july 19, 2011 Exodus 14: 21 - 31 Exodus 15: 1 Exodus 15: 8 - 10, 12, 17 Matthew 12: 46 - 50

Exodus 14: 21 - 31
21	Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22	And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
23	The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24	And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down upon the host of the Egyptians, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians,
25	clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily; and the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel; for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians."
26	Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen."
27	So Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its wonted flow when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled into it, and the LORD routed the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
28	The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not so much as one of them remained.
29	But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30	Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.
31	And Israel saw the great work which the LORD did against the Egyptians, and the people feared the LORD; and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

Exodus 15: 1
1	Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. Exodus 15: 8 - 10, 12, 17 8 At the blast of thy nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. 9 The enemy said, `I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.' 10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters. 12 Thou didst stretch out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. 17 Thou wilt bring them in, and plant them on thy own mountain, the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thy abode, the sanctuary, LORD, which thy hands have established. Matthew 12: 46 - 50 46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."

july 18, 2011 Exodus 14: 5 - 18 Exodus 15: 1 - 6 Matthew 12: 38 - 42

Exodus 14: 5 - 18
5	When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?"
6	So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him,
7	and took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
8	And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the people of Israel as they went forth defiantly.
9	The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-ha-hi'roth, in front of Ba'al-ze'phon.
10	When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were in great fear. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD;
11	and they said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, in bringing us out of Egypt?
12	Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, `Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."
13	And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
14	The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be still."
15	The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
16	Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go on dry ground through the sea.
17	And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.
18	And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen." Exodus 15: 1 - 6 1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. 2 The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. 3 The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name. 4 "Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea; and his picked officers are sunk in the Red Sea. 5 The floods cover them; they went down into the depths like a stone. 6 Thy right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, thy right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. Matthew 12: 38 - 42 38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." 39 But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nin'eveh will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will arise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

july 15, 2011 Wisdom 8: 2 - 7, 16 - 18 1 Corinthians 2: 6 - 13 Psalms 16: 5 - 9, 11 Matthew 5: 13 - 19

Wisdom 8: 2 - 7, 16 - 18
2	I loved her and sought her from my youth, and I desired to take her for my bride, and I became enamored of her beauty.
3	She glorifies her noble birth by living with God, and the Lord of all loves her.
4	For she is an initiate in the knowledge of God, and an associate in his works.
5	If riches are a desirable possession in life, what is richer than wisdom who effects all things?
6	And if understanding is effective, who more than she is fashioner of what exists?
7	And if any one loves righteousness, her labors are virtues; for she teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage; nothing in life is more profitable for men than these.
16	When I enter my house, I shall find rest with her, for companionship with her has no bitterness, and life with her has no pain, but gladness and joy.
17	When I considered these things inwardly, and thought upon them in my mind, that in kinship with wisdom there is immortality,
18	and in friendship with her, pure delight, and in the labors of her hands, unfailing wealth, and in the experience of her company, understanding, and renown in sharing her words, I went about seeking how to get her for myself.

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1 Corinthians 2: 6 - 13
6	Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
7	But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification.
8	None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9	But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him,"
10	God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
11	For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12	Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
13	And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.

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Psalms 16: 5 - 9, 11
5	The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; thou holdest my lot.
6	The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.
7	I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
8	I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9	Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure.
11	Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fulness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore. Matthew 5: 13 - 19 13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. 15 Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 17 "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

july 14, 2011 Ex 3:13-20 13 Psalms 105:5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27 Mt 11:28-30

Ex 3:13-20

¹³ Moses then said to God, 'Look, if I go to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your ancestors has sent me to you," and they say to me, "What is his name?" what am I to tell them?'
¹⁴ God said to Moses, 'I am he who is.' And he said, 'This is what you are to say to the Israelites, "I am has sent me to you." '
¹⁵ God further said to Moses, 'You are to tell the Israelites, "Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you." This is my name for all time, and thus I am to be invoked for all generations to come.
¹⁶ 'Go, gather the elders of Israel together and tell them, "Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, has appeared to me -- the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob -- and has indeed visited you and seen what is being done to you in Egypt,
¹⁷ and has said: I shall bring you out of the misery of Egypt to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a country flowing with milk and honey."
¹⁸ They will listen to your words, and you and the elders of Israel are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, "Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has encountered us. So now please allow us to make a three-days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to Yahweh our God."
¹⁹ I am well aware that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless he is compelled by a mighty hand;
²⁰ he will not let you go until I have stretched out my arm and struck Egypt with all the wonders I intend to work there.

Psalms 105:5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27

⁵ Remember the marvels he has done, his wonders, the judgements he has spoken.
⁸ He remembers his covenant for ever, the promise he laid down for a thousand generations,
⁹ which he concluded with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
²⁴ He made his people increase in numbers, he gave them more strength than their enemies,
²⁵ whose heart he turned to hate his own people, to double-cross his servants.
²⁶ He sent his servant Moses, and Aaron, the man of his choice.
²⁷ They worked there the wonders he commanded, marvels in the country of Ham.

Mt 11:28-30

²⁸ 'Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.
²⁹ Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
³⁰ Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.'

july 13, 2011 Ex 3:1-6, 9-12 Psalms 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7 Mt 11:25-27

Ex 3:1-6, 9-12

¹ Moses was looking after the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led it to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
² The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame blazing from the middle of a bush. Moses looked; there was the bush blazing, but the bush was not being burnt up.
³ Moses said, 'I must go across and see this strange sight, and why the bush is not being burnt up.'
⁴ When Yahweh saw him going across to look, God called to him from the middle of the bush. 'Moses, Moses!' he said. 'Here I am,' he answered.
⁵ 'Come no nearer,' he said. 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
⁶ I am the God of your ancestors,' he said, 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' At this Moses covered his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
⁹ Yes indeed, the Israelites' cry for help has reached me, and I have also seen the cruel way in which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
¹⁰ So now I am sending you to Pharaoh, for you to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.'
¹¹ Moses said to God, 'Who am I to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?'
¹² 'I shall be with you,' God said, 'and this is the sign by which you will know that I was the one who sent you. After you have led the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.'

