January 9

Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

JANUARY 9

PSALMS:   9, 39, 69, 99, 129

PROVERBS:  9

OLD TESTAMENT:  DEUTERONOMY 16:1 - 17:20

NEW TESTAMENT:  LUKE 9:7 - 27

PSALMS:  9

For ^A the director of music. To the tune of "The Death of the Son." A psalm of David.

¹ I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wonders.

² I will be glad and rejoice in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

³ My enemies turn back;

they stumble and perish before you.

⁴ For you have upheld my right and my cause;

you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.

⁵ You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

⁶ Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy,

you have uprooted their cities;

even the memory of them has perished.

⁷ The LORD reigns forever;

he has established his throne for judgment.

⁸ He will judge the world in righteousness;

he will govern the peoples with justice.

⁹ The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

¹⁰ Those who know your name will trust in you,

for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹ Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion;

proclaim among the nations what he has done.

¹² For he who avenges blood remembers;

he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted. ^[1]

¹³ O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me!

Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴ that I may declare your praises

in the gates of the Daughter of Zion

and there rejoice in your salvation.

¹⁵ The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;

their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

¹⁶ The LORD is known by his justice;

the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.

Higgaion. ^B Selah

¹⁷ The wicked return to the grave, ^C

all the nations that forget God.

¹⁸ But the needy will not always be forgotten,

nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

¹⁹ Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph;

let the nations be judged in your presence.

²⁰ Strike them with terror, O LORD;

let the nations know they are but men.

Selah ^[2]

PSALMS:  39

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

¹ I said, "I will watch my ways

and keep my tongue from sin;

I will put a muzzle on my mouth

as long as the wicked are in my presence."

² But when I was silent and still,

not even saying anything good,

my anguish increased.

³ My heart grew hot within me,

and as I meditated, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴ "Show me, O LORD, my life's end

and the number of my days;

let me know how fleeting is my life.

⁵ You have made my days a mere handbreadth;

the span of my years is as nothing before you.

Each man's life is but a breath.

Selah

⁶ Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:

He bustles about, but only in vain;

he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.

⁷ "But now, Lord, what do I look for?

My hope is in you.

⁸ Save me from all my transgressions;

do not make me the scorn of fools.

⁹ I was silent; I would not open my mouth, ^[3]

for you are the one who has done this.

¹⁰ Remove your scourge from me;

I am overcome by the blow of your hand.

¹¹ You rebuke and discipline men for their sin;

you consume their wealth like a moth--

each man is but a breath.

Selah

¹² "Hear my prayer, O LORD,

listen to my cry for help;

be not deaf to my weeping.

For I dwell with you as an alien,

a stranger, as all my fathers were.

¹³ Look away from me, that I may rejoice again

before I depart and am no more." ^[4]

PSALMS:  69

For the director of music. To the tune of "Lilies." Of David.

¹ Save me, O God,

for the waters have come up to my neck.

² I sink in the miry depths,

where there is no foothold.

I have come into the deep waters;

the floods engulf me.

³ I am worn out calling for help;

my throat is parched.

My eyes fail,

looking for my God.

⁴ Those who hate me without reason

outnumber the hairs of my head;

many are my enemies without cause,

those who seek to destroy me.

I am forced to restore

what I did not steal.

⁵ You know my folly, O God;

my guilt is not hidden from you.

⁶ May those who hope in you

not be disgraced because of me,

O Lord, the LORD Almighty;

may those who seek you

not be put to shame because of me,

O God of Israel.

⁷ For I endure scorn for your sake,

and shame covers my face.

⁸ I am a stranger to my brothers, ^[5]

an alien to my own mother's sons;

⁹ for zeal for your house consumes me,

and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

¹⁰ When I weep and fast,

I must endure scorn;

¹¹ when I put on sackcloth,

people make sport of me.

¹² Those who sit at the gate mock me,

and I am the song of the drunkards.

¹³ But I pray to you, O LORD,

in the time of your favor;

in your great love, O God,

answer me with your sure salvation.

¹⁴ Rescue me from the mire,

do not let me sink;

deliver me from those who hate me,

from the deep waters.

¹⁵ Do not let the floodwaters engulf me

or the depths swallow me up

or the pit close its mouth over me.

¹⁶ Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love;

in your great mercy turn to me.

¹⁷ Do not hide your face from your servant;

answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.

¹⁸ Come near and rescue me;

redeem me because of my foes.

¹⁹ You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;

all my enemies are before you.

²⁰ Scorn has broken my heart ^[6]

and has left me helpless;

I looked for sympathy, but there was none,

for comforters, but I found none.

²¹ They put gall in my food

and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

²² May the table set before them become a snare;

may it become retribution and ^A a trap.

²³ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,

and their backs be bent forever.

²⁴ Pour out your wrath on them;

let your fierce anger overtake them.

²⁵ May their place be deserted;

let there be no one to dwell in their tents.

²⁶ For they persecute those you wound

and talk about the pain of those you hurt.

²⁷ Charge them with crime upon crime;

do not let them share in your salvation.

²⁸ May they be blotted out of the book of life

and not be listed with the righteous.

²⁹ I am in pain and distress;

may your salvation, O God, protect me.

³⁰ I will praise God's name in song

and glorify him with thanksgiving.

³¹ This will please the LORD more than an ox,

more than a bull with its horns and hoofs.

³² The poor will see and be glad--

you who seek God, may your hearts live!

