THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - May 15 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

MAY 15

PSALMS: 15, 45, 75, 105, 135

PROVERBS: 15

OLD TESTAMENT: 2 CHRONICLES 35:1 - 36:23

NEW TESTAMENT: 1 CORINTHIANS 1:1 - 17

PSALMS: 15

A psalm of David.

¹ LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?

Who may live on your holy hill?

² He whose walk is blameless

and who does what is righteous,

who speaks the truth from his heart

³ and has no slander on his tongue,

who does his neighbor no wrong

and casts no slur on his fellowman,

⁴ who despises a vile man

but honors those who fear the LORD,

who keeps his oath

even when it hurts,

⁵ who lends his money without usury

and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things

will never be shaken. ¹

PSALMS: 45

For the director of music. To the tune of "Lilies." Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. ^A A wedding song.

¹ My heart is stirred by a noble theme

as I recite my verses for the king;

my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

² You are the most excellent of men

and your lips have been anointed with grace,

since God has blessed you forever.

³ Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one;

clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.

⁴ In your majesty ride forth victoriously

in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness;

let your right hand display awesome deeds.

⁵ Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies;

let the nations fall beneath your feet.

⁶ Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;

a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness;

therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions

by anointing you with the oil of joy.

⁸ All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;

from palaces adorned with ivory

the music of the strings makes you glad.

⁹ Daughters of kings are among your honored women;

at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

¹⁰ Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear:

Forget your people and your father's house. ²

¹¹ The king is enthralled by your beauty;

honor him, for he is your lord.

¹² The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift, ^B

men of wealth will seek your favor.

¹³ All glorious is the princess within her chamber;

her gown is interwoven with gold.

¹⁴ In embroidered garments she is led to the king;

her virgin companions follow her

and are brought to you.

¹⁵ They are led in with joy and gladness;

they enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶ Your sons will take the place of your fathers;

you will make them princes throughout the land.

¹⁷ I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;

therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever. ³

PSALMS: 75

For the director of music. To the tune of "Do Not Destroy." A psalm of Asaph. A song.

¹ We give thanks to you, O God,

we give thanks, for your Name is near;

men tell of your wonderful deeds.

² You say, "I choose the appointed time;

it is I who judge uprightly.

³ When the earth and all its people quake,

it is I who hold its pillars firm.

Selah

⁴ To the arrogant I say, `Boast no more,'

and to the wicked, `Do not lift up your horns.

⁵ Do not lift your horns against heaven;

do not speak with outstretched neck.' "

⁶ No one from the east or the west

or from the desert can exalt a man.

⁷ But it is God who judges:

He brings one down, he exalts another.

⁸ In the hand of the LORD is a cup

full of foaming wine mixed with spices;

he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth

drink it down to its very dregs.

⁹ As for me, I will declare this forever;

I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.

¹⁰ I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,

but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up. ⁴

PSALMS: 105

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

² Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

³ Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

⁴ Look to the LORD and his strength;

seek his face always.

⁵ Remember the wonders he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

⁶ O descendants of Abraham his servant,

O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

⁷ He is the LORD our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸ He remembers his covenant forever,

the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,

⁹ the covenant he made with Abraham,

the oath he swore to Isaac.

¹⁰ He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

¹¹ "To you I will give the land of Canaan

as the portion you will inherit."

¹² When they were but few in number,

few indeed, and strangers in it,

¹³ they wandered from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another.

¹⁴ He allowed no one to oppress them;

for their sake he rebuked kings:

¹⁵ "Do not touch my anointed ones;

do my prophets no harm." ⁵

¹⁶ He called down famine on the land

and destroyed all their supplies of food;

¹⁷ and he sent a man before them--

Joseph, sold as a slave.

¹⁸ They bruised his feet with shackles,

his neck was put in irons,

¹⁹ till what he foretold came to pass,

till the word of the LORD proved him true.

²⁰ The king sent and released him,

the ruler of peoples set him free.

²¹ He made him master of his household,

ruler over all he possessed,

²² to instruct his princes as he pleased

and teach his elders wisdom.

²³ Then Israel entered Egypt;

Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.

²⁴ The LORD made his people very fruitful;

he made them too numerous for their foes,

²⁵ whose hearts he turned to hate his people,

to conspire against his servants.

²⁶ He sent Moses his servant,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

²⁷ They performed his miraculous signs among them,

his wonders in the land of Ham.

