Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 09 January 2018

Well, we actually got -- ever so slightly -- above the freezing point today.  Supposed to be even more so for the next few days.  Then ........  then it all goes back in the wrong direction.  By Sunday, we are seeing a forecast "high" of 17°.  Not exactly what I'd like to see, but, again, I don't get to have a vote.

And we still have no water.  Brother in law came by after work, he knows FAR more about this than I ever have.  We spent some time underneath in the crawl space, finding a leak (we  hope it's the only one) then off to the hardware store, then back and do the install.  And it still leaks, right there.  So, tomorrow, more parts, another try. 
Meanwhile, the gas fireplace beside me is beginning to "whistle".  Not real bad, not yet.  So, I guess we'll be placing another call to the gas company in the morning.
This is not a great winter, and we're less than a month into the official season.  I am not enjoying this.  Probably not surprising.
I went next door this afternoon and filled some pitchers of water, so we could cook and wash our hands.  Before doing so, I'd heated some water and washed some dishes by hand so we had clean pans and silverware.  My grandmothers and aunts used to do something similar, heating water (drawn from a well using a hand pump) in a well on a coal-fired stove, and then doing the washing by hand.  They'd think me lazy: they made a point of wiping the clean dishes dry and putting them away.  I let them sit in a drainer and air dry.  They were glad they didn't have to haul water in buckets from a stream.  Yes, attitude and expectations are important.
But it would be nice to get hot water out of a  faucet again.  And carrying 5-gallon buckets of water over here to flush the toilet gets old.  Still better than an outdoor privy, warmer at least.

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Old Testament reading:  chapters 17 and 18 of the Genesis.

Genesis  17

17:1		And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
17:2		And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
17:3		And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
17:4		As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
17:5		Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
17:6		And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
17:7		And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
17:8		And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
17:9		And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
17:10		This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
17:11		And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
17:12		And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
17:13		He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
17:14		And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
17:15		And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
17:16		And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
17:17		Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
17:18		And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
17:19		And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
17:20		And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
17:21		But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
17:22		And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
17:23		And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
17:24		And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
17:25		And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
17:26		In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
17:27		And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

Genesis 18

18:1		And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
18:2		And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
18:3		And said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
18:4		Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
18:5		And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
18:6		And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
18:7		And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
18:8		And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
18:9		And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
18:10		And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
18:11		Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
18:12		Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
18:13		And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
18:14		Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
18:15		Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
18:16		And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
18:17		And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18:18		Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
18:19		For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
18:20		And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
18:21		I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
18:22		And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
18:23		And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
18:24		Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
18:25		That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
18:26		And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
18:27		And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which am but dust and ashes:
18:28		Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
18:29		And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.
18:30		And he said unto him, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
18:31		And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.
18:32		And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
18:33		And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

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Poetry passage:  Psalm 7.

The passage itself terms this to be a "shiggaionoth".  That's not a familiar term.  To quite one web site, 

The word denotes a lyrical poem composed under strong mental emotion; a song of impassioned imagination accompanied with suitable music; a dithyrambic ode.   

Sounds like a hymn.

Psalms
Chapter 7

7:1		O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
7:2		Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
7:3		O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;
7:4		If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
7:5		Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.
7:6		Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
7:7		So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.
7:8		The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.
7:9		Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
7:10		My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
7:11		God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
7:12		If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
7:13		He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
7:14		Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
7:15		He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
7:16		His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
7:17		I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high

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Today's New Testament reading is chapter 7 in the Gospel of Matthew

This begins with the most misquoted misused verse in the Bible.

7:1		Judge not, that ye be not judged.
7:2		For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
7:3		And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
7:4		Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
7:5		Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
7:6		Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
7:7		Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
7:8		For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
7:9		Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
7:10		Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
7:11		If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
7:12		Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
7:13		Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
7:14		Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
7:15		Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
7:16		Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
7:17		Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
7:18		A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
7:19		Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
7:20		Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
7:21		Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
7:22		Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
7:23		And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
7:24		Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
7:25		And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
7:26		And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
7:27		And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
7:28		And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
7:29		For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.