Monday, 29 Kislev 5785 / December 30, 2024
Day 363 ESV Readings
Torah: Parshat Vayigash, 2nd Portion (Bereshit (Genesis) 44:31-45:7)
Genesis 44:31-45:7
Complete Jewish Bible
(ii) 31 when he sees that the boy isn’t with us, he will die; and your servants will bring the gray hair of your servant our father down to Sh’ol with grief. 32 For your servant himself guaranteed his safety; I said, ‘If I fail to bring him to you, then I will bear the blame before my father forever.’ 33 Therefore, I beg you, let your servant stay as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers. 34 For how can I go up to my father if the boy isn’t with me? I couldn’t bear to see my father so overwhelmed by anguish.”
45 At last Yosef could no longer control his feelings in front of his attendants and cried, “Get everybody away from me!” So no one else was with him when Yosef revealed to his brothers who he was. 2 He wept aloud, and the Egyptians heard, and Pharaoh’s household heard. 3 Yosef said to his brothers, “I am Yosef! Is it true that my father is still alive?” His brothers couldn’t answer him, they were so dumbfounded at seeing him. 4 Yosef said to his brothers, “Please! Come closer.” And they came closer. He said, “I am Yosef, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 But don’t be sad that you sold me into slavery here or angry at yourselves, because it was God who sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6 The famine has been over the land for the last two years, and for yet another five years there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 God sent me ahead of you to ensure that you will have descendants on earth and to save your lives in a great deliverance.
Bible Study Together
Proverbs 12
English Standard Version
1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
2 A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns.
3 No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved.
4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.
5 The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them.
7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.
8 A man is commended according to his good sense, but one of twisted mind is despised.
9 Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and lack bread.
10 Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
11 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense. 12 Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.
13 An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,[a] but the righteous escapes from trouble.
14 From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man's hand comes back to him.
15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.
16 The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.
17 Whoever speaks[b] the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.
18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.
21 No ill befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.
22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.
23 A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.
24 The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.
25 Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.
26 One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor,[c] but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
27 Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.[d]
28 In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.
ESV Readings
Scripture
Psalms 149
English Standard Version
Sing to the Lord a New Song
1 Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!
2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
3 Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgment written! This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the Lord!
Job 39:1-30
Job 40:1-5
Isaiah 63
English Standard Version
The Lord's Day of Vengeance
1 Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”
2 Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood[a] spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel.
4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption[b] had come.
5 I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me.
6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
The Lord's Mercy Remembered
7 I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely.” And he became their Savior.
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted,[c] and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.
11 Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people.[d]Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit,
12 who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name,
13 who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble.
14 Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.
Prayer for Mercy
15 Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful[e] habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me.
16 For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.
18 Your holy people held possession for a little while;[f] our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those who are not called by your name.
Isaiah 64
English Standard Version
1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence—
2 [a] as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil—to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?[b]
6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in[c] the hand of our iniquities.
8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
9 Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful[d] house, where our fathers praised you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord? Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?
Revelation 20
English Standard Version
The Thousand Years
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit[a] and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
The Defeat of Satan
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven[b] and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Judgment Before the Great White Throne
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.