and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she
took some and ate it. She also gave some to
her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they rea lized they were naked; so they
sewed fig leaves together and made coverings
for themselves.
8Then the man and his wife
heard the
sound of the Lord God as he was walking
in the garden in the cool of the day, and they
hid from the Lord God a mong the trees of
the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the
man, Where are you?
10He an
s wered, I heard you in the gar
den, and I was a fraid because I was naked; so
I hid.
11And he said, Who told you that you
were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that
I commanded you not to eat from?

a20Orthe man b21Ortook part of the mans side c22Orpart

DAY 2

5
12The man said, The woma n you put here
with meshe gave me some fruit from the
tree, and I ateit.
13Then the Lord God said to the woma n,
What is this you have done?
The woma n said, The serpent deceived
me, and I ate.
14So the Lord God said to the ser
pent,
Because you have done this,

Cursed are you above all livestock

and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspringa and hers;
he will crushb your head,
and you will strike his heel.
16To

the woman he said,

I will make your pains in childbearing very

severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to
children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.
17To Adam he said, Be
cause you listened
to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about
which I commanded you, You must not eat
fromit,

Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat food
from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.
20Adamc named his wife Eve,d because she
would become the mother of all the living.

21The Lord God made garments of skin

for Adam and his wife and c lothed them.
22And the Lord God said, The man has
now become like one of us, knowing good
and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out
his hand and take also from the tree of life
and eat, and live forever. 23So the Lord God
banished him from the Garden of Eden to
work the ground from which he had been tak
en. 24After he drove the man out, he p
laced on
the east sidee of the Garden of Eden cherubim
and a flaming sword flashing back and forth
to g uard the way to the tree of life.

Cain and Abel

Adamc made love to his wife Eve, and she

became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.f
She said, With the help of the Lord I have
brought forth g a man. 2Later she gave b
irth to
his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept f locks, and Cain worked
the soil. 3In the course of time Cain brought
some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to
the Lord. 4And Abel also brought an offer
ingfat portions from some of the firstborn
of his f lock. The Lord looked with favor on
Abel and his offering, 5but on Cain and his
offering he did not look with favor. So Cain
was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are
you ang ry? Why is your face downcast? 7If
you do what is r ight, will you not be accept
ed? But if you do not do what is r ight, sin is
crouching at your door; it desires to have you,
but you must rule overit.
8Now Cain said to his brother Abel, Lets
go out to the f ield.h W hile they were in the
field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and
k illed him.
9Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is
your brother Abel?
I d
ont know, he replied. AmI my broth
ers keeper?
10The Lord said, What have you done?
Listen! Your brothers blood c ries out to me
from the ground. 11Now you are under a curse
and driven from the g round, which opened

a15Orseed b15Orstrike c20,1 OrThe man d20 Eve probably means living. e24Orplaced
in front f1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for brought forth or acquired. g1Orhave acquired
h8 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text does not have Lets go out to

the field.

DAY 2
its mouth to receive your brothers blood from
your hand. 12When you work the g round, it
will no longer y ield its crops for you. You will
be a restless wanderer on the earth.
13Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is
more than I can bear. 14Today you are driving
me from the land, and I will be hidden from
your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on
the earth, and whoever f inds me will killme.
15But the Lord said to him, Not soa; any
one who k ills Cain will suffer vengeance seven
times over. Then the Lord put a mark on Cain
so that no one who found him would kill him.
16So Cain went out from the Lords presence
and lived in the land of Nod,b east of Eden.

MATTHEW 2:12:18
The Magi Visit the Messiah

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in

Judea, during the time of King Herod,
Magic from the east came to Jer usalem 2and
asked, Where is the one who has been born
king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose
and have come to worship him.
3When King Herod heard this he was dis
turbed, and all Jer usalem with him. 4When
he had called together all the peoples c hief
priests and teachers of the law, he asked them
where the Messia h was to be born. 5In Beth
lehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what
the prophet has written:
6 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers
of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.d

6
it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over
the place w
here the c hild was. 10When they
saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On com
ing to the house, they saw the child with his
mother Mary, and they bowed down and wor
shiped him. Then they opened t heir treasures
and presented him with gifts of gold, frankin
cense and myrrh. 12And having been w
arned
in a d
ream not to go back to Herod, they re
turned to their country by another route.
The Escape to Egypt
13When they had gone, an an
gel of the
Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up,
he said, take the c hild and his mother and
escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you,
for Herod is going to s earch for the child to
kill him.
14So he got up, took the c
hild and his
mother during the n
ight and left for Egypt,
15where he stayed unt il the death of Hero d.
And so was fulf illed what the Lord had said
t hrough the prophet: Out of E
gypt I called
my son.e
16When Hero d rea lized that he had been
outw itted by the Magi, he was fur ious, and
he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethle
hem and its vicinit y who were two years old
and under, in accordance with the time he had
learned from the Magi. 17Then what was said
through the prophet Jeremiah was fulf illed:

18 A voice is heard in Ramah,

weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.f

PSALM 2:12:12

7Then

Herod called the Magi secretly and

found out from them the exact time the star
had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem
and said, Go and search carefully for the
child. As soon as you find him, report to me,
so that I too may go and worship him.
9After they had heard the king, they went
on their way, and the star they had seen when

Psalm 2
1 Why

do the nations conspireg
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his
anointed, saying,

a15 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew Very well b16 Nod means wandering (see verses 12 and 14).
c1Traditionally wise men d6Micah5:2,4 e15Hosea11:1 f18Jer.31:15 g1Hebrew;

Septuagint rage

DAY 3

7
3 Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
5 He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6 I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.
7I

will proclaim the Lords decree:

He said to me, You are my son;

today I have become your father.
8 Ask me,
and I will make the nations your
inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will break them with a rod of irona;
you will dash them to pieces like
pottery.
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
12 Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your
destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

REWIND
Genesis 2:184:16; Matthew 2:118;
Psalm 2

SIN RUINS GOOD THINGS.

Genesis 24 displays Gods flawless plan for
human beings to get along with him and each
other. But it also shows Adam and Eve rebelling
against the Lords command, shattering the relationships they enjoyed. Matthew 2 describes
Jesus wondrous birth and the worship he receives from awestruck Magi. Yet the young
family has to flee murderous Herod. Psalm 2 offers a surprising Old Testament picture of Jesus
reigning as king. But it also exposes a world
rising up to oppose him.
D

day3

GENESIS 4:176:22
17Cain

made love to his wife, and she be

came pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain
was then building a city, and he named it af
ter his son Enoch. 18To Enoch was born Irad,
and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Me
hujael was the father of Methushael, and Me
thushael was the father of Lamech.
19Lamech marr ied two women, one named
Adah and the other Zillah. 20Adah gave birth
to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in
tents and raise livestock. 21His brothers name
was Jubal; he was the father of all who play
stringed instruments and pipes. 22Zillah also
had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all k inds
of tools out ofb bronze and iron. Tubal-Cains
sister was Naamah.
23Lamech said to his wives,
Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
24 If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.
25Adam

made love to his wife again, and

she gave birth to a son and named him Seth,c
saying, God has granted me another child in
place of Abel, s ince Cain k illed him. 26Seth
also had a son, and he named him Enosh.
At that time people began to call ond the
name of the Lord.
From Adam to Noah

This is the written account of Adams

family line.

a9Orwill rule them with an iron scepter (see Septuagint and Syriac) b22Orwho instructed all who work in
c25 Seth probably means granted. d26Orto proclaim

DAY 3
When God created mank ind, he made
them in the likeness of God. 2He created
them male and female and blessed them. And
he named them Mank inda when they were
created.
3When Adam had l ived 130 years, he had a
son in his own likeness, in his own image; and
he named him Seth. 4After Seth was born,
Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and
daughters. 5Altogether, Adam lived a total of
930 years, and then he died.
6When Seth had l ived 105 years, he became
the father b of Enosh. 7After he became the fa
ther of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had
other sons and daughters. 8Altogether, Seth
lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.
9When
Enosh had lived 90 years, he be
came the father of Kenan. 10After he became
the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years
and had other sons and daughters. 11Alto
gether, E
nosh lived a total of 905 years, and
then he died.
12When Kenan had lived 70 years, he be
came the father of Mahalalel. 13After he be
came the fat her of Ma ha la lel, Kenan l ived
840 years and had other sons and daughters.
14Altogether, Kenan l ived a total of 910 years,
and then he died.
15When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he
became the father of Jared. 16After he became
the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years
and had other sons and daughters.17Altogeth
er, Mahalalel lived a total of 895 y ears, and
then he died.
18When Jared had lived 162 years, he be
came the father of Enoch. 19After he became
the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and
had other sons and daughters. 20Altogether,
Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he
died.
21When E
noch had lived 65 years, he be
came the father of Methuselah. 22After he be
came the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked
faithf ully with God 300 years and had other
sons and daughters. 23Altogether, Enoch lived
a total of 365 years. 24Enoch walked faithf ully
with God; then he was no more, because God
took him away.

8
25When Met hus el ah had l ived 187 y ears,
he became the fat her of Lamech. 26After he
became the fat her of Lamech, Met husel ah
lived 782 years and had other sons and daugh
ters. 27Altogether, Methuselah lived a total of
969 years, and then he died.
28When La
mech had lived 182 years, he
had a son. 29He named him Noahc and said,
He will comfort us in the labor and painf ul
toil of our hands caused by the g round the
Lord has c ursed. 30After Noah was born,
Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons
and daughters. 31Altogether, Lamech l ived a
total of 777 years, and then he died.
32After Noah was 500 years old, he became
the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Wickedness in theWorld

When human beings began to inc rease

in number on the earth and daughters
were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that
the daughters of humans were beautif ul, and
they marr ied any of them they chose. 3Then
the Lord said, My Spirit will not contend
withdhumans fore ver, for they are mortale;
their days will be a hundred and twent y years.
4The Nephilim were on the earth in t hose
daysa nd also afterwardwhen the sons
of God went to the daughters of humans and
had child ren by them. They were the heroes
of old, men of renown.
5The Lord saw how g
reat the wickedness
of the human race had become on the earth,
and that every inc linat ion of the t houghts of
the human heart was only evil all the time.
6The Lord reg retted that he had made hu
man beings on the earth, and his heart was
deeply troubled. 7So the Lord said, I will
wipe from the face of the earth the human
race I have createdand with them the an
imals, the birds and the creat ures that move
a long the g roundfor I reg ret that I have
made them. 8But Noah found favor in the
eyes of the Lord.
Noah and theFlood
9This is the ac
c ount of Noah and his
family.

a2Hebrewadam b6 Father may mean ancestor; also in verses 7-26. c29 Noah sounds like the
Hebrew for comfort. d3OrMy spirit will not remain in e3Orcorrupt

DAY 3

9
Noah was a righ
t eous man, blame
l ess
a mong the people of his time, and he walked
faithf ul ly with God. 10Noah had t hree sons:
Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11Now the earth was corr upt in Gods sight
and was full of violence. 12God saw how cor
rupt the earth had become, for all the peo
ple on earth had corr upted their ways. 13So
God said to Noah, I am going to put an end
to all people, for the earth is f illed with vio
lence because of them. I am surely going to
destroy both them and the earth. 14So make
yourself an ark of cypressa wood; make r ooms
in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
15This is how you are to b
uild it: The ark is
to be three hund red cubits long, fift y cubits
wide and thirt y cubits high.b 16Make a roof
for it, leaving below the roof an opening one
cubitc high all a round.d Put a door in the side
of the ark and make lower, midd le and upper
decks.17I am going to bring f loodwaters on
the earth to destroy all life under the heavens,
every creat ure that has the breath of life in it.
Every thing on earth will perish. 18But I will
establish my covenant with you, and you will
enter the arkyou and your sons and your
wife and your sons w ives with you. 19You are
to bring into the ark two of all living crea
tures, male and female, to keep them a live
with you. 20Two of every kind of bird, of every
kind of animal and of every kind of creat ure
that moves a long the g round will come to you
to be kept a live. 21You are to take every kind
of food that is to be eaten and store it away as
food for you and for them.
22Noah did ev
erything just as God com
manded him.

MATTHEW 2:193:17
The Return to Nazareth
19After Herod died, an angel of the Lord
appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20and
said, Get up, take the c hild and his moth
er and go to the land of Israel, for t hose who
were trying to take the childs life are dead.
21So he got up, took the
c hild and his

mother and went to the land of Israel. 22But

when he heard that Arc helaus was reigning
in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was
a fraid to go t here. Having been warned in a
dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,
23and he went and l ived in a town called Naz
areth. So was fulf illed what was said through
the prophets, that he would be called a Naz
arene.
John the Baptist Prepares the Way

In those days John the Baptist came,

preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2and
saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
has come near. 3This is he who was spoken of
through the prophet Isaiah:
A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.e
4Johns

c lothes were made of camels hair,

and he had a leather belt a round his waist. His
food was locusts and wild honey. 5People went
out to him from Jer usalem and all Judea and
the whole reg ion of the Jordan. 6Confessing
their sins, they were baptized by him in the
Jordan River.
7But when he saw many of the Phar
isees
and Sadducees coming to where he was bap
tizing, he said to them: You brood of vipers!
Who w
arned you to f lee from the coming
w rath? 8Produce fruit in keeping with repen
tance. 9And do not think you can say to your
selves, We have Abraham as our father. I tell
you that out of these stones God can raise up
child ren for Abraham. 10The ax is already at
the root of the trees, and every tree that does
not produce good fruit will be cut down and
thrown into the fire.
11I bapt ize you with f water for repentance.
But after me comes one who is more powerf ul
than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to car
ry. He will baptize you with f the Holy Spirit
and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand,
and he will c lear his threshing f loor, gather
ing his wheat into the barn and burning up
the chaff with unquenchable fire.

a14 Themeaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. b15 That is, about 450 feet long, 75 feet
wide and 45 feet high or about 135 meters long, 23 meters wide and 14 meters high c16 That is, about
18inches or about 45 centimeters d16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
e3Isaiah40:3 f11 Orin

DAY 4

10

The Baptism of Jesus

13Then

Jesus came from Galilee to the Jor

dan to be baptized by John. 14But John t ried
to deter him, saying, I need to be baptized by
you, and do you come tome?
15Jesus replied, Let it be so now; it is prop
er for us to do this to fulf ill all righteousness.
Then John consented.
16As soon as
Jesus was baptized, he went
up out of the water. At that moment heaven
was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God
de
s cend
i ng like a dove and alight
i ng on
him. 17And a v oice from heaven said, This
is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well
pleased.

REWIND
Genesis 4:176:22;
Matthew 2:193:17; Psalm 3

ALL PEOPLE SIN.

By the days of Noah in Genesis 46, the horror of human wickedness deeply troubles Gods
heart. The Lord grows so sorry he made people
that he decides to wipe them from the face of
earth. Matthew 23 pictures John the Baptist telling everyone they need to repentto
stop sinning and turn back to God. And Psalm
3 came straight from King Davids heart when
his son Absalom tried to topple him from the
throne. No one is without sin.
D

PSALM 3:13:8
Psalm 3a
A psalm of David. When he fled
from his son Absalom.

1 Lord, how many are my foes!

How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
God will not deliver him.b
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head
high.
4 I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy
mountain.
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains
me.
6 I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.
7 Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
8 From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.

day4
GENESIS 7:19:17

The Lord then said to Noah, Go into

the ark, you and your whole family, be
cause I have found you righteous in this gen
erat ion. 2Take with you seven p
airs of every
kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and
one pair of every kind of unc lean animal, a
male and its mate, 3and also seven pairs of
every kind of bird, male and female, to keep
their various k inds a live throughout the earth.
4Seven days from now I will send rain on the
earth for fort y days and fort y nights, and I will
wipe from the face of the earth every living
creat ure I have made.
5And Noah did all that the Lord com
manded him.
6Noah was six hund red years old when the
f loodwaters came on the earth. 7And Noah

aIn Hebrew texts 3:1-8 is numbered 3:2-9. b2 The Hebrew has Selah (aword of uncertain meaning) here

and at the end of verses 4 and8.

DAY 4

11
and his sons and his wife and his sons w
ives
entered the ark to escape the waters of the
f lood. 8Pairs of c lean and unc lean animals,
of birds and of all creat ures that move a long
the ground, 9male and female, came to Noah
and entered the ark, as God had commanded
Noah. 10And after the seven days the flood
waters came on the earth.
11In the six hund redth year of Noa hs life,
on the seventeenth day of the second month
on that day all the springs of the g reat deep
burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens
were opened. 12And rain fell on the earth for
ty days and fort y nights.
13On that very day Noah and his sons,
Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his
wife and the w ives of his t hree sons, entered
the ark. 14They had with them every wild ani
mal according to its kind, all livestock accord
ing to t heir k inds, every creat ure that m
oves
a long the g round according to its kind and
every bird according to its kind, everything
with w ings. 15Pairs of all creat ures that have
the breath of life in them came to Noah and
entered the ark. 16The animals going in were
male and female of every living thing, as God
had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut
himin.
17For fort y days the f lood kept comi ng on
the e arth, and as the waters inc reased they
lifte d the ark high a bove the e arth. 18The
waters rose and increased greatly on the
earth, and the ark f loated on the surface of
the water. 19They rose greatly on the earth,
and all the high mountains under the ent ire
heavens were covered. 20The waters rose and
covered the mountains to a depth of more
than fif teen cubits. a,b 21Every liv i ng t hing
that m
oved on land perishedbirds, live
stock, wild anim als, all the creatures that
swarm over the earth, and all mank ind.
22Everyt hing on dry land that had the breath
of life in its nostrils died. 23Eve ry liv i ng
t hing on the face of the earth was w iped out;
people and anim als and the creatures that
move a long the g round and the birds were
w iped from the earth. Only Noah was left,
and t hose with him in the ark.

24The waters flooded the earth for a hun

dred and fift y days.
But God remembered Noah and all the
wild animals and the livestock that were
with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over
the earth, and the waters receded. 2Now the
springs of the deep and the floodgates of the
heavens had been c losed, and the rain had
stopped falling from the sky. 3The water re
ceded steadily from the earth. At the end
of the hund red and fift y days the water had
gone down, 4and on the seventeenth day of
the seventh month the ark came to rest on the
mountains of Ara rat. 5The waters continued
to recede until the tenth month, and on the
f irst day of the tenth m
onth the tops of the
mountains became visible.
6After fort y days Noah opened a window
he had made in the ark 7and sent out a raven,
and it kept flying back and forth until the wa
ter had dried up from the earth. 8Then he sent
out a dove to see if the water had receded from
the surface of the ground. 9But the dove could
find nowhere to perch because there was wa
ter over all the surface of the e arth; so it re
turned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his
hand and took the dove and brought it back
to himself in the ark. 10He waited seven more
days and again sent out the dove from the ark.
11When the dove ret urned to him in the eve
ning, there in its beak was a freshly plucked
olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water
had receded from the earth. 12He waited sev
en more days and sent the dove out again, but
this time it did not ret urn to him.
13By the f irst day of the f irst month of No
ahs six hundred and f irst year, the water had
dried up from the earth. Noah then removed
the covering from the ark and saw that the sur
face of the g round was dry. 14By the twent yseventh day of the second month the e arth
was completely dry.
15Then God said to Noah, 16Come out of
the ark, you and your wife and your sons and
t heir w ives. 17Bring out every kind of living
creat ure that is with youthe birds, the an
imals, and all the creat ures that move a long
the g roundso they can multiply on the

a20 That is, about 23feet or about 6.8 meters b20Orrose more than fifteen cubits, and the mountains

were covered

DAY 4
e arth and be fruitf ul and increase in number
onit.
18So Noah came out, together with his sons
and his wife and his sons w ives. 19All the an
imals and all the creatures that move a long
the g round and all the birdseverything
that moves on landcame out of the ark, one
kind after another.
20Then Noah b
uilt an altar to the Lord
and, taking some of all the clean animals and
c lean birds, he sacr if iced burnt of fer ings on
it. 21The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma
and said in his heart: Never again will I curse
the ground because of humans, even thougha
every inc linat ion of the human heart is evil
from childhood. And never a gain will I de
stroy all living creat ures, as I have done.
22 As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.
Gods Covenant With Noah

Then God b
lessed Noah and his sons,
saying to them, Be fruitf ul and increase
in number and fill the e arth. 2The fear and
d read of you will fall on all the beasts of the
earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every
creature that moves a long the g round, and
on all the fish in the sea; they are given into
your hands. 3Every thing that lives and moves
about will be food for you. Just as I gave you
the green plants, I now give you everything.
4But you must not eat meat that has its life
blood still in it. 5And for your lifeblood I will
surely demand an accounting. I will demand
an accounting from every animal. And from
each human being, too, I will demand an ac
counting for the life of another human being.
6 Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind.
7As for you, be fruitf ul and increase in number;

multiply on the earth and increase uponit.

12
8Then God said to Noah and to his sons
with him: 9I now establish my covenant
with you and with your descendants after you
10and with every living creat ure that was with
youthe birds, the livestock and all the wild
animals, all those that came out of the ark
with you every living creat ure on earth. 11I
establish my covenant with you: Never again
will all life be destroyed by the waters of a
f lood; never a gain will there be a f lood to de
stroy the earth.
12And God said, This is the sign of the
covenant I am making bet ween me and you
and every living creat ure with you, a covenant
for all generations to come: 13I have set my
rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign
of the covenant between me and the earth.
14Whenever I b
ring clouds over the earth and
the rainbow appears in the c louds, 15I will
remember my covenant bet ween me and you
and all living creat ures of every kind. Never
again will the waters become a f lood to de
stroy all life. 16Whenever the rainbow appears
in the c louds, I will see it and remember the
everlasting covenant bet ween God and all liv
ing creat ures of every kind on the earth.
17So God said to Noah, This is the sign of
the covenant I have established bet ween me
and all life on the earth.

MATTHEW 4:14:22
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the

wilderness to be tempted b by the devil.
2After fasting fort y days and fort y n
ights, he
was hung ry. 3The tempter came to him and
said, If you are the Son of God, tell these
stones to become bread.
4Jesus ans wered, It is written: Man shall
not live on bread a lone, but on every word that
comes from the mouth of God.c
5Then the devil took him to the holy city
and had him stand on the highest point of the
temple. 6If you are the Son of God, he said,
throw yourself down. For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning
you,

a21Orhumans, for b1 TheGreek for tempted can also mean tested. c4Deut.8:3

DAY 4

13
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot
against a stone.a
7Jesus an
s wered him, It is also written:
Do not put the Lord your God to the test.b
8Again, the devil took him to a very high
mountain and showed him all the kingdoms
of the w
orld and their splendor. 9All this I
will give you, he said, if you will bow down
and worshipme.
10Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan!
For it is written: Worship the Lord your God,
and serve him only.c
11Then the devi l left him, and angels came
and attended him.

Jesus Begins to Preach

12When

Jesus h
eard that John had been put
in prison, he withd rew to Galilee. 13Leaving
Naza reth, he went and l ived in Capernaum,
which was by the lake in the area of Zebu
lun and Naphtali 14to fulf ill what was said
through the prophet Isaiah:
15 Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow
of death
a light has dawned.d
17From

that time on Jesus began to preach,

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come
near.
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
18As

Jesus was walking beside the Sea of

Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called
Peter and his brother And rew. They were
casting a net into the lake, for they were fish
ermen. 19Come, follow me, Jesus said, and
I will send you out to fish for people. 20At
once they left their nets and followed him.
21Going on from t here, he saw two other

brothers, James son of Zebedee and his broth

er John. They were in a boat with t heir father
Zebedee, prepar i ng t heir nets. Jesus c alled
them, 22and immed iately they left the boat
and their father and followed him.

PROVERBS 1:11:7

The proverbs of Solomon son of Dav id,

king of Israel:

2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;

for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent
behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are
simple,e
knowledge and discretion to the
young
5 let the wise listen and add to their
learning,
and let the discerning get guidance
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.f
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge,
but foolsg despise wisdom and
instruction.

REWIND
Genesis 7:19:17; Matthew 4:122;
Proverbs 1:17

GOD STRIKES BACK AT SIN.

In Genesis 79 God sends a flood to cover the
entire world, then offers humankind a fresh start
and a promise never again to flood the earth and
destroy all life. In Matthew 4 Jesus battles temptation by hitting back at the devil with Gods
powerful words. The Lord announces the end of
darkness and the arrival of his kingdom, and he
calls his first followers to help him spread the
news. Proverbs 1 invites you to listen closely to
Gods wisdom and learn to do right.
D

a6Psalm91:11,12 b7Deut.6:16 c10Deut.6:13 d16Isaiah9:1,2 e4 The Hebrew word

rendered simple in Proverbs denotes a person who is gullible, without moral direction and inclined to evil.
f6Orunderstanding a proverb, namely, a parable, / and the sayings of the wise, their riddles g7The
Hebrew words rendered fool in Proverbs, and often elsewhere in the Old Testament, denote a person who
is morally deficient.

DAY 5

14
and may Canaan be the slave of
Japheth.
28Af
ter

29Noah

died.

the flood Noah lived 350 years.

lived a total of 950 years, and then he

The Table of Nations

day5

GENESIS 9:1811:9
The Sons of Noah
18The

sons of Noah who came out of the

ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was
the father of Canaan.) 19These were the t hree
sons of Noah, and from them came the people
who were scattered over the whole earth.
20Noah, a man of the soil, pro
ceededa to
plant a vineyard. 21When he d rank some of
its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered
inside his tent. 22Ham, the father of Canaan,
saw his father naked and told his two brothers
outside. 23But Shem and Japheth took a gar
ment and laid it across their shoulders; then
they walked in backward and covered their
fat hers naked body. T
heir faces were t urned
the other way so that they would not see their
father naked.
24When Noah
awoke from his wine and
found out what his youngest son had done to
him, 25he said,
Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers.
26He

also said,

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!

May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27 May God extend Japhethsb territory;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,

10

This is the account of Shem, Ham

and Japheth, Noahs sons, who them
selves had sons after the flood.
The Japhethites

2 The sonsc of Japheth:

Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal,
Meshek and Tiras.
3 The sons of Gomer:
Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.
4 The sons of Javan:
Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and
the Rodan ites. d 5(From
t hese the
maritime peoples spread out into their
ter r itor ies by t heir c lans within t heir
nations, each with its own lang uage.)
The Hamites

6 The sons of Ham:

Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.
7 The sons of Cush:
Seba, Hav i lah, Sabtah, Raamah and
Sabtek a.
The sons of Raamah:
Sheba and Dedan.
8Cush was the fat here of Nimrod, who be
came a mighty warrior on the earth. 9He was a
mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it
is said, Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before
the Lord. 10The f irst centers of his kingdom
were Babylon, Uruk, Akk ad and Kalneh, inf
Shinar.g 11From that land he went to Assyria,
where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, h Calah
12and Resen, which is bet ween Nine veh and
Calah which is the great city.

13 Egypt was the fatherof

the Lud ites, Anam ites, Leh abites,
Napht uh ites, 14Path r usites, Kaslu

a20Orsoil, was the first b27 Japheth sounds like the Hebrew for extend. c2 Sons may mean
descendants or successors or nations; also in verses 3, 4, 6, 7, 20-23, 29 and 31. d4 Some manuscripts of the

Masoretic Text and Samaritan Pentateuch (see also Septuagint and 1Chron. 1:7); most manuscripts of the
Masoretic Text Dodanites e8 Father may mean ancestor or predecessor or founder; also in verses 13, 15, 24
and 26. f10OrUruk and Akkadall of them in g10 That is, Babylonia h11OrNineveh with its
city squares

DAY 5

15
hites (from whom the Phi
l is
t ines
came) and Caphtorites.
15 Canaan was the fatherof
Sidon his firstborn,a and of the Hittites,
16Jebu s ites, Amor ites, Gir g a s hites,
17Hiv ites, Ark ites, Sinites,18Ar vadites,
Zemarites and Hamathites.
Later the Canaanite c lans scat tered 19and
the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon to
ward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward
Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as
far as Lasha.
20These are the sons of Ham by t heir c lans
and lang uages, in their territories and nations.
The Semites
21Sons were also born to Shem, whose older
brother was b Japheth; Shem was the ancestor
of all the sons of Eber.

22 The sons of Shem:

Elam, Ashu r, Arphaxad, Lud and
Aram.
23 The sons of Aram:
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek.c
24 Arphaxad was the father ofd Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.
25 Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg,e because in his
time the earth was div ided; his broth
er was named Joktan.
26 Joktan was the fatherof
Almod ad, Shel eph, Haz arm av eth,
Jer ah, 27Had or am, Uzal, Dik l ah,
28Obal, Abimae l, Sheb a, 29Ophir,
Havilah and Jobab. All these were
sons of Joktan.
30The

region where they lived stretched from

Mesha tow ard Sephar, in the eastern hill
country.
31These are the sons of Shem by t heir c lans
and lang uages, in their territories and nations.
32These are the
c lans of Noa hs sons, ac
cording to their lines of descent, within their
nations. From these the nations spread out
over the earth after the flood.

The Tower of Babel

11

Now the w
hole w
orld had one lan
guage and a common speech. 2As
people moved eastward, f they found a plain in
Shinar g and sett led there.
3They said to each other, Come, lets make
bricks and bake them thoroughly. They used
brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
4Then they said, Come, let us
build our
selves a city, with a tower that reaches to the
heavens, so that we may make a name for our
selves; otherw ise we will be scattered over the
face of the whole earth.
5But the Lord came down to see the city
and the tower the people were building. 6The
Lord said, If as one people speaking the
same lang uage they have beg un to do this,
then nothing they plan to do will be impos
sible for them. 7Come, let us go down and
conf use their lang uage so they will not under
stand each other.
8So the Lord scat
tered them from there
over all the earth, and they stopped building
the city. 9That is why it was c alled Babelh
because there the Lord conf used the lang uage
of the w
hole w
orld. From there the Lord scat
tered them over the face of the whole earth.

MATTHEW 4:235:20
Jesus Heals the Sick
23Jesus

went throughout Gal i lee, teaching

in t heir synagogues, proc laimi ng the good
news of the kingdom, and healing every disease
and sickness among the people. 24News about
him spread all over Syria, and people brought
to him all who were ill with various diseases,
t hose sufferi ng sev ere pain, the demonpossessed, those having seizures, and the par
alyzed; and he h
ealed them. 25Large crowds
from Gal i l ee, the Dec apol is, i Jer us al em,
Judea and the reg ion a cross the Jordan fol
lowed him.
Introduction to the Sermon onthe Mount

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went

up on a mountainside and sat down. His

a15Orof the Sidonians, the foremost b21OrShem, the older brother of c23 SeeSeptuagint and
1Chron. 1:17; Hebrew Mash. d24 Hebrew; Septuagint father of Cainan, and Cainan was the father of
e25 Peleg means division. f2Orfrom the east; or in the east g2 That is, Babylonia h9 That is,
Babylon; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused. i25 That is, the Ten Cities

DAY 5

16

disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach

them.
The Beatitudes

He said:
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of
God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted
because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11Blessed

are you when people insult you,

persecute you and falsely say all k inds of evil
against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be
glad, because g reat is your reward in heav
en, for in the same way they persec uted the
prophets who were before you.
Salt and Light
13You

are the salt of the earth. But if the

salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty
again? It is no longer good for anyt hing, ex
cept to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14You are the light of the world. A town
built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do
people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
Instead they put it on its stand, and it g ives
light to everyone in the house. 16In the same
way, let your light shine before others, that
they may see your good deeds and glorif y your
Father in heaven.
The Fulfillment of the Law
17Do

not think that I have come to abolish

the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to

abolish them but to fulf ill them. 18For truly
I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear,
not the smallest letter, not the least stroke
of a pen, will by any means disappear from
the Law unt il every t hing is accomplished.
19Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the
least of these commands and teaches others
accordingly will be called least in the king
dom of heaven, but whoe ver practice s and
teaches t hese commands will be c alled g reat
in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that
unless your righteousness surpasses that of the
Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will
certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

PSALM 4:14:8
Psalm 4a
For the director of music. With stringed
instruments. Apsalm ofDavid.

1 Answer me when I call to you,

my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 How long will you people turn my glory
into shame?
How long will you love delusions and
seek false godsb?c
3
Know that the Lord has set apart his
faithful servant for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.
4 Tremble andd do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the Lord.
6 Many, Lord, are asking, Who will bring
us prosperity?
Let the light of your face shine on us.
7 Fill my heart with joy
when their grain and new wine abound.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord,
make me dwell in safety.

aIn Hebrew texts 4:1-8 is numbered 4:2-9. b2Orseek lies c2 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of
uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse4. d4OrIn your anger (see Septuagint)

DAY 6

17

REWIND
Genesis 9:1811:9;
Matthew 4:235:20; Psalm 4

THE LORD LOOKS OUT

FOR YOUR GOOD.
Genesis 911 details the spread of Noahs descendants after the flood, concluding with the
sad story of Babel, where p eople once again arrogantly challenge God. But Matthew 45 lets
you glimpse how the Lord intends to remake
the world for the better. Jesus declares good
news. He heals the sick, frees the oppressed,
and details the best blessings of his kingdom.
Psalm 4 shows that God never leaves you alone
in your distress. He gives joy and peaceful
sleep.
D

day6

GENESIS 11:1013:18
From Shem to Abram
10This

is the account of Shems family line.

Two y ears after the f lood, when Shem was

100 years old, he became the fathera of Ar
phaxad. 11And after he became the father
of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had
other sons and daughters.
12When Ar
phaxad had lived 35 years,
he became the fat her of Shelah. 13And after
he bec ame the father of Shelah, Arphaxad
lived 403 years and had other sons and daugh
ters.b
14When She
l ah had lived 30 years, he
bec ame the father of Eber. 15And after he

ecame the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403

b
years and had other sons and daughters.
16When Eber had l ived 34 y
ears, he became
the father of Peleg. 17And after he became the
father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had
other sons and daughters.
18When Pe
leg had lived 30 y ears, he be
came the father of Reu. 19And after he became
the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and
had other sons and daughters.
20When Reu had l ived 32 years, he became
the father of Ser ug. 21And after he became the
father of Ser ug, Reu lived 207 years and had
other sons and daughters.
22When Ser ug had lived 30 y
ears, he be
came the father of Nahor. 23And after he
became the father of Nahor, Ser ug lived 200
years and had other sons and daughters.
24When Nahor had lived 29 years, he be
came the father of Terah. 25And after he
became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119
years and had other sons and daughters.
26Af
ter Terah had lived 70 y ears, he be
came the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
Abrams Family
27This

is the account of Terahs family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor

and Haran. And Haran became the father of
Lot. 28While his father Terah was still a live,
Haran died in Ur of the Chaldea ns, in the
land of his birth. 29Abram and Nahor both
marr ied. The name of Abrams wife was Sa
rai, and the name of Nahors wife was Mil
kah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father
of both Milk ah and Isk ah. 30Now Sarai was
childless because she was not able to conceive.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson
Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law
Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together
they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to
Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they
sett led there.
32Te
rah lived 205 years, and he died in
Harran.

a10 Father may mean ancestor; also in verses 11-25. b12,13 Hebrew; Septuagint (see also Luke 3:35, 36

and note at Gen. 10:24) 35 years, he became the father of Cainan. 13And after he became the father of Cainan,
Arphaxad lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. When Cainan had lived 130 years,
he became the father of Shelah. And after he became the father of Shelah, Cainan lived 330 years and had other sons
and daughters

DAY 6

18

The Call of Abram

12

The Lord had said to Abram, Go

from your country, your people and
your fathers household to the land I will show
you.
2 I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.a
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.b
4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him;
and Lot went with him. Abram was sevent yfive years old when he set out from Harran.
5He took his wife Sarai, his nephe w Lot, all
the possessions they had accumulated and the
people they had acquired in Harran, and they
set out for the land of Canaan, and they ar
rived there.
6Abram traveled t hrough the land as far as
the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem.
At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
7The Lord appeared to A
bram and said, To
your offspring c I will give this land. So he
built an altar t here to the Lord, who had ap
peared to him.
8From
t here he went on toward the h ills
east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Beth
el on the west and Ai on the east. T here he
built an altar to the Lord and called on the
name of the Lord.
9Then A
bram set out and continued to
ward the Negev.

