12 Tishrei 5994 / 27 September 2023
Day 270 Readings
Torah: Vezot Hab'rachah, 4th Portion Devarim (Deuteronomy) 33:18-21
New King James Version
18 And of Zebulun he said:
“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,And Issachar in your tents! 19 They shall call the peoples to the mountain; There they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness;For they shall partake of the abundance of the seas And of treasures hidden in the sand.”
20 And of Gad he said:
“Blessed is he who enlarges Gad;He dwells as a lion,And tears the arm and the crown of his head. 21 He provided the first part for himself,Because a lawgiver’s portion was reserved there.He came with the heads of the people;He administered the justice of the Lord,And His judgments with Israel.”
Bible Study Together
Joshua 13:8-14:5
Joshua 14
1 These are the areas which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel distributed as an inheritance to them. 2 Their inheritance was by lot, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe. 3 For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe on the other side of the Jordan; but to the Levites he had given no inheritance among them. 4 For the children of Joseph were two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim. And they gave no part to the Levites in the land, except cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for their livestock and their property. 5 As the Lord had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did; and they divided the land.
Matthew 17:14-21
A Boy Is Healed
14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is [a]an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O [b]faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your [c]unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 [d]However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
365 Daily Kingdom Living
An Example Of Submission
Some of us bravely tell God what we want Him to do, how He should do it, and when He should do it. But the pattern Paul outlines for the church at Ephesus looks much different. The Church does Christ’s work under His authority, not the other way around … and the pattern is to be lived out in a similar way in our homes. Choosing to submit requires faith, honour, and perhaps a little courage, but it is what God wants us to do.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, today I choose once again to submit to you. I confess that too often I want to do things my own way. I admit I have even occasionally wanted to tell you what to do. Like Job, I’ve asked too many ‘why’ questions, and not listened well enough. Forgive me, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scripture
Isaiah 51
1 “Listen to Me, you who [a]follow after righteousness,You who seek the Lord:Look to the rock from which you were hewn,And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.2 Look to Abraham your father,And to Sarah who bore you;For I called him alone,And blessed him and increased him.”
3 For the Lord will comfort Zion,He will comfort all her waste places;He will make her wilderness like Eden,And her desert like the garden of the Lord;Joy and gladness will be found in it,Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
4 “Listen to Me, My people;And give ear to Me, O My nation:For law will proceed from Me,And I will make My justice restAs a light of the peoples.5 My righteousness is near,My salvation has gone forth,And My arms will judge the peoples;The coastlands will wait upon Me,And on My arm they will trust.6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,And look on the earth beneath.For the heavens will vanish away like smoke,The earth will grow old like a garment,And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;But My salvation will be forever,And My righteousness will not be [b]abolished.
7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,You people in whose heart is My law:Do not fear the reproach of men,Nor be afraid of their insults.8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment,And the worm will eat them like wool;But My righteousness will be forever,And My salvation from generation to generation.”
9 Awake, awake, put on strength,O arm of the Lord!Awake as in the ancient days,In the generations of old.Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart,And wounded the serpent?
10 Are You not the One who dried up the sea,The waters of the great deep;That made the depths of the sea a roadFor the redeemed to cross over?11 So the ransomed of the Lord shall return,And come to Zion with singing,With everlasting joy on their heads.They shall obtain joy and gladness;Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you.Who are you that you should be afraidOf a man who will die,And of the son of a man who will be made like grass?13 And you forget the Lord your Maker,Who stretched out the heavensAnd laid the foundations of the earth;You have feared continually every dayBecause of the fury of the oppressor,When he has prepared to destroy.And where is the fury of the oppressor?14 The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed,That he should not die in the pit,And that his bread should not fail.15 But I am the Lord your God,Who divided the sea whose waves roared—The Lord of hosts is His name.16 And I have put My words in your mouth;I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,That I may [c]plant the heavens,Lay the foundations of the earth,And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”
God’s Fury Removed
17 Awake, awake!Stand up, O Jerusalem,You who have drunk at the hand of the LordThe cup of His fury;You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling,And drained it out.18 There is no one to guide herAmong all the sons she has brought forth;Nor is there any who takes her by the handAmong all the sons she has brought up.19 These two things have come to you;Who will be sorry for you?—Desolation and destruction, famine and sword—By whom will I comfort you?20 Your sons have fainted,They lie at the head of all the streets,Like an antelope in a net;They are full of the fury of the Lord,The rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore please hear this, you afflicted,And drunk but not with wine.22 Thus says your Lord,The Lord and your God,Who pleads the cause of His people:“See, I have taken out of your handThe cup of trembling,The dregs of the cup of My fury;You shall no longer drink it.23 But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you,Who have said to [d]you,‘Lie down, that we may walk over you.’And you have laid your body like the ground,And as the street, for those who walk over.”
