Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 30 January 2016

sort of a rough day. 
I had to make a trip to the very southern tip of the county just south of us, for a funeral.  Lovely lady, 91 years young, had been the wife of the pastor of the church I grew up in.  Retired now, of course.  I have many many memories of her many kindnesses, including to persons, like me, that weren't all that nice when we were in our pre-teen and teen years.  I felt that I need to go.  I sat with my nephew and his wife, and got to see the son of the deceased.  He and I were born in the same month and went to school together for most of our years.  And had not seen each other in more than 45 years.  We're cousins also, through his mother's side.  So that part was nice, but funerals are always rough.
Dear Wife was not up to travel, so I begged off the after-the-services meal in the church hall, with regrets (some of those ladies can cook!) and headed back.  To find that my route back was blocked with detour signs all over.  The state's DOT may be many things, but efficient and capable aren't among them.  Finally did manage to get home.  "Blessing" these dolts for a good part of the trek.
That makes for a less-than-wonderful day.  Came home and vegged out.
Tomorrow is the last day of January.  Always glad to see it leave.  February is no gem, not at all, but it is comparatively short, March -- which contains the first day of Spring -- follows, and at least November, December, and January are behind us.  I am NOT a winter person, never have been.  Warm breezes and flowers await.  I can't wait.

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The Old Testament passage for the day is chapters 22, 23, and 24 from the Exodus.
Moses, and some of the elders, are getting some orders from the Lord.  Didn't last long.

Exodus 22

1	If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
2	If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.
3	If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
4	If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.
5	If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.
6	If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
7	If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him pay double.
8	If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbor's goods.
9	For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing which another challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbor.
10	If a man deliver unto his neighbor an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep; and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it:
11	Then shall an oath of the LORD be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbor's goods; and the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall not make it good.
12	And if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.
13	If it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.
14	And if a man borrow ought of his neighbor, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.
15	But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.
16	And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
17	If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
18	Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
19	Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.
20	He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
21	Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22	Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
23	If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
24	And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
25	If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.
26	If thou at all take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
27	For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.
28	Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
29	Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
30	Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.
31	And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.

Exodus 23

1	Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
2	Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
3	Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.
4	If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
5	If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
6	Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
7	Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
8	And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
9	Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
10	And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
11	But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
12	Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
13	And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
14	Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
15	Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
16	And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labors, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field.
17	Three items in the year all thy males shall appear before the LORD God.
18	Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
19	The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
20	Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
21	Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
22	But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
23	For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
24	Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
25	And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
26	There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
27	I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
28	And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
29	I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
30	By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
31	And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
32	Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33	They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

Exodus 24 

1	And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off.
2	And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him.
3	And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.
4	And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
5	And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
6	And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
7	And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
8	And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
9	Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
10	And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
11	And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
12	And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
13	And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
14	And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them.
15	And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.
16	And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
17	And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
18	And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

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The New Testament passage is verses 17-34 of Matthew chapter 20

Matthew 20:17-34

17	And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,
18	Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
19	And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.
20	Then came to him the mother of Zebedees children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
21	And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
22	But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
23	And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
24	And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.
25	But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
26	But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
27	And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
28	Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
29	And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.
30	And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.
31	And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.
32	And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?
33	They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.
34	So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 29 January 2016

Friday.  The cold is back.
I had to make two runs today.  The second was to meet someone at a nearby public place, Dear Wife had finally been able to sell that "knee scooter" that we got back in September to provide some mobility after her surgery.  Worked wonderfully well, we had purchased it lightly used from another individual, and sold it, lightly used to someone else.  For about 1/3 of the list price of a new one.  Good deal for all, and the cash comes in VERY handy, especially after the Real Bad News we just got from our "insurance" people, on which more separately.
The first run was to nearby market.  We'd recently over-bought on the issue of potatoes.  To persons like us, of varied ethnic backgrounds but HEAVILY (and in my case nearly 100%) of various strains of Deutsch, potatoes are a requirement of life.  But there are, after all, only two of us, and the big bag's contents were starting to sprout "eyes" and give other signs that it was time to use them.  So yesterday I scrubbed them all and threw them into our largest pot to boil.  After that stage was completed, she turned a big percentage of them into home fried potatoes, one of a German's ambrosia.  The rest?  That was the reason for the run.  She made a BIG pot of potato soup.  Another of those necessities of life, comfort foods for both of us.  So I had to go get a bag of carrots and a stalk of celery.  Picked up a few bananas for her, helps with the diarrhea that goes with the problems she has all too frequently. 
We had a late lunch of home made potato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches made from home made bread from the other day.  THAT is living!

