Thurzo Gizella Bible Study

Place me like a seal over your heart, like seal over your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like brazing fire, like a mighty flame. Song of Solomon 8:6 NIV

A Christian’s goal should be to create the Kingdom of God here on earth, as it is in Heaven. Not only, to get to Heaven.

To finish the Bible in one year, Read Sirach : 45-46 and Acts 6.

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Verses for today – Listen here: For explanations

Reflection for Today.

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Also read the verses, if you like.

Sirach 45

45 and was beloved by God and people,
    Moses, whose memory is blessed.
² He made him equal in glory to the holy ones
    and made him great, to the terror of his enemies.
³ By his words he performed swift miracles;^[a]
    the Lord^[b] glorified him in the presence of kings.
He gave him commandments for his people
    and revealed to him his glory.
⁴ For his faithfulness and meekness he consecrated him,
    choosing him out of all humankind.
⁵ He allowed him to hear his voice
    and led him into the dark cloud
and gave him the commandments face to face,
    the law of life and knowledge,
so that he might teach Jacob the covenant
    and Israel his decrees.

Aaron

⁶ He exalted Aaron, a holy man like Moses,^[c]
    who was his brother, of the tribe of Levi.
⁷ He made an everlasting covenant with him
    and gave him the priesthood of the people.
He blessed him with stateliness
    and put a glorious robe on him.
⁸ He clothed him in perfect splendor^[d]
    and strengthened him with the apparel of authority,
    the linen undergarments, the long robe, and the ephod.
⁹ And he encircled him with pomegranates,
    with many golden bells all around,
to send forth a sound as he walked,
    to make their ringing heard in the temple
    as a reminder to his people;
¹⁰ with the sacred vestment, of gold and violet
    and purple, the work of an embroiderer;
with the oracle of judgment, the manifestations of truth;
¹¹     with twisted crimson, the work of an artisan;
with precious stones engraved like seals,
    in a setting of gold, the work of a jeweler,
to commemorate in engraved letters
    each of the tribes of Israel;
¹² with a gold crown upon his turban,
    inscribed like a holy seal,
majestic and glorious, a work of power,
    a delight to the eyes, richly adorned.
¹³ Before him such beautiful things did not exist.
    No outsider ever put them on,
but only his sons
    and his descendants in perpetuity.
¹⁴ His sacrifices shall be wholly burned
    twice every day continually.
¹⁵ Moses ordained him
    and anointed him with holy oil;
it was an everlasting covenant for him
    and for his descendants as long as the heavens endure,
to minister to the Lord^[e] and serve as priest
    and bless his people in his name.
¹⁶ He chose him out of all the living
    to offer sacrifice to the Lord,
incense and a pleasing odor as a memorial,
    to make atonement for the^[f] people.
¹⁷ In his commandments he gave him
    authority, by means of a decree, and^[g] judgments,
to teach Jacob the testimonies
    and to enlighten Israel with his law.
¹⁸ Outsiders conspired against him
    and envied him in the wilderness,
Dathan and Abiram and their followers
    and the company of Korah, in wrath and anger.
¹⁹ The Lord saw it and was not pleased,
    and in the heat of his anger they were destroyed;
he performed wonders against them
    to consume them in flaming fire.
²⁰ He added glory to Aaron
    and gave him a heritage;
he allotted to him the best of the first fruits
    and prepared bread of first fruits in abundance,
²¹ for they eat the sacrifices of the Lord,
    which he gave to him and his descendants.
²² But in the land of the people he has no inheritance,
    and he has no portion among the people,
    for the Lord^[h] himself is his^[i] portion and inheritance.

Phinehas

²³ Phinehas son of Eleazar ranks third in glory
    for being zealous in the fear of the Lord
and standing firm, when the people turned away,
    in the noble courage of his soul,
    and he made atonement for Israel.
²⁴ Therefore a covenant of peace was established with him,
    that he should be leader of the sanctuary and of his people,
that he and his descendants should have
    the dignity of the priesthood forever.
²⁵ Just as a covenant was established with David
    son of Jesse of the tribe of Judah,
that the king’s heritage passes only from son to son,
    so the heritage of Aaron is for his descendants alone.

