Exodus 8

• 1. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh once again and tell him, `This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.
• 2. If you refuse, then listen carefully to this: I will send vast hordes of frogs across your entire land from one border to the other.
• 3. The Nile River will swarm with them. They will come up out of the river and into your houses, even into your bedrooms and onto your beds! Every home in Egypt will be filled with them. They will fill even your ovens and your kneading bowls.
• 4. You and your people will be overwhelmed by frogs!'"
• 5. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to point his shepherd's staff toward all the rivers, canals, and marshes of Egypt so there will be frogs in every corner of the land."
• 6. Aaron did so, and frogs covered the whole land of Egypt!
• 7. But the magicians were able to do the same thing with their secret arts. They, too, caused frogs to come up on the land.
• 8. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, "Plead with the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let the people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the LORD."
• 9. "You set the time!" Moses replied. "Tell me when you want me to pray for you, your officials, and your people. I will pray that you and your houses will be rid of the frogs. Then only the frogs in the Nile River will remain alive."
• 10. "Do it tomorrow," Pharaoh said. "All right," Moses replied, "it will be as you have said. Then you will know that no one is as powerful as the LORD our God.
• 11. All the frogs will be destroyed, except those in the river."
• 12. So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, and Moses pleaded with the LORD about the frogs he had sent.
• 13. And the LORD did as Moses had promised. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields all died.
• 14. They were piled into great heaps, and a terrible stench filled the land.
• 15. But when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were gone, he hardened his heart. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted.
• 16. So the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to strike the dust with his staff. The dust will turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt."
• 17. So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them. Suddenly, gnats infested the entire land, covering the Egyptians and their animals. All the dust in the land of Egypt turned into gnats.
• 18. Pharaoh's magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed. And the gnats covered all the people and animals.
• 19. "This is the finger of God!" the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh's heart remained hard and stubborn. He wouldn't listen to them, just as the LORD had predicted.
• 20. Next the LORD told Moses, "Get up early in the morning and meet Pharaoh as he goes down to the river. Say to him, `This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.
• 21. If you refuse, I will send swarms of flies throughout Egypt. Your homes will be filled with them, and the ground will be covered with them.
• 22. But it will be very different in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites live. No flies will be found there. Then you will know that I am the LORD and that I have power even in the heart of your land.
• 23. I will make a clear distinction between your people and my people. This miraculous sign will happen tomorrow.'"
• 24. And the LORD did just as he had said. There were terrible swarms of flies in Pharaoh's palace and in every home in Egypt. The whole country was thrown into chaos by the flies.
• 25. Pharaoh hastily called for Moses and Aaron. "All right! Go ahead and offer sacrifices to your God," he said. "But do it here in this land. Don't go out into the wilderness."
• 26. But Moses replied, "That won't do! The Egyptians would detest the sacrifices that we offer to the LORD our God. If we offer them here where they can see us, they will be sure to stone us.
• 27. We must take a three-day trip into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, just as he has commanded us."
• 28. "All right, go ahead," Pharaoh replied. "I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the wilderness. But don't go too far away. Now hurry, and pray for me."
• 29. "As soon as I go," Moses said, "I will ask the LORD to cause the swarms of flies to disappear from you and all your people. But I am warning you, don't change your mind again and refuse to let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD."
• 30. So Moses left Pharaoh and asked the LORD to remove all the flies.
• 31. And the LORD did as Moses asked and caused the swarms to disappear. Not a single fly remained in the land!
• 32. But Pharaoh hardened his heart again and refused to let the people go.

Luke 13

• 1. About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were sacrificing at the Temple in Jerusalem.
• 2. "Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee?" he asked. "Is that why they suffered?
• 3. Not at all! And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God.
• 4. And what about the eighteen men who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem?
• 5. No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will also perish."
• 6. Then Jesus used this illustration: "A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed.
• 7. Finally, he said to his gardener, 'I've waited three years, and there hasn't been a single fig! Cut it down. It's taking up space we can use for something else.'
• 8. "The gardener answered, 'Give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I'll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer.
• 9. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, you can cut it down.'"
• 10. One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue,
• 11. he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight.
• 12. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are healed of your sickness!"
• 13. Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised and thanked God!
• 14. But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. "There are six days of the week for working," he said to the crowd. "Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath."
• 15. But the Lord replied, "You hypocrite! You work on the Sabbath day! Don't you untie your ox or your donkey from their stalls on the Sabbath and lead them out for water?
• 16. Wasn't it necessary for me, even on the Sabbath day, to free this dear woman from the bondage in which Satan has held her for eighteen years?"
• 17. This shamed his enemies. And all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.
• 18. Then Jesus said, "What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it?
• 19. It is like a tiny mustard seed planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds come and find shelter among its branches."
• 20. He also asked, "What else is the Kingdom of God like?
• 21. It is like yeast used by a woman making bread. Even though she used a large amount of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough."
• 22. Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem.
• 23. Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few be saved?" He replied,
• 24. "The door to heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in, because many will try to enter,
• 25. but when the head of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. Then you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Lord, open the door for us!' But he will reply, 'I do not know you.'
• 26. You will say, 'But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'
• 27. And he will reply, 'I tell you, I don't know you. Go away, all you who do evil.'
• 28. "And there will be great weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets within the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out.
• 29. Then people will come from all over the world to take their places in the Kingdom of God.
• 30. And note this: Some who are despised now will be greatly honored then; and some who are greatly honored now will be despised then. "
• 31. A few minutes later some Pharisees said to him, "Get out of here if you want to live, because Herod Antipas wants to kill you!"
• 32. Jesus replied, "Go tell that fox that I will keep on casting out demons and doing miracles of healing today and tomorrow; and the third day I will accomplish my purpose.
• 33. Yes, today, tomorrow, and the next day I must proceed on my way. For it wouldn't do for a prophet of God to be killed except in Jerusalem!
• 34. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.
• 35. And now look, your house is left to you empty. And you will never see me again until you say, 'Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

Job 27

• 1. Job continued speaking:
• 2. "I make this vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, by the Almighty who has embittered my soul.
• 3. As long as I live, while I have breath from God,
• 4. my lips will speak no evil, and my tongue will speak no lies.
• 5. I will never concede that you are right; until I die, I will defend my innocence.
• 6. I will maintain my innocence without wavering. My conscience is clear for as long as I live.
• 7. "May my enemy be punished like the wicked, my adversary like evil men.
• 8. For what hope do the godless have when God cuts them off and takes away their life?
• 9. Will God listen to their cry when trouble comes upon them?
• 10. Can they take delight in the Almighty? Can they call to God at any time?
• 11. "I will teach you about God's power. I will not conceal anything that concerns the Almighty.
• 12. But I don't need to, for you yourselves have seen all this; yet you are saying all these useless things to me.
• 13. "This is what the wicked will receive from God; this is their inheritance from the Almighty.
• 14. If they have a multitude of children, their children will die in war or starve to death.
• 15. Those who survive will be brought down to the grave by a plague, with no one to mourn them, not even their wives.
• 16. "Evil people may have all the money in the world, and they may store away mounds of clothing.
• 17. But the righteous will wear that clothing, and the innocent will divide all that money.
• 18. The houses built by the wicked are as fragile as a spiderweb, as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.
• 19. "The wicked go to bed rich but wake up to find that all their wealth is gone.
• 20. Terror overwhelms them, and they are blown away in the storms of the night.
• 21. The east wind carries them away, and they are gone. It sweeps them away.
• 22. It whirls down on them without mercy. They struggle to flee from its power.
• 23. But everyone jeers at them and mocks them.

New Living Translation: 57 of 365 days.