Bible Readings for January 8, 2019

Today our passages are Genesis 18:20–19:38; Matthew 6:25–7:14; Psalm 8:1-9; and Proverbs 2:6-15. The readings are the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

 

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Genesis 18:20-19:38 (Contemporary English Version)

²⁰The LORD said, "Abraham, I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are doing all kinds of evil things. ²¹Now I am going down to see for myself if those people really are that bad. If they aren't, I want to know about it."
    ²²The men turned and started toward Sodom. But the LORD stayed with Abraham, ²³who asked, "LORD, when you destroy the evil people, are you also going to destroy those who are good? ²⁴Wouldn't you spare the city if there are only fifty good people in it? ²⁵You surely wouldn't let them be killed when you destroy the evil ones. You are the judge of all the earth, and you do what is right."
    ²⁶The LORD replied, "If I find fifty good people in Sodom, I will save the city to keep them from being killed."
    ²⁷Abraham answered, "I am nothing more than the dust of the earth. Please forgive me, LORD, for daring to speak to you like this. ²⁸But suppose there are only forty-five good people in Sodom. Would you still wipe out the whole city?"
   "If I find forty-five good people," the LORD replied, "I won't destroy the city."
    ²⁹"Suppose there are just forty good people?" Abraham asked.
   "Even for them," the LORD replied, "I won't destroy the city."
    ³⁰Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, LORD, if I ask you what you will do if there are only thirty good people in the city."
   "If I find thirty," the LORD replied, "I still won't destroy it."
    ³¹Then Abraham said, "I don't have any right to ask you, LORD, but what would you do if you find only twenty?"
   "Because of them, I won't destroy the city," was the LORD's answer.
    ³²Finally, Abraham said, "Please don't get angry, LORD, if I speak just once more. Suppose you find only ten good people there."
   "For the sake of ten good people," the LORD told him, "I still won't destroy the city."
    ³³After speaking with Abraham, the LORD left, and Abraham went back home.
    

Genesis 19

The Evil City of Sodom

 ¹That evening the two angels ^[a] arrived in Sodom, while Lot was sitting near the city gate. ^[b] When Lot saw them, he got up, bowed down low, ²and said, "Gentlemen, I am your servant. Please come to my home. You can wash your feet, spend the night, and be on your way in the morning." They told him, "No, we'll spend the night in the city square." ³But Lot kept insisting, until they finally agreed and went home with him. He baked some bread, ^[c] cooked a meal, and they ate. ⁴Before Lot and his guests could go to bed, every man in Sodom, young and old, came and stood outside his house ⁵and started shouting, "Where are your visitors? Send them out, so we can have sex with them!"     ⁶Lot went outside and shut the door behind him. ⁷Then he said, "Friends, please don't do such a terrible thing! ⁸I have two daughters who have never been married. I'll bring them out, and you can do what you want with them. But don't harm these men. They are guests in my home."
    ⁹"Don't get in our way," the crowd answered. "You're an outsider. What right do you have to order us around? We'll do worse things to you than we're going to do to them."
   The crowd kept arguing with Lot. Finally, they rushed toward the door to break it down. ¹⁰But the two angels in the house reached out and pulled Lot safely inside. ¹¹Then they struck everyone in the crowd blind, and none of them could even find the door.
    ^12-13The two angels said to Lot, "The LORD has heard many terrible things about the people of Sodom, and he has sent us here to destroy the city. Take your family and leave. Take every relative you have in the city, as well as the men your daughters are going to marry."
    ¹⁴Lot went to the men who were engaged to his daughters and said, "Hurry and get out of here! The LORD is going to destroy this city." But they thought he was joking, and they laughed at him.
    ¹⁵Early the next morning the two angels tried to make Lot hurry and leave. They said, "Take your wife and your two daughters and get out of here as fast as you can! If you don't, every one of you will be killed when the LORD destroys the city." ¹⁶At first, Lot just stood there. But the LORD wanted to save him. So the angels took Lot, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city. ¹⁷When they were outside, one of the angels said, "Run for your lives! Don't even look back. And don't stop in the valley. Run to the hills, where you will be safe."
    ^18-19Lot answered, "You have done us a great favor, sir. You have saved our lives, but please don't make us go to the hills. That's too far away. The city will be destroyed before we can get there, and we will be killed when it happens. ²⁰There's a town near here. It's only a small place, but my family and I will be safe, if you let us go there."
    ²¹"All right, go there," he answered. "I won't destroy that town. ²²Hurry! Run! I can't do anything until you are safely there."
   The town was later called Zoar ^[d] because Lot had said it was small. 

