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Evon
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 Lenten Scriptures
« Thread Started on Mar 9, 2011, 7:23pm »

Ash Wednesday


Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
1 Blow the trumpet
in Zion;
sound the alarm
on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming.
It is close at hand—
2 a day of darkness
and gloom,
a day of clouds
and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was in ancient times
nor ever will be in ages to come.

12 “Even now,”
declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting
and weeping
and mourning.”
13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious
and compassionate,
slow to anger
and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows?
He may turn and relent
and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings
and drink offerings
for the LORD your God.

15 Blow the trumpet
in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests,
who minister before the LORD,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say,
“Spare your people,
LORD.
Do not make your inheritance
an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

or

Isaiah 58:1-12

1 “Shout it aloud,
do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people
their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob
their sins.
2 For day after day
they seek me out;
they seem eager
to know my ways,
as if they were a nation
that does what is right
and has not forsaken
the commands of its God.
They ask me
for just decisions
and seem eager
for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’
they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting,
you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends
in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call,
and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help,
and he will say:
Here am I.

“If you do away
with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger
and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves
in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs
of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring
whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.


Psalm 51:1-17

1 Have mercy on me,
O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you,
you only,
have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop,
and I will be clean;
wash me,
and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart,
O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit,
to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed,
O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips,
Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice,
or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice,
O God,
is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you,
God,
will not despise.


2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,
as though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ’s behalf:
Be reconciled to God.
21 God made him
who had no sin
to be sin for us,
so that in him
we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 6
1 As God’s co-workers
we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
2 For he says,

“In the time of my favor
I heard you,
and in the day of salvation
I helped you.”

I tell you,
now is the time of God’s favor,
now is the day of salvation.

3 We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path,
so that our ministry will not be discredited.
4 Rather,
as servants of God
we commend ourselves
in every way:
in great endurance;
in troubles,
hardships
and distresses;
5 in beatings,
imprisonments
and riots;
in hard work,
sleepless nights
and hunger;
6 in purity,
understanding,
patience
and kindness;
in the Holy Spirit
and in sincere love;
7 in truthful speech
and in the power of God;
with weapons of righteousness
in the right hand and in the left;
8 through glory
and dishonor,
bad report
and good report;

genuine,
yet regarded as impostors;
9 known,
yet regarded as unknown;
dying,
and yet we live on;
beaten,
and yet not killed;
10 sorrowful,
yet always rejoicing;
poor,
yet making many rich;
having nothing,
and yet possessing everything.


Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
1 “Be careful
not to practice your righteousness
in front of others to be seen by them.
If you do,
you will have no reward
from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy,
do not announce it with trumpets,
as the hypocrites do
in the synagogues
and on the streets,
to be honored by others.
Truly I tell you,
they have received their reward in full.
3 But when you give to the needy,
do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving may be in secret.
Then your Father,
who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you.

5 “And when you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
for they love to pray
standing in the synagogues
and on the street corners
to be seen by others.
Truly I tell you,
they have received their reward in full.
6 But when you pray,
go into your room,
close the door
and pray to your Father,
who is unseen.
Then your Father,
who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you.

16 “When you fast,
do not look somber
as the hypocrites do,
for they disfigure their faces
to show others they are fasting.
Truly I tell you,
they have received their reward in full.
17 But when you fast,
put oil on your head
and wash your face,
18 so that it will not be obvious
to others that you are fasting,
but only to your Father,
who is unseen;
and your Father,
who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves
treasures on earth,
where moths
and vermin destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal.
20 But store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven,
where moths
and vermin do not destroy,
and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
« Last Edit: May 2, 2011, 2:57am by Evon »Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged

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 Re: Lenten Scriptures
« Reply #1 on Mar 9, 2011, 11:19pm »

Thursday, March 10

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

15 See,
I set before you
today
life
and prosperity,
death
and destruction.
16 For I command you
today
to love the LORD your God,
to walk in obedience to him,
and to keep
his commands,
decrees
and laws;
then you will live
and increase,
and the LORD your God will bless you
in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But
if your heart turns away
and you are not obedient,
and if you are drawn away
to bow down to other gods
and worship them,
18 I declare to you this day
that you will certainly be destroyed.
You will not live long in the land
you are crossing the Jordan
to enter
and possess.

19 This day
I call the heavens
and the earth
as witnesses against you
that I have set before you
life
and death,
blessings
and curses.
Now choose life,
so that you
and your children
may live
20 and that you may love the LORD your God,
listen to his voice,
and hold fast to him.
For the LORD is your life,
and he will give you many years




Luke 9:22-25

22 And he said,
“The Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected
by the elders,
the chief priests
and the teachers of the law,
and he must be killed
and on the third day
be raised to life.”
23 Then he said to them all:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple
must deny themselves
and take up their cross daily
and follow me.
24 For whoever wants to save their life
will lose it,
but whoever loses their life for me
will save it.
25 What good is it
for someone
to gain the whole world,
and yet lose
or forfeit
their very self?
« Last Edit: Mar 31, 2011, 9:34pm by Evon »Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged

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 Re: Lenten Scriptures
« Reply #2 on Mar 10, 2011, 11:23am »

Friday, March 11


Isaiah 58


1 “Shout it aloud,
do not hold back.
Raise your voice
like a trumpet.
Declare to my people
their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob
their sins.
2 For day after day
they seek me out;
they seem eager
to know my ways,
as if they were a nation
that does what is right
and has not forsaken
the commands of its God.
They ask me
for just decisions
and seem eager
for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’
they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting,
you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast
I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting
I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food
with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer
with shelter—
when you see the naked,
to clothe them,
and not to turn away
from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness
will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD
will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call,
and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help,
and he will say:
Here am I.

“If you do away
with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger
and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves
in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs
of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you
always;
he will satisfy your needs
in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph
on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance
of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.



Matthew 9:14-15

14 Then John’s disciples came
and asked him,
“How is it that we
and the Pharisees
fast often,
but your disciples do not fast?”
15 Jesus answered,
“How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn
while he is with them?
The time will come
when the bridegroom will be taken from them;
then they will fast.
« Last Edit: Mar 31, 2011, 9:42pm by Evon »Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged

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 Re: Lenten Scriptures
« Reply #3 on Mar 11, 2011, 10:11am »

Saturday, March 12


Isaiah 58
1 “Shout it aloud,
do not hold back.
Raise your voice
like a trumpet.
Declare to my people
their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob
their sins.
2 For day after day
they seek me out;
they seem eager
to know my ways,
as if they were a nation
that does what is right
and has not forsaken
the commands of its God.
They ask me
for just decisions
and seem eager
for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’
they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting,
you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast
I have chosen,
only a day
for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting
I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food
with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer
with shelter—
when you see the naked,
to clothe them,
and not to turn away
from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness
will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD
will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call,
and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help,
and he will say:
Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves
in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs
of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you
always;
he will satisfy your needs
in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph
on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance
of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.



Luke 5:27-32

27 After this,
Jesus went out
and saw a tax collector
by the name of Levi
sitting at his tax booth.
“Follow me,”
Jesus said to him,
28 and Levi got up,
left everything
and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house,
and a large crowd of tax collectors
and others were eating with them.
30 But the Pharisees
and the teachers of the law
who belonged to their sect
complained to his disciples,
“Why do you eat and drink
with tax collectors
and sinners?”

31 Jesus answered them,
“It is not the healthy
who need a doctor,
but the sick.
32 I have not come to call
the righteous,
but sinners
to repentance.”
« Last Edit: Mar 31, 2011, 9:49pm by Evon »Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged

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 Re: Lenten Scriptures
« Reply #4 on Mar 12, 2011, 9:58am »

Sunday, March 13, First Sunday in Lent


Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
7 Then the LORD God formed a man
from the dust of the ground
and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life,
and the man became
a living being.

