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Tue 2023-06-20 Leviticus18 Psalms22 Ecclesiastes1 1 Timothy3
Leviticus 18.
18:1 The LORD said to Moses,
18:2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'I am the LORD your God.
18:3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices.
18:4 You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God.
18:5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.
18:6 "'No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.
18:7 "'Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.
18:8 "'Do not have sexual relations with your father's wife; that would dishonor your father.
18:9 "'Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
18:10 "'Do not have sexual relations with your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter; that would dishonor you.
18:11 "'Do not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father's wife, born to your father; she is your sister.
18:12 "'Do not have sexual relations with your father's sister; she is your father's close relative.
18:13 "'Do not have sexual relations with your mother's sister, because she is your mother's close relative.
18:14 "'Do not dishonor your father's brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations; she is your aunt.
18:15 "'Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife; do not have relations with her.
18:16 "'Do not have sexual relations with your brother's wife; that would dishonor your brother.
18:17 "'Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sexual relations with either her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter; they are her close relatives. That is wickedness.
18:18 "'Do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.
18:19 "'Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period.
18:20 "'Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor's wife and defile yourself with her.
18:21 "'Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
18:22 "'Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.
18:23 "'Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.
18:24 "'Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled.
18:25 Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.
18:26 But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things,
18:27 for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled.
18:28 And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.
18:29 "'Everyone who does any of these detestable things--such persons must be cut off from their people.
18:30 Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.'"
Psalms 22.
22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
22:2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
22:3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.
22:4 In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
22:5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
22:6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
22:7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
22:8 "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
22:9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast.
22:10 From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.
22:11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
22:12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
22:13 Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.
22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.
22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
22:16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.
22:17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.
22:18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
22:19 But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
22:20 Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.
22:21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22:22 I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.
22:23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
22:24 For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
22:25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
22:26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him--may your hearts live forever!
22:27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,
22:28 for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.
22:29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him--those who cannot keep themselves alive.
22:30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.
22:31 They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn--for he has done it.
Ecclesiastes 1.
1:1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
1:2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
1:3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
1:4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
1:5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
1:6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
1:7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
1:8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
1:9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
1:10 Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
1:11 There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.
1:12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
1:13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!
1:14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
1:15 What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
1:16 I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge."
1:17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
1:18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
1 Timothy 3.
3:1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.
3:2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3:3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
3:4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
3:5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)
3:6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.
3:7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
3:8 Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.
3:9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
3:10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
3:11 In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
3:12 A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well.
3:13 Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.
3:14 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that,
3:15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.