Daily Lectionary Readings for April 06, 2025

Daily Lectionary Readings (Two-Year Cycle)

Daily Lectionary Readings for April 06, 2025 By Daily Lectionary Readings, Sunday, April 6, 2025 12:00 AM Morning Psalm 84 1   How lovely is your dwelling place,           O LORD of hosts! 2   My soul longs, indeed it faints           for the courts of the LORD;      my heart and my flesh sing for joy           to the living God. 3   Even the sparrow finds a home,           and the swallow a nest for herself,           where she may lay her young,      at your altars, O LORD of hosts,           my King and my God. 4   Happy are those who live in your house,           ever singing your praise. Selah 5   Happy are those whose strength is in you,           in whose heart are the highways to Zion. 6   As they go through the valley of Baca           they make it a place of springs;           the early rain also covers it with pools. 7   They go from strength to strength;           the God of gods will be seen in Zion. 8   O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;           give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah 9   Behold our shield, O God;           look on the face of your anointed. 10  For a day in your courts is better           than a thousand elsewhere.      I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God           than live in the tents of wickedness. 11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield;           he bestows favor and honor.      No good thing does the LORD withhold           from those who walk uprightly. 12  O LORD of hosts,           happy is everyone who trusts in you. Morning Psalm 150 1   Praise the Lord!      Praise God in his sanctuary;           praise him in his mighty firmament! 2   Praise him for his mighty deeds;           praise him according to his surpassing greatness! 3   Praise him with trumpet sound;           praise him with lute and harp! 4   Praise him with tambourine and dance;           praise him with strings and pipe! 5   Praise him with clanging cymbals;           praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 6   Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!      Praise the Lord! First Reading Jeremiah 23:16-32 16Thus says the LORD of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you; they are deluding you. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17They keep saying to those who despise the word of the LORD, “It shall be well with you”; and to all who stubbornly follow their own stubborn hearts, they say, “No calamity shall come upon you.” 18  For who has stood in the council of the LORD           so as to see and to hear his word?           Who has given heed to his word so as to proclaim it? 19  Look, the storm of the LORD!           Wrath has gone forth,      a whirling tempest;           it will burst upon the head of the wicked. 20  The anger of the LORD will not turn back           until he has executed and accomplished           the intents of his mind.      In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21  I did not send the prophets,           yet they ran;      I did not speak to them,           yet they prophesied. 22  But if they had stood in my council,           then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,      and they would have turned them from their evil way,           and from the evil of their doings. 23Am I a God near by, says the LORD, and not a God far off? 24Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD. 25I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, “I have dreamed, I have dreamed!” 26How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back — those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? 27They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal. 28Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the LORD. 29Is not my word like fire, says the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? 30See, therefore, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31See, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, who use their own tongues and say, “Says the LORD.” 32See, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says the LORD, and who tell them, and who lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or appoint them; so they do not profit this people at all, says the LORD. Second Reading 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 19For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some. 23I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. 24Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. 26So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. Gospel Reading Mark 8:31-9:1 8:31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” 34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 9:1And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” Evening Psalm 42 1   As a deer longs for flowing streams,           so my soul longs for you, O God. 2   My soul thirsts for God,           for the living God.      When shall I come and behold           the face of God? 3   My tears have been my food           day and night,      while people say to me continually,           “Where is your God?” 4   These things I remember,           as I pour out my soul:      how I went with the throng,           and led them in procession to the house of God,      with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,           a multitude keeping festival. 5   Why are you cast down, O my soul,           and why are you disquieted within me?      Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,           my help 6and my God.      My soul is cast down within me;           therefore I remember you      from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,           from Mount Mizar. 7   Deep calls to deep           at the thunder of your cataracts;      all your waves and your billows           have gone over me. 8   By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,           and at night his song is with me,           a prayer to the God of my life. 9   I say to God, my rock,           “Why have you forgotten me?      Why must I walk about mournfully           because the enemy oppresses me?” 10  As with a deadly wound in my body,           my adversaries taunt me,      while they say to me continually,           “Where is your God?” 11  Why are you cast down, O my soul,           and why are you disquieted within me?      Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,           my help and my God. Evening Psalm 32 1   Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,           whose sin is covered. 2   Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,           and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3   While I kept silence, my body wasted away           through my groaning all day long. 4   For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;           my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 5   Then I acknowledged my sin to you,           and I did not hide my iniquity;      I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”           and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah 6   Therefore let all who are faithful           offer prayer to you;      at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters           shall not reach them. 7   You are a hiding place for me;           you preserve me from trouble;           you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah 8   I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;           I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 9   Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,           whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,           else it will not stay near you. 10   Many are the torments of the wicked,           but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD. 11   Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous,           and shout for joy, all you upright in heart. Read more »

