Matthew 10:1-20
Mat 10:1 The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives.
Mat 10:2 This is the list of the twelve he sent: Simon (they called him Peter, or "Rock"), Andrew, his brother, James, Zebedee's son, John, his brother,
Mat 10:3 Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, the tax man, James, son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus,
Mat 10:4 Simon, the Canaanite, Judas Iscariot (who later turned on him).
Mat 10:5 Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge: "Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy.
Mat 10:6 Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood.
Mat 10:7 Tell them that the kingdom is here.
Mat 10:8 Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.
Mat 10:9 "Don't think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start.
Mat 10:10 You don't need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.
Mat 10:11 "When you enter a town or village, don't insist on staying in a luxury inn. Get a modest place with some modest people, and be content there until you leave.
Mat 10:12 "When you knock on a door, be courteous in your greeting.
Mat 10:13 If they welcome you, be gentle in your conversation.
Mat 10:14 If they don't welcome you, quietly withdraw. Don't make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.
Mat 10:15 You can be sure that on Judgment Day they'll be mighty sorry--but it's no concern of yours now.
Mat 10:16 "Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
Mat 10:17 "Don't be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation--just because you believe in me.
Mat 10:18 Don't be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they've done you--and me--a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news!
Mat 10:19 And don't worry about what you'll say or how you'll say it. The right words will be there;
Mat 10:20 the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.
Acts 15:1-21
Act 15:1 It wasn't long before some Jews showed up from Judea insisting that everyone be circumcised: "If you're not circumcised in the Mosaic fashion, you can't be saved."
Act 15:2 Paul and Barnabas were up on their feet at once in fierce protest. The church decided to resolve the matter by sending Paul, Barnabas, and a few others to put it before the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem.
Act 15:3 After they were sent off and on their way, they told everyone they met as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria about the breakthrough to the Gentile outsiders. Everyone who heard the news cheered--it was terrific news!
Act 15:4 When they got to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were graciously received by the whole church, including the apostles and leaders. They reported on their recent journey and how God had used them to open things up to the outsiders.
Act 15:5 Some Pharisees stood up to say their piece. They had become believers, but continued to hold to the hard party line of the Pharisees. "You have to circumcise the pagan converts," they said. "You must make them keep the Law of Moses."
Act 15:6 The apostles and leaders called a special meeting to consider the matter.
Act 15:7 The arguments went on and on, back and forth, getting more and more heated. Then Peter took the floor: "Friends, you well know that from early on God made it quite plain that he wanted the pagans to hear the Message of this good news and embrace it--and not in any secondhand or roundabout way, but firsthand, straight from my mouth.
Act 15:8 And God, who can't be fooled by any pretense on our part but always knows a person's thoughts, gave them the Holy Spirit exactly as he gave him to us.
Act 15:9 He treated the outsiders exactly as he treated us, beginning at the very center of who they were and working from that center outward, cleaning up their lives as they trusted and believed him.
Act 15:10 "So why are you now trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too?
Act 15:11 Don't we believe that we are saved because the Master Jesus amazingly and out of sheer generosity moved to save us just as he did those from beyond our nation? So what are we arguing about?"
Act 15:12 There was dead silence. No one said a word. With the room quiet, Barnabas and Paul reported matter-of-factly on the miracles and wonders God had done among the other nations through their ministry.
Act 15:13 The silence deepened; you could hear a pin drop. James broke the silence. "Friends, listen.
Act 15:14 Simeon has told us the story of how God at the very outset made sure that racial outsiders were included.
Act 15:15 This is in perfect agreement with the words of the prophets:
Act 15:16 After this, I'm coming back; I'll rebuild David's ruined house; I'll put all the pieces together again; I'll make it look like new
Act 15:17 So outsiders who seek will find, so they'll have a place to come to, All the pagan peoples included in what I'm doing. "God said it and now he's doing it.
Act 15:18 It's no afterthought; he's always known he would do this.
