Matthew 6:1–15; Acts 8:26–40; Psalm 14; Genesis 32–33

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Matthew 6:1–15

Giving to the Needy

Beware of rpracticing your righteousness before other people in order sto be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

tThus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may ube praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have vreceived their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. wAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The Lord’s Prayer

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love xto stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. yTruly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, zgo into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. aAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as bthe Gentiles do, for cthey think that they will be heard dfor their many words. Do not be like them, efor your Father knows what you need before you ask him. fPray then like this:

gOur Father in heaven,

hhallowed be iyour name.1

10  jYour kingdom come,

kyour will be done,2

lon earth as it is in heaven.

11  mGive us nthis day our daily bread,3

12  and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13  And olead us not into temptation,

but pdeliver us from qevil.4

14 rFor if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 sbut if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.


Acts 8:26–40

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Now man angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and go toward the south1 to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an nEthiopian, a oeunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, pwho was in charge of all her treasure. qHe had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? 31 And he said, rHow can I, unless someone sguides me? And the invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

uLike a sheep he was led to the slaughter

and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

so he opens not his mouth.

33  In his vhumiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth.

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and wbeginning with this Scripture xhe told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water! yWhat prevents me from being baptized?2 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, zthe Spirit of the Lord acarried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.


Psalm 14

The Fool Says, There Is No God

To the choirmaster. Of David.

gThe hfool says in his heart, iThere is no God.

They are jcorrupt, they do abominable deeds;

kthere is none who does good.

The Lord llooks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,1

who mseek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become ncorrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

Have they no oknowledge, all the evildoers

who peat up my people as they eat bread

and qdo not call upon the Lord?

There they are in great terror,

for God is with rthe generation of the righteous.

You would shame the plans of the poor,

but2 the Lord is his srefuge.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the Lord trestores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.


Genesis 32–33

Jacob Fears Esau

Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, This is God’s tcamp! So he called the name of that place uMahanaim.1

And Jacob sent2 messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of vSeir, the country of Edom, instructing them, Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that wI may find favor in your sight.

And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau, and xhe is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was ygreatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.

And Jacob said, zO God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who asaid to me, Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good, 10 bI am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for cI fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 12 But dyou said, I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

13 So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took ea present for his brother Esau, 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 him3 with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.4 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,5 and crossed the ford of the fJabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And ga 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, hI 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, iYour name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,6 for jyou have striven with God and kwith men, and have prevailed. 29 Then Jacob asked him, Please tell me your name. But he said, lWhy is it that you ask my name? And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,7 saying, For mI have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered. 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed nPenuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.

Jacob Meets Esau

And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, oEsau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on before them, pbowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

qBut Esau ran to meet him and embraced him rand fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, Who are these with you? Jacob said, sThe children whom God has graciously given your servant. Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. Esau said, What do you mean by tall this company8 that I met? Jacob answered, uTo find favor in the sight of my lord. But Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself. 10 Jacob said, No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. vFor I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11 Please accept my wblessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. Thus he xurged him, and he took it.

12 Then Esau said, Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of9 you. 13 But Jacob said to him, My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. 14 Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord yin Seir.

15 So Esau said, Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me. But he said, What need is there? zLet me find favor in the sight of my lord. 16 So Esau returned that day on his way to aSeir. 17 But Jacob journeyed to bSuccoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.10

18 And Jacob came safely11 to the city of cShechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. 19 And from the sons of dHamor, Shechem’s father, ehe bought for a hundred pieces of money12 the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. 20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.13