Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
MAY
5
PSALMS:
5
PROVERBS:
5, 35, 65, 95, 125
OLD
TESTAMENT:
2 CHRONICLES 14:1 - 16:14
NEW
TESTAMENT:
ROMANS 9:1 - 24
PSALMS:
5
For
the director of music. For flutes. A psalm of David.
1
Give
ear to my words, O LORD,
consider
my sighing.
2
Listen
to my cry for help,
my
King and my God,
for
to you I pray.
3
In
the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in
the morning I lay my requests before you
and
wait in expectation.
4
You
are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with
you the wicked cannot dwell.
5
The
arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you
hate all who do wrong.
6
You
destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty
and deceitful men
the
LORD abhors.
7
But
I, by your great mercy,
will
come into your house;
in
reverence will I bow down
toward
your holy temple.
8
Lead
me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because
of my enemies--
make
straight your way before me. 1
9
Not
a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their
heart is filled with destruction.
Their
throat is an open grave;
with
their tongue they speak deceit.
10
Declare
them guilty, O God!
Let
their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish
them for their many sins,
for
they have rebelled against you.
11
But
let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let
them ever sing for joy.
Spread
your protection over them,
that
those who love your name may rejoice in you.
12
For
surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous;
you
surround them with your favor as with a shield. 2
PSALMS:
35
Of
David.
1
Contend,
O LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight
against those who fight against me.
2
Take
up shield and buckler;
arise
and come to my aid.
3
Brandish
spear and javelin A
against
those who pursue me.
Say
to my soul,
"I
am your salvation."
4
May
those who seek my life
be
disgraced and put to shame;
may
those who plot my ruin
be
turned back in dismay.
5
May
they be like chaff before the wind,
with
the angel of the LORD driving them away;
6
may
their path be dark and slippery,
with
the angel of the LORD pursuing them.
7
Since
they hid their net for me without cause
and
without cause dug a pit for me,
8
may
ruin overtake them by surprise--
may
the net they hid entangle them,
may
they fall into the pit, to their ruin.
9
Then
my soul will rejoice in the LORD
and
delight in his salvation.
10
My
whole being will exclaim,
"Who
is like you, O LORD?
You
rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
the
poor and needy from those who rob them." 3
11
Ruthless
witnesses come forward;
they
question me on things I know nothing about.
12
They
repay me evil for good
and
leave my soul forlorn.
13
Yet
when they were ill, I put on sackcloth
and
humbled myself with fasting.
When
my prayers returned to me unanswered,
14
I
went about mourning
as
though for my friend or brother.
I
bowed my head in grief
as
though weeping for my mother.
15
But
when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
attackers
gathered against me when I was unaware.
They
slandered me without ceasing.
16
Like
the ungodly they maliciously mocked B;
they
gnashed their teeth at me.
17
O
Lord, how long will you look on?
Rescue
my life from their ravages,
my
precious life from these lions.
18
I
will give you thanks in the great assembly;
among
throngs of people I will praise you.
19
Let
not those gloat over me
who
are my enemies without cause;
let
not those who hate me without reason
maliciously
wink the eye.
20
They
do not speak peaceably,
but
devise false accusations
against
those who live quietly in the land.
21
They
gape at me and say, "Aha! Aha!
With
our own eyes we have seen it." 4
22
O
LORD, you have seen this; be not silent.
Do
not be far from me, O Lord.
23
Awake,
and rise to my defense!
Contend
for me, my God and Lord.
24
Vindicate
me in your righteousness, O LORD my God;
do
not let them gloat over me.
25
Do
not let them think, "Aha, just what we wanted!"
or
say, "We have swallowed him up."
26
May
all who gloat over my distress
be
put to shame and confusion;
may
all who exalt themselves over me
be
clothed with shame and disgrace.
27
May
those who delight in my vindication
shout
for joy and gladness;
may
they always say, "The LORD be exalted,
who
delights in the well-being of his servant."
28
My
tongue will speak of your righteousness
and
of your praises all day long. 5
PSALMS:
65
For
the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
1
Praise
awaits A
you, O God, in Zion;
to
you our vows will be fulfilled.