²⁸ He sent darkness and made the land dark--

for had they not rebelled against his words?

²⁹ He turned their waters into blood,

causing their fish to die.

³⁰ Their land teemed with frogs,

which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.

³¹ He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,

and gnats throughout their country.

³² He turned their rain into hail,

with lightning throughout their land; ⁶

³³ he struck down their vines and fig trees

and shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came,

grasshoppers without number;

³⁵ they ate up every green thing in their land,

ate up the produce of their soil.

³⁶ Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the firstfruits of all their manhood.

³⁷ He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,

and from among their tribes no one faltered.

³⁸ Egypt was glad when they left,

because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

³⁹ He spread out a cloud as a covering,

and a fire to give light at night.

⁴⁰ They asked, and he brought them quail

and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out;

like a river it flowed in the desert.

⁴² For he remembered his holy promise

given to his servant Abraham.

⁴³ He brought out his people with rejoicing,

his chosen ones with shouts of joy;

⁴⁴ he gave them the lands of the nations,

and they fell heir to what others had toiled for--

⁴⁵ that they might keep his precepts

and observe his laws.

Praise the LORD. ^{A 7}

PSALMS: 135

¹ Praise the LORD. ^A

Praise the name of the LORD;

praise him, you servants of the LORD,

² you who minister in the house of the LORD,

in the courts of the house of our God.

³ Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;

sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.

⁴ For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own,

Israel to be his treasured possession.

⁵ I know that the LORD is great,

that our Lord is greater than all gods.

⁶ The LORD does whatever pleases him,

in the heavens and on the earth,

in the seas and all their depths.

⁷ He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;

he sends lightning with the rain

and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

⁸ He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

the firstborn of men and animals.

⁹ He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,

against Pharaoh and all his servants.

¹⁰ He struck down many nations

and killed mighty kings--

¹¹ Sihon king of the Amorites,

Og king of Bashan

and all the kings of Canaan--

¹² and he gave their land as an inheritance,

an inheritance to his people Israel. ⁸

¹³ Your name, O LORD, endures forever,

your renown, O LORD, through all generations.

¹⁴ For the LORD will vindicate his people

and have compassion on his servants.

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

made by the hands of men.

¹⁶ They have mouths, but cannot speak,

eyes, but they cannot see;

¹⁷ they have ears, but cannot hear,

nor is there breath in their mouths.

¹⁸ Those who make them will be like them,

and so will all who trust in them.

¹⁹ O house of Israel, praise the LORD;

O house of Aaron, praise the LORD;

²⁰ O house of Levi, praise the LORD;

you who fear him, praise the LORD.

²¹ Praise be to the LORD from Zion,

to him who dwells in Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD. ⁹

PROVERBS: 15

15 ¹ A gentle answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger.

² The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,

but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

³ The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,

keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

⁴ The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life,

but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

⁵ A fool spurns his father's discipline,

but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.

⁶ The house of the righteous contains great treasure,

but the income of the wicked brings them trouble.

⁷ The lips of the wise spread knowledge;

not so the hearts of fools.

⁸ The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked,

but the prayer of the upright pleases him.

⁹ The LORD detests the way of the wicked

but he loves those who pursue righteousness.

¹⁰ Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path;

he who hates correction will die.

¹¹ Death and Destruction ^A lie open before the LORD--

how much more the hearts of men! ¹⁰

¹² A mocker resents correction;

he will not consult the wise.

¹³ A happy heart makes the face cheerful,

but heartache crushes the spirit.

¹⁴ The discerning heart seeks knowledge,

but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.

¹⁵ All the days of the oppressed are wretched,

but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.

¹⁶ Better a little with the fear of the LORD

than great wealth with turmoil.

¹⁷ Better a meal of vegetables where there is love

than a fattened calf with hatred.

¹⁸ A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension,

but a patient man calms a quarrel.

¹⁹ The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,

but the path of the upright is a highway.

²⁰ A wise son brings joy to his father,

but a foolish man despises his mother.

²¹ Folly delights a man who lacks judgment,

but a man of understanding keeps a straight course.

²² Plans fail for lack of counsel,

but with many advisers they succeed. ¹¹

²³ A man finds joy in giving an apt reply--

and how good is a timely word!

