Monday, 8 Kislev 5785 / December 9, 2024
Day 342 ESV Readings
Torah: Parshat Vayishlach, 2nd Portion (Bereshit (Genesis) 32:14-32:30)
Genesis 32:14-30
English Standard Version
14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” 17 He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’” 19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, 20 and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him[a] with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”[b] 21 So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
Jacob Wrestles with God
22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children,[c] and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,[d] for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,[e] saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
Bible Study Together
Proverbs 19
English Standard Version
1 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
2 Desire[a] without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.
3 When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord.
4 Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.
5 A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape.
6 Many seek the favor of a generous man,[b] and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.
7 All a poor man's brothers hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but does not have them.[c]
8 Whoever gets sense loves his own soul; he who keeps understanding will discover good.
9 A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.
10 It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, much less for a slave to rule over princes.
11 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
12 A king's wrath is like the growling of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
13 A foolish son is ruin to his father, and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.
14 House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.
15 Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.
16 Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises his ways will die.
17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.
18 Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.
19 A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.
20 Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.
21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
22 What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar.
23 The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.
24 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.
25 Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove a man of understanding, and he will gain knowledge.
26 He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother is a son who brings shame and reproach. 27 Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.
28 A worthless witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.
29 Condemnation is ready for scoffers, and beating for the backs of fools.
ESV Readings
Scripture
Psalms 128
English Standard Version
Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
1 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.
5 The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!
6 May you see your children's children! Peace be upon Israel!
Job 14
Isaiah 36
English Standard Version
Sennacherib Invades Judah
1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh[a] from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 3 And there came out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.
4 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6 Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? 8 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me[b] and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”
21 But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
Isaiah 37
2 John 1
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, 2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:
3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.
Walking in Truth and Love
4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we[a] have worked for, but may win a full reward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
Final Greetings
12 Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
13 The children of your elect sister greet you.