2
O
you who hear prayer,
to
you all men will come.
3
When
we were overwhelmed by sins,
you
forgave B
our transgressions.
4
Blessed
are those you choose
and
bring near to live in your courts!
We
are filled with the good things of your house,
of
your holy temple.
5
You
answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
O
God our Savior,
the
hope of all the ends of the earth
and
of the farthest seas,
6
who
formed the mountains by your power,
having
armed yourself with strength,
7
who
stilled the roaring of the seas,
the
roaring of their waves,
and
the turmoil of the nations.
8
Those
living far away fear your wonders;
where
morning dawns and evening fades
you
call forth songs of joy.
9
You
care for the land and water it;
you
enrich it abundantly.
The
streams of God are filled with water
to
provide the people with grain, 6
for
so you have ordained it. C
10
You
drench its furrows
and
level its ridges;
you
soften it with showers
and
bless its crops.
11
You
crown the year with your bounty,
and
your carts overflow with abundance.
12
The
grasslands of the desert overflow;
the
hills are clothed with gladness.
13
The
meadows are covered with flocks
and
the valleys are mantled with grain;
they
shout for joy and sing. 7
PSALMS:
95
1
Come,
let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let
us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2
Let
us come before him with thanksgiving
and
extol him with music and song.
3
For
the LORD is the great God,
the
great King above all gods.
4
In
his hand are the depths of the earth,
and
the mountain peaks belong to him.
5
The
sea is his, for he made it,
and
his hands formed the dry land.
6
Come,
let us bow down in worship,
let
us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7
for
he is our God
and
we are the people of his pasture,
the
flock under his care.
Today,
if you hear his voice,
8
do
not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, A
as
you did that day at Massah B
in the desert,
9
where
your fathers tested and tried me,
though
they had seen what I did.
10
For
forty years I was angry with that generation;
I
said, "They
are a people whose hearts go astray,
and
they have not known my ways."
11
So
I declared on oath in my anger,
PSALMS:
125
A
song of ascents.
1
Those
who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which
cannot be shaken but endures forever.
2
As
the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so
the LORD surrounds his people
both
now and forevermore.
3
The
scepter of the wicked will not remain
over
the land allotted to the righteous,
for
then the righteous might use
their
hands to do evil.
4
Do
good, O LORD, to those who are good,
to
those who are upright in heart.
5
But
those who turn to crooked ways
the
LORD will banish with the evildoers.
Peace
be upon Israel. 9
PROVERBS:
5
5
1
My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
listen
well to my words of insight,
2
that
you may maintain discretion
and
your lips may preserve knowledge.
3
For
the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
and
her speech is smoother than oil;
4
but
in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp
as a double-edged sword.
5
Her
feet go down to death;
her
steps lead straight to the grave. A
6
She
gives no thought to the way of life;
her
paths are crooked, but she knows it not.
7
Now
then, my sons, listen to me;
do
not turn aside from what I say.
8
Keep
to a path far from her,
do
not go near the door of her house,
9
lest
you give your best strength to others
and
your years to one who is cruel,
10
lest
strangers feast on your wealth
and
your toil enrich another man's house.
11
At
the end of your life you will groan,
when
your flesh and body are spent.
12
You
will say, "How I hated discipline!
How
my heart spurned correction!
13
I
would not obey my teachers
or
listen to my instructors.
14
I
have come to the brink of utter ruin
in
the midst of the whole assembly."
15
Drink
water from your own cistern,
running
water from your own well.
16
Should
your springs overflow in the streets,
your
streams of water in the public squares?
17
Let
them be yours alone, 10
never
to be shared with strangers.
18
May
your fountain be blessed,
and
may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19
A
loving doe, a graceful deer--
may
her breasts satisfy you always,
may
you ever be captivated by her love.
20
Why
be captivated, my son, by an adulteress?
Why
embrace the bosom of another man's wife?
21
For
a man's ways are in full view of the LORD,
and
he examines all his paths.
22
The
evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him;
the
cords of his sin hold him fast.
23
He
will die for lack of discipline,
led
astray by his own great folly. 11
OLD
TESTAMENT:
2 CHRONICLES 14:1 - 16:14
14
1
And
Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.
Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at
peace for ten years.
2
Asa
did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3
He
removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred
stones and cut down the Asherah poles. A
4
He
commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to
obey his laws and commands. 5
He
removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah,
and the kingdom was at peace under him. 6
He
built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace.
No one was at war with him during those years, for the LORD gave him
rest.
7
"Let
us build up these towns," he said to Judah, "and put walls
around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours,
because we have sought the LORD our God; we sought him and he has
given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered.
8
Asa
had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with
large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand
from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were
brave fighting men.
9
Zerah
the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army B
and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10
Asa
went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley
of Zephathah near Mareshah.
11
Then
Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one
like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD
our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come 12
against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man
prevail against you."
12
The
LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites
fled, 13
and
Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of
Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before
the LORD and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount
of plunder. 14
They
destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the LORD
had fallen upon them. They plundered all these villages, since there
was much booty there. 15
They
also attacked the camps of the herdsmen and carried off droves of
sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
15
1
The
Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. 2
He
went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa and all
Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If
you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he
will forsake you. 3
For
a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to
teach and without the law. 4
But
in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and
sought him, and he was found by them. 5
In
those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants
of the lands were in great turmoil. 6
One
nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because
God was troubling them with every kind of distress. 7
But
as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be
rewarded." 13
8
When
Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of A
Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols
from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had
captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD
that was in front of the portico of the LORD's temple.
9
Then
he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim,
Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had
come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was
with him.
10
They
assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of
Asa's reign. 11
At
that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred head of cattle
and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought
back. 12
They
entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers,
with all their heart and soul.
13
All
who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to
death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14
They
took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and
with trumpets and horns. 15
All
Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it
wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So
the LORD gave them rest on every side.
16
King
Asa also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen
mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the
pole down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17
Although
he did not remove the high places 14 from
Israel, Asa's heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life. 18
He
brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles
that he and his father had dedicated.
19
There
was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.
16
1
In
the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign Baasha king of Israel went up
against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or
entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
2
Asa
then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD's
temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram,
who was ruling in Damascus. 3
"Let
there be a treaty between me and you," he said, "as there
was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver
and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will
withdraw from me."
4
Ben-Hadad
agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against
the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim A
and all the store cities of Naphtali.
5
When
Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work.
6
Then
King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from
Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built
up Geba and Mizpah.
7
At
that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him:
"Because
you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army
of the king of Aram has escaped from your
15
hand.
8
Were
not the Cushites
B
and
Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen
C?
Yet
when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand.
9
For
the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those
whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish
thing, and from now on you will be at war."
10
Asa
was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he
put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of
the people.
11
The
events of Asa's reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book
of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12
In
the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease
in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he
did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. 13
Then
in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his
fathers. 14
They
buried him in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of
David. They laid him on a bier covered with spices and various
blended perfumes, and they made a huge fire in his honor. 16
NEW
TESTAMENT:
ROMANS 9:1 - 24
9
1
I
speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it
in the Holy Spirit—2
I
have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3
For
I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for
the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4
the
people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine
glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship
and the promises. 5
Theirs
are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of
Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! A
Amen.
6
It
is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended
from Israel are Israel. 7
Nor
because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On
the contrary, "It
is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."
B
8
In
other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children,
but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's
offspring. 9
For
this was how the promise was stated: "At
the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."
C
10
Not
only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our
father Isaac.
11
Yet,
before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order
that God's purpose in election might stand: 12
not
by works but by him who calls--she was told, "The
older will serve the younger."
D
13
Just
as it is written: "Jacob
I loved, but Esau I hated."
E
14
What
then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15
For
he says to Moses,
"I
will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
17
and
I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
F
16
It
does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's
mercy. 17
For
the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I
raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in
you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
G
18
Therefore
God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he
wants to harden.
19
One
of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For
who resists his will?" 20
But
who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed
say to him who formed it, `Why did you make me like this?'" H
21
Does
not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay
some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
22
What
if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore
with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for
destruction? 23
What
if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects
of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—24
even
us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the
Gentiles? 18
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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
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