Monday, October 21, 2019

Job 24:13-25

¹³"There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths. ¹⁴When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up and kills the poor and needy; in the night he steals forth like a thief. ¹⁵The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, 'No eye will see me,' and he keeps his face concealed. ¹⁶In the dark, men break into houses, but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light. ¹⁷For all of them, deep darkness is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness.

¹⁸"Yet they are foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one goes to the vineyards. ¹⁹As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave snatches away those who have sinned. ²⁰The womb forgets them, the worm feasts on them; evil men are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree. ²¹They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow show no kindness. ²²But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life. ²³He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways. ²⁴For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.

²⁵"If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?"

Job 25:1-6

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²"Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven. ³Can his forces be numbered? Upon whom does his light not rise? ⁴How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure? ⁵If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes, ⁶how much less man, who is but a maggot-- a son of man, who is only a worm!"

Psalm 107:1–22

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. ²Let the redeemed of the LORD say this-- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, ³those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. ⁴Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. ⁵They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. ⁶Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. ⁷He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. ⁸Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, ⁹for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. ¹⁰Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, ¹¹for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. ¹²So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. ¹³Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. ¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. ¹⁵Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, ¹⁶for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. ¹⁷Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. ¹⁸They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death. ¹⁹Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. ²⁰He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. ²¹Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. ²²Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

Luke 14:12–35

¹²Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

¹⁵When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God."

¹⁶Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'

¹⁸"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'

¹⁹"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'

²⁰"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'

²¹"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'

²²" 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'

²³"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "

²⁵Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? ²⁹For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, ³⁰saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

³¹"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³²If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

³⁴"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? ³⁵It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."