Tuesday, January 9, 2024

THEinc-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - August 18 - Full Text

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














AUGUST 18


PSALMS:  18, 48, 78, 108, 138

PROVERBS:  18

OLD TESTAMENT:  EZEKIEL 16:42 – 17:24

NEW TESTAMENT:  HEBREWS 8:1 – 13


PSALMS:  18

1 I love you, LORD, my strength. 
2 The LORD is my rock, 
and my fortress, and my deliverer; 
My God, my rock, in whom I will take refuge; 
My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower. 
3 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; 
So shall I be saved from my enemies. 
4 The cords of death surrounded me. 
The floods of ungodliness made me afraid. 
5 The cords of She'ol were round about me; 
The snares of death came on me. 
6 In my distress I called on the LORD, 
And cried to my God. 
He heard my voice out of his temple, 
My cry before him came into his ears. 
7 Then the eretz shook and trembled. 
The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, 
Because he was angry. 
8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, 
Fire out of his mouth devoured; 
Coals were kindled by it. 
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down. 
Thick darkness was under his feet. 
10 He rode on a Keruv, and flew. 
Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind. 
11 He made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion around him, 
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 
12 At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, 
Hailstones and coals of fire. 
13 The LORD also thundered in the sky, 
The Elyon uttered his voice, 
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; 
Yes, lightnings manifold, and routed them. 
15 Then the channels of waters appeared, 
The foundations of the world were laid bare, 
At your rebuke, LORD, 
At the blast of the breath of your nostrils. 
16 He sent from on high. 
He took me. 
He drew me out of many waters. 
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, 
From those who hated me; 
for they were too mighty for me. 
18 They came on me in the day of my calamity, 
But the LORD was my support. 
19 He brought me forth also into a large place. 
He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
20 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness. 
According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, 
And have not wickedly departed from my God. 
22 For all his ordinances were before me. 
I didn't put away his statutes from me. 
23 I was also blameless with him. 
I kept myself from my iniquity. 
24 Therefore has the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. 
25 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. 
With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect. 
26 With the pure, you will show yourself pure. 
With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd. 
27 For you will save the afflicted people, 
But the haughty eyes you will bring down. 
28 For you will light my lamp. 
The LORD, my God, will light up my darkness.
29 For by you, I advance through a troop. 
By my God, I leap over a wall. 
30 As for God, his way is perfect. 
The word of the LORD is tried. 
He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him. 
31 For who is God, except the LORD? 
Who is a rock, besides our God, 
32 The God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect? 
33 He makes my feet like hinds' feet, 
And sets me on my high places. 
34 He teaches my hands to war; 
So that my arms bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me the shield of your salvation. 
Your right hand sustains me. 
Your gentleness has made me great. 
36 You have enlarged my steps under me, 
My feet have not slipped. 
37 I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them. 
Neither will I turn again until they are consumed. 
38 I will strike them through, so that they will not be able to rise. 
They shall fall under my feet. 
39 For you have girded me with strength to the battle. 
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. 
40 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, 
That I might cut off those who hate me. 
41 They cried, but there was none to save; 
Even to the LORD, but he didn't answer them. 
42 Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind. 
I cast them out as the mire of the streets. 
43 You have delivered me from the strivings of the people. 
You have made me the head of the nations. 
A people whom I have not known shall serve me. 
44 As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me. 
The foreigners shall submit themselves to me. 
45 The foreigners shall fade away, 
And shall come trembling out of their close places. 
46 The LORD lives; 
and blessed be my rock. 
Exalted be the God of my salvation, 
47 Even the God who executes vengeance for me, 
And subdues peoples under me. 
48 He rescues me from my enemies. 
Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me. 
You deliver me from the violent man. 
49 Therefore I will give thanks to you, LORD, among the nations, 
And will sing praises to your name. 
50 He gives great deliverance to his king, 
And shows loving kindness to his anointed, 
To David and to his seed, forevermore.


