8 Tevet, 5783

Genesis 47:28-31

Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt, so that the span of Jacob’s life came to one hundred and forty-seven years. And when the time approached for Israel to die, he summoned his son Joseph and said to him, “Do me this favor, place your hand under my thigh as a pledge of your steadfast loyalty: please do not bury me in Egypt. When I lie down with my fathers, take me up from Egypt and bury me in their burial-place.” He replied, “I will do as you have spoken.” And he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. Then Israel bowed at the head of the bed.

Genesis 48:1-9

Some time afterward, Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. And Jacob said to Joseph, “El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and He blessed me, and said to me, ‘I will make you fertile and numerous, making of you a community of peoples; and I will assign this land to your offspring to come for an everlasting possession.’ Now, your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine no less than Reuben and Simeon. But progeny born to you after them shall be yours; they shall be recorded instead of their brothers in their inheritance. I [do this because], when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, while I was journeying in the land of Canaan, when still some distance short of Ephrath; and I buried her there on the road to Ephrath”—now Bethlehem. Noticing Joseph’s sons, Israel asked, “Who are these?” And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” “Bring them up to me,” he said, “that I may bless them.”

Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, published by JPS
Copyright: JPS, 1985

Psalms 44

For the leader. Of the Korahites. A maskil. We have heard, O God, our fathers have told us the deeds You performed in their time, in days of old. With Your hand You planted them, displacing nations; You brought misfortune on peoples, and drove them out. It was not by their sword that they took the land, their arm did not give them victory, but Your right hand, Your arm, and Your goodwill, for You favored them. You are my king, O God; decree victories for Jacob! Through You we gore our foes; by Your name we trample our adversaries; I do not trust in my bow; it is not my sword that gives me victory; You give us victory over our foes; You thwart those who hate us. In God we glory at all times, and praise Your name unceasingly.Selah. Yet You have rejected and disgraced us; You do not go with our armies. You make us retreat before our foe; our enemies plunder us at will. You let them devour us like sheep; You disperse us among the nations. You sell Your people for no fortune, You set no high price on them. You make us the butt of our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us. You make us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. I am always aware of my disgrace; I am wholly covered with shame at the sound of taunting revilers, in the presence of the vengeful foe. All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten You, or been false to Your covenant. Our hearts have not gone astray, nor have our feet swerved from Your path, though You cast us, crushed, to where the sea monster is, and covered us over with deepest darkness. If we forgot the name of our God and spread forth our hands to a foreign god, God would surely search it out, for He knows the secrets of the heart. It is for Your sake that we are slain all day long, that we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. Rouse Yourself; why do You sleep, O Lord? Awaken, do not reject us forever! Why do You hide Your face, ignoring our affliction and distress? We lie prostrate in the dust; our body clings to the ground. Arise and help us, redeem us, as befits Your faithfulness.

Psalms 45

For the leader; on shoshannim. Of the Korahites. A maskil. A love song. My heart is astir with gracious words; I speak my poem to a king; my tongue is the pen of an expert scribe. You are fairer than all men; your speech is endowed with grace; rightly has God given you an eternal blessing. Gird your sword upon your thigh, O hero, in your splendor and glory; in your glory, win success; ride on in the cause of truth and meekness and right; and let your right hand lead you to awesome deeds. Your arrows, sharpened, [pierce] the breast of the king’s enemies; peoples fall at your feet. Your divine throne is everlasting; your royal scepter is a scepter of equity. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; rightly has God, your God, chosen to anoint you with oil of gladness over all your peers. All your robes [are fragrant] with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from ivoried palaces lutes entertain you. Royal princesses are your favorites; the consort stands at your right hand, decked in gold of Ophir. Take heed, lass, and note, incline your ear: forget your people and your father’s house, and let the king be aroused by your beauty; since he is your lord, bow to him. O Tyrian lass, the wealthiest people will court your favor with gifts, goods of all sorts. The royal princess, her dress embroidered with golden mountings, is led inside to the king; maidens in her train, her companions, are presented to you. They are led in with joy and gladness; they enter the palace of the king. Your sons will succeed your ancestors; you will appoint them princes throughout the land. I commemorate your fame for all generations, so peoples will praise you forever and ever.

Psalms 46

For the leader. Of the Korahites; on alamoth. A song. God is our refuge and stronghold, a help in trouble, very near. Therefore we are not afraid though the earth reels, though mountains topple into the sea— its waters rage and foam; in its swell mountains quake.Selah. There is a river whose streams gladden God’s city, the holy dwelling-place of the Most High. God is in its midst, it will not be toppled; by daybreak God will come to its aid. Nations rage, kingdoms topple; at the sound of His thunder the earth dissolves. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our haven.Selah. Come and see what the LORD has done, how He has wrought desolation on the earth. He puts a stop to wars throughout the earth, breaking the bow, snapping the spear, consigning wagons to the flames. “Desist! Realize that I am God! I dominate the nations; I dominate the earth.” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our haven.Selah.

Psalms 47

For the leader. Of the Korahites. A psalm. All you peoples, clap your hands, raise a joyous shout for God. For the LORD Most High is awesome, great king over all the earth; He subjects peoples to us, sets nations at our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom He loved.Selah. God ascends midst acclamation; the LORD, to the blasts of the horn. Sing, O sing to God; sing, O sing to our king; for God is king over all the earth; sing a hymn. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne. The great of the peoples are gathered together, the retinue of Abraham’s God; for the guardians of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted.

Psalms 48

A song. A psalm of the Korahites. The LORD is great and much acclaimed in the city of our God, His holy mountain— fair-crested, joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, summit of Zaphon, city of the great king. Through its citadels, God has made Himself known as a haven. See, the kings joined forces; they advanced together. At the mere sight of it they were stunned, they were terrified, they panicked; they were seized there with a trembling, like a woman in the throes of labor, as the Tarshish fleet was wrecked in an easterly gale. The likes of what we heard we have now witnessed in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God— may God preserve it forever!Selah. In Your temple, God, we meditate upon Your faithful care. The praise of You, God, like Your name, reaches to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is filled with beneficence. Let Mount Zion rejoice! Let the towns of Judah exult, because of Your judgments. Walk around Zion, circle it; count its towers, take note of its ramparts; go through its citadels, that you may recount it to a future age. For God—He is our God forever; He will lead us evermore.

Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, published by JPS
Copyright: JPS, 1985

When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Yeshua stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Yeshua said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Yeshua heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Yeshua said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

And when Yeshua entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

Now when Yeshua saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Yeshua said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Yeshua said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, all the city came out to meet Yeshua, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

(ESV)