Abram in Egypt
10Now

there was a famine in the land, and

bram went down to Egypt to live there for a
A
while because the famine was severe. 11As he
was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife
Sarai, I know what a beautiful woma n you
are. 12When the Egyptians see you, they will
say, This is his wife. Then they will kill me
but will let you live. 13Say you are my sister, so
that I will be treated well for your sake and my
life will be spared because of you.
14When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyp

tians saw that Sarai was a very beautif ul wom

an. 15And when Pharaohs off icials saw her,
they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was tak
en into his palace. 16He treated Abram well
for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and
catt le, male and female donkeys, male and fe
male servants, and camels.
17But the Lord inf licted ser ious d ise ase s
on Pharaoh and his household because of
Abrams wife Sarai. 18So Pharaoh summoned
Abram. What have you done to me? he said.
Why d
idnt you tell me she was your wife?
19Why did you say, She is my sister, so that
I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is
your wife. Take her and go! 20Then Pharaoh
gave orders about Abram to his men, and they
sent him on his way, with his wife and every
thing he had.
Abram and Lot Separate

13

So Abram went up from Egypt to the

Negev, with his wife and everyt hing
he had, and Lot went with him. 2Abram had
become very wealthy in livestock and in silver
and gold.
3From the Ne
gev he went from place to
place until he came to Bethel, to the p
lace
between Bethel and Ai where his tent had
been earl ier 4and where he had f irst built an
altar. There Abram called on the name of the
Lord.
5Now Lot, who was mov
i ng about with
Abram, also had f locks and herds and tents.
6But the land could not supp ort them while
they stayed tog ether, for t heir poss essions
were so g reat that they were not able to stay
tog ethe r. 7And quar r el i ng a rose bet ween
Abrams herders and Lots. The Canaanites
and Perizzites were also living in the land at
that time.
8So Abram said to Lot, Lets not have any
quarreling bet ween you and me, or bet ween
your herders and mine, for we are c lose rela
tives. 9Is not the whole land before you? Lets
part company. If you go to the left, Ill go to
the right; if you go to the right, Ill go to the
left.
10Lot
looked around and saw that the
whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was

a2Orbe seen as blessed b3Orearth / will use your name in blessings (see48:20) c7 Orseed

DAY 6

19
well watered, like the garden of the Lord,
like the land of Egypt. (This was before the
Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11So
Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the
Jordan and set out toward the east. The two
men parted company: 12Abram lived in the
land of Canaan, while Lot lived a mong the
cities of the plain and pitched his tents near
Sodom. 13Now the people of Sodom were
wicked and were sinn ing greatly a gainst the
Lord.
14The Lord said to A bram after Lot had
parted from him, Look a round from where
you are, to the n
orth and south, to the east
and west. 15All the land that you see I will
give to you and your offspringa fore ver. 16I
will make your offspring like the dust of the
earth, so that if anyone could count the dust,
then your offspring c ould be counted. 17Go,
walk through the length and b
readth of the
land, for I am giving it to you.
18So A
bram went to live near the g reat
trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he p
itched
his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.

MATTHEW 5:215:42
Murder
21You

have heard that it was said to the

people long ago, You s hall not murder,b and
anyone who murders will be subject to judg
ment. 22But I tell you that anyone who is
a ng ry with a brother or sisterc,d will be sub
ject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a
brother or sister, Raca,e is answerable to the
court. And anyone who says, You fool! will
be in danger of the fire of hell.
23Therefore, if you are offering your gift at
the altar and there remember that your broth
er or sister has something against you, 24leave
your gift there in front of the altar. F irst go
and be reconciled to them; then come and of
fer your gift.
25Sett le matters quickly with your adver
sary who is taking you to court. Do it while
you are still together on the way, or your ad

versary may hand you over to the judge, and

the judge may hand you over to the off icer,
and you may be thrown into prison. 26Truly
I tell you, you will not get out until you have
paid the last penny.
Adultery
27You

have h
eard that it was said, You
shall not comm it adultery. f 28But I tell you
that anyone who looks at a woma n lustful
ly has already comm itted adultery with her
in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to
stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is
better for you to lose one part of your body
than for your whole body to be thrown into
hell. 30And if your r ight hand causes you to
stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is bet
ter for you to lose one part of your body than
for your whole body to go into hell.
Divorce
31It has been said, Anyone who divorce s
his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.g
32But I tell you that anyone who divorces his
wife, except for sexua l immoralit y, makes her
the victim of adultery, and anyone who mar
ries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Oaths
33Again, you have heard that it was said to
the people long ago, Do not break your oath,
but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have
made. 34But I tell you, do not swear an oath
at all: either by heaven, for it is Gods throne;
35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by
Jer usalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
36And do not
s wear by your head, for you
cannot make even one hair white or black.
37All you need to say is simply Yes or No;
anything beyond this comes from the evil
one.h

Eye for Eye

38You have heard that it was said, Eye for
eye, and tooth for tooth.i 39But I tell you, do
not resist an evil person. If anyone s laps you
on the right c heek, turn to them the other

a15Orseed; also in verse16 b21Exodus20:13 c22 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos)
refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verse23. d22 Some manuscripts brother or
sister without cause e22AnAramaic term of contempt f27Exodus20:14 g31Deut.24:1
h37Orfrom evil i38 Exodus21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21

DAY 7

20

c heek also. 40And if anyone wants to sue you

and take your shirt, hand over your coat as
well. 41If anyone forces you to go one mile, go
with them two miles. 42Give to the one who
asks you, and do not turn away from the one
who wants to borrow from you.

PSALM 5:15:12
Psalm 5a
For the director of music. For pipes.
Apsalm ofDavid.

1 Listen to my words, Lord,

consider my lament.
2 Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my
voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before
you
and wait expectantly.
4 For you are not a God who is pleased with
wickedness;
with you, evil people are not welcome.
5 The arrogant cannot stand
in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
6 you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
you, Lord, detest.
7 But I, by your great love,
can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
toward your holy temple.
8 Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies
make your way straight before me.
9 Not a word from their mouth can be
trusted;
their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongues they tell lies.
10 Declare them guilty, OGod!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.

11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;

let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may
rejoice in you.
12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as
with a shield.

REWIND
Genesis 11:1013:18;
Matthew 5:2142; Psalm 5

GOD WONT GIVE UP

ON HUMANKIND.
Just when it looks like p eople might be trapped
in sin forever, Genesis 1113 reveals the first
steps of Gods plan to save us. The Lord commands Abraham to leave his home country,
promising him land and countless descendants.
In Matthew 5 Jesus gives fresh ideas for getting along with adversaries and the opposite
sex. And Psalm 5 offers hope in a cruel world.
God hears your prayers, and because of his
great love, he lets you come close to him. D

day7

GENESIS 14:116:16
Abram Rescues Lot

14

At the time when Amraphel was king

of Shinar, b Arioch king of El l asar,
Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king
of Goy im, 2these k ings went to war a gainst
Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomor
rah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king
of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is,

aIn Hebrew texts 5:1-12 is numbered 5:2-13. b1 That is, Babylonia; also in verse9

DAY 7

21
Zoar). 3All these latter k ings joined forces in
the Valley of Sidd im (that is, the Dead Sea
Valley). 4For t welve y ears they had been sub
ject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year
they rebelled.
5In the four teenth year, Kedorl aomer and
the k ings allied with him went out and de
feated the Repha ites in Ashteroth Karna im,
the Zuzites in Ham, the E
mites in Shaveh
Kiriathaim 6and the Horites in the hill coun
try of Seir, as far as El Paran near the des
ert. 7Then they t urned back and went to En
Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered
the whole territor y of the Ama lekites, as well
as the Amorites who were living in Hazez on
Tamar.
8Then the king of Sod
om, the king of
Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of
Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar)
marched out and drew up t heir batt le lines in
the Valley of Sidd im 9against Kedorlaomer
king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amra
phel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ella
sar four k ings against five. 10Now the Val
ley of Sidd im was full of tar pits, and when
the k ings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some
of the men fell into them and the rest fled to
the hills. 11The four k ings seized all the goods
of Sodom and Gomorrah and all t heir food;
then they went away. 12They also carr ied off
A brams nephew Lot and his possessions,
since he was living in Sodom.
13A man who had escaped came and report
ed this to A
bram the Hebrew. Now A
bram
was living near the g reat trees of Mamre the
Amor ite, a brother a of Eshkol and Aner, all
of whom were allied with A bram. 14When
Abram heard that his relative had been tak
en captive, he called out the 318 trained men
born in his household and went in pursuit as
far as Dan. 15During the n ight A bram di
vided his men to attack them and he routed
them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, n
orth
of Damasc us. 16He recovered all the goods
and brought back his relative Lot and his pos
sessions, together with the women and the
other people.
17Af t er A bram ret urned from defeat i ng

Kedorlaomer and the k ings al l ied with him,

the king of Sodom came out to meet him in
the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the K ings Val
ley).
18Then Melc hiz ed ek king of Sa l em
brought out bread and wine. He was p
riest
of God Most High, 19and he blessed A
bram,
say ing,
Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your
hand.
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21The king of Sodom said to Abram, Give
me the people and keep the goods for your
self.
22But
Abram said to the king of Sodom,
With raised hand I have s worn an oath to
the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heav
en and earth, 23that I will accept nothing be
longing to you, not even a thread or the strap
of a sandal, so that you will never be able to
say, I made Abram rich. 24I will accept noth
ing but what my men have eaten and the share
that belongs to the men who went with me
to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have
their share.
The Lords Covenant With Abram

15

After this, the word of the Lord

came to Abram in a vision:

Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield,b
your very great reward.c
2But A bram said, Sovereign Lord, what
can you give me s ince I remain childless and
the one who will inheritd my estate is Elie
zer of Damasc us? 3And A bram said, You
have given me no children; so a servant in my
household will be my heir.
4Then the word of the Lord came to him:
This man will not be your heir, but a son who
is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.
5He took him outside and said, Look up at
the sky and count the starsif indeed you

a13Ora relative; or an ally b1Orsovereign c1Orshield; / your reward will be very great
d2 Themeaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.

DAY 7

22

can count them. Then he said to him, So

shall your offspring a be.
6Abram believed the Lord, and he credit
ed it to him as righteousness.
7He also said to him, I am the Lord, who
brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give
you this land to take possession ofit.
8But A bram said, Sovereign Lord, how
can I know that I will gain possession ofit?
9So the Lord said to him, Bring me a
heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old,
a long with a dove and a young pigeon.
10Abram brought all t hese to him, cut them
in two and arranged the halves opposite each
other; the b
irds, however, he did not cut in
half. 11Then b
irds of prey came down on the
carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12As the sun was sett ing, A bram fell into
a deep s leep, and a t hick and dreadf ul dark
ness came over him. 13Then the Lord said
to him, Know for certain that for four hun
dred years your descendants will be strang
ers in a count ry not t heir own and that they
will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14But
I will punish the nat ion they serve as slaves,
and afterward they will come out with g reat
possessions. 15You, however, will go to your
ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old
age. 16In the fourth generat ion your descen
dants will come back here, for the sin of the
Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.
17When the sun had set and darkness had
fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing t orch
app eared and p assed bet ween the piece s.
18On that day the Lord made a cov
enant
with Abram and said, To your descendants I
give this land, from the Wadib of Egypt to the
great river, the Euphrates 19the land of the
Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hitt ites,
Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amor ites, Canaan
ites, Girgashites and Jebusites.
Hagar and Ishmael

16

Now Sarai, A
brams wife, had borne
him no child ren. But she had an
Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2so she said to
Abram, The Lord has kept me from having
child ren. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I
can build a family through her.

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3So after

bram had been living in Canaan ten years,
A
Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar
and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
4He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she be
gan to despise her mistress. 5Then Sarai said
to Abram, You are responsible for the w rong
I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms,
and now that she k nows she is pregnant, she
despises me. May the Lord judge bet ween
you andme.
6Your slave is in your hands, Abram said.
Do with her whatever you think best. Then
Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
7The angel of the Lord found Hagar near
a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is
beside the road to Shur. 8And he said, Hagar,
slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and
where are you going?
Im running away from my mistress Sarai,
she answered.
9Then the an
g el of the Lord told her,
Go back to your mistress and submit to her.
10The angel added, I will inc rease your de
scendants so much that they will be too nu
merous to count.
11The angel of the Lord also said to her:
You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,c
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyones hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
d all his brothers.
toward
13She gave this name to the Lord who
s poke to her: You are the God who sees me,
for she said, I have now seene the One who
sees me. 14That is why the well was called
Beer Lahai Roif ; it is still there, bet ween Ka
desh and Bered.
15So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram
gave the name Ishmael to the son she had
borne. 16Abram was eighty-six y ears old when
Hagar bore him Ishmael.

a5 Orseed b18Orriver c11 Ishmael means God hears. d12Orlive to the east / of e13Orseen
the back of f14 Beer Lahai Roi means well of the Living One who sees me.

23

MATTHEW 5:436:24
Love for Enemies
43You have
heard that it was said, Love
your neighbor a and hate your enemy. 44But I
tell you, love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you, 45that you may be children
of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to
rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain
on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you
love those who love you, what rew ard will
you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing
that? 47And if you greet only your own people,
what are you doing more than others? Do not
even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore,
as your heavenly Father is perfect.

DAY 7

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,b
but deliver us from the evil one.c
14For

if you forg ive other people when they

sin against you, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive others
their sins, your Father will not forg ive your
sins.

Giving to the Needy

Fasting

Be careful not to practice your righ

teousness in front of others to be seen by
them. If you do, you will have no reward from
your Father in heaven.
2So when you give to the
needy, do not
announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be
honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have
received t heir reward in full. 3But when you
give to the needy, do not let your left hand
know what your right hand is doing, 4so that
your giving may be in secret. Then your Fa
ther, who sees what is done in secret, will re
ward you.

16When you fast, do not look som

ber as
the hypocrites do, for they disfigu re their
faces to show others they are fasting. Tru
ly I tell you, they have received t heir reward
in full. 17But when you fast, put oil on your
head and wash your face, 18so that it will not
be obv ious to others that you are fasting, but
only to your Father, who is unseen; and your
Fat her, who sees what is done in secret, will
reward you.

Prayer
5And

when you pray, do not be like the

hypoc rites, for they love to pray standing in
the synagogues and on the street corners to
be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have
received t heir reward in full. 6But when you
pray, go into your room, c lose the door and
pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your
Fat her, who sees what is done in secret, will
reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep
on babbling like pagans, for they t hink they
will be heard because of their many words.
8Do not be like them, for your Fat her k
nows
what you need before you ask him.
9This, then, is how you should pray:

Treasures in Heaven
19Do not store up for yourselves treasures
on earth, where moths and verm in destroy,
and where thieves b
reak in and steal. 20But
store up for yourselves treasures in heav
en, w
here moths and vermin do not destroy,
and where t hieves do not break in and steal.
21For where your treasure is, t here your heart
will be also.
22The eye is the lamp of the body. If your
eyes are healthy,d your whole body will be full
of l ight. 23But if your eyes are unhealthy,e
your w
hole body will be full of darkness. If
then the light within you is darkness, how
great is that darkness!
24No one can
serve two masters. Either
you will hate the one and love the other, or you
will be devoted to the one and despise the oth
er. You cannot serve both God and money.

a43Lev.19:18 b13 TheGreek for temptation can also mean testing. c13Orfrom evil; some late
manuscripts one, / for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. d22 TheGreek for
healthy here implies generous. e23 TheGreek for unhealthy here implies stingy.

DAY 8

24

PSALM 6:16:10
Psalm

6a

as your master. And Psalm 6 promises that the

Lord hears your crying when you flood your bed
with tears.
D

For the director of music. With stringed

instruments. According to sheminith.b
Apsalm ofDavid.

1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are in
agony.
3 My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, Lord, how long?
4 Turn, Lord, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
5 Among the dead no one proclaims your
name.
Who praises you from the grave?
6 I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with
shame and anguish;
they will turn back and suddenly be put
to shame.

REWIND
Genesis 1416; Matthew 5:436:24;
Psalm 6

THE LORD KNOWS WHAT

HES DOING.
In Genesis 1416 Abraham doesnt understand how God can make a childless man the
father of a mighty nation, so he sleeps with a
slave to produce a son. But in Matthew 56
God dares you to do life his way. Jesus challenges you to love your enemies like he does,
to trust him with your needs, and to choose him

day8

GENESIS 17:118:33
The Covenant ofCircumcision

17

When Abram was ninet y-nine y ears

old, the Lord appeared to him and
said, I am God Almightyc; walk before me
faithf ul ly and be blameless. 2Then I will
make my covenant bet ween me and you and
will greatly increase your numbers.
3Abram fell face
down, and God said to
him, 4As for me, this is my covenant with
you: You will be the fat her of many nat ions.
5No longer will you be c alled A bramd ; your
name will be Abraham,e for I have made you a
father of many nations. 6I will make you very
fruitf ul; I will make nations of you, and k ings
will come from you. 7I will establish my cov
enant as an everlasting covenant bet ween me
and you and your descendants after you for
the generations to come, to be your God and
the God of your descendants after you. 8The
whole land of Canaan, where you now reside
as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting pos
session to you and your descendants after you;
and I will be their God.
9Then God said to Abraham, As for you,
you must keep my covenant, you and your
descendants af ter you for the generat ions to
come. 10This is my covenant with you and
your descendants after you, the covenant you
are to keep: Every male a mong you shall be
circumcised. 11You are to undergo circumci

aIn Hebrew texts 6:1-10 is numbered 6:2-11. bTitle: Probably a musical term c1Hebrew El-Shaddai
d5 Abram means exalted father. e5 Abraham probably means father of many.

25
sion, and it will be the sign of the covenant
between me and you. 12For the generat ions
to come every male a mong you who is e ight
days old must be circumcised, including t hose
born in your household or bought with mon
ey from a foreignerthose who are not your
offspring. 13Whether born in your household
or bought with your money, they must be cir
cumcised. My covenant in your f lesh is to be
an everlasting covenant. 14Any uncircumcised
male, who has not been circ umc ised in the
f lesh, will be cut off from his people; he has
broken my covenant.
15God also said to Abraham, As for Sarai
your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai;
her name will be Sara h. 16I will bless her and
will surely give you a son by her. I will bless
her so that she will be the mother of nations;
k ings of peoples will come from her.
17Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and
said to himself, Will a son be born to a man
a hund red years old? Will Sara h bear a child
at the age of ninet y? 18And Abraham said to
God, If only Ishmael might live under your
blessing!
19Then God said, Yes, but your wife Sar
ah will bear you a son, and you will call him
Isaac. a I will establish my covenant with him
as an everlasting covenant for his descendants
after him. 20And as for Ishmael, I have heard
you: I will surely bless him; I will make him
fruitf ul and will greatly increase his numbers.
He will be the fat her of t welve rulers, and I
will make him into a g reat nat ion. 21But my
covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom
Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.
22When he had finished speaking with Abra
ham, God went up from him.
23On that very day Abraham took his son
Ishmael and all those born in his household
or b
ought with his money, every male in his
household, and circumcised them, as God
told him. 24Abraham was ninet y-nine years
old when he was circ umcised, 25and his son
Ishmael was thirteen; 26Abraham and his son
Ishmael were both circ umcised on that very
day. 27And every male in Abrahams house
hold, inc luding those born in his household

or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised

with him.
The Three Visitors

18

The Lord appeared to Abraham near

the g reat trees of Mamre while he was
sitt ing at the ent rance to his tent in the heat
of the day. 2Abraham looked up and saw three
men standing nearby. When he saw them, he
hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet
them and bowed low to the ground.
3He said, If I have
found favor in your
eyes, my lord,b do not pass your servant by.
4Let a litt le water be brought, and then you
may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.
5Let me get you somet hing to eat, so you can
be refreshed and then go on your waynow
that you have come to your servant.
Very well, they answered, do as you say.
6So Abra
h am hurried into the tent to
Sara h. Quick, he said, get three sea hsc of
the finest f lour and k nead it and bake some
bread.
7Then he ran to the herd and se
lected a
choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who
hurried to prepare it. 8He then brought some
curds and milk and the calf that had been pre
pared, and set these before them. W hile they
ate, he stood near them under a tree.
9Where is your wife Sar
a h? they asked
him.
There, in the tent, he said.
10Then one of them said, I will sure
ly
ret urn to you about this time next year, and
Sarah your wife will have a son.
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to
the tent, which was behind him. 11Abraham
and Sara h were already very old, and Sara h
was past the age of childbearing. 12So Sara h
laughed to herself as she thought, After I am
worn out and my lord is old, will I now have
this pleasure?
13Then the Lord said to Abraham, Why
did Sarah laugh and say, Will I really have a
child, now that I am old? 14Is anything too
hard for the Lord? I will ret urn to you at the
appointed time next year, and Sarah will have
a son.

a19 Isaac means he laughs. b3Oreyes, Lord c6 That is, probably about 36pounds or about

16kilograms

DAY 8

DAY 8

26

15Sara h was a fraid, so she lied and said, I

did not laugh.
But he said, Yes, you did laugh.

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

16When the men got up to leave, they
looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham
walked a long with them to see them on their
way. 17Then the Lord said, Shall I hide from
Abraham what I am about to do? 18Abraham
will surely become a g reat and powerful na
tion, and all nations on e arth will be blessed
t hrough him. a 19For I have chosen him, so
that he will direct his children and his house
hold after him to keep the way of the Lord by
doing what is right and just, so that the Lord
will bring about for Abraham what he has
promised him.
20Then the Lord said, The outc ry against
Sodom and Gomorrah is so g reat and their sin
so grievous 21that I will go down and see if
what they have done is as bad as the outc ry
that has reached me. If not, I will know.
22The men t urned away and went tow ard
Sodom, but Abraham remained standing be
fore the Lord.b 23Then Abraham approached
him and said: Will you sweep away the righ
teous with the wicked? 24What if there are
fifty righteous people in the city? Will you
really sweep it away and not sparec the p
lace
for the sake of the fift y righteous people in it?
25Far be it from you to do such a t hingto
kill the righteous with the wicked, treating
the righteous and the wicked a like. Far be it
from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth
do right?
26The Lord said, If I find fift y righteous
people in the city of Sodom, I will s pare the
whole place for their sake.
27Then Abra
ham spoke up a gain: Now
that I have been so bold as to speak to the
Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ash
es, 28what if the number of the righteous is
five less than fifty? Will you destroy the
whole city for lack of five people?
If I find fort y-five t here, he said, I will
not destroyit.

29Once
again he spoke to him, What if
only fort y are found there?
He said, For the sake of fort y, I will not
doit.
30Then he said, May the Lord not be an
gry, but let me speak. What if only thirt y can
be found there?
He answered, I will not do it if I find thir
ty there.
31Abra
ham said, Now that I have been
so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only
twent y can be found there?
He said, For the sake of twent y, I will not
destroyit.
32Then he said, May the Lord not be an
gry, but let me speak just once more. What if
only ten can be found there?
He ans wered, For the sake of ten, I will
not destroyit.
33When the Lord had finished speaking
with Abrah am, he left, and Abrah am re
turned home.

MATTHEW 6:257:23
Do Not Worry
25Therefore

I tell you, do not worr y about

your life, what you will eat or drink; or about
your body, what you will wear. Is not life more
than food, and the body more than c lothes?
26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow
or reap or store away in barns, and yet your
heavenly Father f eeds them. Are you not much
more valuable than they? 27Can any one of you
by worr ying add a single hour to your lifed?
28And why do you wor
r y about c lothes?
See how the flowers of the f ield grow. They
do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not
even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed
like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes
the grass of the f ield, which is here today and
tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not
much more c lothe youyou of little faith?
31So do not wor
r y, saying, What shall we
eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall
we wear? 32For the pagans run after all t hese
things, and your heavenly Father k nows that

a18Orwill use his name in blessings (see48:20) b22 Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition
but the Lord remained standing before Abraham c24Orforgive; also in verse26 d27Orsingle cubit to

your height

27
you need them. 33But seek f irst his kingdom
and his righteousness, and all these things
will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do
not worr y about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
worr y a bout itself. Each day has enough trou
ble of its own.
Judging Others

Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

2For in the same way you judge others,
you will be judged, and with the measure you
use, it will be measured to you.
3Why do you look at the speck of sawdust
in your brothers eye and pay no attention to the
plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to
your brother, Let me take the speck out of your
eye, when all the time there is a plank in your
own eye? 5You hypocrite, f irst take the p
lank
out of your own eye, and then you will see clear
ly to remove the speck from your brothers eye.
6Do not give dogs what is sac red; do not
throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may
trample them under t heir feet, and turn and
tear you to pieces.
Ask, Seek, Knock
7Ask

and it will be given to you; seek and

you will find; k nock and the door will be
opened to you. 8For everyone who asks re
ceives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one
who k nocks, the door will be opened.
9Which of you, if your son asks for bread,
will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a
fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then,
t hough you are evil, know how to give good
g ifts to your child ren, how much more will
your Father in heaven give good gifts to those
who ask him! 12So in everything, do to others
what you would have them do to you, for this
sums up the Law and the Prophets.
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13Enter t hrough the narrow gate. For wide
is the gate and broad is the road that leads to
destruction, and many enter through it. 14But
small is the gate and narrow the road that
leads to life, and only a few findit.

True and False Prophets

15Watch

out for false prophets. They come

to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they

DAY 8

are ferocious wolves. 16By t heir fruit you will

recognize them. Do people pick g rapes from
thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likew ise,
every good tree b
ears good f ruit, but a bad tree
bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad
fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19Every tree that does not bear good f ruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by
their fruit you will recognize them.
True and False Disciples
21Not ev
eryone who says to me, Lord,
Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only the one who does the will of my Fat her
who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on
that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name and in your name drive out demons
and in your name perform many mirac les?
23Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew
you. Away from me, you evildoers!

PROVERBS 1:81:19
Warning Against the Invitation
ofSinfulMen

8 Listen, my son, to your fathers instruction

and do not forsake your mothers
teaching.
9 They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.
10 My son, if sinful men entice you,
do not give in to them.
11 If they say, Come along with us;
lets lie in wait for innocent blood,
lets ambush some harmless soul;
12 lets swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to
the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;
14 cast lots with us;
we will all share the loot
15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into evil,
they are swift to shed blood.
17 How useless to spread a net
where every bird can see it!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they ambush only themselves!

DAY 9

28

19 Such are the paths of all who go after

ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the life of those who
get it.

REWIND
Genesis 1718; Matthew 6:257:23;
Proverbs 1:819

GOD NEVER BREAKS HIS PROMISES.

When God swears in Genesis 1718 that Abraham and Sarah will produce a son, the elderly
woman laughs. But God himself reminds her
nothing is too hard for him. Matthew 67
declares that the Lord cares for you far more
than flowers, which he clothes with magnificent splendor. He wont leave you unfed or
unclothed, and he grants your good requests.
Proverbs 1 assures you that Gods wisdom
keeps you from joining in evil peoples sins. D

day9

GENESIS 19:120:18
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

19

The two angels arr ived at Sodom in

the even ing, and Lot was sitting in
the gateway of the city. When he saw them,
he got up to meet them and bowed down with
his face to the g round. 2My lords, he said,
please turn aside to your servants house. You
can wash your feet and spend the n ight and
then go on your way early in the morning.
No, they answered, we will spend the
night in the square.
3But he insisted so strongly that they did
a14Orwere married to

go with him and entered his house. He pre

pared a meal for them, baking bread without
yeast, and they ate. 4Before they had gone to
bed, all the men from every part of the city of
Sodom both young and old sur rounded
the house. 5They called to Lot, Where are
the men who came to you tonight? Bring them
out to us so that we can have sex with them.
6Lot went outside to meet them and shut
the door beh ind him 7and said, No, my
friends. Dont do this wicked thing. 8Look, I
have two daughters who have never slept with
a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you
can do what you like with them. But dont do
anything to these men, for they have come
under the protection of my roof.
9Get out of our way, they replied. This
fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he
wants to play the judge! Well treat you worse
than them. They kept bringing pressure on
Lot and moved forward to b
reak down the
door.
10But the men in
side reached out and
pulled Lot back into the house and shut the
door. 11Then they struck the men who were
at the door of the house, young and old, with
blindness so that they could not find the door.
12The two men said to Lot, Do you
have anyone else heresons-in-law, sons or
daughters, or anyone else in the city who be
longs to you? Get them out of here, 13because
we are going to destroy this place. The outcry
to the Lord against its people is so great that
he has sent us to destroyit.
14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-inlaw, who were pledged to marr ya his daugh
ters. He said, Hurr y and get out of this place,
because the Lord is about to destroy the city!
But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15With the com
i ng of dawn, the angels
u rged Lot, saying, Hurry! Take your wife
and your two daughters who are here, or you
will be swept away when the city is punished.
16When he hesitated, the men g
rasped his
hand and the hands of his wife and of his two
daughters and led them safely out of the city,
for the Lord was mercif ul to them. 17As soon
as they had brought them out, one of them
said, Flee for your lives! Dont look back, and

29
ont stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the
d
mountains or you will be swept away!
18But Lot said to them, No, my lords,a
please! 19Yourb serv ant has found favor in
yourb eyes, and youb have s hown g reat kind
ness to me in sparing my life. But I cant flee
to the mountains; this disaster will overtake
me, and Ill die. 20Look, here is a town near
enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee
to itit is very small, isnt it? Then my life
will be spared.
21He said to him, Very well, I will g rant
this request too; I will not overthrow the town
you speak of. 22But flee there quickly, because
I cannot do anything until you r each it. (That
is why the town was called Zoar.c)
23By the time Lot
reached Zoar, the sun
had risen over the land. 24Then the Lord
rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and
Gomorrah from the Lord out of the heav
ens. 25Thus he overthrew those cities and the
entire plain, destroying all those living in the
citiesa nd also the vegetation in the land.
26But L ots wife looked back, and she became
a pillar of salt.
27Early the next morning Abraham got up
and ret urned to the place where he had stood
before the Lord. 28He looked down toward
Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of
the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from
the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29So when God de
stroyed the cities of
the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he
brought Lot out of the catastrophe that over
threw the cities where Lot had lived.
Lot and His Daughters
30Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and
sett led in the mountains, for he was a fraid to
stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived
in a cave. 31One day the older daughter said to
the younger, Our father is old, and there is
no man a round here to give us childrenas is
the custom all over the earth. 32Lets get our
father to drink wine and then sleep with him
and preserve our family line t hrough our fa
ther.

DAY 9

33That n
ight they got their father to drink
wine, and the older daughter went in and s lept
with him. He was not a ware of it when she lay
down or when she gotup.
34The next day the older daughter said to
the younger, Last n
ight I s lept with my fa
ther. L ets get him to d rink wine a gain to
night, and you go in and sleep with him so
we can preserve our family line through our
fat her. 35So they got their father to d rink
wine that night also, and the younger daugh
ter went in and slept with him. Again he was
not aware of it when she lay down or when
she gotup.
36So both of L ots daughters became preg
nant by t heir father. 37The older daughter had
a son, and she named him Moabd ; he is the fa
ther of the Moabites of today. 38The younger
daughter also had a son, and she named him
Ben-Ammie; he is the father of the Ammon
itesf of today.

Abraham and Abimelek

20

Now Abraham moved on from there

into the region of the Negev and lived
between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he
stayed in Gerar, 2and there Abraham said of
his wife Sarah, She is my sister. Then Abim
elek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3But God came to Abim
elek in a d
ream
one night and said to him, You are as good
as dead because of the woman you have taken;
she is a married woman.
4Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so
he said, Lord, will you destroy an innocent
nation? 5Did he not say to me, She is my sis
ter, and didnt she also say, He is my brother?
I have done this with a c lear conscience and
clean hands.
6Then God said to him in the d ream, Yes,
I know you did this with a c lear conscience,
and so I have kept you from sinning against
me. That is why I did not let you touch her.
7Now ret urn the mans wife, for he is a proph
et, and he will pray for you and you will live.
But if you do not ret urn her, you may be sure
that you and all who belong to you will die.

a18OrNo, Lord; or No, my lord b19 TheHebrew is singular. c22 Zoar means small. d37 Moab
sounds like the Hebrew for from father. e38 Ben-Ammi means son of my fathers people. f38Hebrew

Bene-Ammon

DAY 9

30

8Ear
ly the next morning Abimelek sum
moned all his off icials, and when he told them
all that had happened, they were very much
a fraid. 9Then Abimelek called Abra ham in
and said, What have you done to us? How
have I w
ronged you that you have b
rought
such g reat g uilt upon me and my kingdom?
You have done things to me that should nev
er be done. 10And Abimelek asked Abraham,
What was your reason for doing this?
11Abra
h am re
plied, I said to my
s elf,
There is surely no fear of God in this p
lace,
and they will kill me bec ause of my wife.
12Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter
of my father though not of my mother; and
she became my wife. 13And when God had
me wander from my fathers household, I said
to her, This is how you can show your love to
me: Everywhere we go, say of me, He is my
brother.
14Then Abimelek brought sheep and catt le
and male and female slaves and gave them to
Abraham, and he ret urned Sara h his wife to
him. 15And Abimelek said, My land is before
you; live wherever you like.
16To Sar
a h he said, I am giving your
brother a thousand shekels a of silver. This is
to cover the offense against you before all who
are with you; you are completely vindicated.
17Then Abraham prayed to God, and God
healed Abimelek, his wife and his female
slaves so they could have children again, 18for
the Lord had kept all the women in Abim
eleks household from conceiv ing because of
Abrahams wife Sarah.

MATTHEW 7:248:22
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24Therefore

everyone who hears t hese

ords of mine and puts them into practice is
w
like a wise man who built his h
ouse on the
rock. 25The rain came down, the streams
rose, and the w
inds blew and beat a gainst
that house; yet it did not fall, because it had
its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone
who hears t hese words of mine and does not
put them into practice is like a foolish man

who built his house on sand. 27The rain came

down, the s treams rose, and the w
inds blew
and beat a gainst that house, and it fell with a
g reat crash.
28When
Jesus had finished saying these
t hings, the crowds were amazed at his teach
ing, 29because he taught as one who had au
thorit y, and not as their teachers of the law.

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

When Jesus came down from the moun

tainside, large crowds fol lowed him. 2A
man with leprosy b came and k nelt before him
and said, Lord, if you are willing, you can
make me clean.
3Jesus r
eached out his hand and touched
the man. I am willing, he said. Be c lean!
Immed iately he was c leansed of his lepros y.
4Then Jesus said to him, See that you dont
tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest
and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a tes
timony to them.
The Faith of the Centurion
5When J esus had ent ered Cap er n au m,
a centurion came to him, asking for help.
6Lord, he said, my servant lies at home par
alyzed, suffering terribly.
7Jesus said to him, Shall I come and heal
him?
8The cent ur ion replied, Lord, I do not de
serve to have you come under my roof. But just
say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9For I myself am a man under aut horit y, with
soldiers under me. I tell this one, Go, and he
goes; and that one, Come, and he c omes. I
say to my servant, Do this, and he doesit.
10When Jesus
heard this, he was a mazed
and said to those following him, Truly I tell
you, I have not found anyone in Israel with
such great faith. 11I say to you that many will
come from the east and the west, and will take
their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12But
the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown
outside, into the darkness, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13Then
Jesus said to the centurion, Go!

a16 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms b2 TheGreek word traditionally translated leprosy

was used for various diseases affecting the skin.

DAY 9

31
Let it be done just as you believed it would.
And his servant was healed at that moment.
Jesus Heals Many
14When

Jesus came into Peters h

ouse, he
saw Peters mother-in-law lying in bed with
a fever. 15He touched her hand and the fever
left her, and she got up and began to wait on
him.
16When even ing came, many who were de
mon-possessed were brought to him, and he
d rove out the spirits with a word and healed
all the sick. 17This was to fulfill what was
spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
He took up our infirmities
and bore our diseases.a
The Cost of Following Jesus
18When Jesus saw the c rowd a round him,
he gave orders to cross to the other side of the
lake. 19Then a teacher of the law came to him
and said, Teacher, I will follow you wherever
yougo.
20Jesus replied, Foxes have d
ens and b
irds
have n
ests, but the Son of Man has no place
to lay his head.
21Another disc iple said to him, Lord, f irst
let me go and bury my father.
22But Jesus told him, Follow me, and let
the dead bury their own dead.