Sodom and Gomorrah Are Destroyed

 ²³The sun was coming up as Lot reached the town of Zoar, ²⁴and the LORD sent burning sulfur down like rain on Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁵He destroyed those cities and everyone who lived in them, as well as their land and the trees and grass that grew there.     ²⁶On the way, Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a block of salt.
    ²⁷That same morning Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood and spoken with the LORD. ²⁸He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and saw smoke rising from all over the land--it was like a flaming furnace.
    ²⁹When God destroyed the cities of the valley where Lot lived, he remembered his promise to Abraham and saved Lot from the terrible destruction.
    

Moab and Ammon

 ³⁰Lot was afraid to stay on in Zoar. So he took his two daughters and moved to a cave in the hill country. ³¹One day his older daughter said to her sister, "Our father is old, and there are no men anywhere for us to marry. ³²Let's get our father drunk! Then we can sleep with him and have children." ³³That night they got their father drunk, and the older daughter got in bed with him, but he was too drunk even to know she was there.     ³⁴The next day the older daughter said to her sister, "I slept with my father last night. We'll get him drunk again tonight, so you can go to bed with him, and we can each have a child." ³⁵That night they got their father drunk, and this time the younger sister slept with him. But once again he was too drunk even to know she was there.
    ³⁶That's how Lot's two daughters had their children. ³⁷The older daughter named her son Moab, ^[e] and he is the ancestor of the Moabites. ³⁸The younger daughter named her son Benammi, ^[f] and he is the ancestor of the Ammonites. 

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 19:1 two angels: The two men of 18.22.
2. Genesis 19:1 near the city gate: In a large area where the people would gather for community business and for meeting with friends.
3. Genesis 19:3 bread: The Hebrew text has "bread without yeast," which could be fixed quickly when guests came without warning.
4. Genesis 19:22 Zoar: In Hebrew "Zoar" sounds like "small."
5. Genesis 19:37 Moab: In Hebrew "Moab" sounds like "from (my) father."
6. Genesis 19:38 Benammi: In Hebrew "Benammi" means "son of my relative.

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Matthew 6:25-7:14 (Contemporary English Version)

Worry

(Luke 12.22-31)

 ²⁵I tell you not to worry about your life. Don't worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn't life more than food or clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds in the sky! They don't plant or harvest. They don't even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren't you worth more than birds?     ²⁷Can worry make you live longer? ^[a]²⁸Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don't work hard to make their clothes. ²⁹But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth ^[b] wasn't as well clothed as one of them. ³⁰God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith? ³¹Don't worry and ask yourselves, "Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?" ³²Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. ³³But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.
    ³⁴Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today.
    

Matthew 7

Judging Others

(Luke 6.37,38,41,42)

 ¹Don't condemn others, and God won't condemn you. ²God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.     ³You can see the speck in your friend's eye, but you don't notice the log in your own eye. ⁴How can you say, "My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye," when you don't see the log in your own eye? ⁵You're nothing but show-offs! First, take the log out of your own eye. Then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend's eye.
    ⁶Don't give to dogs what belongs to God. They will only turn and attack you. Don't throw pearls down in front of pigs. They will trample all over them.
    

Ask, Search, Knock

(Luke 11.9-13)

 ⁷Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. ⁸Everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And the door will be opened for everyone who knocks. ⁹Would any of you give your hungry child a stone, if the child asked for some bread? ¹⁰Would you give your child a snake if the child asked for a fish? ¹¹As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give good things to people who ask.     ¹²Treat others as you want them to treat you. This is what the Law and the Prophets ^[c] are all about. 

The Narrow Gate

(Luke 13.24)

 ¹³Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. ¹⁴But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.     

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 6:27 live longer: Or "grow taller."
2. Matthew 6:29 Solomon with all his wealth: The Jewish people thought that Solomon was the richest person who had ever lived.
3. Matthew 7:12 the Law and the Prophets: See the note at 5.17.

