THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - January 11 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

JANUARY 11

PSALMS: 11, 41, 71, 101, 131

PROVERBS: 11

OLD TESTAMENT: DEUTERONOMY 21:1 - 22:30

NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 9:51 - 10:12

PSALMS: 11

For the director of music. Of David.

¹ In the LORD I take refuge.

How then can you say to me:

"Flee like a bird to your mountain.

² For look, the wicked bend their bows;

they set their arrows against the strings

to shoot from the shadows

at the upright in heart.

³ When the foundations are being destroyed,

what can the righteous do ^A?"

⁴ The LORD is in his holy temple;

the LORD is on his heavenly throne.

He observes the sons of men;

his eyes examine them.

⁵ The LORD examines the righteous,

but the wicked ^B and those who love violence

his soul hates.

⁶ On the wicked he will rain

fiery coals and burning sulfur;

a scorching wind will be their lot.

⁷ For the LORD is righteous,

he loves justice;

upright men will see his face. ¹

PSALMS: 41

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;

the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.

² The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;

he will bless him in the land

and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.

³ The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed

and restore him from his bed of illness.

⁴ I said, "O LORD, have mercy on me;

heal me, for I have sinned against you."

⁵ My enemies say of me in malice,

"When will he die and his name perish?"

⁶ Whenever one comes to see me,

he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander;

then he goes out and spreads it abroad.

⁷ All my enemies whisper together against me;

they imagine the worst for me, saying,

⁸ "A vile disease has beset him;

he will never get up from the place where he lies."

⁹ Even my close friend, whom I trusted,

he who shared my bread,

has lifted up his heel against me. ²

¹⁰ But you, O LORD, have mercy on me;

raise me up, that I may repay them.

¹¹ I know that you are pleased with me,

for my enemy does not triumph over me.

¹² In my integrity you uphold me

and set me in your presence forever.

¹³ Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and Amen ³

PSALMS: 71

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

let me never be put to shame.

² Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness;

turn your ear to me and save me.

³ Be my rock of refuge,

to which I can always go;

give the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

⁴ Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of evil and cruel men.

⁵ For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD,

my confidence since my youth.

⁶ From birth I have relied on you;

you brought me forth from my mother's womb.

I will ever praise you.

⁷ I have become like a portent to many,

but you are my strong refuge.

⁸ My mouth is filled with your praise,

declaring your splendor all day long.

⁹ Do not cast me away when I am old;

do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

¹⁰ For my enemies speak against me;

those who wait to kill me conspire together.

¹¹ They say, "God has forsaken him;

pursue him and seize him,

for no one will rescue him."

¹² Be not far from me, O God;

come quickly, O my God, to help me.

¹³ May my accusers perish in shame;

may those who want to harm me

be covered with scorn and disgrace. ⁴

¹⁴ But as for me, I will always have hope;

I will praise you more and more.

¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteousness,

of your salvation all day long,

though I know not its measure.

¹⁶ I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD;

I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.

¹⁷ Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,

and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

¹⁸ Even when I am old and gray,

do not forsake me, O God,

till I declare your power to the next generation,

your might to all who are to come.

¹⁹ Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,

you who have done great things.

Who, O God, is like you?

²⁰ Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,

you will restore my life again;

from the depths of the earth

you will again bring me up.

²¹ You will increase my honor

and comfort me once again.

²² I will praise you with the harp

for your faithfulness, O my God;

I will sing praise to you with the lyre,

O Holy One of Israel.

²³ My lips will shout for joy

when I sing praise to you--

I, whom you have redeemed.

²⁴ My tongue will tell of your righteous acts ⁵

all day long,

for those who wanted to harm me

have been put to shame and confusion. ⁶

PSALMS: 101

Of David. A psalm.

¹ I will sing of your love and justice;

to you, O LORD, I will sing praise.

² I will be careful to lead a blameless life--

when will you come to me?

I will walk in my house

with blameless heart.

³ I will set before my eyes

no vile thing.

The deeds of faithless men I hate;

they will not cling to me.

⁴ Men of perverse heart shall be far from me;

I will have nothing to do with evil.

⁵ Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret,

him will I put to silence;

whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart,

him will I not endure.

⁶ My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,

that they may dwell with me;

he whose walk is blameless

will minister to me. ⁷

⁷ No one who practices deceit

will dwell in my house;

no one who speaks falsely

will stand in my presence.

⁸ Every morning I will put to silence

all the wicked in the land;

I will cut off every evildoer

from the city of the LORD. ⁸

PSALMS: 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹ My heart is not proud, O LORD,

my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters

or things too wonderful for me.

² But I have stilled and quieted my soul;

like a weaned child with its mother,

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³ O Israel, put your hope in the LORD

both now and forevermore. ⁹

PROVERBS: 11

11 ¹ The LORD abhors dishonest scales,

but accurate weights are his delight.

