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Genesis
28:10-19a
Psalm
139:1-11
Romans
8:12-25
Matthew
13:24-30, 36-43
Genesis
28:10-19a
28:10 Jacob left Beer-sheba
and went toward Haran.
28:11
He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because
the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it
under his head and lay down in that place.
28:12
And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the
top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending
and descending on it.
28:13
And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the
God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which
you lie I will give to you and to your offspring;
28:14
and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you
shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north
and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be
blessed in you and in your offspring.
28:15
Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and
will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I
have done what I have promised you."
28:16
Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is
in this place--and I did not know it!"
28:17
And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This
is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of
heaven."
28:18
So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he
had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil
on the top of it.
28:19a
He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at
the first.
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Psalm
139:1-11
139:1 O LORD, you have searched me and known me.
139:2
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my
thoughts from far away.
139:3
You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with
all my ways.
139:4
Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it
completely.
139:5
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
139:6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I
cannot attain it.
139:7
Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your
presence?
139:8
If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol,
you are there.
139:9
If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest
limits of the sea,
139:10
even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold
me fast.
139:11
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light
around me become night,"
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Romans
8:12-25
8:12 So then, brothers and
sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to
the flesh --
8:13
for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by
the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
8:14
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
8:15
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into
fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry,
"Abba! Father!"
8:16
it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are
children of God,
8:17
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ--if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be
glorified with him.
8:18
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.
8:19
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the
children of God;
8:20
for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will
but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
8:21
that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to
decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of
God.
8:22
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains
until now;
8:23
and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first
fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption,
the redemption of our bodies.
8:24
For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For
who hopes for what is seen?
8:25
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with
patience.
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Matthew
13:24-30, 36-43
13:24 He put before them
another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to
someone who sowed good seed in his field;
13:25
but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds
among the wheat, and then went away.
13:26
So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared
as well.
13:27
And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master,
did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these
weeds come from?'
13:28
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him,
'Then do you want us to go and gather them?'
13:29
But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot
the wheat along with them.
13:30
Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest
time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind
them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my
barn.'"
13:36
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples
approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the
weeds of the field."
13:37
He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of
Man;
13:38
the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the
kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one,
13:39
and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end
of the age, and the reapers are angels.
13:40
Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will
it be at the end of the age.
13:41
The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of
his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers,
13:42
and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13:43
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father. Let anyone with ears listen!
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