Podcasts about Jeshurun

April 25, 2025 - Equipped 2025 - Day 2 - 1:30PM Session   Bud leads a bible study reflecting on Isaiah. As an inspired profit of God, Isaiah would be aware of coming savior and the potential eternal punishment for those who have rejected God.   Isaiah 40-45 - God's People Are Comforted 40 “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. 2 “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the Lord's hand Double for all her sins.” 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; 5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” 6 The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” 9 O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” 10 Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. 11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young. 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? 13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him? 14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. 18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? 19 The workman molds an image, The goldsmith overspreads it with gold, And the silversmith casts silver chains. 20 Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution Chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image that will not totter. 21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. 24 Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble. 25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Israel Assured of God's Help 41 “Keep silence before Me, O coastlands, And let the people renew their strength! Let them come near, then let them speak; Let us come near together for judgment. 2 “Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, And made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, As driven stubble to his bow? 3 Who pursued them, and passed safely By the way that he had not gone with his feet? 4 Who has performed and done it, Calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the Lord, am the first; And with the last I am He.' ” 5 The coastlands saw it and feared, The ends of the earth were afraid; They drew near and came. 6 Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, “Be of good courage!” 7 So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith; He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil, Saying, “It is ready for the soldering”; Then he fastened it with pegs, That it might not totter. 8 “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend. 9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: 10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' 11 “Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish. 12 You shall seek them and not find them— Those who contended with you. Those who war against you Shall be as nothing, As a nonexistent thing. 13 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.' 14 “Fear not, you worm Jacob, You men of Israel! I will help you,” says the Lord And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 “Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, And make the hills like chaff. 16 You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them; You shall rejoice in the Lord, And glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17 “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 I will open rivers in desolate heights, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water. 19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, The myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine And the box tree together, 20 That they may see and know, And consider and understand together, That the hand of the Lord has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it. The Futility of Idols 21 “Present your case,” says the Lord. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. 22 “Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were, That we may consider them, And know the latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come. 23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may be dismayed and see it together. 24 Indeed you are nothing, And your work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination. 25 “I have raised up one from the north, And he shall come; From the rising of the sun he shall call on My name; And he shall come against princes as though mortar, As the potter treads clay. 26 Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know? And former times, that we may say, ‘He is righteous'? Surely there is no one who shows, Surely there is no one who declares, Surely there is no one who hears your words. 27 The first time I said to Zion, ‘Look, there they are!' And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings. 28 For I looked, and there was no man; I looked among them, but there was no counselor, Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word. 29 Indeed they are all worthless; Their works are nothing; Their molded images are wind and confusion. The Servant of the Lord 42 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. 4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.” 5 Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house. 8 I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images. 9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Praise to the Lord 10 Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, You coastlands and you inhabitants of them! 11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, The villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, Let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12 Let them give glory to the Lord, And declare His praise in the coastlands. 13 The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies. Promise of the Lord's Help 14 “I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once. 15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills, And dry up all their vegetation; I will make the rivers coastlands, And I will dry up the pools. 16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them. 17 They shall be turned back, They shall be greatly ashamed, Who trust in carved images, Who say to the molded images, ‘You are our gods.' 18 “Hear, you deaf; And look, you blind, that you may see. 19 Who is blind but My servant, Or deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is perfect, And blind as the Lord's servant? 20 Seeing many things, but you do not observe; Opening the ears, but he does not hear.” Israel's Obstinate Disobedience 21 The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable. 22 But this is a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, And they are hidden in prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; For plunder, and no one says, “Restore!” 23 Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? 24 Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, Nor were they obedient to His law. 25 Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger And the strength of battle; It has set him on fire all around, Yet he did not know; And it burned him, Yet he did not take it to heart. The Redeemer of Israel 43 But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. 4 Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!' And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” 8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes, And the deaf who have ears. 9 Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear and say, “It is truth.” 10 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior. 12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord, “that I am God. 13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?” 14 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives— The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. 15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” 16 Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters, 17 Who brings forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power (They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick): 18 “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. 20 The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. 21 This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise. Pleading with Unfaithful Israel 22 “But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; And you have been weary of Me, O Israel. 23 You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, Nor wearied you with incense. 24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities. 25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins. 26 Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted. 27 Your first father sinned, And your mediators have transgressed against Me. 28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches. God's Blessing on Israel 44 “Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, And Israel whom I have chosen. 2 Thus says the Lord who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring; 4 They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.' 5 One will say, ‘I am the Lord's'; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord's,' And name himself by the name of Israel. There Is No Other God 6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. 7 And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, Let them show these to them. 8 Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.' ” Idolatry Is Foolishness 9 Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed. 10 Who would form a god or mold an image That profits him nothing? 11 Surely all his companions would be ashamed; And the workmen, they are mere men. Let them all be gathered together, Let them stand up; Yet they shall fear, They shall be ashamed together. 12 The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals, Fashions it with hammers, And works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails; He drinks no water and is faint. 13 The craftsman stretches out his rule, He marks one out with chalk; He fashions it with a plane, He marks it out with the compass, And makes it like the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. 14 He cuts down cedars for himself, And takes the cypress and the oak; He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it shall be for a man to burn, For he will take some of it and warm himself; Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; Indeed he makes a god and worships it; He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. 16 He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, Prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 And no one considers in his heart, Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten it; And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And he cannot deliver his soul, Nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” Israel Is Not Forgotten 21 “Remember these, O Jacob, And Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me! 22 I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” 23 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, And glorified Himself in Israel. Judah Will Be Restored 24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; 25 Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness; 26 Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,' To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,' And I will raise up her waste places; 27 Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers'; 28 Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ' Cyrus, God's Instrument 45 “Thus says the Lord to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: 2 ‘I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron. 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob My servant's sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. 5 I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; 7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.' 8 “Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, And let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it. 9 “Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?' Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands'? 10 Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?' Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?' ” 11 Thus says the Lord, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me. 12 I have made the earth, And created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded. 13 I have raised him up in righteousness, And I will direct all his ways; He shall build My city And let My exiles go free, Not for price nor reward,” Says the Lord of hosts. The Lord, the Only Savior 14 Thus says the Lord: “The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush And of the Sabeans, men of stature, Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours; They shall walk behind you, They shall come over in chains; And they shall bow down to you. They will make supplication to you, saying, ‘Surely God is in you, And there is no other; There is no other God.' ” 15 Truly You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior! 16 They shall be ashamed And also disgraced, all of them; They shall go in confusion together, Who are makers of idols. 17 But Israel shall be saved by the Lord With an everlasting salvation; You shall not be ashamed or disgraced Forever and ever. 18 For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. 19 I have not spoken in secret, In a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain'; I, the Lord, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. 20 “Assemble yourselves and come; Draw near together, You who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge, Who carry the wood of their carved image, And pray to a god that cannot save. 21 Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me. 22 “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. 23 I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath. 24 He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, And all shall be ashamed Who are incensed against Him. 25 In the Lord all the descendants of Israel Shall be justified, and shall glory.' ”   Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrvkBVo1Cd4 Duration 35:38

Enjoy the atmosphere for the supernatural!!

Enjoy the atmosphere for the supernatural!!

Bro. Lamar Ard.03-16-2025.AM

Enjoy the atmosphere for the supernatural!

A discussion about a statement made in chapel service today.

A discussion about a statement made in chapel service today.

Enjoy the divine atmosphere for the supernatural!!

Pastor Cameron brings our "From Jacob to Israel" series to an end by looking at the final name Jacob was given - Jeshurun. Jeshurun means "straight" - the Lord transformed Jacob until his character was finally completely straightened and upright!

My light is shining!!

My light is shining!!

Danielle & Galeet have created a live show and they've taken the show on the road to several cities around the world!Performances include: A multimedia presentation telling the poignant story of The Nightingale of Iran A musical performance by Galeet and her full band, performing Monajat - the musical piece where she duets with old recordings of her grandfather Younes Dardashti, The Nightingale of Iran A moderated discussion and Q&A that takes listeners behind the scenes! This bonus episode is from the post show conversation at their performance at Bnai Jeshurun in New York City. The moderator is their younger sister Michelle Dardashti, rabbi of Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn.Check nightingaleofiran.com to find out if there's a Nightingale show coming up near you. Please reach out if you would like to bring the show to your town!

My light is shining!!

église AB Lausanne ; KJV Deuteronomy 33 And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words. Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together. Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few. And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies. And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. ...

On this episode of Talking Away The Taboo, Rabbi Karen Glazer Perolman joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about... -her upbringing, her passion for her job as a community rabbi, and having a stillbirth -her baby, Leo, who she lost -what grief looks like when your job is to hold people in *their* pain -how she has managed to get through all of it More about Rabbi Karen Glazer Perolman: Karen Glazer Perolman is the Senior Associate Rabbi at Temple B'nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, NJ, the congregation she has served since 2008. She studied at the University of Maryland at College Park (2004) followed by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York (M.A.H.L., 2009; Ordination, 2010). While in rabbinical school Karen had the privilege to serve as a teaching assistant to theology professor Rabbi Eugene B. Borowitz, z”l. She sits on the board of Project Kesher and was a member of the CCAR Taskforce on Women in the Rabbinate from 2017-2020. She is a grateful alumnus of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality's Clergy Leadership Program and CLAL's Rabbis Without Borders, GLEAN, and LEAP fellowships. Karen is a voracious reader which fuels her passion to understand the relationships between food, spirituality, politics, Judaism, feminism and social justice. She is married to Liz Glazer, a lawyer-turned-standup comedian and are parents to baby Eloise, teenage cat Jack, and Leo, of blessed memory. Connect with us: -Check out our Website - Follow us on Instagram and send us a message -Watch our TikToks -Follow us on Facebook -Watch us on YouTube -Connect with us on LinkedIn

Blessed Seed of the Righteous (Audio) David Eells (6/26/24)  I thought to pick out these scriptures to point out how the seed of the righteous are favored of the Lord in everything. Psa 112:1 Praise ye Jehovah. Blessed is the man that feareth Jehovah, That delighteth greatly in his commandments. 2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth: The generation of the upright shall be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house; And his righteousness endureth forever.  Gen 22:15-18 And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, 17 that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.   Isa 65:17-25 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18 But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying. 20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. 21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.   22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them. 24 And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith Jehovah.   Isa 61:8-9 For I, Jehovah, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which Jehovah hath blessed.   Deu 28:2-4 and all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God. 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy beasts, the increase of thy cattle, and the young of thy flock.   Deu 30:19-20 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed; 20 to love Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him; for he is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.  Job 5:17-18 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. 18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and his hands make whole. 25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, And thine offspring as the grass of the earth. 27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; Hear it, and know thou it for thy good.   Job 42:12-17 So Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: …. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first, Jemimah: and the name of the second, Keziah; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. 16 And after this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. 17 So Job died, being old and full of days.  Psa 102:24-28 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: Thy years are throughout all generations. 25 Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. 26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: 27 But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end. 28 The children of thy servants shall continue, And their seed shall be established before thee.   Psa 127:3-5 Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah; And the fruit of the womb is his reward. 4 As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, So are the children of youth. 5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: They shall not be put to shame, When they speak with their enemies in the gate.  Psa 128:1-6 Blessed is every one that feareth Jehovah, That walketh in his ways. 2 For thou shalt eat the labor of thy hands: Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. 3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, In the innermost parts of thy house; Thy children like olive plants, Round about thy table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed That feareth Jehovah. 5 Jehovah bless thee out of Zion: And see thou the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. 6 Yea, see thou thy children's children. Peace be upon Israel.   Psa 25:12-13 What man is he that feareth Jehovah? Him shall he instruct in the way that he shall choose. 13 His soul shall dwell at ease; And his seed shall inherit the land.   Psa 37:25-26 I have been young, and now am old; Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his seed begging bread. 26 All the day long he dealeth graciously, and lendeth; And his seed is blessed.   Psa 102:27 But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end. 28 The children of thy servants shall continue, And their seed shall be established before thee.   Gen 6:18 But I will establish my covenant with thee(Noah); and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. Gen 7:1 And Jehovah said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.   Gen 12:1-3 Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee: 2 and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing: 3 and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.  Gen 12:7 And Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto Jehovah, who appeared unto him.  Gen 13:14-16 And Jehovah said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward: 15 for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then may thy seed also be numbered.  Gen 17:5-9 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9 And God said unto Abraham, And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations.   Gen 19:12, 14-16 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of the place: 14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for Jehovah will destroy the city. But he seemed unto his sons-in-law as one that mocked. 15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are here, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. 16 But he lingered; and the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters, Jehovah being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.   Gen 21:12-13 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy handmaid; in all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13 And also of the son of the handmaid will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.   Gen 26:2-5, And Jehovah appeared unto him (Isaac), and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3 sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4 and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. 24 And Jehovah appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.   Gen 46:3-7 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: 4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. 5 And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: 7 his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.  Gen 48:15-22 And he (Israel) blessed Joseph, and said, The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath fed me all my life long unto this day,16 the angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. 17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father; for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.   19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. 20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee will Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God will be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.  Num 14:20-24 And Jehovah said, I have pardoned according to thy word: 21 but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah; 22 because all those men that have seen my glory, and my signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; 23 surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised me see it: 24 but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.  Num 25:10-13 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: 13 and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.  Neh. 9:7-8 Thou art Jehovah the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham, 8 and foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it unto his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous.  Lev 26:42-46 then will I remember my covenant with Jacob; and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. 43 The land also shall be left by them, and shall enjoy its sabbaths, while it lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they rejected mine ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them; for I am Jehovah their God; 45 but I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am Jehovah. 46 These are the statutes and ordinances and laws, which Jehovah made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by Moses.   Deu 4:35-37,40 Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that Jehovah he is God; there is none else besides him. 36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he made thee to see his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt; 40 And thou shalt keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days in the land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, forever.  Deu 10:12-13, 15 And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13 to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? 15 Only Jehovah had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples, as at this day.   Deu 12:28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee forever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.   Psa 37:25-26 I have been young, and now am old; Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his seed begging bread. 26 All the day long he dealeth graciously, and lendeth; And his seed is blessed.  Psa 102:24-28 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: Thy years are throughout all generations. 25 Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. 26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: 27 But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end. 28 The children of thy servants shall continue, And their seed shall be established before thee.  Psa 103:17-18 But the lovingkindness of Jehovah is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, And his righteousness unto children's children; 18 To such as keep his covenant, And to those that remember his precepts to do them.  Pro 3:33 The curse of Jehovah is in the house of the wicked; But he blesseth the habitation of the righteous.  Pro 11:20-21 They that are perverse in heart are an abomination to Jehovah; But such as are perfect in their way are his delight. 21 Though hand join in hand, the evil man shall not be unpunished; But the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.  Pro 12:7 The wicked are overthrown, and are not; But the house of the righteous shall stand.  Pro 13:22 A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children; And the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous.  Pro 20:7 A righteous man that walketh in his integrity, Blessed are his children after him.   Isa 44:1-5 Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel, who I have chosen: 2 Thus saith Jehovah that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob my servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: 4 and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses. 5 One shall say, I am Jehovah's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto Jehovah, and surname himself by the name of Israel.  Isa 65:23 They (Jerusalem) shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them.  Jer 32:38-41 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40 and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me. 41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.  Est 10:3 For Mordecai (who is a type of the Man-Child) the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed. *David's seed  2Sa 22:50-51 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the nations, And will sing praises unto thy name. 51 Great deliverance giveth he to his king, And showeth lovingkindness to his anointed, To David and to his seed, for evermore.  1Ki 2:31-33 And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father's house. 32 And Jehovah will return his blood upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew it not, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah. 33 So shall their blood return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed forever: but unto David, and unto his seed, and unto his house, and unto his throne, shall there be peace forever from Jehovah.  1Ki 11:11-13 Wherefore Jehovah said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. 12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. 13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to thy son, for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.  1Ki 15:3-5 And he (Abijam) walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as the heart of David his father. 4 Nevertheless for David's sake did Jehovah his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem; 5 because David did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.  2Ki 8:18-19 And he (Jehoram) walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife; and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah. 19 Howbeit Jehovah would not destroy Judah, for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give unto him a lamp for his children always.  Psa 89:27 I also will make him (David) my first-born, The highest of the kings of the earth. 28 My lovingkindness will I keep for him for evermore; And my covenant shall stand fast with him. 29 His seed also will I make to endure forever, And his throne as the days of heaven. 35 Once have I sworn by my holiness: I will not lie unto David: 36 His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before me.  Psa 144:9-15 I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: Upon a psaltery of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee. 10 Thou art he that giveth salvation unto kings; Who rescueth David his servant from the hurtful sword. 11 Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hand of aliens, Whose mouth speaketh deceit, And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. 12 When our sons shall be as plants grown up in their youth, And our daughters as corner-stones hewn after the fashion of a palace; 13 When our garners are full, affording all manner of store, And our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields; 14 When our oxen are well laden; When there is no breaking in, and no going forth, And no outcry in our streets: 15 Happy is the people that is in such a case; Yea, happy is the people whose God is Jehovah.  *The Seed of Christ. Those who have the Word in their heart are the seed of Christ as in the parable of the sower.  Isa 53:10 Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand.  Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.  Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. 13 For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith. 16 For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were. 18 Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, So shall thy seed be.  1Jn 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him.  1Jn 3:7 My little children, let no man lead you astray: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous:  1Co 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the brother: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.  Act 2:38 And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.   *Cornelius, his kinsmen and friends  Act 10:22 And they said, Cornelius a centurion, a righteous man and one that feareth God, and well reported of by all the nation of the Jews, was warned of God by a holy angel to send for thee (Peter) into his house, and to hear words from thee. 23 So he called them in and lodged them. And on the morrow he arose and went forth with them, and certain of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And on the morrow they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together his kinsmen and his near friends.  Act 10:30 And Cornelius said, Four days ago, until this hour, I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in bright apparel, 31 and saith, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa, and call unto thee Simon, who is surnamed Peter; he lodgeth in the house of Simon a tanner, by the sea side. 33 Forthwith therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God, to hear all things that have been commanded thee of the Lord. 34 And Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him.  Act 10:44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word. 45 And they of the circumcision that believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47 Can any man forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.  *The Jailor and all in his house  Act 16:27-34 And the jailor, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29 And he called for lights and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. 32 And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. 34 And he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God.    Another teaching about "the seed of the righteous" on the site is here: Families

Isaiah 44:2 This is what the LORD says— he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. (NIV) Isaiah 49:1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. (NIV) Isaiah 49:5 And now the LORD speaks— the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The LORD has honored me, and my God has given me strength. (NLT) Job 14:5 A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. (NIV) Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (NIV) Galatians 1:15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased (NIV) Jeremiah 10:23 LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. (NIV) Psalm 40:5 Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. (NIV) Psalm 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. (NIV) Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (NIV) 1 Samuel 16:1 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” (NIV) Psalm 75:7 It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. (NIV) Psalm 22:9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. (NIV) Psalm 71:6 From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you. (NIV) Acts 13:36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. (NIV) 1 Samuel 16:5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. (NIV) 1 Samuel 16:11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” (NIV) 1 Samuel 16:13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah. (NIV) 1 Samuel 16:19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” (NIV) Acts 13:36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. (NIV)