²⁴ The path of life leads upward for the wise

to keep him from going down to the grave. ^B

²⁵ The LORD tears down the proud man's house

but he keeps the widow's boundaries intact.

²⁶ The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked,

but those of the pure are pleasing to him.

²⁷ A greedy man brings trouble to his family,

but he who hates bribes will live.

²⁸ The heart of the righteous weighs its answers,

but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.

²⁹ The LORD is far from the wicked

but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

³⁰ A cheerful look brings joy to the heart,

and good news gives health to the bones.

³¹ He who listens to a life-giving rebuke

will be at home among the wise.

³² He who ignores discipline despises himself,

but whoever heeds correction gains understanding. ¹²

³³ The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, ^C

and humility comes before honor. ^{13 14}

OLD TESTAMENT: 2 CHRONICLES 35:1 - 36:23

35 ¹ Josiah celebrated the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month. ² He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the LORD's temple. ³ He said to the Levites, who instructed all Israel and who had been consecrated to the LORD: "Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built. It is not to be carried about on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel.

⁴ Prepare yourselves by families in your divisions, according to the directions written by David king of Israel and by his son Solomon.

⁵ "Stand in the holy place with a group of Levites for each subdivision of the families of your fellow countrymen, the lay people. ⁶ Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves and prepare the lambs for your fellow countrymen, doing what the LORD commanded through Moses."

⁷ Josiah provided for all the lay people who were there a total of thirty thousand sheep and goats for the Passover offerings, and also three thousand cattle--all from the king's own possessions.

⁸ His officials also contributed voluntarily to the people and the priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, the administrators of God's temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred cattle. ⁹ Also Conaniah along with Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad, the leaders of the Levites, provided five thousand Passover offerings and five hundred head of cattle for the Levites.

¹⁰ The service was arranged and the priests stood in their places with the Levites in their divisions as the king had ordered. ¹¹ The Passover lambs were slaughtered, and the priests sprinkled the blood handed to them, while the Levites skinned the animals.

¹² They set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the subdivisions of the families of the people to offer to the LORD, as is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle. ¹³ They roasted the Passover animals over the fire as prescribed, and boiled the holy offerings in pots, caldrons and pans and served them quickly to all the people. ¹⁴ After this, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fat portions until nightfall. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the Aaronic priests.

¹⁵ The musicians, the descendants of Asaph, were in the places prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun the king's seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts, because their fellow Levites made the preparations for them.

¹⁶ So at that time the entire service of the LORD was carried out for the celebration of the Passover and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, as King Josiah had ordered. ¹⁷ The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. ¹⁸ The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with ¹⁵the people of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign.

²⁰ After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle.

²¹ But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, "What quarrel is there between you and me, O king of Judah? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you."

²² Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Neco had said at God's command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo.

²³ Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, "Take me away; I am badly wounded." ²⁴ So they took him out of his chariot, put him in the other chariot he had and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.

²⁵ Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the men and women singers commemorate Josiah in the laments. These became a tradition in Israel and are written in the Laments.

²⁶ The other events of Josiah's reign and his acts of devotion, according to what is written in the Law of the LORD—²⁷ all the events, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

36 ¹ And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.

² Jehoahaz ^A was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. ³ The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents ^B of silver and a talent ^C of gold. ⁴ The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Eliakim's brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.

⁵ Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God. ⁶ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. 

⁷ Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the LORD and put them in his temple ^D there. ^{16 8} The other events of Jehoiakim's reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.

⁹ Jehoiachin was eighteen ^E years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. ¹⁰ In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the LORD, and he made Jehoiachin's uncle, ^F Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. ¹² He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the LORD. ¹³ He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God's name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the LORD, the God of Israel. 

¹⁴ Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the LORD, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. ¹⁶ But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. ¹⁷ He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, ^G who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁸ He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the LORD's temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. ¹⁹ They set fire to God's temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.

²⁰ He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. ²¹ The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.

²² In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: ¹⁷

²³ "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

"`The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you--may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.'" ¹⁸

NEW TESTAMENT: 1 CORINTHIANS 1:1 - 17

1 ¹ Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

² To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--their Lord and ours:

³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵ For in him you have been enriched in every way--in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—

⁶ because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. ⁷ Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. ⁸ He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. ¹¹ My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas ^A"; still another, "I follow Christ."

¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into ^B the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. ¹⁶ (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.)

¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. ¹⁹

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

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

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19 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