Today, Please pray for:
Omaha St. Luke UMC
Missouri River District
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Omaha St. Paul UMC
Missouri River District
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This Week's Lectionary
9th Sunday after Pentecost/in Kingdomtide – Green
Sunday, 17 July 2016
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Amos 8:1-12
Psalm 52
Psalm 82
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42
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Lectionary Readings:
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Year C
Sunday, 17 July 2016
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Hosea 1:2-10
Psalm 85
Colossians 2:6-19
Luke 11:1-13
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Scripture Texts for: Amos 8:1 Here is what Adonai Elohim showed me: there in front of me was a basket of summer fruit. 2 He asked, “‘Amos, what do you see?” I answered, “A basket of summer [Amos 8:2 Hebrew: kayitz] fruit.” Then Adonai said to me,
“The end [Amos 8:2 Hebrew: ketz] has come for my people,
I will never again overlook their offenses.
3 When that time comes, the songs in the temple
will be wailings,” says Adonai Elohim.
“There will be many dead bodies;
everywhere silence will reign.”
4 Listen, you who swallow the needy
and destroy the poor of the land!
5 You say, “When will Rosh-Hodesh be over,
so we can market our grain?
and Shabbat, so we can sell wheat?”
You measure the grain in a small eifah,
but the silver in heavy shekels,
fixing the scales, so that you can cheat,
6 buying the needy for money
and the poor for a pair of shoes,
and sweeping up the refuse of the wheat to sell!”
7 Adonai swears by Ya‘akov’s pride,
“I will forget none of their deeds, ever.
8 Won’t the land tremble for this,
and everyone mourn, who lives in the land?
It will all rise, just like the Nile,
be in turmoil and subside, like the Nile in Egypt.
9 “When that time comes,” says Adonai Elohim,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your festivals into mourning
and all your songs into wailing;
I will make you all put sackcloth around your waists
and shave your heads bald in grief.
I will make it like mourning for an only son
and its end like a bitter day.
11 “The time is coming,” says Adonai Elohim,
“when I will send famine over the land,
not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of Adonai.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and from north to east, running back and forth,
seeking the word of Adonai;
but they will not find it.
Psalm 52:1 (0) For the leader. A maskil of David, 2 when Do’eg from Edom came and told Sha’ul, “David has arrived at the house of Achimelekh”:
3 (1) Why do you boast of your evil, you tyrant,
when God’s mercy is present every day?
4 (2) Your tongue, as sharp as a razor,
plots destruction and works deception.
5 (3) You love evil more than good,
lies rather than speaking uprightly. (Selah)
6 (4) You love all words that eat people up,
you deceitful tongue!
7 (5) This is why God will strike you down,
seize you, pluck you from your tent
and uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
8 (6) The righteous will see and be awestruck;
they will jeer at him, saying,
9 (7) “This fellow would not make God his refuge,
but trusted in his own great wealth,
relying on his evil plots.”
10 (8) But I am like a leafy olive tree
in the house of God;
I put my trust in the grace of God
forever and ever.
11 (9) I will praise you forever for what you have done,
and I will put my hope in your name;
for this is what is good
in the presence of your faithful.
Psalm 82:(0) A psalm of Asaf:
(1) Elohim [God] stands in the divine assembly;
there with the elohim [judges], he judges:
2 “How long will you go on judging unfairly,
favoring the wicked? (Selah)
3 Give justice to the weak and fatherless!
Uphold the rights of the wretched and poor!
4 Rescue the destitute and needy;
deliver them from the power of the wicked!”
5 They don’t know, they don’t understand,
they wander about in darkness;
meanwhile, all the foundations of the earth
are being undermined.
6 “My decree is: ‘You are elohim [gods, judges],
sons of the Most High all of you.
7 Nevertheless, you will die like mortals;
like any prince, you will fall.’”
8 Rise up, Elohim, and judge the earth;
for all the nations are yours.
Colossians 1:15 He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, 16 because in connection with him were created all things — in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities — they have all been created through him and for him. 17 He existed before all things, and he holds everything together.
18 Also he is head of the Body, the Messianic Community — he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might hold first place in everything. 19 For it pleased God to have his full being live in his Son 20 and through his Son to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through him, through having his Son shed his blood by being executed on a stake.
21 In other words, you, who at one time were separated from God and had a hostile attitude towards him because of your wicked deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in the Son’s physical body through his death; in order to present you holy and without defect or reproach before himself — 23 provided, of course, that you continue in your trusting, grounded and steady, and don’t let yourselves be moved away from the hope offered in the Good News you heard.
This is the Good News that has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven; and I, Sha’ul, have become a servant of it. 24 I rejoice in my present sufferings on your behalf! Yes, I am completing in my own flesh what has been lacking of the Messiah’s afflictions, on behalf of his Body, the Messianic Community. 25 I became a servant of the Good News because God gave me this work to do for your benefit. The work is to make fully known the message from God, 26 the secret hidden for generations, for ages, but now made clear to the people he has set apart for himself. 27 To them God wanted to make known how great among the Gentiles is the glorious richness of this secret. And the secret is this: the Messiah is united with you people! In that rests your hope of glory! 28 We, for our part, proclaim him; we warn, confront and teach everyone in all wisdom; so that we may present everyone as having reached the goal, united with the Messiah.
Luke 10:38 On their way Yeshua and his talmidim came to a village where a woman named Marta welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Miryam who also sat at the Lord’s feet and heard what he had to say. 40 But Marta was busy with all the work to be done; so, going up to him, she said, “Sir, don’t you care that my sister has been leaving me to do all the work by myself?” 41 However, the Lord answered her, “Marta, Marta, you are fretting and worrying about so many things! 42 But there is only one thing that is essential. Miryam has chosen the right thing, and it won’t be taken away from her.”
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Hosea 1:2 Adonai’s opening words in speaking to Hoshea were to instruct Hoshea,
“Go, marry a whore,
and have children with this whore;
for the land is engaged in flagrant whoring,
whoring away from Adonai.”
3 So he went and married Gomer the daughter of Divlayim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Adonai said to him, “Call him Yizre‘el, because in only a short time I will punish the house of Yehu for having shed blood at Yizre‘el; I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Isra’el. 5 When that day comes, I will break the bow of Isra’el in the Yizre‘el Valley.”
6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. Adonai said to him, “Name her Lo-Ruchamah [unpitied], for I will no longer have pity on the house of Isra’el. By no means will I forgive them. 7 But I will pity the house of Y’hudah; I will save them not by bow, sword, battle, horses or cavalry, but by Adonai their God.”
8 After weaning Lo-Ruchamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Adonai said, “Name him Lo-‘Ammi [not-my-people], because you are not my people, and I will not be your [God].
Psalm 85:1 (0) For the leader. A psalm of the sons of Korach:
2 (1) Adonai, you have shown favor to your land;
you have restored the fortunes of Ya‘akov,
3 (2) taken away the guilt of your people,
pardoned all their sin, (Selah)
4 (3) withdrawn all your wrath,
turned from your fierce anger.
5 (4) Restore us, God of our salvation,
renounce your displeasure with us.
6 (5) Are you to stay angry with us forever?
Will your fury last through all generations?
