THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - December 1 - Full Text - Shabbat Shalom!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

DECEMBER 1

PSALMS: 1, 31, 61, 91, 121

PROVERBS: 1

OLD TESTAMENT: LEVITICUS 9:7 - 10:20

NEW TESTAMENT: MARK 4:26 - 5:20

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: LEVITICUS 9:7 - 10:20

⁷ Moses said to Aaron, "Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people; sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the LORD has commanded."

⁸ So Aaron came to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself.

⁹ His sons brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger into the blood and put it on the horns of the altar; the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar. ¹⁰ On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys and the covering of the liver from the sin offering, as the LORD commanded Moses; ¹¹ the flesh and the hide he burned up outside the camp.

¹² Then he slaughtered the burnt offering. His sons handed him the blood, and he sprinkled it against the altar on all sides. ¹³ They handed him the burnt offering piece by piece, including the head, and he burned them on the altar. ¹⁴ He washed the inner parts and the legs and burned them on top of the burnt offering on the altar.

¹⁵ Aaron then brought the offering that was for the people. He took the goat for the people's sin offering and slaughtered it and offered it for a sin offering as he did with the first one.

¹⁶He brought the burnt offering and offered it in the prescribed way. ¹⁷ He also brought the grain offering, took a handful of it and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning's burnt offering.

¹⁸He slaughtered the ox and the ram as the fellowship offering for the people. His sons handed him the blood, and he sprinkled it against the altar on all sides. ¹⁹ But the fat portions of the ox and the ram--the fat tail, the layer of fat, the kidneys and the covering of the liver—²⁰ these they laid on the breasts, and then Aaron burned the fat on the altar. ²¹ Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh before the LORD as a wave offering, as Moses commanded.

²² Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.

²³ Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. ²⁴ Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

10 ¹ Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. ² So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. ³ Moses then said ¹² to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke of when he said:

" `Among those who approach me

I will show myself holy;

in the sight of all the people

I will be honored.' "

Aaron remained silent.

⁴ Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary." ⁵ So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered.

⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not let your hair become ^{unkempt, A} and do not tear your clothes, or you will die and the LORD will be angry with the whole community. But your relatives, all the house of Israel, may mourn for those the LORD has destroyed by fire. ⁷ Do not leave the entrance to the Tent of Meeting or you will die, because the LORD's anointing oil is on you." So they did as Moses said.

⁸ Then the LORD said to Aaron, ⁹ "You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. ¹⁰ You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, ¹¹ and you must teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses."

¹² Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, "Take the grain offering left over from the offerings made to the LORD by fire and eat it prepared without yeast beside the altar, for it is most holy. ¹³ Eat it in a holy place, because it is your share and your sons' share of the offerings made to the LORD by fire; for so I have been commanded. ¹⁴ But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. Eat them in a ceremonially clean place; they have been given to you and your children as your share of the Israelites' fellowship offerings. ^{B 15} The thigh that was presented and the breast that was waved must be brought with the fat portions of the offerings made by fire, to be waved before the LORD as a wave offering. This will be the regular share for you and your children, as the LORD has commanded."

¹⁶ When Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering and found that it had been burned up, he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's remaining sons, and asked, ¹⁷ "Why didn't you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area? It is most holy; it was given to you to take away ¹³ the guilt of the community by making atonement for them before the LORD. ¹⁸ Since its blood was not taken into the Holy Place, you should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary area, as I commanded."

¹⁹ Aaron replied to Moses, "Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, but such things as this have happened to me. Would the LORD have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?" ²⁰ When Moses heard this, he was satisfied. ¹⁴

NEW TESTAMENT: MARK 4:26 - 5:20

²⁶ He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

³⁰ Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. ³² Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

³³ With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. ³⁴ He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

5 ¹ They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. ^{A 2} When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil ^B spirit came from the tombs to meet him. ³ This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.

⁷ He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" ⁸ For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!"

⁹ Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" ¹⁵

"My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹² The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." ¹³ He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

¹⁴ Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man--and told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷ Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." ²⁰ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis ^C how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

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