Daily Readings for the week of July 19th
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Jacob's dream of the ladder
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.
He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.
And he dreamed that there was a stairway set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring,
and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.
Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place--and I did not know it!"
And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
He called that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.
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You have searched me and known me
O LORD, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and night wraps itself around me,"
even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
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There is no other God
Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
Who is like me? Let them proclaim it; let them declare and set it forth before me. Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be.
Do not fear or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.
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Teach me your ways
Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
O God, the insolent rise up against me; a band of ruffians seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant; save the child of your maidservant.
Show me a sign of your favor, so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame, because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
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The revealing of the children of God
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--
for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!"
it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God,
for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor,
and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
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The parable of the weeds
He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field,
but while everybody was asleep an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away.
So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.
And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?'
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?'
But he replied, 'No, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.
Let both of them grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field."
He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;
the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one,
and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers,
and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
