Give Us Today

Giving to the Needy

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Prayer

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9

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Fasting

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Treasures in Heaven

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Do Not Worry

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Sayings of King Lemuel

1The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him.

2Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb!

Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers!

3Do not spend your strength on women,

your vigor on those who ruin kings.

4It is not for kings, Lemuel—

it is not for kings to drink wine,

not for rulers to crave beer,

5lest they drink and forget what has been decreed,

and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.

6Let beer be for those who are perishing,

wine for those who are in anguish!

7Let them drink and forget their poverty

and remember their misery no more.

8Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute.

9Speak up and judge fairly;

defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

10 A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

11Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.

12She brings him good, not harm,

all the days of her life.

13She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.

14She is like the merchant ships,

bringing her food from afar.

15She gets up while it is still night;

she provides food for her family

and portions for her female servants.

16She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks.

18She sees that her trading is profitable,

and her lamp does not go out at night.

19In her hand she holds the distaff

and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20She opens her arms to the poor

and extends her hands to the needy.

21When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23Her husband is respected at the city gate,

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.

26She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27She watches over the affairs of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

29“Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all.”

30Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the

31Honor her for all that her hands have done,

and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

John the Baptist Beheaded

1At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 2and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

3Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.

6On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much 7that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10and had John beheaded in the prison. 11His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

13When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

16Jesus replied,

17“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

18

Jesus Walks on the Water

22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27But Jesus immediately said to them:

28“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.

32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

34When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. 35And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Manna and Quail

1The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the

4Then the

6So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the

9Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the

10While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the

11The

13That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread the

17The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

19Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”

20However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

21Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23He said to them, “This is what the

24So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25“Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the

27Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28Then the

31The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32Moses said, “This is what the

33So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the

34As the

36(An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)