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Daily Readings for January 27
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Genesis 44
1.He commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in his sack's mouth. 2.Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, with his grain money." He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. 3.As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. 4.When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, 'Why have you rewarded evil for good? 5.Isn't this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.'" 6.He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them.
7.They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing! 8.Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord's house? 9.With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondservants."
10.He said, "Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found will be my bondservant; and you will be blameless."
11.Then they hurried, and each man took his sack down to the ground, and each man opened his sack. 12.He searched, beginning with the eldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack. 13.Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.
14.Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him. 15.Joseph said to them, "What deed is this that you have done? Don't you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?"
16.Judah said, "What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord's bondservants, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found."
17.He said, "Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my bondservant; but as for you, go up in peace to your father."
18.Then Judah came near to him, and said, "Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and don't let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh. 19.My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father, or a brother?' 20.We said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.' 21.You said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.' 22.We said to my lord, 'The boy can't leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.' 23.You said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.' 24.It happened when we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25.Our father said, 'Go again, buy us a little food.' 26.We said, 'We can't go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man's face, unless our youngest brother is with us.' 27.Your servant, my father, said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons: 28.and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces;" and I haven't seen him since. 29.If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol31.' 30.Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; since his life is bound up in the boy's life; 31.it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol32. 32.For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, 'If I don't bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.' 33.Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, a bondservant to my lord; and let the boy go up with his brothers. 34.For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn't with me?--lest I see the evil that will come on my father."
Genesis 45
1.Then Joseph couldn't control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, "Cause everyone to go out from me!" No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2.He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3.Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Does my father still live?"
His brothers couldn't answer him; for they were terrified at his presence. 4.Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please."
They came near. "He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5.Now don't be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6.For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7.God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. 8.So now it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9.Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, 'This is what your son Joseph says, "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don't wait. 10.You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children's children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11.There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have."' 12.Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13.You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here." 14.He fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 15.He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.
16.The report of it was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, "Joseph's brothers have come." It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. 17.Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, 'Do this. Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan. 18.Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.' 19.Now you are commanded: do this. Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20.Also, don't concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all of the land of Egypt is yours."
21.The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. 22.He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. 23.He sent the following to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way. 24.So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, "See that you don't quarrel on the way."
25.They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. 26.They told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." His heart fainted, for he didn't believe them. 27.They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived. 28.Israel said, "It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."
Psalm 49
1.Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, 2.both low and high, rich and poor together. 3.My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart shall utter understanding. 4.I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will open my riddle on the harp. 5.Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me? 6.Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches-- 7.none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him. 8.For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough, 9.That he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption. 10.For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others. 11.Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves. 12.But man, despite his riches, doesn't endure. He is like the animals that perish.
13.This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah. 14.They are appointed as a flock for Sheol19. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol20, far from their mansion. 15.But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol21, for he will receive me. Selah. 16.Don't be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased. 17.For when he dies he shall carry nothing away. His glory shall not descend after him. 18.Though while he lived he blessed his soul-- and men praise you when you do well for yourself-- 19.he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light. 20.A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish.
Romans 1
1.Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God, 2.which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3.concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4.who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5.through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake; 6.among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ; 7.to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8.First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9.For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10.requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you. 11.For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established; 12.that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.
13.Now I don't desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you, and was hindered so far, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14.I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15.So, as much as is in me, I am eager to preach the Good News to you also who are in Rome. 16.For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. 17.For in it is revealed God's righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, "But the righteous shall live by faith."[1] 18.For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19.because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. 20.For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse. 21.Because, knowing God, they didn't glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.
22.Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23.and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. 24.Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves, 25.who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26.For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. 27.Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. 28.Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29.being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers, 30.backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31.without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32.who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
Romans 2
1.Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. 2.We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3.Do you think this, O man who judges those who practice such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4.Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5.But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God; 6.who "will pay back to everyone according to their works:"[2] 7.to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life; 8.but to those who are self-seeking, and don't obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation, 9.oppression and anguish, on every soul of man who works evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
10.But glory, honor, and peace go to every man who works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 11.For there is no partiality with God. 12.For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13.For it isn't the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified 14.(for when Gentiles who don't have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15.in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them) 16.in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
17.Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God, 18.and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19.and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20.a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth. 21.You therefore who teach another, don't you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn't steal, do you steal? 22.You who say a man shouldn't commit adultery. Do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23.You who glory in the law, through your disobedience of the law do you dishonor God? 24.For "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,"[3] just as it is written. 25.For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26.If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won't his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision? 27.Won't the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfills the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law? 28.For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; 29.but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.