Christmas First Psalm: Psalms 97–98 Psalms 97–98 (Listen) The Lord Reigns 97   The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;    let the many coastlands be glad!2   Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.3   Fire goes before him    and burns up his adversaries all around.4   His lightnings light up the world;    the earth sees and trembles.5   The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,    before the Lord of all the earth. 6   The heavens proclaim his righteousness,    and all the peoples see his glory.7   All worshipers of images are put to shame,    who make their boast in worthless idols;    worship him, all you gods! 8   Zion hears and is glad,    and the daughters of Judah rejoice,    because of your judgments, O LORD.9   For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;    you are exalted far above all gods. 10   O you who love the LORD, hate evil!    He preserves the lives of his saints;    he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.11   Light is sown1 for the righteous,    and joy for the upright in heart.12   Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,    and give thanks to his holy name! Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord A Psalm. 98   Oh sing to the LORD a new song,    for he has done marvelous things!  His right hand and his holy arm    have worked salvation for him.2   The LORD has made known his salvation;    he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.3   He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness    to the house of Israel.  All the ends of the earth have seen    the salvation of our God. 4   Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;    break forth into joyous song and sing praises!5   Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,    with the lyre and the sound of melody!6   With trumpets and the sound of the horn    make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD! 7   Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;    the world and those who dwell in it!8   Let the rivers clap their hands;    let the hills sing for joy together9   before the LORD, for he comes    to judge the earth.  He will judge the world with righteousness,    and the peoples with equity. Footnotes [1] 97:11 Most Hebrew manuscripts; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome Light dawns (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalm 145 Psalm 145 (Listen) Great Is the Lord 1 A Song of Praise. Of David. 145   I will extol you, my God and King,    and bless your name forever and ever.2   Every day I will bless you    and praise your name forever and ever.3   Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,    and his greatness is unsearchable. 4   One generation shall commend your works to another,    and shall declare your mighty acts.5   On the glorious splendor of your majesty,    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.6   They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,    and I will declare your greatness.7   They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. 8   The LORD is gracious and merciful,    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.9   The LORD is good to all,    and his mercy is over all that he has made. 10   All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,    and all your saints shall bless you!11   They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom    and tell of your power,12   to make known to the children of man your2 mighty deeds,    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.13   Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,    and your dominion endures throughout all generations.   [The LORD is faithful in all his words    and kind in all his works.]314   The LORD upholds all who are falling    and raises up all who are bowed down.15   The eyes of all look to you,    and you give them their food in due season.16   You open your hand;    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.17   The LORD is righteous in all his ways    and kind in all his works.18   The LORD is near to all who call on him,    to all who call on him in truth.19   He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;    he also hears their cry and saves them.20   The LORD preserves all who love him,    but all the wicked he will destroy. 21   My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,    and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. Footnotes [1] 145:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet [2] 145:12 Hebrew his; also next line [3] 145:13 These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (compare Dead Sea Scroll) (ESV) Old Testament: Proverbs 8:22–30 Proverbs 8:22–30 (Listen) 22   “The LORD possessed1 me at the beginning of his work,2    the first of his acts of old.23   Ages ago I was set up,    at the first, before the beginning of the earth.24   When there were no depths I was brought forth,    when there were no springs abounding with water.25   Before the mountains had been shaped,    before the hills, I was brought forth,26   before he had made the earth with its fields,    or the first of the dust of the world.27   When he established the heavens, I was there;    when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,28   when he made firm the skies above,    when he established3 the fountains of the deep,29   when he assigned to the sea its limit,    so that the waters might not transgress his command,  when he marked out the foundations of the earth,30     then I was beside him, like a master workman,  and I was daily his4 delight,    rejoicing before him always, Footnotes [1] 8:22 Or fathered; Septuagint created [2] 8:22 Hebrew way [3] 8:28 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [4] 8:30 Or daily filled with (ESV) Old Testament: Isaiah 44:1–8 Isaiah 44:1–8 (Listen) Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” Besides Me There Is No God 6   Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel    and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:  “I am the first and I am the last;    besides me there is no god.7   Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.1    Let him declare and set it before me,  since I appointed an ancient people.    Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.8   Fear not, nor be afraid;    have I not told you from of old and declared it?    And you are my witnesses!  Is there a God besides me?    There is no Rock; I know not any.” Footnotes [1] 44:7 Or Who like me can proclaim it? (ESV) New Testament: John 13:20–35 John 13:20–35 (Listen) 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” One of You Will Betray Me 21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus' side,1 24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus2 of whom he was speaking. 25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. A New Commandment 31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.' 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Footnotes [1] 13:23 Greek in the bosom of Jesus [2] 13:24 Greek lacks Jesus (ESV) New Testament: 1 John 5:1–12 1 John 5:1–12 (Listen) Overcoming the World 5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Testimony Concerning the Son of God 6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (ESV)

Psalm 114:1-8 1 When Israel went out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 2 Judah became His sanctuary, And Israel His dominion. We have an awesome God who always takes care of us. You can always trust Him to deliver you, to protect you, to provide for you! You can always lean on Him to be close to you and you can be assured that His everlasting arms are always underneath you! It is possible that the psalmist who was writing Psalm 114 had just finished studying the five books of the Law and had read Deuteronomy 33:26-28, "There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, 'Destroy!' Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop dew.” Although Psalm 114 has no actual "Hallelujah," it is linked with the psalms making up the Great Hallel. Like Psalm 113, it was sung at the Passover before the meal began. For the full spiritual significance of this psalm, we must imagine ourselves back in that upper room on the night in which the Lord Jesus was betrayed. We see Him there with His disciples, singing the rousing verses of this psalm. Psalm 114 is a song of the exodus. The Exodus is mentioned frequently in the psalms (Psalms 74:13; 77:17-20; 78:12-16, 52-53; 106:9-12; 136:10-15) because Israel's deliverance from Egypt was their "national birthday." The people were now set free to serve God and accomplish the important tasks He had assigned to them: bearing witness of the true and living God, writing the Scriptures, and bringing the Savior into the world. In terms of "biblical geography," Egypt represents the world and the bondage of the sinner to its evil forces (Eph. 2:1-3). It was the blood of the lamb applied to the doors that protected the Jewish firstborn from death, just as the blood of Christ, God's Lamb, saves us from sin and death. God's power in opening the Red Sea liberated Israel and separated them from their cruel taskmasters. This is a picture of the resurrection of Christ and the believer's participation in it (Eph. 2:4-10; Col. 3:1). In the centuries that followed, each annual celebration of Passover reminded the Jewish people that Jehovah was their God and that He was for them. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31). The prophet Isaiah saw the Jewish exiles' deliverance from Babylonian captivity as a "second exodus" (Isa. 43:14-21). What an encouragement it was to that struggling Jewish remnant to know that Jehovah God was for them! But not only is God for us, our God Is with us and He is over us! (v. 2). The Lord not only separated Israel from Egypt, but He also separated Israel unto Himself. They were His people, His treasure and His inheritance. "Judah" and "Israel" refer to the whole nation and not to the two kingdoms that formed after the death of Solomon. After the tribes conquered the land of Canaan, the sanctuary of God was placed in Judah, and that was where Solomon built the temple. The nations around Israel had their temples, but they were empty. God's glorious presence dwelt in the tabernacle (Ex. 40) and later in the temple (1 Kings 8:1-11). Today, God does not dwell in manmade houses (Acts 7:48-50), but He does dwell with His people, for our bodies are His temples and the church is His sanctuary (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; Eph. 2:19-22). Jesus is "Immanuel, God with us" (Matt. 1:23; 28:19-20). What a privilege it is to be in the family of God! God bless!

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 134 Psalm 134 (Listen) Come, Bless the Lord A Song of Ascents. 134   Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,    who stand by night in the house of the LORD!2   Lift up your hands to the holy place    and bless the LORD! 3   May the LORD bless you from Zion,    he who made heaven and earth! (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Job 21 Job 21 (Listen) Job Replies: The Wicked Do Prosper 21 Then Job answered and said: 2   “Keep listening to my words,    and let this be your comfort.3   Bear with me, and I will speak,    and after I have spoken, mock on.4   As for me, is my complaint against man?    Why should I not be impatient?5   Look at me and be appalled,    and lay your hand over your mouth.6   When I remember, I am dismayed,    and shuddering seizes my flesh.7   Why do the wicked live,    reach old age, and grow mighty in power?8   Their offspring are established in their presence,    and their descendants before their eyes.9   Their houses are safe from fear,    and no rod of God is upon them.10   Their bull breeds without fail;    their cow calves and does not miscarry.11   They send out their little boys like a flock,    and their children dance.12   They sing to the tambourine and the lyre    and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.13   They spend their days in prosperity,    and in peace they go down to Sheol.14   They say to God, ‘Depart from us!    We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.15   What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?    And what profit do we get if we pray to him?'16   Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?    The counsel of the wicked is far from me. 17   “How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out?    That their calamity comes upon them?    That God1 distributes pains in his anger?18   That they are like straw before the wind,    and like chaff that the storm carries away?19   You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.'    Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.20   Let their own eyes see their destruction,    and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.21   For what do they care for their houses after them,    when the number of their months is cut off?22   Will any teach God knowledge,    seeing that he judges those who are on high?23   One dies in his full vigor,    being wholly at ease and secure,24   his pails2 full of milk    and the marrow of his bones moist.25   Another dies in bitterness of soul,    never having tasted of prosperity.26   They lie down alike in the dust,    and the worms cover them. 27   “Behold, I know your thoughts    and your schemes to wrong me.28   For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?    Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?'29   Have you not asked those who travel the roads,    and do you not accept their testimony30   that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,    that he is rescued in the day of wrath?31   Who declares his way to his face,    and who repays him for what he has done?32   When he is carried to the grave,    watch is kept over his tomb.33   The clods of the valley are sweet to him;    all mankind follows after him,    and those who go before him are innumerable.34   How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?    There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.” Footnotes [1] 21:17 Hebrew he [2] 21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Isaiah 43–44:5 Isaiah 43–44:5 (Listen) Israel's Only Savior 43   But now thus says the LORD,  he who created you, O Jacob,    he who formed you, O Israel:  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;    I have called you by name, you are mine.2   When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;  when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,    and the flame shall not consume you.3   For I am the LORD your God,    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.  I give Egypt as your ransom,    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.4   Because you are precious in my eyes,    and honored, and I love you,  I give men in return for you,    peoples in exchange for your life.5   Fear not, for I am with you;    I will bring your offspring from the east,    and from the west I will gather you.6   I will say to the north, Give up,    and to the south, Do not withhold;  bring my sons from afar    and my daughters from the end of the earth,7   everyone who is called by my name,    whom I created for my glory,    whom I formed and made.” 8   Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,    who are deaf, yet have ears!9   All the nations gather together,    and the peoples assemble.  Who among them can declare this,    and show us the former things?  Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,    and let them hear and say, It is true.10   “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,    “and my servant whom I have chosen,  that you may know and believe me    and understand that I am he.  Before me no god was formed,    nor shall there be any after me.11   I, I am the LORD,    and besides me there is no savior.12   I declared and saved and proclaimed,    when there was no strange god among you;    and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God.13   Also henceforth I am he;    there is none who can deliver from my hand;    I work, and who can turn it back?” 14   Thus says the LORD,    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:  “For your sake I send to Babylon    and bring them all down as fugitives,    even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.15   I am the LORD, your Holy One,    the Creator of Israel, your King.” 16   Thus says the LORD,    who makes a way in the sea,    a path in the mighty waters,17   who brings forth chariot and horse,    army and warrior;  they lie down, they cannot rise,    they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:18   “Remember not the former things,    nor consider the things of old.19   Behold, I am doing a new thing;    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness    and rivers in the desert.20   The wild beasts will honor me,    the jackals and the ostriches,  for I give water in the wilderness,    rivers in the desert,  to give drink to my chosen people,21     the people whom I formed for myself  that they might declare my praise. 22   “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;    but you have been weary of me, O Israel!23   You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,    or honored me with your sacrifices.  I have not burdened you with offerings,    or wearied you with frankincense.24   You have not bought me sweet cane with money,    or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.  But you have burdened me with your sins;    you have wearied me with your iniquities. 25   “I, I am he    who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,    and I will not remember your sins.26   Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;    set forth your case, that you may be proved right.27   Your first father sinned,    and your mediators transgressed against me.28   Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,    and deliver Jacob to utter destruction    and Israel to reviling. Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Revelation 4 Revelation 4 (Listen) The Throne in Heaven 4 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings1 and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,   “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,    who was and is and is to come!” 9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11   “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,    to receive glory and honor and power,  for you created all things,    and by your will they existed and were created.” Footnotes [1] 4:5 Or voices, or sounds (ESV)

Deuteronomy 33:26–27 says this... “There is none like God of Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in His majesty. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Do you need help today? Help is on the way! Let's talk about it on today's Morning Manna.

The LORD calls His chosen people “Jeshurun” for the first time since Moses was alive. Isaiah 44:1-20 Series: The Millennium Forecast Pastor Gene Pensiero Find audio, video, and text of this whole series in the Old Testament book of Isaiah at https://calvaryhanford.com/themillenniumforecast

The LORD calls His chosen people “Jeshurun” for the first time since Moses was alive. Isaiah 44:1-20 Series: The Millennium Forecast Pastor Gene Pensiero Find audio, video, and text of this whole series in the Old Testament book of Isaiah at https://calvaryhanford.com/themillenniumforecast

Deuteronomy 33 33 Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death. 2 He said, “The Lord came from Sinai,And dawned on them from Seir;He shone forth from Mount Paran,And He came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones;At His right hand there was flashing lightning for them.3 “Indeed, He loves the people;All Your holy ones are in Your hand,And they followed in Your steps;Everyone receives of Your words.4 “Moses charged us with a law,A possession for the assembly of Jacob.5 “And He was king in Jeshurun,When the heads of the people were gathered,The tribes of Israel together. 6 “May Reuben live and not die,Nor his men be few.” 7 And this regarding Judah; so he said, “Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,And bring him to his people.With his hands he contended for them,And may You be a help against his adversaries.” 8 Of Levi he said, “Let Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man,Whom You proved at Massah,With whom You contended at the waters of Meribah;9 Who said of his father and his mother,‘I did not consider them';And he did not acknowledge his brothers,Nor did he regard his own sons,For they observed Your word,And kept Your covenant.10 “They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob,And Your law to Israel.They shall put incense before You,And whole burnt offerings on Your altar.11 “O Lord, bless his substance,And accept the work of his hands;Shatter the loins of those who rise up against him,And those who hate him, so that they will not rise again.” 12 Of Benjamin he said, “May the beloved of the Lord dwell in security by Him,Who shields him all the day,And he dwells between His shoulders.” 13 Of Joseph he said, “Blessed of the Lord be his land,With the choice things of heaven, with the dew,And from the deep lying beneath,14 And with the choice yield of the sun,And with the choice produce of the months.15 “And with the best things of the ancient mountains,And with the choice things of the everlasting hills,16 And with the choice things of the earth and its fullness,And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush.Let it come to the head of Joseph,And to the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.17 “As the firstborn of his ox, majesty is his,And his horns are the horns of the wild ox;With them he will push the peoples,All at once, to the ends of the earth.And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim,And those are the thousands of Manasseh.” 18 Of Zebulun he said, “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going forth,And, Issachar, in your tents.19 “They will call peoples to the mountain;There they will offer righteous sacrifices;For they will draw out the abundance of the seas,And the hidden treasures of the sand.” 20 Of Gad he said, “Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad;He lies down as a lion,And tears the arm, also the crown of the head.21 “Then he provided the first part for himself,For there the ruler's portion was reserved;And he came with the leaders of the people;He executed the justice of the Lord,And His ordinances with Israel.” 22 Of Dan he said, “Dan is a lion's whelp,That leaps forth from Bashan.” 23 Of Naphtali he said, “O Naphtali, satisfied with favor,And full of the blessing of the Lord,Take possession of the sea and the south.” 24 Of Asher he said, “More blessed than sons is Asher;May he be favored by his brothers,And may he dip his foot in oil.25 “Your locks will be iron and bronze,And according to your days, so will your leisurely walk be... New American Standard Bible 1995 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maranatha-ministries/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maranatha-ministries/support

“And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, when they traveled from the camp. And when the ark traveled, Moses would say, “Rise up, O Lord! May your enemies be scattered, and may those who hate you flee before you!” And when it came to rest he would say, “Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel!”” ‭‭Numbers‬ ‭10‬:‭34‬-‭36‬ ‭NET‬‬ "He said: The Lord 1. Came from Sinai 2. Dawned to Israel from Seir 3. Appeared in splendor from Mount Paran The “splendor” referred to in verse 3 is from the Hebrew word hod, associated with kingly authority (Numbers 27:20; 1 Chronicles 29:25). In this context, God's splendor is His glory as the sovereign King, reigning over all creation and for all time. ...and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. With his right hand he gave a fiery (flashing lightning) law to them. Surely he loves the people; all your holy ones are in your power. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words. Moses delivered to us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. The Lord was king over Jeshurun, when the leaders of the people assembled, the tribes of Israel together.” ‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭33‬:‭2‬-‭5‬ ‭NET‬‬ X2M EXODUS FROM BABYLON PASSOVER PENTACOST TABERNACLES The language in Habakkuk 3 is strikingly similar to God's appearance at Mount Sinai. At the end of Deuteronomy, Moses blesses the Israelites one final time: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand” (Deuteronomy 33:2). Habakkuk's use of similar phrases connects his song of praise with Moses' blessing. Habakkuk praises God's sovereign power and ability to provide a “second exodus” for His people—not from Egypt but from Babylon. Habakkuk 3:3 marks a shift in Habakkuk's hymn from request to praise. He notes God's power in bringing the Jewish people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Because the Lord had accomplished this great work in the past, Habakkuk was confident He would deliver His people from Babylon and bring them back to their homeland once again. After the darkness of captivity, God would be the sunrise of freedom and hope. Paran – The Centrepoint Of God's Judgement As noted above, the prophet Habakkuk locates Paran in Teman, a region of Edom. Deuteronomy 33 records that God shone from Paran during his delivery of the Sinai covenant, obviously prior to the events of Deut. 33, which immediately precede the Death Of Moses. Habakkuk, on the other hand, prophecies that God will again shine from Paran in the future. But God's future visitation to Paran will not be to deliver a new covenant – it will be for the purpose of exacting God's vengeance on His enemies, those that hate Israel. In other words, Paran is the centrepoint of God's judgement, not His chosen people. God will destroy His enemies beginning at Paran. Not bless it. God will destroy His enemies in all the earth, starting from Paran. It is absolutely clear that Paran will be totally destroyed by God. Isaiah 34 is just one example of this certainty. Habakkuk 3:3-4 describes God's shining forth from Paran in a highly similar way to Deuteronomy 33:2 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden. These initial two verses seem are positive in tone and describe a time of God's visitation to Paran. But the remainder of Habakkuk 3 shows that God's shining forth from Paran is a visitation of judgement. Going Boldly Where The Last Man has Gone Before! Decrease time over target:  PayPal or Venmo @clastronaut Cash App $clastronaut