7 (6) Won’t you revive us again,
so your people can rejoice in you?
8 (7) Show us your grace, Adonai;
grant us your salvation.
9 (8) I am listening. What will God, Adonai, say?
For he will speak peace to his people,
to his holy ones —
but only if they don’t relapse into folly.
10 (9) His salvation is near for those who fear him,
so that glory will be in our land.
11 (10) Grace and truth have met together;
justice and peace have kissed each other.
12 (11) Truth springs up from the earth,
and justice looks down from heaven.
13 (12) Adonai will also grant prosperity;
our land will yield its harvest.
14 (13) Justice will walk before him
and make his footsteps a path.
Colossians 2:6 Therefore, just as you received the Messiah Yeshua as Lord, keep living your life united with him. 7 Remain deeply rooted in him; continue being built up in him and confirmed in your trust, the way you were taught, so that you overflow in thanksgiving.
8 Watch out, so that no one will take you captive by means of philosophy and empty deceit, following human tradition which accords with the elemental spirits of the world but does not accord with the Messiah. 9 For in him, bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is. 10 And it is in union with him that you have been made full — he is the head of every rule and authority.
11 Also it was in union with him that you were circumcised with a circumcision not done by human hands, but accomplished by stripping away the old nature’s control over the body. In this circumcision done by the Messiah, 12 you were buried along with him by being immersed; and in union with him, you were also raised up along with him by God’s faithfulness that worked when he raised Yeshua from the dead. 13 You were dead because of your sins, that is, because of your “foreskin,” your old nature. But God made you alive along with the Messiah by forgiving you all your sins. 14 He wiped away the bill of charges against us. Because of the regulations, it stood as a testimony against us; but he removed it by nailing it to the execution-stake. 15 Stripping the rulers and authorities of their power, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by means of the stake.
16 So don’t let anyone pass judgment on you in connection with eating and drinking, or in regard to a Jewish festival or Rosh-Hodesh or Shabbat. 17 These are a shadow of things that are coming, but the body is of the Messiah.
18 Don’t let anyone deny you the prize by insisting that you engage in self-mortification or angel-worship. Such people are always going on about some vision they have had, and they vainly puff themselves up by their worldly outlook. 19 They fail to hold to the Head, from whom the whole Body, receiving supply and being held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God makes it grow.
Luke 11:1 One time Yeshua was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of the talmidim said to him, “Sir, teach us to pray, just as Yochanan taught his talmidim.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father,
May your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come.
3 Give us each day the food we need.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we too forgive everyone who has wronged us.
And do not lead us to hard testing.’”
5 He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend; and you go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine who has been travelling has just arrived at my house, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 Now the one inside may answer, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already shut, my children are with me in bed — I can’t get up to give you anything!’ 8 But I tell you, even if he won’t get up because the man is his friend, yet because of the man’s hutzpah he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “Moreover, I myself say to you: keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who goes on asking receives; and he who goes on seeking finds; and to him who continues knocking, the door will be opened.
11 “Is there any father here who, if his son asked him for a fish, would instead of a fish give him a snake? 12 or if he asked for an egg would give him a scorpion? 13 So if you, even though you are bad, know how to give your children gifts that are good, how much more will the Father keep giving the Ruach HaKodesh from heaven to those who keep asking him!”
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Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Year C
Sunday, 17 July 2016
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Hosea 1:2-10
Psalm 85
Colossians 2:6-19
Luke 11:1-13
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Scripture Texts for: Amos 8:1 Here is what Adonai Elohim showed me: there in front of me was a basket of summer fruit. 2 He asked, “‘Amos, what do you see?” I answered, “A basket of summer [Amos 8:2 Hebrew: kayitz] fruit.” Then Adonai said to me,
“The end [Amos 8:2 Hebrew: ketz] has come for my people,
I will never again overlook their offenses.
3 When that time comes, the songs in the temple
will be wailings,” says Adonai Elohim.
“There will be many dead bodies;
everywhere silence will reign.”
4 Listen, you who swallow the needy
and destroy the poor of the land!
5 You say, “When will Rosh-Hodesh be over,
so we can market our grain?
and Shabbat, so we can sell wheat?”
You measure the grain in a small eifah,
but the silver in heavy shekels,
fixing the scales, so that you can cheat,
6 buying the needy for money
and the poor for a pair of shoes,
and sweeping up the refuse of the wheat to sell!”
7 Adonai swears by Ya‘akov’s pride,
“I will forget none of their deeds, ever.
8 Won’t the land tremble for this,
and everyone mourn, who lives in the land?
It will all rise, just like the Nile,
be in turmoil and subside, like the Nile in Egypt.
9 “When that time comes,” says Adonai Elohim,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your festivals into mourning
and all your songs into wailing;
I will make you all put sackcloth around your waists
and shave your heads bald in grief.
I will make it like mourning for an only son
and its end like a bitter day.
11 “The time is coming,” says Adonai Elohim,
“when I will send famine over the land,
not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of Adonai.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and from north to east, running back and forth,
seeking the word of Adonai;
but they will not find it.
Psalm 52:1 (0) For the leader. A maskil of David, 2 when Do’eg from Edom came and told Sha’ul, “David has arrived at the house of Achimelekh”:
3 (1) Why do you boast of your evil, you tyrant,
when God’s mercy is present every day?
4 (2) Your tongue, as sharp as a razor,
plots destruction and works deception.
5 (3) You love evil more than good,
lies rather than speaking uprightly. (Selah)
6 (4) You love all words that eat people up,
you deceitful tongue!
7 (5) This is why God will strike you down,
seize you, pluck you from your tent
and uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
8 (6) The righteous will see and be awestruck;
they will jeer at him, saying,
9 (7) “This fellow would not make God his refuge,
but trusted in his own great wealth,
relying on his evil plots.”
10 (8) But I am like a leafy olive tree
in the house of God;
I put my trust in the grace of God
forever and ever.
11 (9) I will praise you forever for what you have done,
and I will put my hope in your name;
for this is what is good
in the presence of your faithful.
Psalm 82:(0) A psalm of Asaf:
(1) Elohim [God] stands in the divine assembly;
there with the elohim [judges], he judges:
2 “How long will you go on judging unfairly,
favoring the wicked? (Selah)
3 Give justice to the weak and fatherless!
Uphold the rights of the wretched and poor!
4 Rescue the destitute and needy;
deliver them from the power of the wicked!”
5 They don’t know, they don’t understand,
they wander about in darkness;
meanwhile, all the foundations of the earth
are being undermined.
6 “My decree is: ‘You are elohim [gods, judges],
sons of the Most High all of you.
7 Nevertheless, you will die like mortals;
like any prince, you will fall.’”
8 Rise up, Elohim, and judge the earth;
for all the nations are yours.
Colossians 1:15 He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, 16 because in connection with him were created all things — in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities — they have all been created through him and for him. 17 He existed before all things, and he holds everything together.
18 Also he is head of the Body, the Messianic Community — he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might hold first place in everything. 19 For it pleased God to have his full being live in his Son 20 and through his Son to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through him, through having his Son shed his blood by being executed on a stake.
