Genesis

Isaiah 6 Woe, Lo, and Go

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:18:17 -0800

1In the year of (A)King Uzziah's death (B)I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
2Seraphim stood above Him, (C)each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3And one called out to another and said,          "(D)Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,          The (E)whole earth is full of His glory."
4And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the (F)temple was filling with smoke.
5Then I said,          "(G)Woe is me, for I am ruined!          Because I am a man of (H)unclean lips,          And I live among a (I)people of unclean lips;          For my eyes have seen the (J)King, the LORD of hosts."
6Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the (K)altar with tongs.
7He (L)touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and (M)your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven."
Isaiah's Commission
8Then I heard the (N)voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then (O)I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
9He said, "Go, and tell this people:          'Keep on (P)listening, but do not perceive;          Keep on looking, but do not understand.'      10"(Q)Render the hearts of this people (R)insensitive,          Their ears dull,          And their eyes dim,          (S)Otherwise they might see with their eyes,          Hear with their ears,          Understand with their hearts,          And return and be healed."
11Then I said, "Lord, (T)how long?" And He answered,          "Until (U)cities are devastated and without inhabitant,          Houses are without people          And the land is utterly desolate,      12"The LORD has (V)removed men far away,          And the (W)forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.      13"Yet there will be a tenth portion in it,          And it will again be subject to burning,          Like a terebinth or an (X)oak          Whose stump remains when it is felled           The (Y)holy seed is its stump."

New American Standard Version
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah%206;&version=49;;

Isaiah 2 Isaiah’s prophecy of judgement

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:26:10 -0800

Genesis 32 Striving with God to face our fears

Sun, 4 Nov 2007 21:53:32 -0900

Jacob's Deception
1Now it came about, when Isaac was old and (A)his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his (B)older son Esau and said to him, "My son." And he said to him, "Here I am."
2(C)Isaac said, "Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death.
3"Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and (D)hunt game for me;
4and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that (E)my soul may bless you before I die."
5Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home,
6(F)Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying,
7'Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.'
8"Now therefore, my son, (G)listen to me as I command you.
9"Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.
10"Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death."
11Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, "Behold, Esau my brother is a (H)hairy man and I am a smooth man.
12"(I)Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing."
13But his mother said to him, "Your curse be on me, my son; only (J)obey my voice, and go, get them for me."
14So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.
15Then Rebekah took the best (K)garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
16And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
17She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob.
18Then he came to his father and said, "My father." And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"
19Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. (L)Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that (M)you may bless me."
20Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "(N)Because the LORD your God caused it to happen to me."
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come close, that (O)I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."
22So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."
23He did not recognize him, because his hands were (P)hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him.
24And he said, "Are you really my son Esau?" And he said, "I am."
25So he said, "Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son's game, that (Q)I may bless you." And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank.
26Then his father Isaac said to him, "Please come close and kiss me, my son."
27So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he (R)blessed him and said,  "See, (S)the smell of my son  Is like the smell of a field (T)which the LORD has blessed;   28Now may (U)God give you of the dew of heaven,  And of the (V)fatness of the earth,  And an abundance of grain and new wine;   29(W)May peoples serve you,  And nations bow down to you;  (X)Be master of your brothers,  (Y)And may your mother's sons bow down to you   (Z)Cursed be those who curse you,  And blessed be those who bless you."
The Stolen Blessing
30Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
31Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, "(AA)Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that (AB)you may bless me."
32Isaac his father said to him, "(AC)Who are you?" And he said, "I am your son, (AD)your firstborn, Esau."
33Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, "(AE)Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? (AF)Yes, and he shall be blessed."
34When Esau heard the words of his father, (AG)he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father!"
35And he said, "(AH)Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing."
36Then he said, "Is he not rightly named (AI)Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing." And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"
37But Isaac replied to Esau, "Behold, I have made him (AJ)your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?"
38Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." So Esau lifted his voice and (AK)wept.
39Then (AL)Isaac his father answered and said to him,  "Behold, (AM)away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling,  And away from the dew of heaven from above.   40"By your sword you shall live,  And your brother (AN)you shall serve;  But it shall come about (AO)when you become restless,  That you will break his yoke from your neck."
41So Esau (AP)bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "(AQ)The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."
42Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you.
43"Now therefore, my son, (AR)obey my voice, and arise, flee to (AS)Haran, to my brother (AT)Laban!
44"Stay with him (AU)a few days, until your brother's fury subsides,
45until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets (AV)what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"
46Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am tired of living because of (AW)the daughters of Heth; (AX)if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?"

