Matthew 5:21-32 Acts 7:39-60 Psalms 12 Genesis 29-30

Matthew 5:21-32
Mat 5:21 "You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.'
Mat 5:22 I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.
Mat 5:23 "This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you,
Mat 5:24 abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.
Mat 5:25 "Or say you're out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don't lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you're likely to end up in court, maybe even jail.
Mat 5:26 If that happens, you won't get out without a stiff fine.
Mat 5:27 "You know the next commandment pretty well, too: 'Don't go to bed with another's spouse.'
Mat 5:28 But don't think you've preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices--they also corrupt.
Mat 5:29 "Let's not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here's what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile.
Mat 5:30 And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump.
Mat 5:31 "Remember the Scripture that says, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him do it legally, giving her divorce papers and her legal rights'?
Mat 5:32 Too many of you are using that as a cover for selfishness and whim, pretending to be righteous just because you are 'legal.' Please, no more pretending. If you divorce your wife, you're responsible for making her an adulteress (unless she has already made herself that by sexual promiscuity). And if you marry such a divorced adulteress, you're automatically an adulterer yourself. You can't use legal cover to mask a moral failure.

Acts 7:39-60
Act 7:39 words our fathers would have nothing to do with. "They craved the old Egyptian ways,
Act 7:40 whining to Aaron, 'Make us gods we can see and follow. This Moses who got us out here miles from nowhere--who knows what's happened to him!'
Act 7:41 That was the time when they made a calf-idol, brought sacrifices to it, and congratulated each other on the wonderful religious program they had put together.
Act 7:42 "God wasn't at all pleased; but he let them do it their way, worship every new god that came down the pike--and live with the consequences, consequences described by the prophet Amos: Did you bring me offerings of animals and grains those forty wilderness years, O Israel?
Act 7:43 Hardly. You were too busy building shrines to war gods, to sex goddesses, Worshiping them with all your might. That's why I put you in exile in Babylon.
Act 7:44 "And all this time our ancestors had a tent shrine for true worship, made to the exact specifications God provided Moses.
Act 7:45 They had it with them as they followed Joshua, when God cleared the land of pagans, and still had it right down to the time of David.
Act 7:46 David asked God for a permanent place for worship.
Act 7:47 But Solomon built it.
Act 7:48 "Yet that doesn't mean that Most High God lives in a building made by carpenters and masons. The prophet Isaiah put it well when he wrote,
Act 7:49 "Heaven is my throne room; I rest my feet on earth. So what kind of house will you build me?" says God. "Where I can get away and relax?
Act 7:50 It's already built, and I built it."
Act 7:51 "And you continue, so bullheaded! Calluses on your hearts, flaps on your ears! Deliberately ignoring the Holy Spirit, you're just like your ancestors.
Act 7:52 Was there ever a prophet who didn't get the same treatment? Your ancestors killed anyone who dared talk about the coming of the Just One. And you've kept up the family tradition--traitors and murderers, all of you.
Act 7:53 You had God's Law handed to you by angels--gift-wrapped!--and you squandered it!"
Act 7:54 At that point they went wild, a rioting mob of catcalls and whistles and invective.
Act 7:55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, hardly noticed--he only had eyes for God, whom he saw in all his glory with Jesus standing at his side.
Act 7:56 He said, "Oh! I see heaven wide open and the Son of Man standing at God's side!"
Act 7:57 Yelling and hissing, the mob drowned him out. Now in full stampede,
Act 7:58 they dragged him out of town and pelted him with rocks. The ringleaders took off their coats and asked a young man named Saul to watch them.
Act 7:59 As the rocks rained down, Stephen prayed, "Master Jesus, take my life."
Act 7:60 Then he knelt down, praying loud enough for everyone to hear, "Master, don't blame them for this sin"--his last words. Then he died. Saul was right there, congratulating the killers.

Psalms 12
Psa 12:1 A David psalm. Quick, GOD, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, All the friends I depended on gone.
Psa 12:2 Everyone talks in lie language; Lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues.
Psa 12:3 Slice their lips off their faces! Pull The braggart tongues from their mouths!
Psa 12:4 I'm tired of hearing, "We can talk anyone into anything! Our lips manage the world."
Psa 12:5 Into the hovels of the poor, Into the dark streets where the homeless groan, God speaks: "I've had enough; I'm on my way To heal the ache in the heart of the wretched."
Psa 12:6 God's words are pure words, Pure silver words refined seven times In the fires of his word-kiln, Pure on earth as well as in heaven.
