November 19

John 12:12-19

The Triumphal Entry

[12] The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. [13] So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” [14] And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

    [15] “Fear not, daughter of Zion;

    behold, your king is coming,

        sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

    [16] His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. [17] The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. [18] The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. [19] So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

1 John 5:1-12

Overcoming the World

[1] Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. [2] By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. [3] For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. [4] For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. [5] Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Testimony Concerning the Son of God

[6] This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. [7] For there are three that testify: [8] the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. [9] If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. [10] Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. [11] And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Job 17

Job Continues: Where Then Is My Hope?

    [1] “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct;

        the graveyard is ready for me. 

    [2] Surely there are mockers about me,

        and my eye dwells on their provocation.

    [3] “Lay down a pledge for me with you;

        who is there who will put up security for me? 

    [4] Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,

        therefore you will not let them triumph. 

    [5] He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property—

        the eyes of his children will fail.

    [6] “He has made me a byword of the peoples,

        and I am one before whom men spit. 

    [7] My eye has grown dim from vexation,

        and all my members are like a shadow. 

    [8] The upright are appalled at this,

        and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless. 

    [9] Yet the righteous holds to his way,

        and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger. 

    [10] But you, come on again, all of you,

        and I shall not find a wise man among you. 

    [11] My days are past; my plans are broken off,

        the desires of my heart. 

    [12] They make night into day:

        ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’ 

    [13] If I hope for Sheol as my house,

        if I make my bed in darkness, 

    [14] if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’

        and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ 

    [15] where then is my hope?

        Who will see my hope? 

    [16] Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?

        Shall we descend together into the dust?”

Ezekiel 48

[1] “These are the names of the tribes: Beginning at the northern extreme, beside the way of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath, as far as Hazar-enan (which is on the northern border of Damascus over against Hamath), and extending from the east side to the west, Dan, one portion. [2] Adjoining the territory of Dan, from the east side to the west, Asher, one portion. [3] Adjoining the territory of Asher, from the east side to the west, Naphtali, one portion. [4] Adjoining the territory of Naphtali, from the east side to the west, Manasseh, one portion. [5] Adjoining the territory of Manasseh, from the east side to the west, Ephraim, one portion. [6] Adjoining the territory of Ephraim, from the east side to the west, Reuben, one portion. [7] Adjoining the territory of Reuben, from the east side to the west, Judah, one portion.

[8] “Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, 25,000 cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. [9] The portion that you shall set apart for the LORD shall be 25,000 cubits in length, and 20,000 in breadth. [10] These shall be the allotments of the holy portion: the priests shall have an allotment measuring 25,000 cubits on the northern side, 10,000 cubits in breadth on the western side, 10,000 in breadth on the eastern side, and 25,000 in length on the southern side, with the sanctuary of the LORD in the midst of it. [11] This shall be for the consecrated priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept my charge, who did not go astray when the people of Israel went astray, as the Levites did. [12] And it shall belong to them as a special portion from the holy portion of the land, a most holy place, adjoining the territory of the Levites. [13] And alongside the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an allotment 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in breadth. The whole length shall be 25,000 cubits and the breadth 20,000. [14] They shall not sell or exchange any of it. They shall not alienate this choice portion of the land, for it is holy to the LORD.

[15] “The remainder, 5,000 cubits in breadth and 25,000 in length, shall be for common use for the city, for dwellings and for open country. In the midst of it shall be the city, [16] and these shall be its measurements: the north side 4,500 cubits, the south side 4,500, the east side 4,500, and the west side 4,500. [17] And the city shall have open land: on the north 250 cubits, on the south 250, on the east 250, and on the west 250. [18] The remainder of the length alongside the holy portion shall be 10,000 cubits to the east, and 10,000 to the west, and it shall be alongside the holy portion. Its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. [19] And the workers of the city, from all the tribes of Israel, shall till it. [20] The whole portion that you shall set apart shall be 25,000 cubits square, that is, the holy portion together with the property of the city.

[21] “What remains on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city shall belong to the prince. Extending from the 25,000 cubits of the holy portion to the east border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the west border, parallel to the tribal portions, it shall belong to the prince. The holy portion with the sanctuary of the temple shall be in its midst. [22] It shall be separate from the property of the Levites and the property of the city, which are in the midst of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin.

[23] “As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west, Benjamin, one portion. [24] Adjoining the territory of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon, one portion. [25] Adjoining the territory of Simeon, from the east side to the west, Issachar, one portion. [26] Adjoining the territory of Issachar, from the east side to the west, Zebulun, one portion. [27] Adjoining the territory of Zebulun, from the east side to the west, Gad, one portion. [28] And adjoining the territory of Gad to the south, the boundary shall run from Tamar to the waters of Meribah-kadesh, from there along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. [29] This is the land that you shall allot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord GOD.

The Gates of the City

[30] “These shall be the exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, [31] three gates, the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. [32] On the east side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. [33] On the south side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. [34] On the west side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. [35] The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There.”