Take it and read...

[TotallyUnheardOf]

Sorry for the slightly (slightly? ) pretentious title, but was reading about St Augustine's conversion and that gave me the idea.

I thought, just as an experiment, I'd try (just for a week or so probably) just opening the Bible at random and reading a verse or two, just to see what it would give me. I don't have anyone to share this with really (kids would find it a bit bonkers; dh doesn't 'do' religion and anyway is in a different country/time zone) so I thought I'd post it on here. Not really expecting replies, just sharing as a way of making myself remember to do it, really.

Anyway, got off to a good start this morning with Psalm 103, 1-2:

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

What happened to my italics? Oh well...

(Also managed to delete a couple of words ... 'thought I'd try opening the Bible at random EACH MORNING and... etc'. D'oh!)

Lovely verse, feel free to share :)

(and no, I don't think your title is pretentious!)

You've had me singing all morning since reading your post!

MrsC

This morning's is a bit of a cheat, because the first verse I got was the slightly worrying:

"And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another."

I decided I didn't want to have beating and stoning as my 'thought for the day', so as that was on the right-hand page as the book opened, I decided to look at a roughly corresponding verse on the left-hand page instead, and I got the much more satisfactory...

"And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest." (Matthew 21, 9)

I just googled a readign for today and found
?Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. 34 When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them. 35 Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time. "

daniel 11:33-35

i like this idea.

The Matthew 21:9 is actually very seasonal. It's read in practically all churches in Sweden on the 1st Advent.

That's what I thought, gingercurl...

Today's was a bit full of smiting for my tastes, but the actual verse I put my finger on contained this:

"And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped" (II Chron. 25, 15)

I feel that I've definitely been 'marvellously helped' while I've been abroad, so that's a good one for me.

Sorry... I mean, I thought that it was seasonal; I didn't know that it was read in churches in Sweden, though it obviously makes sense.

Lovely one for today (Song of Songs 8,7):

"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it"

Love that verse, totally. Good plan, look forward to more. Bible Gateway's verse today is John 10:14-15
?I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me? just as the Father knows me and I know the Father?and I lay down my life for the sheep.?

Here's today's random reading for me...

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord comith, for it is nigh at hand.

(Joel 2, 1)

"comith"????

Should be "cometh", obviously... Must proof-read. In my defence was typing at top speed cos I suddenly realised I'd need to dig the car out of the drive to get the kids to school. SNOW! And lots of it!

That's a great verse, madhair.

again, very seasonal.

I'm really enjoying this thread, TUHO :)

I like, too.

Matthew 28, 6: "He is not here, for he is risen!"

Hmm... today I am getting messages of doom. Tried twice (already cheating then... though it didn't let me get away with that ) and both times got passages from Ezekiel predicting death and destruction. Here's a taster:

"I will make thee a terror and thou shalt be no more; though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God." (Ezekiel 26, 21)

Perhaps just a reminder not to be too complacent???

is this the MN apocalypse again?

I think the verse before:
20When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;
is to do with a few of the psalms - going down to the pit is mentioned quite a lot.

I think it means hell, but I always think of them as Miner's psalms

Well, well, well... I have an answer. Just looked at the website of the church I've been going to, and found this prayer for the second week of Advent:

"Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen"

[Nickel... I think that Gehenna, which came to be a synonym for hell, was originally the place where the city of Jerusalem burnt its rubbish. So I imagine a giant burning land-fill site...]

Anyway, today I got the Transfiguration...

"And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud sayin. This is my beloved Son: hear him" (Mark 9, 7).

Ah, I like this game. Woke up this morning stressed and tired and worried about a job application thing (internal) that I am writing, and today my verse is this:

"For I the Lord your God will hold your right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee" (Isaiah 40, 13).

God is good.

that's a lovely reading

I have an Isaiah theme going on at the moment (probably means that I previous user of this Bible - it's one that was left in my rented house - had a thing for Isaiah and that's where it opens naturally!).

"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35, 1).

The snow is melting here. (More coming tomorrow, though, apparently!)

well, a lot of Isaiah prophesied about Jesus, so that might be why you're getting it a lot.

There are whole sections that the Gospels quote to prove that Jesus was the Son of God and the Emmanuel.

Ah yes... Went to 'The Messiah' last weekend, and in fact that passage I got today (the bit after what I quoted) features prominently in that too.