21 In other words, you, who at one time were separated from God and had a hostile attitude towards him because of your wicked deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in the Son’s physical body through his death; in order to present you holy and without defect or reproach before himself — 23 provided, of course, that you continue in your trusting, grounded and steady, and don’t let yourselves be moved away from the hope offered in the Good News you heard.
This is the Good News that has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven; and I, Sha’ul, have become a servant of it. 24 I rejoice in my present sufferings on your behalf! Yes, I am completing in my own flesh what has been lacking of the Messiah’s afflictions, on behalf of his Body, the Messianic Community. 25 I became a servant of the Good News because God gave me this work to do for your benefit. The work is to make fully known the message from God, 26 the secret hidden for generations, for ages, but now made clear to the people he has set apart for himself. 27 To them God wanted to make known how great among the Gentiles is the glorious richness of this secret. And the secret is this: the Messiah is united with you people! In that rests your hope of glory! 28 We, for our part, proclaim him; we warn, confront and teach everyone in all wisdom; so that we may present everyone as having reached the goal, united with the Messiah.
Luke 10:38 On their way Yeshua and his talmidim came to a village where a woman named Marta welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister called Miryam who also sat at the Lord’s feet and heard what he had to say. 40 But Marta was busy with all the work to be done; so, going up to him, she said, “Sir, don’t you care that my sister has been leaving me to do all the work by myself?” 41 However, the Lord answered her, “Marta, Marta, you are fretting and worrying about so many things! 42 But there is only one thing that is essential. Miryam has chosen the right thing, and it won’t be taken away from her.”
-------
Hosea 1:2 Adonai’s opening words in speaking to Hoshea were to instruct Hoshea,
“Go, marry a whore,
and have children with this whore;
for the land is engaged in flagrant whoring,
whoring away from Adonai.”
3 So he went and married Gomer the daughter of Divlayim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Adonai said to him, “Call him Yizre‘el, because in only a short time I will punish the house of Yehu for having shed blood at Yizre‘el; I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Isra’el. 5 When that day comes, I will break the bow of Isra’el in the Yizre‘el Valley.”
6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. Adonai said to him, “Name her Lo-Ruchamah [unpitied], for I will no longer have pity on the house of Isra’el. By no means will I forgive them. 7 But I will pity the house of Y’hudah; I will save them not by bow, sword, battle, horses or cavalry, but by Adonai their God.”
8 After weaning Lo-Ruchamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 Adonai said, “Name him Lo-‘Ammi [not-my-people], because you are not my people, and I will not be your [God].
Psalm 85:1 (0) For the leader. A psalm of the sons of Korach:
2 (1) Adonai, you have shown favor to your land;
you have restored the fortunes of Ya‘akov,
3 (2) taken away the guilt of your people,
pardoned all their sin, (Selah)
4 (3) withdrawn all your wrath,
turned from your fierce anger.
5 (4) Restore us, God of our salvation,
renounce your displeasure with us.
6 (5) Are you to stay angry with us forever?
Will your fury last through all generations?
7 (6) Won’t you revive us again,
so your people can rejoice in you?
8 (7) Show us your grace, Adonai;
grant us your salvation.
9 (8) I am listening. What will God, Adonai, say?
For he will speak peace to his people,
to his holy ones —
but only if they don’t relapse into folly.
10 (9) His salvation is near for those who fear him,
so that glory will be in our land.
11 (10) Grace and truth have met together;
justice and peace have kissed each other.
12 (11) Truth springs up from the earth,
and justice looks down from heaven.
13 (12) Adonai will also grant prosperity;
our land will yield its harvest.
14 (13) Justice will walk before him
and make his footsteps a path.
Colossians 2:6 Therefore, just as you received the Messiah Yeshua as Lord, keep living your life united with him. 7 Remain deeply rooted in him; continue being built up in him and confirmed in your trust, the way you were taught, so that you overflow in thanksgiving.
8 Watch out, so that no one will take you captive by means of philosophy and empty deceit, following human tradition which accords with the elemental spirits of the world but does not accord with the Messiah. 9 For in him, bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is. 10 And it is in union with him that you have been made full — he is the head of every rule and authority.
11 Also it was in union with him that you were circumcised with a circumcision not done by human hands, but accomplished by stripping away the old nature’s control over the body. In this circumcision done by the Messiah, 12 you were buried along with him by being immersed; and in union with him, you were also raised up along with him by God’s faithfulness that worked when he raised Yeshua from the dead. 13 You were dead because of your sins, that is, because of your “foreskin,” your old nature. But God made you alive along with the Messiah by forgiving you all your sins. 14 He wiped away the bill of charges against us. Because of the regulations, it stood as a testimony against us; but he removed it by nailing it to the execution-stake. 15 Stripping the rulers and authorities of their power, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by means of the stake.
16 So don’t let anyone pass judgment on you in connection with eating and drinking, or in regard to a Jewish festival or Rosh-Hodesh or Shabbat. 17 These are a shadow of things that are coming, but the body is of the Messiah.
18 Don’t let anyone deny you the prize by insisting that you engage in self-mortification or angel-worship. Such people are always going on about some vision they have had, and they vainly puff themselves up by their worldly outlook. 19 They fail to hold to the Head, from whom the whole Body, receiving supply and being held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God makes it grow.
Luke 11:1 One time Yeshua was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of the talmidim said to him, “Sir, teach us to pray, just as Yochanan taught his talmidim.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father,
May your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come.
3 Give us each day the food we need.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we too forgive everyone who has wronged us.
And do not lead us to hard testing.’”
5 He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend; and you go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine who has been travelling has just arrived at my house, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 Now the one inside may answer, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already shut, my children are with me in bed — I can’t get up to give you anything!’ 8 But I tell you, even if he won’t get up because the man is his friend, yet because of the man’s hutzpah he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “Moreover, I myself say to you: keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who goes on asking receives; and he who goes on seeking finds; and to him who continues knocking, the door will be opened.
11 “Is there any father here who, if his son asked him for a fish, would instead of a fish give him a snake? 12 or if he asked for an egg would give him a scorpion? 13 So if you, even though you are bad, know how to give your children gifts that are good, how much more will the Father keep giving the Ruach HaKodesh from heaven to those who keep asking him!”
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John Wesley's Notes-Commentary for: Amos 8:1-12
Verse 2
[2] And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
The end — Of God's patience towards Israel, the end of their ripening, they are now fully ripe, fit to be gathered.
Pass by them — God had with admirable patience spared, but now he will no more pardon or spare.
Verse 3
[3] And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
With silence — So great will be the cruelty of the enemy, that they dare not bury them, or if they do, it must be undiscerned.
Verse 4
[4] Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
To fail — Either to root them out, or to enslave them.
Verse 5
[5] Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
When — Ye that could wish there were nothing to interrupt your marketing, that look on solemn times of worship as burdensome, such was the first day of every month, and the weekly sabbath.
Small — So the ephah being too little, the poor buyer had not his due.
The shekel great — They weighed the money which they received, and had no more justice, than to make their shekel weight greater than the standard; so the poor were twice oppressed, had less than was their right, and paid more than they ought to pay.
Verse 6
[6] That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
That we may buy — They would have new moons and sabbaths over, that they might go to market to buy the poor. And when these poor owed but for a very little commodity, as suppose a pair of shoes, these merciless men would take the advantage against them, and make them sell themselves to pay the debt.
