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MARCH 27
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from these stones. And even now the ax is He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the
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laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a
tree which does not bear good fruit is cut dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven
down and thrown into the fire.” which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I
10 So the people asked him, saying, “What am well pleased.”
shall we do then?” 23 Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at
11 He answered and said to them, “He who has about thirty years of age, being (as was sup-
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two tunics, let him give to him who has none; posed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son
and he who has food, let him do likewise.” of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the
12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, son of Janna, the son of Joseph, the son of
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and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum,
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of
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than what is appointed for you.” Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei,
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14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, the son of
“And what shall we do?” Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of
So he said to them, “Do not intimidate any- Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,
one or accuse falsely, and be content with your 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of
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wages.” Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, the
15 Now as the people were in expectation, and son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim,
all reasoned in their hearts about John, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of
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whether he was the Christ or not, John Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the
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answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, the son of
with water; but One mightier than I is coming, Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah,
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whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of
fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He Salmon, the son of Nahshon, the son of Ammin-
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will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, adab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son
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and gather the wheat into His barn; but the of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the
chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of
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18 And with many other exhortations he Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the
preached to the people. But Herod the te- son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the
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trarch, being rebuked by him concerning son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of
Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the
the evils which Herod had done, also added son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son
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this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel,
21 When all the people were baptized, it came the son of Cainan, the son of Enosh, the son of
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to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
DAY 27: How were God’s people to treat the poor?
As the Israelites prepared to enter the Promised Land, Deuteronomy 15:4 has an interesting
statement:“except when there may be no poor.”Idealistically, there was the possibility that pover-
ty would be eradicated in the land “for the LORD will greatly bless you in the land.”The fullness of
that blessing, however, would be contingent on the completeness of Israel’s obedience. Thus, vv.
4–6 were an encouragement to strive for a reduction of poverty while at the same time they
stressed the abundance of the provision God would make in the Promised Land.
God specifically warns them about hardening their hearts against the poor, but to “open your
hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need” (v. 8).The attitude of the Israelites
toward the poor in their community was to be one of warmth and generosity.The poor were given
whatever was necessary to meet their needs, even with the realization that such “loans” would
never need to be paid back.
“For the poor will never cease from the land,”Moses adds (v. 11). Realistically (in contrast to v.
4), the disobedience toward the Lord on Israel’s part meant that there would always be poor peo-
ple in the land of Israel.Jesus repeated this truism in Matthew 26:11.Even if a Hebrew was sold into
a period of servitude for his debts, his master “shall not let him go away empty-handed” (Deut.
15:13).When a slave had completed his time of service, his former owner was to make ample pro-
vision for him so that he would not begin his state of new freedom in destitution.
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