Matthew 5:33-48 Acts 8:1-25 Psalms 13 Genesis 31
Matthew 5:33-48
Oaths
Mt 5:33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’
Mt 5:34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
Mt 5:35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
Mt 5:36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
Mt 5:37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
An Eye for an Eye
Mt 5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’
Mt 5:39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mt 5:40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Mt 5:41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
Mt 5:42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Love for Enemies
Mt 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Mt 5:44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Mt 5:45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Mt 5:46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
Mt 5:47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Mt 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Acts 8:1-25
Ac 8:1 And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.
The Church Persecuted and Scattered
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Ac 8:2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
Ac 8:3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
Ac 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
Ac 8:5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there.
Ac 8:6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.
Ac 8:7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed.
Ac 8:8 So there was great joy in that city.
Simon the Sorcerer
Ac 8:9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,
Ac 8:10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.”
Ac 8:11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.
Ac 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Ac 8:13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
Ac 8:14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
Ac 8:15 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
Ac 8:16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Ac 8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Ac 8:18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money
Ac 8:19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
Ac 8:20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
Ac 8:21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
Ac 8:22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.
Ac 8:23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
Ac 8:24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
Ac 8:25 When they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Psalms 13
Ps 13:1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
Ps 13:2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Ps 13:3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
Ps 13:4 my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
Ps 13:5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
Ps 13:6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
Genesis 31
Jacob Flees From Laban
Ge 31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”
Ge 31:2 And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.
Ge 31:3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
Ge 31:4 So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were.
Ge 31:5 He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me.
Ge 31:6 You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,
Ge 31:7 yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me.
Ge 31:8 If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young.
Ge 31:9 So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.
Ge 31:10 “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted.
Ge 31:11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’
Ge 31:12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.
Ge 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land. ’ ”
Ge 31:14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate?
Ge 31:15 Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us.
Ge 31:16 Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”
Ge 31:17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels,
Ge 31:18 and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
Ge 31:19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.
Ge 31:20 Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away.
Ge 31:21 So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, he headed for the hill country of Gilead.
Laban Pursues Jacob
Ge 31:22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled.
Ge 31:23 Taking his relatives with him , he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.
Ge 31:24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
Ge 31:25 Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too.
Ge 31:26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.
Ge 31:27 Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps?
Ge 31:28 You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-by. You have done a foolish thing.
Ge 31:29 I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
Ge 31:30 Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s house. But why did you steal my gods?”
Ge 31:31 Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.
Ge 31:32 But if you find anyone who has your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.
Ge 31:33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.
Ge 31:34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.
Ge 31:35 Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period.” So he searched but could not find the household gods.
Ge 31:36 Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “What sin have I committed that you hunt me down?
Ge 31:37 Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.
Ge 31:38 “I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.
Ge 31:39 I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night.
Ge 31:40 This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
Ge 31:41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times.
Ge 31:42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”
Ge 31:43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?
Ge 31:44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
Ge 31:45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
Ge 31:46 He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap.
Ge 31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.
Ge 31:48 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed.
Ge 31:49 It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.
Ge 31:50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”
Ge 31:51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me.
Ge 31:52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me.
Ge 31:53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.
Ge 31:54 He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.
Ge 31:55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.
Oaths
Mt 5:33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’
Mt 5:34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
Mt 5:35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
Mt 5:36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
Mt 5:37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
An Eye for an Eye
Mt 5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’
Mt 5:39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Mt 5:40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Mt 5:41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
Mt 5:42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Love for Enemies
Mt 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Mt 5:44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Mt 5:45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Mt 5:46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
Mt 5:47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Mt 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Acts 8:1-25
Ac 8:1 And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.
The Church Persecuted and Scattered
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Ac 8:2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
Ac 8:3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
Ac 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
Ac 8:5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there.
Ac 8:6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.
Ac 8:7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed.
Ac 8:8 So there was great joy in that city.
Simon the Sorcerer
Ac 8:9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,
Ac 8:10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.”
Ac 8:11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.
Ac 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Ac 8:13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
Ac 8:14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
Ac 8:15 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
Ac 8:16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Ac 8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Ac 8:18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money
Ac 8:19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
Ac 8:20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
Ac 8:21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
Ac 8:22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.
Ac 8:23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
Ac 8:24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
Ac 8:25 When they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Psalms 13
Ps 13:1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
Ps 13:2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Ps 13:3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
Ps 13:4 my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
Ps 13:5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
Ps 13:6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.
Genesis 31
Jacob Flees From Laban
Ge 31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”
Ge 31:2 And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.
Ge 31:3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
Ge 31:4 So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were.
Ge 31:5 He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me.
Ge 31:6 You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength,
Ge 31:7 yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me.
Ge 31:8 If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young.
Ge 31:9 So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.
Ge 31:10 “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted.
Ge 31:11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’
Ge 31:12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.
Ge 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land. ’ ”
Ge 31:14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate?
Ge 31:15 Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us.
Ge 31:16 Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”
Ge 31:17 Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels,
Ge 31:18 and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
Ge 31:19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.
Ge 31:20 Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away.
Ge 31:21 So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, he headed for the hill country of Gilead.
Laban Pursues Jacob
Ge 31:22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled.
Ge 31:23 Taking his relatives with him , he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.
Ge 31:24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
Ge 31:25 Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too.
Ge 31:26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war.
Ge 31:27 Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps?
Ge 31:28 You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-by. You have done a foolish thing.
Ge 31:29 I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
Ge 31:30 Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s house. But why did you steal my gods?”
Ge 31:31 Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.
Ge 31:32 But if you find anyone who has your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.
Ge 31:33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.
Ge 31:34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.
Ge 31:35 Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period.” So he searched but could not find the household gods.
Ge 31:36 Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “What sin have I committed that you hunt me down?
Ge 31:37 Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.
Ge 31:38 “I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.
Ge 31:39 I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night.
Ge 31:40 This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
Ge 31:41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times.
Ge 31:42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”
Ge 31:43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?
Ge 31:44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
Ge 31:45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
Ge 31:46 He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap.
Ge 31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.
Ge 31:48 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed.
Ge 31:49 It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.
Ge 31:50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”
Ge 31:51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me.
Ge 31:52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me.
Ge 31:53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.
Ge 31:54 He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.
Ge 31:55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.
posted by John MacAdam at 3:20 PM
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