The refuse — This was another kind of oppression, corrupted wares, sold to those that were necessitous.
Verse 7
[7] The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
Hath sworn — By himself.
Forget — Suffer to pass unpunished.
Verse 8
[8] Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
The land — The people of it.
For this — This that you have done, and this that God will do.
And it — The judgment, the displeasure of God, shall rise and grow like a mighty wasting flood.
It — The land.
Drowned — As Egypt by the overflowing of the Nile.
Verse 9
[9] And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
At noon — So Israel's sun did as at noon set under the dark cloud of conspiracies and civil wars by Shallum, Menahem, Pekah, and Hosea, 'till the midnight darkness drew on by Pul, Tiglath-Pilneser, and Salmaneser.
Darken — Bring a thick cloud of troubles and afflictions.
In the clear day — When they think all is safe, sure, and well settled.
Verse 10
[10] And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
Upon all loins — All sorts of persons shall put on mourning.
Baldness — Shaving the head and beard was a sign of the greatest sadness.
A bitter day — A bitter day, which you shall wish you had never seen, shall succeed your dark night.
Verse 12
[12] And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
Shall wander — Search all places for a prophet or preacher, from the Mid-land sea to the dead sea, they shall search all corners for a prophet.
Psalm 52
Verse 1
[1] Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.
Continually — God is continually doing good: thou art continually doing mischief.
O mighty — He speaks ironically. O valiant captain! To kill a few weak and unarmed persons.
Verse 2
[2] Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
Deviseth — Expresses what thy wicked mind had devised.
Deceitfully — Doeg pretended only to vindicate himself from disloyalty, 1 Samuel 22:8, but he really intended to expose the priests, to the king's fury.
Verse 5
[5] God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. /*Selah*/.
Pluck thee — Violently and suddenly as the Hebrew word signifies, from thy house and lands, and all the wages of thy righteousness.
Root — Though thou seemest to have taken deep root, yet God shall pluck thee up by the very roots, and destroy thee both root and branch.
Verse 6
[6] The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:
Fear — Reverence God's just judgment.
Verse 8
[8] But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
The house — In God's church, or among his people.
Verse 9
[9] I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.
Thou hast — Destroyed mine and thine implacable enemies, and established me in the throne, of which I am no less assured, than if it were already done. I will continue in thy way, placing my whole confidence in thy power and goodness, and faithfulness.
Before — In the presence of thy saints.
Psalm 82
Verse 1
[1] God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
Standeth — To observe all that is said or done there.
Mighty — Kings or chief rulers. By their congregation he understands all persons whatsoever of this high and sacred order.
Judgeth — Passes sentence upon them.
The gods — Judges and magistrates are called gods, because they have their commission from God, and act as his deputies.
Verse 2
[2] How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? /*Selah*/.
How long — The psalmist speaks to them in God's name.
Accept — By giving sentence according to your respect or affection to the person.
Verse 5
[5] They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
They — The magistrates of whom this psalm treats.
Know not — The duty of their place.
Nor will — Their ignorance is wilful.
Walk on — They persist: it is their constant course.
In darkness — In their sinful courses.
The foundations — This corruption of the supreme rulers, flows from them to their inferior officers and members.
Verse 6
[6] I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
Have said — I have given you my name and power to rule your people in my stead.
All — Not only the rulers of Israel, but of all other nations.
Children — Representing my person, and bearing both my name and authority.
Verse 7
[7] But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
Like men — Or, like ordinary men.
Verse 8
[8] Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.
Arise — Take the sword of justice into thine own hand.
Colossians 1:15-28
Verse 15
[15] Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Who is — By describing the glory of Christ, and his pre-eminence over the highest angels, the apostle here lays a foundation for the reproof of all worshippers of angels.
The image of the invisible God — Whom none can represent, but his only begotten Son; in his divine nature the invisible image, in his human the visible image, of the Father.
The first begotten of every creature — That is, begotten before every creature; subsisting before all worlds, before all time, from all eternity.
Verse 16
[16] For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
For — This explains the latter part of the preceding verse. Through implies something prior to the particles by and for; so denoting the beginning, the progress, and the end.
Him — This word, frequently repeated, signifies his supreme majesty, and excludes every creature.
Were created all things that are in heaven — And heaven itself. But the inhabitants are named, because more noble than the house.
Invisible — The several species of which are subjoined. Thrones are superior to dominions; principalities, to powers. Perhaps the two latter may express their office with regard to other creatures: the two former may refer to God, who maketh them his chariots, and, as it were, rideth upon their wings.
Verse 17
[17] And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
And he is before all things — It is not said, he was: he is from everlasting to everlasting.
And by him all things consist — The original expression not only implies, that he sustains all things in being, but more directly, All things were and are compacted in him into one system. He is the cement, as well as support, of the universe. And is he less than the supreme God?
Verse 18
[18] And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
And — From the whole he now descends to the most eminent part, the church.
He is the head of the church — Universal; the supreme and only head both of influence and of government to the whole body of believers.
Who is — The repetition of the expression { Colossians 1:15} points out the entrance on a new paragraph.
The beginning — Absolutely, the Eternal.
The first begotten from the dead — From whose resurrection flows all the life, spiritual and eternal, of all his brethren.
That in all things — Whether of nature or grace.
He might have the pre-eminence — Who can sound this depth?
Verse 19
[19] For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
For it pleased the Father that all fulness — All the fulness of God.
Should dwell in him — Constantly, as in a temple; and always ready for our approach to him.
Verse 20
[20] And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Through the blood of the cross — The blood shed thereon.
Whether things on earth — Here the enmity began: therefore this is mentioned first.
Or things in heaven — Those who are now in paradise; the saints who died before Christ came.
Verse 21
[21] And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
And you that were alienated, and enemies — Actual alienation of affection makes habitual enmity.
In your mind — Both your understanding and your affections.
By wicked works — Which continually feed and increase inward alienation from, and enmity to, God.
He hath now reconciled — From the moment ye believed.
Verse 22
[22] In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
By the body of his flesh — So distinguished from his body, the church. The body here denotes his entire manhood.
Through death — Whereby he purchased the reconciliation which we receive by faith.
To present you — The very end of that reconciliation.
Holy — Toward God.
Spotless — In yourselves.
Unreprovable — As to your neighbour.
Verse 23
[23] If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
If ye continue in the faith — Otherwise, ye will lose all the blessings which ye have already begun to enjoy.
And be not removed from the hope of the gospel — The glorious hope of perfect love.
Which is preached — Is already begun to be preached to every creature under heaven.
Verse 24
[24] Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up — That is, whereby I fill up.
That which is behind of the sufferings of Christ — That which remains to be suffered by his members. These are termed the sufferings of Christ, 1. Because the suffering of any member is the suffering of the whole; and of the head especially, which supplies strength, spirits, sense, and motion to all. 2. Because they are for his sake, for the testimony of his truth. And these also are necessary for the church; not to reconcile it to God, or satisfy for sin, (for that Christ did perfectly,) but for example to others, perfecting of the saints, and increasing their reward.
Verse 25
[25] Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
According to the dispensation of God which is given me — Or, the stewardship with which I am intrusted.