PSALM 7:17:9
Psalm 7b
A shiggaionc ofDavid, which he sang to
the Lord concerning Cush, aBenjamite.

1 Lord my God, I take refuge in you;

save and deliver me from all who
pursue me,
2 or they will tear me apart like a lion
and rip me to pieces with no one to
rescue me.

5 then let my enemy pursue and

overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground
and make me sleep in the dust.d
6 Arise, Lord, in your anger;
rise up against the rage of my
enemies.
Awake, my God; decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoples gather around
you,
while you sit enthroned over them on
high.
8 Let the Lord judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my
righteousness,
according to my integrity,
OMost High.
9 Bring to an end the violence of the
wicked
and make the righteous secure
you, the righteous God
who probes minds and hearts.

REWIND
Genesis 1920; Matthew 7:248:22;
Psalm 7:19

ITS WISE TO LISTEN AND OBEY.

Genesis 1920 shows the Lord destroying
the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of
their disobedience. In Matthew 7:2427 Jesus
warns that people who ignore his words are
like a man who builds a house on sand. When
a storm blows hard, his home crashes down.
But anyone who acts on his words stays safe.
Psalm 7 says those who do good can go to God
and find refuge, a place where no one can tear
them to pieces.
D

3 Lord my God, if I have done this

and there is guilt on my hands
4 if I have repaid my ally with evil
or without cause have robbed my foe
a17Isaiah53:4 (see Septuagint) bIn Hebrew texts 7:1-17 is numbered 7:2-18. cTitle: Probably
a literary or musical term d5 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

DAY 10

32

day10
GENESIS 21:123:20
The Birth of Isaac

21

Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah

as he had said, and the Lord did for
Sara h what he had promised. 2Sarah became
pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old
age, at the very time God had promised him.
3Abra
ham gave the name Isaaca to the son
Sarah bore him. 4When his son Isaac was eight
days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God
commanded him. 5Abraham was a hund red
years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6Sara h said, God has brought me laughter,
and everyone who hears about this will laugh
with me. 7And she added, Who would have
said to Abraham that Sara h would nurse chil
dren? Yet I have b
orne him a son in his old
age.
Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away
8The

c hild grew and was weaned, and on

the day Isaac was w
eaned Abraham held a
great feast. 9But Sara h saw that the son whom
Hagar the Egyptian had b
orne to Abraham
was mock i ng, 10and she said to Abraham,
Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for
that woma ns son will never share in the in
heritance with my son Isaac.
11The mat ter dist ressed Abra ham great ly
because it concerned his son. 12But God said
to him, Do not be so distressed about the
boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever
Sara h tells you, because it is through Isaac
that your offspringb will be reckoned. 13I will
make the son of the slave into a nat ion also,
because he is your offspring.
14Ear
ly the next morning Abraham took
some food and a skin of water and gave them
to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and
then sent her off with the boy. She went on
her way and wandered in the Desert of Be
ersheba.

15When the water in the skin was gone, she

put the boy under one of the bushes. 16Then
she went off and sat down about a bowshot
away, for she thought, I cannot watch the boy
die. And as she sat there, shec began to sob.
17God heard the boy crying, and the angel
of God c alled to Hagar from heaven and said
to her, What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be
a fraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies
there. 18Lift the boy up and take him by the
hand, for I will make him into a great nation.
19Then God opened her eyes and she saw a
well of water. So she went and f illed the skin
with water and gave the boy a drink.
20God was with the boy as he grew up.
He lived in the desert and became an archer.
21While he was living in the Desert of Paran,
his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

The Treaty at Beersheba

22At that time Abim
elek and Phicol the
commander of his forces said to Abraham,
God is with you in everything you do. 23Now
swear to me here before God that you will not
deal falsely with me or my children or my de
scendants. Show to me and the country where
you now reside as a foreigner the same kind
ness I have shown to you.
24Abraham said, I s wearit.
25Then Abraham complained to Abimelek
about a well of water that Abimeleks servants
had s eized. 26But Abimelek said, I dont
know who has done this. You did not tell me,
and I heard about it only today.
27So Abra
ham b
rought sheep and cattle
and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men
made a treat y. 28Abraham set apart seven ewe
lambs from the f lock, 29and Abimelek asked
Abraham, What is the meaning of these
seven ewe lambs you have set a part by them
selves?
30He replied, Acc ept t hese seven l ambs
from my hand as a witness that I dug this
well.
31So that place was called Beersheba, d be
cause the two men swore an oath there.
32After the treat y had been made at Beer
sheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander

a3 Isaac means he laughs. b12 Orseed c16 Hebrew; Septuagint the child d31 Beersheba can mean

well of seven and well of the oath.

DAY 10

33
of his forces ret urned to the land of the Phi
listines. 33Abraham planted a tama risk tree in
Beersheba, and there he called on the name
of the Lord, the Eternal God. 34And Abra
ham stayed in the land of the Philist ines for
a long time.
Abraham Tested

22

Some time later God tested Abra

ham. He said to him, Abraham!
Here I am, he replied.
2Then God said, Take your son, your only
son, whom you loveIsaaca nd go to the
reg ion of Moria h. Sacrifice him there as a
burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.
3Early the next morning Abraham got up
and loaded his donkey. He took with him two
of his servants and his son I saac. When he had
cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set
out for the place God had told him about. 4On
the third day Abraham looked up and saw the
place in the distance. 5He said to his servants,
Stay here with the donkey while I and the
boy go over there. We will worship and then
we will come back to you.
6Abraham took the wood for the burnt of
fering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he
himself carried the fire and the k nife. As the
two of them went on together, 7Isaac spoke
up and said to his father Abraham, Father?
Yes, my son? Abraham replied.
The fire and wood are here, Isaac said,
but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
8Abra
ham answered, God himself will
prov ide the lamb for the burnt offering, my
son. And the two of them went on together.
9When they r
eached the place God had
told him about, Abraham built an altar there
and arranged the wood on it. He b
ound his
son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of
the wood. 10Then he r eached out his hand and
took the k nife to slay his son. 11But the angel
of the Lord called out to him from heaven,
Abraham! Abraham!
Here I am, he replied.
12Do not lay a hand on the boy, he said.
Do not do anything to him. Now I know that

you fear God, because you have not withheld

from me your son, your only son.
13Abraham looked up and t here in a thick
et he saw a rama caught by its horns. He went
over and took the ram and sacr if iced it as a
burnt offering instead of his son. 14So Abra
ham called that place The Lord Will Pro
vide. And to this day it is said, On the moun
tain of the Lord it will be prov ided.
15The ang el of the Lord c alled to Abra
ham from heaven a second time 16and said, I
swear by myself, dec lares the Lord, that be
cause you have done this and have not with
held your son, your only son, 17I will surely
bless you and make your descendants as nu
merous as the stars in the sky and as the sand
on the seashore. Your descendants will take
possession of the cities of their enemies, 18and
t hrough your offspring b all nat ions on earth
will be blessed,c because you have obeyedme.
19Then Abraham ret urned to his servants,
and they set off together for Beersheba. And
Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Nahors Sons
20Some

time lat
e r Abra
h am was told,
Milk ah is also a mother; she has b
orne sons
to your brother Nahor: 21Uz the firstborn,
Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram),
22Kesed, Hazo, Pild ash, Jidlaph and Bet hu
el. 23Bethuel became the father of Rebeka h.
Milk ah bore these e ight sons to Abrahams
brother Nahor. 24His concubine, whose name
was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham,
Tahash and Maak ah.
The Death of Sarah

23

Sarah lived to be a hund red and

twent y-seven y ears old. 2She died
at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land
of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for
Sarah and to weep over her.
3Then Abraham rose from beside his dead
wife and spoke to the Hitt ites.d He said, 4I
am a foreigner and stranger a mong you. Sell
me some propert y for a buria l site here so I can
bury my dead.

a13 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and Syriac; most
manuscripts of the Masoretic Text a ram behind him b18 Orseed c18Orand all nations on earth will
use the name of your offspring in blessings (see48:20) d3Orthe descendants of Heth; also in verses 5, 7, 10,

16, 18 and 20

DAY 10

34

5The Hit
t ites replied to Abraham, 6Sir,
listen to us. You are a mighty prince a mong
us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our
tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for
burying your dead.
7Then Abraham rose and bowed down be
fore the people of the land, the Hittites. 8He
said to them, If you are willing to let me bury
my dead, then listen to me and intercede with
Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9so he will
sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs
to him and is at the end of his f ield. Ask him
to sell it to me for the full price as a buria l site
among you.
10Ephron the Hit
t ite was sitting a mong
his people and he replied to Abraham in the
hearing of all the Hitt ites who had come to
the gate of his city. 11No, my lord, he said.
Listen to me; I givea you the field, and I
givea you the cave that is in it. I givea it to
you in the presence of my people. Bury your
dead.
12Again Abraham b
owed down before the
people of the land 13and he said to Ephron in
their hearing, Listen to me, if you will. I will
pay the price of the f ield. Accept it from me so
I can bury my dead there.
14Ephron ans wered Abraham, 15Listen to
me, my lord; the land is w
orth four hund red
shekels b of silver, but what is that bet ween you
and me? Bury your dead.
16Abraham a greed to Ephrons terms and
weighed out for him the p
rice he had n
amed
in the hearing of the Hittites: four hund red
shekels of silver, according to the weight cur
rent among the merchants.
17So
Ephrons field in Machp elah near
Mamreboth the f ield and the cave in it,
and all the trees within the borders of the
f ield was deede d 18to Abrah am as his
propert y in the presence of all the Hittites
who had come to the gate of the city. 19Af
terw ard Abrah am buried his wife Sarah
in the cave in the f ield of Machp elah near
Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of
Canaan. 20So the f ield and the cave in it were
deeded to Abraham by the Hitt ites as a buri
al site.

MATTHEW 8:239:13
Jesus Calms the Storm
23Then he got into the boat and his disc i
ples followed him. 24Suddenly a furious storm
came up on the lake, so that the waves s wept
over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The
disciples went and woke him, saying, Lord,
save us! Were going to drown!
26He replied, You of litt le faith, why are
you so a fraid? Then he got up and rebuked
the w inds and the waves, and it was complete
ly calm.
27The men were a mazed and asked, What
kind of man is this? Even the w
inds and the
waves obey him!

Jesus Restores Two DemonPossessed Men

28When he ar
r ived at the othe r side in
the reg ion of the Gada renes,c two demonpos
s essed men com
i ng from the
t ombs
met him. They were so violent that no one
could pass that way. 29What do you want
with us, Son of God? they shouted. Have
you come here to tort ure us before the ap
pointed time?
30Some distance from them a large herd of
pigs was feeding. 31The demons begged Jesus,
If you d rive us out, send us into the herd of
pigs.
32He said to them, Go! So they came out
and went into the pigs, and the whole herd
rushed down the steep bank into the lake
and died in the water. 33Those tending the
pigs ran off, went into the town and report
ed all this, inc luding what had happened to
the demon-possessed men. 34Then the whole
town went out to meet Jesus. And when they
saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their
region.

Jesus Forgives and Heals

a Paralyzed Man

Jesus stepped into a boat, c rossed over

and came to his own town. 2Some men
brought to him a para lyzed man, lying on a
mat. When Jesus saw their f aith, he said to the
man, Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.

a11 Orsell b15 That is, about 10 pounds or about 4.6 kilograms c28 Some manuscripts Gergesenes;

other manuscripts Gerasenes

DAY 11

35
3At this, some of the teachers of the law said
to themselves, This fellow is blaspheming!
4Knowing t heir t houghts, Jesus said, Why
do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?
5Which is eas
ier: to say, Your sins are for
given, or to say, Get up and walk? 6But I
want you to know that the Son of Man has
authorit y on earth to forgive sins. So he said
to the para lyzed man, Get up, take your mat
and go home. 7Then the man got up and
went home. 8When the c rowd saw this, they
were f illed with awe; and they praised God,
who had given such authorit y to man.

The Calling of Matthew

9As Jesus went on from t here, he saw a man
amed Matt hew sitt ing at the tax collectors
n
booth. Follow me, he told him, and Mat
thew got up and followed him.
10While Jesus was having dinner at Mat
thews house, many tax collectors and sin
ners came and ate with him and his disciples.
11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his
disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax
collectors and sinners?
12On hearing this, Jesus said, It is not the
healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But
go and learn what this means: I desire merc y,
not sacrif ice. a For I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners.

PSALM 7:107:17
10 My shieldb is God Most High,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
a God who displays his wrath every
day.
12 If he does not relent,
c will sharpen his sword;
he
he will bend and string his bow.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he makes ready his flaming arrows.
14 Whoever is pregnant with evil
conceives trouble and gives birth to
disillusionment.
15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit they have made.

16 The trouble they cause recoils on them;

their violence comes down on their own
heads.
17 I will give thanks to the Lord because of
his righteousness;
I will sing the praises of the name of the
Lord Most High.

REWIND
Genesis 2123; Matthew 8:239:13;
Psalm 7:1017

GOD DESERVES YOUR TRUST.

Genesis 2123 shows Abraham acting on a
divine command to sacrifice his much-loved
son, a test agonizing beyond imagination. In
Matthew 89 people face intense challenges
like paralysis, deadly waters, and legions of demons. And in Psalm 7 David finds himself face
to face with swords and flaming arrows. In each
of these grim situations, God proves hes worth
trusting. No matter what you endure today, you
can be sure the Lord is on your side.
D

day11
GENESIS 24:124:67
Isaac and Rebekah

24

Abraham was now very old, and the

Lord had blessed him in every way.
2He said to the senior serv ant in his house
hold, the one in c harge of all that he had,
Put your hand under my thigh. 3I want you
to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven
and the God of earth, that you will not get
a wife for my son from the daughters of the

a13 Hosea6:6 b10Orsovereign c12OrIf anyone does not repent, / God

DAY 11

36

Canaanites, a mong whom I am liv ing, 4but

will go to my country and my own relatives
and get a wife for my son Isaac.
5The ser
v ant asked him, What if the
woman is unw illing to come back with me to
this land? S
hall I then take your son back to
the country you came from?
6Make sure that you do not take my son
back t here, Abraham said. 7The Lord, the
God of heaven, who brought me out of my fa
thers household and my native land and who
spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying,
To your offspringa I will give this landhe
will send his angel before you so that you can
get a wife for my son from there. 8If the wom
an is unw illing to come back with you, then
you will be released from this oath of mine.
Only do not take my son back there. 9So the
servant put his hand under the thigh of his
master Abraham and s wore an oath to him
concerning this matter.
10Then the ser
vant left, taking with him
ten of his masters camels loaded with all
k inds of good things from his master. He set
out for Aram Naharaim b and made his way to
the town of Nahor. 11He had the camels k neel
down near the well outside the town; it was
toward even ing, the time the women go out
to draw water.
12Then he prayed, Lord, God of my mas
ter Abraham, make me successf ul today, and
show kindness to my master Abraham. 13See,
I am standing beside this spring, and the
daughters of the townspeople are coming out
to draw water. 14May it be that when I say to
a young woman, Please let down your jar that
I may have a drink, and she says, Drink, and
Ill water your camels toolet her be the one
you have chosen for your servant I saac. By this
I will know that you have shown kindness to
my master.
15Before he had finished praying, Rebeka h
came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was
the daughter of Bet huel son of Milk ah, who
was the wife of Abrahams brother Nahor.
16The woma n was very beaut if ul, a virg in; no
man had ever slept with her. She went down
to the spring, f illed her jar and came up again.

17The servant hurr ied to meet her and said,

Please give me a litt le water from your jar.
18Drink, my lord, she said, and quick
ly
lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a
drink.
19After she had given him a d rink, she said,
Ill draw water for your camels too, until they
have had e nough to d
rink. 20So she quickly
emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to
the well to draw more water, and drew enough
for all his camels. 21Without saying a word,
the man watched her closely to learn whether
or not the Lord had made his journey suc
cessf ul.
22When the camels had finished drinking,
the man took out a gold nose ring weighing
a bekac and two gold bracelets weighing ten
shekels. d 23Then he asked, Whose daughter
are you? Please tell me, is there room in your
fathers house for us to spend the night?
24She ans wered him, I am the daughter of
Bethuel, the son that Milk ah bore to Nahor.
25And she add
ed, We have plent y of straw
and fodder, as well as room for you to spend
the night.
26Then the man
bowed down and wor
shiped the Lord, 27saying, Praise be to the
Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who
has not abandoned his kindness and faithf ul
ness to my master. As for me, the Lord has
led me on the journey to the house of my mas
ters relatives.
28The young wom
a n ran and told her
mothers household about these things. 29Now
Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he
hurried out to the man at the spring. 30As
soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the
bracelets on his sisters arms, and had heard
Rebeka h tell what the man said to her, he
went out to the man and found him standing
by the camels near the spring. 31Come, you
who are b
lessed by the Lord, he said. Why
are you standing out here? I have prepared the
house and a place for the camels.
32So the man went to the house, and the
camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were
brought for the camels, and water for him and
his men to wash t heir feet. 33Then food was

a7 Orseed b10 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia c22 That is, about 1/5ounce or about 5.7 grams
d22 That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams

37
set before him, but he said, I will not eat until
I have told you what I have to say.
Then tell us, Laban said.
34So he said, I am Abra
hams serv ant.
35The Lord has blessed my master abundant
ly, and he has become wealthy. He has given
him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male
and female servants, and camels and donkeys.
36My masters wife Sara h has borne him a son
in her old age, and he has given him every
thing he owns. 37And my master made me
s wear an oath, and said, You must not get a
wife for my son from the daughters of the Ca
naanites, in w
hose land I live, 38but go to my
fathers family and to my own clan, and get a
wife for my son.
39Then I
asked my master, What if the
woman will not come back withme?
40He re
plied, The Lord, before whom
I have walked faithfully, will send his angel
with you and make your journey a success, so
that you can get a wife for my son from my
own clan and from my fat hers family. 41You
will be released from my oath if, when you go
to my clan, they refuse to give her to you
then you will be released from my oath.
42When I came to the
spring tod ay, I
said, Lord, God of my master Abraham, if
you will, please g rant success to the journey
on which I have come. 43See, I am standing
beside this spring. If a y oung woma n comes
out to draw water and I say to her, Please let
me drink a litt le water from your jar, 44and if
she says to me, Drink, and Ill draw water for
your camels too, let her be the one the Lord
has chosen for my masters son.
45Be
fore I finished praying in my h
eart,
Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoul
der. She went down to the spring and drew
water, and I said to her, Please give me a
drink.
46She quick
ly lowered her jar from her
shoulder and said, Drink, and Ill water your
camels too. So I d
rank, and she watered the
camels also.
47I asked her, Whose daughter are you?
She said, The daughter of Bethuel son of
Nahor, whom Milk ah bore to him.
Then I put the ring in her nose and the
a55Orshe

DAY 11

bracelets on her arms, 48and I bowed down

and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord,
the God of my master Abraham, who had led
me on the right road to get the granddaughter
of my masters brother for his son. 49Now if
you will show kindness and faithf ulness to my
master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may
know which way to turn.
50La
ban and Bethuel answered, This is
from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one
way or the other. 51Here is Rebekah; take her
and go, and let her become the wife of your
masters son, as the Lord has directed.
52When Abra
h ams servant heard what
they said, he bowed down to the g round be
fore the Lord. 53Then the servant brought out
gold and silver jewelr y and articles of clothing
and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly
gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54Then
he and the men who were with him ate and
drank and spent the night there.
When they got up the next morning, he
said, Send me on my way to my master.
55But her brother and her mother replied,
Let the young woma n remain with us ten
days or so; then youa maygo.
56But he said to them, Do not detain me,
now that the Lord has granted success to my
journey. Send me on my way so I may go to
my master.
57Then they said, Lets call the young
woman and ask her about it. 58So they called
Rebeka h and asked her, Will you go with
this man?
I will go, she said.
59So they sent t heir sister Rebeka h on her
way, a long with her nurse and Abrahams ser
vant and his men. 60And they blessed Rebek
ah and said to her,
Our sister, may you increase
to thousands upon thousands;
may your offspring possess
the cities of their enemies.
61Then Re
beka h and her attend ants got
r eady and mounted the camels and went back
with the man. So the servant took Rebeka h
and left.
62Now I
saac had come from Beer Lahai

DAY 11

38

Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63He went

out to the f ield one evening to meditate,a and
as he looked up, he saw camels approaching.
64Rebeka h also looked up and saw Isaac. She
got down from her camel 65and asked the ser
vant, Who is that man in the f ield coming
to meetus?
He is my master, the servant ans wered.
So she took her veil and covered herself.
66Then the serv ant told I saac all he had
done. 67Isaac b
rought her into the tent of
his mother Sara h, and he marr ied Rebeka h.
So she bec ame his wife, and he loved her;
and Isaac was comforte d after his mothers
death.

MATTHEW 9:149:38
Jesus Questioned About Fasting
14Then

Johns disciples came and a sked

him, How is it that we and the Pharisees fast
often, but your disciples do not fast?
15Jesus ans wered, How can the g uests of
the brideg room m
ourn while he is with them?
The time will come when the bridegroom will
be taken from them; then they will fast.
16No one sews a p atch of unshrunk c loth
on an old garment, for the p
atch will pull
away from the garm ent, making the tear
worse. 17Neit her do people pour new wine
into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will
burst; the wine will run out and the wine
skins will be ruined. No, they pour new
wine into new wineskins, and both are pre
served.
Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals
aSick Woman
18While

he was saying this, a synagogue

leader came and k nelt before him and said,
My daughter has just died. But come and put
your hand on her, and she will live. 19Jesus
got up and went with him, and so did his dis
ciples.
20Just then a woma n who had been subject
to bleeding for t welve y ears came up behind
him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21She
said to herself, If I only touch his cloak, I will
be healed.

22Jesus
t urned and saw her. Take heart,
daughter, he said, your faith has healed
you. And the woman was healed at that mo
ment.
23When Jesus entered the synagogue lead
ers house and saw the noisy crowd and people
playing pipes, 24he said, Go away. The girl
is not dead but asleep. But they laughed at
him. 25After the crowd had been put outside,
he went in and took the girl by the hand, and
she got up. 26News of this spread through all
that region.

Jesus Heals the Blind

and the Mute
27As

Jesus went on from there, two blind

men followed him, calling out, Have merc y
on us, Son of Dav id!
28When he had gone in
doors, the b
lind
men came to him, and he a sked them, Do
you believe that I am able to do this?
Yes, Lord, they replied.
29Then he t ouched t heir eyes and said, Ac
cording to your faith let it be done to you;
30and their sight was restored. Jesus w arned
them sternly, See that no one k nows about
this. 31But they went out and spread the news
about him all over that region.
32While they were going out, a man who
was demon-possessed and c ould not talk was
brought to Jesus. 33And when the demon was
driven out, the man who had been mute spoke.
The c rowd was a mazed and said, Nothing
like this has ever been seen in Israel.
34But the Pharisees said, It is by the prince
of demons that he drives out demons.
The Workers Are Few
35Jesus went
t hrough all the towns and
v illages, teaching in t heir synagogues, pro
claiming the good news of the kingdom and
heal ing every disease and sick ness. 36When
he saw the c rowds, he had compassion on
them, because they were harassed and help
less, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he
said to his disciples, The harvest is plentif ul
but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the
harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his
har vest field.

a63 Themeaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

39

PSALM 8:18:9
Psalm

8a

For the director of music. According to gittith.b

Apsalm ofDavid.

1 Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the
earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold
against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of
them,
human beings that you care for them?c
5 You have made themd a little lower than
the angelse
and crowned themd with glory and
honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of
your hands;
you put everything under theirf feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the
earth!

REWIND
Genesis 24; Matthew 9:1438;
Psalm 8

THE DETAILS BELONG TO GOD.

The Lord might seem too lofty to notice your
life. But Genesis 24 shows him bringing together a specific man and woman to advance his

DAY 12

plans. In Matthew 9 Jesus says he acts in new

ways that exceed our expectations, like raising
the dead, healing the sick, and giving sight to
the blind. And Psalm 8 says God made you and
every other human being extraordinary. Youre
crowned with his glory, so you can count on
him to lead your life.
D

day12
GENESIS 25:126:35
The Death of Abraham

25

Abra h am had taken another wife,

whose name was Ket urah. 2She bore
him Zimran, Jok shan, Medan, Mid ian, Ish
bak and Shua h. 3Jokshan was the father of
Sheba and Ded an; the descend ants of De
dan were the Ashu rites, the Letushites and
the Leu mm ites. 4The sons of Midia n were
Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All
these were descendants of Ket urah.
5Abra
h am left everything he owned to
Isaac. 6But while he was still living, he gave
g ifts to the sons of his conc ubines and sent
them away from his son I saac to the land of
the east.
7Abraham l ived a hund red and sevent y-five
years. 8Then Abraham breathed his last and
died at a good old age, an old man and full
of years; and he was gathered to his people.
9His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the
cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the f ield
of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, 10the
f ield Abraham had bought from the Hittites.g
T here Abraham was buried with his wife

aIn Hebrew texts 8:1-9 is numbered 8:2-10. bTitle: Probably a musical term c4Orwhat is a human
being that you are mindful of him, / a son of man that you care for him? d5 Orhim e5Orthan God
f6Ormade him ruler ...; / ... his g10Orthe descendants of Heth

DAY 12

40

Sara h. 11After Abrahams death, God blessed

his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer La
hai Roi.
Ishmaels Sons
12This is the account of the family line of
Abrahams son Ishmael, whom Sara hs slave,
Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
13These

are the n
ames of the sons of Ish
mael, listed in the order of their birth: Neba
ioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel,
Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Ha
dad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.
16These were the sons of Ishmael, and t hese
are the names of the t welve triba l rulers ac
cording to their sett lements and camps. 17Ish
mael l ived a hund red and thir t y-seven years.
He breathed his last and died, and he was
gathered to his people. 18His descendants set
tled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near
the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward
Ashur. And they lived in hostilit y toward a all
the tribes related to them.
Jacob and Esau
19This is the account of the family line of
Abrahams son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20and

I saac was fort y years old when he married Re
bekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from
Paddan Aram b and sister of Laban the Ara
mean.
21Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his
wife, because she was childless. The Lord
answered his prayer, and his wife Rebeka h
became pregnant. 22The babies jostled each
other within her, and she said, Why is this
happening to me? So she went to inquire of
the Lord.
23The Lord said to her,
Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will
be separated;
one people will be stronger than the
other,
and the older will serve the younger.

24When the time came for her to give birth,

t here were twin boys in her womb. 25The f irst
to come out was red, and his whole body was
like a hairy garment; so they named him
Esau.c 26After this, his brother came out,
with his hand grasping Esaus heel; so he was
named Jacob. d Isaac was sixt y years old when
Rebekah gave birth to them.
27The boys grew up, and Esau be
came a
skillful hunter, a man of the open country,
while Jacob was content to stay at home a mong
the tents. 28Isaac, who had a taste for wild
game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29Once when Jacob was cooking some stew,
Esau came in from the open country, fam
ished. 30He said to Jacob, Quick, let me have
some of that red stew! Im famished! (That is
why he was also called Edom.e)
31Jacob replied, First sell me your birth
right.
32Look, I am
about to die, Esau said.
What good is the birthright tome?
33But Jacob said, Swear to me f irst. So he
s wore an oath to him, selling his birthr ight
to Jacob.
34Then Ja
cob gave Esau some bread and
some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then
got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelek

26

Now there was a famine in the land

besides the prev ious famine in Abra
hams timeand Isaac went to Abimelek
king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2The Lord
appeared to Isaac and said, Do not go down
to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to
live. 3Stay in this land for a while, and I will
be with you and will b
less you. For to you and
your descendants I will give all these lands
and will confirm the oath I swore to your
fat her Abra ham. 4I will make your descen
dants as numerous as the stars in the sky and
will give them all these lands, and through
your offspring f all nations on e arth will be
blessed, g 5because Abraham obeyed me and
did everything I required of him, keeping my

a18Orlived to the east of b20 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia c25 Esau may mean hairy.
d26 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he deceives. e30 Edom means red. f4 Orseed
g4Orand all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see48:20)

DAY 12

41
commands, my decrees and my instructions.
6So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7When the men of that
place asked him
about his wife, he said, She is my sister, be
cause he was a fraid to say, She is my wife.
He thought, The men of this place m ight
kill me on account of Rebeka h, because she
is beautif ul.
8When I
saac had been there a long time,
Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down
from a window and saw Isaac caressing his
wife Reb ek a h. 9So Abimelek summoned
Isaac and said, She is really your wife! Why
did you say, She is my sister?
Isaac ans wered him, Because I t hought I
might lose my life on account of her.
10Then Abimelek said, What is this you
have done to us? One of the men might well
have slept with your wife, and you would have
brought g uilt uponus.
11So Abimelek gave orders to all the peo
ple: Anyone who harms this man or his wife
shall surely be put to death.
12Isaac planted c
rops in that land and the
same year reaped a hund redfold, because the
Lord blessed him. 13The man became rich,
and his wealth continued to grow until he be
came very w
ealthy. 14He had so many f locks
and herds and servants that the Philistines en
vied him. 15So all the wells that his fathers
serv ants had dug in the time of his father
Abra ham, the Phil ist ines stopped up, fill ing
them with earth.
16Then Abim
e lek said to Isaac, Move
away from us; you have become too powerf ul
forus.
17So Isaac moved away from t here and en
camped in the Valley of Gerar, where he set
tled. 18Isaac reopened the wells that had been
dug in the time of his father Abraham, which
the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham
died, and he gave them the same n
ames his
father had given them.
19Isaacs servants dug in the valley and dis
covered a well of fresh water t here. 20But the
herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac
and said, The water is ours! So he named
the well Esek,a because they disputed with

him. 21Then they dug another well, but they

quarreled over that one also; so he named it
Sitnah. b 22He m
oved on from t here and dug
another well, and no one quarreled over it. He
named it Rehoboth, c saying, Now the Lord
has given us room and we will flourish in the
land.
23From
t here he went up to Beersheba.
24That n ight the Lord appeared to him and
said, I am the God of your father Abraham.
Do not be a fraid, for I am with you; I will
bless you and will increase the number of your
descendants for the sake of my servant Abra
ham.
25Isaac built an altar t here and called on the
name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent,
and there his servants dug a well.
26Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him
from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his persona l ad
viser and Phicol the commander of his forces.
27Isaac a
sked them, Why have you come to
me, since you were hostile to me and sent me
away?
28They ans wered, We saw clearly that the
Lord was with you; so we said, There ought
to be a sworn agreement between usbe
tween us and you. Let us make a treat y with
you 29that you will do us no harm, just as we
did not harm you but always treated you well
and sent you away peacefully. And now you
are blessed by the Lord.
30Isaac then made a
feast for them, and
they ate and d
rank. 31Early the next morning
the men s wore an oath to each other. Then
Isaac sent them on their way, and they went
away peacef ully.
32That day Isaacs serv ants came and told
him about the well they had dug. They said,
Weve found water! 33He called it Shibah,d
and to this day the name of the town has been
Beersheba. e
Jacob Takes Esaus Blessing
34When Esau was fort y years old, he mar
ried Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and
also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hitt ite.
35They were a source of g rief to Isaac and Re
bekah.

a20 Esek means dispute. b21 Sitnah means opposition. c22 Rehoboth means room. d33 Shibah can
mean oath or seven. e33 Beersheba can mean well of the oath and well of seven.

DAY 12

42

MATTHEW 10:110:31
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

10

Jesus called his twelve disciples to

him and gave them authorit y to drive
out impure spirits and to heal every disease
and sick ness.
2These are the names of the t welve apos
tles: f irst, Simon (who is called Peter) and his
brother And rew; James son of Zebedee, and
his brother John; 3Phil ip and Bar t holomew;
Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James
son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the
Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
5These t welve Jesus sent out with the fol
lowing instructions: Do not go a mong the
Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.
6Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7As you
go, proc laim this message: The kingdom of
heaven has come near. 8Heal the sick, raise
the dead, c leanse those who have leprosy,a
d rive out demons. Freely you have received;
freely give.
9Do not get any gold or sil
ver or copper
to take with you in your belts10no bag for
the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff,
for the worker is worth his keep. 11Whatev
er town or village you enter, search there for
some worthy person and stay at their house
until you leave. 12As you enter the home, give
it your greeting. 13If the home is deserving, let
your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace
return to you. 14If anyone will not welcome
you or listen to your words, leave that home or
town and shake the dust off your feet. 15Truly
I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom
and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than
for that town.
16I am sending you out like s
heep a mong
wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and
as innocent as doves. 17Be on your g uard; you
will be handed over to the local councils and
be f logged in the synagogues. 18On my ac
count you will be brought before governors
and k ings as witnesses to them and to the
Gentiles. 19But when they arrest you, do not
worr y about what to say or how to say it. At
that time you will be given what to say, 20for it

will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your

Father speaking through you.
21Brother will bet ray brother to death, and
a father his c hild; child ren will rebel a gainst
their parents and have them put to death.
22You will be
hated by everyone because of
me, but the one who stands firm to the end
will be saved. 23When you are persecuted in
one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you
will not finish going through the towns of Is
rael before the Son of Man comes.
24The student is not above t he teacher, nor
a servant a bove his master. 25It is enough for
students to be like their teachers, and servants
like their masters. If the head of the house has
been called Beelz ebul, how much more the
members of his household!
26So do not be a fraid of them, for there is
nothing concealed that will not be disc losed,
or hidden that will not be made k nown.
27What I tell you in the dark,
speak in the
daylight; what is whispered in your ear, pro
claim from the roofs. 28Do not be a fraid of
those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul. Rather, be a fraid of the One who can
destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not
two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of
them will fall to the ground outside your Fa
thers care.b 30And even the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. 31So d
ont be a fraid;
you are worth more than many sparrows.

PROVERBS 1:201:33
Wisdoms Rebuke

20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,

she raises her voice in the public square;
21 on top of the wallc she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:
22 How long will you who are simple love
your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in
mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
23 Repent at my rebuke!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to
you,

a8 TheGreek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
b29Orwill; or knowledge c21 Septuagint; Hebrew /at noisy street corners

43
I will make known to you my teachings.
24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
and no one pays attention when I
stretch out my hand,
25 since you disregard all my advice
and do not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes
you;
I will mock when calamity overtakes
you
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a
whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm
you.
28 Then they will call to me but I will not
answer;
they will look for me but will not
find me,
29 since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.
30 Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their
schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will
kill them,
and the complacency of fools will
destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.

REWIND
Genesis 2526; Matthew 10:131;
Proverbs 1:2033

DONT MISS GODS BEST.