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Psalm 8:1-9 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 8

(A psalm by David for the music leader. (Psalm 8 leader: The Hebrew text adds " according to the gittith," which may refer to either a musical instrument or a tune.) )

The Wonderful Name of the LORD

 ¹Our LORD and Ruler,    your name is wonderful
   everywhere on earth!
   You let your glory be seen ^[a] in the heavens above.
    ²With praises from children
   and from tiny infants,
   you have built a fortress.
   It makes your enemies silent,
   and all who turn against you
   are left speechless.
    ³I often think of the heavens
   your hands have made,
   and of the moon and stars
   you put in place.
    ⁴Then I ask, "Why do you care
   about us humans?
   Why are you concerned
   for us weaklings?"
    ⁵You made us a little lower
   than you yourself, ^[b] and you have crowned us
   with glory and honor.
    ⁶You let us rule everything
   your hands have made.
   And you put all of it
   under our power--
    ⁷the sheep and the cattle,
   and every wild animal,
    ⁸the birds in the sky,
   the fish in the sea,
   and all ocean creatures.
    ⁹Our LORD and Ruler,
   your name is wonderful
   everywhere on earth!
    

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 8:1 You. . . seen: Or " I will worship your glory."
2. Psalm 8:5 you yourself: Or " the angels" or " the beings in heaven."

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Proverbs 2:6-15 (Contemporary English Version)

⁶All wisdom comes from the LORD,
   and so do common sense
   and understanding.
    ⁷God gives helpful advice ^[a] to everyone who obeys him
   and protects all of those
   who live as they should.
    ⁸God sees that justice is done,
   and he watches over everyone
   who is faithful to him.
    ⁹With wisdom you will learn
   what is right
   and honest and fair.
    ¹⁰Wisdom will control your mind,
   and you will be pleased
   with knowledge.
    ¹¹Sound judgment and good sense
   will watch over you.
    ¹²Wisdom will protect you
   from evil schemes
   and from those liars
    ¹³who turned from doing good
   to live in the darkness.
    ¹⁴Most of all they enjoy
   being mean and deceitful.
    ¹⁵They are dishonest themselves,
   and all they do is crooked.
    

Footnotes:

1. Proverbs 2:7 helpful advice: Or " wisdom."

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Verse of the Day

 

“If you really want to live, you must stop doing wrong and start doing right. I, the LORD God All-Powerful, will then be on your side, just as you claim I am. Choose good instead of evil! See that justice is done. Maybe I, the LORD All-Powerful, will be kind to what's left of your people.” - Amos 5:14-15 

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist, A. J. Muste wrote, “There is no way to peace; peace is the way.”

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A Joke for Today

The boss wondered why one of his most valued employees was absent, but had not phoned in. Needing to have an urgent work problem resolved, he dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted by a child's whispered, "Hello."

"Is your Daddy home?" he asked.

"Yes," whispered the small voice.

"May I talk with him?"

The child whispered, "No."

Surprised and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?"

"Yes."

"May I talk with her?"

Again the small voice whispered, "No."

Hoping there was someone with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, "Is anyone else there?"

"Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman."

Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?"

"No, he's busy," whispered the child.

"Busy doing what?"

"Talking to Mommy and Daddy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.

Growing more worried as he heard a loud noise through the earpiece on the phone, the boss asked, "What is that noise?"

"A helicopter," answered the whispering voice.

"What is going on there?" demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive.

Again, whispering, the child answered, "The search team just landed a helicopter."

Alarmed, confused, and a little frustrated, the boss asked, "What are they searching for?"

Still whispering, the young voice replied with a muffled giggle..."Me!"

Bible Readings for January 8, 2014

Today our passages are Genesis 16:1–18:19; Matthew 6:1-24; Psalm 7:1-17; and Proverbs 2:1-5. The readings are from the  The Message  by Eugene H. Peterson.

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Genesis 16-18:19 (The Message)

Genesis 16

 ^1-2 Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't yet produced a child. She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, "God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her." Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.

 ^3-4 So Sarai, Abram's wife, took her Egyptian maid Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. Abram had been living ten years in Canaan when this took place. He slept with Hagar and she got pregnant. When Hagar learned she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress.

 ⁵ Sarai told Abram, "It's all your fault that I'm suffering this abuse. I put my maid in bed with you and the minute she knows she's pregnant, she treats me like I'm nothing. May God decide which of us is right."

 ⁶ "You decide," said Abram. "Your maid is your business."