8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden
in the east, in Eden;
and there he put the man he had formed.
9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees
grow out of the ground—
trees
that were pleasing to the eye
and good for food.
In the middle of the garden were
the tree of life
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more crafty
than any of the wild animals
the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman,
“Did God really say,
‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent,
“We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say,
‘You must not eat fruit from the tree
that is in the middle of the garden,
and you must not touch it,
or you will die.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,”
the serpent said to the woman.
5 “For God knows
that when you eat from it
your eyes will be opened,

and you will be like God,

knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw
that the fruit of the tree
was good for food
and pleasing to the eye,
and also desirable for gaining wisdom,
she took some and ate it.
She also gave some to her husband,
who was with her,
and he ate it.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized they were naked;
so they sewed fig leaves together
and made coverings for themselves.


Romans 5:12-19

12 Therefore,
just as sin entered the world
through one man,
and death through sin,
and in this way death came to all people,
because all sinned—
13 To be sure,
sin was in the world before the law was given,
but sin is not charged against anyone’s account
where there is no law.
14 Nevertheless,
death reigned
from the time of Adam
to the time of Moses,
even over those
who did not sin by breaking a command,
as did Adam,
who is a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass.
For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,
how much more did God’s grace
and the gift that came by the grace
of the one man,
Jesus Christ,
overflow to the many!
16 Nor can the gift of God
be compared
with the result of one man’s sin:
The judgment followed one sin
and brought condemnation,
but the gift followed many trespasses
and brought justification.
17 For if,
by the trespass of the one man,
death reigned through that one man,
how much more
will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace
and of the gift of righteousness
reign in life
through the one man,
Jesus Christ!

18 Consequently,
just as one trespass
resulted in condemnation
for all people,
so also
one righteous act
resulted in justification
and life
for all people.
19 For just as through the disobedience
of the one man
the many were made sinners,
so also through the obedience
of the one man
the many will be made righteous.



Matthew 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit
into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil.
2 After fasting forty days and forty nights,
he was hungry.
3 The tempter came to him and said,
“If
you are the Son of God,
tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered,
“It is written:
‘Man shall not live on bread alone,
but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city
and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
6 “If you are the Son of God,”
he said,
“throw yourself down.
For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus answered him,
“It is also written:
‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

8 Again,
the devil took him to a very high mountain
and showed him
all the kingdoms of the world
and their splendor.
9 “All this I will give you,”
he said,
“if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him,
“Away from me, Satan!
For it is written:
‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve him only.’”

11 Then the devil left him,
and angels came and attended him.
« Last Edit: Mar 27, 2011, 8:36pm by Evon »Link to Post - Back to Top  IP: Logged

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Joined: Mar 2009
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Posts: 13,880
Location: Belle Plaine, Minnesota
 Re: Lenten Scriptures
« Reply #5 on Mar 12, 2011, 4:00pm »

Monday, March 14

Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel
and say to them:
‘Be holy
because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

11 “‘Do not steal.

“‘Do not lie.

“‘Do not deceive one another.

12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name
and so profane the name of your God.

I am the LORD.

13 “‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.

“‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.

14 “‘Do not curse the deaf
or put a stumbling block in front of the blind,
but fear your God.

I am the LORD.

15 “‘Do not pervert justice;
do not show partiality to the poor
or favoritism to the great,
but judge your neighbor fairly.

16 “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.

“‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life.

I am the LORD.

17 “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart.
Rebuke your neighbor frankly
so you will not share in their guilt.

18 “‘Do not seek revenge
or bear a grudge against anyone
among your people,
but love your neighbor as yourself.

I am the LORD.



Matthew 25:31-46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit on his glorious throne.
32 All the nations will be gathered before him,
and he will separate the people one from another
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on his right
and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right,
‘Come,
you who are blessed by my Father;
take your inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry
and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty
and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger
and you invited me in,
36 I needed clothes
and you clothed me,
I was sick
and you looked after me,
I was in prison
and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry
and feed you,
or thirsty
and give you something to drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger
and invite you in,
or needing clothes
and clothe you?
39 When did we see you
sick
or in prison
and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply,
‘Truly I tell you,
whatever you did for one of the least
of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me,
you who are cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared
for the devil
and his angels.
42 For I was hungry
and you gave me nothing to eat,
I was thirsty
and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 I was a stranger
and you did not invite me in,
I needed clothes
and you did not clothe me,
I was sick
and in prison
and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer,
‘Lord,
when did we see you hungry
or thirsty
or a stranger
or needing clothes
or sick
or in prison,
and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply,
‘Truly I tell you,
whatever you did not do
for one of the least of these,
you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away
to eternal punishment,
but the righteous
to eternal life.”
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 Re: Lenten Scriptures
« Reply #6 on Mar 14, 2011, 2:26pm »

Tuesday, March 15


Isaiah 55:10-11

10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.


Matthew 6:7-15

7 And when you pray,
do not keep on babbling
like pagans,
for they think they will be heard
because of their many words.
8 Do not be like them,
for your Father knows
what you need
before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

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

14 For if you forgive other people
when they sin against you,
your heavenly Father
will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive others their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins.
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« Reply #7 on Mar 15, 2011, 10:57pm »

Wednesday, March 16


Jonah 3:1-10

1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah
a second time:
2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh
and proclaim to it
the message I give you.”
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD
and went to Nineveh.
Now Nineveh was a very large city;
it took three days to go through it.
4 Jonah began
by going a day’s journey into the city,
proclaiming,
“Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
5 The Ninevites believed God.
A fast was proclaimed,
and all of them,
from the greatest to the least,
put on sackcloth.

6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne,
took off his royal robes,
covered himself with sackcloth
and sat down in the dust.
7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people
or animals,
herds
or flocks,
taste anything;
do not let them eat or drink.
8 But let people
and animals
be covered with sackcloth.
Let everyone call urgently on God.
Let them give up their evil ways
and their violence.
9 Who knows?
God may yet relent
and with compassion turn
from his fierce anger
so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw
what they did
and how they turned from their evil ways,
he relented
and did not bring on them the destruction
he had threatened.



Luke 11:29-32

29 As the crowds increased,
Jesus said,
“This is a wicked generation.
It asks for a sign,
but none will be given it
except the sign of Jonah.
30 For as Jonah was a sign
to the Ninevites,
so also will the Son of Man be
to this generation.
31 The Queen of the South
will rise at the judgment
with the people of this generation
and condemn them,
for she came from the ends of the earth
to listen to Solomon’s wisdom;
and now something greater than Solomon is here.
32 The men of Nineveh
will stand up at the judgment
with this generation
and condemn it,
for they repented
at the preaching of Jonah;
and now something greater than Jonah is here.
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 Re: Lenten Scriptures
« Reply #8 on Mar 16, 2011, 11:11am »

Thursday, March 17


Esther 4:12-16

12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai,

13 he sent back this answer:
“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house
you alone of all the Jews will escape.
14 For if you remain silent at this time,
relief and deliverance
for the Jews will arise from another place,
but you and your father’s family will perish.
And who knows
but that you have come to your royal position
for such a time as this?”

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:
16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa,
and fast for me.
Do not eat or drink for three days,
night or day.
I and my attendants will fast as you do.
When this is done,
I will go to the king,
even though it is against the law.

And if I perish, I perish.”

17 So Mordecai went away
and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.



Psalm 25:10

10 All the ways of the LORD
are loving and faithful
toward those
who keep the demands of his covenant.



Matthew 7:7-12

7 “Ask
and it will be given to you;
seek
and you will find;
knock
and the door will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives;
the one who seeks finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you,
if your son asks for bread,
will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish,
will give him a snake?
11 If you, then,
though you are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven
give good gifts to those who ask him!
12 So in everything,
do to others what you would have them do to you,
for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
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 Re: Lenten Scriptures
« Reply #9 on Mar 16, 2011, 11:54pm »

Friday, March 18


Ezekiel 18:21-28

21 “But if a wicked person turns away
from all the sins they have committed
and keeps all my decrees
and does what is just and right,
that person will surely live;
they will not die.
22 None of the offenses
they have committed
will be remembered against them.
Because of the righteous things they have done,
they will live.
23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?
declares the Sovereign LORD.
Rather, am I not pleased
when they turn from their ways and live?