Genesis 2526 tells the story of one of historys most foolish trades, where Esau swaps
his privileges as firstborn son for a pot of red
stew. In Matthew 10 Jesus warns against letting yourself be scared by people rather than
respecting the God who leads you home to
heaven. And Proverbs 1 shows calamity overtaking p eople who dont live by Gods wisdom.
When you go against the Lords commands,
you risk missing out on good things he plans
for you.
D

DAY 13

day13
GENESIS 27:128:22

27

When Isaac was old and his eyes were

so weak that he c ould no longer see,
he called for Esau his older son and said to
him, My son.
Here I am, he answered.
2Isaac said, I am now an old man and dont
know the day of my d
eath. 3Now then, get
your equipment your quiver and bow and
go out to the open country to hunt some wild
game for me. 4Prepare me the kind of tasty
food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I
may give you my blessing before I die.
5Now Rebeka h was listening as Isaac spoke
to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open
country to hunt game and bring it back, 6Re
beka h said to her son Jacob, Look, I over
heard your father say to your brother Esau,
7Bring me some game and prepare me some
tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my
blessing in the presence of the Lord before
I die. 8Now, my son, listen caref ully and do
what I tell you: 9Go out to the f lock and bring
me two choice young g oats, so I can prepare
some tasty food for your fat her, just the way
he l ikes it. 10Then take it to your father to eat,
so that he may give you his blessing before he
dies.
11Jacob said to Reb eka h his mother, But
my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have
smooth skin. 12What if my father touches me?
Iw
ould appear to be tricking him and would
bring down a c urse on myself rather than a
blessing.
13His mother said to him, My son, let the
curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get
them forme.
14So he went and got them and brought them

DAY 13

44

to his mother, and she prepared some tasty

food, just the way his father liked it. 15Then
Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older
son, w
hich she had in the house, and put them
on her younger son Jacob. 16She also covered his
hands and the smooth part of his neck with the
goatskins. 17Then she handed to her son Jacob
the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18He went to his fat her and said, My fa
ther.
Yes, my son, he answered. Who isit?
19Jacob said to his fat her, I am Esau your
firstborn. I have done as you told me. P
lease
sit up and eat some of my game, so that you
may give me your blessing.
20Isaac asked his son, How did you find it
so quickly, my son?
The Lord your God gave me success, he
replied.
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, Come near so
I can touch you, my son, to know whether you
really are my son Esau or not.
22Jacob went c lose to his fat her Isaac, who
touched him and said, The voice is the voice
of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
23He did not rec
ogn ize him, for his hands
were hairy like t hose of his brother Esau; so
he proceeded to b
less him. 24Are you really
my son Esau? he asked.
I am, he replied.
25Then he said, My son,
bring me some
of your game to eat, so that I may give you
my blessing.
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he
brought some wine and he drank. 26Then his
father Isaac said to him, Come here, my son,
and kissme.
27So he went to him and k issed him. When
Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he
blessed him and said,
Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give you heavens dew
and earths richness
an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.

Be lord over your brothers,

and may the sons of your mother bow
down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.
30After

Isaac finished blessing him, and Ja

cob had scarcely left his fathers presence, his
brother Esau came in from hunting. 31He too
prepared some tasty food and brought it to
his fat her. Then he said to him, My fat her,
please sit up and eat some of my game, so that
you may give me your blessing.
32His fa
t her Isaac a sked him, Who are
you?
I am your son, he answered, your first
born, Esau.
33Isaac trembled violently and said, Who
was it, then, that hunted game and brought
it to me? I ate it just before you came and I
blessed himand indeed he will be blessed!
34When Esau heard his fat hers words, he
burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said
to his father, Bless meme too, my father!
35But he said, Your brother came deceit
fully and took your blessing.
36Esau said, Isnt he right
ly named Ja
coba? This is the second time he has taken
advantage of me: He took my birthright, and
now hes taken my blessing! Then he a sked,
Havent you reserved any blessing forme?
37Isaac ans wered Esau, I have made him
lord over you and have made all his relat ives
his servants, and I have sustained him with
grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do
for you, my son?
38Esau said to his fat her, Do you have only
one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my fa
ther! Then Esau wept aloud.
39His fat her Isaac ans wered him,
Your dwelling will be
away from the earths richness,
away from the dew of heaven
above.
40 You will live by the sword
and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.

a36 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.

45
41Esau held a g rudge against Jacob because
of the blessing his fat her had given him. He
said to himself, The days of mourning for
my father are near; then I will kill my brother
Jacob.
42When Re
beka h was told what her old
er son Esau had said, she sent for her youn
ger son Jacob and said to him, Your brother
Esau is planning to a venge himself by killing
you. 43Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee
at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44Stay
with him for a while until your brothers fury
subsides. 45When your brother is no longer an
gry with you and forgets what you did to him,
Ill send word for you to come back from there.
Why should I lose both of you in one day?
46Then Re
beka h said to Isaac, Im dis
gusted with living because of these Hittite
women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the
women of this land, from Hittite women like
these, my life will not be worth living.
So Isaac c alled for Jacob and b
lessed
him. Then he commanded him: Do
not marr y a Canaanite woma n. 2Go at once
to Paddan Aram,a to the house of your moth
ers father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself
there, from a mong the daughters of Laban,
your mothers brother. 3May God Almightyb
bless you and make you fruitf ul and increase
your numbers until you become a communit y
of peoples. 4May he give you and your descen
dants the blessing given to Abraham, so that
you may take possession of the land where you
now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to
Abraham. 5Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way,
and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of
Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebek
ah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6Now Esau learned that I
saac had b
lessed
Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to
take a wife from there, and that when he
blessed him he commanded him, Do not
mar r y a Canaanite woma n, 7and that Jacob
had obeyed his father and mother and had
gone to Paddan Aram. 8Esau then rea l ized
how displeasing the Canaanite women were

28

DAY 13

to his father Isaac; 9so he went to Ishmael and

married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and
daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addi
tion to the w ives he already had.
Jacobs Dream at Bethel
10Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Har
ran. 11When he reached a certain place, he
stopped for the night because the sun had set.
Taking one of the stones there, he put it un
der his head and lay down to sleep. 12He had
a d ream in which he saw a stairway resting
on the earth, with its top reaching to heav
en, and the angels of God were ascending and
descending on it. 13There above itc stood the
Lord, and he said: I am the Lord, the God
of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.
I will give you and your descendants the land
on which you are lying. 14Your descendants
will be like the dust of the earth, and you will
spread out to the west and to the east, to the
north and to the south. All peoples on earth
will be blessed through you and your off
spring.d 15I am with you and will w
atch over
you wherever you go, and I will bring you back
to this land. I will not leave you unt il I have
done what I have promised you.
16When Ja
cob a woke from his sleep, he
t hought, Surely the Lord is in this p
lace,
and I was not aware of it. 17He was a fraid
and said, How awesome is this place! This is
none other than the house of God; this is the
gate of heaven.
18Ear
ly the next morning Jacob took the
stone he had placed under his head and set it
up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19He
called that place Bethel, e though the city used
to be called Luz.
20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God
will be with me and will watch over me on
this journey I am taking and will give me
food to eat and clothes to wear 21so that I re
turn safely to my fathers household, then the
Lordf will be my God 22andg this stone that I
have set up as a pillar will be Gods house, and
of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.

a2 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7 b3Hebrew El-Shaddai c13OrThere
beside him d14Orwill use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see48:20) e19 Bethel
means house of God. f20,21OrSince God... fathers household, the Lord g21,22Orhousehold, and the

Lord will be my God, 22then

DAY 13

46

MATTHEW 10:3211:15
32Whoe ver ac k nowledges me before oth
ers, I will also ack nowledge before my Father
in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before
others, I will disown before my Father in
heaven.
34Do not sup
p ose that I have come to
bring peace to the earth. I did not come to
bring p
eace, but a s word. 35For I have come
to turn

a man against his father,

a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-inlaw
36 a mans enemies will be the members of
his own household.a
37Anyone

who loves their father or moth

er more than me is not worthy of me; anyone
who loves their son or daughter more than me
is not worthy of me. 38Whoever does not take
up t heir cross and follow me is not worthy of
me. 39Whoe ver finds their life will lose it,
and whoever loses t heir life for my sake will
findit.
40Any
one who welcomes you welcomes
me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes
the one who sent me. 41Whoever welcomes a
prophet as a prophet will receive a prophets
rew ard, and whoe ver welcomes a righteous
person as a righteous person will receive a
righteous persons rew ard. 42And if anyone
gives even a cup of cold water to one of t hese
litt le ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you,
that person will certainly not lose their re
ward.
Jesus and John the Baptist

11

Af ter Jesus had finished instructing

his t welve disciples, he went on from
there to teach and preach in the towns of Gal
ilee. b
2When John, who was in pris
on, heard
about the deeds of the Messia h, he sent his
disciples 3to ask him, Are you the one who is
to come, or should we expect someone else?

4Jesus replied, Go back and report to John

what you hear and see: 5The blind receive
sight, the lame walk, those who have lepro
syc are c leansed, the deaf hear, the dead are
raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the
poor. 6Blessed is anyone who does not stum
ble on account ofme.
7As Johns disc iples were leaving, Jesus be
gan to s peak to the crowd about John: What
did you go out into the wilderness to see? A
reed s wayed by the wind? 8If not, what did
you go out to see? A man d ressed in fine
c lothes? No, those who wear fine c lothes are
in k ings palaces. 9Then what did you go out
to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more
than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom
it is written:

I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way before you.d
11Truly

I tell you, among those born of wom

en there has not risen anyone greater than
John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From
the days of John the Baptist until now, the
kingdom of heaven has been subjected to vio
lence,e and violent people have been raiding it.
13For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied
until John. 14And if you are willing to accept
it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15Who
ever has ears, let them hear.

PSALM 9:19:6
Psalm 9f,g
For the director of music. To the tune of
The Death of the Son. Apsalm ofDavid.

1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all

my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name,
OMost High.
3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.

a36Micah7:6 b1Greek in their towns c5 TheGreek word traditionally translated leprosy was used
for various diseases affecting the skin. d10Mal.3:1 e12Orbeen forcefully advancing fPsalms 9

and 10 may originally have been a single acrostic poem in which alternating lines began with the successive
letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm. gIn Hebrew texts 9:1-20 is
numbered 9:2-21.

47
4 For you have upheld my right and my
cause,
sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
5 You have rebuked the nations and
destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever
and ever.
6 Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.

REWIND
Genesis 2728;
Matthew 10:3211:15; Psalm 9:16

LET GOD RULE YOUR FAMILY.

Theres not much to admire about Isaac and
Rebekahs family portrait in Genesis 2728,
from parents who play favorites to sons who
battle to outdo each other. In Matthew 10
Jesus warns that families will disagree about
him, possibly creating enemies within the same
house. But in Psalm 9 you see God enthroned
as a praiseworthy king. When you let God rule
your house, you discover endless reasons to be
glad and give him thanks.
D

day14
GENESIS 29:130:43

Jacob Arrives in Paddan Aram

29

Then Jacob continued on his journey

and came to the land of the eastern
peoples. 2There he saw a well in the open
country, with t hree f locks of sheep lying near
it because the f locks were watered from that
a17Ordelicate

DAY 14

well. The stone over the mouth of the well

was large. 3When all the f locks were gathered
there, the shepherds would roll the stone away
from the wells mouth and water the sheep.
Then they would ret urn the stone to its place
over the mouth of the well.
4Jacob asked the shepherds, My brothers,
where are you from?
Were from Harran, they replied.
5He said to them, Do you know La
ban,
Nahors grandson?
Yes, we know him, they answered.
6Then Jacob asked them, Is he well?
Yes, he is, they said, and here comes his
daughter Rachel with the sheep.
7Look, he said, the sun is still high; it is
not time for the f locks to be gathered. Water
the sheep and take them back to past ure.
8We
c ant, they replied, until all the
f locks are gathered and the stone has been
rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then
we will water the sheep.
9While he was still talking with them, Ra
chel came with her fathers sheep, for she was
a shepherd. 10When Jacob saw Rachel daugh
ter of his uncle Laban, and Labans sheep,
he went over and r olled the s tone away from
the mouth of the well and watered his uncles
sheep. 11Then Jacob k issed Rachel and began
to weep a loud. 12He had told Rachel that he
was a relative of her father and a son of Rebek
ah. So she ran and told her father.
13As soon as Laban heard the news about
Jacob, his sisters son, he hurried to meet him.
He embraced him and k issed him and brought
him to his home, and there Jacob told him all
these things. 14Then Laban said to him, You
are my own f lesh and blood.
Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

After Jacob had stayed with him for a

whole month, 15Laban said to him, Just be
cause you are a relative of mine, should you
work for me for nothing? Tell me what your
wages shouldbe.
16Now La
b an had two daugh
t ers; the
name of the older was Leah, and the name of
the younger was Rac hel. 17Leah had weaka
eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figu re and was

DAY 14

48

beautif ul. 18Jacob was in love with Rachel and

said, Ill work for you seven y ears in ret urn
for your younger daughter Rachel.
19Laban said, Its better that I give her to
you than to some other man. Stay here with
me. 20So Jacob served seven years to get Ra
chel, but they seemed like only a few days to
him because of his love for her.
21Then Jacob said to Laban, Give me my
wife. My time is completed, and I want to
make love to her.
22So Laban brought together all the peo
ple of the place and gave a feast. 23But when
evening came, he took his daughter Leah and
brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to
her. 24And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to
his daughter as her attendant.
25When morning came, t here was Leah! So
Jacob said to Laban, What is this you have
done to me? I s erved you for Rachel, d
idnt I?
Why have you deceivedme?
26Laban replied, It is not our custom here
to give the younger daughter in marriage be
fore the older one. 27Finish this daughters
brida l week; then we will give you the youn
ger one also, in ret urn for another seven years
of work.
28And Jacob did so. He finished the week
with Leah, and then Laban gave him his
daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29Laban gave
his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as
her at tendant. 30Jacob made love to Rac hel
also, and his love for Rachel was greater than
his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban
another seven years.
Jacobs Children
31When

the Lord saw that Leah was not

loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel
remained child less. 32Leah became pregnant
and gave birth to a son. She named him Reu
ben,a for she said, It is because the Lord has
seen my misery. Surely my husband will love
me now.
33She conceived a gain, and when she gave
birth to a son she said, Because the Lord

eard that I am not loved, he gave me this one

h
too. So she named him Simeon.b
34Again she conceived, and when she gave
birth to a son she said, Now at last my hus
band will become attached to me, because I
have borne him three sons. So he was named
Levi.c
35She conceived a gain, and when she gave
birth to a son she said, This time I will praise
the Lord. So she named him Judah.d Then
she stopped having children.
When Rac hel saw that she was not
bearing Jacob any child ren, she be
came jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob,
Give me children, or Ill die!
2Ja
cob bec ame ang ry with her and said,
AmI in the place of God, who has kept you
from having children?
3Then she said, Here is Bil
hah, my ser
vant. Sleep with her so that she can bear
child ren for me and I too can build a family
through her.
4So she gave him her serv ant Bilhah as a
wife. Jacob slept with her, 5and she became
pregnant and bore him a son. 6Then Rachel
said, God has vindicated me; he has listened
to my plea and given me a son. Because of
this she named him Dan.e
7Rac hels ser v ant Bil h ah conceived a gain
and bore Jacob a second son. 8Then Rac hel
said, I have had a g reat struggle with my
sister, and I have won. So she named him
Naphtali. f
9When Leah saw that she had stopped hav
ing children, she took her servant Zilpah and
gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10Lea hs ser vant
Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11Then Leah said,
What good fortune!g So she named him
Gad.h
12Lea hs serv ant Zilpah bore Jacob a sec
ond son. 13Then Leah said, How happy I
am! The women will call me happy. So she
named him Asher. i
14During wheat harvest, Reuben went out
into the fields and found some mand rake
plants, which he brought to his mother Leah.

30

a32 Reuben sounds like the Hebrew for he has seen my misery; the name means see, a son. b33 Simeon
probably means one who hears. c34 Levi sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for attached.
d35 Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise. e6 Dan here means he has
vindicated. f8 Naphtali means my struggle. g11OrA troop is coming! h11 Gad can mean good
fortune or a troop. i13 Asher means happy.

49
Rachel said to Leah, Please give me some of
your sons mandrakes.
15But she said to her, Wasnt it
enough
that you took away my husband? Will you
take my sons mandrakes too?
Very well, Rachel said, he can sleep
with you tonight in ret urn for your sons man
drakes.
16So when Ja
cob came in from the fields
that even ing, Leah went out to meet him.
You must sleep with me, she said. I have
h ired you with my sons mand rakes. So he
slept with her that night.
17God lis
tened to Leah, and she became
pregnant and bore Jacob a f ifth son. 18Then
Leah said, God has rewarded me for giving
my serv ant to my husband. So she named
him Issachar. a
19Leah con
ceived again and bore Jacob a
sixth son. 20Then Leah said, God has pre
sented me with a precious gift. This time my
husband will t reat me with honor, because I
have borne him six sons. So she named him
Zebu lun. b
21Some time lat
e r she gave
birth to a
daughter and named her Dinah.
22Then God re
membered Rac hel; he lis
tened to her and enabled her to conceive.
23She be
came pregnant and gave b
irth to a
son and said, God has taken away my dis
grace. 24She named him Joseph,c and said,
May the Lord add to me another son.
Jacobs Flocks Increase
25After Rac hel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob
said to Laban, Send me on my way so I can
go back to my own homeland. 26Give me my
w ives and child ren, for whom I have s erved
you, and I will be on my way. You know how
much work Ive done for you.
27But Laban said to him, If I have found
favor in your eyes, p
lease stay. I have learned
by div inat ion that the Lord has blessed me
bec ause of you. 28He added, Name your
wages, and I will pay them.
29Ja
cob said to him, You know how I
have worked for you and how your livestock
has fared under my care. 30The litt le you had

DAY 14

before I came has increased greatly, and the

Lord has blessed you wherever I have been.
But now, when may I do something for my
own household?
31What shall I give you? he asked.
Dont give me anything, Jacob replied.
But if you will do this one t hing for me, I will
go on tending your f locks and watching over
them: 32Let me go through all your f locks to
day and remove from them every speckled or
spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and
every spotted or speckled goat. They will be
my wages. 33And my honest y will test if y for
me in the fut ure, whenever you check on the
wages you have paid me. Any goat in my pos
session that is not speckled or spotted, or any
lamb that is not dark-colored, will be consid
ered stolen.
34Agreed, said La
ban. Let it be as you
have said. 35That same day he removed all
the male goats that were streaked or spotted,
and all the speckled or spotted female goats
(all that had white on them) and all the darkcolored lambs, and he placed them in the care
of his sons. 36Then he put a three-day journey
bet ween himself and Jacob, while Jacob con
tinued to tend the rest of Labans flocks.
37Jacob, howe ver, took f resh-cut branche s
from poplar, almond and p
lane t rees and made
white s tripes on them by peeling the bark and
exposing the white inner wood of the branch
es. 38Then he placed the peeled branches in
all the watering troughs, so that they w
ould
be directly in front of the f locks when they
came to drink. When the f locks were in heat
and came to d
rink, 39they mated in front of
the branches. And they bore young that were
streaked or speckled or spotted. 40Jacob set
apart the young of the f lock by themselves,
but made the rest face the streaked and darkcolored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus
he made sepa rate f locks for himself and did
not put them with Labans animals. 41When
ever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob
would p
lace the branches in the troughs in
front of the animals so they would mate near
the branches, 42but if the animals were weak,
he w
ould not place them t here. So the weak

a18 Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for reward. b20 Zebulun probably means honor. c24 Joseph

means may he add.

DAY 14

50

animals went to Laban and the strong ones to

Jacob. 43In this way the man grew exceeding
ly prosperous and came to own large f locks,
and female and male servants, and camels and
donkeys.

MATTHEW 11:1611:30
16To what can I compare this generat ion?
They are like child ren sitting in the market
places and calling out to others:

17 We played the pipe for you,

and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.
18For

John came neither eating nor drinking,

and they say, He has a demon. 19The Son of
Man came eating and drinking, and they say,
Here is a glutton and a drunka rd, a friend
of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is
proved right by her deeds.
Woe on Unrepentant Towns
20Then

Jesus began to denounce the towns

in which most of his mirac les had been per
formed, because they did not repent. 21Woe
to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For
if the miracles that were performed in you had
been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
22But I tell you, it will be more bearable for
Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than
for you. 23And you, Capernaum, will you be
lifted to the h
eavens? No, you will go down
to Hades. a For if the mirac les that were per
formed in you had been performed in Sodom,
it would have remained to this day. 24But I tell
you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on
the day of judgment than for you.
The Father Revealed in the Son
25At that time Jesus said, I praise you, Fa
ther, Lord of heaven and earth, because you
have hidden these things from the wise and
learned, and revealed them to litt le child ren.
26Yes, Fat her, for this is what you were pleased
todo.
27All t hings have been comm itted to me

a23 That is, the realm of the dead

by my Fat her. No one k nows the Son except

the Father, and no one k nows the Father
except the Son and those to whom the Son
chooses to reveal him.
28Come to me, all you who are wear y and
burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my
yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am
gent le and humble in heart, and you will find
rest for your s ouls. 30For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light.

PSALM 9:79:12
7 The Lord reigns forever;
he has established his throne for
judgment.
8 He rules the world in righteousness
and judges the peoples with equity.
9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken
those who seek you.
11 Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in
Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he
has done.
12 For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cries of the
afflicted.

REWIND
Genesis 2930; Matthew 11:1630;
Psalm 9:712

RUN TO GOD AS YOUR REFUGE.

In Genesis 2930 Jacob the deceiver gets
played, tricked into working seven years for a
woman he didnt want to marry. In Matthew
11, towns that saw scores of miracles still refuse to repentto stop sinning and turn back
to Godand Jesus warns theyre headed for
Hades. When it seems like no one else wants
to follow God, remember Psalm 9. The Lord
protects you in troubling times. He never abandons p eople who seek him.
D

DAY 15

51

day15
GENESIS 31:131:55
Jacob Flees From Laban

31

Jacob heard that Labans sons were

say ing, Jacob has taken every t hing
our father o wned and has g ained all this
wealth from what belonged to our father.
2And Jacob not iced that Labans att it ude to
ward him was not what it had been.
3Then the Lord said to Jacob, Go back to
the land of your fathers and to your relatives,
and I will be with you.
4So Jacob sent word to Rac hel and Leah to
come out to the f ields where his f locks were.
5He said to them, I see that your fat hers at
tit ude toward me is not what it was before, but
the God of my father has been with me. 6You
know that Ive w
orked for your father with
all my strength, 7yet your father has cheated
me by changing my wages ten times. How
ever, God has not allowed him to harm me.
8If he said, The speckled ones will be your
wages, then all the f locks gave birth to speck
led young; and if he said, The s treaked ones
will be your wages, then all the f locks bore
streaked young. 9So God has taken away your
fathers livestock and has given them tome.
10In breeding season I once had a d ream in
which I looked up and saw that the male goats
mating with the f lock were streaked, speck
led or spotted. 11The angel of God said to me
in the dream, Jacob. I answered, Here I am.
12And he said, Look up and see that all the
male goats mating with the f lock are streaked,
speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that
Laban has been doing to you. 13I am the God
of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and
a18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia

here you made a vow to me. Now leave this

w
land at once and go back to your native land.
14Then Rac hel and Leah replied, Do we
still have any share in the inheritance of our
fathers estate? 15Does he not regard us as for
eigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has
used up what was paid for us. 16Surely all the
wealth that God took away from our father
belongs to us and our child ren. So do what
ever God has told you.
17Then Jacob put his child ren and his w ives
on camels, 18and he d rove all his livestock
ahead of him, a long with all the goods he had
acc umu lated in Paddan Aram, a to go to his
father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
19When Laban had gone to s
hear his sheep,
Rachel stole her fathers household gods.
20Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Ara
mean by not telling him he was running away.
21So he fled with all he had, c rossed the Eu
phrates River, and headed for the hill country
of Gilead.
Laban Pursues Jacob
22On the t hird day Laban was told that Ja
cob had fled. 23Taking his relatives with him,
he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up
with him in the hill country of Gilead. 24Then
God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream
at night and said to him, Be caref ul not to say
anything to Jacob, either good or bad.
25Ja
cob had pitched his tent in the hill
country of Gilead when Laban overtook him,
and Laban and his relatives c amped there too.
26Then Laban said to Jacob, What have you
done? Youve deceived me, and youve carried
off my daughters like captives in war. 27Why
did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why
d idnt you tell me, so I could send you away
with joy and singing to the music of timbrels
and harps? 28You d idnt even let me kiss my
grandchild ren and my daughters goodbye.
You have done a foolish thing. 29I have the
power to harm you; but last night the God of
your father said to me, Be caref ul not to say
anything to Jacob, either good or bad. 30Now
you have gone off because you longed to re
turn to your fathers household. But why did
you steal my gods?

DAY 15

52

31Jacob ans wered Laban, I was a fraid, be

cause I t hought you would take your daugh
ters away from me by force. 32But if you find
anyone who has your gods, that person shall
not live. In the presence of our relat ives, see
for yourself whether there is anything of yours
here with me; and if so, take it. Now Jacob
did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.
33So Laban went into Jacobs tent and into
Leahs tent and into the tent of the two female
servants, but he found nothing. After he came
out of Lea hs tent, he entered Rachels tent.
34Now Rac hel had taken the household gods
and put them inside her camels sadd le and
was sitting on them. Laban searched through
everything in the tent but found nothing.
35Rachel said to her fat her, Dont be ang ry,
my lord, that I cannot s tand up in your pres
ence; Im having my per iod. So he s earched
but could not find the household gods.
36Jacob was ang ry and took Laban to task.
What is my c rime? he asked Laban. How
have I w ronged you that you hunt me down?
37Now that you have searched t hrough all my
goods, what have you found that belongs to
your household? Put it here in front of your
relatives and mine, and let them judge be
tween the two ofus.
38I have been with you for twen
t y years
now. Your s heep and goats have not miscar
ried, nor have I eaten rams from your f locks.
39I did not b
ring you animals torn by wild
beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you de
manded payment from me for whatever was
stolen by day or night. 40This was my situa
tion: The heat consumed me in the daytime
and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my
eyes. 41It was like this for the twent y years I
was in your household. I worked for you four
teen years for your two daughters and six years
for your f locks, and you c hanged my wages
ten times. 42If the God of my father, the God
of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not
been with me, you would surely have sent me
away empty-handed. But God has seen my
hardship and the toil of my hands, and last
night he rebuked you.
43Laban ans wered Jacob, The women are

my daughters, the child ren are my child ren,

and the f locks are my f locks. All you see is
mine. Yet what can I do today about these
daughters of mine, or about the children they
have borne? 44Come now, lets make a cov
enant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness
bet weenus.
45So Jacob took a s
tone and set it up as a
pillar. 46He said to his relatives, Gather some
stones. So they took s tones and piled them
in a heap, and they ate there by the heap.
47Laban called it Jegar Sahadut ha, and Jacob
called it Galeed. a
48Laban said, This heap is a witness be
tween you and me today. That is why it was
called Galeed. 49It was also called Mizpah,b
because he said, May the Lord keep watch
bet ween you and me when we are away from
each other. 50If you mistreat my daughters or
if you take any w
ives besides my daughters,
even though no one is with us, remember that
God is a witness bet ween you andme.
51La
ban also said to Jacob, Here is this
heap, and here is this pillar I have set up be
tween you and me. 52This heap is a witness,
and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go
past this heap to your side to harm you and
that you will not go past this heap and pil
lar to my side to harm me. 53May the God of
Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of
their father, judge bet weenus.
So Jacob took an oath in the name of the
Fear of his father I saac. 54He offered a sacri
fice t here in the hill count ry and inv ited his
relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they
spent the night there.
55Early the next morning Laban k issed his
grandchild ren and his daughters and b
lessed
them. Then he left and ret urned home.c

MATTHEW 12:112:21
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

12

At that time Jesus went through the

grainf ields on the Sabbath. His dis
ciples were hung ry and began to pick some
heads of g rain and eat them. 2When the
Pharisees saw this, they said to him, Look!

a47TheAramaic Jegar Sahadutha and the Hebrew Galeed both mean witness heap. b49 Mizpah means
watchtower. c55 In Hebrew texts this verse (31:55) is numbered 32:1.

DAY 15

53
Your disciples are doing what is unlawf ul on
the Sabbath.
3He an
s wered, Havent you read what
Dav id did when he and his companions were
hung ry? 4He entered the h
ouse of God, and
he and his companions ate the consec rated
breadwhich was not lawf ul for them to do,
but only for the priests. 5Or havent you read
in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in
the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are
innocent? 6I tell you that something greater
than the temple is here. 7If you had k nown
what these w
ords mean, I desire merc y, not
sacrif ice, a you would not have condemned the
innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the
Sabbath.
9Go
ing on from that place, he went into
their synagogue, 10and a man with a shriveled
hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring
charges against Jesus, they asked him, Is it
lawf ul to heal on the Sabbath?
11He said to them, If any of you has a
sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath,
will you not take hold of it and lift it out?
12How much more valuable is a person than
a sheep! Therefore it is lawf ul to do good on
the Sabbath.
13Then he said to the man, Stretch out
your hand. So he stretched it out and it was
completely restored, just as sound as the other.
14But the Pharisees went out and plotted how
they might kill Jesus.
Gods Chosen Servant
15Aware of this, Jesus withd rew from that
lace. A large c rowd followed him, and he
p
healed all who were ill. 16He warned them not
to tell others about him. 17This was to fulf ill
what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18 Here is my servant whom I have

chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the
nations.
19 He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the
streets.

20 A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not snuff
out,
till he has brought justice through to
victory.
21 In his name the nations will put their
hope.b

PSALM 9:139:20
13 Lord, see how my enemies persecute me!
Have mercy and lift me up from the
gates of death,
14 that I may declare your praises
in the gates of Daughter Zion,
and there rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they
have dug;
their feet are caught in the net they have
hidden.
16 The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of
their hands.c
17 The wicked go down to the realm of the
dead,
all the nations that forget God.
18 But God will never forget the needy;
the hope of the afflicted will never
perish.
19 Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph;
let the nations be judged in your
presence.
20 Strike them with terror, Lord;
let the nations know they are only
mortal.

REWIND
Genesis 31; Matthew 12:121;
Psalm 9:1320

EVERYONE GETS PICKED ON.

The people in Genesis 31 think Jacob is trying
to steal from his uncle, so he packs up his family
and runs. In Matthew 12 the Lords hungry disciples face the wrath of religious rule keepers
for picking grain on a day of Sabbath rest. And
in Psalm 9 David complains about his enemies

a7 Hosea6:6 b21Isaiah42:1-4 c16 The Hebrew has Higgaion and Selah (words of uncertain

meaning) here; Selah occurs also at the end of verse20.

DAY 16

54

relentless attacks. When you feel bullied by

your world, youre not alone. Everyone suffers,
but you have a God who never forgets you need
him.
D

day16
GENESIS 32:133:20

Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau

32

Jacob also went on his way, and the

angels of God met him. 2When Ja
cob saw them, he said, This is the camp of
God! So he named that place Mahanaim.b
3Jacob sent messengers a head of him to his
brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country
of Edom. 4He instructed them: This is what
you are to say to my lord Esau: Your servant
Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban
and have remained there till now. 5I have cat
tle and donkeys, sheep and g oats, male and
female servants. Now I am sending this mes
sage to my lord, that I may find favor in your
eyes.
6When the messengers ret urned to Jacob,
they said, We went to your brother Esau, and
now he is coming to meet you, and four hun
dred men are with him.
7In g reat fear and dist ress Jacob div ided the
people who were with him into two g roups,c
and the f locks and herds and camels as well.
8He t hought, If Esau comes and attacks one
group, d the g roupd that is left may escape.
9Then Jacob p
rayed, OGod of my father
Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you
who said to me, Go back to your country and
your relatives, and I will make you prosper,

10I

am unworthy of all the kindness and faith

fulness you have shown your servant. I had
only my staff when I c rossed this Jordan, but
now I have become two camps. 11Save me, I
pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for
I am a fraid he will come and attack me, and
also the mothers with their child ren. 12But
you have said, I will surely make you prosper
and will make your descendants like the sand
of the sea, which cannot be counted.
13He spent the n ight t here, and from what
he had with him he selected a gift for his
brother Esau: 14two hund red female goats
and twenty male goats, two hund red ewes
and twent y rams, 15thirt y female camels with
their y oung, forty cows and ten bulls, and
twent y female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
16He put them in the care of his servants, each
herd by itself, and said to his servants, Go
a head of me, and keep some space between
the herds.
17He instructed the one in the lead: When
my brother Esau meets you and asks, Who do
you belong to, and w
here are you going, and
who owns all t hese animals in front of you?
18then you are to say, They be
long to your
servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord
Esau, and he is coming behindus.
19He also instructed the second, the t hird
and all the others who followed the h
erds:
You are to say the same thing to Esau when
you meet him. 20And be sure to say, Your
servant Jacob is coming beh ind us. For he
thought, I will pacif y him with these gifts I
am sending on a head; later, when I see him,
perhaps he will receive me. 21So Jacobs gifts
went on a head of him, but he himself spent
the night in the camp.
Jacob Wrestles With God
22That n ight Jacob got up and took his two
ives, his two female servants and his elev
w
en sons and c rossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23After he had sent them across the stream,
he sent over all his possessions. 24So Jacob was
left a lone, and a man wrestled with him till
daybreak. 25When the man saw that he could
not overpower him, he touched the socket of

aIn Hebrew texts 32:1-32 is numbered 32:2-33. b2 Mahanaim means two camps. c7Orcamps
d8 Orcamp

55
Jacobs hip so that his hip was w renched as he
wrest led with the man. 26Then the man said,
Let me go, for it is daybreak.
But Jacob replied, I will not let you go un
less you blessme.
27The man
a sked him, What is your
name?
Jacob, he answered.
28Then the man said, Your name will no
longer be Jacob, but Israel, a because you have
struggled with God and with humans and
have overcome.
29Jacob said, Please tell me your name.
But he replied, Why do you ask my name?
Then he blessed him there.
30So Jacob called the place Pen iel, b saying,
It is because I saw God face to face, and yet
my life was spared.
31The sun rose above him as he passed Pe
niel, c and he was limping because of his hip.
32Therefore to this day the Isr aelites do not
eat the tendon attached to the socket of the
hip, because the socket of Jacobs hip was
touched near the tendon.
Jacob Meets Esau

33

Jacob looked up and t here was Esau,

coming with his four hund red men;
so he div ided the child ren among Leah, Ra
chel and the two female servants. 2He put the
female servants and their child ren in front,
Leah and her child ren next, and Rachel and
Joseph in the rear. 3He himself went on ahead
and bowed down to the g round seven times as
he approached his brother.
4But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced
him; he t hrew his arms a round his neck and
k issed him. And they wept. 5Then Esau
looked up and saw the women and child ren.
Who are these with you? he asked.
Jacob answered, They are the child ren
God has graciously given your servant.
6Then the female serv ants and t heir chil
dren approached and bowed down. 7Next,
Leah and her children came and b
owed down.
Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they
too bowed down.

DAY 16

8Esau a
sked, Whats the meaning of all
these f locks and herds I met?
To find favor in your eyes, my lord, he said.
9But Esau said, I already have plent y, my
brother. Keep what you have for yourself.
10No, please! said Jacob. If I have found
favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me.
For to see your face is like seeing the face
of God, now that you have received me fa
vorably. 11Please accept the present that was
brought to you, for God has been gracious to
me and I have all I need. And because Jacob
insisted, Esau acceptedit.
12Then Esau said, Let us be on our way;
Ill accompany you.
13But Ja
cob said to him, My lord k nows
that the child ren are tender and that I must
care for the ewes and cows that are nursing
their y oung. If they are driven hard just one
day, all the animals will die. 14So let my lord
go on ahead of his servant, while I move a long
slowly at the pace of the f locks and herds be
fore me and the pace of the child ren, unt il I
come to my lord in Seir.
15Esau said, Then let me leave some of my
men with you.
But why do that? Jacob a sked. Just let me
find favor in the eyes of my lord.
16So that day Esau started on his way back
to Seir. 17Jacob, however, went to Suk koth,
where he built a place for himself and made
shelters for his livestock. That is why the p
lace
is called Sukkoth. d
18Af
ter Jacob came from Paddan Aram,e
he arrived safely at the city of Shec hem in
Canaan and c amped within s ight of the city.
19For a hun
d red pieces of silver,f he bought
from the sons of Hamor, the father of She
chem, the plot of ground w
here he pitched his
tent. 20There he set up an altar and called it
El Elohe Israel. g

MATTHEW 12:2212:45
Jesus and Beelzebul
22Then they b
rought him a demon-possessed
man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed

a28 Israel probably means he struggles with God. b30 Peniel means face of God. c31Hebrew Penuel, a
variant of Peniel d17 Sukkoth means shelters. e18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia f19Hebrew
hundred kesitahs; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value. g20 El Elohe Israel can

mean El is the God of Israel or mighty is the God of Israel.