Verse 26
[26] Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
The mystery — Namely, Christ both justifying and sanctifying gentiles, as well as Jews. Which hath been comparatively hid from former ages and past generations of men.
Verse 27
[27] To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Christ dwelling and reigning in you, The hope of glory - The ground of your hope.
Verse 28
[28] Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
We teach the ignorant, and admonish them that are already taught.
Luke 10:38-42
Verse 40
[40] But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
Martha was encumbered — The Greek word properly signifies to be drawn different ways at the same time, and admirably expresses the situation of a mind, surrounded (as Martha's then was) with so many objects of care, that it hardly knows which to attend to first.
Verse 41
[41] And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
Martha, Martha — There is a peculiar spirit and tenderness in the repetition of the word: thou art careful, inwardly, and hurried, outwardly.
Verse 42
[42] But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Mary hath chosen the good part — To save her soul. Reader, hast thou?
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Hosea 1:2-10
Verse 2
[2] The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
Go take — This was, probably, done in vision, and was to be told to the people, as other visions were: it was parabolically proposed to them, and might have been sufficient to convince the Jews, would they have considered it, as David considered Nathan's parable.
A wife of whoredoms and children — Receive and maintain the children she had before.
Verse 4
[4] And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
The blood — The slaughters made by Jehu's hand or by his order, in Jezreel.
The house of Jehu — Which had now possessed the throne, through the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoash, and Jeroboam; but the usurper, and his successors adhering to the idolatry of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and adding other sins to it, had now provoked God to declare a sudden extirpation of the family: all this came to pass when Shallum conspiring against Zechariah, slew him, 2 Kings 15:8-10.
The kingdom — After one and forty years tottering it fell to utter ruin and hath so continued to this day.
Verse 5
[5] And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
At that day — When my vengeance hath overtaken the house of Jehu.
Break — Weaken and by degrees quite break.
The bow — All their warlike provision, power and skill.
Jezreel — In this valley it is probable the bloodiest battles in the civil wars were fought; the reason whereof might be, because whoever carried the victory in this place, were soon masters of Samaria and Jezreel, and consequently of the kingdom.
Verse 6
[6] And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
Lo-ruhamah — Not pitied. Israel's name had been through many ages Ruhamah, that is, pitied. God had pitied them, and saved them from their enemies. But now Israel should be no more pitied, God would throw them up to the rage of usurpers, and conspirators.
Verse 7
[7] But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
Save them — I will preserve them, that violence do not swallow them up, nor length of captivity wear them out; and this preserved remnant shall return and be planted in their own land, and there kept in safety.
By the Lord — Particularly in that extraordinary deliverance of Hezekiah and Jerusalem, from Sennacherib.
Verse 9
[9] Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.
Loammi — That is, not my people. Tho' once you were a peculiar people, you are so no more; you are cast off as you deserved.
I will not be your God — I will be a God to you, no more than to any of the Heathen nations. This God executed when he gave them up into the hands of Salmaneser, who sent them where none now can find them.
Verse 10
[10] Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
The children of Israel — Not Israel after the flesh, not those very families that are carried captive.
In the place — In those places, were a people dwelt who were not his people, there shall be a people of God.
The living God — Who is the fountain of life to all his children, and who enables them to offer living sacrifices to the living God.
Psalm 85
Verse 1
[1] LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
Captivity — The captives.
Verse 4
[4] Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.
Turn us — Restore us to our former tranquillity, and free us from the troubles which we yet groan under.
Verse 6
[6] Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
Revive us — Give us a second reviving in bringing home the rest of our brethren, and in restraining our enemies.
Verse 8
[8] I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
Will hear — Diligently observe.
Will speak — What answer God will give to my prayers.
Peace — He will give an answer of peace.
Saints — Not to all that are called God's people, but only to those who are truly such.
Verse 9
[9] Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
His salvation — That compleat salvation for which all the Israel of God wait; even the redemption by the Messiah; of which not only Christian, but even Jewish writers understand this place; and to which the following passages properly belong. And the psalmist might well say this salvation was nigh, because the seventy weeks determined by Daniel were begun.
Glory — The glorious presence of God, and the God of glory himself, even Christ, who is the brightness of his father's glory.
Verse 10
[10] Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Kissed — That great work of redemption by Christ, shall clearly manifest God's mercy in redeeming his people Israel, and in the conversion of the Gentiles; his truth in fulfilling that great promise of sending his son, his righteousness in punishing sin, on his son, and in conferring righteousness upon guilty and lost creatures; and his peace or reconciliation to sinners, and that peace of conscience which attends upon it.
Verse 11
[11] Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Truth — Truth among men.
Righteousness — And God's justice shall be satisfied: he shall look down upon sinful men with a smiling countenance.
Verse 13
[13] Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
Before him — As his harbinger. He shall fulfil all righteousness, he shall satisfy the righteousness of God, and shall advance righteousness and holiness among men.
Set us — Shall cause us to walk in those righteous ways wherein he walketh.
Colossians 2:6-19
Verse 6
[6] As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
So walk in him — In the same faith, love, holiness.
Verse 7
[7] Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Rooted in him — As the vine.
Built — On the sure foundation.
Verse 8
[8] Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Through philosophy and empty deceit — That is, through the empty deceit of philosophy blended with Christianity. This the apostle condemns, 1. Because it was empty and deceitful, promising happiness, but giving none. 2. Because it was grounded, not on solid reason, but the traditions of men, Zeno, Epicurus, and the rest. And, 3. Because it was so shallow and superficial, not advancing beyond the knowledge of sensible things; no, not beyond the first rudiments of them. 9, For in him dwelleth - Inhabiteth, continually abideth, all the fulness of the Godhead. Believers are "filled with all the fulness of God," Ephesians 3:19. But in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead; the most full Godhead; not only divine powers, but divine nature, Colossians 1:19.
Bodily — Personally, really, substantially. The very substance of God, if one might so speak, dwells in Christ in the most full sense.
Verse 10
[10] And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
And ye — Who believe.
Are filled with him — John 1:16. Christ is filled with God, and ye are filled with Christ. And ye are filled by him. The fulness of Christ overflows his church, Psalms 133:3. He is originally full. We are filled by him with wisdom and holiness.
Who is the head of all principality and power — Of angels as well as men Not from angels therefore, but from their head, are we to ask whatever we stand in need of.
Verse 11
[11] In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
By whom also ye have been circumcised — Ye have received the spiritual blessings typified of old by circumcision.
With a circumcision not performed with hands — By an inward, spiritual operation. In putting off, not a little skin, but the whole body of the sins of the flesh - All the sins of your evil nature.
By the circumcision of Christ — By that spiritual circumcision which Christ works in your heart.
Verse 12
[12] Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Which he wrought in you, when ye were as it were buried with him in baptism - The ancient manner of baptizing by immersion is as manifestly alluded to here, as the other manner of baptizing by sprinkling or pouring of water is, Hebrews 10:22. But no stress is laid on the age of the baptized, or the manner of performing it, in one or the other; but only on our being risen with Christ, through the powerful operation of God in the soul; which we cannot but know assuredly, if it really is so: and if we do not experience this, our baptism has not answered the end of its institution.
