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Reading
January 11
First Lesson
Tobit 13:1b-5,7-11
1 Blessed be God that liveth for ever, and blessed be his kingdom.
2 For he doth scourge, and hath mercy: he leadeth down to hell,
and bringeth up again: neither is there any that can avoid his
hand.
3 Confess
him before the Gentiles, ye children of Israel: for he hath scattered
us among them.
4 There declare his greatness, and extol him before all the living:
for he is our Lord, and he is the God our Father for ever.
5 And he will scourge us for our iniquities, and will have mercy
again, and will gather us out of all nations, among whom he hath
scattered us.
7 I will extol my God, and my soul shall praise the King of heaven,
and shall rejoice in his greatness.
8 Let all men speak, and let all praise him for his righteousness.
9 O Jerusalem, the holy city, he will scourge thee for thy children's
works, and will have mercy again on the sons of the righteous.
10 Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: and praise the everlasting
King, that his tabernacle may be builded in thee again with joy,
and let him make joyful there in thee those that are captives,
and love in thee for ever those that are miserable.
11 Many nations shall come from far to the name of the Lord God
with gifts in their hands, even gifts to the King of heaven;
all generations shall praise thee with great joy.
QUESTIONS - Tobit 13:1b-5,7-11. Do I confess God before the Gentiles (V. 3)? How? How can I do it better this year than I did last year? RESOLVE.
Second
Lesson
Romans 11:13-27
13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle
of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are
my flesh, and might save some of them.
15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the
world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the
dead?
16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and
if the root be holy, so are the branches.
17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being
a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them
partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
18 Boast
not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not
the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might
be grafted in.
20 Well;
because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by
faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest
he also spare not thee.
22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them
which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue
in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall
be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.
24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by
nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive
tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches,
be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 For
I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery,
lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in
part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles
be come in.
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There
shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away
their sins.
QUESTIONS - Romans 11:13-27. What do I spend most of my time boasting about? (V. 18) What do I stand by? (V. 20) When was the last time my life reflected that I was wise in my own conceits? (V. 25) RESOLVE.