DAY 16

56

him, so that he could both talk and see. 23All

the people were astonished and said, Could
this be the Son of David?
24But when the Pharisees heard this, they
said, It is only by Beelzebul, the p
rince of de
mons, that this fellow drives out demons.
25Jesus knew
t heir thoughts and said to
them, Every kingdom div ided against itself
will be ruined, and every city or household di
vided a gainst itself will not s tand. 26If Satan
drives out Satan, he is div ided a gainst himself.
How then can his kingdom stand? 27And if I
d rive out demons by Beelz ebul, by whom do
your people drive them out? So then, they will
be your judges. 28But if it is by the Spirit of
God that I d rive out demons, then the king
dom of God has come upon you.
29Or again, how can anyone enter a strong
mans house and carr y off his possessions un
less he f irst ties up the s trong man? Then he
can plunder his house.
30Whoe ver is not with me is a gainst me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
31And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slan
der can be forg iven, but blasphemy a gainst
the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who
speaks a word against the Son of Man will be
forg iven, but anyone who speaks against the
Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this
age or in the age to come.
33Make a tree good and its
f ruit will be
good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be
bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You
brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say
anything good? For the mouth speaks what
the heart is full of. 35A good man brings good
things out of the good stored up in him, and
an evil man b
rings evil t hings out of the evil
stored up in him. 36But I tell you that everyone
will have to give account on the day of judg
ment for every empt y word they have spoken.
37For by your words you will be acquitted, and
by your words you will be condemned.
The Sign of Jonah
38Then some of the Pharisees and teachers
of the law said to him, Teacher, we want to
see a sign from you.
39He ans wered, A wicked and adulterous
generation asks for a sign! But none will be
given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

40For

as Jonah was three days and t hree n

ights
in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man
will be three days and three nights in the h
eart
of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will stand
up at the judgment with this generat ion and
condemn it; for they repented at the preach
ing of Jonah, and now something greater than
Jonah is here. 42The Queen of the South will
rise at the judgment with this generation and
condemn it; for she came from the ends of the
earth to listen to Solomons wisdom, and now
something greater than Solomon is here.
43When an im
pure spirit comes out of a
person, it goes through arid places seeking
rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, I will
ret urn to the house I left. When it arrives, it
f inds the house unoccupied, swept c lean and
put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it
seven other spirits more wicked than itself,
and they go in and live there. And the final
cond ition of that person is worse than the
f irst. That is how it will be with this wicked
generation.

PROVERBS 2:12:11
Moral Benefits of Wisdom

My son, if you accept my words

and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to
understanding
3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the
Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and
understanding.
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is
blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful
ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right
and just
and fairevery good path.

57
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your
soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.

REWIND
Genesis 3233; Matthew 12:2245;
Proverbs 2:111

THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY.

Many years after Esau wanted to kill Jacob,
they manage in Genesis 3233 to patch up
their friendship. Matthew 12 shows a group of
religious hypocrites so blinded by sin they sneer
at Jesus teaching and accuse him of being
partners with the devil. But Proverbs 2 depicts
a better way to do life. Get Gods wisdom now,
then stay on his path. Its your best chance to
avoid the pain of sin.
D

day17
GENESIS 34:135:29

Dinah and the Shechemites

34

Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had

borne to Jacob, went out to visit the
women of the land. 2When Shechem son of
Hamor the Hiv ite, the ruler of that area, saw
her, he took her and raped her. 3His heart was
d rawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved
the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.
4And Shechem said to his fat her Hamor, Get
me this girl as my wife.
5When Jacob heard that his daughter Di

DAY 17

nah had been defiled, his sons were in the

fields with his livestock; so he did nothing
about it until they came home.
6Then Shechems fat her Hamor went out to
talk with Jacob. 7Meanwhile, Jacobs sons had
come in from the f ields as soon as they heard
what had happened. They were shocked and
furious, because Shechem had done an outra
geous thing ina Israel by sleeping with Jacobs
daughtera thing that should not be done.
8But Ha
mor said to them, My son She
chem has his heart set on your daughter.
Please give her to him as his wife. 9Intermar
ry with us; give us your daughters and take
our daughters for yourselves. 10You can sett le
among us; the land is open to you. Live in it,
trade b in it, and acquire propert y init.
11Then Shec hem said to Dinahs fat her and
brothers, Let me find favor in your eyes, and
I will give you whatever you ask. 12Make the
price for the bride and the gift I am to bring
as great as you like, and Ill pay whatever you
ask me. Only give me the young woman as my
wife.
13Bec ause t heir sister Dinah had been de
filed, Jacobs sons replied deceitfully as they
spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor.
14They said to them, We
c ant do such a
thing; we cant give our sister to a man who
is not circumcised. That would be a disg race
to us. 15We will enter into an agreement with
you on one cond ition only: that you become
like us by circumcising all your males. 16Then
we will give you our daughters and take your
daughters for ourselves. Well set t le a mong
you and become one people with you. 17But
if you will not agree to be circumcised, well
take our sister andgo.
18Their pro
posa l seemed good to Hamor
and his son Shechem. 19The young man, who
was the most honored of all his fathers family,
lost no time in doing what they said, because
he was delighted with Jacobs daughter. 20So
Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate
of their city to speak to the men of their city.
21These men are friend
ly toward us, they
said. Let them live in our land and t rade in
it; the land has plent y of room for them. We
can marr y their daughters and they can marr y

a7Oragainst b10Ormove about freely; also in verse21

DAY 17

58

ours. 22But the men will agree to live with us

as one people only on the cond it ion that our
males be circumcised, as they themselves are.
23Wont t heir lives tock, t heir prope r t y and
all their other animals become ours? So let
us agree to their terms, and they will settle
amongus.
24All the men who went out of the city gate
agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and
every male in the city was circumcised.
25Three days later, while all of them were
still in pain, two of Jacobs sons, Simeon and
Levi, Din ahs brothers, took their swords
and attacked the unsusp ecting city, kill
ing every male. 26They put Hamor and his
son Shec hem to the s word and took Dinah
from Shechems house and left. 27The sons of
Jacob came upon the dead bodies and loot
ed the city wherea their sister had been de
filed. 28They seized their f locks and herds
and donkeys and everyt hing else of t heirs in
the city and out in the f ields. 29They carr ied
off all t heir wealth and all t heir women and
child ren, taking as plunder everyt hing in the
houses.
30Then Ja
cob said to Simeon and Levi,
You have brought trouble on me by making
me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Periz
zites, the people living in this land. We are
few in number, and if they join forces against
me and attack me, I and my household will
be destroyed.
31But they replied, Should he have treated
our sister like a prostit ute?
Jacob Returns to Bethel

35

Then God said to Jacob, Go up to

Bethe l and settle there, and build
an altar t here to God, who appeared to you
when you were f leeing from your brothe r
Esau.
2So Jacob said to his household and to all
who were with him, Get rid of the foreign
gods you have with you, and purif y yourselves
and c hange your c lothes. 3Then come, let us
go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar
to God, who ans wered me in the day of my

distress and who has been with me wherever I

have gone. 4So they gave Jacob all the foreign
gods they had and the rings in their ears, and
Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.
5Then they set out, and the terror of God fell
on the towns all a round them so that no one
pursued them.
6Ja
cob and all the people with him came
to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Ca
naan. 7There he b
uilt an altar, and he called
the place El Bethel,b because it was there that
God revealed himself to him when he was
fleeing from his brother.
8Now Deborah, Rebeka hs nurse, died and
was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it
was named Allon Bakuth. c
9After Jacob ret urned from Paddan Aram,d
God appeared to him again and blessed him.
10God said to him, Your name is Jacob,e but
you will no longer be called Jacob; your name
will be Israel. f So he named him Israel.
11And God said to him, I am God Al
mightyg; be fruitf ul and increase in number. A
nation and a communit y of nations will come
from you, and k ings will be a mong your de
scendants. 12The land I gave to Abraham and
Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this
land to your descendants after you. 13Then
God went up from him at the place where he
had talked with him.
14Ja
cob set up a stone pillar at the p
lace
where God had talked with him, and he
p oured out a d rink offering on it; he also
poured oil on it. 15Jacob called the place where
God had talked with him Bethel.h
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac
16Then they moved on from Bethel. W hile
they were still some distance from Ephrath,
Rachel began to give birth and had great dif
ficult y. 17And as she was having g reat diff i
cult y in childbirth, the midw ife said to her,
Dont despair, for you have another son.
18As she breathed her lastfor she was dy
ingshe named her son Ben-Oni.i But his
father named him Benjamin. j
19So Ra
c hel died and was buried on the

a27Orbecause b7 El Bethel means God of Bethel. c8 Allon Bakuth means oak of weeping. d9That
is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verse26 e10 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he
deceives. f10 Israel probably means he struggles with God. g11Hebrew El-Shaddai h15 Bethel
means house of God. i18 Ben-Oni means son of my trouble. j18 Benjamin means son of my right hand.

DAY 17

59
way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20Over
her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day
that pillar marks Rachels tomb.
21Is
rael moved on a gain and pitched his
tent beyond Migdal Eder. 22While Israel was
living in that region, Reuben went in and slept
with his fathers concubine Bilhah, and Israel
heard ofit.
Jacob had t welve sons:
23 The sons of Leah:
Reuben the firstborn of Jacob,
Simeon, Levi, Jud ah, Issac har and
Zebu lun.
24 The sons of Rachel:
Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Rachels servant Bilhah:
Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Lea hs servant Zilpah:
Gad and Asher.
These were the sons of Jacob, who were
born to him in Paddan Aram.
27Ja
cob came home to his father Isaac in
Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron),
where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. 28Isaac
lived a hund red and e ighty years. 29Then he
breathed his last and died and was gathered to
his people, old and full of y ears. And his sons
Esau and Jacob buried him.

MATTHEW 12:4613:17
Jesus Mother and Brothers
46While
Jesus was
s till talk
i ng to the
c rowd, his mother and brothers stood outside,
wanting to speak to him. 47Someone told him,
Your mother and brothers are standing out
side, wanting to speak to you.
48He replied to him, Who is my mother,
and who are my brothers? 49Pointing to his
disciples, he said, Here are my mother and
my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of
my Father in heaven is my brother and sister
and mother.

The Parable of the Sower

13

That same day Jesus went out of the

house and sat by the lake. 2Such large
crowds gathered a round him that he got into
a15Isaiah6:9,10 (see Septuagint)

a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood

on the s hore. 3Then he told them many t hings
in parables, saying: A farmer went out to sow
his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some
fell a long the path, and the birds came and
ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it
did not have much soil. It sprang up quick
ly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when
the sun came up, the plants were scorched,
and they withered because they had no root.
7Oth
er seed fell a mong thorns, w
hich grew
up and c hoked the p
lants. 8Still other seed
fell on good soil, w
here it produced a cropa
hundred, sixt y or thirt y times what was sown.
9Whoever has ears, let them hear.
10The dis
c iples came to him and a sked,
Why do you s peak to the people in parables?
11He re
plied, Be
c ause the knowl
e dge
of the sec rets of the kingdom of heaven has
been given to you, but not to them. 12Who
ever has will be given more, and they will
have an abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what they have will be taken from them.
13This is why I speak to them in parables:
Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or
understand.
14In

them is fulf illed the prophec y of Isaiah:

You will be ever hearing but never

understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never
perceiving.
15 For this peoples heart has become
calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their
eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.a
16But

blessed are your eyes bec ause they see,

and your ears bec ause they hear. 17For truly
I tell you, many prophets and righteous peo
ple longed to see what you see but did not
see it, and to hear what you hear but did not
hearit.

DAY 18

60

PSALM 10:110:11
Psalm

10a

1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you hide yourself in times of
trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts
down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the
Lord.
4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek
him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for
God.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected byb him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, Nothing will ever
shake me.
He swears, No one will ever do me harm.
7 His mouth is full of lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
9 like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them
off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, God will never notice;
he covers his face and never sees.

REWIND
Genesis 3435;
Matthew 12:4613:17; Psalm 10:111

YOU DONT HAVE TO ADD

TO THE WORLDS EVIL.
The rape, murder, and plunder recounted in
Genesis 34 should make you uncomfortable. So
should the thought of anyone being too cold to

understand and apply Gods words, like in Matthew 1213. Psalm 10 presents more tragic
pictures, like the wicked hunting the weak and
murdering the innocent. You live in a world of
widespread evil. But every time you choose to
do good, you stand on Gods side.
D

day18
GENESIS 36:137:36
Esaus Descendants

36

This is the account of the family line

of Esau (that is, Edom).

2Esau

took his w ives from the women

of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the
Hit t ite, and Ohol ibamah daughter of
Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the
Hiv ite 3also Basemath daughter of
Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
4Adah bore El
iphaz to Esau, Base
math bore Reuel, 5and Oholibamah bore
Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the
sons of Esau, who were born to him in
Canaan.
6Esau took his
w ives and sons and
daughters and all the members of his
household, as well as his livestock and
all his other animals and all the goods
he had acquired in Canaan, and moved
to a land some distance from his broth
er Jacob. 7Their possessions were too
g reat for them to remain together; the
land where they were staying could not

aPsalms 9 and 10 may originally have been a single acrostic poem in which alternating lines began with the
successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm. b5 See Septuagint;

Hebrew /they are haughty, and your laws are far from

DAY 18

61
support them both because of their live
stock. 8So Esau (that is, Edom) sett led
in the hill country of Seir.
9This is the ac
count of the family line of
Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill
country of Seir.

10 These are the names of Esaus sons:

Eliphaz, the son of Esaus wife Adah,
and Reuel, the son of Esaus wife Bas
emath.
11 The sons of Eliphaz:
Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and
Kenaz.
12 Esaus son Eliphaz also had a con
cubine named Timna, who bore him
Ama lek. T hese were grands ons of
Esaus wife Adah.
13 The sons of Reuel:
Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Miz
zah. T hese were grandsons of E
saus
wife Basemath.
14 The sons of E
saus wife Oholibamah
daughter of Anah and granddaughter of
Zibeon, whom she bore to Esau:
Jeush, Jalam and Korah.
15These were the c
hiefs among Esaus de
scendants:
The sons of Eliphaz the firstb orn of
Esau:
Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
16Korah, a Gatam and Ama lek. T hese
were the c hiefs descended from Eli
phaz in Edom; they were grandsons of
Adah.
17 The sons of Esaus son Reuel:
Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and
Mizz ah. T hese were the c hiefs de
scended from Reuel in Edom; they
were grandsons of E
saus wife Base
math.
18 The sons of Esaus wife Oholibamah:
Chiefs Jeush, Jalam and Korah. T
hese
were the chiefs descended from Esaus
wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah.
19These were the sons of Esau (that is,
Edom), and these were their chiefs.

20These were the sons of Seir the Hor ite,

who were living in the region:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21Di
shon, Ezer and Dishan. These sons of
Seir in Edom were Horite chiefs.
22 The sons of Lotan:
Hori and Homam.b Timna was Lo
tans sister.
23 The sons of Shobal:
Alvan, Mana hath, Ebal, Shepho and
Onam.
24 The sons of Zibeon:
Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah
who discovered the hot springsc in the
desert while he was grazing the don
keys of his father Zibeon.
25 The children of Anah:
Dishon and Ohol ibamah daughter of
Anah.
26 The sons of Dishond :
Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.
27 The sons of Ezer:
Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.
28 The sons of Dishan:
Uz and Aran.
29 These were the Horite chiefs:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30Di
shon, Ezer and Dishan. T hese were
the Hor ite c hiefs, accord ing to t heir
div isions, in the land of Seir.

The Rulers of Edom

31These

were the k ings who reigned in

Edom before any Israelite king reigned:
32 Bela son of Beor became king of Edom.
His city was named Dinhabah.
33 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah
from Bozrah succeeded him as king.
34 When Jobab died, Husham from the
land of the Temanites succeeded him
as king.
35 When Hu
sham died, Ha
d ad son of
Bedad, who defeated Midia n in the
country of Moab, succeeded him as
king. His city was named Avith.
36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masre
kah succeeded him as king.

a16 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch (also verse11 and 1Chron. 1:36) does not have Korah.
b22Hebrew Hemam, a variant of Homam (see 1Chron. 1:39) c24 Vulgate; Syriac discovered water; the
meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. d26Hebrew Dishan, a variant of Dishon

DAY 18

62

37 When Samlah died, Shau l from Reho

both on the river succeeded him as
king.
38 When Shau l died, Baal-Hanan son of
Akbor succeeded him as king.
39 When Baal-Hanan son of Akbor died,
Hadad a succeeded him as king. His
city was n
amed Pau, and his w ifes
name was Mehetabel daughter of Ma
tred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.
40These were the
c hiefs descended from
Esau, by name, according to their c lans and
regions:
Timna, Alv ah, Jet heth, 41Ohol iba
mah, Elah, Pinon, 42Kenaz, Teman,
Mibz ar, 43Magd iel and Iram. T hese
were the chiefs of Edom, according to
their sett lements in the land they oc
cupied.

This is the family line of Esau, the father of

the Edomites.
Josephs Dreams

37

Jacob lived in the land where his fa

ther had stayed, the land of Canaan.

2This

is the account of Jacobs family line.

Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was

tending the f locks with his brothers, the sons
of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his fathers
w ives, and he b
rought their father a bad report
about them.
3Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of
his other sons, because he had been born to
him in his old age; and he made an ornateb
robe for him. 4When his brothers saw that
their father loved him more than any of them,
they hated him and could not speak a kind
word to him.
5Joseph had a d
ream, and when he told it
to his brothers, they hated him all the more.
6He said to them, Listen to this d ream I had:
7We were binding s
heaves of grain out in the
f ield when suddenly my s heaf rose and stood
upr ight, while your sheaves gathered a round
mine and bowed down toit.

8His brothers said to him, Do you intend

to reign over us? Will you act ua lly rule us?
And they hated him all the more because of
his dream and what he had said.
9Then he had another d ream, and he told
it to his brothers. Listen, he said, I had an
other dream, and this time the sun and moon
and eleven stars were bowing down tome.
10When he told his fa
t her as well as his
brothers, his father rebuked him and said,
What is this d ream you had? Will your
mother and I and your brothers act ua lly come
and bow down to the g round before you?
11His brothers were jealous of him, but his fa
ther kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

12Now

his brothers had gone to graze t heir

fathers f locks near Shechem, 13and Israel said
to Joseph, As you know, your brothers are
grazing the f locks near Shechem. Come, I am
going to send you to them.
Very well, he replied.
14So he said to him, Go and see if all is
well with your brothers and with the f locks,
and bring word back to me. Then he sent him
off from the Valley of Hebron.
When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15a man
found him wandering a round in the f ields and
asked him, What are you looking for?
16He replied, Im looking for my brothers.
Can you tell me w
here they are grazing their
flocks?
17They have
moved on from here, the
man answered. I heard them say, Lets go to
Dothan.
So Joseph went after his brothers and f ound
them near Dothan. 18But they saw him in the
distance, and before he reached them, they
plotted to kill him.
19Here c
omes that dreamer! they said to
each other. 20Come now, lets kill him and
t hrow him into one of t hese cisterns and say
that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then
well see what comes of his dreams.
21When Reuben heard this, he t ried to res
cue him from their hands. Lets not take his

a39 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch and Syriac (see also 1Chron. 1:50);
most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text Hadar b3 Themeaning of the Hebrew for this word is

uncertain; also in verses 23 and32.

63
life, he said. 22Dont shed any blood. Throw
him into this cistern here in the wilderness,
but dont lay a hand on him. Reuben said this
to rescue him from them and take him back
to his father.
23So when Jo
seph came to his brothers,
they stripped him of his robethe ornate
robe he was wearing24and they took him
and threw him into the cistern. The cistern
was empt y; there was no water init.
25As they sat down to eat t heir meal, they
looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites
coming from Gilead. Their camels were load
ed with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were
on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26Judah said to his brothers, What will we
gain if we kill our brother and cover up his
blood? 27Come, lets sell him to the Ishmael
ites and not lay our h
ands on him; after all, he
is our brother, our own f lesh and blood. His
brothers agreed.
28So when the Midia nite merc hants came
by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the
cistern and sold him for twenty shekelsa of
silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to
Egypt.
29When Reu
ben returned to the cistern
and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his
c lothes. 30He went back to his brothers and
said, The boy isnt t here! W here can I turn
now?
31Then they got Jo
s ephs robe, slaugh
tered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.
32They took the ornate robe back to t heir fa
ther and said, We found this. Examine it to
see whether it is your sons robe.
33He recogn ized it and said, It is my sons
robe! Some feroc ious animal has devoured
him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.
34Then Jacob tore his c lothes, put on sack
cloth and mourned for his son many days.
35All his sons and daughters came to comfort
him, but he ref used to be comforted. No, he
said, I will continue to mourn until I join my
son in the g rave. So his father wept for him.
36Meanwhile, the Midia nites b sold Joseph
in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaohs off i
cials, the captain of the guard.

DAY 18

MATTHEW 13:1813:35
18Lis
ten then to what the parable of the
sower means: 19When anyone hears the mes
sage a bout the kingdom and does not under
stand it, the evil one comes and snatches away
what was sown in their heart. This is the seed
sown a long the path. 20The seed falling on
rocky ground refers to someone who hears the
word and at once receives it with joy. 21But
since they have no root, they last only a short
time. When trouble or pers ec ut ion comes
because of the word, they quickly fall away.
22The seed falling a mong the t horns refers to
someone who hears the word, but the worries
of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth
choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23But
the seed falling on good soil refers to some
one who hears the word and understands it.
This is the one who produces a crop, yield
ing a hundred, sixt y or thirt y times what was
sown.

The Parable of the Weeds

24Jesus told them an
other parable: The
kingdom of heaven is like a man who s owed
good seed in his f ield. 25But while everyone
was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed
w eeds among the wheat, and went away.
26When the
w heat sprout
e d and
formed
heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27The owners serv ants came to him and
said, Sir, d idnt you sow good seed in your
f ield? W here then did the weeds come from?
28An enemy did this, he replied.
The servants asked him, Do you want us
to go and pull themup?
29No, he an
s wered, because w
hile you
are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the
wheat with them. 30Let both grow togeth
er until the harvest. At that time I will tell
the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie
them in bund les to be burned; then gather the
wheat and bring it into my barn.

The Parables of the Mustard Seed

andtheYeast
31He told them another parable: The king
dom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a

a28 That is, about 8ounces or about 230 grams b36 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and

Syriac (see also verse28); Masoretic Text Medanites

DAY 19

64

man took and planted in his f ield. 32Though it

is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows,
it is the largest of garden plants and becomes
a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its
branches.
33He told them still another parable: The
kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman
took and mixed into about sixt y poundsa of
f lour until it worked all through the dough.
34Jesus spoke all t hese t hings to the c rowd
in parables; he did not say anyt hing to them
without using a parable. 35So was fulfilled
what was spoken through the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter things hidden since the
creation of the world.b

REWIND
Genesis 3637; Matthew 13:1835;
Psalm 10:1218

GOD IS KING FOREVER.

Like other clans around it, the line of Esau detailed in Genesis 36 has centuries of chiefs and
kings. The young Joseph introduced in Genesis
37 will one day grow up to work for the ruler of
Egypt. Jesus teaches about Gods kingdom in
Matthew 13. And Psalm 10 calls God the eternal king who sides with the helpless and holds
evildoers accountable. All of Scripture shows
God as the King of kings. Let him rule your life
now and forever.
D

PSALM 10:1210:18
12 Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, OGod.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
He wont call me to account?
14 But you, God, see the trouble of the
afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in
hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;
call the evildoer to account for his
wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the
afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to
their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the
oppressed,
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.

a33Orabout 27kilograms b35Psalm78:2

day19
GENESIS 38:139:23
Judah and Tamar

38

At that time, Judah left his brothers

and went down to stay with a man of
Adullam named Hirah. 2There Judah met the
daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He
married her and made love to her; 3she be
came pregnant and gave birth to a son, who
was named Er. 4She conceived again and gave
birth to a son and n
amed him Onan. 5She
gave birth to still another son and named him
Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to
him.
6Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and
her name was Tamar. 7But Er, Judahs first
born, was wicked in the Lords sight; so the
Lord put him to death.
8Then Ju
d ah said to Onan, Sleep with
your brothers wife and fulf ill your duty to her

65
as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for
your brother. 9But Onan knew that the child
would not be his; so whenever he slept with
his brothers wife, he spilled his semen on the
g round to keep from prov iding offspring for
his brother. 10What he did was wicked in the
Lords sight; so the Lord put him to death
also.
11Ju
dah then said to his daughter-in-law
Tamar, Live as a widow in your fathers
household until my son Shelah g rows up.
For he thought, He may die too, just like his
brothers. So Tamar went to live in her fathers
household.
12After a long time Judahs wife, the daugh
ter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered
from his g rief, he went up to Timnah, to the
men who were shearing his sheep, and his
friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him.
13When Ta
mar was told, Your fatherin-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his
sheep, 14she took off her widows c lothes,
covered herself with a veil to disg uise herself,
and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim,
which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw
that, though Shelah had now g rown up, she
had not been given to him as his wife.
15When Ju
d ah saw her, he thought she
was a prostit ute, for she had covered her face.
16Not rea lizing that she was his daughter-inlaw, he went over to her by the roadside and
said, Come now, let me sleep with you.
And what will you give me to sleep with
you? she asked.
17Ill send you a
young goat from my
f lock, he said.
Will you give me something as a pledge
until you send it? she asked.
18He said, What
pledge should I give
you?
Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your
hand, she answered. So he gave them to her
and slept with her, and she became pregnant
by him. 19After she left, she took off her veil
and put on her widows clothes again.
20Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by
his friend the Adullamite in order to get his
pledge back from the woman, but he did not
find her. 21He asked the men who lived there,

DAY 19

Where is the shrine prost it ute who was be

side the road at Enaim?
There h
asnt been any shrine prostitute
here, they said.
22So he went back to Ju
dah and said, I
d idnt find her. Besides, the men who lived
there said, There hasnt been any shrine pros
tit ute here.
23Then Judah said, Let her keep what she
has, or we will become a laughingstock. Af
ter all, I did send her this young goat, but you
didnt find her.
24About t hree months later Judah was told,
Your daughter-in-law Tamar is g uilty of
prost it ut ion, and as a result she is now preg
nant.
Judah said, Bring her out and have her
burned to death!
25As she was being brought out, she sent a
message to her father-in-law. I am pregnant
by the man who owns these, she said. And
she added, See if you recogn ize whose seal
and cord and staff these are.
26Judah recogn ized them and said, She is
more righteous than I, s ince I wouldnt give
her to my son Shelah. And he did not s leep
with her again.
27When the time came for her to give b
irth,
t here were twin boys in her womb. 28As she
was giving birth, one of them put out his
hand; so the midw ife took a scarlet thread and
tied it on his w
rist and said, This one came
out f irst. 29But when he drew back his hand,
his brother came out, and she said, So this is
how you have broken out! And he was named
Perez.a 30Then his brother, who had the scar
let thread on his w rist, came out. And he was
named Zerah. b
Joseph and Potiphars Wife

39

Now Joseph had been taken down to

Egypt. Potiphar, an Egypt ian who
was one of Pharaohs off icials, the captain of
the g uard, bought him from the Ishmaelites
who had taken him there.
2The Lord was with Jo
s eph so that he
prosp ered, and he lived in the house of his
Egypt ian master. 3When his master saw that
the Lord was with him and that the Lord

a29 Perez means breaking out. b30 Zerah can mean scarlet or brightness.

DAY 19

66

gave him success in everyt hing he did, 4Jo

seph found favor in his eyes and became his
attend ant. Potiphar put him in c harge of
his household, and he ent rusted to his care
every t hing he owned. 5From the time he put
him in c harge of his household and of all
that he owned, the Lord blessed the house
hold of the Egypt ian because of Joseph. The
blessing of the Lord was on everyt hing Pot
iphar had, both in the house and in the f ield.
6So Pot
iphar left everything he had in Jo
sephs care; with Joseph in c harge, he did not
conc ern himself with anything exc ept the
food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,
7and after a w
hile his masters wife took notice
of Joseph and said, Come to bed withme!
8But he ref used. With me in c harge, he
told her, my master does not concern him
self with anything in the house; everything he
owns he has entrusted to my care. 9No one
is greater in this house than I am. My mas
ter has withheld nothing from me except you,
because you are his wife. How then could I
do such a wicked thing and sin a gainst God?
10And t hough she spoke to Jos eph day after
day, he ref used to go to bed with her or even
be with her.
11One day he went into the
house to at
tend to his duties, and none of the household
ser vants was inside. 12She caught him by his
c loak and said, Come to bed with me! But
he left his c loak in her hand and ran out of
the house.
13When she saw that he had left his c loak in
her hand and had run out of the house, 14she
c alled her household serv ants. Look, she
said to them, this Hebrew has been b
rought
to us to make sport of us! He came in here
to s leep with me, but I screamed. 15When he
heard me scream for help, he left his cloak be
side me and ran out of the house.
16She kept his c
loak beside her until his
master came home. 17Then she told him this
story: That Hebrew slave you brought us
came to me to make sport of me. 18But as soon
as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside
me and ran out of the house.
19When his mas
ter h
eard the story his
wife told him, saying, This is how your slave

treated me, he burned with anger. 20Josephs

master took him and put him in prison, the
place where the k ings prisoners were con
fined.
But while Joseph was there in the prison,
21the Lord was with him; he s
howed him
kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of
the prison warden. 22So the warden put Jo
seph in charge of all those held in the prison,
and he was made responsible for all that was
done t here. 23The warden paid no attention
to anyt hing under Josephs care, because the
Lord was with Joseph and gave him success
in whatever he did.

MATTHEW 13:3613:58
The Parable of the Weeds Explained
36Then

he left the crowd and went into the

ouse. His disc iples came to him and said,
h
Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the
field.
37He ans wered, The one who sowed the
good seed is the Son of Man. 38The f ield is
the world, and the good seed stands for the
people of the kingdom. The weeds are the
people of the evil one, 39and the enemy who
sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end
of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40As the weeds are pulled up and burned
in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.
41The Son of Man will send out his angels,
and they will weed out of his kingdom ev
eryt hing that causes sin and all who do evil.
42They will t hrow them into the blazing fur
nace, where there will be weeping and gnash
ing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will s hine
like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Whoever has ears, let them hear.
The Parables of the Hidden Treasure
andthePearl
44The

kingdom of heaven is like treasure

hidden in a f ield. When a man found it, he hid
it again, and then in his joy went and sold all
he had and bought that field.
45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a
merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he
found one of g reat value, he went away and
sold everything he had and boughtit.

DAY 19

67
The Parable of the Net
47Once

again, the kingdom of heaven is

like a net that was let down into the lake and
caught all k inds of fish. 48When it was full,
the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then
they sat down and collected the good fish in
baskets, but threw the bad away. 49This is how
it will be at the end of the age. The angels
will come and sepa rate the wicked from the
righteous 50and throw them into the blaz
ing furnace, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
51Have you understood all t hese t hings?
Jesus asked.
Yes, they replied.
52He said to them, Therefore every teach
er of the law who has become a disc iple in
the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of
a house who brings out of his storeroom new
treasures as well as old.
A Prophet Without Honor
53When

Jesus had finished these para

bles, he moved on from there. 54Coming to
his hometown, he began teaching the people
in their syna gogue, and they were a mazed.
Where did this man get this wisdom and
these miracu lous powers? they asked. 55Isnt
this the carp enters son? Isnt his mothers
name Mary, and a rent his brothers James,
Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56Arent all his sis
ters with us? W
here then did this man get all
these things? 57And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not
without honor except in his own town and in
his own home.
58And he did not do many mirac les t here
because of their lack of faith.

PSALM 11:111:7
Psalm 11
For the director of music. OfDavid.

1 In the Lord I take refuge.

How then can you say to me:
Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the
strings

to shoot from the shadows

at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being
destroyed,
what can the righteous do?
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the Lord is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.

REWIND
Genesis 3839; Matthew 13:3658;
Psalm 11

THE WORLD CAN BE APPALLING.

You live in the world of Genesis 3839, a place
home to people like Judah, Tamar, and Potiphars wife. In Matthew 13 Jesus informs you
that some of the worlds inhabitants belong
to the devil. And Psalm 11 asserts that wicked
people aim to destroy the worlds foundations
and wonders what good people can do about
it. But God will put an end to evil. He will let the
upright see him up close.
D

DAY 20

68

day20
GENESIS 40:141:40

The Cupbearer and the Baker

40

Some time later, the cupbearer and

the baker of the king of E
gypt of
fended their master, the king of Egypt. 2Phar
aoh was ang ry with his two off icials, the chief
cupbearer and the chief baker, 3and put them
in custody in the house of the captain of the
g uard, in the same prison where Joseph was
conf ined. 4The captain of the g uard assigned
them to Joseph, and he attended them.
After they had been in custody for some
time, 5each of the two ment he cupbearer
and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were
being held in prisonhad a dream the same
n ight, and each d ream had a meaning of its
own.
6When Jo
s eph came to them the next
morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7So
he asked Pharaohs off icials who were in cus
tody with him in his masters house, Why do
you look so sad today?
8We both had d
reams, they answered,
but there is no one to interpret them.
Then Joseph said to them, Do not in
terpretations belong to God? Tell me your
dreams.
9So the
c hief cupb earer told Joseph his
d ream. He said to him, In my d ream I saw
a vine in front of me, 10and on the vine were
three branches. As soon as it budded, it blos
somed, and its clusters ripened into g rapes.
11Pharaohs cup was in my hand, and I took
the grapes, s queezed them into Pharaohs cup
and put the cup in his hand.
12This is what it
means, Joseph said to
him. The three branches are three days.
13Within t hree days Pharaoh will lift up your
head and restore you to your position, and you
will put Pharaohs cup in his hand, just as you
used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14But
when all goes well with you, remember me
and show me kindness; mention me to Phar
a16Orthree wicker baskets

aoh and get me out of this prison. 15I was forc

ibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews,
and even here I have done nothing to deserve
being put in a dungeon.
16When the c
hief baker saw that Joseph
had given a favorable inter pretat ion, he said
to Joseph, I too had a d ream: On my head
were t hree baskets of bread.a 17In the top bas
ket were all k inds of baked g oods for Pharaoh,
but the birds were eating them out of the bas
ket on my head.
18This is what it means, Joseph said. The
three baskets are three days. 19Within t hree
days Pharaoh will lift off your head and im
pale your body on a pole. And the b
irds will
eat away your flesh.
20Now the t hird day was Pharaohs birth
day, and he gave a feast for all his off icials. He
lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and
the chief baker in the presence of his off icials:
21He restored the c hief cupbearer to his po
sition, so that he once again put the cup into
Pharaohs hand 22but he impaled the chief
baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his
interpretation.
23The c hief cupbearer, however, did not re
member Joseph; he forgot him.
Pharaohs Dreams

41

When two full years had p assed,

Pharaoh had a dream: He was stand
ing by the Nile, 2when out of the river t here
came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they
g razed a mong the reeds. 3Af ter them, seven
other cows, ugly and g aunt, came up out of the
Nile and s tood beside those on the riverbank.
4And the cows that were ugly and g aunt ate
up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh
wokeup.
5He fell
a sleep a gain and had a second
d ream: Seven heads of g rain, h
ealthy and
good, were growing on a single stalk. 6After
them, seven other heads of g rain sprouted
thin and scorched by the east wind. 7The
thin heads of g rain swallowed up the seven
healthy, full h
eads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it
had been a dream.
8In the morning his mind was troubled, so
he sent for all the magicians and wise men of

69
gypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no
E
one could interpret them for him.
9Then the c hief cupbearer said to Pharaoh,
Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.
10Pharaoh was once ang ry with his serv ants,
and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in
the house of the captain of the g uard. 11Each
of us had a d
ream the same n
ight, and each
d ream had a meaning of its own. 12Now a
young Hebrew was there with us, a servant
of the captain of the g uard. We told him our
d reams, and he interpreted them for us, giv
ing each man the interpretation of his dream.
13And t hings t urned out exactly as he inter
preted them to us: I was restored to my posi
tion, and the other man was impaled.
14So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was
quickly brought from the dungeon. When he
had shaved and changed his clothes, he came
before Pharaoh.
15Pharaoh said to Joseph, I had a d ream,
and no one can interpret it. But I have heard
it said of you that when you hear a dream you
can interpretit.
16I cannot do it, Joseph replied to Phar
aoh, but God will give Pharaoh the ans wer
he desires.
17Then Phar
aoh said to Joseph, In my
dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile,
18when out of the river t here came up seven
cows, fat and sleek, and they g razed a mong
the reeds. 19After them, seven other cows
came upscrawny and very ugly and lean. I
had never seen such ugly cows in all the land
of Egypt. 20The lean, ugly cows ate up the
seven fat cows that came up f irst. 21But even
after they ate them, no one could tell that they
had done so; they l ooked just as ugly as before.
Then I wokeup.
22In my d ream I saw seven h
eads of grain,
full and good, growing on a single s talk. 23Af
ter them, seven other heads sprouted w ith
ered and thin and scorched by the east wind.
24The thin heads of g rain swallowed up the
seven good heads. I told this to the magicians,
but none of them could explain it tome.
25Then Jo
s eph said to Phar
a oh, The
dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God
has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to
a38Orof the gods

DAY 20

do. 26The seven good cows are seven years,

and the seven good heads of g rain are seven
years; it is one and the same d ream. 27The
seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward
are seven years, and so are the seven worth
less h
eads of g rain s corched by the east wind:
They are seven years of famine.
28It is just as I said to Phar
aoh: God
has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.
29Seven y
ears of great abundance are coming
throughout the land of Egypt, 30but seven
years of famine will follow them. Then all the
abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the
famine will ravage the land. 31The abundance
in the land will not be remembered, because
the famine that follows it will be so severe.
32The reason the d ream was given to Pharaoh
in two forms is that the matter has been firm
ly decided by God, and God will do it soon.
33And now let Pharaoh look for a discern
ing and wise man and put him in c harge of
the land of Egypt. 34Let Pharaoh app oint
commissioners over the land to take a f ifth of
the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of
abundance. 35They s hould collect all the food
of these good years that are coming and store
up the g rain under the authorit y of Pharaoh,
to be kept in the cities for food. 36This food
should be held in reserve for the country, to
be used during the seven years of famine that
will come upon Egypt, so that the country
may not be ruined by the famine.
37The plan
seemed good to Pharaoh and
to all his off icials. 38So Pharaoh asked them,
Can we find anyone like this man, one in
whom is the spirit of Goda?
39Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God
has made all this k nown to you, there is no
one so discerning and wise as you. 40You shall
be in charge of my palace, and all my people
are to subm it to your orders. Only with re
spect to the throne will I be greater than you.