PSALMS:  48

1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, 
In the city of our God, in his holy mountain. 
2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole eretz, 
Is Mount Tziyon, on the north sides, 
The city of the great King. 
3 God has shown himself in her citadels as a refuge. 
4 For, behold, the kings assembled themselves, 
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, then were they amazed. 
They were dismayed, 
They hurried away. 
6 Trembling took hold of them there, 
Pain, as of a woman in travail. 
7 With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish. 
8 As we have heard, so have we seen, 
In the city of the LORD of Hosts, in the city of our God. 
God will establish it forever. 
Selah. 
9 We have thought about your loving kindness, 
God, In the midst of your temple. 
10 As is your name, God, 
So is your praise to the ends of the eretz. 
Your right hand is full of righteousness. 
11 Let Mount Tziyon be glad! 
Let the daughters of Yehudah rejoice, 
Because of your judgments. 
12 Walk about Tziyon, and go around her. 
Number the towers of it; 
13 Mark well her bulwarks. 
Consider her palaces, ‘
That you may tell it to the next generation. 
14 For this God is our God forever and ever. 
He will be our guide even to death.


PSALMS:  78

1 Hear my law, my people. 
Turn your ears to the words of my mouth. 
2 I will open my mouth in a parable. 
I will utter dark sayings of old, 
3 Which we have heard and known, 
Our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, 
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, 
His strength, and his wondrous works that he has done. 
5 For he established a testimony in Ya`akov, 
And appointed a law in Yisra'el, 
Which he commanded our fathers, 
That they should make them known to their children; 
6 That the generation to come might know, 
even the children who should be born; Who should arise and tell their children, 
7 That they might set their hope in God, 
And not forget the works of God, 
But keep his mitzvot, 
8 And might not be as their fathers, 
A stubborn and rebellious generation, 
A generation that didn't make their hearts loyal, 
Whose spirit was not steadfast with God. 
9 The children of Efrayim, being armed and carrying bows, 
Turned back in the day of battle. 
10 They didn't keep the covenant of God, 
And refused to walk in his law.
11 They forgot his doings, 
His wondrous works that he had shown them. 
12 Marvelous things did he in the sight of their fathers, 
In the land of Mitzrayim, in the field of Tzo`an. 
13 He split the sea, and caused them to pass through; 
He made the waters stand as a heap.
14 In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, 
All the night with a light of fire. 
15 He split rocks in the wilderness, 
And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths. 
16 He brought streams also out of the rock, 
And caused waters to run down like rivers. 
17 Yet they still went on to sin against him, 
To rebel against Ha`Elyon in the desert.
18 They tempted God in their heart 
By asking food according to their desire. 
19 Yes, they spoke against God. 
They said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? 
20 Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, 
Streams overflowed. 
Can he give bread also? 
Will he provide flesh for his people?" 
21 Therefore the LORD heard, and was angry. 
A fire was kindled against Ya`akov, 
Anger also went up against Yisra'el, 
22 Because they didn't believe in God, 
And didn't trust in his yeshu`ah. 
23 Yet he commanded the skies above, 
And opened the doors of heaven. 
24 He rained down manna on them to eat, 
And gave them food from the sky. 
25 Man ate the bread of angels. 
He sent them food to the full. 
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky. 
By his power he guided the south wind.
27 He rained also flesh on them as the dust; 
Winged birds as the sand of the seas. 
28 He let them fall in the midst of their camp, 
Around their habitations. 
29 So they ate, and were well filled. 
He gave them their own desire. 
30 They didn't turn from their cravings. 
Their food was yet in their mouths, 
31 When the anger of God went up against them, 
And killed some of the fattest of them, 
And struck down the young men of Yisra'el. 
32 For all this they still sinned, 
And didn't believe in his wondrous works. 
33 Therefore he consumed their days in vanity, 
And their years in terror. 
34 When he killed them, then they inquired after him. 
They returned and sought God earnestly. 
35 They remembered that God was their rock, ‘
The El `Elyon their redeemer. 
36 But they flattered him with their mouth, 
And lied to him with their tongue. 
37  For their heart was not right with him, 
Neither were they faithful in his covenant. 
38 But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, 
and didn't destroy them. 
Yes, many times he turned his anger away, 
And didn't stir up all his wrath. 
39 He remembered that they were but flesh, 
A wind that passes away, and doesn't come again. 
40 How often did they rebel against him in the wilderness, 
And grieve him in the desert! 
41 They turned again and tempted God, 
And provoked the Holy One of  Yisra'el. 
42 They didn't remember his hand, 
Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary; 
43 How he set his signs in Mitzrayim, 
His wonders in the field of Tzo`an, 
44 Turned their rivers into blood, 
Their streams, so that they could not drink. 
45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; 
Frogs, which destroyed them. 
46 He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, 
Their labor to the arbeh. 
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, 
Their sycamore-fig trees with frost.
48 He gave over their cattle also to the hail, 
And their flocks to hot thunderbolts. 
49 He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, 
Wrath, indignation, and trouble, 
And a band of angels of evil. 
50 He made a path for his anger. 
He didn't spare their soul from death, 
But gave their life over to the pestilence, 
51 And struck all the firstborn in Mitzrayim, 
The chief of their strength in the tents of Ham. 
52 But he led forth his own people like sheep, 
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock. 
53 He led them safely, so that they weren't afraid, 
But the sea overwhelmed their enemies. 
54 He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, 
To this mountain, which his right hand had taken. 
55 He also drove out the nations before them, 
Allotted them for an inheritance by line, 
And made the tribes of Yisra'el to dwell in their tents. 
56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against 
Ha`Elyon God, And didn't keep his testimonies; 
57 But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. 
They were turned aside like a deceitful bow. 
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, 
And moved him to jealousy with their engraved images. 
59 When God heard this, he was angry, 
And greatly abhorred Yisra'el;
60 So that he forsook the tent of Shiloh, 
The tent which he placed among men; 
61 And delivered his strength into captivity, 
His glory into the adversary's hand. 
62 He also gave his people over to the sword, 
And was angry with his inheritance. 
63 Fire devoured their young men; 
Their virgins had no wedding song. 
64 Their Kohanim fell by the sword; 
Their widows made no lamentation. 
65 Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, 
Like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine. 
66 He struck his adversaries backward. 
He put them to a perpetual reproach. 
67 Moreover he rejected the tent of Yosef, 
And didn't choose the tribe of Efrayim, 
68 But chose the tribe of Yehudah, 
Mount Tziyon which he loved. 
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights, 
Like the eretz which he has established forever. 
70 He also chose David his servant, 
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From following the ewes that have their young he brought him 
To be the shepherd of Ya`akov, his people, and Yisra'el, his inheritance.
72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, 
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.


