Daily Readings for February 1

Daily Readings for February 1
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Exodus 5

1.Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, "This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'"

2.Pharaoh said, "Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don't know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go."

3.They said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword."

4.The king of Egypt said to them, "Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!" 5.Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens." 6.The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 7."You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8.The number of the bricks, which they made before, you require from them. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' 9.Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor therein; and don't let them pay any attention to lying words."

10.The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I will not give you straw. 11.Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.'" 12.So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13.The taskmasters were urgent saying, "Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!" 14.The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, "Why haven't you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?"

15.Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you deal this way with your servants? 16.No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, 'Make brick!' and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people."

17.But he said, "You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.' 18.Go therefore now, and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!"

19.The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, when it was said, "You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!"

20.They met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came out from Pharaoh: 21.and they said to them, "May Yahweh look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."

22.Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? 23.For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people; neither have you delivered your people at all."

Exodus 6

1.Yahweh said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land."

2.God spoke to Moses, and said to him, "I am Yahweh; 3.and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. 4.I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens. 5.Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. 6.Therefore tell the children of Israel, 'I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments: 7.and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8.I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am Yahweh.'"

9.Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn't listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

10.Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 11."Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land."

12.Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, "Behold, the children of Israel haven't listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?" 13.Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

14.These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. 15.The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. 16.These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years. 17.The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. 18.The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years. 19.The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. 20.Amram took Jochebed his father's sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years. 21.The sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22.The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23.Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24.The sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. 25.Eleazar Aaron's son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites according to their families. 26.These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Yahweh said, "Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies." 27.These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron.

28.It happened on the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29.that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you."

30.Moses said before Yahweh, "Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?"

Psalm 58

1.Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men? 2.No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth. 3.The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies. 4.Their poison is like the poison of a snake; like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, 5.which doesn't listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful the charmer may be. 6.Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh. 7.Let them vanish as water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt. 8.Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away, like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun. 9.Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, he will sweep away the green and the burning alike. 10.The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked; 11.so that men shall say, "Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth."

Psalm 59

1.Deliver me from my enemies, my God. Set me on high from those who rise up against me. 2.Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Save me from the bloodthirsty men. 3.For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty gather themselves together against me, not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, Yahweh. 4.I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Rise up, behold, and help me! 5.You, Yahweh God of Armies, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish the nations. Show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah. 6.They return at evening, howling like dogs, and prowl around the city. 7.Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, "For," they say, "who hears us?" 8.But you, Yahweh, laugh at them. You scoff at all the nations. 9.Oh, my Strength, I watch for you, for God is my high tower. 10.My God will go before me with his loving kindness. God will let me look at my enemies in triumph. 11.Don't kill them, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield. 12.For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies which they utter. 13.Consume them in wrath. Consume them, and they will be no more. Let them know that God rules in Jacob, to the ends of the earth. Selah. 14.At evening let them return. Let them howl like a dog, and go around the city. 15.They shall wander up and down for food, and wait all night if they aren't satisfied.

16.But I will sing of your strength. Yes, I will sing aloud of your loving kindness in the morning. For you have been my high tower, a refuge in the day of my distress. 17.To you, my strength, I will sing praises. For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.

Romans 10

1.Brothers, my heart's desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved. 2.For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3.For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn't subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4.For Christ is the fulfillment³⁷ of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5.For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, "The one who does them will live by them."[38] 6.But the righteousness which is of faith says this, "Don't say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'[39] (that is, to bring Christ down); 7.or, 'Who will descend into the abyss?'[40] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)" 8.But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;"[41] that is, the word of faith, which we preach: 9.that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10.For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11.For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed."[42]

12.For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him. 13.For, "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved."[43] 14.How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? 15.And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!"[44]

16.But they didn't all listen to the glad news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?"[45] 17.So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18.But I say, didn't they hear? Yes, most certainly, "Their sound went out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."[46]

19.But I ask, didn't Israel know? First Moses says, "I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation, with a nation void of understanding I will make you angry."[47]

20.Isaiah is very bold, and says, "I was found by those who didn't seek me. I was revealed to those who didn't ask for me."[48]

21.But as to Israel he says, "All day long I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people."[49]

Romans 11

1.I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2.God didn't reject his people, which he foreknew. Or don't you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel: 3."Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have broken down your altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life."[50] 4.But how does God answer him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal."[51] 5.Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6.And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

7.What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn't obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened. 8.According as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day."[52] 9.David says, "Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them. 10.Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Bow down their back always."[53]

11.I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. 12.Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? 13.For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; 14.if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them. 15.For if the rejection of them is the reconciling of the world, what would their acceptance be, but life from the dead? 16.If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches. 17.But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree; 18.don't boast over the branches. But if you boast, it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you. 19.You will say then, "Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in." 20.True; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by your faith. Don't be conceited, but fear; 21.for if God didn't spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22.See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 23.They also, if they don't continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24.For if you were cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 25.For I don't desire you to be ignorant, brothers,⁵⁴ of this mystery, so that you won't be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, 26.and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written, "There will come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. 27.This is my covenant to them, when I will take away their sins."[55]

28.Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sake. 29.For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30.For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, 31.even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy. 32.For God has shut up all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all. 33.Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! 34."For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"[56] 35."Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?"[57]

36.For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.