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Daily Readings for February 20
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Exodus 31
1.Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2."Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3.and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship, 4.to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 5.and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship. 6.I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7.the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent, 8.the table and its vessels, the pure lampstand with all its vessels, the altar of incense, 9.the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base, 10.the finely worked garments--the holy garments for Aaron the priest--the garments of his sons to minister in the priest's office, 11.the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded you they shall do."
12.Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 13."Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, 'Most certainly you shall keep my Sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. 14.You shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15.Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. 16.Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17.It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.'"
18.He gave to Moses, when he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets, written with God's finger.
Exodus 32
1.When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him."
2.Aaron said to them, "Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me."
3.All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4.He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt."
5.When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh."
6.They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
7.Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves! 8.They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.'"
9.Yahweh said to Moses, "I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. 10.Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation."
11.Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, "Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12.Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'He brought them forth for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?' Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. 13.Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.'"
14.Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.
15.Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. 16.The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tables.
17.When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is the noise of war in the camp."
18.He said, "It isn't the voice of those who shout for victory, neither is it the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear." 19.It happened, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain. 20.He took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
21.Moses said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?"
22.Aaron said, "Don't let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23.For they said to me, 'Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him.' 24.I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let them take it off:' so they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."
25.When Moses saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies), 26.then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on Yahweh's side, come to me!"
All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27.He said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'" 28.The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29.Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to Yahweh, yes, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow on you a blessing this day."
30.It happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin."
31.Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. 32.Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin--and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written."
33.Yahweh said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34.Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin." 35.Yahweh struck the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
Psalm 89
1.I will sing of the loving kindness of Yahweh forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. 2.I indeed declare, "Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them."
3."I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant, 4.'I will establish your seed forever, and build up your throne to all generations.'" Selah. 5.The heavens will praise your wonders, Yahweh; your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. 6.For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh, 7.a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones, to be feared above all those who are around him? 8.Yahweh, God of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you? Yah, your faithfulness is around you. 9.You rule the pride of the sea. When its waves rise up, you calm them. 10.You have broken Rahab in pieces, like one of the slain. You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. 11.The heavens are yours. The earth also is yours; the world and its fullness. You have founded them. 12.The north and the south, you have created them. Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name. 13.You have a mighty arm. Your hand is strong, and your right hand is exalted. 14.Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before your face. 15.Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you. They walk in the light of your presence, Yahweh. 16.In your name they rejoice all day. In your righteousness, they are exalted. 17.For you are the glory of their strength. In your favor, our horn will be exalted. 18.For our shield belongs to Yahweh; our king to the Holy One of Israel. 19.Then you spoke in vision to your saints, and said, "I have bestowed strength on the warrior. I have exalted a young man from the people. 20.I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with my holy oil, 21.with whom my hand shall be established. My arm will also strengthen him. 22.No enemy will tax him. No wicked man will oppress him. 23.I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him. 24.But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him. In my name, his horn will be exalted. 25.I will set his hand also on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers. 26.He will call to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation!' 27.I will also appoint him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. 28.I will keep my loving kindness for him forevermore. My covenant will stand firm with him. 29.I will also make his seed endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. 30.If his children forsake my law, and don't walk in my ordinances; 31.if they break my statutes, and don't keep my commandments; 32.then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. 33.But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail. 34.I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered. 35.Once have I sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David. 36.His seed will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me. 37.It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky." Selah.
38.But you have rejected and spurned. You have been angry with your anointed. 39.You have renounced the covenant of your servant. You have defiled his crown in the dust. 40.You have broken down all his hedges. You have brought his strongholds to ruin. 41.All who pass by the way rob him. He has become a reproach to his neighbors. 42.You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries. You have made all of his enemies rejoice. 43.Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword, and haven't supported him in battle. 44.You have ended his splendor, and thrown his throne down to the ground. 45.You have shortened the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. Selah. 46.How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire? 47.Remember how short my time is! For what vanity have you created all the children of men! 48.What man is he who shall live and not see death, who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol29? Selah. 49.Lord, where are your former loving kindnesses, which you swore to David in your faithfulness? 50.Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servants, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the mighty peoples, 51.With which your enemies have mocked, Yahweh, with which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one.
52.Blessed be Yahweh forevermore. Amen, and Amen.
1Corinthians 1
1.Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2.to the assembly of God which is at Corinth; those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours: 3.Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4.I always thank my God concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus; 5.that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge; 6.even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7.so that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; 8.who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9.God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. 10.Now I beg you, brothers,1 through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11.For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. 12.Now I mean this, that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," "I follow Apollos," "I follow Cephas," and, "I follow Christ." 13.Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14.I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius, 15.so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name. 16.(I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don't know whether I baptized any other.) 17.For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News--not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn't be made void. 18.For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God. 19.For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing."2
20.Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn't God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21.For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn't know God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe. 22.For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom, 23.but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks, 24.but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25.Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26.For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; 27.but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; 28.and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are: 29.that no flesh should boast before God. 30.But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: 31.that, according as it is written, "He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord."3
1Corinthians 2
1.When I came to you, brothers, I didn't come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2.For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3.I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4.My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5.that your faith wouldn't stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 6.We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown; yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing. 7.But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory, 8.which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory. 9.But as it is written, "Things which an eye didn't see, and an ear didn't hear, which didn't enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him."4
10.But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11.For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God's Spirit. 12.But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. 13.Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. 14.Now the natural man doesn't receive the things of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can't know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15.But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is judged by no one. 16."For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?"5 But we have Christ's mind.