Exodus 13; Luke 16; Job 31; 2 Corinthians 1

red bookmark icon blue bookmark icon gold bookmark icon
Exodus 13

Consecration of the Firstborn

The Lord said to Moses, oConsecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

Then Moses said to the people, pRemember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, qfor by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. rNo leavened bread shall be eaten. Today, in the month of sAbib, you are going out. And when the Lord brings you into tthe land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which uhe swore to your fathers to give you, a land vflowing with milk and honey, wyou shall keep this service in this month. xSeven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. yYou shall tell your son on that day, It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. And it shall zbe to you as a sign on your hand and as aa memorial zbetween your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. 10 bYou shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

11 When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, cas he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, 12 dyou shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. 13 eEvery firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every ffirstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 gAnd when in time to come your son asks you, What does this mean? you shall say to him, hBy a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of islavery. 15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the jLord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but kall the firstborn of my sons I redeem. 16 lIt shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for mby a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.

Pillars of Cloud and Fire

17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did nnot lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, Lest the people ochange their minds when they see war and return to Egypt. 18 But God pled the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph1 had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, qGod will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here. 20 And rthey moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And sthe Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.


Luke 16

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

He also said to the disciples, There was a rich man who had ja manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your kmanagement, for you can no longer be manager. And the manager said to himself, What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses. So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, How much do you owe my master? He said, A hundred measures1 of oil. He said to him, Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty. Then he said to another, And how much do you owe? He said, A hundred measures2 of wheat. He said to him, Take your bill, and write eighty. The master commended the dishonest manager for his lshrewdness. For mthe sons of this world3 are lmore shrewd in dealing with their own generation than nthe sons of light. And I tell you, omake friends for yourselves by means of punrighteous wealth,4 so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

10 qOne who is rfaithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in sthat which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 pNo servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

The Law and the Kingdom of God

14 tThe Pharisees, who were ulovers of money, heard all these things, and they vridiculed him. 15 And he said to them, You are those who wjustify yourselves before men, but xGod knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men yis an abomination in the sight of God.

16 zThe Law and the Prophets were until John; since then athe good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and beveryone forces his way into it.5 17 But cit is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

Divorce and Remarriage

18 dEveryone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 There was a rich man who was clothed in epurple and fine linen and fwho feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate gwas laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with hwhat fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by ithe angels jto Abraham’s side.6 The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in kHades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and lsaw Abraham far off and Lazarus jat his side. 24 And he called out, mFather Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and ncool my tongue, for oI am in anguish in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Child, remember that pyou in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us. 27 And he said, Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house 28 for I have five brothersso that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 But Abraham said, They have qMoses and the Prophets; rlet them hear them. 30 And he said, No, sfather Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. 31 He said to him, If they do not hear qMoses and the Prophets, tneither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.


Job 31

Job’s Final Appeal

I have made a covenant with my beyes;

how then could I gaze at a virgin?

What would be cmy portion from God above

and cmy heritage from the Almighty on high?

Is not calamity for the unrighteous,

and disaster for the workers of iniquity?

dDoes not he see my ways

and enumber all my steps?

If I have walked with falsehood

and my foot has hastened to deceit;

(Let me be fweighed in a just balance,

and let God know my integrity!)

if my step has turned aside from the way

and gmy heart has gone after my eyes,

and if any hspot has stuck to my hands,

then let me isow, and another eat,

and let what grows for me1 be rooted out.

If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,

and I have jlain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

10  then let my wife kgrind for another,

and let others lbow down on her.

11  For that would be a heinous crime;

that would be an iniquity mto be punished by the judges;

12  for that would be a fire nthat consumes as far as Abaddon,

and it would burn to the root all my increase.

13  If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,

when they brought a complaint against me,

14  what then shall I do when God rises up?

When he omakes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

15  Did pnot he who made me in the womb make him?

And did not one fashion us in the womb?

16  If I have qwithheld anything that the poor desired,

or have rcaused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17  or have eaten my morsel alone,

and the fatherless has not eaten of it

18  (for from my youth the fatherless2 grew up with me as with a father,

and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow3),

19  if I have seen anyone sperish for tlack of clothing,

or the needy without tcovering,

20  if his body has not ublessed me,4

and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

21  if I have raised my hand against vthe fatherless,

because I saw my help in wthe gate,

22  then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be broken from its socket.

23  For I was xin terror of calamity from God,

and I could not have faced his xmajesty.

24  yIf I have made gold my ztrust

or called afine gold my confidence,

25  if I have brejoiced because my wealth was abundant

or because cmy hand had found much,

26  dif I have looked at the sun5 when it shone,

or ethe moon moving in splendor,

27  and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my mouth has kissed my hand,

28  this also would be fan iniquity to be punished by the judges,

for I would have been false to God above.

29  If I have grejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,

or exulted when evil overtook him

30  (hI have not let my mouth sin

by asking for his life with a curse),

31  if the men of my tent have not said,

Who is there that has not been filled with his imeat?

32  (jthe sojourner has not lodged in the street;

I have opened my doors to the traveler),

33  if I khave concealed my transgressions las others do6

by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

34  because I stood in great fear of mthe multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors

35  Oh, that I had one to hear me!

(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty nanswer me!)

Oh, that I had othe indictment written by my adversary!

36  Surely I would carry it on my pshoulder;

I would qbind it on me as ra crown;

37  I would give him an account of all my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

38  If my land has cried out against me

and its furrows have wept together,

39  sif I have eaten its yield without payment

and made its owners tbreathe their last,

40  let uthorns grow instead of wheat,

and foul weeds instead of barley.

The words of Job are ended.


2 Corinthians 1

Greeting

Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby the will of God, and cTimothy our brother,

To the church of God that is at Corinth, dwith all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

eGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God of All Comfort

fBlessed be the gGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and hGod of all comfort, iwho comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in jChrist’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.1 kIf we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you lshare in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,2 of mthe affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us nrely not on ourselves obut on God pwho raises the dead. 10 qHe delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. rOn him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 sYou also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf tfor the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Paul’s Change of Plans

12 For our boast is this, uthe testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity3 and vgodly sincerity, wnot by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand 14 just as you did xpartially understand usthat yon the day of our Lord Jesus zyou will boast of us as awe will boast of you.

15 Because I was sure of this, bI wanted to come to you first, so that you might have ca second dexperience of grace. 16 I wanted to visit you eon my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans faccording to the flesh, ready to say Yes, yes and No, no at the same time? 18 As surely as gGod is faithful, hour word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For ithe Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, jSilvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but kin him it is always Yes. 20 For lall the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our mAmen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and nhas anointed us, 22 and who has also oput his seal on us and pgiven us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.4

23 But qI call God to witness against meit was rto spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24 Not that we slord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm tin your faith.