Exodus 3

• 1. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
• 2. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
• 3. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight-why the bush does not burn up."
• 4. When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am."
• 5. "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
• 6. Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
• 7. The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
• 8. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
• 9. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
• 10. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
• 11. But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
• 12. And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
• 13. Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
• 14. God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
• 15. God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
• 16. "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers-the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
• 17. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites-a land flowing with milk and honey.'
• 18. "The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.'
• 19. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.
• 20. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
• 21. "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.
• 22. Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

Luke 8

• 1. After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him,
• 2. and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out;
• 3. Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.
• 4. While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable:
• 5. "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up.
• 6. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.
• 7. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.
• 8. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown." When he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
• 9. His disciples asked him what this parable meant.
• 10. He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, "'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.'
• 11. "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.
• 12. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
• 13. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.
• 14. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
• 15. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
• 16. "No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.
• 17. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.
• 18. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him."
• 19. Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd.
• 20. Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you."
• 21. He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."
• 22. One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out.
• 23. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
• 24. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"
• 25. He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."
• 26. They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.
• 27. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.
• 28. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!"
• 29. For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
• 30. Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
• 31. "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
• 32. A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission.
• 33. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
• 34. When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside,
• 35. and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
• 36. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured.
• 37. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
• 38. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,
• 39. "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
• 40. Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him.
• 41. Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house
• 42. because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
• 43. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her.
• 44. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
• 45. "Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."
• 46. But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."
• 47. Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.
• 48. Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."
• 49. While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," he said. "Don't bother the teacher any more."
• 50. Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."
• 51. When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child's father and mother.
• 52. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. "Stop wailing," Jesus said. "She is not dead but asleep."
• 53. They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.
• 54. But he took her by the hand and said, "My child, get up!"
• 55. Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.
• 56. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Job 21

• 1. Then Job replied:
• 2. "Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me.
• 3. Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.
• 4. "Is my complaint directed to man? Why should I not be impatient?
• 5. Look at me and be astonished; clap your hand over your mouth.
• 6. When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body.
• 7. Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
• 8. They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes.
• 9. Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not upon them.
• 10. Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry.
• 11. They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about.
• 12. They sing to the music of tambourine and harp; they make merry to the sound of the flute.
• 13. They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace.
• 14. Yet they say to God, 'Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways.
• 15. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?'
• 16. But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.
• 17. "Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger?
• 18. How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale?
• 19. It is said, 'God stores up a man's punishment for his sons.' Let him repay the man himself, so that he will know it!
• 20. Let his own eyes see his destruction; let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
• 21. For what does he care about the family he leaves behind when his allotted months come to an end?
• 22. "Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?
• 23. One man dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease,
• 24. his body well nourished, his bones rich with marrow.
• 25. Another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good.
• 26. Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both.
• 27. "I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
• 28. You say, 'Where now is the great man's house, the tents where wicked men lived?'
• 29. Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts-
• 30. that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, that he is delivered from the day of wrath?
• 31. Who denounces his conduct to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?
• 32. He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb.
• 33. The soil in the valley is sweet to him; all men follow after him, and a countless throng goes before him.
• 34. "So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!"

New International Version

47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | Day 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 |