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Revised Common Lectionary Readings for April 06, 2025

Revised Common Lectionary Readings (Three-Year Cycle)

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for April 06, 2025 By Revised Common Lectionary Readings, Sunday, April 6, 2025 12:00 AM First Reading Isaiah 43:16-21 16Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 17who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 18Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. 19I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 21the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise. Psalm Psalm 126 1When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." 3The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced. 4Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb. 5May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. 6Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves. Second Reading Philippians 3:4b-14 4bIf anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Gospel John 12:1-8 1Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5"Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" 6(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me." Read more »

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Bible Readings for April 6, 2025

 

Let's read the Bible together in the next year. Today our passages are Deuteronomy 29:1–30:20; Luke 11:37–12:7; Psalm 78:1-31; and Proverbs 12:19-20. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. 

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Deuteronomy 29-30:20 (Contemporary English Version)

Deuteronomy 29

The Agreement in Moab

 ¹So Moses finished telling the Israelites what they had to do in order to keep the agreement the LORD was making with them in Moab, which was in addition to the one the LORD had made with them at Mount Sinai. ^[a] The LORD Is Your God     

THE THIRD SPEECH: ISRAEL MUST KEEP ITS AGREEMENT WITH THE LORD

 ^2-3Moses called the nation of Israel together and told them:    When you were in Egypt, you saw the LORD perform great miracles that caused trouble for the king, his officials, and everyone else in the country. ^4-6He has even told you, " For forty years I, the LORD, led you through the desert, but your clothes and your sandals didn't wear out, and I gave you special food. ^[b] I did these things so you would realize that I am your God." But the LORD must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard.
    ⁷When we first camped here, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan attacked, but we defeated them. ⁸Then we captured their land and divided it among the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.     

Keep the Agreement

Moses said:

 ⁹Israel, the LORD has made an agreement with you, and if you keep your part, you will be successful in everything you do. ^10-12Today everyone in our nation is standing here in the LORD's presence, including leaders and officials, parents and children, and even those foreigners who cut wood and carry water for us. We are at this place of worship to promise that we will keep our part of the agreement with the LORD our God.     ^13-15In this agreement, the LORD promised that you would be his people and that he would be your God. He first made this promise to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and today the LORD is making this same promise to you. But it isn't just for you; it is also for your descendants.
    ^16-17When we lived in Egypt, you saw the Egyptians worship disgusting idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold. Then as we traveled through other nations, you saw those people worship other disgusting idols. ¹⁸So make sure that everyone in your tribe remains faithful to the LORD and never starts worshiping gods of other nations.
   If even one of you worships idols, you will be like the root of a plant that produces bitter, poisonous fruit. ¹⁹You may be an Israelite and know all about the LORD's agreement with us, but he won't bless you if you rebel against him. You may think you can get away with it, but you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you. ^[c] ^20-21The LORD will be furious, and instead of forgiving you, he will separate you from the other tribes. Then he will destroy you, by piling on you all the curses in The Book of God's Law, and you will be forgotten forever. ²²The LORD will strike your country with diseases and disasters. Your descendants and foreigners from distant countries will see that your land ²³has become a scorching desert of salt and sulfur, where nothing is planted, nothing sprouts, and nothing grows. It will be as lifeless as the land around the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, after the LORD became angry and destroyed them. ^[d] ²⁴People from other nations will ask, " Why did the LORD destroy this country? Why was he so furious?"
    ²⁵And they will be given this answer:
   Our ancestors worshiped the LORD, but after he brought them out of Egypt and made an agreement with them, they rejected the agreement ²⁶and decided to worship gods that had never helped them. The LORD had forbidden Israel to worship these gods, ^27-28and so he became furious and punished the land with all the curses in The Book of God's Law. Then he pulled up Israel by the roots and tossed them into a foreign country, where they still are today.
    ²⁹The LORD our God hasn't explained the present or the future, but he has commanded us to obey the laws he gave to us and our descendants.
    