Psa 12:7 GOD, keep us safe from their lies, From the wicked who stalk us with lies,
Psa 12:8 From the wicked who collect honors For their wonderful lies.

Genesis 29-30
Gen 29:1 Jacob set out again on his way to the people of the east.
Gen 29:2 He noticed a well out in an open field with three flocks of sheep bedded down around it. This was the common well from which the flocks were watered. The stone over the mouth of the well was huge.
Gen 29:3 When all the flocks were gathered, the shepherds would roll the stone from the well and water the sheep; then they would return the stone, covering the well.
Gen 29:4 Jacob said, "Hello friends. Where are you from?" They said, "We're from Haran."
Gen 29:5 Jacob asked, "Do you know Laban son of Nahor?" "We do."
Gen 29:6 "Are things well with him?" Jacob continued. "Very well," they said. "And here is his daughter Rachel coming with the flock."
Gen 29:7 Jacob said, "There's a lot of daylight still left; it isn't time to round up the sheep yet, is it? So why not water the flocks and go back to grazing?"
Gen 29:8 "We can't," they said. "Not until all the shepherds get here. It takes all of us to roll the stone from the well. Not until then can we water the flocks."
Gen 29:9 While Jacob was in conversation with them, Rachel came up with her father's sheep. She was the shepherd.
Gen 29:10 The moment Jacob spotted Rachel, daughter of Laban his mother's brother, saw her arriving with his uncle Laban's sheep, he went and single-handedly rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban.
Gen 29:11 Then he kissed Rachel and broke into tears.
Gen 29:12 He told Rachel that he was related to her father, that he was Rebekah's son. She ran and told her father.
Gen 29:13 When Laban heard the news--Jacob, his sister's son!--he ran out to meet him, embraced and kissed him and brought him home. Jacob told Laban the story of everything that had happened.
Gen 29:14 Laban said, "You're family! My flesh and blood!" When Jacob had been with him for a month,
Gen 29:15 Laban said, "Just because you're my nephew, you shouldn't work for me for nothing. Tell me what you want to be paid. What's a fair wage?"
Gen 29:16 Now Laban had two daughters; Leah was the older and Rachel the younger.
Gen 29:17 Leah had nice eyes, but Rachel was stunningly beautiful.
Gen 29:18 And it was Rachel that Jacob loved. So Jacob answered, "I will work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel."
Gen 29:19 "It is far better," said Laban, "that I give her to you than marry her to some outsider. Yes. Stay here with me."
Gen 29:20 So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel. But it only seemed like a few days, he loved her so much.
Gen 29:21 Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife; I've completed what we agreed I'd do. I'm ready to consummate my marriage."
Gen 29:22 Laban invited everyone around and threw a big feast.
Gen 29:23 At evening, though, he got his daughter Leah and brought her to the marriage bed, and Jacob slept with her.
Gen 29:24 (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid.)
Gen 29:25 Morning came: There was Leah in the marriage bed! Jacob confronted Laban, "What have you done to me? Didn't I work all this time for the hand of Rachel? Why did you cheat me?"
Gen 29:26 "We don't do it that way in our country," said Laban. "We don't marry off the younger daughter before the older.
Gen 29:27 Enjoy your week of honeymoon, and then we'll give you the other one also. But it will cost you another seven years of work."
Gen 29:28 Jacob agreed. When he'd completed the honeymoon week, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.
Gen 29:29 (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.)
Gen 29:30 Jacob then slept with her. And he loved Rachel more than Leah. He worked for Laban another seven years.
Gen 29:31 When GOD realized that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb. But Rachel was barren.
Gen 29:32 Leah became pregnant and had a son. She named him Reuben (Look-It's-a-Boy!). "This is a sign," she said, "that GOD has seen my misery; and a sign that now my husband will love me."
Gen 29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. "GOD heard," she said, "that I was unloved and so he gave me this son also." She named this one Simeon (GOD-Heard).
Gen 29:34 She became pregnant yet again--another son. She said, "Now maybe my husband will connect with me--I've given him three sons!" That's why she named him Levi (Connect).
Gen 29:35 She became pregnant a final time and had a fourth son. She said, "This time I'll praise GOD." So she named him Judah (Praise-GOD). Then she stopped having children.
Gen 30:1 When Rachel realized that she wasn't having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She told Jacob, "Give me sons or I'll die!"
Gen 30:2 Jacob got angry with Rachel and said, "Am I God? Am I the one who refused you babies?"
