Today’s Readings

Genesis 7–9

1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.

 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 

3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 

5 And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 

7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 

8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 

9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 

10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 

12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 

14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 

15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in.

17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 

18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters.

 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.

 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. 

21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 

22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 

23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 

24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

8:

1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.

2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,

 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 

4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 

5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 

7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 

8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 

9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 

10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 

11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 

12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 

14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 

15 Then God said to Noah, 

16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 

17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 

18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 

19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 

21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 

22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

9:

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 

2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 

3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

6   “Whoever sheds the blood of man,
    by man shall his blood be shed,
  for God made man in his own image.

7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 

9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 

10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 

11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 

13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 

14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 

15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 

16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 

19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 

21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 

22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.

 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness. 

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 

25 he said,

  “Cursed be Canaan;
    a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

26 He also said,

  “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem;
    and let Canaan be his servant.
27   May God enlarge Japheth,
    and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,
    and let Canaan be his servant.”

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

Luke 7:36–50

36: One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. 

37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 

38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 

39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 

43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 

44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 

45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 

46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 

47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 

48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 

49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 

50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Psalm 111

111:1 
   Praise the LORD!
  I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
    in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2   Great are the works of the LORD,
    studied by all who delight in them.
3   Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
    and his righteousness endures forever.
4   He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
    the LORD is gracious and merciful.
5   He provides food for those who fear him;
    he remembers his covenant forever.
6   He has shown his people the power of his works,
    in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7   The works of his hands are faithful and just;
    all his precepts are trustworthy;
8   they are established forever and ever,
    to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9   He sent redemption to his people;
    he has commanded his covenant forever.
    Holy and awesome is his name!
10   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
    all those who practice it have a good understanding.
    His praise endures forever!