THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - May 30 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

MAY 30

PSALMS: 30, 60, 90, 120, 150

PROVERBS: 30

OLD TESTAMENT: ESTHER 4:1 - 7:10

NEW TESTAMENT: 1 CORITHIANS 12:1 - 26

PSALMS: 30

A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. ^A Of David.

¹ I will exalt you, O LORD,

for you lifted me out of the depths

and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

² O LORD my God, I called to you for help

and you healed me.

³ O LORD, you brought me up from the grave ^B;

you spared me from going down into the pit.

⁴ Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;

praise his holy name.

⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment,

but his favor lasts a lifetime;

weeping may remain for a night,

but rejoicing comes in the morning.

⁶ When I felt secure, I said,

"I will never be shaken."

⁷ O LORD, when you favored me,

you made my mountain ^C stand firm;

but when you hid your face,

I was dismayed.

⁸ To you, O LORD, I called;

to the Lord I cried for mercy:

⁹ "What gain is there in my destruction, ^D

in my going down into the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it proclaim your faithfulness? ¹

¹⁰ Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me;

O LORD, be my help."

¹¹ You turned my wailing into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

¹² that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.

O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. ²

PSALMS: 60

For the director of music. To the tune of "The Lily of the Covenant." A miktam ^A of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim ^B and Aram Zobah, ^C and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

¹ You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us;

you have been angry--now restore us!

² You have shaken the land and torn it open;

mend its fractures, for it is quaking.

³ You have shown your people desperate times;

you have given us wine that makes us stagger.

⁴ But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner

to be unfurled against the bow.

Selah

⁵ Save us and help us with your right hand,

that those you love may be delivered.

⁶ God has spoken from his sanctuary:

"In triumph I will parcel out Shechem

and measure off the Valley of Succoth.

⁷ Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim is my helmet,

Judah my scepter.

⁸ Moab is my washbasin,

upon Edom I toss my sandal;

over Philistia I shout in triumph."

⁹ Who will bring me to the fortified city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

¹⁰ Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us

and no longer go out with our armies?

¹¹ Give us aid against the enemy, ³

for the help of man is worthless.

¹² With God we will gain the victory,

and he will trample down our enemies. ⁴

PSALMS: 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

¹ Lord, you have been our dwelling place

throughout all generations.

² Before the mountains were born

or you brought forth the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³ You turn men back to dust,

saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."

⁴ For a thousand years in your sight

are like a day that has just gone by,

or like a watch in the night.

⁵ You sweep men away in the sleep of death;

they are like the new grass of the morning--

⁶ though in the morning it springs up new,

by evening it is dry and withered.

⁷ We are consumed by your anger

and terrified by your indignation.

⁸ You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your presence.

⁹ All our days pass away under your wrath;

we finish our years with a moan.

¹⁰ The length of our days is seventy years--

or eighty, if we have the strength;

yet their span ^A is but trouble and sorrow,

for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

¹¹ Who knows the power of your anger?

For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

¹² Teach us to number our days aright, ⁵

PSALMS: 120

A song of ascents.

¹ I call on the LORD in my distress,

and he answers me.

² Save me, O LORD, from lying lips

and from deceitful tongues.

³ What will he do to you,

and what more besides, O deceitful tongue?

⁴ He will punish you with a warrior's sharp arrows,

with burning coals of the broom tree.

⁵ Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech,

that I live among the tents of Kedar!

⁶ Too long have I lived

among those who hate peace.

⁷ I am a man of peace;

but when I speak, they are for war. ⁶

PSALMS: 150

¹ Praise the LORD. ^A

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens.

² Praise him for his acts of power;

praise him for his surpassing greatness.

³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,

praise him with the harp and lyre,

⁴ praise him with tambourine and dancing,

praise him with the strings and flute,

⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,

praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD. ⁷

PROVERBS: 30

30 ¹ The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh--an oracle ^A:

This man declared to Ithiel,

to Ithiel and to Ucal: ^B

² "I am the most ignorant of men;

I do not have a man's understanding.

³ I have not learned wisdom,

nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴ Who has gone up to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands?

Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name, and the name of his son?

Tell me if you know!

⁵ "Every word of God is flawless;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

⁶ Do not add to his words,

or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

⁷ "Two things I ask of you, O LORD;

do not refuse me before I die:

⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;

give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread.

⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you

and say, `Who is the LORD?'

Or I may become poor and steal,

and so dishonor the name of my God.

