Thank YHWH; call on His name; make His deeds known among all peoples. Sing to Him; sing praises and tell of all His wonderful works. Glory in His holy name; let their hearts rejoice, all who seek YHWH. Seek Him, then; seek YHWH and His presence. Keep in mind His marvelous acts of power, love and mercy. He Is--YHWH our God; His judgment extends worldwide; He Is mindful of His covenant for ever--His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob--an everlasting covenant: 'I will give to you the Land of Canaan, your portion as an inheritance.' YHWH chose Israel when they were of little account, wandering among the nations; He protected them from more powerful peoples and rulers. God had already sent Joseph to Egypt, before drought and famine beset His chosen people. Joseph was sold by his jealous brothers into slavery; his feet were bruised with fetters; his neck was in a collar of iron. God tested Joseph, and by grace, Joseph passes His test. Egypt's king freed him and made Joseph lord over Pharaoh's house and the land of Egypt, to instruct the princes of the land and to teach wisdom to their elders. Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. YHWH made His people very fruitful, stronger than their foes. God turned Egyptian hearts to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants. And in time, YHWH sent Moses and Aaron to work signs and miracles before Pharaoh. He sent darkness; He turned their waters to blood and caused their fish to die and their land to be overrun by frogs. God's servant spoke, and swarms of flies and gnats beset Egypt. Hail and lightning devastated the land; God smote their vines and fig trees. Locusts overran the land and devoured all plant life, but left Goshen intact, where the children of Israel dwelled. Finally, God struck down all the firstborn, human and animal, throughout Egypt, but passed over the households of Israel. He led the Israelites forth with silver and gold; Egypt was glad when they departed, for fear of God had overwhelmed the former masters. God guided His people in the wilderness, with a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night. He brought them quail and manna, the bread of angels, to eat, and water to drink, even in the desert, from the Rock He opened before them. For YHWH remembered His holy promise and Abraham, His servant. So God led forth His people with joy and singing; He gave them the lands of nations, and they took possession of the cities and fields, the fruits of the former residents' toil--to the end that His people should follow God's statutes and obey His laws. Praise YHWH!
When Samuel became old, he put his sons over Israel as judges. His firstborn was Joel, and his second, Abijah. They ruled in Beer-Sheba. But these sons perverted justice; they took bribes; they did not follow God, but turned aside after selfish gain. Then, the elders of Israel assembled and came before Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, 'Look! You are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Appoint a king for us, to rule us as kings rule other nations.' This displeased Samuel, and he prayed to YHWH. But YHWH said to Samuel, 'Listen to all the people say to you. They have not rejected you; rather, they haver rejected Me from being King over them. From the day I delivered them from Egypt to this very day, they have forsaken Me and served other gods; they're treating you as they have always treated Me. So now, hearken to their voice and solemnly warn them about the ways of a human king who would rule over them' Samuel did as God commanded: 'The king you want will conscript your sons to be his charioteers, cavalry and foot soldiers. He will appoint captains of thousands and of fifties, and will force others to plow his ground and harvest his crops. He will set others to making weapons and equipment for wars. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and bakers and cooks. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves for his own, and will take a tithe of what you raise and harvest for yourselves, and use it to reward his officers and servants. He will take for himself your male and female slaves, and the best of your domestic livestock. In short, you will be slaves of your mortal king. And on that day, you'll cry out to YHWH for respite, but He will not answer you on that day. But the people refused to heed Samuel's words; they insisted: 'No! We will have a king over us, so we can be like all the other nations, so that our king may go out before us and lead us in battle.' Samuel reported their words to YHWH, and God told His man, 'Hearken to their voice, and make them a king.' And Samuel dismissed the people, saying 'Every man: to your own city.'
The Jewish opponents of the evangelist and deacon Stephen instigated false accusations against him; they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes against him before the Jewish council. The high priest demanded that Stephen answer their false charges. So he did: 'Brothers and fathers, listed to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham, while he was yet living in Mesopotamia, and said, 'Depart from your land and kindred and go hence, to a land which I will show you.' And he obeyed, living in Haran until Abraham's father died. Then, he relocated to this land in which you are now living. God promised him land and descendants, but at that time, gave him neither. God told him that his descendants would be aliens in a place where foreigners would enslave and mistreat them for four centuries. God told him, 'I will judge the nation that enslaves your descendants, and they shall come out and worship Me in this place.' And God gave the Israelites the covenant of circumcision. In this manner Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. When the patriarchs became jealous of Joseph, they sold him into slavery in Egypt. But God was with him and rescued Joseph from all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made Joseph governor over Egypt and the king's own household. A great famine overtook Egypt and Canaan, and our ancestors could find no food. Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, and sent his remaining sons there to buy grain; on their second visit to Egypt from Canaan, Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and then Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. At the king's bidding (but doing God's will), Joseph called Jacob his father and all his kindred, a total of 75 souls, to relocate to Egypt under Joseph's care. So Jacob went down to Egypt; there he died, and presently, so did our other forefathers, and they were carried back the Shechem and laid there in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver, from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
At the Last Supper, with Jesus in the upper room before His crucifixion, the apostles disputed over which of them should be considered the greatest. Jesus said to them, 'The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; those in authority over them are alled benefactors. But it is not so with you: let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. Consider which is greater: one who sits at table, or one who serves? It's the one at table, correct? But I Am among you as One Who serves. You are the ones who have persevered with Me in My trials; and to you, I assign a kingdom, as My Father assigned a kingdom to Me--that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'
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