PSALMS:  108

1 My heart is steadfast, God. 
I will sing and I will make music with my soul. 
2 Wake up, harp and lyre! 
I will wake up the dawn. 
3 I will give thanks to you, LORD, among the nations. 
I will sing praises to you among the peoples. 
4 For your loving kindness is great above the heavens. 
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 
5 Be exalted, God, above the heavens, 
Let your glory be over all the eretz. 
6 That your beloved may be delivered, 
Save with your right hand, and answer us. 
7 God has spoken from his sanctuary: 
"In triumph, I will divide Shekhem, and measure out the valley of Sukkot. 
8 Gil`ad is mine. 
Menashsheh is mine. 
Efrayim also is my helmet. 
Yehudah is my scepter. 
9 Mo'av is my wash pot. 
I will toss my sandal on Edom. 
I will shout over Peleshet." 
10 Who will bring me into the fortified city? 
Who has led me to Edom? 
11 Haven't you rejected us, God? 
‘You don't go forth, God, with our armies. 
12 Give us help against the enemy, 
For the help of man is vain. 
13 Through God, we will do valiantly. 
For it is he who will tread down our enemies.


PROVERBS:  18

1 An unfriendly man pursues selfishness, 
And defies all sound judgment. 
2 A fool has no delight in understanding, 
But only in broadcasting his own opinion. 
3 When wickedness comes, contempt also comes, 
And with shame comes disgrace. 
4 The words of a man's mouth are like deep waters. 
The fountain of wisdom is like a flowing brook. 
5 To be partial to the faces of the wicked is not good, 
Nor to deprive the innocent of justice. 
6 A fool's lips come into strife, 
And his mouth invites beatings. 
7 A fool's mouth is his destruction, 
And his lips are a snare to his soul. 
8 The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels: 
They go down into a person's innermost parts. 
9 One who is slack in his work 
Is brother to him who is a master of destruction. 
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: 
The righteous run to him, and are safe. 
11 The rich man's wealth is his strong city, 
Like an unscalable wall in his own imagination. 
12 Before destruction the heart of man is proud, 
But before honor is humility. 
13 He who gives answer before he hears, 
That is folly and shame to him. 
14 A man's spirit will sustain him in sickness, 
But a crushed spirit who can bear? 
15 The heart of the discerning gets knowledge. 
The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
16 A man's gift makes room for him, 
And brings him before great men. 
17  He who pleads his cause first seems right; 
Until another comes and questions him. 
18 The lot settles disputes, 
And keeps strong ones apart. 
19 A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city; 
And disputes are like the bars of a castle. 
20 A man's stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. 
With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied. 
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue; 
Those who love it will eat its fruit. 
22 Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, 
And obtains favor of the LORD. 
23 The poor pleads for mercy, 
But the rich answers harshly. 
24 A man of many companions may be ruined, 
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.