Deuteronomy 30

The LORD Will Bring You Back

Moses said to Israel:

 ¹I have told you everything the LORD your God will do for you, and I've also told you the curses he will put on you if you reject him. He will scatter you in faraway countries, but when you realize that he is punishing you, ²return to him with all your heart and soul and start obeying the commands I have given to you today. ^3-4Then he will stop punishing you and treat you with kindness. He may have scattered you to the farthest countries on earth, but he will bring you back ⁵to the land that had belonged to your ancestors and make you even more successful and powerful than they ever were.     ⁶You and your descendants are stubborn, but the LORD will make you willing to obey him and love him with all your heart and soul, and you will enjoy a long life.
    ⁷Then the LORD your God will remove the curses from you and put them on those enemies who hate and attack you.
    ⁸You will again obey the laws and teachings of the LORD, ⁹and he will bless you with many children, large herds and flocks, and abundant crops. The LORD will be happy to do good things for you, just as he did for your ancestors. ¹⁰But you must decide once and for all to worship him with all your heart and soul and to obey everything in The Book of God's Law.
    

Choose Life, Not Death

Moses said to Israel:

 ¹¹You know God's laws, and it isn't impossible to obey them. ¹²His commands aren't in heaven, so you can't excuse yourselves by saying, " How can we obey the LORD's commands? They are in heaven, and no one can go up to get them, then bring them down and explain them to us." ¹³And you can't say, " How can we obey the LORD's commands? They are across the sea, and someone must go across, then bring them back and explain them to us." ¹⁴No, these commands are nearby and you know them by heart. All you have to do is obey!     ¹⁵Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster. ^16-18I am commanding you to be loyal to the LORD, to live the way he has told you, and to obey his laws and teachings. You are about to cross the Jordan River and take the land that he is giving you. If you obey him, you will live and become successful and powerful.
   On the other hand, you might choose to disobey the LORD and reject him. So I'm warning you that if you bow down and worship other gods, you won't have long to live.
    ¹⁹Right now I call the sky and the earth to be witnesses that I am offering you this choice. Will you choose for the LORD to make you prosperous and give you a long life? Or will he put you under a curse and kill you? Choose life! ²⁰Be completely faithful to the LORD your God, love him, and do whatever he tells you. The LORD is the only one who can give life, and he will let you live a long time in the land that he promised to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
   Joshua Is Appointed the Leader of Israel
    

Footnotes:

1. Deuteronomy 29:1 Mount Sinai: See the note at 1.1-5.
2. Deuteronomy 29:4 I gave. . . food: Hebrew " you didn't eat bread or drink any wine or beer."
3. Deuteronomy 29:19 you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you: Hebrew " The mud will be swept away as well as the dust."
4. Deuteronomy 29:23 Sodom. . . destroyed them: See Genesis 18.16-28.

