Reading With the People of God #14 Proverbs

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Healing the Wounds of Rejection

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The Last Half Hour: When Waiting Becomes Glory

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Write Your Faith: 3 Days of Journaling

Pain to Peace: A Man's Path Past Pitfalls

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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch44" data-usfm="GEN.44">
 <div class="label">44</div><div class="s1">A Silver Cup in a Sack</div><div class="p"> 1Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: &#8220;Fill the men&#8217;s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man&#8217;s silver in the mouth of his sack. 2Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one&#8217;s sack, along with the silver for his grain.&#8221; And he did as Joseph said.</div><div class="p"> 3As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys. 4They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, &#8220;Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, &#8216;Why have you repaid good with evil? 5Isn&#8217;t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them. 7But they said to him, &#8220;Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! 8We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your master&#8217;s house? 9If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die; and the rest of us will become my lord&#8217;s slaves.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10&#8220;Very well, then,&#8221; he said, &#8220;let it be as you say. Whoever is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free from blame.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11Each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 12Then the steward proceeded to search, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin&#8217;s sack. 13At this, they tore their clothes. Then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.</div><div class="p"> 14Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 15Joseph said to them, &#8220;What is this you have done? Don&#8217;t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16&#8220;What can we say to my lord?&#8221; Judah replied. &#8220;What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants&#8217; guilt. We are now my lord&#8217;s slaves&#8212;we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17But Joseph said, &#8220;Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18Then Judah went up to him and said: &#8220;Pardon your servant, my lord, let me speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. 19My lord asked his servants, &#8216;Do you have a father or a brother?&#8217; 20And we answered, &#8216;We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother&#8217;s sons left, and his father loves him.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 21&#8220;Then you said to your servants, &#8216;Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.&#8217; 22And we said to my lord, &#8216;The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.&#8217; 23But you told your servants, &#8216;Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.&#8217; 24When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.</div><div class="p"> 25&#8220;Then our father said, &#8216;Go back and buy a little more food.&#8217; 26But we said, &#8216;We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man&#8217;s face unless our youngest brother is with us.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 27&#8220;Your servant my father said to us, &#8216;You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28One of them went away from me, and I said, &#8220;He has surely been torn to pieces.&#8221; And I have not seen him since. 29If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 30&#8220;So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father, and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy&#8217;s life, 31sees that the boy isn&#8217;t there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow. 32Your servant guaranteed the boy&#8217;s safety to my father. I said, &#8216;If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 33&#8220;Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord&#8217;s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. 34How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch45" data-usfm="GEN.45">
 <div class="label">45</div><div class="s1">Joseph Makes Himself Known</div><div class="p"> 1Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, &#8220;Have everyone leave my presence!&#8221; So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh&#8217;s household heard about it.</div><div class="p"> 3Joseph said to his brothers, &#8220;I am Joseph! Is my father still living?&#8221; But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.</div><div class="p"> 4Then Joseph said to his brothers, &#8220;Come close to me.&#8221; When they had done so, he said, &#8220;I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.#45:7 Or save you as a great band of survivors</div><div class="p"> 8&#8220;So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 9Now hurry back to my father and say to him, &#8216;This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don&#8217;t delay. 10You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me&#8212;you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. 13Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.</div><div class="p"> 16When the news reached Pharaoh&#8217;s palace that Joseph&#8217;s brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased. 17Pharaoh said to Joseph, &#8220;Tell your brothers, &#8216;Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, 18and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 19&#8220;You are also directed to tell them, &#8216;Do this: Take some carts from Egypt for your children and your wives, and get your father and come. 20Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey. 22To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels#45:22 That is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms of silver and five sets of clothes. 23And this is what he sent to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey. 24Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, &#8220;Don&#8217;t quarrel on the way!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26They told him, &#8220;Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.&#8221; Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. 27But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28And Israel said, &#8220;I&#8217;m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPSA">
 <div class="chapter ch49" data-usfm="PSA.49">