Scripture Reading: Acts 1:1-11 [Edited: Changed 26 to 11.] I wrote the former account, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after he had given orders by the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 To the same apostles also, after his suffering, he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a forty-day period and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God. 4 While he was with them, he declared, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait there for what my Father promised, which you heard about from me. 5 For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”6 So when they had gathered together, they began to ask him, “Lord, is this the time when you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He told them, “You are not permitted to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.” 9 After he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 As they were still staring into the sky while he was going, suddenly two men in white clothing stood near them 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”[Edited: Moved verses 12-26 to next week.]Main ThemesLiterary PrefaceThe literary preface of Acts is its first two verses, although its introduction could be considered to extend through verses 11, 14, or even the end of the second chapter (verse 2:47) when the book adds its first summary statement.As we discussed last time, the book is addressed to Theophilus, possibly a patron of Luke or a person of high standing who Luke hoped to honor. In ancient times, an author's hope in dedicating a book to such a high-ranking person was that the book be read to audiences during parties or other events.Transition of LeadershipAlmost immediately, with its second verse, the book of Acts tells us of a key event: a transition of leadership in the early church. We are reminded that Jesus has been “taken up,” almost surely referring to the Lord's ascension, and who was left with his instructions? The apostles. This might seem obvious to us, but it isn't. One could at least imagine an egalitarian early church in which every believer had equal voice and insight. That is certainly not what Acts describes. A very select group—the apostles—are left to guide the flock. In fact, just a few verses down (15-26), this leadership group is clearly defined. (My commentary here is not addressing potential corollaries to this transition of leadership, such as apostolic succession or the magisterium.)Later in the book of Acts, we will encounter another transition of leadership, namely, to Paul. He will lead the mission to the gentiles. We will discuss that in future sessions, however.Notice that the acts of the apostles are described as following what “Jesus began to do and teach.” The word began in verse 1 is debated. Some argue that it is simply a Semitic pleonasm, that is, a distinctly Jewish way of speaking. This Semitic construction appears mutliple times in the Septuagint, with which Luke and his audience would have been familiar. If this is the case, the expression does not imply a continued action. Conversely, some have suggested that it means that Acts addresses what Jesus continued to do and teach (presumably by his name and the Spirit) through the disciples. This would make Jesus the paradigm of the church and the church an extension of Jesus. Although the first explanation is more likely, the latter certainly fits the theology in Luke.Luke's RecapitulationChapter 1 of Acts quickly catches up the listener to the end of “volume 1,” the Gospel of Luke. Here is a brief Acts 1 to Luke 24 correspondence. (The format is a bit strange, but I did not want to add an unwieldy table. I added verse quotations when helpful.)1. Acts 1: Jesus teaches the disciples through the Spirit (1:2). Luke 24: Jesus teaches the disciples after the resurrection, including explicit times (24:25-27, 32, 44-48).They said to each other, “Didn't our hearts burn within us while he was speaking with us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:44-482. Acts 1: Jesus offers many proofs of his risen state (1:3a). Luke 24: Jesus demonstrates his risen state (24:13-32, 34, 36-40).Now that very day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and debating these things, Jesus himself approached and began to accompany them . . . . Luke 24:13-15While they were saying these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 But they were startled and terrified, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 Then he said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; it's me! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones like you see I have.” Luke 24:36-393. Acts 1: Jesus appears for forty days (1:3b). Luke 24: Technically missing (i.e., 40 days are not specified). However, some period of time is assumed to accommodate the appearances of Jesus.4. Acts 1: Jesus speaks of the kingdom (1:3b). Luke 24: As with the 40 days, the kingdom lessons are not explicit in Luke 24, but they can be inferred given Jesus' repeated mentions of the kingdom in the earlier chapters of Luke.[Jesus] said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Luke 24:46-47See below for a discussion of the kingdom.5. Acts 1: Jesus orders them not to leave Jerusalem (1:4b). Luke 24: Jesus orders them to stay in Jerusalem (24:49b).And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:496. Acts 1: Jesus instructs them to wait for the Father's promise (1:4b). Luke 24: They must stay in the city until they receive the Father's promise (24: 49). (See the verse under number 5 above.)7. Acts 1: Disciples expect the kingdom's restoration to Israel (1:6). Luke24: A similar notion expressed by other disciples, who expected Jesus to redeem Israel (24:21).But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. Not only this, but it is now the third day since these things happened. Luke 24:218. Acts 1: Jesus promises the Spirit and that they will be witnesses (1:8). Luke 24: They are witnesses and will receive promised power (24:48-49).You are witnesses of these things. 49 And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:48-499. Acts 1: They will receive power (1:8). Luke 24: They will be clothed with power (24:49). (See the verse under number 5 above.)10. Acts 1: Jesus ascends (1:9-11). Luke 24: Jesus ascends (24: 51).Now during the blessing he departed and was taken up into heaven. Luke 24:5111. Acts 1: The disciples leave Mount Olivet for Jerusalem (1: 12). Luke 24: They leave Bethany (24:50; this is near the Mount of Olives, 19:29) and return to Jerusalem (24:52).12. They pray in the upper room (1:13-14). Luke 24: In the gospel, they worship in the temple (24:53). Luke probably expects us to suppose that they met both in homes (here, the upper room) and in the temple.The KingdomActs Assumes We are Familiar with the Gospel of LukeAs suggested above, Jesus spoke much about the “kingdom” in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus preached about the kingdom (Luke 4:43; 8:1; 9:11), promising it to the poor (6:20), little ones (18:16-17; cf. 12:32), and the radically obedient (9:62; 16:16); by contrast, it would be difficult for the rich to enter it (6:24-25; 18:24-25). Jesus also sent his disciples to preach the kingdom (9:2, 60; 10:9, 11).In Acts, we will see a continued proclamation of the kingdom (Acts 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31). However, in Acts Luke seems to presuppose that the reader is familiar with Jesus' words about the kingdom found in the Gospel of Luke. So, we need to take a minute and go back.Already in the gospel we see something curious about the kingdom. People should yearn for the kingdom (Luke 11:2; 12:31; 23:51), although the kingdom was already present in a hidden way (13:18-21), currently available for those willing to receive it (8:10). Jesus's followers could enter the kingdom and find there a role greater than that of John the Baptist (7:28; 16:16). Then Acts opens with what seems like a realized eschatology—that is, the kingdom, whatever that is, is here! Craig Keener explains this present but future mystery as follows:The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek terms here translated “kingdom” usually signify the concept “reign” or “authority” or “rule.” Like the OT (e.g., Isa 6: 5), Jewish teachers could speak of God's present rule (especially among the people who obeyed his law). But Jewish people also looked for the kingdom as God's future rule, when God would reign unchallenged, as attested in regular Jewish prayers. Because “heaven” was a common Jewish periphrasis for “God,” some other Jewish texts use “kingdom of heaven” as a periphrasis for “kingdom of God” (e.g., Sipra Qed. pq. 9.207.2.13; y. Qidd. 1: 2, §24; Matthew, passim). Sometimes they also seem to use “kingdom” as a periphrasis for the divine name.…If one examines the entire evidence available in the Gospels, the kingdom appears to be both present and future, as is widely recognized today. It was only natural for Jesus and his first followers, once they recognized that Jesus would need to come again to establish his kingdom fully, to recognize that the anticipated kingdom would arrive in two stages corresponding to Jesus's first and second coming. If one does not arbitrarily exclude either set of evidence by posing a contradiction that the first generations of disciples would not have recognized, both sets of evidence fit together adequately. If Jesus implied his messiahship and spoke of a future Son of Man, we may thus assume that when he announced the kingdom, he undoubtedly announced God's imminent rule in the final sense (rather than simply God's providential rule over creation or over Israel through the law). But his claim also suggests that he expected to play a role in the kingdom, already active in a hidden way in the present (Luke 13: 18– 30).Kingdom Talk in the Gospel of LukeBecause the kingdom of God is such a recurrent theme in Acts, and that theme is built upon the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, I think we must read the Luke verses before we move on. I will offer brief commentary on these. My purpose is to create some narrative tension that perhaps can be resolved as we study the rest of Acts.The next morning Jesus departed and went to a deserted place. Yet the crowds were seeking him, and they came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. But Jesus said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, for that is what I was sent to do.” Luke 4:42-43Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God belongs to you. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject you as evil on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and jump for joy because your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors did the same things to the prophets. 24 But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort already. 25 Woe to you who are well satisfied with food now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for their ancestors did the same things to the false prophets. 27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:20-27I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is. Luke 7:28Sometime afterward [Jesus] went on through towns and villages, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. . . . While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from one town after another, he spoke to them in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds devoured it. Other seed fell on rock, and when it came up, it withered because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns, and they grew up with it and choked it. But other seed fell on good soil and grew, and it produced a hundred times as much grain.” As he said this, he called out, “The one who has ears to hear had better listen!” Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand. “Now the parable means this: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in a time of testing fall away. As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing the word, cling to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance. Luke 8:1, 4-15After Jesus called the twelve together, he gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. . . . When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida. But when the crowds found out, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and cured those who needed healing. Luke 9:1-2, 10-11As they were walking along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62Whenever you enter a town and the people welcome you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in that town and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come upon you!' But whenever you enter a town and the people do not welcome you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this: The kingdom of God has come.' I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town! Luke 10:8-12Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” So he said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And do not lead us into temptation.'” Luke 11:1-4And which of you by worrying can add an hour to his life? So if you cannot do such a very little thing as this, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the flowers grow; they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you people of little faith! So do not be overly concerned about what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not worry about such things. For all the nations of the world pursue these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, pursue his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out—a treasure in heaven that never decreases, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:25-34Thus Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what should I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the wild birds nested in its branches.” Again he said, “To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all the dough had risen.” Luke 13:18-21The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter in the law to become void. Luke 16:16-17Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!' or ‘There!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Luke 17:20-21Now people were even bringing their babies to him for him to touch. But when the disciples saw it, they began to scold those who brought them. But Jesus called for the children, saying, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Now a certain leader asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'” The man replied, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws since my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the man heard this, he became very sad, for he was extremely wealthy. When Jesus noticed this, he said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?” He replied, “What is impossible for mere humans is possible for God.” And Peter said, “Look, we have left everything we own to follow you! Then Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of God's kingdom who will not receive many times more in this age—and in the age to come, eternal life.” Luke 18:15-30Now there was a man named Joseph who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man. (He had not consented to their plan and action.) He was from the Judean town of Arimathea, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Luke 23:50-52The Spirit and the KingdomI think we need one last bit of background before we move on—and that is the connection between the pouring of the Spirit of God and the coming of the kingdom. Certainly Jesus taught about and proclaimed the coming of both, the Spirit and the kingdom. What we often miss though is that given the Old Testament (the Jewish scriptures), the disciples would have had every reason to understand these two themes as inseparably linked. The prophets had regularly linked God's pouring out his Spirit with the time of Israel's restoration. Take the end of Isaiah 43 and the beginning of 44, for example:[The Lord Rebukes His People] 22 “But you did not call for me, O Jacob; you did not long for me, O Israel. 23 You did not bring me lambs for your burnt offerings; you did not honor me with your sacrifices. I did not burden you with offerings; I did not make you weary by demanding incense. 24 You did not buy me aromatic reeds; you did not present to me the fat of your sacrifices. Yet you burdened me with your sins; you made me weary with your evil deeds. 25 I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake; your sins I do not remember. 26 Remind me of what happened. Let's debate! You, prove to me that you are right! 27 The father of your nation sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me. 28 So I defiled your holy princes, and handed Jacob over to destruction, and subjected Israel to humiliating abuse.[The Lord Will Renew Israel] 44 “Now, listen, Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen!” 2 This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says—the one who formed you in the womb and helps you: “Don't be afraid, my servant Jacob, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on the parched ground and cause streams to flow on the dry land. I will pour my Spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your children. 4 They will sprout up like a tree in the grass, like poplars beside channels of water. 5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,' and another will use the name ‘Jacob.' One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord's,' and use the name ‘Israel.'”Notice, then, that the disciples are not off base when they ask: When will Jesus restore the kingdom to Israel? Some view their question as shortsighted, but this context specifies that the problem with the question, if any, is with timing (Acts 1:7), not with content.The Promise of the Holy SpiritIn the Gospels and immediately in the opening of Acts we read about the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the foretaste of the kingdom and the empowerment to prepare a people for it. The Spirit thus enables the witnesses (e.g., the apostles) to carry on Jesus' mission after his ascension.We are so used to the stories in the Bible, that sometimes we are unsurprised by details that should otherwise give us some pause. Notice that after Jesus is gone the disciples could not generate the Spirit or spiritual experience on their own. They must “wait” for the “promise” of God, requiring faithful dependence on God. In Acts, this dependence is another key theme. God both assigns tasks and provides the power to accomplish them. Luke's pneumatology emphasizes especially the Spirit's empowering the church for mission.Luke expects his audience to be able to fill in details surrounding the promise by remembering what they have already learned in Luke 24:49. There Jesus promises the believers “power” for their mission, which probably includes signs and wonders that would confirm their powerful message.For Luke, the “promise” here is not only a matter of historical interest concerning Jesus's first witnesses; it is paradigmatic, at least in some sense, for all Christians. This is clear from the fact that the promise is later reiterated for all who will repent (Acts 2:38), including the “far off” Gentiles (2:39).Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” Acts 2:38-39The promise here also evokes the prophecies of John the Baptist.Now this was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed—he did not deny but confessed—“I am not the Christ!” So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not!” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No!” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us so that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”John said, “I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said.” 24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) So they asked John, “Why then are you baptizing if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not recognize, who is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal!” These things happened in Bethany across the Jordan River where John was baptizing.On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because he existed before me.' I did not recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.”Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining—this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God.”John 1:19-34From Jerusalem to the Ends of the EarthThe Spirit and the kingdom come together in the central thesis of Acts expressed in Acts 1:8.But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth. Acts 1:8Two points can be made. Salvation begins in Jerusalem. Salvation will come to all the earth. Chapter 2 of Acts will quote Isaiah and give us more details about this mission. Nevertheless, the allusions to Isaiah are already present in verse1:8. The language of “my witnesses” is reminiscent of Isaiah. The same can be said for the geographic range of the testimony of God's salvation (Isa 41:5, 9; 42:10; 43:6; 45:22; 48:20; 49:6; 52:10; 62:11). That Luke depends on Isaiah's language here is clear: although mention of the ends of the earth is common in ancient literature, Luke's complete and exact phrase “to the end of the earth” appears four or five times in the Septuagint (Isa 8:9; 48:20; 49:6; 62:11; also Pss. Sol. 1:4) and only twice in the NT (Acts 13:47 and here); it also appears in Christian writings dependent on Isaiah or Acts but “nowhere else in the immense range” of literature in the Thesaurus linguae graecae.[Edited: All text from this point forward was moved to next week.]

Old Testament: Isaiah 44–45 Isaiah 44–45 (Listen) Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” Besides Me There Is No God 6   Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel    and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:  “I am the first and I am the last;    besides me there is no god.7   Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.1    Let him declare and set it before me,  since I appointed an ancient people.    Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.8   Fear not, nor be afraid;    have I not told you from of old and declared it?    And you are my witnesses!  Is there a God besides me?    There is no Rock; I know not any.” The Folly of Idolatry 9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. 12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” The Lord Redeems Israel 21   Remember these things, O Jacob,    and Israel, for you are my servant;  I formed you; you are my servant;    O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.22   I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud    and your sins like mist;  return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23   Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it;    shout, O depths of the earth;  break forth into singing, O mountains,    O forest, and every tree in it!  For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,    and will be glorified3 in Israel. 24   Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,    who formed you from the womb:  “I am the LORD, who made all things,    who alone stretched out the heavens,    who spread out the earth by myself,25   who frustrates the signs of liars    and makes fools of diviners,  who turns wise men back    and makes their knowledge foolish,26   who confirms the word of his servant    and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,  who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,'    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,    and I will raise up their ruins';27   who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;    I will dry up your rivers';28   who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,    and he shall fulfill all my purpose';  saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,'    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.'” Cyrus, God's Instrument 45   Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,    whose right hand I have grasped,  to subdue nations before him    and to loose the belts of kings,  to open doors before him    that gates may not be closed:2   “I will go before you    and level the exalted places,4  I will break in pieces the doors of bronze    and cut through the bars of iron,3   I will give you the treasures of darkness    and the hoards in secret places,  that you may know that it is I, the LORD,    the God of Israel, who call you by your name.4   For the sake of my servant Jacob,    and Israel my chosen,  I call you by your name,    I name you, though you do not know me.5   I am the LORD, and there is no other,    besides me there is no God;    I equip you, though you do not know me,6   that people may know, from the rising of the sun    and from the west, that there is none besides me;    I am the LORD, and there is no other.7   I form light and create darkness;    I make well-being and create calamity;    I am the LORD, who does all these things. 8   “Shower, O heavens, from above,    and let the clouds rain down righteousness;  let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;    let the earth cause them both to sprout;    I the LORD have created it. 9   “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,    a pot among earthen pots!  Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?'    or ‘Your work has no handles'?10   Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?'    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?'” 11   Thus says the LORD,    the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:  “Ask me of things to come;    will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?512   I made the earth    and created man on it;  it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,    and I commanded all their host.13   I have stirred him up in righteousness,    and I will make all his ways level;  he shall build my city    and set my exiles free,  not for price or reward,”    says the LORD of hosts. The Lord, the Only Savior 14   Thus says the LORD:  “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,    and the Sabeans, men of stature,  shall come over to you and be yours;    they shall follow you;    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.  They will plead with you, saying:    ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,    no god besides him.'” 15   Truly, you are a God who hides himself,    O God of Israel, the Savior.16   All of them are put to shame and confounded;    the makers of idols go in confusion together.17   But Israel is saved by the LORD    with everlasting salvation;  you shall not be put to shame or confounded    to all eternity. 18   For thus says the LORD,  who created the heavens    (he is God!),  who formed the earth and made it    (he established it;  he did not create it empty,    he formed it to be inhabited!):  “I am the LORD, and there is no other.19   I did not speak in secret,    in a land of darkness;  I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,    ‘Seek me in vain.'6  I the LORD speak the truth;    I declare what is right. 20   “Assemble yourselves and come;    draw near together,    you survivors of the nations!  They have no knowledge    who carry about their wooden idols,  and keep on praying to a god    that cannot save.21   Declare and present your case;    let them take counsel together!  Who told this long ago?    Who declared it of old?  Was it not I, the LORD?    And there is no other god besides me,  a righteous God and a Savior;    there is none besides me. 22   “Turn to me and be saved,    all the ends of the earth!    For I am God, and there is no other.23   By myself I have sworn;    from my mouth has gone out in righteousness    a word that shall not return:  ‘To me every knee shall bow,    every tongue shall swear allegiance.'7 24   “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,    are righteousness and strength;  to him shall come and be ashamed    all who were incensed against him.25   In the LORD all the offspring of Israel    shall be justified and shall glory.” Footnotes [1] 44:7 Or Who like me can proclaim it? [2] 44:13 Hebrew stylus [3] 44:23 Or will display his beauty [4] 45:2 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint level the mountains [5] 45:11 A slight emendation yields will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands? [6] 45:19 Hebrew in emptiness [7] 45:23 Septuagint every tongue shall confess to God (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 96 Psalm 96 (Listen) Worship in the Splendor of Holiness 96   Oh sing to the LORD a new song;    sing to the LORD, all the earth!2   Sing to the LORD, bless his name;    tell of his salvation from day to day.3   Declare his glory among the nations,    his marvelous works among all the peoples!4   For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;    he is to be feared above all gods.5   For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,    but the LORD made the heavens.6   Splendor and majesty are before him;    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7   Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!8   Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;    bring an offering, and come into his courts!9   Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;1    tremble before him, all the earth! 10   Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;    he will judge the peoples with equity.” 11   Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;12     let the field exult, and everything in it!  Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy13     before the LORD, for he comes,    for he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness,    and the peoples in his faithfulness. Footnotes [1] 96:9 Or in holy attire (ESV) New Testament: Acts 20 Acts 20 (Listen) Paul in Macedonia and Greece 20 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews1 as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. Eutychus Raised from the Dead 7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted. 13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and2 the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders 17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.3 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by

