But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’ From 1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13, NRSV Having had the unenviable task of telling King Saul that…
Read more
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah?Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early.Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgement goes forth as the light.For I desire steadfast love and…
Read more
Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,and before you were born I consecrated you;I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’ From Jeremiah 1:4-9, NRSV Like Moses and some of the other prophets, Jeremiah did not welcome the role to which he was called. He…
Read more
So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. You shall say to them: This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is…
Read more
So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. From Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9, NRSV The book of Deuteronomy is mainly a law book containing many detailed…
Read more
And now we put our whole heart into following you, into fearing you and seeking your face once more. Do not disappoint us; treat us gently, as you yourself are gentle and very merciful. Grant us deliverance worthy of your wonderful deeds, let your name win glory, Lord. From Daniel 3:25, 34-43, This extract is…
Read more
But his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’ So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word…
Read more
But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ From Exodus 17:3-7,…
Read more
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of your possession?He does not retain his anger for ever, because he delights in showing clemency.He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the…
Read more
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.…
Read more