Act 15:19 "So here is my decision: We're not going to unnecessarily burden non-Jewish people who turn to the Master.
Act 15:20 We'll write them a letter and tell them, 'Be careful to not get involved in activities connected with idols, to guard the morality of sex and marriage, to not serve food offensive to Jewish Christians--blood, for instance.'
Act 15:21 This is basic wisdom from Moses, preached and honored for centuries now in city after city as we have met and kept the Sabbath."
Psalms 23
Psa 23:1 A David psalm. GOD, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.
Psa 23:2 You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from.
Psa 23:3 True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.
Psa 23:4 Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure.
Psa 23:5 You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.
Psa 23:6 Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I'm back home in the house of GOD for the rest of my life.
Genesis 50
Gen 50:1 Joseph threw himself on his father, wept over him, and kissed him.
Gen 50:2 Joseph then instructed the physicians in his employ to embalm his father. The physicians embalmed Israel.
Gen 50:3 The embalming took forty days, the period required for embalming. There was public mourning by the Egyptians for seventy days.
Gen 50:4 When the period of mourning was completed, Joseph petitioned Pharaoh's court:
Gen 50:5 "If you have reason to think kindly of me, present Pharaoh with my request: My father made me swear, saying, 'I am ready to die. Bury me in the grave plot that I prepared for myself in the land of Canaan.' Please give me leave to go up and bury my father. Then I'll come back."
Gen 50:6 Pharaoh said, "Certainly. Go and bury your father as he made you promise under oath."
Gen 50:7 So Joseph left to bury his father. And all the high-ranking officials from Pharaoh's court went with him, all the dignitaries of Egypt,
Gen 50:8 joining Joseph's family--his brothers and his father's family. Their children and flocks and herds were left in Goshen.
Gen 50:9 Chariots and horsemen accompanied them. It was a huge funeral procession.
Gen 50:10 Arriving at the Atad Threshing Floor just across the Jordan River, they stopped for a period of mourning, letting their grief out in loud and lengthy lament. For seven days, Joseph engaged in these funeral rites for his father.
Gen 50:11 When the Canaanites who lived in that area saw the grief being poured out at the Atad Threshing Floor, they said, "Look how deeply the Egyptians are mourning." That is how the site at the Jordan got the name Abel Mizraim (Egyptian Lament).
Gen 50:12 Jacob's sons continued to carry out his instructions to the letter.
Gen 50:13 They took him on into Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah facing Mamre, the field that Abraham had bought as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.
Gen 50:14 After burying his father, Joseph went back to Egypt. All his brothers who had come with him to bury his father returned with him.
Gen 50:15 After the funeral, Joseph's brothers talked among themselves: "What if Joseph is carrying a grudge and decides to pay us back for all the wrong we did him?"
Gen 50:16 So they sent Joseph a message, "Before his death, your father gave this command:
Gen 50:17 Tell Joseph, 'Forgive your brothers' sin--all that wrongdoing. They did treat you very badly.' Will you do it? Will you forgive the sins of the servants of your father's God?" When Joseph received their message, he wept.
Gen 50:18 Then the brothers went in person to him, threw themselves on the ground before him and said, "We'll be your slaves."
Gen 50:19 Joseph replied, "Don't be afraid. Do I act for God?
Gen 50:20 Don't you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now--life for many people.
Gen 50:21 Easy now, you have nothing to fear; I'll take care of you and your children." He reassured them, speaking with them heart-to-heart.
Gen 50:22 Joseph continued to live in Egypt with his father's family. Joseph lived 110 years.
Gen 50:23 He lived to see Ephraim's sons into the third generation. The sons of Makir, Manasseh's son, were also recognized as Joseph's.
Gen 50:24 At the end, Joseph said to his brothers, "I am ready to die. God will most certainly pay you a visit and take you out of this land and back to the land he so solemnly promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
Gen 50:25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel promise under oath, "When God makes his visitation, make sure you take my bones with you as you leave here."
Gen 50:26 Joseph died at the age of 110 years. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.
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