Old Testament: Isaiah 44–45 Isaiah 44–45 (Listen) Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” Besides Me There Is No God 6   Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel    and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:  “I am the first and I am the last;    besides me there is no god.7   Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.1    Let him declare and set it before me,  since I appointed an ancient people.    Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.8   Fear not, nor be afraid;    have I not told you from of old and declared it?    And you are my witnesses!  Is there a God besides me?    There is no Rock; I know not any.” The Folly of Idolatry 9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. 12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” The Lord Redeems Israel 21   Remember these things, O Jacob,    and Israel, for you are my servant;  I formed you; you are my servant;    O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.22   I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud    and your sins like mist;  return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23   Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it;    shout, O depths of the earth;  break forth into singing, O mountains,    O forest, and every tree in it!  For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,    and will be glorified3 in Israel. 24   Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,    who formed you from the womb:  “I am the LORD, who made all things,    who alone stretched out the heavens,    who spread out the earth by myself,25   who frustrates the signs of liars    and makes fools of diviners,  who turns wise men back    and makes their knowledge foolish,26   who confirms the word of his servant    and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,  who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,'    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,    and I will raise up their ruins';27   who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;    I will dry up your rivers';28   who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,    and he shall fulfill all my purpose';  saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,'    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.'” Cyrus, God's Instrument 45   Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,    whose right hand I have grasped,  to subdue nations before him    and to loose the belts of kings,  to open doors before him    that gates may not be closed:2   “I will go before you    and level the exalted places,4  I will break in pieces the doors of bronze    and cut through the bars of iron,3   I will give you the treasures of darkness    and the hoards in secret places,  that you may know that it is I, the LORD,    the God of Israel, who call you by your name.4   For the sake of my servant Jacob,    and Israel my chosen,  I call you by your name,    I name you, though you do not know me.5   I am the LORD, and there is no other,    besides me there is no God;    I equip you, though you do not know me,6   that people may know, from the rising of the sun    and from the west, that there is none besides me;    I am the LORD, and there is no other.7   I form light and create darkness;    I make well-being and create calamity;    I am the LORD, who does all these things. 8   “Shower, O heavens, from above,    and let the clouds rain down righteousness;  let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;    let the earth cause them both to sprout;    I the LORD have created it. 9   “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,    a pot among earthen pots!  Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?'    or ‘Your work has no handles'?10   Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?'    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?'” 11   Thus says the LORD,    the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:  “Ask me of things to come;    will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?512   I made the earth    and created man on it;  it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,    and I commanded all their host.13   I have stirred him up in righteousness,    and I will make all his ways level;  he shall build my city    and set my exiles free,  not for price or reward,”    says the LORD of hosts. The Lord, the Only Savior 14   Thus says the LORD:  “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,    and the Sabeans, men of stature,  shall come over to you and be yours;    they shall follow you;    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.  They will plead with you, saying:    ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,    no god besides him.'” 15   Truly, you are a God who hides himself,    O God of Israel, the Savior.16   All of them are put to shame and confounded;    the makers of idols go in confusion together.17   But Israel is saved by the LORD    with everlasting salvation;  you shall not be put to shame or confounded    to all eternity. 18   For thus says the LORD,  who created the heavens    (he is God!),  who formed the earth and made it    (he established it;  he did not create it empty,    he formed it to be inhabited!):  “I am the LORD, and there is no other.19   I did not speak in secret,    in a land of darkness;  I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,    ‘Seek me in vain.'6  I the LORD speak the truth;    I declare what is right. 20   “Assemble yourselves and come;    draw near together,    you survivors of the nations!  They have no knowledge    who carry about their wooden idols,  and keep on praying to a god    that cannot save.21   Declare and present your case;    let them take counsel together!  Who told this long ago?    Who declared it of old?  Was it not I, the LORD?    And there is no other god besides me,  a righteous God and a Savior;    there is none besides me. 22   “Turn to me and be saved,    all the ends of the earth!    For I am God, and there is no other.23   By myself I have sworn;    from my mouth has gone out in righteousness    a word that shall not return:  ‘To me every knee shall bow,    every tongue shall swear allegiance.'7 24   “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,    are righteousness and strength;  to him shall come and be ashamed    all who were incensed against him.25   In the LORD all the offspring of Israel    shall be justified and shall glory.” Footnotes [1] 44:7 Or Who like me can proclaim it? [2] 44:13 Hebrew stylus [3] 44:23 Or will display his beauty [4] 45:2 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint level the mountains [5] 45:11 A slight emendation yields will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands? [6] 45:19 Hebrew in emptiness [7] 45:23 Septuagint every tongue shall confess to God (ESV) New Testament: James 3:1–12 James 3:1–12 (Listen) Taming the Tongue 3 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,1 and set on fire by hell.2 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,3 these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. Footnotes [1] 3:6 Or wheel of birth [2] 3:6 Greek Gehenna [3] 3:10 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 12 (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 96 Psalm 96 (Listen) Worship in the Splendor of Holiness 96   Oh sing to the LORD a new song;    sing to the LORD, all the earth!2   Sing to the LORD, bless his name;    tell of his salvation from day to day.3   Declare his glory among the nations,    his marvelous works among all the peoples!4   For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;    he is to be feared above all gods.5   For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,    but the LORD made the heavens.6   Splendor and majesty are before him;    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7   Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!8   Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;    bring an offering, and come into his courts!9   Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;1    tremble before him, all the earth! 10   Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;    he will judge the peoples with equity.” 11   Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;12     let the field exult, and everything in it!  Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy13     before the LORD, for he comes,    for he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness,    and the peoples in his faithfulness. Footnotes [1] 96:9 Or in holy attire (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 25:20–22 Proverbs 25:20–22 (Listen) 20   Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart    is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day,    and like vinegar on soda.21   If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,    and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,22   for you will heap burning coals on his head,    and the LORD will reward you. (

Morning: Isaiah 43–44 Isaiah 43–44 (Listen) Israel's Only Savior 43   But now thus says the LORD,  he who created you, O Jacob,    he who formed you, O Israel:  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;    I have called you by name, you are mine.2   When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;  when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,    and the flame shall not consume you.3   For I am the LORD your God,    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.  I give Egypt as your ransom,    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.4   Because you are precious in my eyes,    and honored, and I love you,  I give men in return for you,    peoples in exchange for your life.5   Fear not, for I am with you;    I will bring your offspring from the east,    and from the west I will gather you.6   I will say to the north, Give up,    and to the south, Do not withhold;  bring my sons from afar    and my daughters from the end of the earth,7   everyone who is called by my name,    whom I created for my glory,    whom I formed and made.” 8   Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,    who are deaf, yet have ears!9   All the nations gather together,    and the peoples assemble.  Who among them can declare this,    and show us the former things?  Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,    and let them hear and say, It is true.10   “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,    “and my servant whom I have chosen,  that you may know and believe me    and understand that I am he.  Before me no god was formed,    nor shall there be any after me.11   I, I am the LORD,    and besides me there is no savior.12   I declared and saved and proclaimed,    when there was no strange god among you;    and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God.13   Also henceforth I am he;    there is none who can deliver from my hand;    I work, and who can turn it back?” 14   Thus says the LORD,    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:  “For your sake I send to Babylon    and bring them all down as fugitives,    even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.15   I am the LORD, your Holy One,    the Creator of Israel, your King.” 16   Thus says the LORD,    who makes a way in the sea,    a path in the mighty waters,17   who brings forth chariot and horse,    army and warrior;  they lie down, they cannot rise,    they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:18   “Remember not the former things,    nor consider the things of old.19   Behold, I am doing a new thing;    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness    and rivers in the desert.20   The wild beasts will honor me,    the jackals and the ostriches,  for I give water in the wilderness,    rivers in the desert,  to give drink to my chosen people,21     the people whom I formed for myself  that they might declare my praise. 22   “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;    but you have been weary of me, O Israel!23   You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,    or honored me with your sacrifices.  I have not burdened you with offerings,    or wearied you with frankincense.24   You have not bought me sweet cane with money,    or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.  But you have burdened me with your sins;    you have wearied me with your iniquities. 25   “I, I am he    who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,    and I will not remember your sins.26   Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;    set forth your case, that you may be proved right.27   Your first father sinned,    and your mediators transgressed against me.28   Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,    and deliver Jacob to utter destruction    and Israel to reviling. Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” Besides Me There Is No God 6   Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel    and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:  “I am the first and I am the last;    besides me there is no god.7   Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.1    Let him declare and set it before me,  since I appointed an ancient people.    Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.8   Fear not, nor be afraid;    have I not told you from of old and declared it?    And you are my witnesses!  Is there a God besides me?    There is no Rock; I know not any.” The Folly of Idolatry 9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. 12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” The Lord Redeems Israel 21   Remember these things, O Jacob,    and Israel, for you are my servant;  I formed you; you are my servant;    O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.22   I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud    and your sins like mist;  return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23   Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it;    shout, O depths of the earth;  break forth into singing, O mountains,    O forest, and every tree in it!  For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,    and will be glorified3 in Israel. 24   Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,    who formed you from the womb:  “I am the LORD, who made all things,    who alone stretched out the heavens,    who spread out the earth by myself,25   who frustrates the signs of liars    and makes fools of diviners,  who turns wise men back    and makes their knowledge foolish,26   who confirms the word of his servant    and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,  who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,'    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,    and I will raise up their ruins';27   who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;    I will dry up your rivers';28   who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,    and he shall fulfill all my purpose';  saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,'    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.'” Footnotes [1] 44:7 Or Who like me can proclaim it? [2] 44:13 Hebrew stylus [3] 44:23 Or will display his beauty (ESV) Evening: Colossians 2 Colossians 2 (Listen) 2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Alive in Christ 6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits1 of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities2 and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.3 Let No One Disqualify You 16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions,4 puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. Footnotes [1] 2:8 Or elementary principles; also verse 20 [2] 2:15 Probably demonic rulers and authorities [3] 2:15 Or in it (that is, the cross) [4] 2:18 Or about the things he has seen (ESV)

Jeshurun Small is a pro trail runner for Adidas TERREX living in Boulder, CO. Jeshurun popped on my radar after his 2nd place finish at the Canyons 50k in April where he gave all-time great Hayden Hawks a run for his money at the North American UTMB Major for 50k. Then in August, Jeshurun had an even bigger breakthrough with a 5th place at OCC -- the UTMB World final of the 50k distance. Top-5 in the world and top-American at only 25 years old.    We talk all about Jeshurun's background. We spend a bunch of time on the Mountain Sports Program at Western State University – a support system that helped to nurture Jeshurun into the great athlete he is today, we talk about his training, his YouTube channel and being a creator in the sport. We talk about those Canyons and OCC performances, look ahead to future goals, and a lot more. Hope you enjoy the convo.    Follow Jesh on IG   Follow Jesh on Strava   Subscribe to Jesh's YouTube Channel   Sponsors: Use code freetrail10 for 10% off Speedland Footwear Use code freetrail15 for 15% off Gnarly Nutrition Get 30% off your first subscription of Ketone IQ at HVMN.com/FREETRAIL30 Use code freetrail15 for 15% off Roark Apparel Freetrail Links: Website | Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | YouTube | Freetrail Experts   Dylan Links: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Strava   ________________________   Other Freetrail podcast episodes you might enjoy:   Kilian Jornet | The New NNormal   Tim Tollefson | The Infinite Game   Clare Gallagher | Black Canyon 100k Champion   Jim Walmsley | Engagement, Moving to Europe, Western States, and UTMB

Join host Jill Smokler in a captivating conversation with Rabbi Dana Saroken. Delve into the welcoming spirit of the Jewish community and explore faith, gratitude, and the ties that bind us all. Rabbi Dana Saroken has been a rabbi at Beth El since 2007 when she became our congregation's first female rabbi. Rabbi Saroken serves in a traditional rabbinic capacity. In addition, she is the Spiritual Director and Founder of The Alvin & Lois Lapidus Center for Healing & Spirituality, also known as The Soul Center. Established in the summer of 2015 as a startup by Beth El Congregation. The mission of The Soul Center is to transform Jewish life in Baltimore through innovative experiences in mindfulness, healing, rejuvenation, and growth by providing innovative ways to stay connected as a community through shared experiences and Jewish learning. Rabbi Saroken attended rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary where she was ordained in 2004. While in rabbinical school Rabbi Saroken was a fellow at CLAL the Center for Leadership and Learning, worked for the Wexner Heritage Foundation, led services for an assisted living center and taught at B'nei Jeshurun and Central Synagogues in NYC. Prior to rabbinical school, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Jewish Studies from the University of Arizona's Honors Program where she was a Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude graduate. Prior to becoming a rabbi, she worked as the Educational Director for “Up With People” (an international organization best known for performing arts, community service and global education) and served as the Director of the Jewish Student Association at Georgetown University. Rabbi Saroken was chosen to participate in the Kenissa Cohort for Jewish Start-Ups, holds a prestigious Schusterman Fellowship, and was honored as one of Jewish Women's International's ten “Women to Watch”. She and her husband, Rafi Rone are blessed to be parenting three teenagers – Gideon, Noa and Maya.______________Did you know there's a She's Got Issues magazine? Check it out! Follow us on Instagram: Jill • She's Got IssuesFor more information contact info@shesgotissues.comShe's Got Issues is produced by Play Audio Agency, Keira Shein & Jill Smokler© 2023 She's Got Issues

By the grace of God, we live in an industrious community of Christians, and it has to be said that this has had a very predictable result. We are also a community that contains more than its share of well-to-do believers. This presents dangers, and temptations, and opportunities.As I am fond of saying, “You can't keep money from doing what money always does.” What was once said of the Puritans who came to New England? It was said that they came to do good, and ended up doing well. Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked (Dt. 32:15). Cotton Mather once said that faithfulness begat prosperity and the daughter devoured the mother. Beware, when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and your gold is multiplied, that your “heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God” (Dt. 8:10-14).

Isaiah 44–48 Isaiah 44–48 (Listen) Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” Besides Me There Is No God 6   Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel    and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:  “I am the first and I am the last;    besides me there is no god.7   Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.1    Let him declare and set it before me,  since I appointed an ancient people.    Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.8   Fear not, nor be afraid;    have I not told you from of old and declared it?    And you are my witnesses!  Is there a God besides me?    There is no Rock; I know not any.” The Folly of Idolatry 9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. 12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” The Lord Redeems Israel 21   Remember these things, O Jacob,    and Israel, for you are my servant;  I formed you; you are my servant;    O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.22   I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud    and your sins like mist;  return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23   Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it;    shout, O depths of the earth;  break forth into singing, O mountains,    O forest, and every tree in it!  For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,    and will be glorified3 in Israel. 24   Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,    who formed you from the womb:  “I am the LORD, who made all things,    who alone stretched out the heavens,    who spread out the earth by myself,25   who frustrates the signs of liars    and makes fools of diviners,  who turns wise men back    and makes their knowledge foolish,26   who confirms the word of his servant    and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,  who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,'    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,    and I will raise up their ruins';27   who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;    I will dry up your rivers';28   who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,    and he shall fulfill all my purpose';  saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,'    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.'” Cyrus, God's Instrument 45   Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,    whose right hand I have grasped,  to subdue nations before him    and to loose the belts of kings,  to open doors before him    that gates may not be closed:2   “I will go before you    and level the exalted places,4  I will break in pieces the doors of bronze    and cut through the bars of iron,3   I will give you the treasures of darkness    and the hoards in secret places,  that you may know that it is I, the LORD,    the God of Israel, who call you by your name.4   For the sake of my servant Jacob,    and Israel my chosen,  I call you by your name,    I name you, though you do not know me.5   I am the LORD, and there is no other,    besides me there is no God;    I equip you, though you do not know me,6   that people may know, from the rising of the sun    and from the west, that there is none besides me;    I am the LORD, and there is no other.7   I form light and create darkness;    I make well-being and create calamity;    I am the LORD, who does all these things. 8   “Shower, O heavens, from above,    and let the clouds rain down righteousness;  let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;    let the earth cause them both to sprout;    I the LORD have created it. 9   “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,    a pot among earthen pots!  Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?'    or ‘Your work has no handles'?10   Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?'    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?'” 11   Thus says the LORD,    the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:  “Ask me of things to come;    will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?512   I made the earth    and created man on it;  it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,    and I commanded all their host.13   I have stirred him up in righteousness,    and I will make all his ways level;  he shall build my city    and set my exiles free,  not for price or reward,”    says the LORD of hosts. The Lord, the Only Savior 14   Thus says the LORD:  “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,    and the Sabeans, men of stature,  shall come over to you and be yours;    they shall follow you;    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.  They will plead with you, saying:    ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,    no god besides him.'” 15   Truly, you are a God who hides himself,    O God of Israel, the Savior.16   All of them are put to shame and confounded;    the makers of idols go in confusion together.17   But Israel is saved by the LORD    with everlasting salvation;  you shall not be put to shame or confounded    to all eternity. 18   For thus says the LORD,  who created the heavens    (he is God!),  who formed the earth and made it    (he established it;  he did not create it empty,    he formed it to be inhabited!):  “I am the LORD, and there is no other.19   I did not speak in secret,    in a land of darkness;  I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,    ‘Seek me in vain.'6  I the LORD speak the truth;    I declare what is right. 20   “Assemble yourselves and come;    draw near together,    you survivors of the nations!  They have no knowledge    who carry about their wooden idols,  and keep on praying to a god    that cannot save.21   Declare and present your case;    let them take counsel together!  Who told this long ago?    Who declared it of old?  Was it not I, the LORD?    And there is no other god besides me,  a righteous God and a Savior;    there is none besides me. 22   “Turn to me and be saved,    all the ends of the earth!    For I am God, and there is no other.23   By myself I have sworn;    from my mouth has gone out in righteousness    a word that shall not return:  ‘To me every knee shall bow,    every tongue shall swear allegiance.'7 24   “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,    are righteousness and strength;  to him shall come and be ashamed    all who were incensed against him.25   In the LORD all the offspring of Israel    shall be justified and shall glory.” The Idols of Babylon and the One True God 46   Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;    their idols are on beasts and livestock;  these things you carry are borne    as burdens on weary beasts.2   They stoop; they bow down together;    they cannot save the burden,    but themselves go into captivity. 3   “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,    all the remnant of the house of Israel,  who have been borne by me from before your birth,    carried from the womb;4   even to your old age I am he,    and to gray hairs I will carry you.  I have made, and I will bear;    I will carry and will save. 5   “To whom will you liken me and make me equal,    and compare me, that we may be alike?6   Those who lavish gold from the purse,    and weigh out silver in the scales,  hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;    then they fall down and worship!7   They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,    they set it in its place, and it stands there;    it cannot move from its place.  If one cries to it, it does not answer    or save him from his trouble. 8   “Remember this and stand firm,    recall it to mind, you transgressors,9     remember the former things of old;  for I am God, and there is no other;    I am God, and there is none like me,10   declaring the end from the beginning    and from ancient times things not yet done,  saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,    and I will accomplish all my purpose,'11   calling a bird of prey from the east,    the man of my counsel from a far country.  I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;    I have purposed, and I will do it. 12   “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,    you who are far from righteousness:13   I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,    and my salvation will not delay;  I will put salvation in Zion,    for Israel my glory.” The Humiliation of Babylon 47   Come down and sit in the dust,    O virgin daughter of Babylon;  sit on the ground without a throne,    O daughter of the Chaldeans!  For you shall no more be called    tender and delicate.2   Take the millstones and grind flour,    put off your veil,  strip off your robe, uncover your legs,    pass through the rivers.3   Your nakedness shall be uncovered,    and your disgrace shall be seen.  I will take vengeance,    and I will spare no one.4   Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—    is the Holy One of Israel. 5   Sit in silence, and go into darkness,    O daughter of the Chaldeans;  for you shall no more be called    the mistress of kingdoms.6   I was angry with my people;    I profaned my heritage;  I gave them into your hand;    you showed them no mercy;  on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.7   You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”    so that you did not lay these things to heart    or remember their end. 8   Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,    who sit securely,  who say in your heart,    “I am, and there is no one besides me;  I shall not sit as a widow    or know the loss of children”:9   These two things shall come to you    in a moment, in one day;  the loss of children and widowhood

Deuteronomy 32:48-33:5, 26-34:1-11 That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, 49 “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50 And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” 33:1 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said, “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand. 3 Yes, he loved his people, all his holy ones were in his hand; so they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you, 4 when Moses commanded us a law, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob. 5 Thus the Lord became king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together. 33:26 “There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. 27 The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy.' 28 So Israel lived in safety, Jacob lived alone, in a land of grain and wine, whose heavens drop down dew. 29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs.” 34:1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, 6 and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was un-dimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. 9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had command-ed Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land.