³³ The LORD hears the needy

and does not despise his captive people. ^[7]

³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise him,

the seas and all that move in them,

³⁵ for God will save Zion

and rebuild the cities of Judah.

Then people will settle there and possess it;

³⁶ the children of his servants will inherit it,

and those who love his name will dwell there. ^[8]

PSALMS:  99

¹ The LORD reigns,

let the nations tremble;

he sits enthroned between the cherubim,

let the earth shake.

² Great is the LORD in Zion;

he is exalted over all the nations.

³ Let them praise your great and awesome name--

he is holy.

⁴ The King is mighty, he loves justice--

you have established equity;

in Jacob you have done

what is just and right.

⁵ Exalt the LORD our God

and worship at his footstool;

he is holy.

⁶ Moses and Aaron were among his priests,

Samuel was among those who called on his name;

they called on the LORD

and he answered them.

⁷ He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;

they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.

⁸ O LORD our God,

you answered them;

you were to Israel ^A a forgiving God,

though you punished their misdeeds. ^B

⁹ Exalt the LORD our God

and worship at his holy mountain,

for the LORD our God is holy. ^[9]

PSALMS:  129

A song of ascents.

¹ They have greatly oppressed me from my youth--

let Israel say--

² they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,

but they have not gained the victory over me.

³ Plowmen have plowed my back

and made their furrows long.

⁴ But the LORD is righteous;

he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.

⁵ May all who hate Zion

be turned back in shame.

⁶ May they be like grass on the roof,

which withers before it can grow;

⁷ with it the reaper cannot fill his hands,

nor the one who gathers fill his arms.

⁸ May those who pass by not say,

"The blessing of the LORD be upon you;

we bless you in the name of the LORD." ^[10]

PROVERBS:  9

9 ¹ Wisdom has built her house;

she has hewn out its seven pillars.

² She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;

she has also set her table.

³ She has sent out her maids, and she calls

from the highest point of the city.

⁴ "Let all who are simple come in here!"

she says to those who lack judgment.

⁵ "Come, eat my food

and drink the wine I have mixed.

⁶ Leave your simple ways and you will live;

walk in the way of understanding.

⁷ "Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult;

whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.

⁸ Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;

rebuke a wise man and he will love you.

⁹ Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still;

teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.

¹⁰ "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹ For through me your days will be many,

and years will be added to your life.

¹² If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;

if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer."

¹³ The woman Folly is loud;

she is undisciplined and without knowledge.

¹⁴ She sits at the door of her house,

on a seat at the highest point of the city,

¹⁵ calling out to those who pass by,

who go straight on their way.

¹⁶ "Let all who are simple come in here!" ^[11]

she says to those who lack judgment.

¹⁷ "Stolen water is sweet;

food eaten in secret is delicious!"

¹⁸ But little do they know that the dead are there,

that her guests are in the depths of the grave. ^{A [12]}

OLD TESTAMENT:  DEUTERONOMY 16:1 - 17:20

16 ¹ Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover of the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night. ² Sacrifice as the Passover to the LORD your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for his Name. ³ Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste--so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt. ⁴ Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.

⁵ You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the LORD your God gives you

⁶ except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary ^A of your departure from Egypt. ⁷ Roast it and eat it at the place the LORD your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents. ⁸ For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the LORD your God and do no work.

⁹ Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. ¹⁰ Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the LORD your God has given you. ¹¹ And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name--you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you. ¹² Remember that you ^[13] were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees.

¹³ Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. ¹⁴ Be joyful at your Feast--you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. ¹⁵ For seven days celebrate the Feast to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

¹⁶ Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed: ¹⁷ Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.

¹⁸ Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly. ¹⁹ Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. ²⁰ Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.

²¹ Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole ^B beside the altar you build to the LORD your God, ²² and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates. ^[14]

17 ¹ Do not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him.

² If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the LORD gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God in violation of his covenant, ³ and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars of the sky, ⁴ and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, ⁵ take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death. ⁶ On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. ⁷ The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.

⁸ If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge--whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults--take them to the place the LORD your God will choose. ⁹ Go to the priests, who are Levites, and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict. ¹⁰ You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they direct you to do. ¹¹ Act according to the law they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left. ¹² The man who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the LORD your God must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel. ¹³ All the people will hear and be ^[15] afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.

¹⁴ When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us," ¹⁵ be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. ¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, "You are not to go back that way again." ¹⁷ He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

¹⁸ When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. ¹⁹ It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees ²⁰ and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. ^[16]

NEW TESTAMENT:  LUKE 9:7 - 27

⁷ Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed, because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, ⁸ others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. ⁹ But Herod said, "I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?" And he tried to see him.

¹⁰ When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, ¹¹ but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

¹² Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here."

¹³ He replied, "You give them something to eat."

They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish--unless we go and buy food for all this crowd." ¹⁴ (About five thousand men were there.)

But he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each." ¹⁵ The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. ¹⁶ Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. ¹⁷ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

¹⁸ Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples ^[17]were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"

¹⁹ They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life."

²⁰ "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

Peter answered, "The Christ^A of God."

²¹ Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. ²² And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

²³ Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. ²⁵ What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? ²⁶ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷ I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." ^[18]

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^[1] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[2] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[3] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[4] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[5] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[6] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[7] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[8] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[9] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[10] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[11] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[12] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[13] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[14] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[15] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[16] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[17] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

^[18] Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

John 3:16-21 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, F that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.G 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." H