And cheap, which is important.  We just got "word" from the insurance people that our prescriptions are about to get MUCH more expensive to us.  Like, for example, one that she MUST have every day, it replaces part of the function of the thyroid she no longer has, will go from the zero of last year when she was under Medicaid, to the $12 co-pay per month, to around $70 per month.  The "biologic" (Humira) that she's been getting for free, is now showing that, after we fork out about $6800 immediately to satisfy a deductible, it will be a "mere" $800 per month.  Which is in itself more than her Disability monthly check.  It's simply not doable.
As in the case of the Israelites seeing hopelessness and doom, I know from personal experience that the Lord can and does make provision in desperate circumstances.  This one qualifies.

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The Old Testament reading is chapters 19, 20, and 21 of the Exodus.
The 10 Commandments are here.  Much else as well.

Exodus 19

1	In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
2	For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.
3	And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
4	Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
5	Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6	And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
7	And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
8	And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.
9	And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.
10	And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
11	And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
12	And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
13	There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
14	And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
15	And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
16	And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
17	And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
18	And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
19	And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
20	And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
21	And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish.
22	And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them.
23	And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.
24	And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them.
25	So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.

Exodus 20

1	And God spake all these words, saying,
2	I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3	Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4	Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5	Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6	And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7	Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8	Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9	Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
10	But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11	For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12	Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13	Thou shalt not kill.
14	Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15	Thou shalt not steal.
16	Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
17	Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.
18	And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19	And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
20	And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
21	And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
22	And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
23	Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
24	An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
25	And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
26	Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

Exodus 21

1	Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
2	If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
3	If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
4	If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.
5	And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
6	Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.
7	And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.
8	If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
9	And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
10	If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
11	And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.
12	He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.
13	And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
14	But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.
15	And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
16	And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
17	And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
18	And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
19	If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.
20	And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
21	Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
22	If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
23	And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
24	Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25	Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26	And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake.
27	And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.
28	If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.
29	But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.
30	If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.
31	Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.
32	If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
33	And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;
34	The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.
35	And if one man's ox hurt another's, that he die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide.
36	Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.

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The New Testament reading is verses 1-16 in the 20th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 20:1-16

1	For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
2	And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3	And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
4	And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
5	Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
6	And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
7	They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
8	So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
9	And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
10	But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
11	And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
12	Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
13	But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
14	Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
15	Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
16	So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 28 January 2016

Today is another relatively warm day.  Relatively.  Our former homes in the South are all of them warmer than here, though I must say that while we've been relatively mild (by local standards) here, a nice contrast to last year's terrible bitter cold, the temperatures in our old haunts have been unusually cold, and they've seen snow in places that almost never experience it.  I should feel bad for them.  I should.  Don't really.
Off to Wally Mart shortly.  Dear Wife's check hit Tuesday morning and there are some things we still need.  Not much, but some.  We'd originally intended to go after her doctor appointment, but that effort rendered her pretty much done in, and the plan to reschedule for Wednesday didn't work either.  So it  is I, all by my lonesome, off to forage. 

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The Old Testament reading is chapters 16, 17, and 18 of the Exodus.
The Israelites are on their way to the Promised Land.  Taking the long way around, which means through the wilderness.  Which means Sinai.  Not too many grocery stores there, nor restaurants, nor hotels.  Not water either.  No food.  All of those have to come from the Lord.  As they always do, but here it got real.  Didn't stop people from complaining.  That too, is a universal thing.  I've been guilty, quite often.

Exodus 16

1	And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.
2	And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
3	And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
4	Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
5	And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
6	And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:
7	And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the LORD; for that he heareth your murmurings against the LORD: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
8	And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.
9	And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings.
10	And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
11	And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
12	I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.
13	And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
14	And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15	And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
16	This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
17	And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18	And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
19	And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.
20	Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.
21	And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
22	And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
23	And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
24	And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
25	And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.
26	Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
27	And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
28	And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
29	See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
30	So the people rested on the seventh day.
31	And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
32	And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
33	And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.
34	As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
35	And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
36	Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

Exodus 17

1	And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.
2	Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
3	And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
4	And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
5	And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
6	Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7	And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
8	Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9	And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
10	So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11	And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12	But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
13	And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14	And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
15	And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:
16	For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

Exodus 18 

1	When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt;
2	Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back,
3	And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:
4	And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh:
5	And Jethro, Moses' father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God:
6	And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.
7	And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent.
8	And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them.
9	And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.
10	And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
11	Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.
12	And Jethro, Moses' father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father in law before God.
13	And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.
14	And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?
15	And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God:
16	When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.
17	And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.
18	Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.
19	Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:
20	And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.
21	Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
22	And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
23	If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
24	So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.
25	And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
26	And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
27	And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.

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The New Testament reading is verses 16-30 of Matthew 19

Matthew 19:16-30

16	And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17	And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18	He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19	Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20	The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21	Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22	But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23	Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24	And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
25	When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
26	But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
27	Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
28	And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29	And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
30	But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.