Friday 12 August 2011

1Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem,and called for the elders of Israel,for their heads, for their judges,and for their officers;and they presented themselves before God.2Joshua said to all the people,“The Lord, the God of Israel,says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River,even Terah, the father of Abraham,and the father of Nahor.They served other gods.3I took your father Abraham from beyond the River,and led him throughout all the land of Canaan,and multiplied his offspring,and gave him Isaac.4I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau:and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it.Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

5“‘I sent Moses and Aaron,and I plagued Egypt,according to that which I did among them:and afterward I brought you out.6I brought your fathers out of Egypt:and you came to the sea.The Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariotsand with horsemen to the Red Sea.7When they cried out to the Lord,he put darkness between you and the Egyptians,and brought the sea on them, and covered them;and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt.You lived in the wilderness many days.

8“‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites,that lived beyond the Jordan.They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand.You possessed their land,and I destroyed them from before you.9Then Balak the son of Zippor,king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel.He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,10but I would not listen to Balaam;therefore he blessed you still.So I delivered you out of his hand.

11“‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho.The men of Jericho fought against you,the Amorite, the Perizzite,the Canaanite, the Hittite,the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite;and I delivered them into your hand.12I sent the hornet before you,which drove them out from before you,even the two kings of the Amorites;not with your sword, nor with your bow.13I gave you a land on which you had not labored,and cities which you didn’t build,and you live in them.You eat of vineyards and olive groveswhich you didn’t plant.’

1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,for his loving kindness endures forever.2Give thanks to the God of gods,for his loving kindness endures forever.3Give thanks to the Lord of lords,for his loving kindness endures forever;

16to him who led his people through the wilderness,for his loving kindness endures forever;17to him who struck great kings,for his loving kindness endures forever;18and killed mighty kings,for his loving kindness endures forever;

21and gave their land as an inheritance,for his loving kindness endures forever;22even a heritage to Israel his servant,for his loving kindness endures forever;24and has delivered us from our adversaries,for his loving kindness endures forever;

3Pharisees came to him,testing him and saying,“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

4He answered, “Haven’t you read that hewho made them from the beginning made them male and female,5and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother,and shall be joined to his wife;and the two shall become one flesh’?6So that they are no more two, but one flesh.What therefore God has joined together,don’t let man tear apart.”

7They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and divorce her?”

8He said to them, “Moses,because of the hardness of your hearts,allowed you to divorce your wives,but from the beginning it has not been so.9I tell you that whoever divorces his wife,except for sexual immorality,and marries another, commits adultery;and he who marries herwhen she is divorced commits adultery.”

10His disciples said to him,“If this is the case of the man with his wife,it is not expedient to marry.”

11But he said to them,“Not all men can receive this saying,but those to whom it is given.12For there are eunuchs who were bornthat way from their mother’s womb,and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men;and there are eunuchswho made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake.He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.”