THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - February 1 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

FEBRUARY 1

PSALMS: 1, 31, 61, 91, 121

PROVERBS: 1

OLD TESTAMENT: JUDGES 1:1 - 2:9

NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 21:29 - 22:13

PSALMS: 1

¹ Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

⁴ Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶ For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish. ¹

PSALMS: 31

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame;

deliver me in your righteousness.

² Turn your ear to me,

come quickly to my rescue;

be my rock of refuge,

a strong fortress to save me.

³ Since you are my rock and my fortress,

for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

⁴ Free me from the trap that is set for me,

for you are my refuge.

⁵ Into your hands I commit my spirit;

redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

⁶ I hate those who cling to worthless idols;

I trust in the LORD.

⁷ I will be glad and rejoice in your love,

for you saw my affliction

and knew the anguish of my soul.

⁸ You have not handed me over to the enemy

but have set my feet in a spacious place.

⁹ Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;

my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

my soul and my body with grief.

¹⁰ My life is consumed by anguish

and my years by groaning;

my strength fails because of my affliction, ^A

and my bones grow weak. ²

¹¹ Because of all my enemies,

I am the utter contempt of my neighbors;

I am a dread to my friends--

those who see me on the street flee from me.

¹² I am forgotten by them as though I were dead;

I have become like broken pottery.

¹³ For I hear the slander of many;

there is terror on every side;

they conspire against me

and plot to take my life.

¹⁴ But I trust in you, O LORD;

I say, "You are my God."

¹⁵ My times are in your hands;

deliver me from my enemies

and from those who pursue me.

¹⁶ Let your face shine on your servant;

save me in your unfailing love.

¹⁷ Let me not be put to shame, O LORD,

for I have cried out to you;

but let the wicked be put to shame

and lie silent in the grave. ^B

¹⁸ Let their lying lips be silenced,

for with pride and contempt

they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

¹⁹ How great is your goodness,

which you have stored up for those who fear you,

which you bestow in the sight of men

on those who take refuge in you.

²⁰ In the shelter of your presence you hide them

from the intrigues of men;

in your dwelling you keep them safe ³

from accusing tongues.

²¹ Praise be to the LORD,

for he showed his wonderful love to me

when I was in a besieged city.

²² In my alarm I said,

"I am cut off from your sight!"

Yet you heard my cry for mercy

when I called to you for help.

²³ Love the LORD, all his saints!

The LORD preserves the faithful,

but the proud he pays back in full.

²⁴ Be strong and take heart,

all you who hope in the LORD. ⁴

PSALMS: 61

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.

¹ Hear my cry, O God;

listen to my prayer.

² From the ends of the earth I call to you,

I call as my heart grows faint;

lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

³ For you have been my refuge,

a strong tower against the foe.

⁴ I long to dwell in your tent forever

and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

Selah

⁵ For you have heard my vows, O God;

you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

⁶ Increase the days of the king's life,

his years for many generations.

⁷ May he be enthroned in God's presence forever;

appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.

⁸ Then will I ever sing praise to your name

and fulfill my vows day after day. ⁵

PSALMS: 91

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ^A

² I will say ^B of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust."

³ Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

⁸ You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ If you make the Most High your dwelling--

even the LORD, who is my refuge--

¹⁰ then no harm will befall you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

¹² they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

¹³ You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent. ⁶

¹⁴ "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

¹⁵ He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him

and show him my salvation." ⁷

PSALMS: 121

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills--

where does my help come from?

² My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip--

he who watches over you will not slumber;

⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you--

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm--

he will watch over your life;

⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore. ⁸

PROVERBS: 1

1 ¹ The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

² for attaining wisdom and discipline;

for understanding words of insight;

³ for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life,

doing what is right and just and fair;

⁴ for giving prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the young--

⁵ let the wise listen and add to their learning,

and let the discerning get guidance--

⁶ for understanding proverbs and parables,

the sayings and riddles of the wise.

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools^A despise wisdom and discipline.

⁸ Listen, my son, to your father's instruction

and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

⁹ They will be a garland to grace your head

and a chain to adorn your neck.

¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you,

do not give in to them.

¹¹ If they say, "Come along with us;

let's lie in wait for someone's blood,

let's waylay some harmless soul;

¹² let's swallow them alive, like the grave, ^{B 9}

and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

¹³ we will get all sorts of valuable things

and fill our houses with plunder;

¹⁴ throw in your lot with us,

and we will share a common purse"--

¹⁵ my son, do not go along with them,

do not set foot on their paths;

¹⁶ for their feet rush into sin,

they are swift to shed blood.

¹⁷ How useless to spread a net

in full view of all the birds!

¹⁸ These men lie in wait for their own blood;

they waylay only themselves!

¹⁹ Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;

it takes away the lives of those who get it.

²⁰ Wisdom calls aloud in the street,

she raises her voice in the public squares;

²¹ at the head of the noisy streets ^C she cries out,

in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:

²² "How long will you simple ones ^D love your simple ways?

How long will mockers delight in mockery

and fools hate knowledge?

²³ If you had responded to my rebuke,

I would have poured out my heart to you

and made my thoughts known to you.

²⁴ But since you rejected me when I called

and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,

^{2 5}since you ignored all my advice

and would not accept my rebuke,

²⁶ I in turn will laugh at your disaster; ¹⁰

I will mock when calamity overtakes you--

²⁷ when calamity overtakes you like a storm,

when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,

when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

²⁸ "Then they will call to me but I will not answer;

they will look for me but will not find me.

²⁹ Since they hated knowledge

and did not choose to fear the LORD,

³⁰ since they would not accept my advice

and spurned my rebuke,

³¹ they will eat the fruit of their ways

and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

³² For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,

and the complacency of fools will destroy them;

³³ but whoever listens to me will live in safety

and be at ease, without fear of harm." ¹¹

OLD TESTAMENT: JUDGES 1:1 - 2:9

1 ¹ After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"

² The LORD answered, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands."

³ Then the men of Judah said to the Simeonites their brothers, "Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours." So the Simeonites went with them.

⁴ When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. ⁵ It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. ⁶ Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

⁷ Then Adoni-Bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them." They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸ The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

⁹ After that, the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills. ¹⁰ They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. ¹²

¹¹ From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). ¹² And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." ¹³ Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.

¹⁴ One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him ^A to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?"

¹⁵ She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." Then Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

¹⁶ The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of

Palms ^B with the men of Judah to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.

¹⁷ Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their brothers and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed ^C the city. Therefore it was called Hormah. ^{D 18} The men of Judah also took^E Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron--each city with its territory.

¹⁹ The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.

²⁰ As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak.

²¹ The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there ¹³ with the Benjamites.

²² Now the house of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them. ²³ When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), ²⁴ the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, "Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well." ²⁵ So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family. ²⁶ He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

²⁷ But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. ²⁸ When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. ²⁹ Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them.

³⁰ Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, who remained among them; but they did subject them to forced labor.

³¹ Nor did Asher drive out those living in Acco or Sidon or Ahlab or Aczib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob, ³² and because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land. ³³ Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. ³⁴ The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into ¹⁴ the plain. ³⁵ And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the house of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. ³⁶ The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion ^F Pass to Sela and beyond.

2 ¹ The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, `I will never break my covenant with you, ² and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? ³ Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

⁴ When the angel of the LORD had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, ⁵ and they called that place Bokim. ^A There they offered sacrifices to the LORD.

⁶ After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. ⁷ The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.

⁸ Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten.

⁹ And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres ^B in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ¹⁵

NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 21:29 - 22:13

²⁹ He told them this parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees. ³⁰ When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. ³¹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

³² "I tell you the truth, this generation ^B will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³⁴ "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

³⁷ Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, ³⁸ and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.

22 ¹ Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, ² and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the ¹⁶ people. ³ Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. ⁴ And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. ⁵ They were delighted and agreed to give him money. ⁶ He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.

⁷ Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸ Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover."

⁹ "Where do you want us to prepare for it?" they asked.

¹⁰ He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, ¹¹and say to the owner of the house, `The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' ¹² He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there."

¹³ They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. ¹⁷

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

 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