Deuteronomy 32:48-33:5, 26-34:1-11 That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, 49 “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50 And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” 33:1 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said, “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand. 3 Yes, he loved his people, all his holy ones were in his hand; so they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you, 4 when Moses commanded us a law, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob. 5 Thus the Lord became king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together. 33:26 “There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. 27 The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy.' 28 So Israel lived in safety, Jacob lived alone, in a land of grain and wine, whose heavens drop down dew. 29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs.” 34:1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, 6 and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was un-dimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. 9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had command-ed Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land.

Psalms and Wisdom: Ecclesiastes 2:1–11 Ecclesiastes 2:1–11 (Listen) The Vanity of Self-Indulgence 2 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.1 2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. 4 I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines,2 the delight of the sons of man. 9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. Footnotes [1] 2:1 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verses 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26 (see note on 1:2) [2] 2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Deuteronomy 32:48–33:29 Deuteronomy 32:48–33:29 (Listen) Moses' Death Foretold 48 That very day the LORD spoke to Moses, 49 “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50 And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” Moses' Final Blessing on Israel 33 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,   “The LORD came from Sinai    and dawned from Seir upon us;1    he shone forth from Mount Paran;  he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,    with flaming fire2 at his right hand.3   Yes, he loved his people,3    all his holy ones were in his4 hand;  so they followed5 in your steps,    receiving direction from you,4   when Moses commanded us a law,    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.5   Thus the LORD6 became king in Jeshurun,    when the heads of the people were gathered,    all the tribes of Israel together. 6   “Let Reuben live, and not die,    but let his men be few.” 7 And this he said of Judah:   “Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah,    and bring him in to his people.  With your hands contend7 for him,    and be a help against his adversaries.” 8 And of Levi he said,   “Give to Levi8 your Thummim,    and your Urim to your godly one,  whom you tested at Massah,    with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;9   who said of his father and mother,    ‘I regard them not';  he disowned his brothers    and ignored his children.  For they observed your word    and kept your covenant.10   They shall teach Jacob your rules    and Israel your law;  they shall put incense before you    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.11   Bless, O LORD, his substance,    and accept the work of his hands;  crush the loins of his adversaries,    of those who hate him, that they rise not again.” 12 Of Benjamin he said,   “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety.  The High God9 surrounds him all day long,    and dwells between his shoulders.” 13 And of Joseph he said,   “Blessed by the LORD be his land,    with the choicest gifts of heaven above,10    and of the deep that crouches beneath,14   with the choicest fruits of the sun    and the rich yield of the months,15   with the finest produce of the ancient mountains    and the abundance of the everlasting hills,16   with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness    and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.  May these rest on the head of Joseph,    on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.17   A firstborn bull11—he has majesty,    and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;  with them he shall gore the peoples,    all of them, to the ends of the earth;  they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,    and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” 18 And of Zebulun he said,   “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,    and Issachar, in your tents.19   They shall call peoples to their mountain;    there they offer right sacrifices;  for they draw from the abundance of the seas    and the hidden treasures of the sand.” 20 And of Gad he said,   “Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!    Gad crouches like a lion;    he tears off arm and scalp.21   He chose the best of the land for himself,    for there a commander's portion was reserved;  and he came with the heads of the people,    with Israel he executed the justice of the LORD,    and his judgments for Israel.” 22 And of Dan he said,   “Dan is a lion's cub    that leaps from Bashan.” 23 And of Naphtali he said,   “O Naphtali, sated with favor,    and full of the blessing of the LORD,    possess the lake12 and the south.” 24 And of Asher he said,   “Most blessed of sons be Asher;    let him be the favorite of his brothers,    and let him dip his foot in oil.25   Your bars shall be iron and bronze,    and as your days, so shall your strength be. 26   “There is none like God, O Jeshurun,    who rides through the heavens to your help,    through the skies in his majesty.27   The eternal God is your dwelling place,13    and underneath are the everlasting arms.14  And he thrust out the enemy before you    and said, ‘Destroy.'28   So Israel lived in safety,    Jacob lived alone,15  in a land of grain and wine,    whose heavens drop down dew.29   Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,    a people saved by the LORD,  the shield of your help,    and the sword of your triumph!  Your enemies shall come fawning to you,    and you shall tread upon their backs.” Footnotes [1] 33:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them [2] 33:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [3] 33:3 Septuagint; Hebrew peoples [4] 33:3 Hebrew your [5] 33:3 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [6] 33:5 Hebrew Thus he [7] 33:7 Probable reading; Hebrew With his hands he contended [8] 33:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks Give to Levi [9] 33:12 Septuagint; Hebrew dwells in safety by him. He [10] 33:13 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Targum; Hebrew with the dew [11] 33:17 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Samaritan; Masoretic Text His firstborn bull [12] 33:23 Or west [13] 33:27 Or a dwelling place [14] 33:27 Revocalization of verse 27 yields He subdues the ancient gods, and shatters the forces of old [15] 33:28 Hebrew the abode of Jacob was alone (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Nahum 2–3:4 Nahum 2–3:4 (Listen) The Destruction of Nineveh 2   The scatterer has come up against you.    Man the ramparts;    watch the road;  dress for battle;1    collect all your strength. 2   For the LORD is restoring the majesty of Jacob    as the majesty of Israel,  for plunderers have plundered them    and ruined their branches. 3   The shield of his mighty men is red;    his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.  The chariots come with flashing metal    on the day he musters them;    the cypress spears are brandished.4   The chariots race madly through the streets;    they rush to and fro through the squares;  they gleam like torches;    they dart like lightning.5   He remembers his officers;    they stumble as they go,  they hasten to the wall;    the siege tower2 is set up.6   The river gates are opened;    the palace melts away;7   its mistress3 is stripped;4 she is carried off,    her slave girls lamenting,  moaning like doves    and beating their breasts.8   Nineveh is like a pool    whose waters run away.5  “Halt! Halt!” they cry,    but none turns back.9   Plunder the silver,    plunder the gold!  There is no end of the treasure    or of the wealth of all precious things. 10   Desolate! Desolation and ruin!    Hearts melt and knees tremble;  anguish is in all loins;    all faces grow pale!11   Where is the lions' den,    the feeding place of the young lions,  where the lion and lioness went,    where his cubs were, with none to disturb?12   The lion tore enough for his cubs    and strangled prey for his lionesses;  he filled his caves with prey    and his dens with torn flesh. 13 Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your6 chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard. Woe to Nineveh 3   Woe to the bloody city,    all full of lies and plunder—    no end to the prey!2   The crack of the whip, and rumble of the wheel,    galloping horse and bounding chariot!3   Horsemen charging,    flashing sword and glittering spear,  hosts of slain,    heaps of corpses,  dead bodies without end—    they stumble over the bodies!4   And all for the countless whorings of the prostitute,    graceful and of deadly charms,  who betrays nations with her whorings,    and peoples with her charms. Footnotes [1] 2:1 Hebrew gird your loins [2] 2:5 Or the mantelet [3] 2:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered its mistress is uncertain [4] 2:7 Or exiled [5] 2:8 Compare Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [6] 2:13 Hebrew her (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Matthew 10 Matthew 10 (Listen) The Twelve Apostles 10 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;1 4 Simon the Zealot,2 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles 5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'3 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,4 cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics5 or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.

With family: Deuteronomy 33–34; Psalm 119:145–176 Deuteronomy 33–34 (Listen) Moses' Final Blessing on Israel 33 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,   “The LORD came from Sinai    and dawned from Seir upon us;1    he shone forth from Mount Paran;  he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,    with flaming fire2 at his right hand.3   Yes, he loved his people,3    all his holy ones were in his4 hand;  so they followed5 in your steps,    receiving direction from you,4   when Moses commanded us a law,    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.5   Thus the LORD6 became king in Jeshurun,    when the heads of the people were gathered,    all the tribes of Israel together. 6   “Let Reuben live, and not die,    but let his men be few.” 7 And this he said of Judah:   “Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah,    and bring him in to his people.  With your hands contend7 for him,    and be a help against his adversaries.” 8 And of Levi he said,   “Give to Levi8 your Thummim,    and your Urim to your godly one,  whom you tested at Massah,    with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;9   who said of his father and mother,    ‘I regard them not';  he disowned his brothers    and ignored his children.  For they observed your word    and kept your covenant.10   They shall teach Jacob your rules    and Israel your law;  they shall put incense before you    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.11   Bless, O LORD, his substance,    and accept the work of his hands;  crush the loins of his adversaries,    of those who hate him, that they rise not again.” 12 Of Benjamin he said,   “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety.  The High God9 surrounds him all day long,    and dwells between his shoulders.” 13 And of Joseph he said,   “Blessed by the LORD be his land,    with the choicest gifts of heaven above,10    and of the deep that crouches beneath,14   with the choicest fruits of the sun    and the rich yield of the months,15   with the finest produce of the ancient mountains    and the abundance of the everlasting hills,16   with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness    and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.  May these rest on the head of Joseph,    on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.17   A firstborn bull11—he has majesty,    and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;  with them he shall gore the peoples,    all of them, to the ends of the earth;  they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,    and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” 18 And of Zebulun he said,   “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,    and Issachar, in your tents.19   They shall call peoples to their mountain;    there they offer right sacrifices;  for they draw from the abundance of the seas    and the hidden treasures of the sand.” 20 And of Gad he said,   “Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!    Gad crouches like a lion;    he tears off arm and scalp.21   He chose the best of the land for himself,    for there a commander's portion was reserved;  and he came with the heads of the people,    with Israel he executed the justice of the LORD,    and his judgments for Israel.” 22 And of Dan he said,   “Dan is a lion's cub    that leaps from Bashan.” 23 And of Naphtali he said,   “O Naphtali, sated with favor,    and full of the blessing of the LORD,    possess the lake12 and the south.” 24 And of Asher he said,   “Most blessed of sons be Asher;    let him be the favorite of his brothers,    and let him dip his foot in oil.25   Your bars shall be iron and bronze,    and as your days, so shall your strength be. 26   “There is none like God, O Jeshurun,    who rides through the heavens to your help,    through the skies in his majesty.27   The eternal God is your dwelling place,13    and underneath are the everlasting arms.14  And he thrust out the enemy before you    and said, ‘Destroy.'28   So Israel lived in safety,    Jacob lived alone,15  in a land of grain and wine,    whose heavens drop down dew.29   Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,    a people saved by the LORD,  the shield of your help,    and the sword of your triumph!  Your enemies shall come fawning to you,    and you shall tread upon their backs.” The Death of Moses 34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, 6 and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. 9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. Footnotes [1] 33:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them [2] 33:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [3] 33:3 Septuagint; Hebrew peoples [4] 33:3 Hebrew your [5] 33:3 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [6] 33:5 Hebrew Thus he [7] 33:7 Probable reading; Hebrew With his hands he contended [8] 33:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks Give to Levi [9] 33:12 Septuagint; Hebrew dwells in safety by him. He [10] 33:13 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Targum; Hebrew with the dew [11] 33:17 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Samaritan; Masoretic Text His firstborn bull [12] 33:23 Or west [13] 33:27 Or a dwelling place [14] 33:27 Revocalization of verse 27 yields He subdues the ancient gods, and shatters the forces of old [15] 33:28 Hebrew the abode of Jacob was alone (ESV) Psalm 119:145–176 (Listen) Qoph 145   With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD!    I will keep your statutes.146   I call to you; save me,    that I may observe your testimonies.147   I rise before dawn and cry for help;    I hope in your words.148   My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,    that I may meditate on your promise.149   Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;    O LORD, according to your justice give me life.150   They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;    they are far from your law.151   But you are near, O LORD,    and all your commandments are true.152   Long have I known from your testimonies    that you have founded them forever. Resh 153   Look on my affliction and deliver me,    for I do not forget your law.154   Plead my cause and redeem me;    give me life according to your promise!155   Salvation is far from the wicked,    for they do not seek your statutes.156   Great is your mercy, O LORD;    give me life according to your rules.157   Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,    but I do not swerve from your testimonies.158   I look at the faithless with disgust,    because they do not keep your commands.159   Consider how I love your precepts!    Give me life according to your steadfast love.160   The sum of your word is truth,    and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. Sin and Shin 161   Princes persecute me without cause,    but my heart stands in awe of your words.162   I rejoice at your word    like one who finds great spoil.163   I hate and abhor falsehood,    but I love your law.164   Seven times a day I praise you    for your righteous rules.165   Great peace have those who love your law;    nothing can make them stumble.166   I hope for your salvation, O LORD,    and I do your commandments.167   My soul keeps your testimonies;    I love them exceedingly.168   I keep your precepts and testimonies,    for all my ways are before you. Taw 169   Let my cry come before you, O LORD;    give me understanding according to your word!170   Let my plea come before you;    deliver me according to your word.171   My lips will pour forth praise,    for you teach me your statutes.172   My tongue will sing of your word,    for all your commandments are right.173   Let your hand be ready to help me,    for I have chosen your precepts.174   I long for your salvation, O LORD,    and your law is my delight.175   Let my soul live and praise you,    and let your rules help me.176   I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,    for I do not forget your commandments. (ESV) In private: Isaiah 60; Matthew 8 Isaiah 60 (Listen) The Future Glory of Israel 60   Arise, shine, for your light has come,    and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.2   For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,    and thick darkness the peoples;  but the LORD will arise upon you,    and his glory will be seen upon you.3   And nations shall come to your light,    and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4   Lift up your eyes all around, and see;    they all gather together, they come to you;  your sons shall come from afar,    and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.5   Then you shall see and be radiant;    your heart shall thrill and exult,1  because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,    the wealth of the nations shall come to you.6   A multitude of camels shall cover you,    the young camels of Midian and Ephah;    all those from Sheba shall come.  They shall bring gold and frankincense,    and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD.7   All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;    the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;  they shall come up with acceptance on my altar,    and I will beautify my beautiful house. 8   Who are these that fly like a cloud,    and like doves to their windows?9   For the coastlands shall hope for me,    the ships of Tarshish first,  to bring your children from afar,    their silver and gold with them,  for the name of the LORD your God,    and for the Holy One of Israel,    because he has made you beautiful. 10   Foreigners shall build up your walls,    and their kings shall minister to you;  for in my wrath I struck you,    but in my favor I have had mercy on you.11   Your gates shall be open continually;    day and night they shall not be shut,

Isaiah 44–48 Isaiah 44–48 (Listen) Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” Besides Me There Is No God 6   Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel    and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:  “I am the first and I am the last;    besides me there is no god.7   Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.1    Let him declare and set it before me,  since I appointed an ancient people.    Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.8   Fear not, nor be afraid;    have I not told you from of old and declared it?    And you are my witnesses!  Is there a God besides me?    There is no Rock; I know not any.” The Folly of Idolatry 9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. 12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” The Lord Redeems Israel 21   Remember these things, O Jacob,    and Israel, for you are my servant;  I formed you; you are my servant;    O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.22   I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud    and your sins like mist;  return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23   Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it;    shout, O depths of the earth;  break forth into singing, O mountains,    O forest, and every tree in it!  For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,    and will be glorified3 in Israel. 24   Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,    who formed you from the womb:  “I am the LORD, who made all things,    who alone stretched out the heavens,    who spread out the earth by myself,25   who frustrates the signs of liars    and makes fools of diviners,  who turns wise men back    and makes their knowledge foolish,26   who confirms the word of his servant    and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,  who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,'    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,    and I will raise up their ruins';27   who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;    I will dry up your rivers';28   who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,    and he shall fulfill all my purpose';  saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,'    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.'” Cyrus, God's Instrument 45   Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,    whose right hand I have grasped,  to subdue nations before him    and to loose the belts of kings,  to open doors before him    that gates may not be closed:2   “I will go before you    and level the exalted places,4  I will break in pieces the doors of bronze    and cut through the bars of iron,3   I will give you the treasures of darkness    and the hoards in secret places,  that you may know that it is I, the LORD,    the God of Israel, who call you by your name.4   For the sake of my servant Jacob,    and Israel my chosen,  I call you by your name,    I name you, though you do not know me.5   I am the LORD, and there is no other,    besides me there is no God;    I equip you, though you do not know me,6   that people may know, from the rising of the sun    and from the west, that there is none besides me;    I am the LORD, and there is no other.7   I form light and create darkness;    I make well-being and create calamity;    I am the LORD, who does all these things. 8   “Shower, O heavens, from above,    and let the clouds rain down righteousness;  let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;    let the earth cause them both to sprout;    I the LORD have created it. 9   “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,    a pot among earthen pots!  Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?'    or ‘Your work has no handles'?10   Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?'    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?'” 11   Thus says the LORD,    the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:  “Ask me of things to come;    will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?512   I made the earth    and created man on it;  it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,    and I commanded all their host.13   I have stirred him up in righteousness,    and I will make all his ways level;  he shall build my city    and set my exiles free,  not for price or reward,”    says the LORD of hosts. The Lord, the Only Savior 14   Thus says the LORD:  “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,    and the Sabeans, men of stature,  shall come over to you and be yours;    they shall follow you;    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.  They will plead with you, saying:    ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,    no god besides him.'” 15   Truly, you are a God who hides himself,    O God of Israel, the Savior.16   All of them are put to shame and confounded;    the makers of idols go in confusion together.17   But Israel is saved by the LORD    with everlasting salvation;  you shall not be put to shame or confounded    to all eternity. 18   For thus says the LORD,  who created the heavens    (he is God!),  who formed the earth and made it    (he established it;  he did not create it empty,    he formed it to be inhabited!):  “I am the LORD, and there is no other.19   I did not speak in secret,    in a land of darkness;  I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,    ‘Seek me in vain.'6  I the LORD speak the truth;    I declare what is right. 20   “Assemble yourselves and come;    draw near together,    you survivors of the nations!  They have no knowledge    who carry about their wooden idols,  and keep on praying to a god    that cannot save.21   Declare and present your case;    let them take counsel together!  Who told this long ago?    Who declared it of old?  Was it not I, the LORD?    And there is no other god besides me,  a righteous God and a Savior;    there is none besides me. 22   “Turn to me and be saved,    all the ends of the earth!    For I am God, and there is no other.23   By myself I have sworn;    from my mouth has gone out in righteousness    a word that shall not return:  ‘To me every knee shall bow,    every tongue shall swear allegiance.'7 24   “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,    are righteousness and strength;  to him shall come and be ashamed    all who were incensed against him.25   In the LORD all the offspring of Israel    shall be justified and shall glory.” The Idols of Babylon and the One True God 46   Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;    their idols are on beasts and livestock;  these things you carry are borne    as burdens on weary beasts.2   They stoop; they bow down together;    they cannot save the burden,    but themselves go into captivity. 3   “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,    all the remnant of the house of Israel,  who have been borne by me from before your birth,    carried from the womb;4   even to your old age I am he,    and to gray hairs I will carry you.  I have made, and I will bear;    I will carry and will save. 5   “To whom will you liken me and make me equal,    and compare me, that we may be alike?6   Those who lavish gold from the purse,    and weigh out silver in the scales,  hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;    then they fall down and worship!7   They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,    they set it in its place, and it stands there;    it cannot move from its place.  If one cries to it, it does not answer    or save him from his trouble. 8   “Remember this and stand firm,    recall it to mind, you transgressors,9     remember the former things of old;  for I am God, and there is no other;    I am God, and there is none like me,10   declaring the end from the beginning    and from ancient times things not yet done,  saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,    and I will accomplish all my purpose,'11   calling a bird of prey from the east,    the man of my counsel from a far country.  I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;    I have purposed, and I will do it. 12   “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,    you who are far from righteousness:13   I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,    and my salvation will not delay;  I will put salvation in Zion,    for Israel my glory.” The Humiliation of Babylon 47   Come down and sit in the dust,    O virgin daughter of Babylon;  sit on the ground without a throne,    O daughter of the Chaldeans!  For you shall no more be called    tender and delicate.2   Take the millstones and grind flour,    put off your veil,  strip off your robe, uncover your legs,    pass through the rivers.3   Your nakedness shall be uncovered,    and your disgrace shall be seen.  I will take vengeance,    and I will spare no one.4   Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—    is the Holy One of Israel. 5   Sit in silence, and go into darkness,    O daughter of the Chaldeans;  for you shall no more be called    the mistress of kingdoms.6   I was angry with my people;    I profaned my heritage;  I gave them into your hand;    you showed them no mercy;  on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.7   You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”    so that you did not lay these things to heart    or remember their end. 8   Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,    who sit securely,  who say in your heart,    “I am, and there is no one besides me;  I shall not sit as a widow    or know the loss of children”:9   These two things shall come to you    in a moment, in one day;  the loss of children and widowhood

