Sunday, October 27, 2019

Job 31:1–15

¹"I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. ²For what is man's lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high? ³Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong? ⁴Does he not see my ways and count my every step?

⁵"If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit-- ⁶let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless-- ⁷if my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled, ⁸then may others eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.

⁹"If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door, ¹⁰then may my wife grind another man's grain, and may other men sleep with her. ¹¹For that would have been shameful, a sin to be judged. ¹²It is a fire that burns to Destruction; it would have uprooted my harvest.

¹³"If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants when they had a grievance against me, ¹⁴what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account? ¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?

Psalm 111

¹Praise the LORD. I will extol the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly. ²Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them. ³Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. ⁴He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate. ⁵He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. ⁶He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the lands of other nations. ⁷The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. ⁸They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness. ⁹He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever-- holy and awesome is his name. ¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

Luke 17:20–37

²⁰Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, ²¹nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."

²²Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. ²³Men will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go running off after them. ²⁴For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. ²⁵But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶"Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. ²⁷People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸"It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

³⁰"It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. ³²Remember Lot's wife! ³³Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. ³⁴I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. ³⁵Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. " (³⁶)

³⁷"Where, Lord?" they asked.

He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."