Gen 30:3 Rachel said, "Here's my maid Bilhah. Sleep with her. Let her substitute for me so I can have a child through her and build a family."
Gen 30:4 So she gave him her maid Bilhah for a wife and Jacob slept with her.
Gen 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant and gave Jacob a son.
Gen 30:6 Rachel said, "God took my side and vindicated me. He listened to me and gave me a son." She named him Dan (Vindication).
Gen 30:7 Rachel's maid Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son.
Gen 30:8 Rachel said, "I've been in an all-out fight with my sister--and I've won." So she named him Naphtali (Fight).
Gen 30:9 When Leah saw that she wasn't having any more children, she gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob for a wife.
Gen 30:10 Zilpah had a son for Jacob.
Gen 30:11 Leah said, "How fortunate!" and she named him Gad (Lucky).
Gen 30:12 When Leah's maid Zilpah had a second son for Jacob,
Gen 30:13 Leah said, "A happy day! The women will congratulate me in my happiness." So she named him Asher (Happy).
Gen 30:14 One day during the wheat harvest Reuben found some mandrakes in the field and brought them home to his mother Leah. Rachel asked Leah, "Could I please have some of your son's mandrakes?"
Gen 30:15 Leah said, "Wasn't it enough that you got my husband away from me? And now you also want my son's mandrakes?" Rachel said, "All right. I'll let him sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's love-apples."
Gen 30:16 When Jacob came home that evening from the fields, Leah was there to meet him: "Sleep with me tonight; I've bartered my son's mandrakes for a night with you." So he slept with her that night.
Gen 30:17 God listened to Leah; she became pregnant and gave Jacob a fifth son.
Gen 30:18 She said, "God rewarded me for giving my maid to my husband." She named him Issachar (Bartered).
Gen 30:19 Leah became pregnant yet again and gave Jacob a sixth son,
Gen 30:20 saying, "God has given me a great gift. This time my husband will honor me with gifts--I've given him six sons!" She named him Zebulun (Honor).
Gen 30:21 Last of all she had a daughter and named her Dinah.
Gen 30:22 And then God remembered Rachel. God listened to her and opened her womb.
Gen 30:23 She became pregnant and had a son. She said, "God has taken away my humiliation."
Gen 30:24 She named him Joseph (Add), praying, "May GOD add yet another son to me."
Gen 30:25 After Rachel had had Joseph, Jacob spoke to Laban, "Let me go back home.
Gen 30:26 Give me my wives and children for whom I've served you. You know how hard I've worked for you."
Gen 30:27 Laban said, "If you please, I have learned through divine inquiry that GOD has blessed me because of you."
Gen 30:28 He went on, "So name your wages. I'll pay you."
Gen 30:29 Jacob replied, "You know well what my work has meant to you and how your livestock has flourished under my care.
Gen 30:30 The little you had when I arrived has increased greatly; everything I did resulted in blessings for you. Isn't it about time that I do something for my own family?"
Gen 30:31 "So, what should I pay you?" Jacob said, "You don't have to pay me a thing. But how about this? I will go back to pasture and care for your flocks.
Gen 30:32 Go through your entire flock today and take out every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages.
Gen 30:33 That way you can check on my honesty when you assess my wages. If you find any goat that's not speckled or spotted or a sheep that's not black, you will know that I stole it."
Gen 30:34 "Fair enough," said Laban. "It's a deal."
Gen 30:35 But that very day Laban removed all the mottled and spotted billy goats and all the speckled and spotted nanny-goats, every animal that had even a touch of white on it plus all the black sheep and placed them under the care of his sons.
Gen 30:36 Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Meanwhile Jacob went on tending what was left of Laban's flock.
Gen 30:37 But Jacob got fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled the bark, leaving white stripes on them.
Gen 30:38 He stuck the peeled branches in front of the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. When the flocks were in heat, they came to drink
Gen 30:39 and mated in front of the streaked branches. Then they gave birth to young that were streaked or spotted or speckled.
Gen 30:40 Jacob placed the ewes before the dark-colored animals of Laban. That way he got distinctive flocks for himself which he didn't mix with Laban's flocks.
Gen 30:41 And when the sturdier animals were mating, Jacob placed branches at the troughs in view of the animals so that they mated in front of the branches.
Gen 30:42 But he wouldn't set up the branches before the feebler animals. That way the feeble animals went to Laban and the sturdy ones to Jacob.
Gen 30:43 The man got richer and richer, acquiring huge flocks, lots and lots of servants, not to mention camels and donkeys.