24 “But if a righteous person
turns from their righteousness
and commits sin
and does the same detestable things
the wicked person does,
will they live?
None of the righteous things
that person has done
will be remembered.
Because of the unfaithfulness
they are guilty of
and because of the sins they have committed,
they will die.

25 “Yet you say,
‘The way of the Lord is not just.’

Hear, you Israelites:
Is my way unjust?
Is it not your ways that are unjust?
26 If a righteous person
turns from their righteousness
and commits sin,
they will die for it;
because of the sin
they have committed
they will die.
27 But if a wicked person
turns away from the wickedness
they have committed
and does what is just and right,
they will save their life.

28 Because they consider all the offenses
they have committed
and turn away from them,
that person will surely live;
they will not die.




Matthew 5:20-26

21 “But if a wicked person
turns away from all the sins
they have committed
and keeps all my decrees
and does what is just and right,
that person will surely live;
they will not die.
22 None of the offenses
they have committed
will be remembered against them.
Because of the righteous things
they have done,
they will live.
23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?
declares the Sovereign LORD.
Rather,
am I not pleased
when they turn from their ways
and live?

24 “But if a righteous person
turns from their righteousness
and commits sin
and does the same detestable things
the wicked person does,
will they live?
None of the righteous things
that person has done will be remembered.
Because of the unfaithfulness
they are guilty of
and because of the sins
they have committed,
they will die.

25 “Yet you say,
‘The way of the Lord is not just.’
Hear, you Israelites:
Is my way unjust?
Is it not your ways that are unjust?
26 If a righteous person
turns from their righteousness
and commits sin,
they will die for it;
because of the sin
they have committed
they will die.
27 But if a wicked person
turns away
from the wickedness they have committed
and does what is just and right,
they will save their life.
28 Because they consider all the offenses
they have committed
and turn away from them,
that person will surely live;
they will not die.
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« Reply #10 on Mar 17, 2011, 3:54pm »

Saturday, March 19


2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16

4 But that night
the word of the LORD
came to Nathan, saying:

5 “Go and tell my servant David,
‘This is what the LORD says:

12 When your days are over
and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your offspring to succeed you,
your own flesh and blood,
and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He is the one
who will build a house for my Name,
and I will establish
the throne of his kingdom forever.
14 I will be his father, and he will be my son.

16 Your house
and your kingdom
will endure forever before me;
your throne will be established forever.’”

22 This is why
“it was credited to him as righteousness.”


Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22

13 It was not through the law
that Abraham
and his offspring
received the promise
that he would be heir
of the world,
but through the righteousness
that comes by faith.

16 Therefore,
the promise comes by faith,
so that it may be by grace
and may be guaranteed
to all Abraham’s offspring
—not only to those
who are of the law
but also to those
who have the faith of Abraham.
He is the father of us all.
17 As it is written:
“I have made you a father of many nations.”
He is our father
in the sight of God,
in whom he believed
—the God who gives life
to the dead
and calls into being things
that were not.

18 Against all hope,
Abraham in hope believed
and so became the father
of many nations,
just as it had been said to him,
“So shall your offspring be.”


Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a

16 and Jacob the father of Joseph,
the husband of Mary,
and Mary was the mother
of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about:
His mother Mary
was pledged to be married to Joseph,
but before they came together,
she was found to be pregnant
through the Holy Spirit.
19 Because Joseph her husband
was faithful to the law,
and yet did not want to expose her
to public disgrace,
he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this,
an angel of the Lord
appeared to him
in a dream
and said,
“Joseph son of David,
do not be afraid
to take Mary home
as your wife,
because what is conceived in her
is from the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son,

and you are to give him the name Jesus,

because he will save his people from their sins.”

24 When Joseph woke up,
he did what the angel of the Lord
had commanded him
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« Reply #11 on Mar 18, 2011, 2:42am »

Sunday, March 20


Genesis 12:1-4a

1 The LORD had said to Abram,
“Go from your country,
your people
and your father’s household
to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

4 So Abram went,
as the LORD had told him


2 Timothy 1:8-10

8 So do not be ashamed
of the testimony about our Lord
or of me his prisoner.
Rather, join with me
in suffering for the gospel,
by the power of God.
9 He has saved us
and called us to a holy life
—not because of anything
we have done
but because of his own purpose
and grace.
This grace was given us
in Christ Jesus
before the beginning of time,
10 but it has now been revealed
through the appearing

of our Savior,
Christ Jesus,

who has destroyed death
and has brought life
and immortality
to light
through the gospel.


Matthew 17:1-9

1 After six days
Jesus took with him
Peter, James and John the brother of James,
and led them up a high mountain
by themselves.
2 There he was transfigured
before them.
His face shone like the sun,
and his clothes
became as white as the light.
3 Just then there appeared
before them
Moses and Elijah,
talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus,
“Lord, it is good for us to be here.
If you wish,
I will put up three shelters—
one for you,
one for Moses
and one for Elijah.”

5 While he was still speaking,
a bright cloud covered them,
and a voice from the cloud said,
“This is my Son,
whom I love;
with him I am well pleased.
Listen to him!”

6 When the disciples heard this,
they fell facedown to the ground,
terrified.
7 But Jesus came
and touched them.
“Get up,” he said.
“Don’t be afraid.”
8 When they looked up,
they saw no one

except Jesus.

9 As they were coming down the mountain,
Jesus instructed them,
“Don’t tell anyone what you have seen,
until the Son of Man
has been raised from the dead.”
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« Reply #12 on Mar 21, 2011, 10:16pm »

Monday, March 21


Daniel 9:4b-10

“Lord,
the great and awesome God,
who keeps his covenant of love
with those who love him
and keep his commandments,
5 we have sinned
and done wrong.
We have been wicked
and have rebelled;
we have turned away
from your commands
and laws.
6 We have not listened to your servants
the prophets,
who spoke in your name
to our kings,
our princes
and our ancestors,
and to all the people
of the land.

7 “Lord, you are righteous,
but this day we are covered with shame—
the people of Judah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
and all Israel,
both near and far,
in all the countries
where you have scattered us
because of our unfaithfulness
to you.
8 We and our kings,
our princes
and our ancestors
are covered with shame,
LORD,
because we have sinned against you.
9 The Lord our God is merciful
and forgiving,
even though
we have rebelled against him;
10 we have not obeyed
the LORD our God
or kept the laws
he gave us
through his servants
the prophets.



Luke 6:36-38

36 Be merciful,
just as your Father is merciful.

37 “Do not judge,
and you will not be judged.
Do not condemn,
and you will not be condemned.
Forgive,
and you will be forgiven.
38 Give,
and it will be given to you.
A good measure,
pressed down,
shaken together
and running over,
will be poured into your lap.

For with the measure you use,
it will be measured to you.”
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« Reply #13 on Mar 21, 2011, 10:26pm »

Tuesday, March 22


Isaiah 1:10, 16-20

10 Hear the word of the LORD,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!

16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.

18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.



Mathew 23:1-12

1 Then Jesus said
to the crowds
and to his disciples:
2 “The teachers of the law
and the Pharisees
sit in Moses’ seat.
3 So you must be careful
to do everything they tell you.
But do not do
what they do,
for they do not practice
what they preach.
4 They tie up heavy,
cumbersome loads
and put them
on other people’s shoulders,
but they themselves are not willing
to lift a finger
to move them.
5 “Everything they do
is done for people to see:
They make their phylacteries wide
and the tassels on their garments long;
6 they love the place of honor
at banquets
and the most important seats
in the synagogues;
7 they love to be greeted with respect
in the marketplaces
and to be called ‘Rabbi’
by others.