   Sarai was abusive to Hagar and Hagar ran away.

 ^7-8 An angel of God found her beside a spring in the desert; it was the spring on the road to Shur. He said, "Hagar, maid of Sarai, what are you doing here?"

   She said, "I'm running away from Sarai my mistress."

 ^9-12 The angel of God said, "Go back to your mistress. Put up with her abuse." He continued, "I'm going to give you a big family, children past counting.

   From this pregnancy, you'll get a son: Name him Ishmael;
      for God heard you, God answered you.
   He'll be a bucking bronco of a man,
      a real fighter, fighting and being fought,
   Always stirring up trouble,
      always at odds with his family."

 ¹³ She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, "You're the God who sees me!

   "Yes! He saw me; and then I saw him!"

 ¹⁴ That's how that desert spring got named "God-Alive-Sees-Me Spring." That spring is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

 ^15-16 Hagar gave Abram a son. Abram named him Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave him his son, Ishmael.

Genesis 17

 ^1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, "I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I'll make a covenant between us and I'll give you a huge family."

 ^3-8 Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face.

   Then God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: You'll be the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that 'I'm making you the father of many nations.' I'll make you a father of fathers—I'll make nations from you, kings will issue from you. I'm establishing my covenant between me and you, a covenant that includes your descendants, a covenant that goes on and on and on, a covenant that commits me to be your God and the God of your descendants. And I'm giving you and your descendants this land where you're now just camping, this whole country of Canaan, to own forever. And I'll be their God."

 ^9-14 God continued to Abraham, "And you: You will honor my covenant, you and your descendants, generation after generation. This is the covenant that you are to honor, the covenant that pulls in all your descendants: Circumcise every male. Circumcise by cutting off the foreskin of the penis; it will be the sign of the covenant between us. Every male baby will be circumcised when he is eight days old, generation after generation—this includes house-born slaves and slaves bought from outsiders who are not blood kin. Make sure you circumcise both your own children and anyone brought in from the outside. That way my covenant will be cut into your body, a permanent mark of my permanent covenant. An uncircumcised male, one who has not had the foreskin of his penis cut off, will be cut off from his people—he has broken my covenant."

 ^15-16 God continued speaking to Abraham, "And Sarai your wife: Don't call her Sarai any longer; call her Sarah. I'll bless her—yes! I'll give you a son by her! Oh, how I'll bless her! Nations will come from her; kings of nations will come from her."

 ¹⁷ Abraham fell flat on his face. And then he laughed, thinking, "Can a hundred-year-old man father a son? And can Sarah, at ninety years, have a baby?"

 ¹⁸ Recovering, Abraham said to God, "Oh, keep Ishmael alive and well before you!"

 ¹⁹ But God said, "That's not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I'll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever.

 ^20-21 "And Ishmael? Yes, I heard your prayer for him. I'll also bless him; I'll make sure he has plenty of children—a huge family. He'll father twelve princes; I'll make him a great nation. But I'll establish my covenant with Isaac whom Sarah will give you about this time next year."

 ²² God finished speaking with Abraham and left.

 ²³ Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all his servants, whether houseborn or purchased—every male in his household—and circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins that very day, just as God had told him.

 ^24-27 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised. His son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised. Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised the same day together with all the servants of his household, those born there and those purchased from outsiders—all were circumcised with him.

Genesis 18

 ^1-2 God appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them.

 ^3-5 He said, "Master, if it please you, stop for a while with your servant. I'll get some water so you can wash your feet. Rest under this tree. I'll get some food to refresh you on your way, since your travels have brought you across my path."

   They said, "Certainly. Go ahead."

 ⁶ Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. He said, "Hurry. Get three cups of our best flour; knead it and make bread."

 ^7-8 Then Abraham ran to the cattle pen and picked out a nice plump calf and gave it to the servant who lost no time getting it ready. Then he got curds and milk, brought them with the calf that had been roasted, set the meal before the men, and stood there under the tree while they ate.

 ⁹ The men said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?"

   He said, "In the tent."

 ¹⁰ One of them said, "I'm coming back about this time next year. When I arrive, your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was listening at the tent opening, just behind the man.

 ^11-12 Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. Sarah was far past the age for having babies. Sarah laughed within herself, "An old woman like me? Get pregnant? With this old man of a husband?"