MATTHEW 14:114:21
John the Baptist Beheaded

14

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard

the reports about Jesus, 2and he said
to his attendants, This is John the Baptist; he

DAY 20

70

has risen from the dead! That is why miracu

lous powers are at work in him.
3Now Herod had arrested John and bound
him and put him in prison because of Hero
dias, his brother Philips wife, 4for John had
been saying to him: It is not lawf ul for you to
have her. 5Herod wanted to kill John, but he
was a fraid of the people, because they consid
ered John a prophet.
6On Herods birthday the daughter of He
rodias danced for the guests and pleased Her
od so much 7that he promised with an oath
to give her whatever she asked. 8Prompted by
her mother, she said, Give me here on a plat
ter the head of John the Bapt ist. 9The king
was distressed, but because of his o aths and
his dinner g uests, he ordered that her request
be granted 10and had John beheaded in the
prison. 11His head was brought in on a plat
ter and given to the girl, who carried it to her
mother. 12Johns disciples came and took his
body and buried it. Then they went and told
Jesus.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
13When
Jesus h
eard what had happened,
he withd rew by boat priv ately to a solitary
place. Hearing of this, the c rowds followed
him on foot from the towns. 14When Jesus
landed and saw a large c rowd, he had compas
sion on them and healed their sick.
15As even ing app roached, the disc ip les
came to him and said, This is a remote place,
and its already getting late. Send the crowds
away, so they can go to the villages and buy
themselves some food.
16Jesus re
plied, They do not need to go
away. You give them something to eat.
17We have here only five loaves of bread
and two fish, they answered.
18Bring them here to me, he said. 19And
he directed the people to sit down on the
grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish
and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and
broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the
disciples, and the disciples gave them to the
people. 20They all ate and were satisf ied, and
the disc iples picked up t welve basket f uls of
broken pieces that were left over. 21The num

a17Orcovenant of her God

ber of those who ate was about five thousand

men, besides women and children.

PROVERBS 2:122:22
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of
wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who have left the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
16 Wisdom will save you also from the
adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her
seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made
before God.a
18 Surely her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the
dead.
19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the
good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the
land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

REWIND
Genesis 40:141:40;
Matthew 14:121; Proverbs 2:1222

EVERYONE NEEDS HELP.

The cupbearer and baker of Genesis 4041
were rotting in prison, unfortunate guys who
offended Egypts king. John the Baptist is beheaded in Matthew 14, the victim of an evil
familys rage. And Jesus finds himself followed
by thousands of hurting and hungry p eople.
But Proverbs 2 explains where you can get help

DAY 21

71
when you need it. Gods wisdom saves you
from wicked people. His insights help you find
the path to life.
D

day21
GENESIS 41:4142:38
Joseph in Charge of Egypt
41So

Pharaoh said to Joseph, I hereby put

you in c harge of the whole land of Egypt.
42Then Phar
aoh took his signet ring from
his finger and put it on Josephs finger. He
d ressed him in robes of fine linen and put a
gold c hain a round his neck. 43He had him
ride in a chariot as his second-in-command,a
and people shouted before him, Make wayb!
Thus he put him in charge of the whole land
of Egypt.
44Then Phar
aoh said to Joseph, I am
Pharaoh, but without your word no one will
lift hand or foot in all Egypt. 45Pharaoh gave
Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave
him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of
On,c to be his wife. And Joseph went through
out the land of Egypt.
46Joseph was thirt y years old when he en
tered the serv ice of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
And Joseph went out from Pharaohs presence
and traveled throughout Egypt. 47During the
seven years of abundance the land produced
plent if ully. 48Joseph collected all the food
produced in those seven years of abundance in
Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city
he put the food g rown in the f ields surround
ing it. 49Joseph stored up huge quantities of
grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much

that he s topped keeping records because it was

beyond measure.
50Be
fore the y ears of famine came, two
sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter
of Potiphera, p
riest of On. 51Joseph named his
firstborn Manasseh d and said, It is because
God has made me forget all my trouble and
all my fathers household. 52The second son
he named Ephra im e and said, It is because
God has made me fruitf ul in the land of my
suffering.
53The seven years of abund ance in Egypt
came to an end, 54and the seven years of fam
ine began, just as Joseph had said. There was
famine in all the other lands, but in the whole
land of Egypt there was food. 55When all
Egypt began to feel the famine, the people
cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told
all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph and do what
he tells you.
56When the fam
i ne had spread over the
whole country, Joseph o pened all the store
houses and sold g rain to the Egyptians, for
the famine was severe throughout Egypt.
57And all the
world came to Egypt to buy
grain from Joseph, because the famine was se
vere every where.
Josephs Brothers Go toEgypt

42

When Jacob learned that there was

g rain in Egypt, he said to his sons,
Why do you just keep looking at each oth
er? 2He continued, I have heard that there is
grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some
for us, so that we may live and not die.
3Then ten of Josephs brothers went down
to buy g rain from Egypt. 4But Jacob did not
send Benjam in, Josephs brother, with the
others, because he was a fraid that harm might
come to him. 5So Israels sons were a mong
those who went to buy g rain, for there was
famine in the land of Canaan also.
6Now Jo
s eph was the gov
e r
nor of the
land, the person who sold grain to all its peo
ple. So when Josephs brothers arr ived, they
bowed down to him with their faces to the
ground. 7As soon as Joseph saw his brothers,

a43Orin the chariot of his second-in-command; or in his second chariot b43OrBow down c45 That is,
Heliopolis; also in verse50 d51 Manasseh sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for forget.
e52 Ephraim sounds like the Hebrew for twice fruitful.

DAY 21

72

he r ecognized them, but he pretended to be a

stranger and spoke harshly to them. Where
do you come from? he asked.
From the land of Canaan, they replied,
to buy food.
8Alt hough Jos eph recog n ized his broth
ers, they did not recognize him. 9Then he re
membered his dreams a bout them and said to
them, You are spies! You have come to see
where our land is unprotected.
10No, my lord, they ans wered. Your ser
vants have come to buy food. 11We are all the
sons of one man. Your serv ants are honest
men, not spies.
12No! he said to them. You have come to
see where our land is unprotected.
13But they re
plied, Your serv ants were
twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who
lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is
now with our father, and one is no more.
14Jos eph said to them, It is just as I told
you: You are spies! 15And this is how you
will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you
will not leave this place unless your youngest
brother comes here. 16Send one of your num
ber to get your brother; the rest of you will
be kept in prison, so that your words may be
tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you
are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you
are spies! 17And he put them all in custody
for three days.
18On the third day, Jo
seph said to them,
Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19If
you are honest men, let one of your brothers
stay here in prison, while the rest of you go
and take g rain back for your starving house
holds. 20But you must bring your youngest
brother to me, so that your words may be veri
fied and that you may not die. This they pro
ceeded todo.
21They said to one another, Surely we are
being punished because of our brother. We
saw how distressed he was when he pleaded
with us for his life, but we would not listen;
thats why this distress has come onus.
22Reu
ben replied, Didnt I tell you not
to sin a gainst the boy? But you wouldnt lis
ten! Now we must give an accounting for his
blood. 23They did not rea lize that Joseph
a34Ormove about freely

c ould understand them, since he was using an

interpreter.
24He t urned away from them and began to
weep, but then came back and spoke to them
again. He had Simeon taken from them and
bound before their eyes.
25Joseph gave orders to fill t heir bags with
grain, to put each mans silver back in his sack,
and to give them prov isions for their journey.
After this was done for them, 26they loaded
their grain on their donkeys and left.
27At the place where they stopped for the
night one of them opened his sack to get feed
for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the
mouth of his sack. 28My silver has been re
turned, he said to his brothers. Here it is in
my sack.
Their h
earts sank and they t urned to each
other trembling and said, What is this that
God has done tous?
29When they came to t heir fat her Jacob in
the land of Canaan, they told him all that had
happened to them. They said, 30The man
who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us
and treated us as though we were spying on
the land. 31But we said to him, We are hon
est men; we are not spies. 32We were t welve
brothers, sons of one father. One is no more,
and the youngest is now with our father in
Canaan.
33Then the man who is lord over the land
said to us, This is how I will know wheth
er you are hone st men: L eave one of your
brothers here with me, and take food for
your starving households and go. 34But bring
your youngest brother to me so I will know
that you are not s pies but honest men. Then
I will give your brother back to you, and you
can trade a in the land.
35As they were empt ying t heir sacks, t here
in each m
ans sack was his p
ouch of silver!
When they and their father saw the money
pouches, they were frightened. 36Their father
Jacob said to them, You have deprived me of
my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is
no more, and now you want to take Benjamin.
Everything is againstme!
37Then Reuben said to his fat her, You may
put both of my sons to death if I do not bring

DAY 21

73
him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and
I will bring him back.
38But Jacob said, My son will not go down
t here with you; his brother is dead and he is
the only one left. If harm comes to him on the
journey you are taking, you will bring my gray
head down to the g rave in sorrow.

MATTHEW 14:2215:9
Jesus Walks on the Water
22Imm ed iatel y

Jesus made the disc iples

get into the boat and go on a head of him to
the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
23Af
ter he had dism issed them, he went up
on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later
that night, he was there a lone, 24and the boat
was already a considerable distance from land,
buffeted by the waves because the wind was
againstit.
25Short
ly before dawn Jesus went out to
them, walking on the lake. 26When the dis
ciples saw him walking on the lake, they were
terrif ied. Its a ghost, they said, and cried out
in fear.
27But J esus imm ed ia tel y said to them:
Take courage! It is I. Dont be afraid.
28Lord, if its you, Peter replied, tell me
to come to you on the water.
29Come, he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat,
walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30But when he saw the wind, he was
a fraid
and, beg inn ing to sink, cried out, Lord,
saveme!
31Immed iately Jesus reached out his hand
and caught him. You of litt le faith, he said,
why did you doubt?
32And when they c limbed into the boat, the
wind died down. 33Then those who were in
the boat worshiped him, saying, Truly you
are the Son of God.
34When they had c rossed over, they landed
at Gennesa ret. 35And when the men of that
place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all
the sur round ing count ry. People brought all
their sick to him 36and begged him to let the
sick just touch the edge of his c loak, and all
who touched it were healed.

That Which Defiles

15

Then some Pharisees and teachers of

the law came to Jesus from Jer usalem
and asked, 2Why do your disciples b
reak the
tradition of the elders? They dont wash their
hands before they eat!
3Jesus replied, And why do you break the
command of God for the sake of your trad i
tion? 4For God said, Honor your fat her and
mother a and Anyone who curses their father
or mother is to be put to death.b 5But you say
that if anyone dec lares that what might have
been used to help their father or mother is de
voted to God, 6they are not to honor their
father or mother with it. Thus you nullif y the
word of God for the sake of your trad ition.
7You hyp
oc rites! Isaiah was right when he
prophesied about you:
8 These people honor me with their
lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human
rules.c

PSALM 12:112:8
Psalm 12d
For the director of music. According to
sheminith.e Apsalm ofDavid.

1 Help, Lord, for no one is faithful

anymore;
those who are loyal have vanished from
the human race.
2 Everyone lies to their neighbor;
they flatter with their lips
but harbor deception in their hearts.
3 May the Lord silence all flattering
lips
and every boastful tongue
4 those who say,
By our tongues we will prevail;
our own lips will defend uswho is
lord over us?
5 Because the poor are plundered and the
needy groan,

a4Exodus20:12; Deut. 5:16 b4Exodus21:17; Lev. 20:9 c9Isaiah29:13 dIn Hebrew texts
12:1-8 is numbered 12:2-9. eTitle: Probably a musical term

DAY 22
I will now arise, says the Lord.
I will protect them from those who
malign them.
6 And the words of the Lord are flawless,
like silver purified in a crucible,
like golda refined seven times.
7 You, Lord, will keep the needy safe
and will protect us forever from the
wicked,
8 who freely strut about
when what is vile is honored by the
human race.

REWIND
Genesis 41:4142:38;
Matthew 14:2215:9; Psalm 12

SOMETIMES YOU WIN.

Joseph might have given up hope he would
ever be rescued from prison, but in Genesis 41
the Lord lifts him to the top of one of the most
potent nations in world history. In Matthew 14
Peter fears hes seen a ghost, but Jesus gives
him a shot at walking on water. And Psalm 12
notes that when the poor are plundered, God
rises up to protect them. Even when you feel
defeated by evil, at the right time the Lord
helps you win.
D

day22
GENESIS 43:144:34

The Second Journey to Egypt

43

Now the famine was still severe in the

land. 2So when they had eaten all the
grain they had brought from Egypt, t heir fa

74
ther said to them, Go back and buy us a litt le
more food.
3But Judah said to him, The man warned
us solemnly, You will not see my face again
unless your brother is with you. 4If you will
send our brother a long with us, we will go
down and buy food for you. 5But if you will
not send him, we will not go down, because
the man said to us, You will not see my face
again unless your brother is with you.
6Is
r ael asked, Why did you b
ring this
trouble on me by telling the man you had an
other brother?
7They re
plied, The man questioned us
closely a bout ourselves and our family. Is your
father s till living? he asked us. Do you have
another brother? We simply ans wered his
questions. How were we to know he w
ould
say, Bring your brother down here?
8Then Judah said to Israel his fat her, Send
the boy a long with me and we will go at once,
so that we and you and our children may live
and not die. 9I myself will guarantee his safe
ty; you can hold me persona lly responsible for
him. If I do not bring him back to you and
set him here before you, I will bear the blame
before you all my life. 10As it is, if we had not
delayed, we could have gone and returned
twice.
11Then
t heir father Israel said to them,
If it must be, then do this: Put some of the
best products of the land in your bags and
take them down to the man as a gifta lit
tle balm and a little honey, some spices and
myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds.
12Take double the a mount of silver with you,
for you must return the silver that was put
back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps
it was a mistake. 13Take your brother also and
go back to the man at once. 14And may God
Almightyb grant you merc y before the man so
that he will let your other brother and Benja
min come back with you. As for me, if I am
bereaved, I am bereaved.
15So the men took the g ifts and double the
a mount of silver, and Benjam in also. They
hurr ied down to Egypt and presented them
selves to Joseph. 16When Joseph saw Benja
min with them, he said to the stewa rd of his

a6 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text earth b14Hebrew El-Shaddai

75
ouse, Take these men to my house, slaugh
h
ter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to
eat with me at noon.
17The man did as Joseph told him and took
the men to Josephs house. 18Now the men
were frightened when they were taken to his
house. They thought, We were brought here
because of the silver that was put back into our
sacks the f irst time. He wants to attack us and
overpower us and s eize us as s laves and take
our donkeys.
19So they went up to Josephs stewa rd and
spoke to him at the entrance to the house.
20We beg your pardon, our lord, they said,
we came down here the first time to buy
food. 21But at the place where we s topped for
the night we opened our sacks and each of us
found his silverthe exact weightin the
mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back
with us. 22We have also brought add it iona l
silver with us to buy food. We dont know who
put our silver in our sacks.
23Its all r ight, he said. Dont be a fraid.
Your God, the God of your father, has giv
en you treasure in your s acks; I received your
silver. Then he brought Simeon out to them.
24The stewa rd took the men into Josephs
house, gave them water to wash their feet and
prov ided fodder for t heir donk eys. 25They
prepared t heir g ifts for Jos ephs ar r iva l at
noon, because they had heard that they were
to eat there.
26When Joseph came home, they present
ed to him the gifts they had brought into the
house, and they bowed down before him to
the ground. 27He a sked them how they were,
and then he said, How is your aged father
you told me about? Is he still living?
28They replied, Your servant our fat her is
still a live and well. And they bowed down,
prostrating themselves before him.
29As he looked about and saw his brother
Benjamin, his own mothers son, he asked, Is
this your youngest brother, the one you told
me a bout? And he said, God be gracious to
you, my son. 30Deeply moved at the sight of
his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for
a place to weep. He went into his private room
and wept there.
31After he had washed his face, he came out
and, controlling himself, said, Serve the food.

DAY 22

32They s
erved him by himself, the broth
ers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate
with him by themselves, because Egyptians
could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detest
able to Egyptians. 33The men had been seat
ed before him in the order of their ages, from
the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked
at each other in astonishment. 34When por
tions were s erved to them from Josephs table,
Benjamins portion was five times as much as
anyone elses. So they feasted and drank freely
with him.

A Silver Cup in a Sack

44

Now Joseph gave t hese instruct ions

to the stewa rd of his house: Fill the
mens sacks with as much food as they can
carr y, and put each mans silver in the mouth
of his sack. 2Then put my cup, the silver one,
in the mouth of the youngest ones sack, a long
with the silver for his g rain. And he did as
Joseph said.
3As morn
ing dawned, the men were sent
on their way with their donkeys. 4They had
not gone far from the city when Joseph said to
his stewa rd, Go after those men at once, and
when you catch up with them, say to them,
Why have you repaid good with evil? 5Isnt
this the cup my master d rinks from and also
uses for divination? This is a wicked t hing you
have done.
6When he
c aught up with them, he re
peated t hese words to them. 7But they said to
him, Why does my lord say such things? Far
be it from your servants to do anything like
that! 8We even brought back to you from the
land of Canaan the silver we found inside the
mouths of our s acks. So why w
ould we s teal
silver or gold from your masters h
ouse? 9If
any of your servants is found to have it, he will
die; and the rest of us will become my lords
slaves.
10Very well, then, he said, let it be as you
say. Whoever is found to have it will become
my slave; the rest of you will be free from
blame.
11Each of them quickly lowered his sack to
the g round and opened it. 12Then the stew
ard proceeded to s earch, beg inning with the
oldest and ending with the youngest. And the
cup was found in Benjamins sack. 13At this,

DAY 22

76

they tore t heir c lothes. Then they all loaded

their donkeys and ret urned to the city.
14Jo
seph was still in the house when Ju
dah and his brothers came in, and they threw
themselves to the ground before him. 15Joseph
said to them, What is this you have done?
Dont you know that a man like me can find
things out by divination?
16What can we say to my lord? Judah re
plied. What can we say? How can we prove
our innocence? God has uncovered your ser
vants g uilt. We are now my lords slaveswe
ourselves and the one who was found to have
the cup.
17But Joseph said, Far be it from me to do
such a thing! Only the man who was found to
have the cup will become my s lave. The rest of
you, go back to your father in peace.
18Then Ju
d ah went up to him and said:
Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak
a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your
serv ant, though you are equal to Pharaoh
himself. 19My lord a sked his serv ants, Do
you have a father or a brother? 20And we an
swered, We have an aged father, and there is
a young son born to him in his old age. His
brother is dead, and he is the only one of his
mothers sons left, and his father loves him.
21Then you said to your serv ants, Bring
him down to me so I can see him for myself.
22And we said to my lord, The boy can
not
leave his father; if he leaves him, his father
will die. 23But you told your servants, Unless
your youngest brother comes down with you,
you will not see my face a gain. 24When we
went back to your servant my father, we told
him what my lord had said.
25Then our fat her said, Go back and buy
a litt le more food. 26But we said, We cannot
go down. Only if our youngest brother is with
us will we go. We cannot see the mans face
unless our youngest brother is withus.
27Your serv ant my fat her said to us, You
know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One
of them went away from me, and I said, He
has surely been torn to pieces. And I have not
seen him since. 29If you take this one from me
too and harm comes to him, you will bring my
gray head down to the g rave in misery.
a14 Some manuscripts blind guides of the blind

30So now, if the boy is not with us when I

go back to your servant my father, and if my
father, whose life is closely bound up with
the b
oys life, 31sees that the boy isnt there,
he will die. Your servants will bring the gray
head of our fat her down to the g rave in sor
row. 32Your servant guaranteed the boys safe
ty to my father. I said, If I do not bring him
back to you, I will bear the blame before you,
my father, all my life!
33Now then, please let your servant remain
here as my lords slave in place of the boy, and
let the boy return with his brothers. 34How
can I go back to my father if the boy is not
with me? No! Do not let me see the misery
that would come on my father.

MATTHEW 15:1015:39
10Jesus c alled the c rowd to him and said,
Listen and understand. 11What goes into
someones mouth does not defile them, but
what comes out of their mouth, that is what
def iles them.
12Then the dis
c iples came to him and
asked, Do you know that the Pharisees were
offended when they heard this?
13He re
plied, Every plant that my heav
enly Father has not planted will be p
ulled
up by the roots. 14Leave them; they are blind
g uides. a If the blind lead the blind, both will
fall into a pit.
15Peter said, Explain the parable tous.
16Are you still so dull? Jesus a
sked them.
17Dont you see that what
e ver enters the
mouth goes into the stomach and then out
of the body? 18But the things that come out
of a persons m
outh come from the heart,
and these def ile them. 19For out of the heart
come evil thoughts murder, adultery, sexu
al immoralit y, theft, false testimony, slander.
20These are what def ile a person; but eating
with unwashed hands does not def ile them.

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

21Leav
i ng that place, Jesus withd rew to
the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite
woman from that vicinit y came to him, crying
out, Lord, Son of Dav id, have merc y on me!

DAY 22

77
My daughter is demon-possessed and suffer
ing terribly.
23Jesus did not ans wer a word. So his dis
ciples came to him and urged him, Send her
away, for she keeps crying out afterus.
24He ans wered, I was sent only to the lost
sheep of Israel.
25The woma n came and k
nelt before him.
Lord, help me! she said.
26He re
plied, It is not right to take the
childrens bread and toss it to the dogs.
27Yes it is, Lord, she said. Even the dogs
eat the c rumbs that fall from their masters
table.
28Then
Jesus said to her, Woma n, you
have great faith! Your request is granted. And
her daughter was healed at that moment.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
29Jesus left t here and went a long the Sea of
Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside
and sat down. 30Great c rowds came to him,
bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the
mute and many others, and laid them at his
feet; and he healed them. 31The people were
a mazed when they saw the mute speaking,
the crippled made well, the lame walking and
the blind seeing. And they praised the God
of Israel.
32Jesus called his disc iples to him and said,
I have compassion for these people; they
have already been with me three days and
have nothing to eat. I do not want to send
them away hung ry, or they may collapse on
the way.
33His disc iples ans wered, Where could we
get enough b
read in this remote place to feed
such a crowd?
34How many
loaves do you have? Jesus
asked.
Seven, they replied, and a few small
fish.
35He told the c
rowd to sit down on the
ground. 36Then he took the seven loaves and
the fish, and when he had given thanks, he
broke them and gave them to the disc iples,
and they in turn to the people. 37They all
ate and were satisfied. Afterw ard the dis
ciples picked up seven basket f uls of broken

aIn Hebrew texts 13:1-6 is numbered 13:2-6.

pieces that were left over. 38The number of

those who ate was four thousand men, besides
women and child ren. 39After Jesus had sent
the crowd away, he got into the boat and went
to the vicinit y of Magadan.

PSALM 13:113:6
Psalm 13a
For the director of music. Apsalm ofDavid.

1 How

long, Lord? Will you forget me

forever?
How long will you hide your face
from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my
heart?
How long will my enemy triumph
over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in
death,
4 and my enemy will say, I have overcome
him,
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lords praise,
for he has been good to me.

REWIND
Genesis 4344; Matthew 15:1039;
Psalm 13

THANK GOD FOR SUPPER.

Genesis 43 describes a famine so severe that
Jacobs family faces starvation if they dont go
on a long journey to another country. Matthew
15 shows hungry people stranded in a remote
place with no food. And Psalm 13 relates loud
rumblings of spiritual hunger. So dont take
your food for granted today or ever. Literal food
is a gift straight from God, and the Lord is also
the only one able to satisfy your soul.
D

DAY 23

78

day23
GENESIS 45:147:12

Joseph Makes Himself Known

45

Then Joseph could no longer control

himself before all his attendants, and
he c ried out, Have everyone leave my pres
ence! So there was no one with Joseph when
he made himself k nown to his brothers. 2And
he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard
him, and Pharaohs household heard aboutit.
3Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph!
Is my father s till living? But his brothers were
not able to answer him, because they were ter
rif ied at his presence.
4Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come
close to me. When they had done so, he said,
I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold
into Egypt! 5And now, do not be distressed
and do not be ang ry with yourselves for sell
ing me here, because it was to save lives that
God sent me a head of you. 6For two y ears
now there has been famine in the land, and
for the next five years there will be no plowing
and reaping. 7But God sent me a head of you
to preserve for you a remnant on e arth and to
save your lives by a g reat deliverance.a
8So then, it was not you who sent me here,
but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord
of his entire household and ruler of all E
gypt.
9Now hurr y back to my fat her and say to him,
This is what your son Joseph says: God has
made me lord of all E
gypt. Come down to me;
dont delay. 10You shall live in the reg ion of
Goshen and be near meyou, your children
and grandchildren, your f locks and herds, and
all you have. 11I will prov ide for you there, be

cause five years of famine are still to come.

Otherw ise you and your household and all
who belong to you will become destit ute.
12You can see for your
selves, and so can
my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who
am speaking to you. 13Tell my father about
all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about
everyt hing you have seen. And b
ring my fa
ther down here quickly.
14Then he
t hrew his arms
a round his
brother Benjam in and wept, and Benjam in
embraced him, weeping. 15And he k issed all
his brothers and wept over them. Afterward
his brothers talked with him.
16When the news reached Pharaohs palace
that Josephs brothers had come, Pharaoh and
all his off icials were p
leased. 17Pharaoh said
to Joseph, Tell your brothers, Do this: Load
your animals and return to the land of Ca
naan, 18and b
ring your fat her and your fam
ilies back to me. I will give you the best of
the land of E
gypt and you can enjoy the fat
of the land.
19You are also directed to tell them, Do
this: Take some carts from E
gypt for your
child ren and your w ives, and get your fat her
and come. 20Never mind a bout your belong
ings, because the best of all Egypt will be
yours.
21So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave
them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and
he also gave them prov isions for their journey.
22To each of them he gave new clothing, but
to Benjamin he gave three hund red shekelsb
of silver and five sets of clothes. 23And this is
what he sent to his father: ten donkeys loaded
with the best t hings of Egypt, and ten female
donkeys loaded with grain and b
read and oth
er prov isions for his journey. 24Then he sent
his brothers away, and as they were leaving he
said to them, Dont quarrel on the way!
25So they went up out of E
gypt and came
to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.
26They told him, Joseph is still a live! In fact,
he is ruler of all Egypt. Jacob was stunned;
he did not believe them. 27But when they told
him everything Joseph had said to them, and
when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carr y
him back, the spirit of t heir fat her Jacob re

a7Orsave you as a great band of survivors b22 That is, about 71/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms

79
vived. 28And Israel said, Im conv inced! My
son Joseph is still a live. I will go and see him
before I die.
Jacob Goes to Egypt

46

So Israel set out with all that was

his, and when he reached Beersheba,
he offered sacr if ices to the God of his father
Isaac.
2And God s
poke to Israel in a vision at
night and said, Jacob! Jacob!
Here I am, he replied.
3I am God, the God of your fa
t her, he
said. Do not be a fraid to go down to Egypt,
for I will make you into a g reat nation there.
4I will go down to E
gypt with you, and I will
surely bring you back again. And Josephs own
hand will close your eyes.
5Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Isr ae ls
sons took their father Jacob and their chil
dren and their w ives in the carts that Pharaoh
had sent to transport him. 6So Jacob and all
his offspring went to Egypt, taking with them
their livestock and the possessions they had ac
quired in Canaan. 7Jacob brought with him to
Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daugh
ters and granddaughters a ll his offspring.
8These

are the names of the sons of Isra

el (Jacob and his descendants) who went to
Egypt:
Reuben the firstborn of Jacob.
9 The sons of Reuben:
Hanok, Pallu, Hezron and Karmi.
10 The sons of Simeon:
Jemuel, Jam in, Ohad, Ja k in, Zohar
and Shau l the son of a Can aanite
woman.
11 The sons of Levi:
Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
12 The sons of Judah:
Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah
(but Er and Onan had died in the land
of Canaan).
The sons of Perez:
Hezron and Hamul.

DAY 23

13 The sons of Issachar:

Tola, Puah,a Jashub b and Shimron.
14 The sons of Zebu lun:
Sered, Elon and Jahleel.
15These were the sons Leah bore to Jacob
in Paddan Aram,c besides his daughter Dinah.
These sons and daughters of his were thirt y-
three in all.
16 The sons of Gad:
Zephon, d Hagg i, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri,
Arodi and Areli.
17 The sons of Asher:
Imnah, Ishvah, Ishv i and Beriah.
Their sister was Serah.
The sons of Beriah:
Heber and Malk iel.
18These were the child ren born to Jacob by
Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daugh
ter Leahsixteen in all.
19 The sons of Jacobs wife Rachel:
Jos eph and Benjam in. 20In Egypt,
Manasseh and Ephraim were born
to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Po
tiphera, priest of On.e
21
The sons of Benjamin:
Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman,
Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and
Ard.
22These were the sons of Rac hel who were
born to Jacobfourteen in all.
23 The son of Dan:
Hushim.
24 The sons of Naphtali:
Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem.
25These were the sons born to Jacob by Bil
hah, whom Laban had given to his daughter
Rachel seven in all.
26All those who went to Egypt with Jacob
those who were his direct descendants, not
counting his sons w ives numbered six t ysix persons. 27With the two sonsf who had
been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members
of Jacobs family, w
hich went to Egypt, were
sevent y g in all.

a13 Samaritan Pentateuch and Syriac (see also 1Chron. 7:1); Masoretic Text Puvah b13Samaritan

Pentateuch and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also Num. 26:24 and 1Chron. 7:1); Masoretic Text Iob
c15 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia d16 Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint (see also Num. 26:15);
Masoretic Text Ziphion e20That is, Heliopolis f27 Hebrew; Septuagint the nine children
g27 Hebrew (see also Exodus 1:5 and note); Septuagint (see also Acts 7:14) seventy-five

DAY 23

80

28Now Jacob sent Judah a

head of him to Jo
seph to get directions to Goshen. When they
arrived in the region of Goshen, 29Joseph had
his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to
meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph ap
peared before him, he threw his arms a round
his father a and wept for a long time.
30Israel said to Joseph, Now I am ready to
die, since I have seen for myself that you are
still alive.
31Then Joseph said to his brothers and to
his fathers household, I will go up and speak
to Pharaoh and will say to him, My brothers
and my fathers household, who were living in
the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32The
men are shepherds; they tend livestock, and
they have brought a long their f locks and herds
and everything they own. 33When Pharaoh
calls you in and asks, What is your occupa
tion? 34you should answer, Your serv ants
have tended livestock from our boyhood on,
just as our fat hers did. Then you will be al
lowed to settle in the reg ion of Goshen, for
all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.
Joseph went and told Pharaoh, My
father and brothers, with their f locks
and h
erds and everything they own, have
come from the land of Canaan and are now in
Goshen. 2He chose five of his brothers and
presented them before Pharaoh.
3Pharaoh asked the brothers, What is your
occupation?
Your servants are shepherds, they replied
to Pharaoh, just as our fathers were. 4They
also said to him, We have come to live here
for a w
hile, because the famine is severe in
Canaan and your servants f locks have no pas
ture. So now, please let your servants sett le in
Goshen.
5Pharaoh said to Joseph, Your fat her and
your brothers have come to you, 6and the land
of Egypt is before you; sett le your father and
your brothers in the best part of the land. Let
them live in Goshen. And if you know of any
among them with special abilit y, put them in
charge of my own livestock.
7Then Jo
seph brought his father Jacob in
and presented him before Pharaoh. After Ja

47

cob blessed b Pharaoh, 8Pharaoh asked him,

How old are you?
9And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The years of
my pilg rimage are a hund red and thirt y. My
years have been few and diff icult, and they do
not equal the years of the pilg rimage of my
fat hers. 10Then Jacob blessed c Pharaoh and
went out from his presence.
11So Joseph sett led his fat her and his broth
ers in Egypt and gave them propert y in the
best part of the land, the district of Rameses,
as Pharaoh directed. 12Joseph also prov ided
his father and his brothers and all his fathers
household with food, according to the number
of their children.

MATTHEW 16:116:20
The Demand for a Sign

16

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to

Jesus and tested him by asking him to
show them a sign from heaven.
2He re
plied, When even ing comes, you
say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,
3and in the morning, Today it will be stormy,
for the sky is red and overcast. You know how
to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you
cannot interpret the signs of the times.d 4A
wicked and adulterous generation looks for a
sign, but none will be given it except the sign
of Jonah. Jesus then left them and went away.
The Yeast of the Pharisees
and Sadducees
5When they went across the lake, the disc i
ples forgot to take b
read. 6Be caref ul, Jesus
said to them. Be on your g uard a gainst the
yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
7They dis
c ussed this a mong themselves
and said, It is because we d idnt bring any
bread.
8Aware of t heir disc uss ion, Jesus a sked,
You of little faith, why are you talking
among yourselves about having no bread? 9Do
you still not understand? D
ont you remem
ber the five loaves for the five thousand, and
how many basketf uls you gathered? 10Or the
seven loaves for the four thousand, and how

a29Hebrew around him b7Orgreeted c10Orsaid farewell to d2,3 Some early manuscripts do

not have When evening comes... of the times.

DAY 23

81
many basketf uls you gathered? 11How is it you
dont understand that I was not talking to you
about bread? But be on your g uard against the
yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 12Then
they understood that he was not telling them
to g uard against the y east used in bread, but
against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sad
ducees.
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
13When Jesus came to the reg ion of Caesa
rea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do
people say the Son of Manis?
14They replied, Some say John the Bapt ist;
others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or
one of the prophets.
15But what
about you? he asked. Who
do you say Iam?
16Simon Peter ans wered, You are the Mes
siah, the Son of the living God.
17Jesus re
plied, Blessed are you, Simon
son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you
by f lesh and blood, but by my Father in heav
en. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,a and
on this rock I will b
uild my c hurch, and the
gates of Hades b will not overcome it. 19I will
give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
whatever you bind on earth will bec bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will
bec loosed in heaven. 20Then he ordered his
disc iples not to tell anyone that he was the
Messiah.