8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’
for you have one Teacher,
and you are all brothers.
9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’
for you have one Father,
and he is in heaven.
10 Nor are you to be called instructors,
for you have one Instructor,
the Messiah.
11 The greatest among you
will be your servant.
12 For those who exalt themselves
will be humbled,
and those who humble themselves
will be exalted.
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« Reply #14 on Mar 22, 2011, 1:41am »

Wednesday, March 23


Jeremiah 18:18-20

18 They said,
“Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah;
for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease,
nor will counsel from the wise,
nor the word from the prophets.
So come,
let’s attack him with our tongues
and pay no attention to anything he says.”

19 Listen to me, LORD;
hear what my accusers are saying!
20 Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet they have dug a pit for me.
Remember that I stood before you
and spoke in their behalf
to turn your wrath away from them.



Matthew 20:17-28

17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem.
On the way,
he took the Twelve aside
and said to them,
18 “We are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be delivered
over to the chief priests
and the teachers of the law.
They will condemn him to death
19 and will hand him
over to the Gentiles
to be mocked
and flogged
and crucified.
On the third day
he will be raised to life!”

20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons
came to Jesus with her sons
and, kneeling down,
asked a favor of him.
21 “What is it you want?” he asked.

She said,
“Grant that one of these two sons of mine
may sit at your right
and the other at your left
in your kingdom.”

22 “You don’t know what you are asking,”
Jesus said to them.
“Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

23 Jesus said to them,
“You will indeed drink from my cup,
but to sit at my right or left
is not for me to grant.
These places belong to those
for whom they have been prepared
by my Father.”

24 When the ten heard about this,
they were indignant
with the two brothers.
25 Jesus called them together
and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their high officials
exercise authority over them.
26 Not so with you.
Instead,
whoever wants to become great among you
must be your servant,
27 and whoever wants to be first
must be your slave—
28 just as the Son of Man
did not come to be served,
but to serve,
to give his life
as a ransom for many.”
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« Reply #15 on Mar 23, 2011, 7:31am »

Thursday, March 24


Jeremiah 17:5-10


5 This is what the LORD says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.

7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”

9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

10 “I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”



Luke 16:19-31

19 “There was a rich man
who was dressed in purple
and fine linen
and lived in luxury
every day.
20 At his gate was
laid a beggar
named Lazarus,
covered with sores
21 and longing to eat
what fell from the rich man’s table.
Even the dogs came
and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died
and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.
The rich man also died
and was buried.
23 In Hades,
where he was in torment,
he looked up
and saw Abraham far away,
with Lazarus by his side.
24 So he called to him,
‘Father Abraham,
have pity on me
and send Lazarus
to dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue,
because I am in agony
in this fire.’

25 “But Abraham replied,
‘Son, remember
that in your lifetime
you received your good things,
while Lazarus received bad things,
but now he is comforted here
and you are in agony.

26 And besides all this,
between us and you
a great chasm has been set in place,
so that those
who want to go from here to you cannot,
nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27 “He answered,
‘Then I beg you, father,
send Lazarus to my family,
28 for I have five brothers.
Let him warn them,
so that they will not also come
to this place of torment.’

29 “Abraham replied,
‘They have Moses and the Prophets;
let them listen to them.’

30 “‘No, father Abraham,’
he said,
‘but if someone from the dead goes to them,
they will repent.’

31 “He said to him,
‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,
they will not be convinced
even if someone rises from the dead.’”
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 Re: Lenten Scriptures
« Reply #16 on Mar 24, 2011, 8:11am »

Friday, March 25

Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10

10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz,
11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign,
whether in the deepest depths
or in the highest heights.”

12 But Ahaz said,
“I will not ask;
I will not put the LORD to the test.”

13 Then Isaiah said,
“Hear now, you house of David!
Is it not enough to try the patience of humans?
Will you try the patience of my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord himself
will give you a sign:
The virgin will conceive
and give birth to a son,
and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 8:10

Devise your strategy,
but it will be thwarted;
propose your plan,
but it will not stand,
for God is with us.



Hebrews 10:4-10

4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats
to take away sins.

5 Therefore,
when Christ came into the world,
he said:

“Sacrifice and offering
you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings
and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said,
‘Here I am—
it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will,
my God.’”

8 First he said,
“Sacrifices
and offerings,
burnt offerings
and sin offerings
you did not desire,
nor were you pleased with them”
—though they were offered
in accordance with the law.
9 Then he said,
“Here I am,
I have come to do your will.”
He sets aside the first
to establish the second.
10 And by that will,
we have been made holy
through the sacrifice
of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all.



Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month
of Elizabeth’s pregnancy,
God sent the angel Gabriel
to Nazareth,
a town in Galilee,
27 to a virgin
pledged to be married
to a man named Joseph,
a descendant of David.
The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 The angel went to her
and said,
“Greetings,
you who are highly favored!
The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled
at his words
and wondered
what kind of greeting
this might be.
30 But the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid,
Mary;
you have found favor
with God.
31 You will conceive
and give birth to a son,
and you are to call him Jesus.
32 He will be great
and will be called
the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God
will give him the throne
of his father David,
33 and he will reign
over Jacob’s descendants
forever;
his kingdom
will never end.”

34 “How will this be,”
Mary asked the angel,
“since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered,
“The Holy Spirit
will come on you,
and the power
of the Most High
will overshadow you.
So the holy one
to be born will be called
the Son of God.
36 Even Elizabeth
your relative
is going to have a child
in her old age,
and she
who was said
to be unable
to conceive
is in her sixth month.
37 For no word
from God
will ever fail.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,”
Mary answered.
“May your word to me be fulfilled.”
Then the angel left her.



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 Re: Lenten Scriptures
« Reply #17 on Mar 25, 2011, 5:14pm »

Saturday, March 26


Micah 7:14-15, 18-20

14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
which lives by itself in a forest,
in fertile pasturelands.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
as in days long ago.

18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin
and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
20 You will be faithful to Jacob,
and show love to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors
in days long ago.


Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

1 Now the tax collectors
and sinners
were all gathering around
to hear Jesus.
2 But the Pharisees
and the teachers of the law
muttered,
“This man welcomes sinners
and eats with them.”

3 Then Jesus told them this parable:

11b “There was a man who had two sons.
12 The younger one said to his father,
‘Father,
give me my share of the estate.’
So he divided his property
between them.
13 “Not long after that,
the younger son got together all he had,
set off for a distant country
and there squandered his wealth
in wild living.
14 After he had spent everything,
there was a severe famine
in that whole country,
and he began to be in need.
15 So he went
and hired himself out
to a citizen of that country,
who sent him to his fields
to feed pigs.
16 He longed to fill his stomach
with the pods that the pigs
were eating,
but no one gave him anything.

17 “When he came to his senses,
he said,
‘How many of my father’s hired servants
have food to spare,
and here I am starving to death!
18 I will set out
and go back to my father
and say to him:
Father,
I have sinned against heaven
and against you.
19 I am no longer worthy
to be called your son;
make me like one
of your hired servants.’
20 So he got up
and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off,
his father saw him
and was filled with compassion
for him;
he ran to his son,
threw his arms around him
and kissed him.

21 “The son
said to him,
‘Father,
I have sinned
against heaven
and against you.
I am no longer worthy
to be called
your son.’

22 “But the father
said to his servants,
‘Quick!
Bring the best robe
and put it on him.
Put a ring on his finger
and sandals on his feet.
23 Bring the fattened calf
and kill it.
Let’s have a feast
and celebrate.
24 For this son
of mine
was dead
and is alive again;
he was lost
and is found.’
So they began to celebrate.

25 “Meanwhile,
the older son was in the field.
When he came near the house,
he heard music
and dancing.
26 So he called one of the servants
and asked him
what was going on.
27 ‘Your brother
has come,’
he replied,
‘and your father
has killed the fattened calf
because he has him back
safe and sound.’

28 “The older brother
became angry
and refused to go in.
So his father went out
and pleaded with him.
29 But he answered his father,
‘Look!
All these years
I’ve been slaving
for you
and never disobeyed
your orders.
Yet you never gave me
even a young goat
so I could celebrate
with my friends.
30 But when this son
of yours
who has squandered
your property
with prostitutes
comes home,
you kill the fattened calf
for him!’