New American Standard Version
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2027;&version=49;

Genesis 31 Caught between a rock and a hard place (Living as a Christian in a non Christian world)

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:26:00 -0800

Genesis 27 The Deception of Jacob and Moral Dilemmas

Sun, 7 Oct 2007 23:08:18 -0800

Genesis 26 Sojourning Faith

Sun, 9 Sep 2007 21:32:22 -0800

Genesis 26
Isaac Settles in Gerar
1Now there was (A)a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham So Isaac went to Gerar, to (B)Abimelech king of the Philistines.
2The LORD (C)appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; (D)stay in the land of which I shall tell you.
3"Sojourn in this land and (E)I will be with you and (F)bless you, for (G)to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish (H)the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.
4"(I)I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and (J)by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
5because Abraham (K)obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws."
6So Isaac lived in Gerar.
7When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, "(L)She is my sister," for he was (M)afraid to say, "my wife," thinking, "the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is (N)beautiful."
8It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah.
9Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, 'She is my sister'?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'I might die on account of her.'"
10(O)Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us."
11So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, "He who (P)touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."
12Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And (Q)the LORD blessed him,
13and the man (R)became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy;
14for (S)he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.
15Now (T)all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth.
16Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are (U)too powerful for us."
17And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.
Quarrel over the Wells
18Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them.
19But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water,
20the herdsmen of Gerar (V)quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him.
21Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah.
22He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, "(W)At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be (X)fruitful in the land."
23Then he went up from there to (Y)Beersheba.
24The LORD (Z)appeared to him the same night and said,  "(AA)I am the God of your father Abraham;  (AB)Do not fear, for I am with you   I (AC)will bless you, and multiply your descendants,  For the sake of My servant Abraham."
25So he built an (AD)altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well.
Covenant with Abimelech
26Then (AE)Abimelech came to him from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army.
27Isaac said to them, "(AF)Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?"
28They said, "We see plainly (AG)that the LORD has been with you; so we said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,
29that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the (AH)blessed of the LORD.'"
30Then (AI)he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.
31In the morning they arose early and (AJ)exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace.
32Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac's servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water."
33So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is (AK)Beersheba to this day.
34When Esau was forty years old (AL)he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite;
35and (AM)they [a]brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

New American Standard Version
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=26&version=49

Genesis 25 The election of Jacob

Sun, 2 Sep 2007 23:11:08 -0800

Genesis 25
Abraham's Death
1Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.

2(A)She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah.

3Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.

4The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.

5(B)Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac;

6but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and (C)sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.

7These are all the years of Abraham's life that he lived, (D)one hundred and seventy-five years.

8Abraham breathed his last and died (E)in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was (F)gathered to his people.

9Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in (G)the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre,

10(H)the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife.

11It came about after the death of Abraham, that (I)God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by (J)Beer-lahai-roi.
Descendants of Ishmael
12Now these are the records of the generations of (K)Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham;

13and these are the names of (L)the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam

14and Mishma and Dumah and Massa,

15Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.

16These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; (M)twelve princes according to their tribes.

17These are the years of the life of Ishmael, (N)one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was (O)gathered to his people.

18They settled from (P)Havilah to (Q)Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; (R)he settled in defiance of all his relatives.
Isaac's Sons
19Now these are the records of (S)the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham became the father of Isaac;

20and Isaac was forty years old when he took (T)Rebekah, the (U)daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the (V)sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.

21Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and (W)the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife (X)conceived.

22But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If it is so, why then am I this way?" So she went to (Y)inquire of the LORD.

23The LORD said to her,
"(Z)Two nations are in your womb;
(AA)And two peoples will be separated from your body;
And one people shall be stronger than the other;
And (AB)the older shall serve the younger."

24When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

25Now the first came forth red, (AC)all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau.

26Afterward his brother came forth with (AD)his hand holding on to Esau's heel, so (AE)his name was called [a]Jacob; and Isaac was (AF)sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

27When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, (AG)living in tents.

28Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had (AH)a taste for game, (AI)but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29When Jacob had cooked (AJ)stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished;

30and Esau said to Jacob, "Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called [b]Edom.

31But Jacob said, "First sell me your (AK)birthright."

32Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?"

33And Jacob said, "First swear to me"; so he swore to him, and (AL)sold his birthright to Jacob.

34Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

New American Standard Version
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2025;&version=49

Genesis 9 The covenant with Noah

Sun, 1 Apr 2007 23:14:59 -0800

1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
2 Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained;
3 and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased.
4 In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.
5 The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.
6 Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;
7 and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth.
8 Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land;
9 but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself.
10 So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark.
11 The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth.
12 Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.
13 Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up.
14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying,
16"Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you.
17 "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."
18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.
19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.
20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.   22"While the earth remains,  Seedtime and harvest,  And cold and heat,  And summer and winter,  And day and night  Shall not cease."
New American Standard Version
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=8&version=49

Genesis 8 And the waters receded ...

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 23:05:58 -0800