Sunday, 11 February

1.   And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days: 2.   "Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father. 3.   "Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. 4.   Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it ––He went up to my couch. 5.   "Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. 6.   Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self–will they hamstrung an ox. 7.   Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel. 8.   "Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s children shall bow down before you. 9.   Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him? 10.   The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. 11.   Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes. 12.   His eyes are darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk. 13.   "Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea; He shall become a haven for ships, And his border shall adjoin Sidon. 14.   "Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between two burdens; 15.   He saw that rest was good, And that the land was pleasant; He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden , And became a band of slaves. 16.   "Dan shall judge his people As one of the tribes of Israel. 17.   Dan shall be a serpent by the way, A viper by the path, That bites the horse’s heels So that its rider shall fall backward. 18.   I have waited for your salvation, O LORD! 19.   "Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, But he shall triumph at last. 20.   "Bread from Asher shall be rich, And he shall yield royal dainties. 21.   "Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words. 22.   "Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall. 23.   The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him. 24.   But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), 25.   By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26.   The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers. 27.   "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil." 28.   All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing. 29.   Then he charged them and said to them: "I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30.   "in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. 31.   "There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. 32.   "The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth." 33.   And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

1.   Then Job answered and said: 2.   "Even today my complaint is bitter; My hand is listless because of my groaning. 3.   Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat! 4.   I would present my case before Him, And fill my mouth with arguments. 5.   I would know the words which He would answer me, And understand what He would say to me. 6.   Would He contend with me in His great power? No! But He would take note of me. 7.   There the upright could reason with Him, And I would be delivered forever from my Judge. 8.   "Look, I go forward, but He is not there , And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; 9.   When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him ; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him . 10.   But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. 11.   My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. 12.   I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food . 13.   "But He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires, that He does. 14.   For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such things are with Him. 15.   Therefore I am terrified at His presence; When I consider this , I am afraid of Him. 16.   For God made my heart weak, And the Almighty terrifies me; 17.   Because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness, And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.

1.   " Since times are not hidden from the Almighty, Why do those who know Him see not His days? 2.   " Some remove landmarks; They seize flocks violently and feed on them ; 3.   They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; They take the widow’s ox as a pledge. 4.   They push the needy off the road; All the poor of the land are forced to hide. 5.   Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, They go out to their work, searching for food. The wilderness yields food for them and for their children. 6.   They gather their fodder in the field And glean in the vineyard of the wicked. 7.   They spend the night naked, without clothing, And have no covering in the cold. 8.   They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And huddle around the rock for want of shelter. 9.   " Some snatch the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge from the poor. 10.   They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing; And they take away the sheaves from the hungry. 11.   They press out oil within their walls, And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst. 12.   The dying groan in the city, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not charge them with wrong. 13.   "There are those who rebel against the light; They do not know its ways Nor abide in its paths. 14.   The murderer rises with the light; He kills the poor and needy; And in the night he is like a thief. 15.   The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, ‘No eye will see me’; And he disguises his face. 16.   In the dark they break into houses Which they marked for themselves in the daytime; They do not know the light. 17.   For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death; If someone recognizes them, They are in the terrors of the shadow of death. 18.   "They should be swift on the face of the waters, Their portion should be cursed in the earth, So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards. 19.   As drought and heat consume the snow waters, So the grave consumes those who have sinned. 20.   The womb should forget him, The worm should feed sweetly on him; He should be remembered no more, And wickedness should be broken like a tree. 21.   For he preys on the barren who do not bear, And does no good for the widow. 22.   "But God draws the mighty away with His power; He rises up, but no man is sure of life. 23.   He gives them security, and they rely on it ; Yet His eyes are on their ways. 24.   They are exalted for a little while, Then they are gone. They are brought low; They are taken out of the way like all others ; They dry out like the heads of grain. 25.   "Now if it is not so , who will prove me a liar, And make my speech worth nothing?"

1.   Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, 2.   "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." 3.   Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4.   and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him . 5.   But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people." 6.   And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7.   a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table . 8.   But when His disciples saw it , they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste? 9.   "For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor." 10.   But when Jesus was aware of it , He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. 11.   "For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. 12.   "For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13.   "Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." 14.   Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15.   and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16.   So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him. 17.   Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?" 18.   And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."’" 19.   So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. 20.   When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21.   Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me." 22.   And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?" 23.   He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. 24.   "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born." 25.   Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?" He said to him, "You have said it."