31 “‘My son,’
the father said,
‘you are always
with me,
and everything I have
is yours.
32 But we had to celebrate
and be glad,
because this brother
of yours
was dead
and is alive again;
he was lost
and is found.’”
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« Reply #18 on Mar 26, 2011, 5:11am »

Sunday, March 27

Third Sunday in Lent


Exodus 17:3-7

3 But the people were thirsty for water there,
and they grumbled against Moses.
They said,
“Why did you bring us up out of Egypt
to make us
and our children
and livestock
die of thirst?”

4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD,
“What am I to do with these people?
They are almost ready to stone me.”

5 The LORD answered Moses,
“Go out in front of the people.
Take with you some of the elders of Israel
and take in your hand the staff
with which you struck the Nile,
and go.
6 I will stand there before you
by the rock
at Horeb.
Strike the rock,
and water will come out of it
for the people to drink.”
So Moses did this
in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7 And he called the place Massah
and Meribah
because the Israelites quarreled
and because they tested the LORD
saying,
“Is the LORD among us or not?”



Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

1 Therefore,
since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom
we have gained access by faith
into this grace
in which we now stand.
And we boast in the hope
of the glory of God.

5 And hope does not put us to shame,
because God’s love has been poured out
into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit,
who has been given to us.
6 You see,
at just the right time,
when we were still powerless,
Christ died for the ungodly.
7 Very rarely
will anyone die for a righteous person,
though for a good person
someone might possibly dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us
in this:
While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.


John 4:5-42

5 So he came to a town in Samaria
called Sychar,
near the plot of ground
Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6 Jacob’s well was there,
and Jesus,
tired as he was from the journey,
sat down by the well.
It was about noon.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water,
Jesus said to her,
“Will you give me a drink?”
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him,
“You are a Jew
and I am a Samaritan woman.
How can you ask me for a drink?”
(For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered her,
“If you knew the gift of God
and who it is that asks you for a drink,
you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”

11 “Sir,”
the woman said,
“you have nothing to draw with
and the well is deep.
Where can you get this living water?
12 Are you greater than our father Jacob,
who gave us the well
and drank from it himself,
as did also his sons
and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered,
“Everyone who drinks this water
will be thirsty again,
14 but whoever drinks the water
I give them
will never thirst.
Indeed, the water I give them
will become in them
a spring of water
welling up to eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him,
“Sir,
give me this water
so that I won’t get thirsty
and have to keep coming here
to draw water.”

16 He told her,
“Go, call your husband
and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,”
she replied.

Jesus said to her,
“You are right when you say
you have no husband.
18 The fact is,
you have had five husbands,
and the man you now have
is not your husband.
What you have just said is quite true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said,
“I can see that you are a prophet.
20 Our ancestors worshiped
on this mountain,
but you Jews claim
that the place
where we must worship
is in Jerusalem.”

21 “Woman,”
Jesus replied,
“believe me,
a time is coming
when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain
nor in Jerusalem.
22 You Samaritans worship
what you do not know;
we worship
what we do know,
for salvation is from the Jews.
23 Yet a time is coming
and has now come
when the true worshipers
will worship the Father
in the Spirit
and in truth,
for they are the kind of worshipers
the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit,
and his worshipers
must worship
in the Spirit
and in truth.”

25 The woman said,
“I know that Messiah”
(called Christ)
“is coming.
When he comes,
he will explain everything
to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared,
“I,
the one speaking to you—
I am he.”

27 Just then his disciples returned
and were surprised
to find him talking
with a woman.
But no one asked,
“What do you want?”
or
“Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar,
the woman went back to the town
and said to the people,
29 “Come,
see a man who told me everything
I ever did.
Could this be the Messiah?”
30 They came out of the town
and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him,
“Rabbi,
eat something.”

32 But he said to them,
“I have food to eat
that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples
said to each other,
“Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,”
said Jesus,
“is to do the will of him
who sent me
and to finish his work.
35 Don’t you have a saying,
‘It’s still four months until harvest’?
I tell you,
open your eyes
and look at the fields!
They are ripe for harvest.
36 Even now the one who reaps
draws a wage
and harvests a crop
for eternal life,
so that the sower
and the reaper
may be glad together.
37 Thus the saying
‘One sows and another reaps’
is true.
38 I sent you to reap
what you have not worked for.
Others have done the hard work,
and you have reaped the benefits
of their labor.”

39 Many of the Samaritans
from that town
believed in him
because of the woman’s testimony,
“He told me everything I ever did.”
40 So when the Samaritans came to him,
they urged him to stay with them,
and he stayed two days.
41 And because of his words
many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman,
“We no longer believe
just because of what you said;
now we have heard for ourselves,
and we know
that this man really
is the Savior
of the world.”
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« Reply #19 on Mar 27, 2011, 4:30am »

Monday, March 28

2 Kings 5:1-15b

1 Now Naaman
was commander
of the army
of the king of Aram.
He was a great man
in the sight of his master
and highly regarded,
because through him
the LORD
had given victory to Aram.
He was a valiant soldier,
but he had leprosy.
2 Now bands of raiders from Aram
had gone out
and had taken captive
a young girl from Israel,
and she served Naaman’s wife.
3 She said to her mistress,
“If only my master would see the prophet
who is in Samaria!
He would cure him of his leprosy.”

4 Naaman went to his master
and told him
what the girl from Israel
had said.
5 “By all means, go,”
the king of Aram replied.
“I will send a letter
to the king of Israel.”
So Naaman left,
taking with him ten talents of silver,
six thousand shekels of gold
and ten sets of clothing.
6 The letter
that he took
to the king of Israel
read:
“With this letter
I am sending
my servant Naaman
to you
so that you may cure him
of his leprosy.”

7 As soon as the king of Israel
read the letter,
he tore his robes
and said,
“Am I God?
Can I kill
and bring back to life?
Why does this fellow
send someone to me
to be cured
of his leprosy?
See
how he is trying
to pick a quarrel
with me!”

8 When Elisha
the man of God
heard
that the king of Israel
had torn his robes,
he sent him this message:
“Why have you torn your robes?
Have the man come to me
and he will know
that there is a prophet in Israel.”
9 So Naaman went
with his horses
and chariots
and stopped at the door
of Elisha’s house.
10 Elisha
sent a messenger
to say
to him,
“Go,
wash yourself seven times
in the Jordan,
and your flesh
will be restored
and you will be cleansed.”

11 But
Naaman
went away angry
and said,
“I thought
that he would surely come out
to me
and stand
and call on the name
of the LORD his God,
wave his hand over the spot
and cure me
of my leprosy.
12 Are not Abana
and Pharpar,
the rivers of Damascus,
better
than all the waters of Israel?
Couldn’t I wash in them
and be cleansed?”
So he turned
and went off in a rage.

13 Naaman’s servants went to him
and said,
“My father,
if the prophet had told you
to do some great thing,
would you not have done it?
How much more, then,
when he tells you,
‘Wash
and be cleansed’!”
14 So he went down
and dipped himself
in the Jordan seven times,
as the man of God had told him,
and his flesh was restored
and became clean
like that of a young boy.

15 Then Naaman
and all his attendants
went back
to the man of God.
He stood before him
and said,
“Now I know
that there is no God
in all the world
except in Israel.



Luke 4:24-30

24 “Truly I tell you,”
he continued,
“no prophet is accepted
in his hometown.
25 I assure you
that there were many widows
in Israel
in Elijah’s time,
when the sky was shut
for three and a half years
and there was a severe famine
throughout the land.
26 Yet Elijah was not sent
to any of them,
but to a widow in Zarephath
in the region of Sidon.
27 And there were many
in Israel
with leprosy
in the time of Elisha the prophet,
yet not one of them was cleansed—
only Naaman the Syrian.”

28 All the people
in the synagogue
were furious
when they heard this.
29 They got up,
drove him out of the town,
and took him
to the brow of the hill
on which the town was built,
in order
to throw him off the cliff.
30 But he walked
right through the crowd
and went on his way.
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« Reply #20 on Mar 28, 2011, 4:23am »

Tuesday, March 29


Psalm 34

1 I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
9 O fear the LORD, you his holy ones,
for those who fear him have no want.
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.