PSALM 14:114:7
Psalm 14
For the director of music.
OfDavid.

3 All have turned away, all have become

corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.
4 Do all these evildoers know nothing?
They devour my people as though eating
bread;
they never call on the Lord.
5 But there they are, overwhelmed with
dread,
for God is present in the company of the
righteous.
6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the
poor,
but the Lord is their refuge.
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come
out of Zion!
When the Lord restores his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

REWIND
Genesis 45:147:12;
Matthew 16:120; Psalm 14

FIGURE OUT WHO GOD REALLY IS.

Josephs brothers get the surprise of their lives
in Genesis 4547 when their long-lost sibling
reveals his identity. Famous words recorded
in Matthew 16 show that, unlike the masses,
Peter recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, the Son
of God. But the fool of Psalm 14 doesnt bother
to figure out anything. He dismisses the Lord as
unreal or irrelevant and refuses to rethink his
conclusion. God is the one who sees us from
heaven. Hes the one who saves.
D

1 The foold says in his heart,

There is no God.
They are corrupt, their deeds are
vile;
there is no one who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
a18 The Greek word for Peter means rock. b18 That is, the realm of the dead c19 Orwill have been
d1 TheHebrew words rendered fool in Psalms denote one who is morally deficient.

DAY 24

82

day24
GENESIS 47:1348:22
Joseph and the Famine
13There was no food, however, in the w
hole
reg ion because the famine was severe; both
Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of
the famine. 14Joseph col lected all the money
that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in
payment for the g rain they were buying, and
he brought it to Pharaohs palace. 15When the
mone y of the people of E
gypt and Canaan
was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said,
Give us food. Why should we die before your
eyes? Our money is all gone.
16Then b
ring your livestock, said Joseph.
I will sell you food in exchange for your live
stock, since your money is gone. 17So they
brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave
them food in exchange for their horses, their
sheep and goats, their cattle and donk eys.
And he brought them through that year with
food in exchange for all their livestock.
18When that year was over, they came to
him the following year and said, We can
not hide from our lord the fact that since
our money is gone and our livestock belongs
to you, there is nothing left for our lord ex
cept our bodies and our land. 19Why should
we perish before your eyeswe and our land
as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for
food, and we with our land will be in bondage
to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live
and not die, and that the land may not become
desolate.
20So Jos eph bought all the land in E
gypt
for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold
their f ields, because the famine was too severe
for them. The land became Pharaohs, 21and
Joseph reduced the people to serv it ude, a from
one end of Egypt to the other. 22However, he
did not buy the land of the priests, because
they received a regu lar allotment from Phar
aoh and had food enough from the allotment

Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not

sell their land.
23Jo
s eph said to the people, Now that
I have bought you and your land today for
Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant
the g round. 24But when the crop c omes in,
give a f ifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-
fifths you may keep as seed for the f ields and
as food for yourselves and your households
and your children.
25You have s
aved our lives, they said.
May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we
will be in bondage to Pharaoh.
26So Joseph establ ished it as a law concern
ing land in Egypt still in force today that
a f ifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It
was only the land of the priests that did not
become Pharaohs.
27Now the Israelites sett led in Egypt in the
reg ion of Goshen. They acquired proper t y
there and were fruitf ul and increased greatly
in number.
28Jacob l ived in Egypt seventeen years, and
the years of his life were a hundred and fort yseven. 29When the time drew near for Israel
to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to
him, If I have found favor in your eyes, put
your hand under my thigh and promise that
you will show me kindness and faithf ulness.
Do not bury me in Egypt, 30but when I rest
with my fathers, carr y me out of Egypt and
bury me where they are buried.
I will do as you say, he said.
31Swear to me, he said. Then Jo
s eph
swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he
leaned on the top of his staff.b
Manasseh and Ephraim

48

Some time later Joseph was told,

Your father is ill. So he took his two
sons Manasseh and Ephraim a long with him.
2When Jacob was told, Your son Joseph has
come to you, Israel rallied his strength and
sat up on the bed.
3Jacob said to Joseph, God Alm ightyc ap
peared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan,
and there he blessed me 4and said to me, I
am going to make you fruitful and inc rease

a21 Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint (see also Vulgate); Masoretic Text and he moved the people into
the cities b31OrIsrael bowed down at the head of his bed c3Hebrew El-Shaddai

DAY 24

83
your numbers. I will make you a commun i
ty of peoples, and I will give this land as an
everlasting possession to your descendants af
ter you.
5Now then, your two sons born to you in
Egypt before I came to you here will be reck
oned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be
mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
6Any chil
d ren born to you after them will
be yours; in the territor y they inherit they will
be reckoned under the names of their broth
ers. 7As I was ret urning from Paddan,a to my
sorrow Rac hel died in the land of Canaan
while we were s till on the way, a litt le distance
from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the
road to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
8When Is
rael saw the sons of Joseph, he
asked, Who are these?
9They are the sons God has giv
en me
here, Joseph said to his father.
Then Israel said, Bring them to me so I
may bless them.
10Now Israels eyes were failing because of
old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph
brought his sons c lose to him, and his father
k issed them and embraced them.
11Israel said to Joseph, I never expected to
see your face again, and now God has allowed
me to see your children too.
12Then Jo
seph removed them from Isra
els k nees and b
owed down with his face to
the g round.13And Joseph took both of them,
Ephraim on his right toward Israels left hand
and Manasseh on his left toward Israels right
hand, and brought them c lose to him. 14But
Israel reached out his right hand and put it on
Ephraims head, t hough he was the younger,
and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on
Manassehs head, even though Manasseh was
the firstborn.
15Then he blessed Joseph and said,
May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,
the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day,
16 the Angel who has delivered me from all
harm
may he bless these boys.

May they be called by my name

and the names of my fathers Abraham
and Isaac,
and may they increase greatly
on the earth.
17When

Joseph saw his father placing his

right hand on Ephraims head he was dis
pleased; so he took hold of his fathers hand to
move it from Ephraims head to Manassehs
head. 18Joseph said to him, No, my father,
this one is the firstborn; put your r ight hand
on his head.
19But his fat her ref used and said, I know,
my son, I know. He too will become a people,
and he too will become g reat. Nevertheless,
his younger brother will be greater than he,
and his descendants will become a g roup of
nations. 20He blessed them that day and said,
In yourb name will Israel pronounce this
blessing:
May God make you like Ephraim and
Manasseh.
So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
21Then Israel said to Joseph, I am about to
die, but God will be with youc and take youc
back to the land of yourc fathers. 22And to you
I give one more ridge of landd than to your
brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites
with my sword and my bow.

MATTHEW 16:2117:13
Jesus Predicts His Death
21From

that time on Jesus began to explain

to his disciples that he must go to Jer usalem
and suffer many things at the hands of the
elders, the c hief priests and the teachers of
the law, and that he must be k illed and on the
third day be raised to life.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke
him. Never, Lord! he said. This shall never
happen to you!
23Jesus t urned and said to Peter, Get be
hind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to
me; you do not have in mind the concerns of
God, but merely human concerns.
24Then J esus said to his disciples, W hoever

a7 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia b20TheHebrew is singular. c21 TheHebrew is plural.

d22 TheHebrew for ridge of land is identical with the place name Shechem.

DAY 24

84

ants to be my disciple must deny themselves

w
and take up their c ross and follow me. 25For
whoever wants to save their lifea will lose it,
but whoever loses their life for me will find
it. 26What good will it be for someone to gain
the w
hole w
orld, yet forfeit their soul? Or
what can anyone give in exc hange for their
soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come
in his Fathers glor y with his angels, and then
he will reward each person according to what
they have done.
28Truly I tell you, some who are standing
here will not taste d
eath before they see the
Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
The Transfiguration

17

After six days Jesus took with him

Peter, James and John the brother of
James, and led them up a high mountain by
themselves. 2There he was transf igu red be
fore them. His face shone like the sun, and
his clothes became as white as the light. 3Just
then there appeared before them Moses and
Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4Pe
ter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for
us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three
sheltersone for you, one for Moses and one
for Elijah.
5While he was s
till speaking, a bright cloud
covered them, and a voice from the cloud said,
This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am
well pleased. Listen to him!
6When the dis
c iples heard this, they fell
facedown to the g round, terrif ied. 7But Jesus
came and touched them. Get up, he said.
Dont be afraid. 8When they looked up, they
saw no one except Jesus.
9As they were coming down the mountain,
Jesus instructed them, Dont tell anyone what
you have seen, until the Son of Man has been
raised from the dead.
10The disc iples a sked him, Why then do
the teachers of the law say that Elijah must
come first?
11Jesus replied, To be sure, Elijah comes
and will restore all things. 12But I tell you,
Elijah has already come, and they did not rec
ognize him, but have done to him everything
they w ished. In the same way the Son of Man

is going to suffer at their hands. 13Then the

disc iples understood that he was talking to
them about John the Baptist.

PROVERBS 3:13:10
Wisdom Bestows Well-Being

My son, do not forget my teaching,

but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own
understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.b
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10 then your barns will be filled to
overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new
wine.

REWIND
Genesis 47:1348:22;
Matthew 16:2117:13;
Proverbs 3:110

EVERYONE HAS TO TRUST.

In Genesis 4748 old Jacob stands before
Pharaoh, hoping for kindness from the most
powerful man on earth. In Matthew 1617
Jesus foresees his own tortured suffering and
death, then gets strength from his Fathers
words to face what lies ahead. Proverbs 3 tells
you how to trust God right now. You count on
God wholeheartedly, more than you rely on

a25 TheGreek word means either life or soul; also in verse26. b6Orwill direct your paths

85
your own insights. When you trust yourself to
his will, he makes your paths straight.
D

day25
GENESIS 49:150:26
Jacob Blesses His Sons

DAY 25

9 You are a lions cub, Judah;

you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lionesswho dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the rulers staff from between his
feet,c
until he to whom it belongsd shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall
be his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.e

49

13 Zebulun will live by the seashore

and become a haven for ships;
his border will extend toward Sidon.

2 Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;

listen to your father Israel.

14 Issachar is a rawbonedf donkey

lying down among the sheep pens.g
15 When he sees how good is his resting place
and how pleasant is his land,
he will bend his shoulder to the burden
and submit to forced labor.

Then Jacob called for his sons and

said: Gather a round so I can tell you
what will happen to you in days to come.

3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,

my might, the first sign of my strength,
excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer
excel,
for you went up onto your fathers bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers
their swordsa are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
8 Judah,b

your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck of your
enemies;
your fathers sons will bow down to you.

16 Danh will provide justice for his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a snake by the roadside,
a viper along the path,
that bites the horses heels
so that its rider tumbles backward.
18 I look for your deliverance, Lord.
19 Gadi will be attacked by a band of raiders,
but he will attack them at their heels.
20 Ashers food will be rich;
he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
21 Naphtali is a doe set free
that bears beautiful fawns.j
22 Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.k

a5 Themeaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. b8 Judah sounds like and may be derived
from the Hebrew for praise. c10Orfrom his descendants d10Orto whom tribute belongs; the meaning
of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. e12Orwill be dull from wine, / his teeth white from milk
f14Orstrong g14Orthe campfires; or the saddlebags h16 Dan here means he provides justice.
i19 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for attack and also for band of raiders. j21Orfree; / he utters
beautiful words k22OrJoseph is a wild colt, / a wild colt near a spring, / a wild donkey on a terraced hill

DAY 25

86

23 With bitterness archers attacked him;

they shot at him with hostility.
24 But his bow remained steady,
his strong arms stayeda limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of
Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of
Israel,
25 because of your fathers God, who helps
you,
because of the Almighty,b who blesses
you
with blessings of the skies above,
blessings of the deep springs below,
blessings of the breast and womb.
26 Your fathers blessings are greater
than the blessings of the ancient
mountains,
c the bounty of the age-old
than
hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince amongd his
brothers.
27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the plunder.
28All

t hese are the t welve t ribes of Israel,

and this is what their father said to them when
he blessed them, giving each the blessing ap
propriate to him.
The Death of Jacob
29Then he gave them t hese instruct ions: I
am about to be gathered to my people. Bury
me with my fathers in the cave in the f ield of
Ephron the Hittite, 30the cave in the f ield of
Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which
Abraham bought a long with the field as a
buria l place from Ephron the Hittite. 31There
Abraham and his wife Sara h were buried,
there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried,
and there I buried Leah. 32The f ield and the
cave in it were bought from the Hittites.e
33When Jacob had finished giving instruc
tions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the
bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his
people.

50

Joseph threw himself on his father

and wept over him and k issed him.
2Then Jo
seph directed the physic ians in his
serv ice to embalm his father Israel. So the
physicians embalmed him, 3taking a full fort y
days, for that was the time required for em
balming. And the Egyptians mourned for
him sevent y days.
4When the days of mourning had passed,
Joseph said to Pharaohs court, If I have
found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for
me. Tell him, 5My father made me swear an
oath and said, I am about to die; bury me in
the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Ca
naan. Now let me go up and bury my father;
then I will ret urn.
6Phar
aoh said, Go up and bury your fa
ther, as he made you swear todo.
7So Joseph went up to bury his fat her. All
Pharaohs off ic ials accompan ied him t he
dign itaries of his c ourt and all the dign itar
ies of Egypt 8besides all the members of
Josephs household and his brothers and those
belonging to his fathers household. Only
their children and t heir f locks and herds were
left in Goshen. 9Chariots and horsemen f also
went up with him. It was a very large com
pany.
10When they reached the threshing f loor
of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loud
ly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a
seven-day per iod of mourning for his fat her.
11When the Canaanites who lived t here saw
the mourning at the threshing f loor of Atad,
they said, The Egypt ians are holding a sol
emn ceremony of mourning. That is why
that place near the Jordan is called Abel Miz
raim.g
12So Jacobs sons did as he had commanded
them: 13They carried him to the land of Ca
naan and buried him in the cave in the f ield
of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham
had b
ought a long with the field as a buria l
place from Ephron the Hittite. 14After bury
ing his fat her, Joseph ret urned to E
gypt, to
gether with his brothers and all the others
who had gone with him to bury his father.

a23,24Orarchers will attack... will shoot... will remain... will stay b25Hebrew Shaddai c26Orof
my progenitors, / as great as d26Orof the one separated from e32Orthe descendants of Heth
f9Orcharioteers g11 Abel Mizraim means mourning of the Egyptians.

87
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
15When

Josephs brothers saw that their

father was dead, they said, What if Joseph
holds a g rudge against us and pays us back
for all the w rongs we did to him? 16So they
sent word to Joseph, saying, Your father left
t hese instruct ions before he died: 17This is
what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to
forgive your brothers the sins and the w rongs
they committed in treating you so badly. Now
please forg ive the sins of the servants of the
God of your father. When their message
came to him, Joseph wept.
18His brothers then came and t hrew them
selves down before him. We are your slaves,
they said.
19But Joseph said to them, Dont be a fraid.
AmI in the place of God? 20You intended to
harm me, but God intended it for good to ac
complish what is now being done, the saving
of many lives. 21So then, dont be a fraid. I will
prov ide for you and your children. And he re
assured them and spoke kindly to them.
The Death of Joseph
22Jo
seph stayed in Egypt, a long with all
his fathers family. He lived a hund red and
ten years 23and saw the third generation of
Ephraims children. Also the children of Ma
kir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on
Josephs knees. a
24Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am
about to die. But God will surely come to your
aid and take you up out of this land to the
land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob. 25And Joseph made the Israelites
swear an oath and said, God will surely come
to your aid, and then you must carr y my bones
up from this place.
26So Jo
seph died at the age of a hund red
and ten. And after they embalmed him, he
was placed in a coff in in Egypt.

DAY 25

zures and is suffering greatly. He often falls

into the fire or into the water. 16I brought him
to your disciples, but they c ould not heal him.
17You unb el iev i ng and per v erse genera
tion, Jesus replied, how long shall I stay with
you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring
the boy here to me. 18Jesus rebuked the de
mon, and it came out of the boy, and he was
healed at that moment.
19Then the disciples came to J esus in private
and asked, Why couldnt we drive it out?
20He re
plied, Because you have so lit
tle faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as
small as a mustard seed, you can say to this
mountain, Move from here to there, and it
will move. Nothing will be imp ossible for
you. [21]b
Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time
22When they came together in Galilee, he
said to them, The Son of Man is going to
be delivered into the h
ands of men. 23They
will kill him, and on the third day he will be
raised to life. And the disc iples were f illed
with grief.

The Temple Tax

MATTHEW 17:1418:9

24Af
ter Jesus and his disc iples arrived in
Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drach
ma temple tax came to Peter and asked,
Doesnt your teacher pay the temple tax?
25Yes, he does, he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was
the f irst to speak. What do you think, Si
mon? he asked. From whom do the k ings of
the earth collect duty and taxesfrom their
own children or from others?
26From others, Peter ans wered.
Then the children are exempt, J esus said
to him. 27But so that we may not c ause of
fense, go to the lake and throw out your line.
Take the f irst fish you catch; open its mouth
and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take
it and give it to them for my tax and yours.

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy

The Greatest in the Kingdom ofHeaven

14When

they came to the crowd, a man ap

proached Jesus and k nelt before him. 15Lord,
have merc y on my son, he said. He has sei

18

At that time the disc iples came to

Jesus and asked, Who, then, is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

a23 That is, were counted as his b21 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark9:29.

DAY 26

88

2He called a litt le c

hild to him, and placed
the c hild among them. 3And he said: Truly
I tell you, unless you change and become like
litt le children, you will never enter the king
dom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever takes the
lowly position of this child is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever welcomes
one such child in my name welcomes me.

5 who lends money to the poor without

interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the
innocent.

Causing to Stumble

Genesis 4950; Matthew 17:1418:9;

Psalm 15

6If

any
one caus
e s one of these lit
t le
onesthose who believe in meto stum
ble, it would be better for them to have a large
millstone hung a round their neck and to be
drowned in the d
epths of the sea. 7Woe to the
world because of the things that cause people
to stumble! Such things must come, but woe
to the person through whom they come! 8If
your hand or your foot causes you to stum
ble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better
for you to enter life m
aimed or crippled than
to have two hands or two feet and be thrown
into eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you
to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It
is better for you to enter life with one eye than
to have two eyes and be t hrown into the fire
of hell.

Whoever does these things

will never be shaken.

REWIND

BE BLAMELESS.
Jacob unleashes harsh words in Genesis 4950,
making a last blessing of his sons into a diary
of their sins and the consequences that will befall them. Jesus speaks blunt truth in Matthew
1718, saying its better to be thrown into the
sea with a large millstone around your neck
than to trip people up. Aim to be the person
David describes in Psalm 15, someone who
walks with God consistently. That person wont
be shaken.
D

PSALM 15:115:5
Psalm 15
A psalm ofDavid.

1 Lord, who may dwell in your sacred

tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
2 The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their
heart;
3 whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbor,
and casts no slur on others;
4 who despises a vile person
but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;

day26
EXODUS 1:13:22

The Israelites Oppressed

These are the names of the sons of Israel

who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with
his family: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah;
3Issac har, Zebu lun and Benjam in; 4Dan and
Naphta l i; Gad and Asher. 5The descendants
of Jacob numbered sevent y a in all; Joseph was
already in Egypt.
6Now Jo
seph and all his brothers and all

a5 Masoretic Text (see also Gen. 46:27); Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint (see also Acts 7:14 and note at

Gen. 46:27) seventy-five

89
that generation died, 7but the Israel ites were
exceed ingly fruit f ul; they mult iplied great ly,
increased in numbers and became so numer
ous that the land was f illed with them.
8Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant
nothing, came to power in E
gypt. 9Look, he
said to his people, the Israelites have become
far too numerous for us. 10Come, we must
deal shrewdly with them or they will become
even more numerous and, if war b
reaks out,
will join our enem ies, fight a gainst us and
leave the country.
11So they put
slave masters over them to
oppress them with forced labor, and they built
Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Phar
aoh. 12But the more they were oppressed, the
more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyp
tians came to dread the Israelites 13and worked
them ruthlessly. 14They made their lives bitter
with h
arsh labor in brick and mortar and with
all k inds of work in the f ields; in all their harsh
labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
15The king of
Egypt said to the Hebrew
midw ives, whose names were Shiphrah and
Puah, 16When you are helping the Hebrew
women during childbirth on the delivery stool,
if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if
it is a girl, let her live. 17The midw ives, how
ever, f eared God and did not do what the king
of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys
live. 18Then the king of Egypt summoned the
midw ives and asked them, Why have you
done this? Why have you let the boys live?
19The midw ives ans wered Pharaoh, He
brew women are not like Egyptian women;
they are vigorous and give b
irth before the
midw ives arrive.
20So God was kind to the midw ives and the
people inc reased and became even more nu
merous. 21And because the midw ives feared
God, he gave them families of their own.
22Then Phar
aoh gave this order to all his
people: Every Hebrew boy that is born you
must t hrow into the Nile, but let every girl live.
The Birth of Moses

Now a man of the tribe of Levi married

a Lev ite woman, 2and she became preg
nant and gave birth to a son. When she saw

DAY 26

that he was a fine child, she hid him for three

months. 3But when she could hide him no
longer, she got a papyr us basketa for him and
coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed
the c hild in it and put it a mong the reeds
a long the bank of the Nile. 4His sister stood
at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5Then Phar
aohs daughter went down to
the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were
walking a long the riverbank. She saw the bas
ket among the reeds and sent her female slave
to get it. 6She opened it and saw the baby. He
was crying, and she felt sorr y for him. This is
one of the Hebrew babies, she said.
7Then his sister asked Pharaohs daughter,
Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women
to nurse the baby for you?
8Yes, go, she ans wered. So the girl went
and got the babys mother. 9Pharaohs daugh
ter said to her, Take this baby and nurse him
for me, and I will pay you. So the woma n
took the baby and nursed him. 10When the
child grew older, she took him to Pharaohs
daughter and he became her son. She named
him Moses, b saying, I drew him out of the
water.
Moses Flees to Midian
11One day, after Moses had g rown up, he
went out to w
here his own people were and
watched them at their hard labor. He saw an
Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own
people. 12Looking this way and that and see
ing no one, he k illed the Egyptian and hid
him in the sand. 13The next day he went out
and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the
one in the w rong, Why are you hitting your
fellow Hebrew?
14The man said, Who made you ruler and
judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me
as you k illed the Egyptian? Then Moses was
a fraid and thought, What I did must have
become known.
15When Pharaoh heard of this, he t ried to
kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and
went to live in Midian, where he sat down by
a well. 16Now a priest of Midia n had seven
daughters, and they came to draw water and
fill the troughs to water their fathers f lock.

a3 TheHebrew can also mean ark, as in Gen.6:14. b10 Moses sounds like the Hebrew for draw out.

DAY 26

90

17Some

shepherds came a long and d

rove them
away, but Moses got up and came to their res
cue and watered their flock.
18When the
g irls returned to Reuel their
father, he a sked them, Why have you re
turned so early today?
19They ans wered, An Egypt ian resc ued us
from the shepherds. He even drew water for
us and watered the flock.
20And
w here is he? Reu
e l asked his
daughters. Why did you leave him? Inv ite
him to have something to eat.
21Moses agreed to stay with the man, who
gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in mar
riage. 22Zipp orah gave birth to a son, and
Moses named him Gershom, a saying, I have
become a foreigner in a foreign land.
23Dur
i ng that long perio d, the king of
Egypt died. The Israel ites g roaned in t heir
slavery and c ried out, and their cry for help
because of their slavery went up to God.
24God heard their groaning and he remem
bered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac
and with Jacob. 25So God looked on the Isra
elites and was concerned about them.
Moses and the Burning Bush

Now Moses was tending the flock of

Jethro his father-in-law, the p
riest of
Midia n, and he led the f lock to the far side
of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the
mountain of God. 2There the angel of the
Lord appeared to him in f lames of fire from
within a bush. Moses saw that though the
bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3So Moses
t hought, I will go over and see this s trange
sightwhy the bush does not burnup.
4When the Lord saw that he had gone
over to look, God called to him from within
the bush, Moses! Moses!
And Moses said, Here Iam.
5Do not come any closer, God said. Take
off your sandals, for the place where you are
standing is holy ground. 6Then he said, I am
the God of your father,b the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. At
this, Moses hid his face, because he was a fraid
to look at God.

7The Lord said, I have in

deed seen the
misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard
them crying out because of their slave drivers,
and I am concerned a bout their suffering. 8So I
have come down to rescue them from the hand
of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of
that land into a good and spacious land, a land
flowing with milk and honeythe home of
the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Hiv ites and Jebusites. 9And now the cry of the
Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the
way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10So
now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to b
ring
my people the Israelites out of Egypt.
11But Moses said to God, Who am I that I
should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites
out of Egypt?
12And God said, I will be with you. And
this will be the sign to you that it is I who have
sent you: When you have b
rought the people
out of Egypt, youc will worship God on this
mountain.
13Moses said to God, Suppose I go to the
Israelites and say to them, The God of your
fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me,
What is his name? Then what shall I tell
them?
14God said to Mo
ses, I am who I am.d
This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I
am has sent me to you.
15God also said to Moses, Say to the Isra
elites, The Lord,e the God of your fathers
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and
the God of Jacobhas sent me to you.

This is my name forever,

the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.
16Go, as
semble the elders of Israel and
say to them, The Lord, the God of your
fathersthe God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacobapp eared to me and said: I have
watched over you and have seen what has been
done to you in Egypt. 17And I have promised
to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt
into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Am
or ites, Per izzites, Hiv ites and Jebusites a
land flowing with milk and honey.

a22 Gershom sounds like the Hebrew for a foreigner there. b6 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch (see
Acts 7:32) fathers c12TheHebrew is plural. d14OrI will be what I will be e15TheHebrew

for Lord sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for I am in verse14.

DAY 26

91
18The el
ders of Israel will listen to you.
Then you and the elders are to go to the king
of Egypt and say to him, The Lord, the God
of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take
a three-day journey into the wilderness to of
fer sacr if ices to the Lord our God. 19But I
know that the king of E
gypt will not let you
go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20So I
will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyp
tians with all the wonders that I will perform
among them. After that, he will let yougo.
21And I will make the Egypt ians favorably
disposed toward this people, so that when you
leave you will not go empt y-handed. 22Every
woman is to ask her neighbor and any wom
an living in her house for articles of silver and
gold and for clothing, which you will put on
your sons and daughters. And so you will
plunder the Egyptians.

MATTHEW 18:1018:35
The Parable of the Wandering Sheep
10See that you do not despise one of t hese
litt le ones. For I tell you that t heir angels in
heaven always see the face of my Father in
heaven. [11]a
12What do you
t hink? If a man owns a
hund red sheep, and one of them wanders
away, will he not leave the ninet y-nine on the
hills and go to look for the one that wandered
off? 13And if he f inds it, truly I tell you, he is
happier about that one s heep than about the
ninet y-nine that did not wander off. 14In the
same way your Father in heaven is not willing
that any of these litt le ones should perish.

Dealing With Sin in the Church

15If your broth
er or sisterb sins,c go and
oint out their fault, just bet ween the two of
p
you. If they listen to you, you have won them
over. 16But if they will not listen, take one or
two others a long, so that every matter may be
established by the test imony of two or t hree
witnesses. d 17If they s till refuse to listen, tell
it to the c hurch; and if they refuse to listen

even to the church, treat them as you would a

pagan or a tax collector.
18Tru
ly I tell you, whatever you bind on
earth will bee bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth will bee loosed in heaven.
19Again, truly I tell you that if two of you
on e arth a gree about anything they ask for, it
will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
20For where two or t hree gather in my name,
there am I with them.
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21Then

Peter came to Jesus and asked,

Lord, how many times shall I forg ive my
brother or sister who sins against me? Up to
seven times?
22Jesus an
s wered, I tell you, not seven
times, but sevent y-seven times. f
23Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like
a king who wanted to sett le accounts with his
ser vants. 24As he began the sett lement, a man
who owed him ten thousand bags of goldg was
brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay,
the master ordered that he and his wife and
his children and all that he had be sold to re
pay the debt.
26At this the servant fell on his k
nees be
fore him. Be patient with me, he begged,
and I will pay back everything. 27The ser
vants master took pity on him, canceled the
debt and let himgo.
28But when that ser
v ant went out, he
found one of his fellow servants who owed
him a hundred silver coins.h He grabbed him
and began to choke him. Pay back what you
owe me! he demanded.
29His fellow serv ant fell to his k nees and
begged him, Be pat ient with me, and I will
pay it back.
30But he ref used. Instead, he went off and
had the man thrown into prison until he could
pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw
what had happened, they were outraged and
went and told their master everything that
had happened.
32Then the mas
ter c alled the servant in.

a11 Some manuscripts include here the words of Luke19:10. b15 The Greek word for brother or sister
(adelphos) refers here to a fellow disciple, whether man or woman; also in verses 21 and 35. c15Some
manuscripts sins against you d16Deut.19:15 e18 Orwill have been f22Orseventy times seven
g24Greekten thousand talents; a talent was worth about 20years of a day laborers wages. h28Greeka

hundred denarii; a denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer (see 20:2).

DAY 27

92

You wicked servant, he said, I canceled all

that debt of yours because you begged me to.
33Shouldnt you have had merc y on your fel
low servant just as I had on you? 34In anger
his master handed him over to the jailers to be
tort ured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35This is how my heav
enly Father will
treat each of you unless you forg ive your
brother or sister from your heart.

PSALM 16:116:11
Psalm 16
A miktama ofDavid.

1 Keep me safe, my God,

for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.
3 I say of the holy people who are in the
land,
They are the noble ones in whom is all
my delight.
4 Those who run after other gods will suffer
more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to
such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my
cup;
you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in
pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who
counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not
be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue
rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the
realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithfulb one see
decay.

11 You make known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your
presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right
hand.

REWIND
Exodus 13; Matthew 18:1035;
Psalm 16

GOD COMES TO THE RESCUE.

Exodus 13 begins one of the most famous
sagas of the ancient world, the Lord freeing his
people from slavery in Egypt. Matthew 18 contains one of the Bibles most tender pictures, a
shepherd searching for a lost lamb until he happily brings it home. That same chapter offers
you the Lords solid help for reconnecting with
friends after a fight. And Psalm 16 is a classic
song of looking to God for a hand. Pray those
words and make them your own.
D

day27
EXODUS 4:16:12
Signs for Moses

Moses ans wered, What if they do not

believe me or listen to me and say, The
Lord did not appear to you?
2Then the Lord said to him, What is that
in your hand?
A staff, he replied.
3The Lord said, Throw it on the ground.
Moses threw it on the g round and it be
came a s nake, and he ran from it. 4Then the
Lord said to him, Reach out your hand and

aTitle: Probably a literary or musical term b10Orholy

93
take it by the tail. So Moses reached out and
took hold of the snake and it t urned back into
a staff in his hand. 5This, said the Lord, is
so that they may believe that the Lord, the
God of their fathersthe God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac and the God of Jacobhas
appeared to you.
6Then the Lord said, Put your hand in
side your c loak. So Moses put his hand into
his c loak, and when he took it out, the skin
was leprous ait had become as white as
snow.
7Now put it back into your c loak, he said.
So Moses put his hand back into his c loak,
and when he took it out, it was restored, like
the rest of his flesh.
8Then the Lord said, If they do not be
lieve you or pay attention to the f irst sign, they
may believe the second. 9But if they do not
believe t hese two s igns or listen to you, take
some water from the Nile and pour it on the
dry g round. The water you take from the river
will become blood on the ground.
10Mo
ses said to the Lord, Pardon your
serv ant, Lord. I have never been eloquent,
neither in the past nor since you have spo
ken to your servant. I am slow of speech and
tongue.
11The Lord said to him, Who gave hu
man beings their mouths? Who makes them
deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes
them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12Now go;
I will help you speak and will teach you what
to say.
13But Mo
ses said, Pardon your serv ant,
Lord. Please send someone else.
14Then the Lords ang er burned a gainst
Moses and he said, What about your brother,
Aaron the Lev ite? I know he can s peak well.
He is already on his way to meet you, and he
will be glad to see you. 15You shall s peak to
him and put words in his mouth; I will help
both of you speak and will teach you what to
do. 16He will s peak to the people for you, and
it will be as if he were your mouth and as if
you were God to him. 17But take this staff
in your hand so you can perform the signs
withit.

DAY 27

Moses Returns to Egypt

18Then Moses went back to Jethro his fa
ther-in-law and said to him, Let me ret urn to
my own people in Egypt to see if any of them
are still alive.
Jethro said, Go, and I wish you well.
19Now the Lord had said to Mo
s es in
Midian, Go back to Egypt, for all those who
wanted to kill you are dead. 20So Moses took
his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and
started back to E
gypt. And he took the staff
of God in his hand.
21The Lord said to Mo
ses, When you
ret urn to Egypt, see that you perform before
Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the
power to do. But I will harden his heart so that
he will not let the people go. 22Then say to
Pharaoh, This is what the Lord says: Israel is
my firstborn son, 23and I told you, Let my son
go, so he may worship me. But you ref used to
let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.
24At a lodging p
lace on the way, the Lord
met Moses b and was about to kill him. 25But
Zipporah took a f lint k nife, cut off her sons
foreskin and touched Moses feet with it.c
Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,
she said. 26So the Lord let him a lone. (At
that time she said bridegroom of b
lood, re
ferring to circumcision.)
27The Lord said to Aar
on, Go into the
wilderness to meet Moses. So he met Mo
ses at the mountain of God and k issed him.
28Then Mo
s es told Aaron everything the
Lord had sent him to say, and also about all
the signs he had commanded him to perform.
29Mos es and Aaron brought tog ether all
the elders of the Israel ites, 30and Aaron told
them everything the Lord had said to Moses.
He also performed the s igns before the peo
ple, 31and they believed. And when they heard
that the Lord was concerned about them and
had seen t heir misery, they bowed down and
worshiped.

Bricks Without Straw

Afterw ard Moses and Aaron went to

Pharaoh and said, This is what the
Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people

a6 TheHebrew word for leprous was used for various diseases affecting the skin. b24Hebrew him
c25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.

DAY 27

94

go, so that they may hold a fest ival to me in

the wilderness.
2Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I
should obey him and let Israel go? I do not
know the Lord and I will not let Israelgo.
3Then they said, The God of the Hebrews
has met with us. Now let us take a t hree-day
journey into the wilderness to offer sacrif ices
to the Lord our God, or he may s trike us with
plagues or with the sword.
4But the king of Egypt said, Mo
ses and
Aaron, why are you taking the people away
from their labor? Get back to your work!
5Then Pharaoh said, Look, the people of the
land are now numerous, and you are stopping
them from working.
6That same day Pharaoh gave this order to
the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the
people: 7You are no longer to supply the peo
ple with straw for making bricks; let them go
and gather their own straw. 8But require them
to make the same number of bricks as before;
dont reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is
why they are crying out, Let us go and sacri
fice to our God. 9Make the work harder for
the people so that they keep working and pay
no attention to lies.
10Then the slave drivers and the overseers
went out and said to the people, This is what
Pharaoh says: I will not give you any more
straw. 11Go and get your own straw wherev
er you can find it, but your work will not be
reduced at all. 12So the people scattered all
over E
gypt to gather stubble to use for straw.
13The slave drivers kept pressing them, say
ing, Complete the work required of you for
each day, just as when you had s traw. 14And
Pharaohs slave drivers beat the Israelite over
seers they had appointed, demanding, Why
havent you met your quota of bricks yesterday
or today, as before?
15Then the Is
r aelite overseers went and
appealed to Pharaoh: Why have you treat
ed your servants this way? 16Your servants are
given no s traw, yet we are told, Make bricks!
Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is
with your own people.
17Phar
aoh said, Lazy, thats what you
arelazy! That is why you keep saying, Let
a3Hebrew El-Shaddai b3Seenote at 3:15.

us go and sacrif ice to the Lord. 18Now get to

work. You will not be given any straw, yet you
must produce your full quota of bricks.
19The Israelite overseers rea lized they were
in trouble when they were told, You are not
to reduce the number of bricks required of
you for each day. 20When they left Pharaoh,
they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet
them, 21and they said, May the Lord look
on you and judge you! You have made us ob
noxious to Pharaoh and his off icials and have
put a sword in their hand to killus.
God Promises Deliverance
22Mo
ses returned to the Lord and said,
Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on
this people? Is this why you sent me? 23Ever
since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your
name, he has brought trouble on this people,
and you have not rescued your people at all.
Then the Lord said to Moses, Now you
will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Be
cause of my mighty hand he will let them go;
because of my mighty hand he will drive them
out of his country.
2God also said to Moses, I am the Lord.
3I app eared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Ja
cob as God Almighty,a but by my name the
Lordb I did not make myself fully k nown to
them. 4I also established my covenant with
them to give them the land of Canaan, where
they resided as foreigners. 5Moreover, I have
heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the
Egypt ians are enslaving, and I have remem
bered my covenant.
6Therefore, say to the Israelites: I am the
Lord, and I will bring you out from under the
yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from be
ing slaves to them, and I will redeem you with
an outstretched arm and with m
ighty acts of
judgment. 7I will take you as my own people,
and I will be your God. Then you will know
that I am the Lord your God, who b
rought
you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
8And I will bring you to the land I s wore with
uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac
and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a posses
sion. I am the Lord.
9Moses rep orted this to the Israel ites, but

DAY 27

95
they did not listen to him because of their dis
couragement and harsh labor.
10Then the Lord said to Moses, 11Go, tell
Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go
out of his country.
12But Moses said to the Lord, If the Isra
elites will not listen to me, why would Phar
aoh listen to me, since I s peak with faltering
lipsa?