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Luke 11:37-12:7 (Contemporary English Version)

Jesus Condemns the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law of Moses

(Matthew 23.1-36; Mark 12.38-40; Luke 20.45-47)

 ³⁷When Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him home for a meal. Jesus went and sat down to eat. ^[a] ³⁸The Pharisee was surprised that he did not wash his hands ^[b] before eating. ³⁹So the Lord said to him: You Pharisees clean the outside of cups and dishes, but on the inside you are greedy and evil. ⁴⁰You fools! Didn't God make both the outside and the inside? ^[c] ⁴¹If you would only give what you have to the poor, everything you do would please God. ⁴²You Pharisees are in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your gardens, such as mint and rue. But you cheat people, and you don't love God. You should be fair and kind to others and still give a tenth to God.     ⁴³You Pharisees are in for trouble! You love the front seats in the meeting places, and you like to be greeted with honor in the market. ⁴⁴But you are in for trouble! You are like unmarked graves ^[d] that people walk on without even knowing it. ⁴⁵A teacher of the Law of Moses spoke up, "Teacher, you said cruel things about us."
    ⁴⁶Jesus replied:
   You teachers are also in for trouble! You load people down with heavy burdens, but you won't lift a finger to help them carry the loads. ⁴⁷Yes, you are really in for trouble. You build monuments to honor the prophets your own people murdered long ago. ⁴⁸You must think that was the right thing for your people to do, or else you would not have built monuments for the prophets they murdered.
    ⁴⁹Because of your evil deeds, the Wisdom of God said, "I will send prophets and apostles to you. But you will murder some and mistreat others." ⁵⁰You people living today will be punished for all the prophets who have been murdered since the beginning of the world. ⁵¹This includes every prophet from the time of Abel to the time of Zechariah, ^[e] who was murdered between the altar and the temple. You people will certainly be punished for all of this. ⁵²You teachers of the Law of Moses are really in for trouble! You carry the keys to the door of knowledge about God. But you never go in, and you keep others from going in.
    ⁵³Jesus was about to leave, but the teachers and the Pharisees wanted to get even with him. They tried to make him say what he thought about other things, ⁵⁴so that they could catch him saying something wrong.
    

Luke 12

Warnings

 ¹As thousands of people crowded around Jesus and were stepping on each other, he told his disciples:    Be sure to guard against the dishonest teaching ^[f] of the Pharisees! It is their way of fooling people. ²Everything that is hidden will be found out, and every secret will be known. ³Whatever you say in the dark will be heard when it is day. Whatever you whisper in a closed room will be shouted from the housetops. 

The One To Fear

(Matthew 10.28-31)

 ⁴My friends, don't be afraid of people. They can kill you, but after that, there is nothing else they can do. ⁵God is the one you must fear. Not only can he take your life, but he can throw you into hell. God is certainly the one you should fear!     ⁶Five sparrows are sold for just two pennies, but God doesn't forget a one of them. ⁷Even the hairs on your head are counted. So don't be afraid! You are worth much more than many sparrows.
    

Footnotes:

1. Luke 11:37 sat down to eat: See the note at 7.36.
2. Luke 11:38 did not wash his hands: The Jewish people had strict laws about washing their hands before eating, especially if they had been out in public.
3. Luke 11:40 Didn't God make both the outside and the inside: Or " Doesn't the person who washes the outside always wash the inside too?"
4. Luke 11:44 unmarked graves: Tombs were whitewashed to keep anyone from accidentally touching them. A person who touched a dead body or a tomb was considered unclean and could not worship with other Jewish people.
5. Luke 11:51 from the time of Abel. . . Zechariah: Genesis is the first book in the Jewish Scriptures, and it tells that Abel was the first person to be murdered. Second Chronicles is the last book in the Jewish Scriptures, and the last murder that it tells about is that of Zechariah.
6. Luke 12:1 dishonest teaching: The Greek text has " yeast," which is used here of a teaching that is not true (see Matthew 16.6,12).

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Psalm 78:1-31 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 78

(A special psalm by Asaph.)

