Today's Readings and Stuff -- Sunday, 03 January 2021

 

We're having some issues with the desktop computer that I use for this blog.  We have some recovery and repair programs running now, as they have been for a  number of hours.  Perhaps by morning we'll be past that.  Perhaps not.  In either case, I'm stalled for the present.

And, tomorrow, we have to make a trip to Wife's rheumatologist doctor, a good 80 minutes from here.  I'm paying next-door niece to make the drive, I am not confident in our aging chariots smooth tires and aged systems to make the trek.  And she drives a lot faster than I like to.  (Having had to do with some ghastly accidents with blood and guts and sorrow affects that).

Hope to be back on line after that.  We shall see.

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GENESIS 6

Sons of God and Daughters of Men

1When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God  saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives  for themselves.  3And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain  with  mankind forever,  because they are corrupt.   Their days will be 120 years.” 4The Nephilim  were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

Judgment Decreed

5When the Lord saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time,  6the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth,  and He was grieved in His heart. 7Then the Lord said, “I will wipe off from the face of the earth mankind, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky — for I regret that I made them.” 8Noah, however, found favor in the sight of the Lord. 

God Warns Noah

9These are the family records  of Noah. Noah was a righteous man,  blameless among his contemporaries;  Noah walked with God.  10And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness.  12God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth.  13Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness  because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

14“Make yourself an ark of gopher  wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. 15This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.  16You are to make a roof,  finishing the sides of the ark to within 18 inches  of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.

17“Understand that I am bringing a flood — floodwaters on the earth  to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will die. 18But I will establish My covenant with you,  and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. 19You are also to bring into the ark two of all the living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20Two of everything — from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds — will come to you so that you can keep them alive. 21Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.” 22And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him. 

GENESIS 7

Entering the Ark

1Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation.  2You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the clean animals,  and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female, 3and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky — in order to keep offspring alive on the face of the whole earth. 4Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe off from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.” 5And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him. 

6Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and water covered the earth. 7So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the waters of the flood. 8From the clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and every creature that crawls on the ground, 9two of each, male and female, entered the ark with Noah, just as God had commanded him. 10Seven days later the waters of the flood came on the earth.

The Flood

11In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the watery depths burst open,  the floodgates of the sky were opened,  12and the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. 13On that same day Noah along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s wife, and his three sons’ wives entered the ark with him. 14They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, all birds, every fowl, and everything with wings according to their kinds. 15Two of all flesh that has the breath of life in it entered the ark with Noah. 16Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.

17The flood continued for 40 days on the earth; the waters increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth. 18The waters surged and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19Then the waters surged even higher on the earth, and all the high mountains under the whole sky were covered. 20The mountains were covered as the waters surged above them more than 20 feet.  21Every creature perished — those that crawl on the earth, birds, livestock, wildlife, and those that swarm  on the earth, as well as all mankind. 22Everything with the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils  — everything on dry land died. 23He wiped out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.  24And the waters surged on the earth 150 days.

GENESIS 8

The Flood Recedes

1God remembered Noah,  as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind  to pass over the earth,  and the water began to subside. 2The sources of the watery depths and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky stopped.  3The water steadily receded from the earth, and by the end of 150 days the waters had decreased significantly.  4The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.  

5The waters continued to recede until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible. 6After 40 days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, 7and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth. 8Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down, 9but the dove found no resting place for her foot. She returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought her into the ark to himself. 10So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again. 11When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth’s surface had gone down. 12After he had waited another seven days, he sent out the dove, but she did not return to him again. 13In the six hundred and first year,  in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry.

The Lord’s Promise

15Then God spoke to Noah, 16“Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17Bring out all the living creatures  that are with you — birds, livestock, those that crawl on the ground — and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”  18So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out. 19All wildlife, all livestock, every bird, and every creature that crawls on the earth came out of the ark by their groups.

20Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma,  He said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground  because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth.  And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done. 

22As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,

summer and winter, and day and night

will not cease.” 

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MATTHEW 3

The Messiah’s Herald

1In those days John the Baptist came,  preaching in the Wilderness of Judea  2and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near! ”  3For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said:

A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

Prepare the way for the Lord;

make His paths straight!  

4John himself had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were flocking to him, 6and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. 

7When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees  coming to the place of his baptism,  he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  8Therefore produce fruit  consistent with  repentance. 9And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’  For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 10Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 

11“I baptize you with  water for repentance,   but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove  His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with  the Holy Spirit and fire.  12His winnowing shovel  is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn. But the chaff He will burn up with fire that never goes out.” 

The Baptism of Jesus

13Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.  14But John tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me? ”

15Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him to be baptized.

16After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens  suddenly opened for Him,  and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him.  17And there came a voice from heaven:

This is My beloved Son.

I take delight in Him!