With family: Deuteronomy 17; Psalm 104 Deuteronomy 17 (Listen) 17 “You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the LORD your God. 2 “If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing his covenant, 3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, 4 and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, 5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. 6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. 7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge1 the evil2 from your midst. Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges 8 “If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place that the LORD your God will choose. 9 And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and they shall declare to you the decision. 10 Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the LORD will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. 11 According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. 12 The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again. Laws Concerning Israel's Kings 14 “When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,' 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.' 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. 18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by3 the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. Footnotes [1] 17:7 Septuagint drive out; also verse 12 [2] 17:7 Or evil person; also verse 12 [3] 17:18 Hebrew from before (ESV) Psalm 104 (Listen) O Lord My God, You Are Very Great 104   Bless the LORD, O my soul!    O LORD my God, you are very great!  You are clothed with splendor and majesty,2     covering yourself with light as with a garment,    stretching out the heavens like a tent.3   He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;  he makes the clouds his chariot;    he rides on the wings of the wind;4   he makes his messengers winds,    his ministers a flaming fire. 5   He set the earth on its foundations,    so that it should never be moved.6   You covered it with the deep as with a garment;    the waters stood above the mountains.7   At your rebuke they fled;    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.8   The mountains rose, the valleys sank down    to the place that you appointed for them.9   You set a boundary that they may not pass,    so that they might not again cover the earth. 10   You make springs gush forth in the valleys;    they flow between the hills;11   they give drink to every beast of the field;    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.12   Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;    they sing among the branches.13   From your lofty abode you water the mountains;    the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. 14   You cause the grass to grow for the livestock    and plants for man to cultivate,  that he may bring forth food from the earth15     and wine to gladden the heart of man,  oil to make his face shine    and bread to strengthen man's heart. 16   The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.17   In them the birds build their nests;    the stork has her home in the fir trees.18   The high mountains are for the wild goats;    the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers. 19   He made the moon to mark the seasons;1    the sun knows its time for setting.20   You make darkness, and it is night,    when all the beasts of the forest creep about.21   The young lions roar for their prey,    seeking their food from God.22   When the sun rises, they steal away    and lie down in their dens.23   Man goes out to his work    and to his labor until the evening. 24   O LORD, how manifold are your works!    In wisdom have you made them all;    the earth is full of your creatures.25   Here is the sea, great and wide,    which teems with creatures innumerable,    living things both small and great.26   There go the ships,    and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.2 27   These all look to you,    to give them their food in due season.28   When you give it to them, they gather it up;    when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.29   When you hide your face, they are dismayed;    when you take away their breath, they die    and return to their dust.30   When you send forth your Spirit,3 they are created,    and you renew the face of the ground. 31   May the glory of the LORD endure forever;    may the LORD rejoice in his works,32   who looks on the earth and it trembles,    who touches the mountains and they smoke!33   I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.34   May my meditation be pleasing to him,    for I rejoice in the LORD.35   Let sinners be consumed from the earth,    and let the wicked be no more!  Bless the LORD, O my soul!  Praise the LORD! Footnotes [1] 104:19 Or the appointed times (compare Genesis 1:14) [2] 104:26 Or you formed to play with [3] 104:30 Or breath (ESV) In private: Isaiah 44; Revelation 14 Isaiah 44 (Listen) Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” Besides Me There Is No God 6   Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel    and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:  “I am the first and I am the last;    besides me there is no god.7   Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.1    Let him declare and set it before me,  since I appointed an ancient people.    Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.8   Fear not, nor be afraid;    have I not told you from of old and declared it?    And you are my witnesses!  Is there a God besides me?    There is no Rock; I know not any.” The Folly of Idolatry 9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. 12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” The Lord Redeems Israel 21   Remember these things, O Jacob,    and Israel, for you are my servant;  I formed you; you are my servant;    O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.22   I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud    and your sins like mist;  return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23   Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it;    shout, O depths of the earth;  break forth into singing, O mountains,    O forest, and every tree in it!  For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,    and will be glorified3 in Israel. 24   Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,    who formed you from the womb:  “I am the LORD, who made all things,    who alone stretched out the heavens,    who spread out the earth by myself,25   who frustrates the signs of liars    and makes fools of diviners,  who turns wise men back    and makes their knowledge foolish,26   who confirms the word of his servant    and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,  who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,'    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,    and I will raise up their ruins';27   who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;    I will dry up your rivers';28   who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,    and he shall fulfill all my purpose';  saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,'    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.'” Footnotes [1] 44:7 Or Who like me can proclaim it? [2] 44:13 Hebrew stylus [3] 44:23 Or will display his beauty (ESV) Revelation 14 (Listen) The Lamb and the 144,000 14 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. The Messages of the Three Angels 6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” 8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion1 of her sexual immorality.” 9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” 12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.2 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” The Harvest of the Earth 14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.3 Footnotes [1] 14:8 Or wrath [2] 14:12 Greek and the faith of Jesus [3] 14:20 About 184 miles; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters (ESV)

On Friday, May 26th, Mishkan Chicago wished Rabbi Deena a fond farewell as she embarks on her journey to New York City where she will serve B'nai Jeshurun as Director of Family Life and Learning. We are proud to present this lightly abbreviated audio version of the entire service. If you're looking for any song or moment in particular, check the timecodes below.Timecodes:[00:00] — Intro[02:40 ]— Welcome from R'Lizzi[04:25] — Shalom Aleichem (Welcome, Angels!)[07:11] — Min Hameitzar[12:12] — R'Lizzi on Shavuot[15:40] — Yaaleh VeYavo[19:26] — R'Lizzi on transitions and God's plans[22:54] — Halleluyah[24:52] — Announcements! Summer plans[26:42] — R'Lizzi says goodbye[30:56] — R'Steven says goodbye[34:00] — R'Deena's farewell sermon[49:14] — Crowded Table[52:54] — Bar'chu[55:06] — Veahavta[57:10] — Hashkiveinu[01:02:15] — Closing remarks[01:03:02] — Oseh Shalom****For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.Transcript

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 126 Psalm 126 (Listen) Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord A Song of Ascents. 126   When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,    we were like those who dream.2   Then our mouth was filled with laughter,    and our tongue with shouts of joy;  then they said among the nations,    “The LORD has done great things for them.”3   The LORD has done great things for us;    we are glad. 4   Restore our fortunes, O LORD,    like streams in the Negeb!5   Those who sow in tears    shall reap with shouts of joy!6   He who goes out weeping,    bearing the seed for sowing,  shall come home with shouts of joy,    bringing his sheaves with him. (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Numbers 7 Numbers 7 (Listen) Offerings at the Tabernacle's Consecration 7 On the day when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle and had anointed and consecrated it with all its furnishings and had anointed and consecrated the altar with all its utensils, 2 the chiefs of Israel, heads of their fathers' houses, who were the chiefs of the tribes, who were over those who were listed, approached 3 and brought their offerings before the LORD, six wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two of the chiefs, and for each one an ox. They brought them before the tabernacle. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, 5 “Accept these from them, that they may be used in the service of the tent of meeting, and give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.” 6 So Moses took the wagons and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. 7 Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service. 8 And four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 9 But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were charged with the service of the holy things that had to be carried on the shoulder. 10 And the chiefs offered offerings for the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed; and the chiefs offered their offering before the altar. 11 And the LORD said to Moses, “They shall offer their offerings, one chief each day, for the dedication of the altar.” 12 He who offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah. 13 And his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels,1 one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 14 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 15 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 16 one male goat for a sin offering; 17 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 18 On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, the chief of Issachar, made an offering. 19 He offered for his offering one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 20 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 21 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 22 one male goat for a sin offering; 23 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar. 24 On the third day Eliab the son of Helon, the chief of the people of Zebulun: 25 his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 26 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 27 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 28 one male goat for a sin offering; 29 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon. 30 On the fourth day Elizur the son of Shedeur, the chief of the people of Reuben: 31 his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 32 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 33 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 34 one male goat for a sin offering; 35 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur. 36 On the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, the chief of the people of Simeon: 37 his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 38 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 39 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 40 one male goat for a sin offering; 41 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 42 On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, the chief of the people of Gad: 43 his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 44 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 45 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 46 one male goat for a sin offering; 47 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 48 On the seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, the chief of the people of Ephraim: 49 his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 50 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 51 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 52 one male goat for a sin offering; 53 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud. 54 On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, the chief of the people of Manasseh: 55 his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 56 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 57 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 58 one male goat for a sin offering; 59 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 60 On the ninth day Abidan the son of Gideoni, the chief of the people of Benjamin: 61 his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 62 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 63 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 64 one male goat for a sin offering; 65 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni. 66 On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, the chief of the people of Dan: 67 his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 68 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 69 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 70 one male goat for a sin offering; 71 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 72 On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of Ochran, the chief of the people of Asher: 73 his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 74 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 75 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 76 one male goat for a sin offering; 77 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran. 78 On the twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, the chief of the people of Naphtali: 79 his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; 80 one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; 81 one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; 82 one male goat for a sin offering; 83 and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan. 84 This was the dedication offering for the altar on the day when it was anointed, from the chiefs of Israel: twelve silver plates, twelve silver basins, twelve golden dishes, 85 each silver plate weighing 130 shekels and each basin 70, all the silver of the vessels 2,400 shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary, 86 the twelve golden dishes, full of incense, weighing 10 shekels apiece according to the shekel of the sanctuary, all the gold of the dishes being 120 shekels; 87 all the cattle for the burnt offering twelve bulls, twelve rams, twelve male lambs a year old, with their grain offering; and twelve male goats for a sin offering; 88 and all the cattle for the sacrifice of peace offerings twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication offering for the altar after it was anointed. 89 And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him. Footnotes [1] 7:13 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Isaiah 43–44:5 Isaiah 43–44:5 (Listen) Israel's Only Savior 43   But now thus says the LORD,  he who created you, O Jacob,    he who formed you, O Israel:  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;    I have called you by name, you are mine.2   When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;  when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,    and the flame shall not consume you.3   For I am the LORD your God,    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.  I give Egypt as your ransom,    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.4   Because you are precious in my eyes,    and honored, and I love you,  I give men in return for you,    peoples in exchange for your life.5   Fear not, for I am with you;    I will bring your offspring from the east,    and from the west I will gather you.6   I will say to the north, Give up,    and to the south, Do not withhold;  bring my sons from afar    and my daughters from the end of the earth,7   everyone who is called by my name,    whom I created for my glory,    whom I formed and made.” 8   Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,    who are deaf, yet have ears!9   All the nations gather together,    and the peoples assemble.  Who among them can declare this,    and show us the former things?  Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,    and let them hear and say, It is true.10   “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,    “and my servant whom I have chosen,  that you may know and believe me    and understand that I am he.  Before me no god was formed,    nor shall there be any after me.11   I, I am the LORD,    and besides me there is no savior.12   I declared and saved and proclaimed,    when there was no strange god among you;    and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God.13   Also henceforth I am he;    there is none who can deliver from my hand;    I work, and who can turn it back?” 14   Thus says the LORD,    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:  “For your sake I send to Babylon    and bring them all down as fugitives,    even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.15   I am the LORD, your Holy One,    the Creator of Israel, your King.” 16   Thus says the LORD,    who makes a way in the sea,    a path in the mighty waters,17   who brings forth chariot and horse,    army and warrior;  they lie down, they cannot rise,    they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:18   “Remember not the former things,    nor consider the things of old.19   Behold, I am doing a new thing;    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness    and rivers in the desert.20   The wild beasts will honor me,    the jackals and the ostriches,  for I give water in the wilderness,    rivers in the desert,  to give drink to my chosen people,21     the people whom I formed for myself  that they might declare my praise. 22   “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;    but you have been weary of me, O Israel!23   You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,    or honored me with your sacrifices.  I have not burdened you with offerings,    or wearied you with frankincense.24   You have not bought me sweet cane with money,    or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.  But you have burdened me with your sins;    you have wearied me with your iniquities. 25   “I, I am he    who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,    and I will not remember your sins.26   Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;    set forth your case, that you may be proved right.27   Your first father sinned,    and your mediators transgressed against me.28   Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,    and deliver Jacob to utter destruction    and Israel to reviling. Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Philippians 3–4:1 Philippians 3–4:1 (Listen) Righteousness Through Faith in Christ 3 Finally, my brothers,1 rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. 2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God2 and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law,3 blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Straining Toward the Goal 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. 4 Therefore, my brothers,4 whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. Footnotes [1] 3:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 13, 17 [2] 3:3 Some manuscripts God in spirit [3] 3:6 Greek in the law [4] 4:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 8, 21 (ESV)

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 33–34 Deuteronomy 33–34 (Listen) Moses' Final Blessing on Israel 33 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,   “The LORD came from Sinai    and dawned from Seir upon us;1    he shone forth from Mount Paran;  he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,    with flaming fire2 at his right hand.3   Yes, he loved his people,3    all his holy ones were in his4 hand;  so they followed5 in your steps,    receiving direction from you,4   when Moses commanded us a law,    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.5   Thus the LORD6 became king in Jeshurun,    when the heads of the people were gathered,    all the tribes of Israel together. 6   “Let Reuben live, and not die,    but let his men be few.” 7 And this he said of Judah:   “Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah,    and bring him in to his people.  With your hands contend7 for him,    and be a help against his adversaries.” 8 And of Levi he said,   “Give to Levi8 your Thummim,    and your Urim to your godly one,  whom you tested at Massah,    with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;9   who said of his father and mother,    ‘I regard them not';  he disowned his brothers    and ignored his children.  For they observed your word    and kept your covenant.10   They shall teach Jacob your rules    and Israel your law;  they shall put incense before you    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.11   Bless, O LORD, his substance,    and accept the work of his hands;  crush the loins of his adversaries,    of those who hate him, that they rise not again.” 12 Of Benjamin he said,   “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety.  The High God9 surrounds him all day long,    and dwells between his shoulders.” 13 And of Joseph he said,   “Blessed by the LORD be his land,    with the choicest gifts of heaven above,10    and of the deep that crouches beneath,14   with the choicest fruits of the sun    and the rich yield of the months,15   with the finest produce of the ancient mountains    and the abundance of the everlasting hills,16   with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness    and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.  May these rest on the head of Joseph,    on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.17   A firstborn bull11—he has majesty,    and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;  with them he shall gore the peoples,    all of them, to the ends of the earth;  they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,    and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” 18 And of Zebulun he said,   “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,    and Issachar, in your tents.19   They shall call peoples to their mountain;    there they offer right sacrifices;  for they draw from the abundance of the seas    and the hidden treasures of the sand.” 20 And of Gad he said,   “Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!    Gad crouches like a lion;    he tears off arm and scalp.21   He chose the best of the land for himself,    for there a commander's portion was reserved;  and he came with the heads of the people,    with Israel he executed the justice of the LORD,    and his judgments for Israel.” 22 And of Dan he said,   “Dan is a lion's cub    that leaps from Bashan.” 23 And of Naphtali he said,   “O Naphtali, sated with favor,    and full of the blessing of the LORD,    possess the lake12 and the south.” 24 And of Asher he said,   “Most blessed of sons be Asher;    let him be the favorite of his brothers,    and let him dip his foot in oil.25   Your bars shall be iron and bronze,    and as your days, so shall your strength be. 26   “There is none like God, O Jeshurun,    who rides through the heavens to your help,    through the skies in his majesty.27   The eternal God is your dwelling place,13    and underneath are the everlasting arms.14  And he thrust out the enemy before you    and said, ‘Destroy.'28   So Israel lived in safety,    Jacob lived alone,15  in a land of grain and wine,    whose heavens drop down dew.29   Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,    a people saved by the LORD,  the shield of your help,    and the sword of your triumph!  Your enemies shall come fawning to you,    and you shall tread upon their backs.” The Death of Moses 34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, 6 and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. 9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. Footnotes [1] 33:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them [2] 33:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [3] 33:3 Septuagint; Hebrew peoples [4] 33:3 Hebrew your [5] 33:3 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [6] 33:5 Hebrew Thus he [7] 33:7 Probable reading; Hebrew With his hands he contended [8] 33:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks Give to Levi [9] 33:12 Septuagint; Hebrew dwells in safety by him. He [10] 33:13 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Targum; Hebrew with the dew [11] 33:17 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Samaritan; Masoretic Text His firstborn bull [12] 33:23 Or west [13] 33:27 Or a dwelling place [14] 33:27 Revocalization of verse 27 yields He subdues the ancient gods, and shatters the forces of old [15] 33:28 Hebrew the abode of Jacob was alone (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 96 Psalm 96 (Listen) Worship in the Splendor of Holiness 96   Oh sing to the LORD a new song;    sing to the LORD, all the earth!2   Sing to the LORD, bless his name;    tell of his salvation from day to day.3   Declare his glory among the nations,    his marvelous works among all the peoples!4   For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;    he is to be feared above all gods.5   For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,    but the LORD made the heavens.6   Splendor and majesty are before him;    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7   Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!8   Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;    bring an offering, and come into his courts!9   Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;1    tremble before him, all the earth! 10   Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;    he will judge the peoples with equity.” 11   Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;12     let the field exult, and everything in it!  Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy13     before the LORD, for he comes,    for he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness,    and the peoples in his faithfulness. Footnotes [1] 96:9 Or in holy attire (ESV) New Testament: Acts 20 Acts 20 (Listen) Paul in Macedonia and Greece 20 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews1 as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. Eutychus Raised from the Dead 7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted. 13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and2 the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders 17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.3 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by4 the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,5 which he obtained with his own blood.6 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” 36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. Footnotes [1] 20:3 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verse 19 [2] 20:15 Some manuscripts add after remaining at Trogyllium [3] 20:21 Some manuscripts omit Christ [4] 20:22 Or bound in [5] 20:28 Some manuscripts of the Lord [6] 20:28 Or with the blood of his Own (ESV)

