Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 29 March 2018

This day is not starting well.  I may be revising during the day as matters progress, or degenerate.

Wife is sick.  Has been sick for two weeks now, and by that I mean even sicker than her "usual" maladies that would devastate most people.  She's been running a fever, having serious congestion, pain in the forehead and sinus, trouble breathing, and a good bit else.  We were up a good bit of the night, she finally decided around 03:30 that she needed to try lying on a semi-reclined recliner rather than a bed with a bit of elevation beneath the head.  So we did that.  (which of course encouraged the cats to think it was morning and time for breakfast, with one climbing up my leg in an effort to encourage speed on the matter.  Did NOT improve my mood).  With one thing after another, it was after 05:00 before I could lay down for a bit.  When I got up, she called the doctor office and we have an appointment at 11:45.  So we shall see.

She was scheduled to "watch" the niece's kids next door, but for all we know she'll be in hospital by that time, and in any event probably too weak to do it, let alone the danger of "sharing" an illness, particularly with the 9-month-old.  So the kids' grandmother, all of two doors away in the other direction, will be asked to take the helm for the day.  Best we can do.  In a pinch, I could do it (and have) but the womenfolk seem to prefer other womenfolk (sounds very sexist, but you don't push the ocean back with a fork).  So that is the tentative plan.

More later, perhaps.

Oh, and just got a call from a "headhunter", I think he has a potential job near Atlanta.  Afraid I can't do it. 

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Deuteronomy 23

 1  He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord.

2  A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord.

3  An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever:

4  Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

5  Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee.

6  Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.

7  Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.

8  The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the Lord in their third generation.

9  When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing.

10  If there be among you any man, that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:

11  But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.

12  Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad:

13  And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee

14  For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.

15  Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee:

16  He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him.

17  There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

18  Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God.

19  Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury:

20  Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

21  When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.

22  But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.

23  That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.

24  When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.

25  When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn.

Deuteronomy 24

1  When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

2  And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.

3  And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;

4  Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the Lord: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

5  When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.

6  No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge.

7  If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.

8  Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.

9  Remember what the Lord thy God did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were come forth out of Egypt.

10  When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge.

11  Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee.

12  And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:

13  In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God.

14  Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates:

15  At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee.

16  The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

17  Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge:

18  But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

19  When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.

20  When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

21  When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

22  And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

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Psalm 65

 

To the chief Musician, A Psalm and Song of David.

 

1  Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed.

2  O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.

3  Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.

4  Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.

5  By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea:

6  Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power:

7  Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.

8  They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.rejoice: or, sing

9  Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.

10  Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof.

11  Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.

12  They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side.

13  The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.

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Luke 20

1  And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,

2  And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?

3  And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me:

4  The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?

5  And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?

6  But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.

7  And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.

8  And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

9  Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.

10 And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.

11 And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.

12 And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.

13 Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.

14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.

15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them?

16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.

17 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?

18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

19  And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.

20  And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.

21  And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly:

22  Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?

23  But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?

24  Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar's.

25  And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.

26  And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.

27  Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him,

28  Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

29  There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.

30  And the second took her to wife, and he died childless.

31  And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died.

32  Last of all the woman died also.

33  Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife.

34  And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:

35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

37 Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

38  For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

39  Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said.

40  And after that they durst not ask him any question at all.

41  And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David's son?

42  And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,

43 Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

44  David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?

45  Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples,

46  Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;

47 Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.