² When pride comes, then comes disgrace,

but with humility comes wisdom.

³ The integrity of the upright guides them,

but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

⁴ Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,

but righteousness delivers from death.

⁵ The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them,

but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.

⁶ The righteousness of the upright delivers them,

but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.

⁷ When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes;

all he expected from his power comes to nothing.

⁸ The righteous man is rescued from trouble,

and it comes on the wicked instead.

⁹ With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor,

but through knowledge the righteous escape.

¹⁰ When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;

when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

¹¹ Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,

but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed. ¹⁰

¹² A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor,

but a man of understanding holds his tongue.

¹³ A gossip betrays a confidence,

but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.

¹⁴ For lack of guidance a nation falls,

but many advisers make victory sure.

¹⁵ He who puts up security for another will surely suffer,

but whoever refuses to strike hands in pledge is safe.

¹⁶ A kindhearted woman gains respect,

but ruthless men gain only wealth.

¹⁷ A kind man benefits himself,

but a cruel man brings trouble on himself.

¹⁸ The wicked man earns deceptive wages,

but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.

¹⁹ The truly righteous man attains life,

but he who pursues evil goes to his death.

²⁰ The LORD detests men of perverse heart

but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.

²¹ Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished,

but those who are righteous will go free. ¹¹

²² Like a gold ring in a pig's snout

is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

²³ The desire of the righteous ends only in good,

but the hope of the wicked only in wrath.

²⁴ One man gives freely, yet gains even more;

another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

²⁵ A generous man will prosper;

he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

²⁶ People curse the man who hoards grain,

but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell.

²⁷ He who seeks good finds goodwill,

but evil comes to him who searches for it.

²⁸ Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,

but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

²⁹ He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind,

and the fool will be servant to the wise.

³⁰ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

and he who wins souls is wise.

³¹ If the righteous receive their due on earth,

how much more the ungodly and the sinner! ¹²

OLD TESTAMENT: DEUTERONOMY 21:1 - 22:30

21 ¹ If a man is found slain, lying in a field in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, ² your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. ³ Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke ⁴ and lead her down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer's neck.

⁵ The priests, the sons of Levi, shall step forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the LORD and to decide all cases of dispute and assault. ⁶ Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, ⁷ and they shall declare: "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. ⁸ Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O LORD, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man." And the bloodshed will be atoned for. ⁹ So you will purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

¹⁰ When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, ¹¹ if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. ¹² Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails ¹³ and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. ¹⁴ If you are ¹³ not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

¹⁵ If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, ¹⁶ when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love. ¹⁷ He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father's strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.

¹⁸ If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, ¹⁹ his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. ²⁰ They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard." ²¹ Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.

²² If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree,

²³ you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. ¹⁴

22 ¹ If you see your brother's ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to him. ² If the brother does not live near you or if you do not know who he is, take it home with you and keep it until he comes looking for it. Then give it back to him.

³ Do the same if you find your brother's donkey or his cloak or anything he loses. Do not ignore it.

⁴ If you see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help him get it to its feet.

⁵ A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this.

⁶ If you come across a bird's nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. ⁷ You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.

⁸ When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.

⁹ Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard; if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled. ^A

¹⁰ Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.

¹¹ Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.

¹² Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.

¹³ If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her ¹⁴ and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, "I married this ¹⁵ woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity," ¹⁵ then the girl's father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate. ¹⁶ The girl's father will say to the elders, "I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. ¹⁷ Now he has slandered her and said, `I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.' But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity." Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, ¹⁸ and the elders shall take the man and punish him. ¹⁹ They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver ^B and give them to the girl's father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.

²⁰ If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found,

²¹ she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house. You must purge the evil from among you.

²² If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

²³ If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, ²⁴ you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death--the girl because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man's wife. You must purge the evil from among you. ^{16 25} But if out in the country a man happens to meet a girl pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. ²⁶ Do nothing to the girl; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders his neighbor, ²⁷ for the man found the girl out in the country, and though the betrothed girl screamed, there was no one to rescue her.

²⁸ If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, ²⁹ he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. ^C He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

³⁰ A man is not to marry his father's wife; he must not dishonor his father's bed. ¹⁷

NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 9:51 - 10:12

^{5 1} As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵² And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³ but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them ^C?" ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and rebuked them, ⁵⁶ and ^D they went to another village.

⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

⁵⁸ Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

⁵⁹ He said to another man, "Follow me."

But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

⁶¹ Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."

⁶² Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." ¹⁸

10 ¹ After this the Lord appointed ^{seventy-two A} others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. ² He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. ³ Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.

⁴ Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

⁵ "When you enter a house, first say, `Peace to this house.' ⁶ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. ⁷ Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

⁸ "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. ⁹ Heal the sick who are there and tell them, `The kingdom of God is near you.' <sup>10</sup> But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, <sup>11</sup> `Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' ¹² I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 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

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

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