Psalms 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7

¹ [Of David] Bless Yahweh, my soul, from the depths of my being, his holy name;
² bless Yahweh, my soul, never forget all his acts of kindness.
³ He forgives all your offenses, cures all your diseases,
⁴ he redeems your life from the abyss, crowns you with faithful love and tenderness;
⁶ Yahweh acts with uprightness, with justice to all who are oppressed;
⁷ he revealed to Moses his ways, his great deeds to the children of Israel.

Mt 11:25-27

²⁵ At that time Jesus exclaimed, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children.
²⁶ Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.
²⁷ Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

juli 12, 2011 Ex 2:1-15a Psalms 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34 Mt 11:20-24

Ex 2:1-15a

¹ There was a man descended from Levi who had taken a woman of Levi as his wife.
² She conceived and gave birth to a son and, seeing what a fine child he was, she kept him hidden for three months.
³ When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him; coating it with bitumen and pitch, she put the child inside and laid it among the reeds at the River's edge.
⁴ His sister took up position some distance away to see what would happen to him.
⁵ Now Pharaoh's daughter went down to bathe in the river, while her maids walked along the riverside. Among the reeds she noticed the basket, and she sent her maid to fetch it.
⁶ She opened it and saw the child: the baby was crying. Feeling sorry for it, she said, 'This is one of the little Hebrews.'
⁷ The child's sister then said to Pharaoh's daughter, 'Shall I go and find you a nurse among the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?'
⁸ 'Yes,' said Pharaoh's daughter, and the girl went and called the child's own mother.
⁹ Pharaoh's daughter said to her, 'Take this child away and nurse it for me. I shall pay you myself for doing so.' So the woman took the child away and nursed it.
¹⁰ When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter who treated him like a son; she named him Moses 'because', she said, 'I drew him out of the water.'
¹¹ It happened one day, when Moses was grown up, that he went to see his kinsmen. While he was watching their forced labour he also saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen.
¹² Looking this way and that and seeing no one in sight, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
¹³ On the following day he came back, and there were two Hebrews, fighting. He said to the man who was in the wrong, 'What do you mean by hitting your kinsman?'
¹⁴ 'And who appointed you', the man retorted, 'to be prince over us and judge? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?' Moses was frightened. 'Clearly that business has come to light,' he thought.
¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of the matter, he tried to put Moses to death, but Moses fled from Pharaoh. He went into Midianite territory and sat down beside a well.

Psalms 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34

³ I am exhausted with calling out, my throat is hoarse, my eyes are worn out with searching for my God.
¹⁴ Rescue me from the mire before I sink in; so I shall be saved from those who hate me, from the watery depths.
³⁰ I will praise God's name in song, I will extol him by thanksgiving,
³¹ for this will please Yahweh more than an ox, than a bullock horned and hoofed.
³³ For God listens to the poor, he has never scorned his captive people.
³⁴ Let heaven and earth and seas, and all that stirs in them, acclaim him!

Mt 11:20-24

²⁰ Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.
²¹ 'Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
²² Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgement Day than for you.
²³ And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised as high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet.
²⁴ Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on Judgement Day than for you.'

July 11, 2011 Ex 1:8-14, 22 Psalms 124:1-3, 4-6, 7-8 Mt 10:34-11:1

Ex 1:8-14, 22

⁸ Then there came to power in Egypt a new king who had never heard of Joseph.
⁹ 'Look,' he said to his people, 'the Israelites are now more numerous and stronger than we are.
¹⁰ We must take precautions to stop them from increasing any further, or if war should break out, they might join the ranks of our enemies. They might take arms against us and then escape from the country.'
¹¹ Accordingly they put taskmasters over the Israelites to wear them down by forced labour. In this way they built the store-cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh.
¹² But the harder their lives were made, the more they increased and spread, until people came to fear the Israelites.
¹³ So the Egyptians gave them no mercy in the demands they made,
¹⁴ making their lives miserable with hard labour: with digging clay, making bricks, doing various kinds of field -- work -- all sorts of labour that they imposed on them without mercy.
²² Pharaoh then gave all his people this command: 'Throw every new-born boy into the river, but let all the girls live.'

Psalms 124:1-3, 4-6, 7-8

¹ [Song of Ascents Of David] If Yahweh had not been on our side -- let Israel repeat it-
² if Yahweh had not been on our side when people attacked us,
³ they would have swallowed us alive in the heat of their anger.
⁴ Then water was washing us away, a torrent running right over us;
⁵ running right over us then were turbulent waters.
⁶ Blessed be Yahweh for not letting us fall a prey to their teeth!
⁷ We escaped like a bird from the fowlers' net. The net was broken and we escaped;
⁸ our help is in the name of Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. 

Mt 10:34-11:1

³⁴ 'Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword.
³⁵ For I have come to set son against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law;
³⁶ a person's enemies will be the members of his own household.
³⁷ 'No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of me. No one who prefers son or daughter to me is worthy of me.
³⁸ Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me.
³⁹ Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
⁴⁰ 'Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
⁴¹ 'Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet's reward; and anyone who welcomes an upright person because he is upright will have the reward of an upright person.
⁴² 'If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without his reward.'
¹ When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.