APRIL 3
PSALMS: 3, 33, 63, 93, 123
PROVERBS: 3
OLD TESTAMENT: 2 KINGS 4:18 - 5:25
NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 15:1 - 35
PSALMS: 3
1 A psalm of David,
when he fled from Avshalom his son:
ADONAI, how many enemies I have!
How countless are those attacking me;
2 how countless those who say of me,
"There is no salvation for him in God."
(Selah)
3 But you, ADONAI, are a shield for me;
you are my glory, you lift my head high.
4 With my voice I call out to ADONAI,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
(Selah)
5 I lie down and sleep, then wake up again,
because ADONAI sustains me.
6 I am not afraid of the tens of thousands
set against me on every side.
7 Rise up, ADONAI!
Save me, my God!
For you slap all my enemies in the face,
you smash the teeth of the wicked.
8 Victory comes from ADONAI;
may your blessing rest on your people.
(Selah)
PSALMS: 33
1 Rejoice in ADONAI, you righteous!
Praise is well-suited to the upright.
2 Give thanks to ADONAI with the lyre,
sing praises to him with a ten-stringed harp.
3 Sing to him a new song,
make music at your best among shouts of joy.
4 For the word of ADONAI is true,
and all his work is trustworthy.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the grace of ADONAI.
6 By the word of ADONAI the heavens were made,
and their whole host by a breath from his mouth.
7 He collects the sea waters together in a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear ADONAI!
Let all living in the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and there it was;
he commanded, and there it stood.
10 ADONAI brings to nothing the plans of nations,
he foils the plans of the peoples.
11 But the counsel of ADONAI stands forever,
his heart's plans are for all generations.
12 How blessed is the nation whose God is ADONAI,
the people he chose as his heritage!
13 ADONAI looks out from heaven;
he sees every human being;
14 from the place where he lives he
watches everyone living on earth,
15 he who fashioned the hearts of them
all and understands all they do.
16 A king is not saved by the size of his army,
a strong man not delivered by his great strength.
17 To rely on a horse for safety is vain,
nor does its great power assure escape.
18 But ADONAI's eyes watch over those who fear him,
over those who wait for his grace
19 to rescue them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We are waiting for ADONAI;
he is our help and shield.
21 For in him our hearts rejoice,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 May your mercy, ADONAI, be over us,
because we put our hope in you.
PSALMS: 63
1 A psalm of David,
when he was in the desert of Y'hudah:
O God, you are my God;
I will seek you eagerly.
My heart thirsts for you,
my body longs for you in a land parched and exhausted,
where no water can be found.
2 I used to contemplate you in the sanctuary,
seeing your power and glory;
3 for your grace is better than life.
My lips will worship you.
4 Yes, I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I am as satisfied as with rich food;
my mouth praises you with joy on my lips
6 when I remember you on my bed
and meditate on you in the night watches.
7 For you have been my help;
in the shadow of your wings I rejoice;
8 my heart clings to you;
your right hand supports me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life -may
they go to the lowest parts of the earth.
10 May they be given over to the power of the sword;
may they become prey for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God.
Everyone who swears by him will exult,
for the mouths of liars will be silenced.
PSALMS: 93
1 ADONAI is king, robed in majesty;
ADONAI is robed, girded with strength;
The world is well established;
it cannot be moved.
2 Your throne was established long ago;
you have existed forever.
3 ADONAI, the deep is raising up, the deep is raising up
its voice, the deep is raising its crashing waves.
4 More than the sound of rushing waters or the mighty breakers of the sea,
ADONAI on high is mighty.
5 Your instructions are very sure;
holiness befits your house,
ADONAI, for all time to come.
PSALMS: 123
1 A song of ascents:
I raise my eyes to you, whose throne is in heaven.
2 As a servant looks to the hand of his master,
or a slave-girl to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes turn to ADONAI our God,
until he has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, ADONAI, have mercy;
for we have had our fill of contempt,
4 more than our fill of scorn from the complacent
and contempt from the arrogant.
PROVERBS: 3
1 My son, don't forget my teaching,
keep my commands in your heart;
2 for they will add to you many days,
years of life and peace.
3 Do not let grace and truth leave you
-bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and esteem
in the sight of God and of people.
