Daily Readings for week of June 14th
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The call of Abraham and Sarah
18:1The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.
18:2He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them and bowed down to the ground.
18:3He said, "My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant.
18:4Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
18:5Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on--since you have come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said."
18:6And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes."
18:7Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.
18:8Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
18:9They said to him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" And he said, "There, in the tent."
18:10Then one said, "I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.
18:11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
18:12So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I be fruitful?"
18:13The LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?'
18:14Is anything too wonderful for the LORD? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son."
18:15But Sarah denied, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "Yes, you did laugh."
21:1The LORD dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as he had promised.
21:2Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him.
21:3Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him.
21:4And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
21:5Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
21:6Now Sarah said, "God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me."
21:7And she said, "Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
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The cup of salvation
116:1I love the LORD because he has heard my voice and my supplications.
116:2Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
116:12What shall I return to the LORD for all his bounty to me?
116:13I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD;
116:14I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
116:15Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones.
116:16O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds.
116:17I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the LORD.
116:18I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,
116:19in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!
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The covenant with Israel at Sinai
19:2They journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.
19:3Then Moses went up to God; the LORD called to him from the mountain, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the Israelites:
19:4'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.
19:5Now, therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine,
19:6but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. 'These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites."
19:7So Moses went, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him.
19:8aThe people all answered as one, "Everything that the LORD has spoken we will do."
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We are God's people
100:1Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
100:2Serve the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
100:3Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
100:4Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him; bless his name.
100:5For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations.
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While we were sinners, Christ died for us
5:1Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
5:2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
5:3And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance,
5:4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5:5and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
5:6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
5:7Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.
5:8But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
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The sending of the twelve
9:35Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness.
9:36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
9:37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
9:38therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
10:1Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.
10:2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee and his brother John;
10:3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus;
10:4Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
10:5These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town,
10:6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
10:7As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.'
10:8Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.
10:9Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts,
10:10no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for laborers deserve their food.
10:11Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave.
10:12As you enter the house, greet it.
10:13If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
10:14If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.
10:15Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
10:16"I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
10:17Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues,
10:18and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the gentiles.
10:19When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that time,
10:20for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
10:21Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death,
10:22and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
10:23When they persecute you in this town, flee to the next, for truly I tell you, you will not have finished going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes."