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 33–34 Deuteronomy 33–34 (Listen) Moses' Final Blessing on Israel 33 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,   “The LORD came from Sinai    and dawned from Seir upon us;1    he shone forth from Mount Paran;  he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,    with flaming fire2 at his right hand.3   Yes, he loved his people,3    all his holy ones were in his4 hand;  so they followed5 in your steps,    receiving direction from you,4   when Moses commanded us a law,    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.5   Thus the LORD6 became king in Jeshurun,    when the heads of the people were gathered,    all the tribes of Israel together. 6   “Let Reuben live, and not die,    but let his men be few.” 7 And this he said of Judah:   “Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah,    and bring him in to his people.  With your hands contend7 for him,    and be a help against his adversaries.” 8 And of Levi he said,   “Give to Levi8 your Thummim,    and your Urim to your godly one,  whom you tested at Massah,    with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;9   who said of his father and mother,    ‘I regard them not';  he disowned his brothers    and ignored his children.  For they observed your word    and kept your covenant.10   They shall teach Jacob your rules    and Israel your law;  they shall put incense before you    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.11   Bless, O LORD, his substance,    and accept the work of his hands;  crush the loins of his adversaries,    of those who hate him, that they rise not again.” 12 Of Benjamin he said,   “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety.  The High God9 surrounds him all day long,    and dwells between his shoulders.” 13 And of Joseph he said,   “Blessed by the LORD be his land,    with the choicest gifts of heaven above,10    and of the deep that crouches beneath,14   with the choicest fruits of the sun    and the rich yield of the months,15   with the finest produce of the ancient mountains    and the abundance of the everlasting hills,16   with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness    and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.  May these rest on the head of Joseph,    on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.17   A firstborn bull11—he has majesty,    and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;  with them he shall gore the peoples,    all of them, to the ends of the earth;  they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,    and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” 18 And of Zebulun he said,   “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,    and Issachar, in your tents.19   They shall call peoples to their mountain;    there they offer right sacrifices;  for they draw from the abundance of the seas    and the hidden treasures of the sand.” 20 And of Gad he said,   “Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!    Gad crouches like a lion;    he tears off arm and scalp.21   He chose the best of the land for himself,    for there a commander's portion was reserved;  and he came with the heads of the people,    with Israel he executed the justice of the LORD,    and his judgments for Israel.” 22 And of Dan he said,   “Dan is a lion's cub    that leaps from Bashan.” 23 And of Naphtali he said,   “O Naphtali, sated with favor,    and full of the blessing of the LORD,    possess the lake12 and the south.” 24 And of Asher he said,   “Most blessed of sons be Asher;    let him be the favorite of his brothers,    and let him dip his foot in oil.25   Your bars shall be iron and bronze,    and as your days, so shall your strength be. 26   “There is none like God, O Jeshurun,    who rides through the heavens to your help,    through the skies in his majesty.27   The eternal God is your dwelling place,13    and underneath are the everlasting arms.14  And he thrust out the enemy before you    and said, ‘Destroy.'28   So Israel lived in safety,    Jacob lived alone,15  in a land of grain and wine,    whose heavens drop down dew.29   Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,    a people saved by the LORD,  the shield of your help,    and the sword of your triumph!  Your enemies shall come fawning to you,    and you shall tread upon their backs.” The Death of Moses 34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, 6 and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. 9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. Footnotes [1] 33:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them [2] 33:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [3] 33:3 Septuagint; Hebrew peoples [4] 33:3 Hebrew your [5] 33:3 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [6] 33:5 Hebrew Thus he [7] 33:7 Probable reading; Hebrew With his hands he contended [8] 33:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks Give to Levi [9] 33:12 Septuagint; Hebrew dwells in safety by him. He [10] 33:13 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Targum; Hebrew with the dew [11] 33:17 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Samaritan; Masoretic Text His firstborn bull [12] 33:23 Or west [13] 33:27 Or a dwelling place [14] 33:27 Revocalization of verse 27 yields He subdues the ancient gods, and shatters the forces of old [15] 33:28 Hebrew the abode of Jacob was alone (ESV) New Testament: John 4:43–5:18 John 4:43–5:18 (Listen) 43 After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. Jesus Heals an Official's Son 46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you1 see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants2 met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour3 the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath 5 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic4 called Bethesda,5 which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.6 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews7 said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.'” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk'?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” Jesus Is Equal with God 18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. Footnotes [1] 4:48 The Greek for you is plural; twice in this verse [2] 4:51 Or bondservants [3] 4:52 That is, at 1 p.m. [4] 5:2 Or Hebrew [5] 5:2 Some manuscripts Bethsaida [6] 5:3 Some manuscripts insert, wholly or in part, waiting for the moving of the water; 4for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had [7] 5:10 The Greek word Ioudaioi refers specifically here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, who opposed Jesus in that time; also verses 15, 16, 18 (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 96 Psalm 96 (Listen) Worship in the Splendor of Holiness 96   Oh sing to the LORD a new song;    sing to the LORD, all the earth!2   Sing to the LORD, bless his name;    tell of his salvation from day to day.3   Declare his glory among the nations,    his marvelous works among all the peoples!4   For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;    he is to be feared above all gods.5   For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,    but the LORD made the heavens.6   Splendor and majesty are before him;    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7   Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!8   Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;    bring an offering, and come into his courts!9   Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;1    tremble before him, all the earth! 10   Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;    he will judge the peoples with equity.” 11   Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;12     let the field exult, and everything in it!  Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy13     before the LORD, for he comes,    for he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness,    and the peoples in his faithfulness. Footnotes [1] 96:9 Or in holy attire (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 14:7–8 Proverbs 14:7–8 (Listen) 7   Leave the presence of a fool,    for there you do not meet words of knowledge.8   The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,    but the folly of fools is deceiving. (ESV)

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Morning: Deuteronomy 33–34 Deuteronomy 33–34 (Listen) Moses' Final Blessing on Israel 33 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,   “The LORD came from Sinai    and dawned from Seir upon us;1    he shone forth from Mount Paran;  he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,    with flaming fire2 at his right hand.3   Yes, he loved his people,3    all his holy ones were in his4 hand;  so they followed5 in your steps,    receiving direction from you,4   when Moses commanded us a law,    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.5   Thus the LORD6 became king in Jeshurun,    when the heads of the people were gathered,    all the tribes of Israel together. 6   “Let Reuben live, and not die,    but let his men be few.” 7 And this he said of Judah:   “Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah,    and bring him in to his people.  With your hands contend7 for him,    and be a help against his adversaries.” 8 And of Levi he said,   “Give to Levi8 your Thummim,    and your Urim to your godly one,  whom you tested at Massah,    with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;9   who said of his father and mother,    ‘I regard them not';  he disowned his brothers    and ignored his children.  For they observed your word    and kept your covenant.10   They shall teach Jacob your rules    and Israel your law;  they shall put incense before you    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.11   Bless, O LORD, his substance,    and accept the work of his hands;  crush the loins of his adversaries,    of those who hate him, that they rise not again.” 12 Of Benjamin he said,   “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety.  The High God9 surrounds him all day long,    and dwells between his shoulders.” 13 And of Joseph he said,   “Blessed by the LORD be his land,    with the choicest gifts of heaven above,10    and of the deep that crouches beneath,14   with the choicest fruits of the sun    and the rich yield of the months,15   with the finest produce of the ancient mountains    and the abundance of the everlasting hills,16   with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness    and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.  May these rest on the head of Joseph,    on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.17   A firstborn bull11—he has majesty,    and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;  with them he shall gore the peoples,    all of them, to the ends of the earth;  they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,    and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” 18 And of Zebulun he said,   “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,    and Issachar, in your tents.19   They shall call peoples to their mountain;    there they offer right sacrifices;  for they draw from the abundance of the seas    and the hidden treasures of the sand.” 20 And of Gad he said,   “Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!    Gad crouches like a lion;    he tears off arm and scalp.21   He chose the best of the land for himself,    for there a commander's portion was reserved;  and he came with the heads of the people,    with Israel he executed the justice of the LORD,    and his judgments for Israel.” 22 And of Dan he said,   “Dan is a lion's cub    that leaps from Bashan.” 23 And of Naphtali he said,   “O Naphtali, sated with favor,    and full of the blessing of the LORD,    possess the lake12 and the south.” 24 And of Asher he said,   “Most blessed of sons be Asher;    let him be the favorite of his brothers,    and let him dip his foot in oil.25   Your bars shall be iron and bronze,    and as your days, so shall your strength be. 26   “There is none like God, O Jeshurun,    who rides through the heavens to your help,    through the skies in his majesty.27   The eternal God is your dwelling place,13    and underneath are the everlasting arms.14  And he thrust out the enemy before you    and said, ‘Destroy.'28   So Israel lived in safety,    Jacob lived alone,15  in a land of grain and wine,    whose heavens drop down dew.29   Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,    a people saved by the LORD,  the shield of your help,    and the sword of your triumph!  Your enemies shall come fawning to you,    and you shall tread upon their backs.” The Death of Moses 34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, 6 and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. 9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. Footnotes [1] 33:2 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them [2] 33:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [3] 33:3 Septuagint; Hebrew peoples [4] 33:3 Hebrew your [5] 33:3 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [6] 33:5 Hebrew Thus he [7] 33:7 Probable reading; Hebrew With his hands he contended [8] 33:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint; Masoretic Text lacks Give to Levi [9] 33:12 Septuagint; Hebrew dwells in safety by him. He [10] 33:13 Two Hebrew manuscripts and Targum; Hebrew with the dew [11] 33:17 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Samaritan; Masoretic Text His firstborn bull [12] 33:23 Or west [13] 33:27 Or a dwelling place [14] 33:27 Revocalization of verse 27 yields He subdues the ancient gods, and shatters the forces of old [15] 33:28 Hebrew the abode of Jacob was alone (ESV) Evening: Luke 1:24–56 Luke 1:24–56 (Listen) 24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” Birth of Jesus Foretold 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed1 to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”2 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”3 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born4 will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant5 of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Mary Visits Elizabeth 39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be6 a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat 46 And Mary said,   “My soul magnifies the Lord,47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,48   for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;49   for he who is mighty has done great things for me,    and holy is his name.50   And his mercy is for those who fear him    from generation to generation.51   He has shown strength with his arm;    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;52   he has brought down the mighty from their thrones    and exalted those of humble estate;53   he has filled the hungry with good things,    and the rich he has sent away empty.54   He has helped his servant Israel,    in remembrance of his mercy,55   as he spoke to our fathers,    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. Footnotes [1] 1:27 That is, legally pledged to be married [2] 1:28 Some manuscripts add Blessed are you among women! [3] 1:34 Greek since I do not know a man [4] 1:35 Some manuscripts add of you [5] 1:38 Greek bondservant; also verse 48 [6] 1:45 Or believed, for there will be (ESV)

Deuteronomy 32–34 Deuteronomy 32–34 (Listen) 32   “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,    and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.2   May my teaching drop as the rain,    my speech distill as the dew,  like gentle rain upon the tender grass,    and like showers upon the herb.3   For I will proclaim the name of the LORD;    ascribe greatness to our God! 4   “The Rock, his work is perfect,    for all his ways are justice.  A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,    just and upright is he.5   They have dealt corruptly with him;    they are no longer his children because they are blemished;    they are a crooked and twisted generation.6   Do you thus repay the LORD,    you foolish and senseless people?  Is not he your father, who created you,    who made you and established you?7   Remember the days of old;    consider the years of many generations;  ask your father, and he will show you,    your elders, and they will tell you.8   When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,    when he divided mankind,  he fixed the borders1 of the peoples    according to the number of the sons of God.29   But the LORD's portion is his people,    Jacob his allotted heritage. 10   “He found him in a desert land,    and in the howling waste of the wilderness;  he encircled him, he cared for him,    he kept him as the apple of his eye.11   Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,    that flutters over its young,  spreading out its wings, catching them,    bearing them on its pinions,12   the LORD alone guided him,    no foreign god was with him.13   He made him ride on the high places of the land,    and he ate the produce of the field,  and he suckled him with honey out of the rock,    and oil out of the flinty rock.14   Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,    with fat3 of lambs,  rams of Bashan and goats,    with the very finest4 of the wheat—    and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape. 15   “But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked;    you grew fat, stout, and sleek;  then he forsook God who made him    and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.16   They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;    with abominations they provoked him to anger.17   They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,    to gods they had never known,  to new gods that had come recently,    whom your fathers had never dreaded.18   You were unmindful of the Rock that bore5 you,    and you forgot the God who gave you birth. 19   “The LORD saw it and spurned them,    because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.20   And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them;    I will see what their end will be,  for they are a perverse generation,    children in whom is no faithfulness.21   They have made me jealous with what is no god;    they have provoked me to anger with their idols.  So I will make them jealous with those who are no people;    I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.22   For a fire is kindled by my anger,    and it burns to the depths of Sheol,  devours the earth and its increase,    and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. 23   “‘And I will heap disasters upon them;    I will spend my arrows on them;24   they shall be wasted with hunger,    and devoured by plague    and poisonous pestilence;  I will send the teeth of beasts against them,    with the venom of things that crawl in the dust.25   Outdoors the sword shall bereave,    and indoors terror,  for young man and woman alike,    the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.26   I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;    I will wipe them from human memory,”27   had I not feared provocation by the enemy,    lest their adversaries should misunderstand,  lest they should say, “Our hand is triumphant,    it was not the LORD who did all this.”' 28   “For they are a nation void of counsel,    and there is no understanding in them.29   If they were wise, they would understand this;    they would discern their latter end!30   How could one have chased a thousand,    and two have put ten thousand to flight,  unless their Rock had sold them,    and the LORD had given them up?31   For their rock is not as our Rock;    our enemies are by themselves.32   For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom    and from the fields of Gomorrah;  their grapes are grapes of poison;    their clusters are bitter;33   their wine is the poison of serpents    and the cruel venom of asps. 34   “‘Is not this laid up in store with me,    sealed up in my treasuries?35   Vengeance is mine, and recompense,6    for the time when their foot shall slip;  for the day of their calamity is at hand,    and their doom comes swiftly.'36   For the LORD will vindicate7 his people    and have compassion on his servants,  when he sees that their power is gone    and there is none remaining, bond or free.37   Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods,    the rock in which they took refuge,38   who ate the fat of their sacrifices    and drank the wine of their drink offering?  Let them rise up and help you;    let them be your protection! 39   “‘See now that I, even I, am he,    and there is no god beside me;  I kill and I make alive;    I wound and I heal;    and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.40   For I lift up my hand to heaven    and swear, As I live forever,41   if I sharpen my flashing sword8    and my hand takes hold on judgment,  I will take vengeance on my adversaries    and will repay those who hate me.42   I will make my arrows drunk with blood,    and my sword shall devour flesh—  with the blood of the slain and the captives,    from the long-haired heads of the enemy.' 43   “Rejoice with him, O heavens;9    bow down to him, all gods,10  for he avenges the blood of his children11    and takes vengeance on his adversaries.  He repays those who hate him12    and cleanses13 his people's land.”14 44 Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua15 the son of Nun. 45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” Moses' Death Foretold 48 That very day the LORD spoke to Moses, 49 “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50 And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” Moses' Final Blessing on Israel 33 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,   “The LORD came from Sinai    and dawned from Seir upon us;16    he shone forth from Mount Paran;  he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,    with flaming fire17 at his right hand.3   Yes, he loved his people,18    all his holy ones were in his19 hand;  so they followed20 in your steps,    receiving direction from you,4   when Moses commanded us a law,    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.5   Thus the LORD21 became king in Jeshurun,    when the heads of the people were gathered,    all the tribes of Israel together. 6   “Let Reuben live, and not die,    but let his men be few.” 7 And this he said of Judah:   “Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah,    and bring him in to his people.  With your hands contend22 for him,    and be a help against his adversaries.” 8 And of Levi he said,   “Give to Levi23 your Thummim,    and your Urim to your godly one,  whom you tested at Massah,    with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;9   who said of his father and mother,    ‘I regard them not';  he disowned his brothers    and ignored his children.  For they observed your word    and kept your covenant.10   They shall teach Jacob your rules    and Israel your law;  they shall put incense before you    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.11   Bless, O LORD, his substance,    and accept the work of his hands;  crush the loins of his adversaries,    of those who hate him, that they rise not again.” 12 Of Benjamin he said,   “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety.  The High God24 surrounds him all day long,    and dwells between his shoulders.” 13 And of Joseph he said,   “Blessed by the LORD be his land,    with the choicest gifts of heaven above,25    and of the deep that crouches beneath,14   with the choicest fruits of the sun    and the rich yield of the months,15   with the finest produce of the ancient mountains    and the abundance of the everlasting hills,16   with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness    and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.  May these rest on the head of Joseph,    on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.17   A firstborn bull26—he has majesty,    and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;  with them he shall gore the peoples,    all of them, to the ends of the earth;  they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,    and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” 18 And of Zebulun he said,   “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,    and Issachar, in your tents.19   They shall call peoples to their mountain;    there they offer right sacrifices;  for they draw from the abundance of the seas    and the hidden treasures of the sand.” 20 And of Gad he said,   “Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!    Gad crouches like a lion;    he tears off arm and scalp.21   He chose the best of the land for himself,    for there a commander's portion was reserved;  and he came with the heads of the people,    with Israel he executed the justice of the LORD,    and his judgments for Israel.” 22 And of Dan he said,   “Dan is a lion's cub    that leaps from Bashan.” 23 And of Naphtali he said,   “O Naphtali, sated with favor,    and full of the blessing of the LORD,    possess the lake27 and the south.” 24 And of Asher he said,   “Most blessed of sons be Asher; &am

Deuteronomy 32–34 Deuteronomy 32–34 (Listen) 32   “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,    and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.2   May my teaching drop as the rain,    my speech distill as the dew,  like gentle rain upon the tender grass,    and like showers upon the herb.3   For I will proclaim the name of the LORD;    ascribe greatness to our God! 4   “The Rock, his work is perfect,    for all his ways are justice.  A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,    just and upright is he.5   They have dealt corruptly with him;    they are no longer his children because they are blemished;    they are a crooked and twisted generation.6   Do you thus repay the LORD,    you foolish and senseless people?  Is not he your father, who created you,    who made you and established you?7   Remember the days of old;    consider the years of many generations;  ask your father, and he will show you,    your elders, and they will tell you.8   When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,    when he divided mankind,  he fixed the borders1 of the peoples    according to the number of the sons of God.29   But the LORD's portion is his people,    Jacob his allotted heritage. 10   “He found him in a desert land,    and in the howling waste of the wilderness;  he encircled him, he cared for him,    he kept him as the apple of his eye.11   Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,    that flutters over its young,  spreading out its wings, catching them,    bearing them on its pinions,12   the LORD alone guided him,    no foreign god was with him.13   He made him ride on the high places of the land,    and he ate the produce of the field,  and he suckled him with honey out of the rock,    and oil out of the flinty rock.14   Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,    with fat3 of lambs,  rams of Bashan and goats,    with the very finest4 of the wheat—    and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape. 15   “But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked;    you grew fat, stout, and sleek;  then he forsook God who made him    and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.16   They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;    with abominations they provoked him to anger.17   They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,    to gods they had never known,  to new gods that had come recently,    whom your fathers had never dreaded.18   You were unmindful of the Rock that bore5 you,    and you forgot the God who gave you birth. 19   “The LORD saw it and spurned them,    because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.20   And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them;    I will see what their end will be,  for they are a perverse generation,    children in whom is no faithfulness.21   They have made me jealous with what is no god;    they have provoked me to anger with their idols.  So I will make them jealous with those who are no people;    I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.22   For a fire is kindled by my anger,    and it burns to the depths of Sheol,  devours the earth and its increase,    and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. 23   “‘And I will heap disasters upon them;    I will spend my arrows on them;24   they shall be wasted with hunger,    and devoured by plague    and poisonous pestilence;  I will send the teeth of beasts against them,    with the venom of things that crawl in the dust.25   Outdoors the sword shall bereave,    and indoors terror,  for young man and woman alike,    the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.26   I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;    I will wipe them from human memory,”27   had I not feared provocation by the enemy,    lest their adversaries should misunderstand,  lest they should say, “Our hand is triumphant,    it was not the LORD who did all this.”' 28   “For they are a nation void of counsel,    and there is no understanding in them.29   If they were wise, they would understand this;    they would discern their latter end!30   How could one have chased a thousand,    and two have put ten thousand to flight,  unless their Rock had sold them,    and the LORD had given them up?31   For their rock is not as our Rock;    our enemies are by themselves.32   For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom    and from the fields of Gomorrah;  their grapes are grapes of poison;    their clusters are bitter;33   their wine is the poison of serpents    and the cruel venom of asps. 34   “‘Is not this laid up in store with me,    sealed up in my treasuries?35   Vengeance is mine, and recompense,6    for the time when their foot shall slip;  for the day of their calamity is at hand,    and their doom comes swiftly.'36   For the LORD will vindicate7 his people    and have compassion on his servants,  when he sees that their power is gone    and there is none remaining, bond or free.37   Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods,    the rock in which they took refuge,38   who ate the fat of their sacrifices    and drank the wine of their drink offering?  Let them rise up and help you;    let them be your protection! 39   “‘See now that I, even I, am he,    and there is no god beside me;  I kill and I make alive;    I wound and I heal;    and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.40   For I lift up my hand to heaven    and swear, As I live forever,41   if I sharpen my flashing sword8    and my hand takes hold on judgment,  I will take vengeance on my adversaries    and will repay those who hate me.42   I will make my arrows drunk with blood,    and my sword shall devour flesh—  with the blood of the slain and the captives,    from the long-haired heads of the enemy.' 43   “Rejoice with him, O heavens;9    bow down to him, all gods,10  for he avenges the blood of his children11    and takes vengeance on his adversaries.  He repays those who hate him12    and cleanses13 his people's land.”14 44 Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua15 the son of Nun. 45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” Moses' Death Foretold 48 That very day the LORD spoke to Moses, 49 “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. 50 And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. 52 For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.” Moses' Final Blessing on Israel 33 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,   “The LORD came from Sinai    and dawned from Seir upon us;16    he shone forth from Mount Paran;  he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,    with flaming fire17 at his right hand.3   Yes, he loved his people,18    all his holy ones were in his19 hand;  so they followed20 in your steps,    receiving direction from you,4   when Moses commanded us a law,    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.5   Thus the LORD21 became king in Jeshurun,    when the heads of the people were gathered,    all the tribes of Israel together. 6   “Let Reuben live, and not die,    but let his men be few.” 7 And this he said of Judah:   “Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah,    and bring him in to his people.  With your hands contend22 for him,    and be a help against his adversaries.” 8 And of Levi he said,   “Give to Levi23 your Thummim,    and your Urim to your godly one,  whom you tested at Massah,    with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;9   who said of his father and mother,    ‘I regard them not';  he disowned his brothers    and ignored his children.  For they observed your word    and kept your covenant.10   They shall teach Jacob your rules    and Israel your law;  they shall put incense before you    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.11   Bless, O LORD, his substance,    and accept the work of his hands;  crush the loins of his adversaries,    of those who hate him, that they rise not again.” 12 Of Benjamin he said,   “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety.  The High God24 surrounds him all day long,    and dwells between his shoulders.” 13 And of Joseph he said,   “Blessed by the LORD be his land,    with the choicest gifts of heaven above,25    and of the deep that crouches beneath,14   with the choicest fruits of the sun    and the rich yield of the months,15   with the finest produce of the ancient mountains    and the abundance of the everlasting hills,16   with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness    and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.  May these rest on the head of Joseph,    on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.17   A firstborn bull26—he has majesty,    and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;  with them he shall gore the peoples,    all of them, to the ends of the earth;  they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,    and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” 18 And of Zebulun he said,   “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,    and Issachar, in your tents.19   They shall call peoples to their mountain;    there they offer right sacrifices;  for they draw from the abundance of the seas    and the hidden treasures of the sand.” 20 And of Gad he said,   “Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!    Gad crouches like a lion;    he tears off arm and scalp.21   He chose the best of the land for himself,    for there a commander's portion was reserved;  and he came with the heads of the people,    with Israel he executed the justice of the LORD,    and his judgments for Israel.” 22 And of Dan he said,   “Dan is a lion's cub    that leaps from Bashan.” 23 And of Naphtali he said,   “O Naphtali, sated with favor,    and full of the blessing of the LORD,    possess the lake27 and the south.” 24 And of Asher he said,   “Most blessed of sons be Asher; &am

In the latest edition of his Search for Meaning podcast, Stephen Wise Temple Senior Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback hosts friend, colleague, collaborator, and author Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz, who has just published his memoir: "To Build a Brave Space: The Making of a Spiritual First Responder."The senior rabbi at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in New Jersey, Rabbi Gewirtz had finished a manuscript just before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the outbreak forced him to re-frame (and in truth, re-write) the entire book. He did that while guiding his synagogue through unprecedented challenges and tending to the health and wellbeing of his own family. "I had to write the book twice, but the second time, [the publisher] wanted it framed as a memoir," Rabbi Gewirtz says. "He thought that the credibility I would gain from people learning about me as a human being would allow me to make the political commentary I make at the end of the book."Originally, Rabbi Gewirtz rejected the subtitle, "The Making of a Spiritual First Responder.""Who are we to be spiritual first responders after all?" he says. "EMTs and doctors and nurses and frontline workers are working with blood and life-and-death emergencies all the time."His publisher insisted: Clergy like him were serving the soul of people in the same way, and in many instances, throughout the lives of their congregants.Rabbi Gewirtz -- the son of a Hofstra professor, the dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker raised in Manhattan -- immediately thought of September 11, 2001, when he was a mere four years into his rabbinate. He vividly recalls how his senior rabbi Rodeph Sholom directed the clergy team to look up which congregants had offices in the Twin Towers. They divvied up the list and went from apartment building, knocking on doors and ringing doorbells. He recalls entering the apartment of one congregant who died in the attack, and then, years later, counseling that congregant's daughter through years of having to re-live such a personal loss in front of crowds at memorial ceremonies.The two rabbis discuss middle-of-the-night calls and unexpected tragedies, but also the miracles they respond to on a daily basis, from weddings to children born to couples who had spent years trying. Both sports fans, they view their lives through the lens of a baseball player who still knows that he can still hit a home run, even after striking out four times the night before. As they delve into the Jewish perspectives on hope and renewal, they explore the roots of the morning prayer for gratitude, "Modeh Ani," the tragedy in Turkey and Syria, and the current political climate.

2 Epiphany First Psalm: Psalms 148–150 Psalms 148–150 (Listen) Praise the Name of the Lord 148   Praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD from the heavens;    praise him in the heights!2   Praise him, all his angels;    praise him, all his hosts! 3   Praise him, sun and moon,    praise him, all you shining stars!4   Praise him, you highest heavens,    and you waters above the heavens! 5   Let them praise the name of the LORD!    For he commanded and they were created.6   And he established them forever and ever;    he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.1 7   Praise the LORD from the earth,    you great sea creatures and all deeps,8   fire and hail, snow and mist,    stormy wind fulfilling his word! 9   Mountains and all hills,    fruit trees and all cedars!10   Beasts and all livestock,    creeping things and flying birds! 11   Kings of the earth and all peoples,    princes and all rulers of the earth!12   Young men and maidens together,    old men and children! 13   Let them praise the name of the LORD,    for his name alone is exalted;    his majesty is above earth and heaven.14   He has raised up a horn for his people,    praise for all his saints,    for the people of Israel who are near to him.  Praise the LORD! Sing to the Lord a New Song 149   Praise the LORD!  Sing to the LORD a new song,    his praise in the assembly of the godly!2   Let Israel be glad in his Maker;    let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!3   Let them praise his name with dancing,    making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!4   For the LORD takes pleasure in his people;    he adorns the humble with salvation.5   Let the godly exult in glory;    let them sing for joy on their beds.6   Let the high praises of God be in their throats    and two-edged swords in their hands,7   to execute vengeance on the nations    and punishments on the peoples,8   to bind their kings with chains    and their nobles with fetters of iron,9   to execute on them the judgment written!    This is honor for all his godly ones.  Praise the LORD! Let Everything Praise the Lord 150   Praise the LORD!  Praise God in his sanctuary;    praise him in his mighty heavens!22   Praise him for his mighty deeds;    praise him according to his excellent greatness! 3   Praise him with trumpet sound;    praise him with lute and harp!4   Praise him with tambourine and dance;    praise him with strings and pipe!5   Praise him with sounding cymbals;    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!6   Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD! Footnotes [1] 148:6 Or it shall not be transgressed [2] 150:1 Hebrew expanse (compare Genesis 1:6–8) (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalms 114–115 Psalms 114–115 (Listen) Tremble at the Presence of the Lord 114   When Israel went out from Egypt,    the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,2   Judah became his sanctuary,    Israel his dominion. 3   The sea looked and fled;    Jordan turned back.4   The mountains skipped like rams,    the hills like lambs. 5   What ails you, O sea, that you flee?    O Jordan, that you turn back?6   O mountains, that you skip like rams?    O hills, like lambs? 7   Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,    at the presence of the God of Jacob,8   who turns the rock into a pool of water,    the flint into a spring of water. To Your Name Give Glory 115   Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,    for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! 2   Why should the nations say,    “Where is their God?”3   Our God is in the heavens;    he does all that he pleases. 4   Their idols are silver and gold,    the work of human hands.5   They have mouths, but do not speak;    eyes, but do not see.6   They have ears, but do not hear;    noses, but do not smell.7   They have hands, but do not feel;    feet, but do not walk;    and they do not make a sound in their throat.8   Those who make them become like them;    so do all who trust in them. 9   O Israel,1 trust in the LORD!    He is their help and their shield.10   O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!    He is their help and their shield.11   You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!    He is their help and their shield. 12   The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us;    he will bless the house of Israel;    he will bless the house of Aaron;13   he will bless those who fear the LORD,    both the small and the great. 14   May the LORD give you increase,    you and your children!15   May you be blessed by the LORD,    who made heaven and earth! 16   The heavens are the LORD's heavens,    but the earth he has given to the children of man.17   The dead do not praise the LORD,    nor do any who go down into silence.18   But we will bless the LORD    from this time forth and forevermore.  Praise the LORD! Footnotes [1] 115:9 Masoretic Text; many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac O house of Israel (ESV) Old Testament: Isaiah 43:14–44:5 Isaiah 43:14–44:5 (Listen) 14   Thus says the LORD,    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:  “For your sake I send to Babylon    and bring them all down as fugitives,    even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.15   I am the LORD, your Holy One,    the Creator of Israel, your King.” 16   Thus says the LORD,    who makes a way in the sea,    a path in the mighty waters,17   who brings forth chariot and horse,    army and warrior;  they lie down, they cannot rise,    they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:18   “Remember not the former things,    nor consider the things of old.19   Behold, I am doing a new thing;    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness    and rivers in the desert.20   The wild beasts will honor me,    the jackals and the ostriches,  for I give water in the wilderness,    rivers in the desert,  to give drink to my chosen people,21     the people whom I formed for myself  that they might declare my praise. 22   “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;    but you have been weary of me, O Israel!23   You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,    or honored me with your sacrifices.  I have not burdened you with offerings,    or wearied you with frankincense.24   You have not bought me sweet cane with money,    or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.  But you have burdened me with your sins;    you have wearied me with your iniquities. 25   “I, I am he    who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,    and I will not remember your sins.26   Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;    set forth your case, that you may be proved right.27   Your first father sinned,    and your mediators transgressed against me.28   Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,    and deliver Jacob to utter destruction    and Israel to reviling. Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” (ESV) New Testament: Hebrews 6:17–7:10 Hebrews 6:17–7:10 (Listen) 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Priestly Order of Melchizedek 7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. 4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,1 though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Footnotes [1] 7:5 Or brothers and sisters (ESV) Gospel: John 4:27–42 John 4:27–42 (Listen) 27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him. 31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.' 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” 39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” (ESV)

Old Testament: Isaiah 44–45 Isaiah 44–45 (Listen) Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” Besides Me There Is No God 6   Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel    and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:  “I am the first and I am the last;    besides me there is no god.7   Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.1    Let him declare and set it before me,  since I appointed an ancient people.    Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.8   Fear not, nor be afraid;    have I not told you from of old and declared it?    And you are my witnesses!  Is there a God besides me?    There is no Rock; I know not any.” The Folly of Idolatry 9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. 12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” The Lord Redeems Israel 21   Remember these things, O Jacob,    and Israel, for you are my servant;  I formed you; you are my servant;    O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.22   I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud    and your sins like mist;  return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23   Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it;    shout, O depths of the earth;  break forth into singing, O mountains,    O forest, and every tree in it!  For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,    and will be glorified3 in Israel. 24   Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,    who formed you from the womb:  “I am the LORD, who made all things,    who alone stretched out the heavens,    who spread out the earth by myself,25   who frustrates the signs of liars    and makes fools of diviners,  who turns wise men back    and makes their knowledge foolish,26   who confirms the word of his servant    and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,  who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,'    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,    and I will raise up their ruins';27   who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;    I will dry up your rivers';28   who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,    and he shall fulfill all my purpose';  saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,'    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.'” Cyrus, God's Instrument 45   Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,    whose right hand I have grasped,  to subdue nations before him    and to loose the belts of kings,  to open doors before him    that gates may not be closed:2   “I will go before you    and level the exalted places,4  I will break in pieces the doors of bronze    and cut through the bars of iron,3   I will give you the treasures of darkness    and the hoards in secret places,  that you may know that it is I, the LORD,    the God of Israel, who call you by your name.4   For the sake of my servant Jacob,    and Israel my chosen,  I call you by your name,    I name you, though you do not know me.5   I am the LORD, and there is no other,    besides me there is no God;    I equip you, though you do not know me,6   that people may know, from the rising of the sun    and from the west, that there is none besides me;    I am the LORD, and there is no other.7   I form light and create darkness;    I make well-being and create calamity;    I am the LORD, who does all these things. 8   “Shower, O heavens, from above,    and let the clouds rain down righteousness;  let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;    let the earth cause them both to sprout;    I the LORD have created it. 9   “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,    a pot among earthen pots!  Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?'    or ‘Your work has no handles'?10   Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?'    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?'” 11   Thus says the LORD,    the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:  “Ask me of things to come;    will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?512   I made the earth    and created man on it;  it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,    and I commanded all their host.13   I have stirred him up in righteousness,    and I will make all his ways level;  he shall build my city    and set my exiles free,  not for price or reward,”    says the LORD of hosts. The Lord, the Only Savior 14   Thus says the LORD:  “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,    and the Sabeans, men of stature,  shall come over to you and be yours;    they shall follow you;    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.  They will plead with you, saying:    ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,    no god besides him.'” 15   Truly, you are a God who hides himself,    O God of Israel, the Savior.16   All of them are put to shame and confounded;    the makers of idols go in confusion together.17   But Israel is saved by the LORD    with everlasting salvation;  you shall not be put to shame or confounded    to all eternity. 18   For thus says the LORD,  who created the heavens    (he is God!),  who formed the earth and made it    (he established it;  he did not create it empty,    he formed it to be inhabited!):  “I am the LORD, and there is no other.19   I did not speak in secret,    in a land of darkness;  I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,    ‘Seek me in vain.'6  I the LORD speak the truth;    I declare what is right. 20   “Assemble yourselves and come;    draw near together,    you survivors of the nations!  They have no knowledge    who carry about their wooden idols,  and keep on praying to a god    that cannot save.21   Declare and present your case;    let them take counsel together!  Who told this long ago?    Who declared it of old?  Was it not I, the LORD?    And there is no other god besides me,  a righteous God and a Savior;    there is none besides me. 22   “Turn to me and be saved,    all the ends of the earth!    For I am God, and there is no other.23   By myself I have sworn;    from my mouth has gone out in righteousness    a word that shall not return:  ‘To me every knee shall bow,    every tongue shall swear allegiance.'7 24   “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,    are righteousness and strength;  to him shall come and be ashamed    all who were incensed against him.25   In the LORD all the offspring of Israel    shall be justified and shall glory.” Footnotes [1] 44:7 Or Who like me can proclaim it? [2] 44:13 Hebrew stylus [3] 44:23 Or will display his beauty [4] 45:2 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint level the mountains [5] 45:11 A slight emendation yields will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands? [6] 45:19 Hebrew in emptiness [7] 45:23 Septuagint every tongue shall confess to God (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 96 Psalm 96 (Listen) Worship in the Splendor of Holiness 96   Oh sing to the LORD a new song;    sing to the LORD, all the earth!2   Sing to the LORD, bless his name;    tell of his salvation from day to day.3   Declare his glory among the nations,    his marvelous works among all the peoples!4   For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;    he is to be feared above all gods.5   For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,    but the LORD made the heavens.6   Splendor and majesty are before him;    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7   Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,    ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!8   Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;    bring an offering, and come into his courts!9   Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;1    tremble before him, all the earth! 10   Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;    he will judge the peoples with equity.” 11   Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;12     let the field exult, and everything in it!  Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy13     before the LORD, for he comes,    for he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness,    and the peoples in his faithfulness. Footnotes [1] 96:9 Or in holy attire (ESV) New Testament: Acts 20 Acts 20 (Listen) Paul in Macedonia and Greece 20 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews1 as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. Eutychus Raised from the Dead 7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted. 13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and2 the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders 17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.3 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by