John 4:46-54

[46]Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. [47]When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. [48]Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." [49]The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my little boy dies." [50]Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. [51]As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. [52]So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, "Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him." [53]The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he himself believed, along with his whole household. [54]Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

 

Psalm 97

[1]   The LORD is my light and my salvation;  

          whom shall I fear?  

     The LORD is the stronghold of my life;  

          of whom shall I be afraid?

[2]   When evildoers assail me  

          to devour my flesh --  

     my adversaries and foes --  

          they shall stumble and fall.

[3]   Though an army encamp against me,  

          my heart shall not fear;  

     though war rise up against me,  

          yet I will be confident.

[4]   One thing I asked of the LORD,  

          that will I seek after:  

     to live in the house of the LORD  

          all the days of my life,  

     to behold the beauty of the LORD,  

          and to inquire in his temple.

[5]   For he will hide me in his shelter  

          in the day of trouble;  

     he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;  

          he will set me high on a rock.

[6]   Now my head is lifted up  

          above my enemies all around me,  

     and I will offer in his tent  

          sacrifices with shouts of joy;  

     I will sing and make melody to the LORD.

[7]   Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud,  

          be gracious to me and answer me!  

[8]   "Come," my heart says, "seek his face!"  

          Your face, LORD, do I seek.  

[9]        Do not hide your face from me.

     Do not turn your servant away in anger,  

          you who have been my help.  

     Do not cast me off, do not forsake me,  

          O God of my salvation!  

[10]   If my father and mother forsake me,  

          the LORD will take me up.

[11]  Teach me your way, O LORD,  

          and lead me on a level path  

          because of my enemies.  

[12]  Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,  

          for false witnesses have risen against me,  

          and they are breathing out violence.

[13]  I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD  

          in the land of the living.  

[14]   Wait for the LORD;  

          be strong, and let your heart take courage;  

          wait for the LORD!

 

Joshua 1:1-9

[1]After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, [2]"My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. [3]Every place that the sole of your foot
will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. [4]From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. [5]No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. [6]Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. [7]Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. [8]This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. [9]I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Exodus 3:1-5

[1]Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. [2]There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. [3]Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up." [4]When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." [5]Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."

  

Genesis 28:10-22

[10]Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. [11]He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. [12]And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. [13]And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; [14]and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. [15]Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." [16]Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place -- and I did not know it!" [17]And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

[18]So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. [19]He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. [20]Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, [21]so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, [22]and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you."

 

Genesis 12:1-7

[1]Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. [2]I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. [3]I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 

[4] So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. [5]Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, [6]Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. [7]Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

[1]   For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under
heaven:   
[2]   a time to be born, and a time to die;   
    a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;   
[3]   a time to kill, and a time to heal;   
    a time to break down, and a time to build up;   
[4]   a time to weep, and a time to laugh;   
    a time to mourn, and a time to dance;   
[5]   a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;   
    a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;   
[6]   a time to seek, and a time to lose;   
    a time to keep, and a time to throw away;   
[7]   a time to tear, and a time to sew;   
    a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;   

^{8   a time to love, and a time to hate;}   

    a time for war, and a time for peace.

[9]What gain have the workers from their toil? [10]I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. [11]He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. [12]I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; [13]moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.