By which ye are also risen with him — From the death of sin to the life of holiness. It does not appear, that in all this St. Paul speaks of justification at all, but of sanctification altogether.
Verse 13
[13] And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
And you who were dead — Doubly dead to God, not only wallowing in trespasses, outward sins, but also in the uncircumcision of your flesh - A beautiful expression for original sin, the inbred corruption of your nature, your uncircumcised heart and affections.
Hath he — God the Father.
Quickened together with him — Making you partakers of the power of his resurrection. It is evident the apostle thus far speaks, not of justification, but of sanctification only.
Verse 14
[14] Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Having blotted out — in consequence of his gracious decrees, that Christ should come into the world to save sinners, and that whosoever believeth on him should have everlasting life.
The handwriting against us — Where a debt is contracted, it is usually testified by some handwriting; and when the debt is forgiven, the handwriting is destroyed, either by blotting it out, by taking it away, or by tearing it. The apostle expresses in all these three ways, God's destroying the handwriting which was contrary to us, or at enmity with us. This was not properly our sins themselves, (they were the debt,) but their guilt and cry before God.
Verse 15
[15] And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
And having spoiled the principalities and powers — The evil angels, of their usurped dominion.
He — God the Father.
Exposed them openly — Before all the hosts of hell and heaven.
Triumphing over them in or by him — By Christ. Thus the paragraph begins with Christ, goes on with him, and ends with him.
Verse 16
[16] Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Therefore — Seeing these things are so.
Let none judge you — That is, regard none who judge you.
In meat or drink — For not observing the ceremonial law in these or any other particulars. Or in respect of a yearly feast, the new moon, or the weekly Jewish sabbaths.
Verse 17
[17] Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Which are but a lifeless shadow; but the body, the substance, is of Christ.
Verse 18
[18] Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Out of pretended humility, they worshipped angels, as not daring to apply immediately to God. Yet this really sprung from their being puffed up: (the constant forerunner of a fall, Proverbs 16:18) so far was it from being an instance of true humility.
Verse 19
[19] And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
And not holding the head — He does not hold Christ, who does not trust in him alone. All the members are nourished by faith, and knit together by love and mutual sympathy.
Luke 11:1-13
Verse 2
[2] And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
When ye pray, say — And what he said to them is undoubtedly said to us also. We are therefore here directed, not only to imitate this in all our prayers, but to use this very form of prayer. Matthew 6:9.
Verse 4
[4] And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Forgive us; for we forgive them — Not once, but continually. This does not denote the meritorious cause of our pardon; but the removal of that hinderance which otherwise would render it impossible.
Verse 5
[5] And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
At midnight — The most unseasonable time: but no time is unseasonable with God, either for hearing or answering prayer.
Verse 9
[9] And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7.
Verse 13
[13] If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
How much more shall your heavenly Father — How beautiful is the gradation! A friend: a father: God! Give the Holy Spirit - The best of gifts, and that which includes every good gift.
Verse 2
[2] And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
The end — Of God's patience towards Israel, the end of their ripening, they are now fully ripe, fit to be gathered.
Pass by them — God had with admirable patience spared, but now he will no more pardon or spare.
Verse 3
[3] And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
With silence — So great will be the cruelty of the enemy, that they dare not bury them, or if they do, it must be undiscerned.
Verse 4
[4] Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
To fail — Either to root them out, or to enslave them.
Verse 5
[5] Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
When — Ye that could wish there were nothing to interrupt your marketing, that look on solemn times of worship as burdensome, such was the first day of every month, and the weekly sabbath.
Small — So the ephah being too little, the poor buyer had not his due.
The shekel great — They weighed the money which they received, and had no more justice, than to make their shekel weight greater than the standard; so the poor were twice oppressed, had less than was their right, and paid more than they ought to pay.
Verse 6
[6] That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
That we may buy — They would have new moons and sabbaths over, that they might go to market to buy the poor. And when these poor owed but for a very little commodity, as suppose a pair of shoes, these merciless men would take the advantage against them, and make them sell themselves to pay the debt.
The refuse — This was another kind of oppression, corrupted wares, sold to those that were necessitous.
Verse 7
[7] The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
Hath sworn — By himself.
Forget — Suffer to pass unpunished.
Verse 8
[8] Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
The land — The people of it.
For this — This that you have done, and this that God will do.
And it — The judgment, the displeasure of God, shall rise and grow like a mighty wasting flood.
It — The land.
Drowned — As Egypt by the overflowing of the Nile.
Verse 9
[9] And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
At noon — So Israel's sun did as at noon set under the dark cloud of conspiracies and civil wars by Shallum, Menahem, Pekah, and Hosea, 'till the midnight darkness drew on by Pul, Tiglath-Pilneser, and Salmaneser.
Darken — Bring a thick cloud of troubles and afflictions.
In the clear day — When they think all is safe, sure, and well settled.
Verse 10
[10] And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
Upon all loins — All sorts of persons shall put on mourning.
Baldness — Shaving the head and beard was a sign of the greatest sadness.
A bitter day — A bitter day, which you shall wish you had never seen, shall succeed your dark night.
Verse 12
[12] And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
Shall wander — Search all places for a prophet or preacher, from the Mid-land sea to the dead sea, they shall search all corners for a prophet.
Psalm 52
Verse 1
[1] Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.
Continually — God is continually doing good: thou art continually doing mischief.
O mighty — He speaks ironically. O valiant captain! To kill a few weak and unarmed persons.
Verse 2
[2] Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
Deviseth — Expresses what thy wicked mind had devised.
Deceitfully — Doeg pretended only to vindicate himself from disloyalty, 1 Samuel 22:8, but he really intended to expose the priests, to the king's fury.
Verse 5
[5] God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. /*Selah*/.
Pluck thee — Violently and suddenly as the Hebrew word signifies, from thy house and lands, and all the wages of thy righteousness.
Root — Though thou seemest to have taken deep root, yet God shall pluck thee up by the very roots, and destroy thee both root and branch.
Verse 6
[6] The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:
Fear — Reverence God's just judgment.
Verse 8
[8] But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
The house — In God's church, or among his people.
Verse 9
[9] I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.
Thou hast — Destroyed mine and thine implacable enemies, and established me in the throne, of which I am no less assured, than if it were already done. I will continue in thy way, placing my whole confidence in thy power and goodness, and faithfulness.
Before — In the presence of thy saints.
Psalm 82
Verse 1
[1] God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
Standeth — To observe all that is said or done there.
Mighty — Kings or chief rulers. By their congregation he understands all persons whatsoever of this high and sacred order.
Judgeth — Passes sentence upon them.
The gods — Judges and magistrates are called gods, because they have their commission from God, and act as his deputies.
Verse 2
[2] How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? /*Selah*/.
How long — The psalmist speaks to them in God's name.
Accept — By giving sentence according to your respect or affection to the person.
Verse 5
[5] They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
They — The magistrates of whom this psalm treats.
Know not — The duty of their place.
Nor will — Their ignorance is wilful.
Walk on — They persist: it is their constant course.
In darkness — In their sinful courses.
The foundations — This corruption of the supreme rulers, flows from them to their inferior officers and members.
Verse 6
[6] I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
Have said — I have given you my name and power to rule your people in my stead.
All — Not only the rulers of Israel, but of all other nations.
