Daily Readings for Wednesday, 21 January 2015

Daily Readings for Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Hebrews 7: The Priestly Family of Melchizedek
1 Melchizedek was both king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He was the one who went out and gave Abraham his blessing, when Abraham returned from killing the kings. 2 Then Abraham gave him a tenth of everything he had.
The meaning of the name Melchizedek is “King of Justice.” But since Salem means “peace,” he is also “King of Peace.” 3 We are not told that he had a father or mother or ancestors or beginning or end. He is like the Son of God and will be a priest forever.[a][Footnotes:
7.3 will be a priest forever: See the note at 5.6.]
15 All of this becomes clearer, when someone who is like Melchizedek is appointed to be a priest. 16 That person wasn’t appointed because of his ancestors, but because his life can never end. 17 The Scriptures say about him,
“You are a priest forever,
    just like Melchizedek.”
Psalms 110: (A psalm by David.)
The Lord Gives Victory
1 The Lord said to my Lord,
    “Sit at my right side,[a]
    until I make your enemies
    into a footstool for you.”
2 The Lord will let your power
    reach out from Zion,
    and you will rule
    over your enemies.
3 Your glorious power
will be seen
    on the day
    you begin to rule.
You will wear the sacred robes
    and shine like the morning sun
    in all of your strength.[b]
4 The Lord has made a promise
    that will never be broken:
“You will be a priest forever,
    just like Melchizedek.”[Footnotes:
110.1 right side: See the note at 16.11.
110.3 You will. . . strength: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.]
Mark 3: A Man with a Crippled Hand
1 The next time that Jesus went into the meeting place, a man with a crippled hand was there. 2 The Pharisees[a] wanted to accuse Jesus of doing something wrong, and they kept watching to see if Jesus would heal him on the Sabbath.
3 Jesus told the man to stand up where everyone could see him. 4 Then he asked, “On the Sabbath should we do good deeds or evil deeds? Should we save someone’s life or destroy it?” But no one said a word.
5 Jesus was angry as he looked around at the people. Yet he felt sorry for them because they were so stubborn. Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his bad hand was healed.
6 The Pharisees left. And right away they started making plans with Herod’s followers[b] to kill Jesus.[Footnotes:
3.2 Pharisees: The Greek text has “they” (but see verse 6).
3.6 Herod’s followers: People who were political followers of the family of Herod the Great and his son Herod Antipas.]

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