January 22
Judges 17 & Matthew 16
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Judges 17

Chapter 17

17:1There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah. 2He said to his mother, "The 1,100 pieces of silver taken from you, and that I heard you utter a curse about-here, I have the silver with me. I took it. So now I return it to you."
Then his mother said, "My son, you are blessed by the Lord!"
3He returned the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, "I personally consecrate the silver to the Lord for my son's benefit to make a carved image overlaid with silver." 4So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took five pounds of silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made it into a carved image overlaid with silver, and it was in Micah's house.
5This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household idols, and installed one of his sons to be his priest. 6In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever he wanted.
7There was a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who resided within the clan of Judah. 8The man left the town of Bethlehem in Judah to settle wherever he could find a place. On his way he came to Micah's home in the hill country of Ephraim.
9"Where do you come from?" Micah asked him.
He answered him, "I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I'm going to settle wherever I can find a place."
10Micah replied, "Stay with me and be my father and priest, and I will give you four ounces of silver a year, along with your clothing and provisions." So the Levite went in 11and agreed to stay with the man, and the young man became like one of his sons. 12Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in Micah's house. 13Then Micah said, "Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest."

Matthew 16

Chapter 16

16:1The Pharisees and Sadducees approached, and as a test, asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.
2He answered them: "When evening comes you say, 'It will be good weather because the sky is red.' 3And in the morning, 'Today will be stormy because the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to read the appearance of the sky, but you can't read the signs of the times. 4An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." Then He left them and went away.
5The disciples reached the other shore, and they had forgotten to take bread.
6Then Jesus told them, "Watch out and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
7And they discussed among themselves, "We didn't bring any bread."
8Aware of this, Jesus said, "You of little faith! Why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread? 9Don't you understand yet? Don't you remember the five loaves for the 5,000 and how many baskets you collected? 10Or the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many large baskets you collected? 11Why is it you don't understand that when I told you, 'Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees,' it wasn't about bread?" 12Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the yeast in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
14And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15"But you," He asked them, "who do you say that I am?"
16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!"
17And Jesus responded, "Simon son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven. 18And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven."
20And He gave the disciples orders to tell no one that He was the Messiah.
21From then on Jesus began to point out to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. 22Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, "Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to You!"
23But He turned and told Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me because you're not thinking about God's concerns, but man's."
24Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. 26What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? 27For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done. 28I assure you: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

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