35You have given me Your shield of salvation; Your right hand upholds me, and Your gentleness exalts me. 36You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not give way. 37I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were consumed. 38I crushed them so they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet. 39You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me. 40You have made my enemies retreat before me; I put an end to those who hated me. 41They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the LORD, but He did not answer. 42I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets. 43You have delivered me from the strife of the people; You have made me the head of nations; a people I had not known shall serve me.
New Testament·Matthew 15:12–39
12Then the disciples came to Him and said, “Are You aware that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots. 14Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” 15Peter said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.” 16“Do you still not understand?” Jesus asked. 17“Do you not yet realize that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then is eliminated? 18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. 20These are what defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile him.” 21Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.” 23But Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” 24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27“Yes, Lord,” she said, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28“O woman,” Jesus answered, “your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. 29Moving on from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountain and sat down. 30Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them. 31The crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. 32Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.” 33The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?” 34“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” 35And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 37They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38A total of four thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children. 39After Jesus had dismissed the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
Old Testament·Genesis 42
1When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” 2“Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.” 3So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm might befall him.” 5So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan. 6Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground. 7And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.” 8Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” 10“Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food. 11We are all sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.” 12“No,” he told them. “You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” 13But they answered, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.” 14Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies! 15And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 17So Joseph imprisoned them for three days, 18and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live: 19If you are honest, leave one of your brothers in custody while the rest of you go and take back grain to relieve the hunger of your households. 20Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented. 21Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!” 23They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. 24And he turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes. 25Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out, 26and they loaded the grain on their donkeys and departed. 27At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack. 28“My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack.” Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” 29When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them: 30“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country. 31But we told him, ‘We are honest men, not spies. 32We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. 34But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’” 35As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed. 36Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!” 37Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.” 38But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
Reflect
What do you want to ask God about something you read today?