5 Trust in ADONAI with all your heart;
do not rely on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him;
then he will level your paths.
7 Don't be conceited about your own wisdom;
but fear ADONAI, and turn from evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and give strength to your bones.
9 Honor ADONAI with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your income.
10 Then your granaries will be filled
and your vats overflow with new wine.
11 My son, don't despise ADONAI's discipline
or resent his reproof;
12 for ADONAI corrects those he loves
like a father who delights in his son.
13 Happy the person who finds wisdom,
the person who acquires understanding;
14 for her profit exceeds that of silver,
gaining her is better than gold,
15 she is more precious than pearls -nothing
you want can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand,
riches and honor in her left.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who grasp her;
whoever holds fast to her will be made happy.
19 ADONAI by wisdom founded the earth,
by understanding he established the heavens,
20 by his knowledge the deep [springs] burst open
and the dew condenses from the sky.
21 My son, don't let these slip from your sight;
preserve common sense and discretion;
22 they will be life for your being
and grace for your neck.
23 Then you will walk your way securely,
without hurting your foot.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Don't be afraid of sudden terror or destruction caused by the wicked,
when it comes;
26 for you can rely on ADONAI;
he will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.
27 Don't withhold good from someone entitled to it when
you have in hand the power to do it.
28 Don't tell your neighbor, "Go away!
Come another time;
I'll give it to you tomorrow,"
when you have it now.
29 Don't plan harm against your neighbor who lives beside you trustingly.
30 Don't quarrel with someone for no reason, if he has done you no harm.
31 Don't envy a man of violence, don't choose any of his ways;
32 for the perverse is an abomination to ADONAI,
but he shares his secret counsel with the upright.
33 ADONAI's curse is in the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the home of the righteous.
34 The scornful he scorns,
but gives grace to the humble.
35 The wise win honor,
but fools win shame.
OLD TESTAMENT: 2 KINGS 4:18 - 5:25
4:18 When the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. 19 He said to his father, My head, my head. He said to his servant, Carry him to his mother. 20 When he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until noon, and then died. 21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut [the door] on him, and went out. 22 She called to her husband, and said, Please send me one of the servants, and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God, and come again. 23 He said, Why will you go to him today? it is neither new moon nor Shabbat. She said, It shall be well. 24 Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; don't slacken me the riding, except I bid you. 25 So she went, and came to the man of God to Mount Karmel. It happened, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gechazi his servant, Behold, yonder is the Shunammite: 26 please run now to meet her, and ask her, Is it well with you? is it well with your husband? is it well with the child? She answered, It is well. 27 When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gechazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, Let her alone: for her soul is vexed within her; and the LORD has hid it from me, and has not told me. 28 Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? Didn't I say, Do not deceive me? 29 Then he said to Gechazi, Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go your way: if you meet any man, Don't greet him; and if anyone greets you, don't answer him again: and lay my staff on the face of the child. 30 The mother of the child said, As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. He arose, and followed her. 31 Gechazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child has not awakened. 32 When Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid on his bed. 33 He went in therefore, and shut the door on them both, and prayed to the LORD. 34 He went up, and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, and his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands: and he stretched himself on him; and the flesh of the child grew warm. 35 Then he returned, and walked in the house once back and forth; and went up, and stretched himself on him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 He called Gechazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. When she was come in to him, he said, Take up your son. 37 Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; and she took up her son, and went out. 38 Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets. 39 One went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of stew; for they didn't recognize them. 40 So they poured out for the men to eat. It happened, as they were eating of the stew, that they cried out, and said, man of God, there is death in the pot. They could not eat of it. 41 But he said, Then bring meal. He cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. There was no harm in the pot. 42 There came a man from Ba`al-Shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said, Give to the people, that they may eat. 43 His servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give the people, that they may eat; for thus says the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave of it. 44 So he set it before them, and they ate, and left of it, according to the word of the LORD.
