Friday, September 13, 2030

^8:22And Solomon stood up in front of the altar before all the congregation of Israel; and he spread out his hands toward heaven: ²³and he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven above and on the earth beneath, keeping covenant and mercy with thy servant who walks before thee with all his heart; ²⁷But will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth? if the heaven and heaven of heavens will not suffice thee, how much less even this house which I have built to thy name?

²⁸Yet, O Lord God of Israel, thou shalt look upon my petition, to hear the prayer which thy servant prays to thee in thy presence this day, ²⁹that thine eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place of which thou saidst, My name shall be there, to hear the prayer which thy servant prays at this place day and night. ³⁰And thou shalt hearken to the prayer of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall pray toward this place; and thou shalt hear in thy dwelling-place in heaven, and thou shalt do and be gracious.

^3:19God by wisdom founded the earth, and by prudence he prepared the heavens. ²⁰By understanding were the depths broken up, and the clouds dropped water. ²¹My son, let them not pass from thee, but keep my counsel and understanding: ²²that thy soul may live, and that there may be grace round thy neck; ²³that thou mayest go confidently in peace in all thy ways, and that thy foot may not stumble. ²⁴For if thou rest, thou shalt be undismayed; and if thou sleep, thou shalt slumber sweetly. ²⁵And thou shalt not be afraid of alarm coming upon thee, neither of approaching attacks of ungodly men.

²⁶For the Lord shall be over all thy ways, and shall establish thy foot that thou be not moved. ²⁷Forbear not to do good to the poor, whensoever thy hand may have power to help him. ²⁸Say not, Come back another time, to-morrow I will give; while thou art able to do him good: for thou knowest not what the next day will bring forth. ²⁹Devise not evil against thy friend, living near thee and trusting in thee. ³⁰Be not ready to quarrel with a man without a cause, lest he do thee some harm.

³¹Procure not the reproaches of bad men, neither do thou covet their ways. ³²For every transgressor is unclean before the Lord; neither does he sit among the righteous. ³³The curse of God is in the houses of the ungodly; but the habitations of the just are blessed. ³⁴The Lord resists the proud; but he gives grace to the humble.

^9:1Wisdom has built a house for herself, and set up seven pillars. ²She has killed her beasts; she has mingled her wine in a bowl, and prepared her table. ³She has sent forth her servants, calling with a loud proclamation to the feast, saying, ⁴Whoso is foolish, let him turn aside to me: and to them that want understanding she says, ⁵Come, eat of my bread, and drink wine which I have mingled for you. ⁶Leave folly, that ye may reign for ever; and seek wisdom, and improve understanding by knowledge.

⁷He that reproves evil men shall get dishonour to himself; and he that rebukes an ungodly man shall disgrace himself. ⁸Rebuke not evil men, lest they should hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. ⁹Give an opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser: instruct a just man, and he will receive more instruction. ¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the counsel of saints is understanding: ¹¹For in this way thou shalt live long, and years of thy life shall be added to thee.

^11:5For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles. ⁶But though I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not unskilled in knowledge. No, in every way we have been revealed to you in all things. ⁷Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God’s Good News free of charge? ⁸I robbed other assemblies, taking wages from them that I might serve you. ⁹When I was present with you and was in need, I wasn’t a burden on anyone, for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my need. In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so.

¹⁰As the truth of Christ is in me, no one will stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows. ¹²But what I do, that I will continue to do, that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity, that in which they boast, they may be recognized just like us. ¹³For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles. ¹⁴And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

¹⁶I say again, let no one think me foolish. But if so, yet receive me as foolish, that I also may boast a little. ¹⁷That which I speak, I don’t speak according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. ¹⁸Seeing that many boast after the flesh, I will also boast. ¹⁹For you bear with the foolish gladly, being wise. ²⁰For you bear with a man if he brings you into bondage, if he devours you, if he takes you captive, if he exalts himself, or if he strikes you on the face. ²¹To my shame, I speak as though we had been weak. Yet in whatever way anyone is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also.

^3:1Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession: Jesus, ²who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also Moses was in all his house. ³For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house. ⁴For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.

^4:1Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea. ²He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching, ³“Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow. ⁴As he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil.

⁶When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. ⁷Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. ⁸Others fell into the good ground and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some produced thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much.” ⁹He said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

^16:13Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” ¹⁴They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

^11:5For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles. ⁶But though I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not unskilled in knowledge. No, in every way we have been revealed to you in all things. ⁷Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God’s Good News free of charge? ⁸I robbed other assemblies, taking wages from them that I might serve you. ⁹When I was present with you and was in need, I wasn’t a burden on anyone, for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my need. In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so.

¹⁰As the truth of Christ is in me, no one will stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows. ¹²But what I do, that I will continue to do, that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity, that in which they boast, they may be recognized just like us. ¹³For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles. ¹⁴And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

¹⁶I say again, let no one think me foolish. But if so, yet receive me as foolish, that I also may boast a little. ¹⁷That which I speak, I don’t speak according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. ¹⁸Seeing that many boast after the flesh, I will also boast. ¹⁹For you bear with the foolish gladly, being wise. ²⁰For you bear with a man if he brings you into bondage, if he devours you, if he takes you captive, if he exalts himself, or if he strikes you on the face. ²¹To my shame, I speak as though we had been weak. Yet in whatever way anyone is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also.

^4:1Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea. ²He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching, ³“Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow. ⁴As he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil.

⁶When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. ⁷Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. ⁸Others fell into the good ground and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some produced thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much.” ⁹He said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”