11 Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Which of you desires life,
and covets many days to enjoy good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and pursue it.



15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against evildoers,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted,
and saves the crushed in spirit.



19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD rescues them from them all.
20 He keeps all their bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned




Matthew 18:21-35

21 Then Peter
came to Jesus and asked,
“Lord,
how many times
shall I forgive my brother
when he sins against me?
Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered,
“I tell you, not seven times,
but seventy-seven times.

23 “Therefore,
the kingdom of heaven
is like a king
who wanted to settle accounts
with his servants.
24 As he began the settlement,
a man who owed him ten thousand talents
was brought to him.
25 Since he was not able to pay,
the master ordered
that he
and his wife
and his children
and all that he had
be sold to repay the debt.

26 “The servant
fell on his knees before him.
‘Be patient with me,’
he begged,
‘and I will pay back everything.’
27 The servant’s master
took pity on him,
canceled the debt
and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out,
he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a hundred denarii.
He grabbed him
and began to choke him.
‘Pay back what you owe me!’
he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant
fell to his knees
and begged him,
‘Be patient with me,
and I will pay you back.’

30 “But he refused.
Instead,
he went off
and had the man thrown into prison
until he could pay the debt.
31 When the other servants
saw what had happened,
they were greatly distressed
and went
and told their master
everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master
called the servant in.
‘You wicked servant,’
he said,
‘I canceled all that debt
of yours
because you begged me to.
33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy
on your fellow servant
just as I had on you?’
34 In anger
his master
turned him over to the jailers
to be tortured,
until he should pay back
all he owed.

35 “This is how
my heavenly Father
will treat each of you
unless you forgive your brother
from your heart.”
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« Reply #21 on Mar 29, 2011, 12:12pm »

Wednesday, March 30


Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

1"Now,
O Israel,
listen to the statutes
and the judgments
which I am teaching you to perform,
so that you may live
and go in
and take possession of the land
which the LORD,
the God of your fathers,
is giving you.

5"See,
I have taught you
statutes
and judgments
just as the LORD my God
commanded me,
that you should do thus
in the land
where you are entering
to possess it.

6"So keep
and do them,
for that is your wisdom
and your understanding
in the sight of the peoples
who will hear all these statutes
and say,
'Surely this great nation
is a wise
and understanding people.'

7"For what great nation
is there
that has a god
so near to it
as is the LORD
our God
whenever we call on Him?

8"Or what great nation
is there
that has statutes
and judgments
as righteous
as this whole law
which I am setting before you
today?

9"Only give heed
to yourself
and keep your soul diligently,
so that you do not forget
the things
which your eyes have seen
and they do not depart
from your heart
all the days of your life;
but make them known
to your sons
and your grandsons.



Matthew 5:17-19

17"Do not think
that I came to abolish
the Law
or the Prophets;
I did not come to abolish
but to fulfill.

18"For truly I say to you,
until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter
or stroke
shall pass from the Law
until all is accomplished.

19"Whoever then
annuls
one of the least
of these commandments,
and teaches others
to do the same,
shall be called least
in the kingdom of heaven;
but whoever keeps
and teaches them,
he shall be called great
in the kingdom of heaven.
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« Reply #22 on Mar 30, 2011, 1:52pm »

Thursday, March 31



Jeremiah 7:23-28

23 but I gave them this command:
Obey me,
and I will be your God
and you will be my people.
Walk in obedience
to all I command you,
that it may go well with you.
24 But they did not listen
or pay attention;
instead,
they followed the stubborn inclinations
of their evil hearts.
They went backward
and not forward.
25 From the time
your ancestors left Egypt
until now,
day after day,
again and again
I sent you
my servants the prophets.
26 But they did not listen to me
or pay attention.
They were stiff-necked
and did more evil than their ancestors.’

27 “When you tell them all this,
they will not listen to you;
when you call to them,
they will not answer.
28 Therefore say to them,
‘This is the nation
that has not obeyed
the LORD its God
or responded to correction.
Truth has perished;
it has vanished from their lips.



Luke 11:14-23

14 Jesus
was driving out a demon
that was mute.
When the demon left,
the man
who had been mute
spoke,
and the crowd was amazed.
15 But some of them said,
“By Beelzebul,
the prince of demons,
he is driving out demons.”
16 Others tested him
by asking for a sign
from heaven.
17 Jesus knew their thoughts
and said to them:
“Any kingdom
divided
against itself
will be ruined,
and a house
divided
against itself
will fall.
18 If Satan
is divided
against himself,
how can his kingdom stand?
I say this
because you claim
that I drive out demons
by Beelzebul.
19 Now if I drive out demons
by Beelzebul,
by whom do your followers
drive them out?
So then,
they will be your judges.
20 But if I drive out demons
by the finger of God,
then the kingdom of God
has come upon you.
21 “When a strong man,
fully armed,
guards his own house,
his possessions are safe.
22 But when someone stronger
attacks
and overpowers him,
he takes away the armor
in which the man trusted
and divides up his plunder.

23 “Whoever
is not with me
is against me,
and whoever
does not gather with me
scatters.

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 Re: Lenten Scriptures
« Reply #23 on Mar 31, 2011, 2:54pm »

Friday, April 1


Hosea 14:2-10

2 Take words with you
and return to the LORD.
Say to him:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say
‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made,
for in you
the fatherless find compassion.”

4 “I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger
has turned away from them.
5 I will be like the dew
to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;
6 his young shoots will grow.
His splendor
will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance
like a cedar of Lebanon.
7 People will dwell again
in his shade;
they will flourish
like the grain,
they will blossom
like the vine—
Israel’s fame will be
like the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim,
what more have I
to do with idols?
I will answer him
and care for him.
I am
like a flourishing juniper;
your fruitfulness
comes from me.”

9 Who is wise?
Let them realize these things.
Who is discerning?
Let them understand.
The ways of the LORD are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.




Mark 12:28-34

28 One of the teachers of the law
came
and heard them debating.
Noticing
that Jesus
had given them a good answer,
he asked him,
“Of all the commandments,
which
is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,”
answered Jesus,
“is this:
‘Hear,
O Israel:
The Lord our God,
the Lord is one.
30 Love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind
and with all your strength.’
31 The second is this:
‘Love your neighbor
as yourself.’
There is no commandment
greater than these.”

32 “Well said,
teacher,”
the man replied.
“You are right
in saying
that God is one
and there is no other
but him.
33 To love him
with all your heart,
with all your understanding
and with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor
as yourself
is more important
than all burnt offerings
and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw
that he had answered wisely,
he said to him,
“You are not far
from the kingdom of God.”
And from then on
no one dared
ask him any more questions.

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« Reply #24 on Apr 1, 2011, 6:26am »

Saturday, April 2


Hosea 6:1-6

1 “Come,
let us return
to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days
he will revive us;
on the third day
he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”
4 “What can I do with you,
Ephraim?
What can I do with you,
Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.
5 Therefore
I cut you in pieces
with my prophets,
I killed you
with the words of my mouth—
then my judgments go forth like the sun.
6 For I desire mercy,
not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God
rather than burnt offerings.




Luke 18:9-14

9 To some
who were confident
of their own righteousness
and looked down
on everyone else,
Jesus told this parable:
10 “Two men
went up to the temple
to pray,
one a Pharisee
and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood by himself
and prayed:
‘God,
I thank you
that I am not like other people—
robbers,
evildoers,
adulterers—
or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week
and give a tenth
of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector
stood at a distance.
He would not even look up to heaven,
but beat his breast
and said,
‘God,
have mercy on me,
a sinner.’

14 “I tell you
that this man,
rather than the other,
went home justified
before God.
For all those
who exalt themselves
will be humbled,
and those
who humble themselves
will be exalted.”
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« Reply #25 on Apr 2, 2011, 1:31am »

Sunday, April 3


Fourth Sunday of Lent

1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a

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.”

