Genesis 32

• 1. As Jacob and his household started on their way again, angels of God came to meet him.
• 2. When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, "This is God's camp!" So he named the place Mahanaim.
• 3. Jacob now sent messengers to his brother, Esau, in Edom, the land of Seir.
• 4. He told them, "Give this message to my master Esau: `Humble greetings from your servant Jacob! I have been living with Uncle Laban until recently,
• 5. and now I own oxen, donkeys, sheep, goats, and many servants, both men and women. I have sent these messengers to inform you of my coming, hoping that you will be friendly to us.'"
• 6. The messengers returned with the news that Esau was on his way to meet Jacob--with an army of four hundred men!
• 7. Jacob was terrified at the news. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps.
• 8. He thought, "If Esau attacks one group, perhaps the other can escape."
• 9. Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac--O LORD, you told me to return to my land and to my relatives, and you promised to treat me kindly.
• 10. I am not worthy of all the faithfulness and unfailing love you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home, I owned nothing except a walking stick, and now my household fills two camps!
• 11. O LORD, please rescue me from my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to kill me, along with my wives and children.
• 12. But you promised to treat me kindly and to multiply my descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore--too many to count."
• 13. Jacob stayed where he was for the night and prepared a present for Esau:
• 14. two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams,
• 15. thirty female camels with their young, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten male donkeys.
• 16. He told his servants to lead them on ahead, each group of animals by itself, separated by a distance in between.
• 17. He gave these instructions to the men leading the first group: "When you meet Esau, he will ask, `Where are you going? Whose servants are you? Whose animals are these?'
• 18. You should reply, `These belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present for his master Esau! He is coming right behind us.'"
• 19. Jacob gave the same instructions to each of the herdsmen and told them, "You are all to say the same thing to Esau when you see him.
• 20. And be sure to say, `Your servant Jacob is right behind us.'" Jacob's plan was to appease Esau with the presents before meeting him face to face. "Perhaps," Jacob hoped, "he will be friendly to us."
• 21. So the presents were sent on ahead, and Jacob spent that night in the camp.
• 22. But during the night Jacob got up and sent his two wives, two concubines, and eleven sons across the Jabbok River.
• 23. After they were on the other side, he sent over all his possessions.
• 24. This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until dawn.
• 25. When the man saw that he couldn't win the match, he struck Jacob's hip and knocked it out of joint at the socket.
• 26. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is dawn." But Jacob panted, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
• 27. "What is your name?" the man asked. He replied, "Jacob."
• 28. "Your name will no longer be Jacob," the man told him. "It is now Israel, because you have struggled with both God and men and have won."
• 29. "What is your name?" Jacob asked him. "Why do you ask?" the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
• 30. Jacob named the place Peniel--"face of God"--for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared."
• 31. The sun rose as he left Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
• 32. That is why even today the people of Israel don't eat meat from near the hip, in memory of what happened that night.

Mark 3

• 1. Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand.
• 2. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus' enemies watched him closely. Would he heal the man's hand on the Sabbath? If he did, they planned to condemn him.
• 3. Jesus said to the man, "Come and stand in front of everyone."
• 4. Then he turned to his critics and asked, "Is it legal to do good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing harm? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?" But they wouldn't answer him.
• 5. He looked around at them angrily, because he was deeply disturbed by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, "Reach out your hand." The man reached out his hand, and it became normal again!
• 6. At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to discuss plans for killing Jesus.
• 7. Jesus and his disciples went out to the lake, followed by a huge crowd from all over Galilee, Judea,
• 8. Jerusalem, Idumea, from east of the Jordan River, and even from as far away as Tyre and Sidon. The news about his miracles had spread far and wide, and vast numbers of people came to see him for themselves.
• 9. Jesus instructed his disciples to bring around a boat and to have it ready in case he was crowded off the beach.
• 10. There had been many healings that day. As a result, many sick people were crowding around him, trying to touch him.
• 11. And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of him, they would fall down in front of him shrieking, "You are the Son of God!"
• 12. But Jesus strictly warned them not to say who he was.
• 13. Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him.
• 14. Then he selected twelve of them to be his regular companions, calling them apostles. He sent them out to preach,
• 15. and he gave them authority to cast out demons.
• 16. These are the names of the twelve he chose: Simon (he renamed him Peter),
• 17. James and John (the sons of Zebedee, but Jesus nicknamed them "Sons of Thunder" ),
• 18. Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, Simon (the Zealot ),
• 19. Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).
• 20. When Jesus returned to the house where he was staying, the crowds began to gather again, and soon he and his disciples couldn't even find time to eat.
• 21. When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him home with them. "He's out of his mind," they said.
• 22. But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, "He's possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That's where he gets the power to cast out demons."
• 23. Jesus called them over and said to them by way of illustration, "How can Satan cast out Satan?
• 24. A kingdom at war with itself will collapse.
• 25. A home divided against itself is doomed.
• 26. And if Satan is fighting against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive.
• 27. Let me illustrate this. You can't enter a strong man's house and rob him without first tying him up. Only then can his house be robbed!
• 28. "I assure you that any sin can be forgiven, including blasphemy;
• 29. but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. It is an eternal sin."
• 30. He told them this because they were saying he had an evil spirit.
• 31. Jesus' mother and brothers arrived at the house where he was teaching. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them.
• 32. There was a crowd around Jesus, and someone said, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you."
• 33. Jesus replied, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?"
• 34. Then he looked at those around him and said, "These are my mother and brothers.
• 35. Anyone who does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

Esther 8

• 1. On that same day King Xerxes gave the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king how they were related.
• 2. The king took off his signet ring--which he had taken back from Haman--and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman's property.
• 3. Now once more Esther came before the king, falling down at his feet and begging him with tears to stop Haman's evil plot against the Jews.
• 4. Again the king held out the gold scepter to Esther. So she rose and stood before him
• 5. and said, "If Your Majesty is pleased with me and if he thinks it is right, send out a decree reversing Haman's orders to destroy the Jews throughout all the provinces of the king.
• 6. For how can I endure to see my people and my family slaughtered and destroyed?"
• 7. Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, "I have given Esther the estate of Haman, and he has been hanged on the gallows because he tried to destroy the Jews.
• 8. Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king's name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king's signet ring. But remember that whatever is written in the king's name and sealed with his ring can never be revoked."
• 9. So on June 25 the king's secretaries were summoned. As Mordecai dictated, they wrote a decree to the Jews and to the princes, governors, and local officials of all the 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. The decree was written in the scripts and languages of all the peoples of the empire, including the Jews.
• 10. Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed the message with the king's signet ring. He sent the letters by swift messengers, who rode horses especially bred for the king's service.
• 11. The king's decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies.
• 12. The day chosen for this event throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was March 7 of the next year.
• 13. A copy of this decree was to be recognized as law in every province and proclaimed to all the people. That way the Jews would be ready on that day to take revenge on their enemies.
• 14. So urged on by the king's command, the messengers rode out swiftly on horses bred for the king's service. The same decree was also issued at the fortress of Susa.
• 15. Then Mordecai put on the royal robe of blue and white and the great crown of gold, and he wore an outer cloak of fine linen and purple. And the people of Susa celebrated the new decree.
• 16. The Jews were filled with joy and gladness and were honored everywhere.
• 17. In every city and province, wherever the king's decree arrived, the Jews rejoiced and had a great celebration and declared a public festival and holiday. And many of the people of the land became Jews themselves, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.

New Living Translation: 31 of 365 days.