¹⁰ "Do not slander a servant to his master,

or he will curse you, and you will pay for it. ⁸

¹¹ "There are those who curse their fathers

and do not bless their mothers;

¹² those who are pure in their own eyes

and yet are not cleansed of their filth;

¹³ those whose eyes are ever so haughty,

whose glances are so disdainful;

¹⁴ those whose teeth are swords

and whose jaws are set with knives

to devour the poor from the earth,

the needy from among mankind.

¹⁵ "The leech has two daughters.

`Give! Give!' they cry.

"There are three things that are never satisfied,

four that never say, `Enough!':

¹⁶ the grave, ^C the barren womb,

land, which is never satisfied with water,

and fire, which never says, `Enough!'

¹⁷ "The eye that mocks a father,

that scorns obedience to a mother,

will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley,

will be eaten by the vultures.

¹⁸ "There are three things that are too amazing for me,

four that I do not understand:

¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky,

the way of a snake on a rock,

20 the way of a ship on the high seas,

and the way of a man with a maiden.⁹

²¹ "Under three things the earth trembles,

under four it cannot bear up:

²² a servant who becomes king,

a fool who is full of food,

²³ an unloved woman who is married,

and a maidservant who displaces her mistress.

²⁴ "Four things on earth are small,

yet they are extremely wise:

²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,

yet they store up their food in the summer;

²⁶ coneys ^D are creatures of little power,

yet they make their home in the crags;

²⁷ locusts have no king,

yet they advance together in ranks;

²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,

yet it is found in kings' palaces.

²⁹ "There are three things that are stately in their stride,

four that move with stately bearing:

³⁰ a lion, mighty among beasts,

who retreats before nothing;

³¹ a strutting rooster, a he-goat,

and a king with his army around him. ^E

³² "If you have played the fool and exalted yourself,

or if you have planned evil,

clap your hand over your mouth! ¹⁰

OLD TESTAMENT ESTHER 4:1 - 7:10

4 ¹ When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. ² But he went only as far as the king's gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. ³ In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ When Esther's maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.

⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate. ⁷ Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 

⁸ He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to urge her to go into the king's presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

⁹ Hathach went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰ Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, ¹¹ "All the king's officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king."

¹² When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³ he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. ¹⁴ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions. ¹¹

5 ¹ On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king's hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. ² When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.

³ Then the king asked, "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you."

⁴ "If it pleases the king," replied Esther, "let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him."

⁵ "Bring Haman at once," the king said, "so that we may do what Esther asks."

So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared. ⁶ As they were drinking wine, the king again asked Esther, "Now what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted."

⁷ Esther replied, "My petition and my request is this: ⁸ If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king's question."

⁹ Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king's gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rage against Mordecai. ¹⁰ Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home.

Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, ¹¹ Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials.

¹² "And that's not all," Haman added. "I'm the only person Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. ¹³ But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king's gate."

¹⁴ His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Have a gallows built, seventy-five feet ^A high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go with the king to the dinner and be happy." This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the gallows built.

6 ¹ That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. ² It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.

³ "What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?" the king asked.

"Nothing has been done for him," his attendants answered. ¹²

⁴ The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows he had erected for him.

⁵ His attendants answered, "Haman is standing in the court."

"Bring him in," the king ordered.

⁶ When Haman entered, the king asked him, "What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?"

Now Haman thought to himself, "Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?" 

⁷ So he answered the king, "For the man the king delights to honor, ⁸ have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. ⁹ Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king's most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, `This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!' "

¹⁰ "Go at once," the king commanded Haman. "Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended."

¹¹ So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, "This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!"

¹² Afterward Mordecai returned to the king's gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief, ¹³ and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.

His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, "Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him--you will surely come to ruin!" ¹⁴ While they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared.

7 ¹ So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther, ² and as they were drinking wine on that second day, the king again asked, "Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted."

³ Then Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life--this is my petition. And spare my people--this is my request. 

⁴ For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king. ^A" ¹³

⁵ King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, "Who is he? Where is the man who has dared to do such a thing?"

⁶ Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman."

Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. ⁷ The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

⁸ Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.

The king exclaimed, "Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?"

As soon as the word left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. ⁹ Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, "A gallows seventy-five feet ^B high stands by Haman's house. He had it made for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king."

The king said, "Hang him on it!" ¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's fury subsided. ¹⁴

NEW TESTAMENT: 1 CORITHIANS 12:1 - 26

12 ¹ Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, ^A and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ^{B 11} All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

¹² The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by ^C one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

¹⁴ Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. ¹⁵

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

 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