6 When they arrived,
Samuel saw Eliab
and thought,
“Surely the LORD’s anointed
stands here
before the LORD.”

7 But the LORD
said to Samuel,
“Do not consider
his appearance
or his height,
for I have rejected him.
The LORD does not look
at the things
people look at.
People look
at the outward appearance,
but the LORD
looks at the heart.”

10 Jesse had seven of his sons
pass before Samuel,
but Samuel
said to him,
“The LORD
has not chosen these.”
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.”

12 So he sent for him
and had him brought in.
He was glowing with health
and had a fine appearance
and handsome features.

Then the LORD said,
“Rise and anoint him;
this is the one.”

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.



Ephesians 5:8-14

8 For you were once darkness,
but now
you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light
9 (for the fruit of the light
consists
in all goodness,
righteousness
and truth)
10 and find out
what pleases the Lord.
11 Have nothing to do
with the fruitless deeds
of darkness,
but rather expose them.
12 It is shameful
even to mention
what the disobedient
do in secret.
13 But everything
exposed by the light
becomes visible—
and everything
that is illuminated
becomes a light.
14 This is why
it is said:

“Wake up,
sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”



John 9:1-41

1 As he went along,
he saw a man
blind from birth.
2 His disciples asked him,
“Rabbi,
who sinned,
this man
or his parents,
that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man
nor his parents
sinned,”
said Jesus,
“but this happened
so that the works
of God
might be displayed
in him.
4 As long
as it is day,
we must do the works
of him
who sent me.
Night is coming,
when no one can work.
5 While I am in the world,
I am the light of the world.”

6 After saying this,
he spit on the ground,
made some mud
with the saliva,
and put it on the man’s eyes.
7 “Go,”
he told him,
“wash
in the Pool of Siloam”
(this word means “Sent”).
So the man went
and washed,
and came home seeing.

8 His neighbors
and those
who had formerly
seen him begging
asked,
“Isn’t this
the same man
who used to sit
and beg?”
9 Some claimed
that he was.

Others said,
“No,
he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted,
“I am the man.”

10 “How then
were your eyes opened?”
they asked.

11 He replied,
“The man
they call Jesus
made some mud
and put it on my eyes.
He told me
to go to Siloam
and wash.
So I went
and washed,
and then I could see.”

12 “Where is this man?”
they asked him.

“I don’t know,”
he said.

13 They brought
to the Pharisees
the man
who had been blind.
14 Now the day
on which Jesus
had made the mud
and opened
the man’s eyes
was a Sabbath.
15 Therefore
the Pharisees
also asked him
how
he had received his sight.
“He put mud
on my eyes,”
the man replied,
“and I washed,
and now I see.”
16 Some
of the Pharisees said,
“This man
is not from God,
for he does not
keep the Sabbath.”

But others asked,
“How
can a sinner
perform such signs?”
So they were divided.

17 Then
they turned again
to the blind man,
“What have you
to say about him?
It was your eyes
he opened.”

The man replied,
“He is a prophet.”

18 They still
did not believe
that he had been blind
and had received his sight
until they sent
for the man’s parents.
19 “Is this your son?”
they asked.
“Is this the one
you say
was born blind?
How is it
that now he can see?”

20 “We know
he is our son,”
the parents answered,
“and we know
he was born blind.
21 But how
he can see now,
or who opened his eyes,
we don’t know.
Ask him.
He is of age;
he will speak for himself.”
22 His parents said this
because they were afraid
of the Jewish leaders,
who already had decided
that anyone who acknowledged
that Jesus was the Messiah
would be put out of the synagogue.
23 That was why
his parents said,
“He is of age;
ask him.”

24 A second time
they summoned the man
who had been blind.
“Give glory to God
by telling the truth,”
they said.
“We know
this man is a sinner.”

25 He replied,
“Whether he is a sinner
or not,
I don’t know.
One thing I do know.
I was blind
but now I see!”

26 Then they asked him, “
What did he do to you?
How did he open your eyes?”

27 He answered,
“I have told you already
and you did not listen.
Why
do you want to hear it again?
Do you want
to become his disciples too?”

28 Then they hurled insults at him
and said,
“You are this fellow’s disciple!
We are disciples of Moses!
29 We know
that God spoke to Moses,
but as for this fellow,
we don’t even know
where he comes from.”

30 The man answered,
“Now that is remarkable!
You don’t know
where he comes from,
yet he opened my eyes.
31 We know
that God does not listen
to sinners.
He listens
to the godly person
who does his will.
32 Nobody has ever heard
of opening the eyes
of a man born blind.
33 If this man
were not from God,
he could do nothing.”

34 To this they replied,
“You were steeped in sin
at birth;
how dare you
lecture us!”
And they threw him out.

35 Jesus heard
that they had thrown him out,
and when he found him,
he said,
“Do you believe
in the Son of Man?”
36 “Who is he,
sir?”
the man asked.
“Tell me
so that I may believe
in him.”

37 Jesus said,
“You have now seen him;
in fact,
he is the one
speaking with you.”

38 Then
the man said,
“Lord, I believe,”
and he worshiped him.

39 Jesus said,
“For judgment
I have come into this world,
so that the blind will see
and those who see
will become blind.”

40 Some Pharisees
who were with him
heard him say this
and asked,
“What?
Are we blind too?”

41 Jesus said,
“If you were blind,
you would not be guilty
of sin;
but now that you claim
you can see,
your guilt remains.
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« Reply #26 on Apr 4, 2011, 5:27pm »

Monday, April 4


Isaiah 65:17-21

17 “See,
I will create
new heavens
and a new earth.
The former things
will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad
and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem
to be a delight
and its people
a joy.
19 I will rejoice
over Jerusalem
and take delight
in my people;
the sound of weeping
and of crying
will be heard in it
no more.
20 “Never again
will there be in it
an infant who lives
but a few days,
or an old man
who does not live out his years;
the one
who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one
who fails to reach a hundred
will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses
and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards
and eat their fruit.


John 4:43-54

43 After the two days
he left for Galilee.
44 (Now Jesus himself
had pointed out
that a prophet
has no honor
in his own country.)
45 When he arrived
in Galilee,
the Galileans welcomed him.
They had seen
all that he had done
in Jerusalem
at the Passover Festival,
for they also had been there.
46 Once more
he visited Cana
in Galilee, where
he had turned the water
into wine.
And there was a certain royal official
whose son lay sick
at Capernaum.
47 When this man heard
that Jesus
had arrived in Galilee
from Judea,
he went to him
and begged him
to come
and heal his son,
who was close to death.

48 “Unless you people
see signs
and wonders,”
Jesus told him,
“you will never believe.”

49 The royal official said,
“Sir,
come down
before my child dies.”

50 “Go,”
Jesus replied,
“your son will live.”

The man
took Jesus at his word
and departed.
51 While
he was still on the way,
his servants met him
with the news
that his boy
was living.
52 When
he inquired
as to the time
when
his son got better,
they said to him,
“Yesterday,
at one in the afternoon,
the fever left him.”

53 Then
the father realized
that this was the exact time
at which Jesus had said to him,
“Your son will live.”
So he
and his whole household
believed.

54 This
was the second sign
Jesus performed
after coming from Judea
to Galilee.
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« Reply #27 on Apr 4, 2011, 6:22pm »

Tuesday, April 5


Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12

1 The man
brought me back
to the entrance
to the temple,
and I saw water
coming out
from under the threshold
of the temple
toward the east
(for the temple faced east).
The water
was coming down
from under the south side
of the temple,
south of the altar.
2 He then brought me out
through the north gate
and led me
around the outside
to the outer gate
facing east,
and the water
was trickling
from the south side.
3 As the man went eastward
with a measuring line
in his hand,
he measured off
a thousand cubits
and then led me
through water
that was ankle-deep.
4 He measured off
another thousand cubits
and led me
through water
that was knee-deep.
He measured off
another thousand
and led me
through water
that was up to the waist.
5 He measured off
another thousand,
but now
it was a river
that I could not cross,
because the water
had risen
and was deep enough
to swim in
—a river
that no one could cross.
6 He asked me,
“Son of man,
do you see this?”