 ^13-14 God said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh saying, 'Me? Have a baby? An old woman like me?' Is anything too hard for God? I'll be back about this time next year and Sarah will have a baby."

 ¹⁵ Sarah lied. She said, "I didn't laugh," because she was afraid.

   But he said, "Yes you did; you laughed."

¹⁶ When the men got up to leave, they set off for Sodom. Abraham walked with them to say good-bye.

 ^17-19 Then God said, "Shall I keep back from Abraham what I'm about to do? Abraham is going to become a large and strong nation; all the nations of the world are going to find themselves blessed through him. Yes, I've settled on him as the one to train his children and future family to observe God's way of life, live kindly and generously and fairly, so that God can complete in Abraham what he promised him."

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Matthew 6:1-24 (The Message)

Matthew 6

The World Is Not a Stage

 ¹ "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding. ^2-4"When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure—'playactors' I call them— treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.

Pray with Simplicity

 ⁵"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?  ⁶"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
 ^7-13"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

   Our Father in heaven,
   Reveal who you are.
   Set the world right;
   Do what's best— as above, so below.
   Keep us alive with three square meals.
   Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
   Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
   You're in charge!
   You can do anything you want!
   You're ablaze in beauty!
      Yes. Yes. Yes.
 ^14-15"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part.
 ^16-18"When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. If you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn't require attention-getting devices. He won't overlook what you are doing; he'll reward you well.

A Life of God-Worship

 ^19-21"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.  ^22-23"Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
 ²⁴"You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.

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Psalm 7:1-17 (The Message)

Psalm 7

A David Psalm

 ^1-2 God! God! I am running to you for dear life; the chase is wild.
   If they catch me, I'm finished:
      ripped to shreds by foes fierce as lions,
      dragged into the forest and left
      unlooked for, unremembered.

 ^3-5 God, if I've done what they say—
      betrayed my friends,
      ripped off my enemies—
   If my hands are really that dirty,
      let them get me, walk all over me,
      leave me flat on my face in the dirt.

 ^6-8 Stand up, God; pit your holy fury
      against my furious enemies.
   Wake up, God. My accusers have packed
      the courtroom; it's judgment time.
   Take your place on the bench, reach for your gavel,
      throw out the false charges against me.
   I'm ready, confident in your verdict:
      "Innocent."

 ^9-11 Close the book on Evil, God,
      but publish your mandate for us.
   You get us ready for life:
      you probe for our soft spots,
      you knock off our rough edges.
   And I'm feeling so fit, so safe:
      made right, kept right.
   God in solemn honor does things right,
      but his nerves are sandpapered raw.

 ^11-13 Nobody gets by with anything.
      God is already in action—
   Sword honed on his whetstone,
      bow strung, arrow on the string,
   Lethal weapons in hand,
      each arrow a flaming missile.

 ¹⁴ Look at that guy!
      He had sex with sin,
      he's pregnant with evil.
   Oh, look! He's having
      the baby—a Lie-Baby!

 ^15-16 See that man shoveling day after day,
      digging, then concealing, his man-trap
      down that lonely stretch of road?
   Go back and look again—you'll see him in it headfirst,
      legs waving in the breeze.
   That's what happens:
      mischief backfires;
      violence boomerangs.

 ¹⁷ I'm thanking God, who makes things right.
   I'm singing the fame of heaven-high God.

 

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Proverbs 2:1-5 (The Message)

Proverbs 2

Make Insight Your Priority

 ^1-5 Good friend, take to heart what I'm telling you; collect my counsels and guard them with your life.
Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom;
   set your heart on a life of Understanding.
That's right—if you make Insight your priority,
   and won't take no for an answer,
Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold,
   like an adventurer on a treasure hunt,
Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours;
   you'll have come upon the Knowledge of God.

 

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Verse of the Day

 

“If you really want to live, you must stop doing wrong and start doing right. I, the LORD God All-Powerful, will then be on your side, just as you claim I am. Choose good instead of evil! See that justice is done. Maybe I, the LORD All-Powerful, will be kind to what's left of your people.” - Amos 5:14-15

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist, A. J. Muste wrote, “We cannot have peace if we are only concerned with peace. War is not an accident. It is the logical outcome of a certain way of life. If we want to attack war, we have to attack that way of life. Disarmament cannot be achieved nor can the problem of war be resolved without being accompanied by profound changes in the economic order and the structure of society.”