Exodus 9

• 1. "Go back to Pharaoh," the LORD commanded Moses. "Tell him, `This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.
• 2. If you continue to oppress them and refuse to let them go,
• 3. the LORD will send a deadly plague to destroy your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, and sheep.
• 4. But the LORD will again make a distinction between the property of the Israelites and that of the Egyptians. Not a single one of Israel's livestock will die!'"
• 5. The LORD announced that he would send the plague the very next day,
• 6. and he did it, just as he had said. The next morning all the livestock of the Egyptians began to die, but the Israelites didn't lose a single animal from their flocks and herds.
• 7. Pharaoh sent officials to see whether it was true that none of the Israelites' animals were dead. But even after he found it to be true, his heart remained stubborn. He still refused to let the people go.
• 8. Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take soot from a furnace, and have Moses toss it into the sky while Pharaoh watches.
• 9. It will spread like fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, causing boils to break out on people and animals alike."
• 10. So they gathered soot from a furnace and went to see Pharaoh. As Pharaoh watched, Moses tossed the soot into the air, and terrible boils broke out on the people and animals throughout Egypt.
• 11. Even the magicians were unable to stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them, too.
• 12. But the LORD made Pharaoh even more stubborn, and he refused to listen, just as the LORD had predicted.
• 13. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning. Go to Pharaoh and tell him, `The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so they can worship me.
• 14. If you don't, I will send a plague that will really speak to you and your officials and all the Egyptian people. I will prove to you that there is no other God like me in all the earth.
• 15. I could have killed you all by now. I could have attacked you with a plague that would have wiped you from the face of the earth.
• 16. But I have let you live for this reason--that you might see my power and that my fame might spread throughout the earth.
• 17. But you are still lording it over my people, and you refuse to let them go.
• 18. So tomorrow at this time I will send a hailstorm worse than any in all of Egypt's history.
• 19. Quick! Order your livestock and servants to come in from the fields. Every person or animal left outside will die beneath the hail.'"
• 20. Some of Pharaoh's officials believed what the LORD said. They immediately brought their livestock and servants in from the fields.
• 21. But those who had no respect for the word of the LORD left them out in the open.
• 22. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Lift your hand toward the sky, and cause the hail to fall throughout Egypt, on the people, the animals, and the crops."
• 23. So Moses lifted his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. The LORD sent a tremendous hailstorm against all the land of Egypt.
• 24. Never in all the history of Egypt had there been a storm like that, with such severe hail and continuous lightning.
• 25. It left all of Egypt in ruins. Everything left in the fields was destroyed--people, animals, and crops alike. Even all the trees were destroyed.
• 26. The only spot in all Egypt without hail that day was the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel lived.
• 27. Then Pharaoh urgently sent for Moses and Aaron. "I finally admit my fault," he confessed. "The LORD is right, and my people and I are wrong.
• 28. Please beg the LORD to end this terrifying thunder and hail. I will let you go at once."
• 29. "All right," Moses replied. "As soon as I leave the city, I will lift my hands and pray to the LORD. Then the thunder and hail will stop. This will prove to you that the earth belongs to the LORD.
• 30. But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear the LORD God as you should."
• 31. All the flax and barley were destroyed because the barley was ripe and the flax was in bloom.
• 32. But the wheat and the spelt were not destroyed because they had not yet sprouted from the ground.
• 33. So Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. As he lifted his hands to the LORD, all at once the thunder and hail stopped, and the downpour ceased.
• 34. When Pharaoh saw this, he and his officials sinned yet again by stubbornly refusing to do as they had promised.
• 35. Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as the LORD had predicted.