Then he led me
back
to the bank of the river.
7 When I arrived there,
I saw a great number of trees
on each side of the river.
8 He said to me,
“This water flows
toward the eastern region
and goes down
into the Arabah,
where it enters
the Dead Sea.
When it empties
into the sea,
the salty water
there becomes fresh.
9 Swarms
of living creatures
will live
wherever the river flows.
There will be large numbers
of fish,
because this water
flows there
and makes the salt water
fresh;
so where the river flows
everything will live.

12 Fruit trees
of all kinds
will grow on both banks
of the river.
Their leaves
will not wither,
nor will their fruit fail.
Every month
they will bear fruit,
because the water
from the sanctuary
flows to them.
Their fruit will serve
for food
and their leaves
for healing.”




John 5:1-16

1 Some time later,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem
for one of the Jewish festivals.
2 Now
there is in Jerusalem
near the Sheep Gate
a pool,
which in Aramaic
is called Bethesda
and which is surrounded
by five covered colonnades.
3 Here
a great number
of disabled people
used to lie—
the blind,
the lame,
the paralyzed.
5 One
who was there
had been an invalid
for thirty-eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him
lying there
and learned
that he had been
in this condition
for a long time,
he asked him,
“Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,”
the invalid replied,
“I have no one
to help me
into the pool
when the water is stirred.
While I am trying to get in,
someone else
goes down
ahead of me.”

8 Then
Jesus said to him,
“Get up!
Pick up your mat
and walk.”
9 At once
the man was cured;
he picked up his mat
and walked.

The day
on which this took place
was a Sabbath,
10 and so the Jewish leaders
said to the man
who had been healed,
“It is the Sabbath;
the law forbids you
to carry your mat.”

11 But he replied,
“The man
who made me well
said to me,
‘Pick up your mat
and walk.’ ”

12 So they asked him,
“Who is this fellow
who told you
to pick it up
and walk?”

13 The man
who was healed
had no idea
who it was,
for Jesus
had slipped away
into the crowd
that was there.

14 Later
Jesus found him
at the temple
and said to him,
“See,
you are well again.
Stop sinning
or something worse
may happen to you.”
15 The man went away
and told the Jewish leaders
that it was Jesus
who had made him
well.

16 So,
because Jesus
was doing these things
on the Sabbath,
the Jewish leaders
began to persecute him.
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« Reply #28 on Apr 5, 2011, 10:12am »

Wednesday, April 6


Isaiah 49:8-15

8 This is what the LORD says:
“In the time of my favor
I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation
I will help you;
I will keep you
and will make you
to be a covenant
for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign
its desolate inheritances,
9 to say to the captives,
‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness,
‘Be free!’

“They will feed
beside the roads
and find pasture
on every barren hill.
10 They will
neither hunger
nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat
or the sun
beat down
on them.
He
who has compassion
on them
will guide them
and lead them
beside springs of water.
11 I
will turn all my mountains
into roads,
and my highways
will be raised up.
12 See,
they will come from afar—
some from the north,
some from the west,
some from the region of Aswan.”

13 Shout for joy,
you heavens;
rejoice,
you earth;
burst into song,
you mountains!
For the LORD comforts
his people
and will have compassion
on his afflicted ones.

14 But Zion said,
“The LORD has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a mother
forget the baby
at her breast
and have no compassion
on the child
she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!


John 5:17-30

17 In his defense
Jesus said
to them,
“My Father
is always
at his work
to this very day,
and I too
am working.”
18 For this reason
they tried all the more
to kill him;
not only
was he breaking the Sabbath,
but he was even calling God
his own Father,
making himself equal
with God.

19 Jesus
gave them
this answer:
“Very truly
I tell you,
the Son
can do nothing
by himself;
he can do only
what he sees his Father doing,
because
whatever the Father does
the Son also does.
20 For the Father
loves the Son
and shows him
all he does.
Yes,
and he will show him
even greater works
than these,
so that
you will be amazed.
21 For just as the Father
raises the dead
and gives them life,
even so
the Son gives life
to whom
he is pleased
to give it.
22 Moreover,
the Father judges no one,
but has entrusted all judgment
to the Son,
23 that all
may honor the Son
just as they honor the Father.
Whoever
does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father,
who sent him.

24 “Very truly
I tell you,
whoever
hears my word
and believes him
who sent me
has eternal life
and will not be judged
but has crossed over
from death
to life.
25 Very truly
I tell you,
a time is coming
and has now come
when the dead
will hear the voice
of the Son of God
and those who hear
will live.
26 For as the Father
has life in himself,
so he has granted the Son
also to have life in himself.
27 And he has given him authority
to judge
because he is the Son of Man.

28 “Do not be amazed at this,
for a time is coming
when all
who are in their graves
will hear his voice
29 and come out—
those who have done what is good
will rise
to live,
and those who have done what is evil
will rise
to be condemned.
30 By myself
I can do nothing;
I judge only
as I hear,
and my judgment is just,
for I seek
not to please myself
but him who sent me.
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« Reply #29 on Apr 6, 2011, 11:15pm »

Thursday, April 7


Exodus 32:7-14

7 Then
the LORD said
to Moses,
“Go down,
because your people,
whom you brought up
out of Egypt,
have bec
ome corrupt. 8
They have been quick
to turn away
from what
I commanded them
and have made themselves
an idol
cast in the shape
of a calf.
They have bowed down
to it
and sacrificed
to it
and have said,
‘These are your gods,
Israel,
who brought you up
out of Egypt.’

9 “I have seen these people,”
the LORD said
to Moses,
“and they are a stiff-necked people.
10 Now
leave me alone
so that my anger
may burn against them
and that
I may destroy them.
Then
I will make you
into a great nation.”

11 But
Moses sought the favor
of the LORD
his God.
“LORD,”
he said,
“why
should your anger burn
against your people,
whom
you brought out
of Egypt
with great power
and a mighty hand?
12 Why
should the Egyptians say,
‘It was
with evil intent
that he brought them out,
to kill them
in the mountains
and to wipe them
off the face
of the earth’?
Turn
from your fierce anger;
relent
and do not bring disaster
on your people.
13 Remember
your servants
Abraham,
Isaac
and Israel,
to whom you swore
by your own self:
‘I will make your descendants
as numerous
as the stars
in the sky
and I will give your descendants
all this land
I promised them,
and it will be their inheritance
forever.’”
14 Then
the LORD relented
and did not bring
on his people
the disaster
he had threatened.


John 5:31-47

31 “If
I testify about myself,
my testimony is not true.
32 There is another
who testifies in my favor,
and I know
that his testimony about me
is true.
33 “You have sent to John
and he has testified
to the truth.
34 Not that I accept human testimony;
but I mention it
that you may be saved.
35 John was a lamp that burned
and gave light,
and you chose for a time
to enjoy his light.

36 “I have testimony weightier
than that of John.
For the works
that the Father has given me
to finish—
the very works
that I am doing—
testify
that the Father
has sent me.
37 And the Father
who sent me
has himself testified
concerning me.
You have never heard his voice
nor seen his form,
38 nor does his word
dwell in you,
for you do not believe
the one he sent.
39 You study the Scriptures
diligently
because you think
that in them
you have eternal life.
These
are the very Scriptures
that testify about me,
40 yet you refuse
to come to me
to have life.

41 “I do not accept glory
from human beings,
42 but I know you.
I know that you
do not have the love of God
in your hearts.
43 I have come
in my Father’s name,
and you do not accept me;
but if someone else
comes in his own name,
you will accept him.
44 How can you believe
since you accept glory
from one another
but do not seek
the glory
that comes
from the only God?

45 “But do not think
I will accuse you
before the Father.
Your accuser is Moses,
on whom your hopes
are set.
46 If you believed Moses,
you would believe me,
for he wrote about me.
47 But since you do not believe
what he wrote,
how are you going
to believe
what I say?”
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God is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance.
— Abraham Joshua Heschel
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