Isaiah 52
God Redeems Jerusalem
1 Awake, awake!Put on your strength, O Zion;Put on your beautiful garments,O Jerusalem, the holy city!For the uncircumcised and the uncleanShall no longer come to you.2 Shake yourself from the dust, arise;Sit down, O Jerusalem!Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,O captive daughter of Zion!
3 For thus says the Lord:
“You have sold yourselves for nothing,And you shall be redeemed without money.”
4 For thus says the Lord God:
“My people went down at firstInto Egypt to [a]dwell there;Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.5 Now therefore, what have I here,” says the Lord,“That My people are taken away for nothing?Those who rule over them[b]Make them wail,” says the Lord,“And My name is blasphemed continually every day.6 Therefore My people shall know My name;Therefore they shall know in that dayThat I am He who speaks:‘Behold, it is I.’ ”
7 How beautiful upon the mountainsAre the feet of him who brings good news,Who proclaims peace,Who brings glad tidings of good things,Who proclaims salvation,Who says to Zion,“Your God reigns!”8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices,With their voices they shall sing together;For they shall see eye to eyeWhen the Lord brings back Zion.9 Break forth into joy, sing together,You waste places of Jerusalem!For the Lord has comforted His people,He has redeemed Jerusalem.10 The Lord has [c]made bare His holy armIn the eyes of all the nations;And all the ends of the earth shall seeThe salvation of our God.
11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there,Touch no unclean thing;Go out from the midst of her,Be clean,You who bear the vessels of the Lord.12 For you shall not go out with haste,Nor go by flight;For the Lord will go before you,And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
Isaiah 53
3 He is despised and[d]rejected by men, A Man of[e]sorrows andacquainted with[f]grief.
And we hid, as it were,ourfaces from Him; He was despised, andwe did not esteem Him.
Ephesians 5
Be Imitators of God
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved [a]you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God [b]as a fragrant aroma.
4 For this reason [j]it says,
“Awake, sleeper,And arise from the dead,And Christ will shine on you.”
15 So then, [k]be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 [l]making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Marriage like Christ and the Church
22 Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church [q]in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are parts of His body. 31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, as for you individually, each husband is to love his own wife the same as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.
Psalms 69:19-36
19 You know my disgrace, my shame, and my dishonor;All my enemies are [a]known to You.
20 Disgrace has broken my heart, and I am so sick.And I waited for sympathy, but there was none;And for comforters, but I found none.21 They also gave me [b]a bitter herb in my food,And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 May their table before them become a snare;And [c]when they are at peace, may it become a trap.23 May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see,And make their hips shake continually.24 Pour out Your indignation on them,And may Your burning anger overtake them.25 May their [d]camp be desolated;May there be none living in their tents.26 For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself struck,And they tell of the pain of those whom You have [e]wounded.27 Add guilt to their guilt,And may they not come into Your righteousness.28 May they be wiped out of the book of life,And may they not be [f]recorded with the righteous.
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;[g]May Your salvation, God, set me safely on high.30 I will praise the name of God with song,And exalt Him with thanksgiving.31 And it will please the Lord better than an oxOr bull with horns and hoofs.32 The humble [h]have seen it and are glad;You who seek God, let your heart [i]revive.33 For the Lord hears the needy,And does not despise those of His who are prisoners.
34 Heaven and earth shall praise Him,The seas and everything that moves in them.35 For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah,So that they may live there and possess it.36 The [j]descendants of His servants will inherit it,And those who love His name will live in it.
Proverbs 24:7
New American Standard Bible
7 Wisdom is too exalted for a fool,He does not open his mouth at the gate.