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Wed 2023-09-27 Judges5 Acts (of the Apostles)9 Jeremiah18 Mark4
Judges 5.
5:1 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
5:2 "When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves--praise the LORD!
5:3 "Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the LORD, I will sing; I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel.
5:4 "O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.
5:5 The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel.
5:6 "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths.
5:7 Village life in Israel ceased, ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel.
5:8 When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.
5:9 My heart is with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the LORD!
5:10 "You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider
5:11 the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous acts of his warriors in Israel. "Then the people of the LORD went down to the city gates.
5:12 'Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, O Barak! Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.'
5:13 "Then the men who were left came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came to me with the mighty.
5:14 Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek; Benjamin was with the people who followed you. From Makir captains came down, from Zebulun those who bear a commander's staff.
5:15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, rushing after him into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.
5:16 Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.
5:17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves.
5:18 The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the heights of the field.
5:19 "Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they carried off no silver, no plunder.
5:20 From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.
5:21 The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong!
5:22 Then thundered the horses' hoofs--galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.
5:23 'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.'
5:24 "Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
5:25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.
5:26 Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple.
5:27 At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell--dead.
5:28 "Through the window peered Sisera's mother; behind the lattice she cried out, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?'
5:29 The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself,
5:30 'Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck--all this as plunder?'
5:31 "So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had peace forty years.
Acts (of the Apostles) 9.
9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest
9:2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
9:3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
9:4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
9:5 "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.
9:6 "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
9:7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.
9:8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
9:9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
9:10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered.
9:11 The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
9:12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
9:13 "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
9:14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
9:15 But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.
9:16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
9:17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord--Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here--has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
9:18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
9:19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
9:20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
9:21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?"
9:22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
9:23 After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him,
9:24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him.
9:25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
9:26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.
9:27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.
9:28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.
9:29 He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him.
9:30 When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
9:31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.
9:32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda.
9:33 There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years.
9:34 "Aeneas," Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat." Immediately Aeneas got up.
9:35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
9:36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor.
9:37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.
9:38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, "Please come at once!"
9:39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
9:40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.
9:41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive.
9:42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.
9:43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
Jeremiah 18.
18:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
18:2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message."
18:3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel.
18:4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
18:6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
18:7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed,
18:8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.
18:9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted,
18:10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
18:11 "Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, 'This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.'
18:12 But they will reply, 'It's no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.'"
18:13 Therefore this is what the LORD says: "Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel.
18:14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever cease to flow?
18:15 Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways and in the ancient paths. They made them walk in bypaths and on roads not built up.
18:16 Their land will be laid waste, an object of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads.
18:17 Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster."
18:18 They said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not be lost, 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."
18:19 Listen to me, O LORD; hear what my accusers are saying!
18:20 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.
18:21 So give their children over to famine; hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives be made childless an` widows; let their men be put to death, their young men slain by the sword in battle.
18:22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring invaders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
18:23 But you know, O LORD, all their plots to kill me. Do not forgive their crimes or blot out their sins from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.
Mark 4.
4:1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge.
4:2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:
4:3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4:4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
4:5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
4:6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
4:7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.
4:8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
4:9 Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
4:10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.
4:11 He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
4:12 so that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"
4:13 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
4:14 The farmer sows the word.
4:15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
4:16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.
4:17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
4:18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;
4:19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
4:20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."
4:21 He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand?
4:22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.
4:23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
4:24 "Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you--and even more.
4:25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."
4:26 He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.
4:27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
4:28 All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.
4:29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."
4:30 Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?
4:31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.
4:32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."
4:33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.
4:34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
4:35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."
4:36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
4:37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
4:38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
4:39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
4:40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
4:41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"