MATTHEW 19:119:15
Divorce

The Little Children and Jesus

13Then peop le b rought lit t le child ren
to Jesus for him to p
lace his h
ands on them
and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked
them.
14Jesus said, Let the litt le child ren come to
me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom
of heaven belongs to such as these. 15When
he had placed his hands on them, he went on
from there.

PSALM 17:117:5

19

When Jesus had finished saying these

t hings, he left Galilee and went into
the reg ion of Judea to the other side of the
Jordan. 2Large c rowds followed him, and he
healed them there.
3Some Pharisees came to him to test him.
They a sked, Is it lawf ul for a man to divorce
his wife for any and every reason?
4Havent you read, he replied, that at the
beg inning the Creator made them male and
female, b 5and said, For this reason a man will
leave his fat her and mother and be united to
his wife, and the two will become one f leshc?
6So they are no lon
ger two, but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together, let
no one sepa rate.
7Why then, they asked, did Moses com
mand that a man give his wife a certificate of
divorce and send her away?
8Jesus re
plied, Moses perm itted you to
divorce your w
ives because your hearts were
hard. But it was not this way from the begin
ning. 9I tell you that anyone who divorces his
wife, except for sex ua l immoral it y, and mar
ries another woman commits adultery.
10The disc iples said to him, If this is the
situation between a husband and wife, it is
better not to marr y.
11Jesus re
plied, Not everyone can accept
this word, but only those to whom it has been
given. 12For there are eunuchs who were born
that way, and there are eunuchs who have
been made eunuchs by othersand there are
those who choose to live like eunuchs for the
sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who
can accept this should acceptit.

Psalm 17
A prayer ofDavid.
1 Hear

me, Lord, my plea is just;
listen to my cry.
Hear my prayer
it does not rise from deceitful lips.
2 Let my vindication come from you;
may your eyes see what is right.
3 Though you probe my heart,
though you examine me at night and
test me,
you will find that I have planned no evil;
my mouth has not transgressed.
4 Though people tried to bribe me,
I have kept myself from the ways of the
violent
through what your lips have
commanded.
5 My steps have held to your paths;
my feet have not stumbled.

REWIND
Exodus 4:16:12; Matthew 19:115;
Psalm 17:15

FIGHT FOR WHATS RIGHT.

Moses has to toughen up when the Lord tells
him in Exodus 46 how to confront the powerful king of Egypt and demand freedom for
the Hebrew slaves. In Matthew 19 Jesus commands his followers to fight to keep husbands
and wives united and describes Gods stance
on divorce. And David pens a rallying cry for

a12Hebrew I am uncircumcised of lips; also in verse30 b4Gen.1:27 c5Gen.2:24

DAY 28

96

justice in Psalm 17, asking God to vindicate him

because hes kept his heart pure.
D

day28
EXODUS 6:138:32

Family Record of Moses andAaron

13Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aar
on about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the
Israelites out of Egypt.

21The sons of Izhar were Korah, Ne

pheg and Zikri.
22The sons of Uz
ziel were Mishael,
Elzaphan and Sithri.
23Aaron mar r ied Elisheba, daughter
of Amm inadab and sister of Nahshon,
and she bore him Nad ab and Abihu,
Eleazar and Ithamar.
24The sons of Kor ah were Assir, El
kanah and Abia saph. T hese were the
Korahite clans.
25Eleaz ar son of Aaron marr ied one of
the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him
Phinehas.

These were the heads of the Lev ite

families, clan by clan.
26It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the
Lord said, Bring the Israelites out of Egypt
by their div isions. 27They were the ones who
spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bring
ing the Israelites out of Egyptthis same
Moses and Aaron.

14These were the heads of t heir fami l iesa:

Aaron to Speak for Moses

The sons of Reuben the firstborn son

of Israel were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron
and Karmi. T
hese were the c lans of Reu
ben.
15The sons of Sim
eon were Jemuel,
Jam in, Ohad, Jak in, Zohar and Shau l
the son of a Canaanite woma n. T hese
were the clans of Simeon.
16These were the n
ames of the sons
of Levi according to t heir records: Ger
shon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137
years.
17The sons of Gershon, by c lans, were
Libni and Shimei.
18The sons of Kohath were Amr am,
Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived
133 years.
19The sons of Merar i were Mahl i and
Mushi.
These were the c lans of Levi accord
ing to their records.
20Am r am mar r ied his fat hers sister
Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Mo
ses. Amram lived 137 years.

28Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in

gypt, 29he said to him, I am the Lord. Tell
E
Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.
30But Mo
ses said to the Lord, Since I
speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh
listen tome?
Then the Lord said to Moses, See, I
have made you like God to Pharaoh, and
your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2You
are to say everything I command you, and
your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let
the Israelites go out of his country. 3But I will
harden Pharaohs heart, and though I multi
ply my s igns and wonders in Egypt, 4he will
not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on
Egypt and with m
ighty acts of judgment I will
bring out my div isions, my people the Israel
ites. 5And the Egyptians will know that I am
the Lord when I stretch out my hand against
Egypt and bring the Israelites out ofit.
6Mo
ses and Aaron did just as the Lord
commanded them. 7Moses was eighty years
old and Aaron e ighty-three when they s poke
to Pharaoh.

a14 TheHebrew for families here and in verse25 refers to units larger than clans.

DAY 28

97
Aarons Staff Becomesa Snake
8The

Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

9When Pharaoh says to you, Perform a mir
acle, then say to Aaron, Take your staff and
throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will be
come a snake.
10So Mo
ses and Aaron went to Pharaoh
and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron
t hrew his staff down in f ront of Pharaoh and
his off ic ials, and it became a snake. 11Phar
aoh then summoned wise men and sorcer
ers, and the Egyptian mag icians also did
the same t hings by t heir sec ret arts: 12Each
one threw down his staff and it bec ame a
snake. But Aarons s taff swallowed up t heir
staffs.13Yet Pharaohs heart became hard and
he would not listen to them, just as the Lord
had said.
The Plague of Blood
14Then the Lord said to Mo
ses, Phar
aohs heart is uny ielding; he ref uses to let the
people go. 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning as
he goes out to the river. Confront him on the
bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the
staff that was changed into a snake. 16Then
say to him, The Lord, the God of the He
brews, has sent me to say to you: Let my peo
ple go, so that they may worship me in the
wilderness. But until now you have not lis
tened. 17This is what the Lord says: By this
you will know that I am the Lord: With the
staff that is in my hand I will strike the water
of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.
18The fish in the Nile will die, and the river
will s tink; the Egyptians will not be able to
drink its water.
19The Lord said to Mo
ses, Tell Aaron,
Take your staff and stretch out your hand
over the waters of E
gyptover the streams
and canals, over the ponds and all the reser
voirsand they will turn to blood. Blood
will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vesselsa
of wood and stone.
20Mo
ses and Aaron did just as the Lord
had commanded. He raised his staff in the
presence of Pharaoh and his officials and
struck the water of the Nile, and all the wa
ter was changed into blood. 21The fish in the

Nile died, and the river s melled so bad that

the Egyptians c ould not d
rink its water. Blood
was everywhere in Egypt.
22But the Egypt ian mag ic ians did the same
things by their secret arts, and Pharaohs
heart bec ame hard; he w
ould not listen to
Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
23Instead, he t urned and went into his palace,
and did not take even this to heart. 24And
all the Egyptians dug a long the Nile to get
drinking water, because they c ould not drink
the water of the river.
The Plague of Frogs
25Seven

days passed after the Lord struck

the Nile. 1Then the Lord said to Moses,
Go to Pharaoh and say to him, This
is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so
that they may worship me. 2If you refuse to
let them go, I will send a p
lague of frogs on
your whole country. 3The Nile will teem with
frogs. They will come up into your palace and
your bedroom and onto your bed, into the
houses of your off icials and on your people,
and into your ovens and kneading troughs.
4The f rogs will come up on you and your peo
ple and all your off icials.
5Then the Lord said to Moses, Tell Aar
on, Stretch out your hand with your staff over
the streams and canals and ponds, and make
frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
6So Aaron stretched out his hand over the
waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and
covered the land. 7But the magicians did the
same things by their sec ret arts; they also
made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
8Phara oh summoned Mos es and Aaron
and said, Pray to the Lord to take the frogs
away from me and my people, and I will let
your people go to offer sacrif ices to the Lord.
9Moses said to Pharaoh, I leave to you the
honor of setting the time for me to pray for
you and your offic ials and your people that
you and your houses may be rid of the frogs,
except for those that remain in the Nile.
10Tomorrow, Pharaoh said.
Moses replied, It will be as you say, so that
you may know t here is no one like the Lord
our God. 11The frogs will leave you and your

a19Oreven on their idols bIn Hebrew texts 8:1-4 is numbered 7:26-29, and 8:5-32 is numbered 8:1-28.

DAY 28

98

houses, your off ic ials and your people; they

will remain only in the Nile.
12Af
ter Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh,
Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs
he had b
rought on Pharaoh.13And the Lord
did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the
houses, in the courtyards and in the fields.
14They were
piled into heaps, and the land
reeked of them. 15But when Pharaoh saw that
there was relief, he hardened his heart and
would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as
the Lord had said.
The Plague of Gnats
16Then the Lord said to Moses, Tell Aar
on, Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of
the ground, and throughout the land of Egypt
the dust will become gnats. 17They did this,
and when Aaron stretched out his hand with
the staff and struck the dust of the g round,
g nats came on people and animals. All the
dust throughout the land of Egypt became
gnats. 18But when the magicians tried to pro
duce gnats by their secret arts, they could not.
Since the gnats were on people and animals
every where, 19the magicians said to Pharaoh,
This is the finger of God. But Pharaohs
heart was hard and he would not listen, just as
the Lord had said.

The Plague of Flies

20Then

the Lord said to Moses, Get up

early in the morning and confront Pharaoh
as he goes to the river and say to him, This
is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so
that they may worship me. 21If you do not let
my people go, I will send swarms of f lies on
you and your off icials, on your people and into
your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will
be full of f lies; even the g round will be cov
ered with them.
22But on that day I will deal differently
with the land of Goshen, where my people
live; no s warms of f lies will be there, so that
you will know that I, the Lord, am in this
land. 23I will make a distinctiona bet ween my
people and your people. This sign will occur
tomorrow.

24And the Lord did this.

Dense s warms
of f lies poured into Pharaohs palace and into
the houses of his off icials; throughout Egypt
the land was ruined by the flies.
25Then Phar
aoh summoned Moses and
Aaron and said, Go, sacr if ice to your God
here in the land.
26But Mo
s es said, That would not be
r ight. The sacr if ices we offer the Lord our
God would be detestable to the Egyptians.
And if we offer sacrif ices that are detestable in
their eyes, will they not s tone us? 27We must
take a t hree-day journey into the wilderness
to offer sacrif ices to the Lord our God, as he
commandsus.
28Pharaoh said, I will let you go to offer
sacr if ices to the Lord your God in the wil
derness, but you must not go very far. Now
pray forme.
29Moses ans wered, As soon as I leave you,
I will pray to the Lord, and tomorrow the
f lies will leave Pharaoh and his off icials and
his people. Only let Pharaoh be sure that he
does not act deceitfully again by not letting
the people go to offer sacrif ices to the Lord.
30Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to
the Lord, 31and the Lord did what Moses
asked. The f lies left Pharaoh and his off icials
and his people; not a fly remained. 32But this
time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and
would not let the peoplego.

MATTHEW 19:1619:30
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
16Just then a man came up to
Jesus and
a sked, Teacher, what good thing must I do
to get eternal life?
17Why do you ask me about what is good?
Jesus replied. There is only One who is good.
If you want to enter life, keep the command
ments.
18Which ones? he inquired.
Jesus replied, You shall not murder, you
shall not commit adultery, you shall not s teal,
you shall not give false test imony, 19hon
or your father and mother,b and love your
neighbor as yourself. c

a23 Septuagint and Vulgate; Hebrew will put a deliverance b19Exodus20:12-16; Deut.5:16-20
c19Lev.19:18

DAY 28

99
20All
t hese I have kept, the young man
said. What do I still lack?
21Jesus an
s wered, If you want to be per
fect, go, sell your possessions and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, followme.
22When the young man heard this, he went
away sad, because he had great wealth.
23Then J esus said to his disc iples, Truly I
tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to
enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell
you, it is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a need le than for someone who is rich to
enter the kingdom of God.
25When the disc iples heard this, they were
greatly astonished and asked, Who then can
be saved?
26Jesus l ooked at them and said, With man
this is impossible, but with God all things are
possible.
27Peter ans wered him, We have left every
thing to follow you! What then will there be
forus?
28Jesus said to them, Truly I tell you, at the
renewa l of all things, when the Son of Man
sits on his glorious throne, you who have fol
lowed me will also sit on t welve thrones, judg
ing the t welve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone
who has left houses or brothers or sisters or
father or mother or wifea or children or f ields
for my sake will receive a hund red times as
much and will inherit eternal life. 30But many
who are f irst will be last, and many who are
last will be first.

15 She is more precious than rubies;

nothing you desire can compare with
her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold
of her;
those who hold her fast will be blessed.
19 By wisdom the Lord laid the earths
foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in
place;
20 by his knowledge the watery depths were
divided,
and the clouds let drop the dew.

REWIND
Exodus 6:138:32;
Matthew 19:1630; Proverbs 3:1120

GET REAL RICHES.

In Exodus 68 the Lord sends plagues of blood,
frogs, gnats, and flies to force the Egyptians to
free his enslaved p eople. Then, in Matthew 19
Jesus helps a rich man understand true wealth,
telling him to rid himself of things hes made
more important than God. And Proverbs 3 argues that wisdom is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold. You cant
get real riches in a store. You get them from
God.
D

PROVERBS 3:113:20
11 My son, do not despise the Lords
discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
12 because the Lord disciplines those he
loves,
as a father the son he delights in.b
13 Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than
gold.
a29 Some manuscripts do not have or wife. b12 Hebrew; Septuagint loves,/ and he chastens everyone he

accepts as his child

DAY 29

100

day29
EXODUS 9:110:29
The Plague on Livestock

Then the Lord said to Moses, Go to

Pharaoh and say to him, This is what
the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says:
Let my people go, so that they may worship
me. 2If you refuse to let them go and contin
ue to hold them back, 3the hand of the Lord
will b
ring a terr ible plague on your livestock
in the fieldon your horses, donkeys and
camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats.
4But the Lord will make a dis
t inction be
tween the livestock of Israel and that of
Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Is
raelites will die.
5The Lord set a time and said, Tomor
row the Lord will do this in the land. 6And
the next day the Lord did it: All the livestock
of the Egyptians died, but not one animal
belong i ng to the Isr ael ites died. 7Pharaoh
investigated and found that not even one of
the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his
heart was uny ielding and he would not let the
peoplego.
The Plague of Boils
8Then the Lord said to Mo
ses and Aar
on, Take handf uls of soot from a furnace and
have Moses toss it into the air in the presence
of Pharaoh. 9It will become fine dust over the
whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will
break out on people and animals throughout
the land.
10So they took soot from a fur
nace and
stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into
the air, and festering b
oils b
roke out on peo
ple and animals. 11The mag icians could not
stand before Moses because of the boils that
were on them and on all the Egyptians. 12But
the Lord hardened Pharaohs heart and he
would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as
the Lord had said to Moses.

a16Orhave spared you

The Plague of Hail

13Then the Lord said to Moses, Get up
early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and
say to him, This is what the Lord, the God
of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so
that they may worship me, 14or this time I
will send the full force of my p
lagues against
you and against your off icials and your peo
ple, so you may know that there is no one like
me in all the earth. 15For by now I could have
stretched out my hand and struck you and
your people with a p
lague that w
ould have
w iped you off the earth. 16But I have r aised
you upa for this very purpose, that I m
ight
show you my power and that my name might
be proclaimed in all the earth. 17You still set
yourself against my people and will not let
them go. 18Therefore, at this time tomorrow
I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever
fallen on E
gypt, from the day it was founded
till now. 19Give an order now to bring your
livestock and everything you have in the f ield
to a p
lace of shelter, because the hail will fall
on every person and animal that has not been
brought in and is still out in the f ield, and they
will die.
20Those of
f ic ials of Pharaoh who feared
the word of the Lord hurr ied to bring t heir
slaves and t heir livestock inside. 21But t hose
who ignored the word of the Lord left t heir
slaves and livestock in the field.
22Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch
out your hand tow ard the sky so that hail
will fall all over E
gypton people and ani
mals and on everything growing in the f ields
of Egypt. 23When Moses s tretched out his
staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder
and hail, and lightn ing f lashed down to the
ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land
of Egypt; 24hail fell and lightn ing flashed
back and forth. It was the w
orst s torm in all
the land of Egypt s ince it had become a na
tion. 25Throughout Egypt hail struck every
thing in the f ieldsboth people and animals;
it beat down everything growing in the f ields
and stripped every tree. 26The only place it
did not hail was the land of Goshen, where
the Israelites were.
27Then Phar
aoh summoned Moses and

101
Aaron. This time I have sinned, he said to
them. The Lord is in the right, and I and my
people are in the w
rong. 28Pray to the Lord,
for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will
let you go; you dont have to stay any longer.
29Moses replied, When I have gone out of
the city, I will s pread out my h
ands in prayer
to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there
will be no more hail, so you may know that
the earth is the Lords. 30But I know that you
and your off icials still do not fear the Lord
God.
31(The f lax and bar
ley were destroyed,
since the barley had headed and the flax was
in bloom. 32The wheat and spelt, howe ver,
were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)
33Then Mos es left Pharaoh and went out
of the city. He spread out his hands toward
the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and
the rain no longer poured down on the land.
34When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail
and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He
and his off icials hardened t heir hearts. 35So
Pharaohs heart was hard and he would not
let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said
through Moses.
The Plague of Locusts

10

Then the Lord said to Moses, Go

to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his
heart and the hearts of his off icials so that I
may perform these signs of mine among them
2that you may tell your child ren and grand
child ren how I dealt harshly with the Egyp
tians and how I performed my signs a mong
them, and that you may know that I am the
Lord.
3So Mo
ses and Aaron went to Pharaoh
and said to him, This is what the Lord, the
God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you
refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my
people go, so that they may worship me. 4If
you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts
into your country tomorrow. 5They will cov
er the face of the g round so that it cannot be
seen. They will devour what little you have
left after the hail, inc luding every tree that
is growing in your f ields. 6They will fill your
houses and t hose of all your off icials and all
a10OrBe careful, trouble is in store for you!

DAY 29

the Egyptians something neither your par

ents nor your ancestors have ever seen from
the day they settled in this land till now.
Then Moses t urned and left Pharaoh.
7Pharaohs off ic ials said to him, How long
will this man be a snare to us? Let the people
go, so that they may worship the Lord their
God. Do you not yet rea lize that Egypt is ru
ined?
8Then Mo
s es and Aaron were b
rought
back to Pharaoh. Go, worship the Lord
your God, he said. But tell me who will be
going.
9Mo
ses answered, We will go with our
young and our old, with our sons and our
daughters, and with our flocks and herds,
because we are to celebrate a festival to the
Lord.
10Pharaoh said, The Lord be with you
if I let you go, a long with your women and
children! Clearly you are bent on evil.a 11No!
Have only the men go and worship the Lord,
since thats what you have been asking for.
Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of
Pharaohs presence.
12And the Lord said to Mo
ses, Stretch
out your hand over E
gypt so that locusts
s warm over the land and devour everything
growing in the f ields, everything left by the
hail.
13So Mo
s es stretched out his staff over
Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow
across the land all that day and all that night.
By morning the wind had brought the locusts;
14they invaded all E
gypt and sett led down in
every area of the country in g reat numbers.
Never before had there been such a plague of
locusts, nor will there ever be again. 15They
covered all the ground until it was black. They
devoured all that was left after the hailev
erything growing in the f ields and the f ruit on
the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or
plant in all the land of Egypt.
16Pharaoh quick ly sum moned Mos es and
Aaron and said, I have sinned a gainst the
Lord your God and against you. 17Now for
give my sin once more and pray to the Lord
your God to take this deadly plague away
fromme.

DAY 29

102

18Mo
ses then left Pharaoh and prayed to
the Lord. 19And the Lord changed the wind
to a very s trong west wind, which c aught up
the loc usts and carried them into the Red
Sea.a Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt.
20But the Lord hardened Pharaohs heart,
and he would not let the Israelitesgo.

The Plague of Darkness

21Then

the Lord said to Moses, Stretch

out your hand toward the sky so that dark
ness spreads over Egyptdarkness that can
be felt. 22So Moses stretched out his hand
tow ard the sky, and total darkness covered
all Egypt for t hree days. 23No one could see
anyone else or move about for three days. Yet
all the Israelites had light in the places where
they lived.
24Then Phar
aoh summoned Moses and
said, Go, worship the Lord. Even your
women and child ren may go with you; only
leave your f locks and herds behind.
25But Mo
ses said, You must allow us to
have sacrif ices and burnt offerings to present
to the Lord our God. 26Our livestock too
must go with us; not a hoof is to be left be
hind. We have to use some of them in wor
shiping the Lord our God, and until we get
there we will not know what we are to use to
worship the Lord.
27But the Lord hardened Pharaohs heart,
and he was not willing to let them go. 28Phar
aoh said to Moses, Get out of my sight! Make
sure you do not appear before me again! The
day you see my face you will die.
29Just as you say, Mo
ses replied. I will
never appear before you again.

MATTHEW 20:120:19
The Parable of the Workers
intheVineyard

20

For the kingdom of heaven is like a

landowner who went out early in the
morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2He
agreed to pay them a denariusb for the day and
sent them into his vineyard.
3About nine in the morning he went out
and saw others standing in the marketplace

doing nothing. 4He told them, You also go

and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you
whatever is right. 5So they went.
He went out a gain about noon and about
three in the afternoon and did the same thing.
6About five in the afternoon he went out and
found still others standing a round. He asked
them, Why have you been standing here all
day long doing nothing?
7Be
cause no one has h ired us, they an
swered.
He said to them, You also go and work in
my vineyard.
8When eve
n ing came, the owner of the
vineyard said to his foreman, Call the work
ers and pay them their wages, beginning with
the last ones hired and going on to the first.
9The workers who were h ired a
bout five
in the afternoon came and each received a
denarius. 10So when those came who were
hired f irst, they expected to receive more. But
each one of them also received a denarius.
11When they received it, they began to grum
ble against the landowner. 12These who were
h ired last worked only one hour, they said,
and you have made them equal to us who have
borne the burden of the work and the heat of
the day.
13But he ans wered one of them, I am not
bei ng unfair to you, friend. Didnt you a gree
to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and
go. I want to give the one who was h ired
last the same as I gave you. 15Dont I have
the right to do what I want with my own
mone y? Or are you env io us bec ause I am
generous?
16So the last will be f irst, and the f irst will
be last.
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
17Now

J esus was going up to Jer usalem. On

the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to
them, 18We are going up to Jer usalem, and
the Son of Man will be delivered over to the
chief priests and the teachers of the law. They
will condemn him to death 19and will hand
him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and
f logged and cruc ified. On the third day he
will be raised to life!

a19 Or the Sea of Reeds b2 A denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer.

103

PSALM 17:617:12
6 I call on you, my God, for you will
answer me;
turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show me the wonders of your great love,
you who save by your right hand
those who take refuge in you from their
foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who are out to
destroy me,
from my mortal enemies who
surround me.
10 They close up their callous hearts,
and their mouths speak with arrogance.
11 They have tracked me down, they now
surround me,
with eyes alert, to throw me to the
ground.
12 They are like a lion hungry for prey,
like a fierce lion crouching in cover.

REWIND
Exodus 910; Matthew 20:119;
Psalm 17:612

GOD DOES WHATS FAIR.

The plagues God sends on Egypt in Exodus
910 look like cruel and unusual punishment,
but theyre divine payback for Egypts harsh
treatment of Gods people. Jesus offers another
look at fairness in Matthew 20, telling a story
of workers all getting the same wage. And in
Psalm 17 David pleads for help against fierce
enemies. Even when God acts in ways you
dont understand, you can always count on him
to be impartial and just.
D

DAY 30

day30
EXODUS 11:112:51

The Plague on the Firstborn

11

Now the Lord had said to Moses, I

will b
ring one more plague on Phar
aoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you
go from here, and when he does, he will drive
you out completely. 2Tell the people that men
and women a like are to ask their neighbors for
articles of silver and gold. 3(The Lord made
the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the
people, and Moses himself was highly regard
ed in Egypt by Pharaohs off icials and by the
people.)
4So Mo
ses said, This is what the Lord
says: About midn ight I will go throughout
Egypt. 5Every firstborn son in Egypt will die,
from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits
on the throne, to the firstborn son of the fe
male slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the
firstborn of the catt le as well. 6There will be
loud wailing throughout Egypt worse than
there has ever been or ever will be again. 7But
among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any
person or animal. Then you will know that
the Lord makes a distinction bet ween Egypt
and Israel. 8All these off ic ials of yours will
come to me, bowing down before me and say
ing, Go, you and all the people who follow
you! After that I will leave. Then Moses, hot
with anger, left Pharaoh.
9The Lord had said to Mo
ses, Pharaoh
will refuse to listen to youso that my won
ders may be multiplied in E
gypt. 10Moses
and Aaron performed all these wonders before
Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaohs
heart, and he would not let the Israelites go
out of his country.
The Passover and the Festival
ofUnleavened Bread

12

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron

in Egypt, 2This m
onth is to be for
you the f irst m
onth, the f irst month of your
year. 3Tell the whole communit y of Israel that

DAY 30

104

on the tenth day of this m

onth each man is
to take a lamba for his family, one for each
household. 4If any household is too s mall for
a whole lamb, they must share one with their
nearest neighbor, hav ing taken into account
the number of people there are. You are to de
termine the amount of lamb needed in accor
dance with what each person will eat. 5The
animals you c hoose must be year-old males
without defect, and you may take them from
the sheep or the goats. 6Take care of them
unt il the fourteenth day of the m
onth, when
all the members of the commun it y of Israel
must slaughter them at twilight. 7Then they
are to take some of the blood and put it on
the sides and tops of the doorframes of the
houses where they eat the lambs. 8That same
night they are to eat the meat roasted over the
fire, a long with bitter herbs, and bread made
without yeast. 9Do not eat the meat raw or
boiled in water, but roast it over a firew ith
the head, legs and internal organs. 10Do not
leave any of it till morning; if some is left till
morning, you must burn it. 11This is how you
are to eat it: with your cloak t ucked into your
belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff
in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lords
Passover.
12On that same n ight I will pass t hrough
Egypt and strike down every firstb orn of
both people and animals, and I will b
ring
judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the
Lord. 13The blood will be a sign for you on
the houses w
here you are, and when I see the
blood, I will pass over you. No destructive
plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
14This is a day you are to commemorate;
for the generations to come you shall celebrate
it as a festival to the Lord a lasting ord i
nance. 15For seven days you are to eat bread
made without yeast. On the f irst day remove
the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats
anything with y east in it from the f irst day
through the seventh must be cut off from Is
rael. 16On the f irst day hold a sacred assembly,
and another one on the seventh day. Do no
work at all on these days, except to prepare
food for everyone to eat; that is all you maydo.
17Celebrate the Fest iv al of Un l eave ned

read, because it was on this very day that I

B
brought your div isions out of Egypt. Cele
brate this day as a lasting ord inance for the
generations to come. 18In the f irst month you
are to eat b
read made without yeast, from the
even ing of the fourteenth day until the eve
ning of the twent y-f irst day. 19For seven days
no yeast is to be found in your houses. And
anyone, whether foreigner or nat ive-born,
who eats anything with y east in it must be cut
off from the communit y of Israel. 20Eat noth
ing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you
must eat unleavened bread.
21Then Moses summoned all the elders of
Israel and said to them, Go at once and select
the animals for your families and slaughter
the Passover lamb. 22Take a bunch of hyssop,
dip it into the blood in the basin and put some
of the blood on the top and on both s ides of
the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the
door of your house until morning. 23When
the Lord goes through the land to strike
down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on
the top and sides of the doorframe and will
pass over that doorway, and he will not permit
the destroyer to enter your houses and strike
you down.
24Obey
t hese instructions as a lasting
or
d i
n ance for you and your de
s cen
d ants.
25When you enter the land that the Lord will
give you as he promised, observe this ceremo
ny. 26And when your children ask you, What
does this ceremony mean to you? 27then tell
them, It is the Passover sacrif ice to the Lord,
who p
assed over the houses of the Israelites in
Egypt and spared our homes when he struck
down the Egyp
t ians. Then the peo
ple
bowed down and worshiped. 28The Israelites
did just what the Lord commanded Moses
and Aaron.
29At mid
n ight the Lord struck down all
the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of
Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the first
born of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon,
and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.
30Phar
aoh and all his offic ials and all the
Egyptians got up during the night, and there
was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a
house without someone dead.

a3 TheHebrew word can mean lamb or kid; also in verse4.

105
The Exodus
31Dur i ng

the n ight Pharaoh summoned

Moses and Aaron and said, Up! L eave my
people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship
the Lord as you have requested. 32Take your
f locks and herds, as you have said, and go.
And also blessme.
33The Egypt ians u rged the people to hur
ry and leave the country. For otherw ise,
they said, we will all die! 34So the people
took their d
ough before the yeast was added,
and carried it on t heir shoulders in kneading
troughs w rapped in clothing. 35The Israelites
did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyp
tians for artic les of silver and gold and for
clothing. 36The Lord had made the Egyp
tians favorably disposed toward the people,
and they gave them what they asked for; so
they plundered the Egyptians.
37The Isr ae l ites jour neyed from Rames es
to Sukkoth. T here were about six hund red
thousand men on foot, besides women and
child ren. 38Many other people went up with
them, and also large d
roves of livestock, both
f locks and herds. 39With the dough the Is
raelites had brought from Egypt, they baked
loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was
without yeast because they had been driven
out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare
food for themselves.
40Now the length of time the Israelite peo
ple lived in Egypta was 430 years. 41At the
end of the 430 y ears, to the very day, all the
Lords div is ions left E gypt. 42Bec ause
the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them
out of Egypt, on this n ight all the Israelites
are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the
generations to come.
Passover Restrictions
43The

Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

These are the regu lations for the Passover
meal:
No foreigner may eat it. 44Any s lave you
have bought may eat it after you have circum
cised him, 45but a temporary resident or a
hired worker may not eatit.
46It must be eaten inside the house; take
none of the meat outside the h
ouse. Do not

DAY 30

reak any of the bones. 47The whole commu

b
nit y of Israel must celebrateit.
48A fore igne r res id i ng a mong you who
wants to celebrate the Lords Passover must
have all the males in his household circum
cised; then he may take part like one born in
the land. No uncircumcised male may eat it.
49The same law ap
plies both to the nativeborn and to the foreigner residing among you.
50All the Israelites did just what the Lord
had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51And on
that very day the Lord brought the Israelites
out of Egypt by their div isions.

MATTHEW 20:2020:34
A Mothers Request
20Then the mother of Zebedees sons came
to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down,
asked a favor of him.
21What is it you want? he asked.
She said, Grant that one of these two sons
of mine may sit at your right and the other at
your left in your kingdom.
22You
dont know what you are asking,
Jesus said to them. Can you d rink the cup I
am going to drink?
We can, they answered.
23Jesus said to them, You will in
deed
d rink from my cup, but to sit at my r ight or
left is not for me to grant. These places belong
to t hose for whom they have been prepared by
my Father.
24When the ten
heard about this, they
were indignant with the two brothers. 25Jesus
called them together and said, You know that
the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their high off icials exercise authorit y over
them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoe ver
wants to become g reat a mong you must be
your servant, 27and whoever wants to be f irst
must be your slave28just as the Son of Man
did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give his life as a ransom for many.

Two Blind Men Receive Sight

29As
Jesus and his disc iples were leaving
Jeric ho, a large c rowd fol lowed him. 30Two

a40 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint Egypt and Canaan

DAY 31

106

lind men were sitting by the roadside, and

b
when they heard that Jesus was going by, they
shouted, Lord, Son of Dav id, have merc y
onus!
31The c
rowd rebuked them and told them
to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder,
Lord, Son of Dav id, have merc y onus!
32Jesus stopped and called them. What do
you want me to do for you? he asked.
33Lord, they an
s wered, we want our
sight.
34Jesus had com
p as
s ion on them and
touched their eyes. Immediately they received
their sight and followed him.

PSALM 17:1317:15
13 Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them
down;
with your sword rescue me from the
wicked.
14 By your hand save me from such people,
Lord,
from those of this world whose reward
is in this life.
May what you have stored up for the
wicked fill their bellies;
may their children gorge themselves
on it,
and may there be leftovers for their little
ones.

Whatever kind of rescue you need, the Lord is

your mighty Savior.
D

day31
EXODUS 13:114:31

Consecration of the Firstborn

13

The Lord said to Moses, 2Con

sec rate to me every firstborn male.
The f irst offspring of every womb among the
Israel ites belongs to me, whether human or
animal.
3Then Mo
ses said to the people, Com
memorate this day, the day you came out of
Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the
Lord brought you out of it with a m ighty
hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. 4Today,
in the month of Aviv, you are leaving. 5When
the Lord brings you into the land of the Ca
naanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hiv ites and Jeb
15 As for me, I will be vindicated and will see usitesthe land he s wore to your ancestors
your face;
to give you, a land f lowing with milk and
when I awake, I will be satisfied with
honeyyou are to observe this ceremony in
seeing your likeness.
this month: 6For seven days eat bread made
without yeast and on the seventh day hold a
fest ival to the Lord. 7Eat un leavened bread
REWIND
during t hose seven days; nothing with yeast
in it is to be seen a mong you, nor shall any
Exodus 1112; Matthew 20:2034;
yeast be seen anywhere within your borders.
Psalm 17:1315
8On that day tell your son, I do this because
GOD SAVES.
of what the Lord did for me when I came out
Exodus 1112 records one of the Bibles most of Egypt. 9This observance will be for you
momentous scenes. The exodusthe Lords like a sign on your hand and a reminder on
rescue of his p eople from slavery in Egypt your forehead that this law of the Lord is to
is a stunning example of how God saves. Its be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out
also a foreshadowing of how J esus will deliver of E
gypt with his mighty hand. 10You must
people from sin. In Matthew 20 Jesus rescues keep this ordinance at the appointed time year
two men from blindness. And Psalm 17 shows after year.
11After the Lord brings you into the land
David asking to be saved from wicked p eople.