Lectionary Thursday 3-2-23

 

 Deuteronomy 9:23-10:5 Complete Jewish Bible

^25a “So I fell down before Adonai for those forty days and nights; and I lay there;…

 

Hebrews 4:1-10 Complete Jewish Bible

^2bBut the message they heard didn’t do them any good, because those who heard it did not combine it with trust. 

 

John 3:16-21 (paraphrased from Mounce Reverse Interlinear)

So, this is how G*d loved the world:  by giving their Only-Born Child, so that all who trust in them would not be lost or brought to nothing, but be able to hold the endless life (of G*d).

(I don’t know if it’s really necessary to give the glossary for the Greek, but whenever I paraphrase based on the Greek, I feel I ought to show how my text was derived. I used both Strong’s and Mounce’s online dictionaries. So, for what it’s worth:

“gar houtōs”—“It is in this way that”

“monogenēs”—“only-begotten, only-born”

“hyios”— “son, child of either gender”

“mē apollymi”—“not lost” or “not brought to naught”

“echō”—“hold”

“aiōnios”—“eternity, without beginning or end”

“zōē”—"life” or “the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate”)

 

Falling down in the stillness,

even if I would still be lying here,

Listening—

 

Would I even hear the slightest click

as Trust fuses

with Silence?

 

And even if I did, would I get the message?

 

Would I even know

if this is the right moment

to be  holding on to dear life?

 

Or,

even if I lie here for forty days—

                                  will that add up to Eternity?