Baramhat 21, 1742

Romans 14

¹⁰But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ¹¹For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." ¹²So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. ¹³Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way. ¹⁴I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. ¹⁵Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. ¹⁶Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; ¹⁷for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. ¹⁹Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. ²⁰Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. ²¹It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. ²²Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. ²³But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

Romans 15

¹We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ²Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.

⁵Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? ⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? ⁷Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? ⁸If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; ⁹but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. ¹¹For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹²So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. ¹³For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

²²But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ. ²³Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. ²⁴But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him. ²⁵Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket. ²⁶And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. ²⁷But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. ²⁸So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. ²⁹And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. ³⁰When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. ³¹Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

¹Bow down Your ear, O LORD, hear me; For I am poor and needy. ²Preserve my life, for I am holy; You are my God; Save Your servant who trusts in You! ³Be merciful to me, O Lord, For I cry to You all day long. ⁴Rejoice the soul of Your servant, For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. ⁵For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. ⁶Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; And attend to the voice of my supplications. ⁷In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me. ⁸Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works. ⁹All nations whom You have made Shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name. ¹⁰For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God. ¹¹Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. ¹²I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore. ¹³For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. ¹⁴O God, the proud have risen against me, And a mob of violent men have sought my life, And have not set You before them. ¹⁵But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth. ¹⁶Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give Your strength to Your servant, And save the son of Your maidservant. ¹⁷Show me a sign for good, That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, Because You, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

³¹"If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. ³²There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. ³³You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. ³⁵He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. ³⁶But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish--the very works that I do--bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. ³⁷And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. ³⁸But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. ³⁹You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. ⁴⁰But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. ⁴¹"I do not receive honor from men. ⁴²But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. ⁴³I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. ⁴⁴How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you--Moses, in whom you trust. ⁴⁶For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

Proverbs 10

¹The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son makes a glad father, But a foolish son is the grief of his mother. ²Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, But righteousness delivers from death. ³The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish, But He casts away the desire of the wicked. ⁴He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. ⁵He who gathers in summer is a wise son; He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame. ⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, But violence covers the mouth of the wicked. ⁷The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked will rot. ⁸The wise in heart will receive commands, But a prating fool will fall. ⁹He who walks with integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will become known. ¹⁰He who winks with the eye causes trouble, But a prating fool will fall. ¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, But violence covers the mouth of the wicked. ¹²Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins. ¹³Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding, But a rod is for the back of him who is devoid of understanding. ¹⁴Wise people store up knowledge, But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. ¹⁵The rich man's wealth is his strong city; The destruction of the poor is their poverty. ¹⁶The labor of the righteous leads to life, The wages of the wicked to sin.

Isaiah 48

¹⁷Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go. ¹⁸Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. ¹⁹Your descendants also would have been like the sand, And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand; His name would not have been cut off Nor destroyed from before Me." ²⁰Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a voice of singing, Declare, proclaim this, Utter it to the end of the earth; Say, "The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!" ²¹And they did not thirst When He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them; He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out. ²²"There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked."

Isaiah 49

¹"Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The LORD has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name. ²And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; In His quiver He has hidden Me." ³"And He said to me, "You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified.' ⁴Then I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely my just reward is with the LORD, And my work with my God."'

Job 38

¹Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: ²"Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? ³Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. ⁴"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. ⁵Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? ⁶To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, ⁷When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? ⁸"Or who shut in the sea with doors, When it burst forth and issued from the womb; ⁹When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band; ¹⁰When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors; ¹¹When I said, "This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!' ¹²"Have you commanded the morning since your days began, And caused the dawn to know its place, ¹³That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it? ¹⁴It takes on form like clay under a seal, And stands out like a garment. ¹⁵From the wicked their light is withheld, And the upraised arm is broken. ¹⁶"Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? ¹⁷Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? ¹⁸Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. ¹⁹"Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place, ²⁰That you may take it to its territory, That you may know the paths to its home? ²¹Do you know it, because you were born then, Or because the number of your days is great? ²²"Have you entered the treasury of snow, Or have you seen the treasury of hail, ²³Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war? ²⁴By what way is light diffused, Or the east wind scattered over the earth? ²⁵"Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, Or a path for the thunderbolt, ²⁶To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man; ²⁷To satisfy the desolate waste, And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass? ²⁸Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? ²⁹From whose womb comes the ice? And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth? ³⁰The waters harden like stone, And the surface of the deep is frozen. ³¹"Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion? ³²Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs? ³³Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? ³⁴"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you? ³⁵Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, "Here we are!'? ³⁶Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart?