APRIL
1
PSALMS: 1, 31, 61, 91, 121
PROVERBS: 1
OLD TESTAMENT: 2 KINGS 1:1 - 2:25
NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 13:42 - 14:7
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,
25
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: 2 KINGS 1:1 - 2:25
1 1
After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2
Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria
and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and
consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this
injury."
3 But the angel of the
LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Go up and meet
the messengers of the king of Samaria and
ask them, `Is
it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult
Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?' 4 Therefore this is what the LORD says: `You will not leave
the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!'" So Elijah went.
5 When
the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, "Why have you come
back?"
6 "A
man came to meet us," they replied. "And he said to us, `Go back to
the king who sent you and tell him, "This is what
the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending men
to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed
you are lying on. You will certainly die!"'"
7 The
king asked them, "What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told
you this?"
8 They
replied, "He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt
around his waist."
The king said,
"That was Elijah the Tishbite."
9 Then
he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up
to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, "Man of
God, the king says, `Come down!' "
10 Elijah
answered the captain, "If I am a man of God, may fire [12]come
down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then fire fell from
heaven and consumed the captain and his men.
11 At
this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain
said to him, "Man of God, this is what the king says, `Come down at once!'"
1 2 "If
I am a man of God," Elijah replied, "may fire come down from heaven
and consume you and your fifty men!" Then the fire of God fell from heaven
and consumed him and his fifty men.
13 So
the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up
and fell on his knees before Elijah. "Man of God," he begged,
"please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your
servants! 14 See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first
two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!"
15 The
angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down
with him; do not be afraid of him." So Elijah got up and went down
with him to the king.
16 He
told the king, "This is what the LORD says: Is
it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent
messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this,
you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!"
17 So
he died, according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken.
Because Ahaziah had no
son, Joram A succeeded him as king in the second year of Jehoram son
of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. 18 As for all the other events of Ahaziah's
reign, and what he did, are they [13]
not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
2 1
When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in
a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah
said to Elisha, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel."
But Elisha said,
"As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you."
So they went down to Bethel.
3 The
company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, "Do you
know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?"
"Yes, I know,"
Elisha replied, "but do not speak of it."
4 Then
Elijah said to him, "Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to
Jericho."
And he replied, "As
surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they
went to Jericho.
5 The
company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, "Do
you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?"
"Yes, I know,"
he replied, "but do not speak of it."
6 Then
Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan."
And he replied, "As
surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So the
two of them walked on.
7 Fifty
men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the
place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at [14]
the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the
water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of
them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When
they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you
before I am taken from you?"
"Let me inherit a
double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.
10 "You
have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I
am taken from you, it will be yours--otherwise not."
11 As
they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and
horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to
heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, "My
father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw
him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.
13 He
picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the
bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the cloak that had fallen from
him and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of
Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and
to the left, and he crossed over.
15 The
company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit
of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to
the ground before him.
16 "Look,"
they said, "we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for
your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has picked him [15]up
and set him down on some mountain or in some valley."
"No," Elisha
replied, "do not send them."
17 But
they persisted until he was too ashamed to refuse. So he said, "Send
them." And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not
find him. 18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in
Jericho, he said to them, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"
19 The
men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well
situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is
unproductive."
20 "Bring
me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought
it to him.
21 Then
he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the LORD says: `I have healed this water.
Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'" 22
And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word
Elisha had spoken.
23 From
there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths
came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!"
they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" 24 He turned around,
looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then
two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. 25 And
he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria. [16]
NEW TESTAMENT
: ACTS 13:42 - 14:7
42 As
Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak
further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the
congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism
followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in
the grace of God.
44 On
the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds,
they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was
saying.
46 Then
Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God
to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of
eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the
Lord has commanded us:
"`I have
made you G a light for
the Gentiles,
that you H may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'I"
48 When
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and
all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
49 The
word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jews
incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city.
They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from
their region. 51
So they shook the dust
from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. [17]
52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
141 At
Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they
spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. 2 But
the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their
minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent
considerable time there, speaking boldly for
the Lord, who confirmed
the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. 4
The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others
with the apostles. 5 There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and
Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6 But
they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe
and to the surrounding country, 7 where they continued to preach the
good news. [18]
[1]
Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV.
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[2]
Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV.
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved
[3]
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[4]
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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]
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Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved
[8]
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[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
[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
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