Thursday, 25 January

1.   So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2.   When Jacob saw them, he said, "This is God’s camp." And he called the name of that place Mahanaim. 3.   Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4.   And he commanded them, saying, "Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: "I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. 5.   "I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight."’" 6.   Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him." 7.   So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. 8.   And he said, "If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape." 9.   Then Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: 10.   "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. 11.   "Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. 12.   "For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’" 13.   So he lodged there that same night, and took what came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother: 14.   two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15.   thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. 16.   Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves." 17.   And he commanded the first one, saying, "When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?’ 18.   "then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.’" 19.   So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, "In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; 20.   "and also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me." 21.   So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp. 22.   And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 23.   He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 24.   Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25.   Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26.   And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" 27.   So He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob." 28.   And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." 29.   Then Jacob asked, saying, "Tell me Your name, I pray." And He said, "Why is it that you ask about My name?" And He blessed him there. 30.   And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." 31.   Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. 32.   Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.

20.   And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, 21.   to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, 22.   as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor. 23.   So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, 24.   because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is , the lot), to consume them and destroy them; 25.   but when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26.   So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, 27.   the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, 28.   that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants. 29.   Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about Purim. 30.   And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty–seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth, 31.   to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had prescribed for them, and as they had decreed for themselves and their descendants concerning matters of their fasting and lamenting. 32.   So the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in the book.

1.   And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea. 2.   Now all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3.   For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

1.   Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2.   He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, ‘ It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3.   "and in the morning, ‘ It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4.   "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed. 5.   Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6.   Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." 7.   And they reasoned among themselves, saying, " It is because we have taken no bread." 8.   But Jesus, being aware of it , said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? 9.   "Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? 10.   "Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? 11.   "How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? –– but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 12.   Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 13.   When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" 14.   So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15.   He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16.   Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17.   Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar–Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18.   "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19.   "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20.   Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. 21.   From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. 22.   Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" 23.   But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." 24.   Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25.   "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26.   "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27.   "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28.   "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."