OLD TESTAMENT:  EZEKIEL 16:42 - 17:24

16:42 So will I cause my wrath toward you to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from you, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. 43 Because you have not remembered the days of your youth, but have raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring your way on your head, says the Lord GOD: and you shall not commit this lewdness with all your abominations. 44 Behold, everyone who uses proverbs shall use [this] proverb against you, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. 45 You are the daughter of your mother, who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amori. 46 Your elder sister is Shomron, who dwells at your left hand, she and her daughters; and your younger sister, who dwells at your right hand, is Sedom and her daughters. 47 Yet have you not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as [if that were] a very little [thing], you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 As I live, says the Lord GOD, Sedom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters. 49 Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sedom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw [good]. 51 Neither has Shomron committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done. 52 You also, bear you your own shame, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that you: yes, be also confounded, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters. 53 I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sedom and her daughters, and the captivity of Shomron and her daughters, and the captivity of your captives in the midst of them; 54 that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them. 55Your sisters, Sedom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Shomron and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and you and your daughters shall return to your former estate. 56 For your sister Sedom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Aram, and of all who are round about her, the daughters of the Pelishtim, who do despite to you round about. 58 You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, says the LORD. 59 For thus says the Lord GOD: I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant. 60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant. 61 Then shall you remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder [sisters] and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant. 62 I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall know that I am the LORD; 63 that you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more, because of your shame, when I have forgiven you all that you have done, says the Lord GOD. 

17:1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Yisra'el; 3 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Levanon, and took the top of the cedar: 4 he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants. 5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow tree. 6 It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots of it were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. 7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it. 8 It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine. 9 Say you, Thus says the Lord GOD: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots of it, and cut off the fruit of it, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and not by a strong arm or much people can it be raised from the roots of it. 10 Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew. 11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 12 Say now to the rebellious house, Don't you know what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Bavel came to Yerushalayim, and took the king of it, and the princes of it, and brought them to him to Bavel: 13 and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land; 14 that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. 15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Mitzrayim, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape who does such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape? 16 As I live, says the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Bavel he shall die. 17 Neither shall Par`oh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons. 18 For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head. 20 I will spread my net on him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Bavel, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me. 21 All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it. 22 Thus says the Lord GOD: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain: 23 in the mountain of the height of Yisra'el will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of the branches of it shall they dwell. 24 All the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it. 


NEW TESTAMENT:  HEBREWS 8:1 - 13

8:1 Now in the things which we are saying, the main point is this. We have such a Kohen Gadol, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 
2 a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tent, which the Lord pitched, not man. 
3 For every Kohen Gadol is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this Kohen Gadol also have something to offer. 
4 For if he were on eretz, he would not be a Kohen at all, seeing there are Kohanim who offer the gifts according to the law; 
5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moshe was warned by God when he was about to make the tent, for, "See," he said, "that you make all things according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain." 
6 But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. 
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
8 For finding fault with them, he said, "Behold, the days come," says the Lord, "That I will make a new covenant with the house of Yisra'el and with the house of Yehudah; 
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Mitzrayim; For they didn't continue in my covenant, And I disregarded them," says the Lord. 
10 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra'el. After those days," says the Lord; "I will put my laws into their mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be to them a God, And they will be to me a people. 
11 They will not teach every man his fellow citizen, Every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' For all will know me, From the least of them to the greatest of them. 
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more." 
13 In that he says, "A new covenant," he has made the first old. But that which is becoming old and grows aged is near to vanishing away.

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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