READ THE BIBLE IN A YEAR - VERSES OF THE DAY- EXODUS 18, MARK 4, PROVERBS 11

Exodus 18

Jethro Visits Moses

 ¹ Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

 ² After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her ³ and her two sons. One son was named Gershom,^[i] for Moses said, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land”; ⁴ and the other was named Eliezer,^[j] for he said, “My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
 ⁵ Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God. Jethro had sent word to him, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”
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 ⁷ So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them.
 ⁹ Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰ He said, “Praise be to the LORD, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” ¹² Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.
 ¹³ The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”
 ¹⁵ Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. ¹⁶ Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.”
 ¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. ¹⁹ Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. ²⁰ Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. ²¹ But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²² Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. ²³ If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”
 ²⁴ Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. ²⁵ He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²⁶ They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.
 ²⁷ Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.

Mark 4

The Parable of the Sower

 ¹ Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ² He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: ³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

 ⁹ Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
 ¹⁰ When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. ¹¹ He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables ¹² so that,
   “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
   and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’^[a]”
 ¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? ¹⁴ The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵ Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶ Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰ Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

A Lamp on a Stand

 ²¹ He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? ²² For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”
   ²⁴ “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. ²⁵ Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

The Parable of the Growing Seed

 ²⁶ He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

 ³⁰ Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. ³² Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
 ³³ With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. ³⁴ He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Jesus Calms the Storm

 ³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
 ³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
 ⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
 ⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Proverbs 11

 ¹ The LORD detests dishonest scales,
   but accurate weights find favor with him.
 ² When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
   but with humility comes wisdom.
 ³ The integrity of the upright guides them,
   but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
 ⁴ Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,
   but righteousness delivers from death.
 ⁵ The righteousness of the blameless makes their paths straight,
   but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.
 ⁶ The righteousness of the upright delivers them,
   but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.
 ⁷ Hopes placed in mortals die with them;
   all the promise of^[c] their power comes to nothing.
 ⁸ The righteous person is rescued from trouble,
   and it falls on the wicked instead.
 ⁹ With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors,
   but through knowledge the righteous escape.
 ¹⁰ When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;
   when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.
 ¹¹ Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
   but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.
 ¹² Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense,
   but the one who has understanding holds their tongue.
 ¹³ A gossip betrays a confidence,
   but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.
 ¹⁴ For lack of guidance a nation falls,
   but victory is won through many advisers.
 ¹⁵ Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer,
   but whoever refuses to shake hands in pledge is safe.
 ¹⁶ A kindhearted woman gains honor,
   but ruthless men gain only wealth.
 ¹⁷ Those who are kind benefit themselves,
   but the cruel bring ruin on themselves.
 ¹⁸ A wicked person earns deceptive wages,
   but the one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.
 ¹⁹ Truly the righteous attain life,
   but whoever pursues evil finds death.
 ²⁰ The LORD detests those whose hearts are perverse,
   but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.
 ²¹ Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished,
   but those who are righteous will go free.
 ²² Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
   is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.
 ²³ The desire of the righteous ends only in good,
   but the hope of the wicked only in wrath.
 ²⁴ One person gives freely, yet gains even more;
   another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
 ²⁵ A generous person will prosper;
   whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
 ²⁶ People curse the one who hoards grain,
   but they pray God’s blessing on the one who is willing to sell.
 ²⁷ Whoever seeks good finds favor,
   but evil comes to one who searches for it.
 ²⁸ Those who trust in their riches will fall,
   but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.
 ²⁹ Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind,
   and the fool will be servant to the wise.
 ³⁰ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
   and the one who is wise saves lives.
 ³¹ If the righteous receive their due on earth,
   how much more the ungodly and the sinner!