Children — Representing my person, and bearing both my name and authority.
Verse 7
[7] But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
Like men — Or, like ordinary men.
Verse 8
[8] Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.
Arise — Take the sword of justice into thine own hand.
Colossians 1:15-28
Verse 15
[15] Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Who is — By describing the glory of Christ, and his pre-eminence over the highest angels, the apostle here lays a foundation for the reproof of all worshippers of angels.
The image of the invisible God — Whom none can represent, but his only begotten Son; in his divine nature the invisible image, in his human the visible image, of the Father.
The first begotten of every creature — That is, begotten before every creature; subsisting before all worlds, before all time, from all eternity.
Verse 16
[16] For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
For — This explains the latter part of the preceding verse. Through implies something prior to the particles by and for; so denoting the beginning, the progress, and the end.
Him — This word, frequently repeated, signifies his supreme majesty, and excludes every creature.
Were created all things that are in heaven — And heaven itself. But the inhabitants are named, because more noble than the house.
Invisible — The several species of which are subjoined. Thrones are superior to dominions; principalities, to powers. Perhaps the two latter may express their office with regard to other creatures: the two former may refer to God, who maketh them his chariots, and, as it were, rideth upon their wings.
Verse 17
[17] And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
And he is before all things — It is not said, he was: he is from everlasting to everlasting.
And by him all things consist — The original expression not only implies, that he sustains all things in being, but more directly, All things were and are compacted in him into one system. He is the cement, as well as support, of the universe. And is he less than the supreme God?
Verse 18
[18] And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
And — From the whole he now descends to the most eminent part, the church.
He is the head of the church — Universal; the supreme and only head both of influence and of government to the whole body of believers.
Who is — The repetition of the expression { Colossians 1:15} points out the entrance on a new paragraph.
The beginning — Absolutely, the Eternal.
The first begotten from the dead — From whose resurrection flows all the life, spiritual and eternal, of all his brethren.
That in all things — Whether of nature or grace.
He might have the pre-eminence — Who can sound this depth?
Verse 19
[19] For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
For it pleased the Father that all fulness — All the fulness of God.
Should dwell in him — Constantly, as in a temple; and always ready for our approach to him.
Verse 20
[20] And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Through the blood of the cross — The blood shed thereon.
Whether things on earth — Here the enmity began: therefore this is mentioned first.
Or things in heaven — Those who are now in paradise; the saints who died before Christ came.
Verse 21
[21] And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
And you that were alienated, and enemies — Actual alienation of affection makes habitual enmity.
In your mind — Both your understanding and your affections.
By wicked works — Which continually feed and increase inward alienation from, and enmity to, God.
He hath now reconciled — From the moment ye believed.
Verse 22
[22] In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
By the body of his flesh — So distinguished from his body, the church. The body here denotes his entire manhood.
Through death — Whereby he purchased the reconciliation which we receive by faith.
To present you — The very end of that reconciliation.
Holy — Toward God.
Spotless — In yourselves.
Unreprovable — As to your neighbour.
Verse 23
[23] If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
If ye continue in the faith — Otherwise, ye will lose all the blessings which ye have already begun to enjoy.
And be not removed from the hope of the gospel — The glorious hope of perfect love.
Which is preached — Is already begun to be preached to every creature under heaven.
Verse 24
[24] Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up — That is, whereby I fill up.
That which is behind of the sufferings of Christ — That which remains to be suffered by his members. These are termed the sufferings of Christ, 1. Because the suffering of any member is the suffering of the whole; and of the head especially, which supplies strength, spirits, sense, and motion to all. 2. Because they are for his sake, for the testimony of his truth. And these also are necessary for the church; not to reconcile it to God, or satisfy for sin, (for that Christ did perfectly,) but for example to others, perfecting of the saints, and increasing their reward.
Verse 25
[25] Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
According to the dispensation of God which is given me — Or, the stewardship with which I am intrusted.
Verse 26
[26] Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
The mystery — Namely, Christ both justifying and sanctifying gentiles, as well as Jews. Which hath been comparatively hid from former ages and past generations of men.
Verse 27
[27] To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Christ dwelling and reigning in you, The hope of glory - The ground of your hope.
Verse 28
[28] Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
We teach the ignorant, and admonish them that are already taught.
Luke 10:38-42
Verse 40
[40] But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
Martha was encumbered — The Greek word properly signifies to be drawn different ways at the same time, and admirably expresses the situation of a mind, surrounded (as Martha's then was) with so many objects of care, that it hardly knows which to attend to first.
Verse 41
[41] And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
Martha, Martha — There is a peculiar spirit and tenderness in the repetition of the word: thou art careful, inwardly, and hurried, outwardly.
Verse 42
[42] But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Mary hath chosen the good part — To save her soul. Reader, hast thou?
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Hosea 1:2-10
Verse 2
[2] The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
Go take — This was, probably, done in vision, and was to be told to the people, as other visions were: it was parabolically proposed to them, and might have been sufficient to convince the Jews, would they have considered it, as David considered Nathan's parable.
A wife of whoredoms and children — Receive and maintain the children she had before.
Verse 4
[4] And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
The blood — The slaughters made by Jehu's hand or by his order, in Jezreel.
The house of Jehu — Which had now possessed the throne, through the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoash, and Jeroboam; but the usurper, and his successors adhering to the idolatry of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and adding other sins to it, had now provoked God to declare a sudden extirpation of the family: all this came to pass when Shallum conspiring against Zechariah, slew him, 2 Kings 15:8-10.
The kingdom — After one and forty years tottering it fell to utter ruin and hath so continued to this day.
Verse 5
[5] And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
At that day — When my vengeance hath overtaken the house of Jehu.
Break — Weaken and by degrees quite break.
The bow — All their warlike provision, power and skill.
Jezreel — In this valley it is probable the bloodiest battles in the civil wars were fought; the reason whereof might be, because whoever carried the victory in this place, were soon masters of Samaria and Jezreel, and consequently of the kingdom.
Verse 6
[6] And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
Lo-ruhamah — Not pitied. Israel's name had been through many ages Ruhamah, that is, pitied. God had pitied them, and saved them from their enemies. But now Israel should be no more pitied, God would throw them up to the rage of usurpers, and conspirators.
Verse 7
[7] But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
Save them — I will preserve them, that violence do not swallow them up, nor length of captivity wear them out; and this preserved remnant shall return and be planted in their own land, and there kept in safety.
By the Lord — Particularly in that extraordinary deliverance of Hezekiah and Jerusalem, from Sennacherib.
Verse 9
[9] Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.
Loammi — That is, not my people. Tho' once you were a peculiar people, you are so no more; you are cast off as you deserved.
I will not be your God — I will be a God to you, no more than to any of the Heathen nations. This God executed when he gave them up into the hands of Salmaneser, who sent them where none now can find them.
Verse 10
[10] Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
The children of Israel — Not Israel after the flesh, not those very families that are carried captive.
In the place — In those places, were a people dwelt who were not his people, there shall be a people of God.
The living God — Who is the fountain of life to all his children, and who enables them to offer living sacrifices to the living God.
Psalm 85
Verse 1
[1] LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
Captivity — The captives.
Verse 4
[4] Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.
