Today's Readings and Stuff -- Wednesday, 28 March 2018

This was set to "publish" around 09:00.  But didn't.  Our chronic and ever-worsening issues with our Internet provider (Spectrum) resulted in it going into some sort of limbo.  We've been dealing with significant amounts of horrid service for 4-1/2 years now, and it not only isn't improving, it's worsening.  A tech is supposed to be coming  out to see us on Monday, and perhaps he can work some magic. 

Happy Wednesday.  No, I'm not going to do the camel not so funny jokes.  Never did like that whole schtick, which may go back to the years and years, going back to about 1975, when I was often working 7 days a week, with two or three jobs the norm, and then at then end being required to work 6 days 60-70 hours per week, for 40 hours pay.  So Wednesday was just another day, and, frankly, Friday was the same, so was  Saturday, and all too often Sunday was as well.  But it is a marker of another day marked off the calendar.
Still have some snow on the ground around here, or more properly, did first thing this morning.  Seems to be gone now.  No word yet if prognostications from last weekend of snow on Saturday, are still being touted.  I saw a report earlier today that predicts, based on solar activity levels and some other things, that by the year 2060, the earth will be into something resembling the Little Ice Age.  Or worse.  I don't expect to be around here then (amazed I've lasted this long), but if that happens it won't be good.  Hard to grow crops on top of glaciers.  Check out, some time, how much of our food comes from places like South Dakota.  Or Minnesota.  Or Wisconsin.  Could get into tight rations, and then the wars really get going.  It's happened before, the record is more than a bit scary.



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Deuteronomy19

1  When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses

2  Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.

3  Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.

4  And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;

5  As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:

6  Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.

7  Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.

8  And if the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers;

9  If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:

10  That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.

11  But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities:

12  Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

13  Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

14  Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.

15  One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

16  If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;

17  Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;

18  And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;

19  Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.

20  And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.

21  And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 20

1When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

2And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,

3And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;faint: Heb. be tendertremble: Heb. make haste

4For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

5And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.

6And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.eaten…: Heb. made it common

7And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.

8And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart.faint: Heb. melt

9And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.to lead…: Heb. to be in the head of the people

10When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.

11And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.

12And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:

13And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:

14But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.take: Heb. spoil

15Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.

16But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

17But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

18That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.

19When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege:for the…: or, for, O man, the tree of the field is to be employed in the siegeto employ…: Heb. to go from before thee

20Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.


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Today's song comes from verse 1 here. 

Psalm 63

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

 

1  O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is

2  To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

3  Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

4  Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

5  My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

6  When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

7  Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

8  My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

9  But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

10  They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.They shall fall…: Heb. They shall make him run out like water by the hands of

11  But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

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Luke 18

1And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

2Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:

3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;

5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

6And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.

7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

9And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

15And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

16But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

18And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

19And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.

21And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

22Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

23And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

24And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

26And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?

27And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

28Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.

29And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,

30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

31  Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.

32  For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:

33  And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.

34  And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

35  And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:

36  And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.

37  And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.

38  And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

39  And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

40  And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,

41  Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

42  And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.

43  And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.