5:1 Now Na`aman, captain of the host of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram: he was also a mighty man of valor, [but he was] a leper. 2 The Aram had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of Eretz-Yisra'el a little maiden; and she waited on Na`aman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Shomron! then would he recover him of his leprosy. 4 One went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maiden who is of Eretz-Yisra'el. 5 The king of Aram said, Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Yisra'el. He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Yisra'el, saying, Now when this letter is come to you, behold, I have sent Na`aman my servant to you, that you may recover him of his leprosy. 7 It happened, when the king of Yisra'el had read the letter, that he tore his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man does send to me to recover a man of his leprosy? but consider, I pray you, and see how he seeks a quarrel against me. 8 It was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Yisra'el had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Why have you torn your clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Yisra'el. 9 So Na`aman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Yarden seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean. 11 But Na`aman was angry, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 12 Aren't Amanah and Parpar, the rivers of Dammesek, better than all the waters of Yisra'el? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 His servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid you do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it? how much rather then, when he says to you, Wash, and be clean? 14 Then went he down, and dipped [himself] seven times in the Yarden, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 15 He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, See now, I know that there is no God in all the eretz, but in Yisra'el: now therefore, please take a present from your servant. 16 But he said, As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none. He urged him to take it; but he refused. 17 Na`aman said, If not, yet, please let there be given to your servant two mules' burden of eretz; for your servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. 18 In this thing the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this thing. 19 He said to him, Go in shalom. So he departed from him a little way. 20But Gechazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master has spared this Na`aman the Arammian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: as the LORD lives, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. 21 So Gechazi followed after Na`aman. When Na`aman saw one running after him, he alighted from the chariot to meet him, and said, Is all well? 22 He said, All is well. My master has sent me, saying, Behold, even now there are come to me from the hill-country of Efrayim two young men of the sons of the prophets; please give them a talent of silver, and two changes of clothing. 23 Na`aman said, Be pleased to take two talents. He urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they bore them before him. 24 When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house; and he let the men go, and they departed. 25 But he went in, and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, Whence come you, Gechazi? He said, Your servant went no where.
NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 15:1 - 35
15:1 Some men came down from Yehudah and taught the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moshe, you can't be saved."
2 Therefore when Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba had no small discord and discussion with them, they appointed Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba, and some others of them, to go up to Yerushalayim to the apostles and Zakenim about this question.
3 They, being sent on their way by the assembly, passed through both Phoenicia and Shomron, declaring the conversion of the Goyim. They caused great joy to all the brothers.
4 When they had come to Yerushalayim, they were received by the assembly and the apostles and the Zakenim, and they reported all things that God had done with them.
5 But some of the sect of the Perushim who believed rose up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moshe."
6 The apostles and the Zakenim were gathered together to see about this matter.
7 When there had been much discussion, Kefa rose up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Goyim should hear the word of the Good News, and believe.
8 God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Ruach HaKodesh, just like he did to us.
9 He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
10 Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the talmidim which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Yeshua, just as they are."
12 All the multitude kept silence, and they listened to Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the Goyim through them.
13 After they were silent, Ya`akov answered, "Brothers, listen to me.
14 Shim`on has reported how God first visited the Goyim, to take out of them a people for his name.
15 This agrees with the words of the prophets. As it is written,
16 'After these things I will return. I will again build the tent of David, which has fallen. I will again build its ruins. I will set it up,
17 That the rest of men may seek after the Lord; All the Goyim who are called by my name, Says the Lord, who does all these things.
18 All his works are known to God from eternity.'
19 "Therefore my judgment is that we don't trouble those from among the Goyim who turn to God,
20 but that we write to them that they abstain from the pollution of idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood.
21 For Moshe from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Shabbat."
22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the Zakenim, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba: Yehudah called Bar-Sabba, and Sila, chief men among the brothers.
23 They wrote these things by their hand: "The apostles, the Zakenim, and the brothers, to the brothers who are of the Goyim in Antioch, Aram, and Cilicia: greetings.
24 Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, 'You must be circumcised and keep the law,' to whom we gave no mitzvah;
25 it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them to you with our beloved Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul,
26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
27 We have sent therefore Yehudah and Sila, who themselves will also tell you the same things by word of mouth.
28 For it seemed good to the Ruach HaKodesh, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things:
29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell."
30So, when they were sent off, they came to Antioch. Having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter.
31 When they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation.
32 Yehudah and Sila, also being prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers with many words, and strengthened them.
33 After they had spent some time there, they were sent back with greetings from the brothers to the apostles.
34
35 But Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
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