²⁶ And now bless the Lord
    who has crowned you with glory.^[j]
May the Lord^[k] grant you wisdom of mind
    to judge his people with justice,
so that their prosperity may not vanish
    and that their glory may endure through all their generations.

Sirach 46

Joshua and Caleb

46 Joshua son of Nun was mighty in war
    and was the successor of Moses in the prophetic office.
He became, as his name implies,
    a great savior of God’s^[a] elect,
to take vengeance on the enemies who rose against them,
    so that he might give Israel its inheritance.
² How glorious he was when he lifted his hands
    and brandished his sword against the cities!
³ Who before him ever stood so firm?
    For he waged the wars of the Lord.
⁴ Was it not through him that the sun stood still
    and one day became as long as two?
⁵ He called upon the Most High, the Mighty One,
    when enemies pressed him on every side,
and the great Lord answered him
    with hailstones of mighty power.
⁶ He overwhelmed that nation in battle,
    and on the slope he destroyed his opponents,
so that the nations might know his armament,
    because their battle was against^[b] the Lord,
    for he was a devoted follower of the Mighty One.
⁷ And in the days of Moses he showed compassion,
    he and Caleb son of Jephunneh:
they opposed the congregation,^[c]
    restrained the people from sin,
    and stilled their wicked grumbling.
⁸ And these two alone were spared
    out of six hundred thousand infantry,
to lead the people^[d] into their inheritance,
    the land flowing with milk and honey.
⁹ The Lord gave Caleb strength,
    which remained with him in his old age,
so that he went up to the hill country,
    and his children obtained it for an inheritance,
¹⁰ so that all the Israelites might see
    how good it is to follow the Lord.

The Judges

¹¹ The judges also, with their respective names,
    whose hearts did not fall into idolatry
and who did not turn away from the Lord—
    may their memory be blessed!
¹² May their bones send forth new life from where they lie,
    and may the names of those who have been honored
    live again in their children!^[e]

¹³ Samuel was beloved by his Lord;
    a prophet of the Lord, he established the kingdom
    and anointed rulers over his people.
¹⁴ By the law of the Lord he judged the congregation,
    and the Lord watched over Jacob.
¹⁵ By his faithfulness he was proved to be a prophet,
    and by his words he became known as a trustworthy seer.
¹⁶ He called upon the Lord, the Mighty One,
    when his enemies pressed him on every side,
    and he offered in sacrifice a suckling lamb.
¹⁷ Then the Lord thundered from heaven
    and made his voice heard with a mighty sound;
¹⁸ he subdued the leaders of the enemy^[f]
    and all the rulers of the Philistines.
¹⁹ Before the time of his eternal sleep,
    Samuel^[g] bore witness before the Lord and his anointed:
“No property, not so much as a pair of shoes,
    have I taken from anyone!”
    And no one accused him.
²⁰ Even after he had fallen asleep, he prophesied
    and made known to the king his death
and lifted up his voice from the ground
    in prophecy, to blot out the lawlessness of the people.

Acts 6

Seven Chosen to Serve

6 Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. ² And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables.^{[a] 3} Therefore, brothers and sisters, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, ⁴ while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” ⁵ What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. ⁶ They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

⁷ The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

The Arrest of Stephen

⁸ Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹ Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. ¹⁰ But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit^[b] with which he spoke. ¹¹ Then they secretly instigated some men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹² They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. ¹³ They set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law, ¹⁴ for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth^[c] will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us.” ¹⁵ And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Sermons by various teachers about these verses.

Catholic Daily Readings and Reflections

Gospel, Luke 4:38-44

³⁸ Leaving the synagogue he went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in the grip of a high fever and they asked him to do something for her.

³⁹ Standing over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to serve them.

⁴⁰ At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them.

⁴¹ Devils too came out of many people, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he warned them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.

⁴² When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them,

⁴³ but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’

⁴⁴ And he continued his proclamation in the synagogues of Judaea.

Dr. Myles Munroe

I am including a video by Dr. Myles Munroe, I’ve listened to him back in the nineties, and rediscovered him recently. Now his perspective seems to be a good way to also look at scripture. In Pursuit of Purpose – Book Highlights