Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 26 January 2021

And, again, apologies.  This is VERY late and VERY brief.  Things have been a bit out of kilter for us for the last few weeks.  May or may not get better any time soon.  

Let's see.

Wife's Disability went in this morning, so we could pay the very overdue gas bill before it got shut off.  Ditto for the phones and water.  Then Yours Truly "got" to make the 30-mile round trip to the doctor office, mine in this case.  Wasn't bad, I'm dancing around the official diabetes point but not quite there yet.  So we'll see.

Then I went down and put gas in our aging chariot, forestalling a run-out-of-fuel situation which was getting close.  

Then off to the Big Box Store and pharmacy, picked up some of my meds and a few items only available there.  Back home as darkness fell.  

Had a bit to eat, finally.  

Wife's in shower now, having breathng issues, might be sinus infection.  Might be pneumonia.  She's prone to both.  The warm water and steam may help, usually makes her feel better, which is something.

But I've been doing the caretaker and home remodel guy and all of that stuff a whole lot lately, not great for heavy thought.  Still trying hard to keep the "read your Bible portion before getting out of bed" routine, with some success.  Worth the attempt/

Good readings in the portions.  Very important ones as well.

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Exodus 11, 12

EXODUS 11

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

1The Lord said  to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go,  he will drive you out of here. 2Now announce to the people that both men and women should ask their neighbors for silver and gold jewelry.” 3The Lord gave  the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. And the man Moses was highly regarded  in the land of Egypt by  Pharaoh’s officials and the people. 

4So Moses said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt, 5and every firstborn male in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is behind the millstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock. 6Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before, or ever will be again. 7But against all the Israelites, whether man or beast, not even a dog will snarl,  so that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8All these officials of yours will come down to me and bow before me, saying: Leave, you and all the people who follow you.  After that, I will leave.’ ” And he left Pharaoh’s presence in fierce anger. 

9The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen  to you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,  and he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.

EXODUS 12

Instructions for the Passover

1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2“This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year.  3Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ households, one animal per household. 4If the household is too small for a whole animal, that person and the neighbor nearest his house are to select one based on the combined number of people; you should apportion the animal according to what each person  will eat. 5You must have an unblemished  animal, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats. 6You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.  7They must take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat them. 8They are to eat the meat that night; they should eat it, roasted over the fire along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  9Do not eat any of it raw or cooked in boiling  water, but only roasted  over fire — its head as well as its legs and inner organs. 10Do not let any of it remain until morning;  you must burn up any part of it that does remain before morning. 11Here is how you must eat it: you must be dressed for travel,  your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in a hurry; it is the Lord’s Passover. 

12“I will pass through  the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. I am Yahweh; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt.  13The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

14“This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.  15You must eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you must remove yeast  from your houses. Whoever eats what is leavened from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off  from Israel. 16You are to hold a sacred assembly  on the first day and another sacred assembly on the seventh day. No work may be done on those days except for preparing what people need to eat — you may do only that.

17“You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread because on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt.  You must observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent statute. 18You are to eat unleavened bread in the first month,  from the evening of the fourteenth day of the month until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19Yeast must not be found in your houses for seven days. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreign resident or native of the land, must be cut off from the community of Israel. 20Do not eat anything leavened; eat unleavened bread in all your homes.” 

21Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select an animal from the flock according to your families, and slaughter the Passover animal.  22Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood  that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin. None of you may go out the door of his house until morning. 23When the Lord passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, He will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you. 

24“Keep this command permanently as a statute for you and your descendants. 25When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as He promised, you are to observe this ritual. 26When your children  ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you? ’ 27you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice  to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.’ ” So the people bowed down and worshiped. 28Then the Israelites went and did this; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.

The Exodus

29Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock.  30During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing  throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead. 31He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship Yahweh as you have asked. 32Take even your flocks and your herds as you asked and leave, and also bless me.”

33Now the Egyptians pressured the people in order to send them quickly out of the country, for they said, “We’re all going to die! ”  34So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their clothes on their shoulders.

35The Israelites acted on Moses’ word and asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.  36And the Lord gave the people such favor in the Egyptians’ sight that they gave them what they requested. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.

37The Israelites traveled from Rameses to Succoth,  about 600,000  soldiers on foot, besides their families. 38An ethnically diverse crowd also went up with them, along with a huge number of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39The people baked the dough they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves, since it had no yeast; for when they had been driven  out of Egypt they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves.

40The time that the Israelites lived in Egypt  was 430 years.  41At the end of 430 years, on that same day, all the Lord’s divisions went out from the land of Egypt. 42It was a night of vigil in honor of the Lord, because He would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the Lord, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations. 

Passover Instruction

43The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner may eat it. 44But any slave a man has purchased may eat it, after you have circumcised him. 45A temporary resident or hired hand may not eat the Passover.  46It is to be eaten in one house. You may not take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of its bones.  47The whole community of Israel must celebrate  it. 48If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover, every male in his household must be circumcised, and then he may participate;  he will become like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat it. 49The same law will apply to both the native and the foreigner  who resides among you.”

50Then all the Israelites did this; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51On that same day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their divisions. 

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MATTHEW 18

The Parable of the Unforgiving Slave

21Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times? ” 

22“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven.  23For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. 24When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents  was brought before him. 25Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. 

26“At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything! ’ 27Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.

28“But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii.   He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe! ’

29“At this, his fellow slave fell down  and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. 31When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.

32“Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you? ’  34And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. 35So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother  from his  heart.”