What God Has Done for His People

 ¹My friends, I beg you    to listen as I teach.
    ²I will give instruction
   and explain the mystery
   of what happened long ago.
    ³These are things we learned
   from our ancestors,
    ⁴and we will tell them
   to the next generation.
   We won't keep secret
   the glorious deeds
   and the mighty miracles
   of the LORD.
    ⁵God gave his Law
   to Jacob's descendants,
   the people of Israel.
   And he told our ancestors
   to teach their children,
    ⁶so that each new generation
   would know his Law
   and tell it to the next.
    ⁷Then they would trust God
   and obey his teachings,
   without forgetting anything
   God had done.
    ⁸They would be different
   from their ancestors,
   who were stubborn, rebellious,
   and unfaithful to God.
    ⁹The warriors from Ephraim
   were armed with arrows,
   but they ran away
   when the battle began.
    ¹⁰They broke their agreement
   with God,
   and they turned their backs
   on his teaching.
    ¹¹They forgot all he had done,
   even the mighty miracles
    ¹²he did for their ancestors
   near Zoan ^[a] in Egypt. ¹³God made a path in the sea
   and piled up the water
   as he led them across.
    ¹⁴He guided them during the day
   with a cloud,
   and each night he led them
   with a flaming fire.
    ¹⁵God made water flow
   from rocks
   he split open
   in the desert,
   and his people drank freely,
   as though from a lake.
    ¹⁶He made streams gush out
   like rivers from rocks.
    ¹⁷But in the desert,
   the people of God Most High
   kept sinning and rebelling.
    ¹⁸They stubbornly tested God
   and demanded from him
   what they wanted to eat.
    ¹⁹They challenged God by saying,
   "Can God provide food
   out here in the desert?
    ²⁰It's true God struck the rock
   and water gushed out
   like a river,
   but can he give his people
   bread and meat?"
    ²¹When the LORD heard this,
   he was angry and furious
   with Jacob's descendants,
   the people of Israel.
    ²²They had refused to trust him,
   and they had doubted
   his saving power.
    ²³But God gave a command
   to the clouds,
   and he opened the doors
   in the skies.
    ²⁴From heaven he sent grain
   that they called manna. ^[b] ²⁵He gave them more than enough,
   and each one of them ate
   this special food.
    ²⁶God's mighty power
   brought a strong wind
   from the southeast,
    ²⁷and it brought birds
   that covered the ground,
   like sand on the beach.
    ²⁸Then God made the birds fall
   in the camp of his people
   near their tents.
    ²⁹God gave his people
   all they wanted,
   and each of them ate
   until they were full.
    ³⁰But before they had swallowed
   the last bite,
    ³¹God became angry and killed
   the strongest
   and best
   from the families of Israel.
    

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 78:12 Zoan: A city in the eastern part of the Nile Delta.
2. Psalm 78:24 manna: When the people of Israel were wandering through the desert, the Lord gave them a special kind of food to eat. It tasted like a wafer and was called " manna," which in Hebrew means, " What is this?"

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Proverbs 12:19-20 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁹Truth will last forever;
   lies are soon found out.
    ²⁰An evil mind is deceitful,
   but gentle thoughts
   bring happiness.

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Thought for the Day

“We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. That's why we must give our lives for each other.” (1 John 3:16 - Contemporary English Version) What we do is in response to what was done. You see, since Jesus gave his life for us, freeing us from sin, we now have the motivation to give our lives for one another.

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Quote for the Day

American writer, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), Lowell Thomas wrote, "Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can."

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Joke for Today

Three men were discussing at a bar about coincidences. The first man said, "My wife was reading a Tale of Two Cities and she gave birth to twins"

"That’s funny", the second man remarked, "My wife was reading The Three Musketeers and she gave birth to triplets"

The third man shouted, "Good God, I have to rush home!"

When asked what the problem was, he exclaimed, "When I left the house, my wife was reading Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves"!!

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A Prayer Request

As Christians, we can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Below is the need that we're laying before God today.

That our community, state and national leaders would be presented with the Gospel and a loving Christian witness.