Turn us — Restore us to our former tranquillity, and free us from the troubles which we yet groan under.
Verse 6
[6] Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
Revive us — Give us a second reviving in bringing home the rest of our brethren, and in restraining our enemies.
Verse 8
[8] I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
Will hear — Diligently observe.
Will speak — What answer God will give to my prayers.
Peace — He will give an answer of peace.
Saints — Not to all that are called God's people, but only to those who are truly such.
Verse 9
[9] Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
His salvation — That compleat salvation for which all the Israel of God wait; even the redemption by the Messiah; of which not only Christian, but even Jewish writers understand this place; and to which the following passages properly belong. And the psalmist might well say this salvation was nigh, because the seventy weeks determined by Daniel were begun.
Glory — The glorious presence of God, and the God of glory himself, even Christ, who is the brightness of his father's glory.
Verse 10
[10] Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Kissed — That great work of redemption by Christ, shall clearly manifest God's mercy in redeeming his people Israel, and in the conversion of the Gentiles; his truth in fulfilling that great promise of sending his son, his righteousness in punishing sin, on his son, and in conferring righteousness upon guilty and lost creatures; and his peace or reconciliation to sinners, and that peace of conscience which attends upon it.
Verse 11
[11] Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Truth — Truth among men.
Righteousness — And God's justice shall be satisfied: he shall look down upon sinful men with a smiling countenance.
Verse 13
[13] Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
Before him — As his harbinger. He shall fulfil all righteousness, he shall satisfy the righteousness of God, and shall advance righteousness and holiness among men.
Set us — Shall cause us to walk in those righteous ways wherein he walketh.
Colossians 2:6-19
Verse 6
[6] As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
So walk in him — In the same faith, love, holiness.
Verse 7
[7] Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Rooted in him — As the vine.
Built — On the sure foundation.
Verse 8
[8] Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Through philosophy and empty deceit — That is, through the empty deceit of philosophy blended with Christianity. This the apostle condemns, 1. Because it was empty and deceitful, promising happiness, but giving none. 2. Because it was grounded, not on solid reason, but the traditions of men, Zeno, Epicurus, and the rest. And, 3. Because it was so shallow and superficial, not advancing beyond the knowledge of sensible things; no, not beyond the first rudiments of them. 9, For in him dwelleth - Inhabiteth, continually abideth, all the fulness of the Godhead. Believers are "filled with all the fulness of God," Ephesians 3:19. But in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead; the most full Godhead; not only divine powers, but divine nature, Colossians 1:19.
Bodily — Personally, really, substantially. The very substance of God, if one might so speak, dwells in Christ in the most full sense.
Verse 10
[10] And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
And ye — Who believe.
Are filled with him — John 1:16. Christ is filled with God, and ye are filled with Christ. And ye are filled by him. The fulness of Christ overflows his church, Psalms 133:3. He is originally full. We are filled by him with wisdom and holiness.
Who is the head of all principality and power — Of angels as well as men Not from angels therefore, but from their head, are we to ask whatever we stand in need of.
Verse 11
[11] In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
By whom also ye have been circumcised — Ye have received the spiritual blessings typified of old by circumcision.
With a circumcision not performed with hands — By an inward, spiritual operation. In putting off, not a little skin, but the whole body of the sins of the flesh - All the sins of your evil nature.
By the circumcision of Christ — By that spiritual circumcision which Christ works in your heart.
Verse 12
[12] Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Which he wrought in you, when ye were as it were buried with him in baptism - The ancient manner of baptizing by immersion is as manifestly alluded to here, as the other manner of baptizing by sprinkling or pouring of water is, Hebrews 10:22. But no stress is laid on the age of the baptized, or the manner of performing it, in one or the other; but only on our being risen with Christ, through the powerful operation of God in the soul; which we cannot but know assuredly, if it really is so: and if we do not experience this, our baptism has not answered the end of its institution.
By which ye are also risen with him — From the death of sin to the life of holiness. It does not appear, that in all this St. Paul speaks of justification at all, but of sanctification altogether.
Verse 13
[13] And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
And you who were dead — Doubly dead to God, not only wallowing in trespasses, outward sins, but also in the uncircumcision of your flesh - A beautiful expression for original sin, the inbred corruption of your nature, your uncircumcised heart and affections.
Hath he — God the Father.
Quickened together with him — Making you partakers of the power of his resurrection. It is evident the apostle thus far speaks, not of justification, but of sanctification only.
Verse 14
[14] Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Having blotted out — in consequence of his gracious decrees, that Christ should come into the world to save sinners, and that whosoever believeth on him should have everlasting life.
The handwriting against us — Where a debt is contracted, it is usually testified by some handwriting; and when the debt is forgiven, the handwriting is destroyed, either by blotting it out, by taking it away, or by tearing it. The apostle expresses in all these three ways, God's destroying the handwriting which was contrary to us, or at enmity with us. This was not properly our sins themselves, (they were the debt,) but their guilt and cry before God.
Verse 15
[15] And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
And having spoiled the principalities and powers — The evil angels, of their usurped dominion.
He — God the Father.
Exposed them openly — Before all the hosts of hell and heaven.
Triumphing over them in or by him — By Christ. Thus the paragraph begins with Christ, goes on with him, and ends with him.
Verse 16
[16] Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Therefore — Seeing these things are so.
Let none judge you — That is, regard none who judge you.
In meat or drink — For not observing the ceremonial law in these or any other particulars. Or in respect of a yearly feast, the new moon, or the weekly Jewish sabbaths.
Verse 17
[17] Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Which are but a lifeless shadow; but the body, the substance, is of Christ.
Verse 18
[18] Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Out of pretended humility, they worshipped angels, as not daring to apply immediately to God. Yet this really sprung from their being puffed up: (the constant forerunner of a fall, Proverbs 16:18) so far was it from being an instance of true humility.
Verse 19
[19] And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
And not holding the head — He does not hold Christ, who does not trust in him alone. All the members are nourished by faith, and knit together by love and mutual sympathy.
Luke 11:1-13
Verse 2
[2] And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
When ye pray, say — And what he said to them is undoubtedly said to us also. We are therefore here directed, not only to imitate this in all our prayers, but to use this very form of prayer. Matthew 6:9.
Verse 4
[4] And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Forgive us; for we forgive them — Not once, but continually. This does not denote the meritorious cause of our pardon; but the removal of that hinderance which otherwise would render it impossible.
Verse 5
[5] And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
At midnight — The most unseasonable time: but no time is unseasonable with God, either for hearing or answering prayer.
Verse 9
[9] And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7.
Verse 13
[13] If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
How much more shall your heavenly Father — How beautiful is the gradation! A friend: a father: God! Give the Holy Spirit - The best of gifts, and that which includes every good gift.
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The Upper Room Ministries
Today's Daily Devotion is:The Upper Room Ministries
PO Box 340004
Nashville, Tennessee 37203-0004, United States
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Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season,
a right time for every intention under heaven —
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to discard,
7 a time to tear and a time to sew,
a time to keep silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
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Link to GBOD Devotional
Contact Information:
Great Plains Episcopal Office
9440 East Boston, Suite 160
Wichita Kansas 67207, United States
316-686-0600
800-745-2350
info@greatplainsumc.org
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