 <div class="label">49</div><div class="cl">Psalm 49#In Hebrew texts 49:1-20 is numbered 49:2-21.</div><div class="d">For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.</div><div class="q1"> 1Hear this, all you peoples;</div><div class="q2">listen, all who live in this world,</div><div class="q1"> 2both low and high,</div><div class="q2">rich and poor alike:</div><div class="q1"> 3My mouth will speak words of wisdom;</div><div class="q2">the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.</div><div class="q1"> 4I will turn my ear to a proverb;</div><div class="q2">with the harp I will expound my riddle:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 5Why should I fear when evil days come,</div><div class="q2">when wicked deceivers surround me&#8212;</div><div class="q1"> 6those who trust in their wealth</div><div class="q2">and boast of their great riches?</div><div class="q1"> 7No one can redeem the life of another</div><div class="q2">or give to God a ransom for them&#8212;</div><div class="q1"> 8the ransom for a life is costly,</div><div class="q2">no payment is ever enough&#8212;</div><div class="q1"> 9so that they should live on forever</div><div class="q2">and not see decay.</div><div class="q1"> 10For all can see that the wise die,</div><div class="q2">that the foolish and the senseless also perish,</div><div class="q2">leaving their wealth to others.</div><div class="q1"> 11Their tombs will remain their houses#49:11 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew In their thoughts their houses will remain forever,</div><div class="q2">their dwellings for endless generations,</div><div class="q2">though they had#49:11 Or generations, / for they have named lands after themselves.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 12People, despite their wealth, do not endure;</div><div class="q2">they are like the beasts that perish.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 13This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,</div><div class="q2">and of their followers, who approve their sayings.#49:13 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 15.</div><div class="q1"> 14They are like sheep and are destined to die;</div><div class="q2">death will be their shepherd</div><div class="q2">(but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).</div><div class="q1">Their forms will decay in the grave,</div><div class="q2">far from their princely mansions.</div><div class="q1"> 15But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;</div><div class="q2">he will surely take me to himself.</div><div class="q1"> 16Do not be overawed when others grow rich,</div><div class="q2">when the splendor of their houses increases;</div><div class="q1"> 17for they will take nothing with them when they die,</div><div class="q2">their splendor will not descend with them.</div><div class="q1"> 18Though while they live they count themselves blessed&#8212;</div><div class="q2">and people praise you when you prosper&#8212;</div><div class="q1"> 19they will join those who have gone before them,</div><div class="q2">who will never again see the light of life.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 20People who have wealth but lack understanding</div><div class="q2">are like the beasts that perish.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkROM">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="ROM.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God&#8212; 2the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life#1:3 Or who according to the flesh was a descendant of David, 4and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power#1:4 Or was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from#1:5 Or that is faith for his name&#8217;s sake. 6And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 7To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.</div><div class="s1">Paul&#8217;s Longing to Visit Rome</div><div class="p"> 8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God&#8217;s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.</div><div class="p"> 11I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong&#8212; 12that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other&#8217;s faith. 13I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,#1:13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God&#8217;s family; also in 7:1, 4; 8:12, 29; 10:1; 11:25; 12:1; 15:14, 30; 16:14, 17. that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.</div><div class="p"> 14I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.</div><div class="p"> 16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed&#8212;a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,#1:17 Or is from faith to faith just as it is written: &#8220;The righteous will live by faith.&#8221;#1:17 Hab. 2:4</div><div class="s1">God&#8217;s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity</div><div class="p"> 18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God&#8217;s invisible qualities&#8212;his eternal power and divine nature&#8212;have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.</div><div class="p"> 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.</div><div class="p"> 24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator&#8212;who is forever praised. Amen.</div><div class="p"> 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.</div><div class="p"> 28Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32Although they know God&#8217;s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkROM">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="ROM.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">God&#8217;s Righteous Judgment</div><div class="p"> 1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2Now we know that God&#8217;s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God&#8217;s judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God&#8217;s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?</div><div class="p"> 5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God&#8217;s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God &#8220;will repay each person according to what they have done.&#8221;#2:6 Psalm 62:12; Prov. 24:12 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.</div><div class="p"> 12All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God&#8217;s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16This will take place on the day when God judges people&#8217;s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.</div><div class="s1">The Jews and the Law</div><div class="p"> 17Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth&#8212; 21you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24As it is written: &#8220;God&#8217;s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.&#8221;#2:24 Isaiah 52:5 (see Septuagint); Ezek. 36:20,22</div><div class="p"> 25Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law&#8217;s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the#2:27 Or who, by means of a written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.</div><div class="p"> 28A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person&#8217;s praise is not from other people, but from God.</div>
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