Luke 14

• 1. One Sabbath day Jesus was in the home of a leader of the Pharisees. The people were watching him closely,
• 2. because there was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen.
• 3. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, "Well, is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?"
• 4. When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away.
• 5. Then he turned to them and asked, "Which of you doesn't work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don't you proceed at once to get him out?"
• 6. Again they had no answer.
• 7. When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit near the head of the table, he gave them this advice:
• 8. "If you are invited to a wedding feast, don't always head for the best seat. What if someone more respected than you has also been invited?
• 9. The host will say, 'Let this person sit here instead.' Then you will be embarrassed and will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!
• 10. "Do this instead--sit at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, 'Friend, we have a better place than this for you!' Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests.
• 11. For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored."
• 12. Then he turned to his host. "When you put on a luncheon or a dinner," he said, "don't invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will repay you by inviting you back.
• 13. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
• 14. Then at the resurrection of the godly, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you."
• 15. Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, "What a privilege it would be to have a share in the Kingdom of God!"
• 16. Jesus replied with this illustration: "A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations.
• 17. When all was ready, he sent his servant around to notify the guests that it was time for them to come.
• 18. But they all began making excuses. One said he had just bought a field and wanted to inspect it, so he asked to be excused.
• 19. Another said he had just bought five pair of oxen and wanted to try them out.
• 20. Another had just been married, so he said he couldn't come.
• 21. "The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was angry and said, 'Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.'
• 22. After the servant had done this, he reported, 'There is still room for more.'
• 23. So his master said, 'Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.
• 24. For none of those I invited first will get even the smallest taste of what I had prepared for them.'"
• 25. Great crowds were following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,
• 26. "If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.
• 27. And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me.
• 28. "But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills?
• 29. Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of funds. And then how everyone would laugh at you!
• 30. They would say, 'There's the person who started that building and ran out of money before it was finished!'
• 31. "Or what king would ever dream of going to war without first sitting down with his counselors and discussing whether his army of ten thousand is strong enough to defeat the twenty thousand soldiers who are marching against him?
• 32. If he is not able, then while the enemy is still far away, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace.
• 33. So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me.
• 34. "Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again?
• 35. Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for fertilizer. It is thrown away. Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!"

Job 28

• 1. "People know how to mine silver and refine gold.
• 2. They know how to dig iron from the earth and smelt copper from stone.
• 3. They know how to put light into darkness and explore the farthest, darkest regions of the earth as they search for ore.
• 4. They sink a mine shaft into the earth far from where anyone lives. They descend on ropes, swinging back and forth.
• 5. Bread comes from the earth, but below the surface the earth is melted as by fire.
• 6. "People know how to find sapphires and gold dust--
• 7. treasures that no bird of prey can see, no falcon's eye observe--
• 8. for they are deep within the mines. No wild animal has ever walked upon those treasures; no lion has set his paw there.
• 9. People know how to tear apart flinty rocks and overturn the roots of mountains.
• 10. They cut tunnels in the rocks and uncover precious stones.
• 11. They dam up the trickling streams and bring to light the hidden treasures.
• 12. "But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding?
• 13. No one knows where to find it, for it is not found among the living.
• 14. `It is not here,' says the ocean. `Nor is it here,' says the sea.
• 15. "It cannot be bought for gold or silver.
• 16. Its value is greater than all the gold of Ophir, greater than precious onyx stone or sapphires.
• 17. Wisdom is far more valuable than gold and crystal. It cannot be purchased with jewels mounted in fine gold.
• 18. Coral and valuable rock crystal are worthless in trying to get it. The price of wisdom is far above pearls.
• 19. Topaz from Ethiopia cannot be exchanged for it. Its value is greater than the purest gold.
• 20. "But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding?
• 21. For it is hidden from the eyes of all humanity. Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.
• 22. But Destruction and Death say, `We have heard a rumor of where wisdom can be found.'
• 23. "God surely knows where it can be found,
• 24. for he looks throughout the whole earth, under all the heavens.
• 25. He made the winds blow and determined how much rain should fall.
• 26. He made the laws of the rain and prepared a path for the lightning.
• 27. Then, when he had done all this, he saw wisdom and measured it. He established it and examined it thoroughly.
• 28. And this is what he says to all humanity: `The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.'"

New Living Translation: 58 of 365 days.