Tuesday, 14 Tevet 5784 / December 26, 2023
Day 360 Readings
Torah: Parshat Vayechi, 3rd Portion Bereshit (Genesis) 48:17-22
Genesis 48:17-22
New American Standard Bible 1995
17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his [a]descendants shall become a [b]multitude of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying,‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’”
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 I give you one [c]portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”
Bible Study Together
2 Samuel 8:15-18
New American Standard Bible 1995
15 So David reigned over all Israel; and David [a]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. 16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder. 17 Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Seraiah was secretary. 18 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [b]was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were [c]chief ministers.
Psalm 60
New American Standard Bible 1995
Lament over Defeat in Battle, and Prayer for Help.
For the choir director; according to [a]Shushan Eduth. A [b]Mikhtam of David, to teach; [c]when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
1 O God, You have rejected us. You have [d]broken us;You have been angry; O, restore us.2 You have made the [e]land quake, You have split it open;Heal its breaches, for it totters.3 You have [f]made Your people experience hardship;You have given us [g]wine to drink that makes us stagger.4 You have given a banner to those who fear You,That it may be displayed because of the truth. [h]Selah.5 That Your beloved may be delivered,Save with Your right hand, and answer [i]us!
6 God has spoken in His [j]holiness:“I will exult, I will portion out Shechem and measure out the valley of Succoth.7 “Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the [k]helmet of My head;Judah is My [l]scepter.8 “Moab is My washbowl;Over Edom I shall throw My shoe;Shout loud, O Philistia, because of Me!”
9 Who will bring me into the besieged city?Who [m]will lead me to Edom?10 Have not You Yourself, O God, rejected us?And will You not go forth with our armies, O God? 11 O give us help against the adversary,For deliverance [n]by man is in vain. 12 [o]Through God we shall do valiantly,And it is He who will tread down our adversaries.
1 Chronicles 18
New American Standard Bible 1995
David’s Kingdom Strengthened
9 Now when [h]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had [i]defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, 10 he sent [j]Hadoram his son to King David to [k]greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had [l]defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze. 11 King David also dedicated these to the Lord with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and from Amalek.
12 Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah [m]defeated 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13 Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.
14 So David reigned over all Israel; and he [n]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. 15 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 16 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavsha was secretary; 17 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.
Luke 18
New American Standard Bible 1995
The Rich Young Ruler
18 A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to [g]go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”
28 Peter said, “Behold, we have left [h]our own homes and followed You.” 29 And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”
AVI ELOHIM,
Blessed are YOU My GOD and GREAT KING of the Universe! YOU Alone are GOD O HOLY ONE of Israel! I am willing to give up what I have just to have love in my life, how much more to give it up for YOU. I am the poorest of poor, I have nothing, not even a love to call my own. I have given up my identity to follow YOU and now YOU are giving me a new identity, the real one that I already have, the one I chose to deny for many years, YOU are bringing it back to me because this is the identity YOU want me to take up when YOU have chosen a pure Chinese man for me raised in my City. This Christmas has been so magical because of how YOU made me love him but I have to endure waiting. I do not want to hope anymore but YOU want me to hope, YOU want me to wait, YOU want to keep me in pain as I wait fearfully that this will again come to nothing just like the rest of the men YOU have revealed to me before. I am tired, sick and tired of this same cycle of desiring a husband. I wish YOU would just let me be free from this curse of Eve. Until the day we will be engaged to marry because YOU promised that I would marry him so free me O GOD, free me from all these stupid feelings and sexual desire that I have for Stephen. Please GOD!!! Thank YOU because YOU love me too, YOU love me too.
365 Daily Kingdom Living
Christ Is Here!
Truth be told - loneliness is not your company and desperation is not your friend. Don’t feel dejected when sounds of music and laughter flood across the hallway and seep into your empty room. For you have a God who is near: simply call on Him and see what He will do for you.
Prayer: Lord, it is a great joy to know that You are with me. I call on You and You will answer me. You are my friend and my saviour. I love You and invite You to be with me now. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture
Zechariah 9
8 But I will camp around My house [f]because of an army,Because of him who passes by and returns;And no oppressor will pass over them anymore,For now I have seen with My eyes.9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!Behold, your king is coming to you;He is [g]just and endowed with salvation,Humble, and mounted on a donkey,Even on a colt, the [h]foal of a donkey.10 I will cut off the chariot from EphraimAnd the horse from Jerusalem;And the bow of war will be cut off.And He will speak peace to the nations;And His dominion will be from sea to sea,And from the [i]River to the ends of the earth.
Deliverance of Judah and Ephraim
11 As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you,I have set your prisoners free from the [j]waterless pit.12 Return to the [k]stronghold, O prisoners [l]who have the hope;This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you.13 For I will bend Judah [m]as My bow,I will fill the bow with Ephraim.And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece;And I will make you like a warrior’s sword.14 Then the Lord will appear over them,And His arrow will go forth like lightning;And the Lord [n]God will blow the trumpet,And will march in the storm winds of the south.15 The Lord of hosts will defend them.And they will devour and trample on the sling stones;And they will drink and be boisterous as with wine;And they will be filled like a sacrificial basin,Drenched like the corners of the altar.16 And the Lord their God will save them in that dayAs the flock of His people;For they are as the stones of a crown,[o]Sparkling in His land.17 For what [p]comeliness and beauty will be [q]theirs!Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.
Revelation 17
New American Standard Bible 1995
The Doom of Babylon
1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” 3 And he carried me away [a]in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and [b]adorned with gold and precious [c]stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, 5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the [d]saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered [e]greatly. 7 And the angel said to me, “Why [f]do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and [g]go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. 9 Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, 10 and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. 11 The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. 12 The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. 13 These have one [h]purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.
Victory for the Lamb
14 These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.”
15 And he *said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. 17 For God has put it in their hearts to execute His [i]purpose [j]by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. 18 The woman whom you saw is the great city, which [k]reigns over the kings of the earth.”
Psalm 145
New American Standard Bible 1995
The Lord Extolled for His Goodness.
A Psalm of Praise, of David.
1 I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,And His greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another,And shall declare Your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious [a]splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. 6 Men shall speak of the [b]power of Your awesome acts,And I will tell of Your greatness.7 They shall [c]eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful;Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. 9 The Lord is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. 10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,And Your godly ones shall bless You.11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power; 12 To make known to the sons of men [d]Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of [e]Your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is [f]an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The Lord sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all [g]look to You, And You give them their food in due time. 16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds. 18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. 20 The Lord keeps all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
Dear AVI,
Sustain me my GOD sustain me, for I am bowed down, I am so discouraged because he has not responded to my chat about personality tests. Sustain me, and satisfy me with every word that I need every morning because I cannot carry on. I do not want to be another Leah in this love story. YOU said that I am Ruth, I have already lost my first husband because my mother did not want him for me, and YOU conceded to her request and I respect that. But now how can YOU allow me to be another unloved one in this story?? Not so My KING! Do not allow me to be in this losing end of the game. But YOU promised to redeem all my pain of the past. And I am counting on YOU to save me from this helplessness and neediness that I feel. I want YOU to free me from the curse of Eve until the day Stephen will propose to marry me. For Unto YOU belong all my devotion, worship, love and highest adoration My GOD and KING forever of my heart.
Ba HaShem YESHUA HaMashiach, Amen!
Proverbs 30:29-31
New American Standard Bible 1995
29 There are three things which are stately in their march,Even four which are stately when they walk:30 The lion which is mighty among beastsAnd does not [a]retreat before any,31 The [b]strutting rooster, the male goat also,And a king when his army is with him.