December 17

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

DECEMBER 17

PSALMS:  7, 47, 77, 107, 137

PROVERBS:  16

OLD TESTAMENT:  NUMBERS 10:1 - 11:23

NEW TESTAMENT:  MARK 14:1 - 21

PSALMS:  17

A prayer of David.

¹ Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea;

listen to my cry.

Give ear to my prayer--

it does not rise from deceitful lips.

² May my vindication come from you;

may your eyes see what is right.

³ Though you probe my heart and examine me at night,

though you test me, you will find nothing;

I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.

⁴ As for the deeds of men--

by the word of your lips

I have kept myself

from the ways of the violent.

⁵ My steps have held to your paths;

my feet have not slipped.

⁶ I call on you, O God, for you will answer me;

give ear to me and hear my prayer.

⁷ Show the wonder of your great love,

you who save by your right hand

those who take refuge in you from their foes.

⁸ Keep me as the apple of your eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings

⁹ from the wicked who assail me,

from my mortal enemies who surround me. ^[1]

¹⁰ They close up their callous hearts,

and their mouths speak with arrogance.

¹¹ They have tracked me down, they now surround me,

with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.

¹² They are like a lion hungry for prey,

like a great lion crouching in cover.

¹³ Rise up, O LORD, confront them, bring them down;

rescue me from the wicked by your sword.

¹⁴ O LORD, by your hand save me from such men,

from men of this world whose reward is in this life.

You still the hunger of those you cherish;

their sons have plenty,

and they store up wealth for their children.

¹⁵ And I--in righteousness I will see your face;

when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing

your likeness. ^[2]

PSALMS:   47

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹ Clap your hands, all you nations;

shout to God with cries of joy.

² How awesome is the LORD Most High,

the great King over all the earth!

³ He subdued nations under us,

peoples under our feet.

⁴ He chose our inheritance for us,

the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

Selah

⁵ God has ascended amid shouts of joy,

the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.

⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises;

sing praises to our King, sing praises.

⁷ For God is the King of all the earth;

sing to him a psalm ^A of praise.

⁸ God reigns over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne.

⁹ The nobles of the nations assemble

as the people of the God of Abraham,

for the kings ^B of the earth belong to God;

he is greatly exalted. ^[3]

PSALMS:   77

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.

¹ I cried out to God for help;

I cried out to God to hear me.

² When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;

at night I stretched out untiring hands

and my soul refused to be comforted.

³ I remembered you, O God, and I groaned;

I mused, and my spirit grew faint.

Selah

⁴ You kept my eyes from closing;

I was too troubled to speak.

⁵ I thought about the former days,

the years of long ago;

⁶ I remembered my songs in the night.

My heart mused and my spirit inquired:

⁷ "Will the Lord reject forever?

Will he never show his favor again?

⁸ Has his unfailing love vanished forever?

Has his promise failed for all time?

⁹ Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion?"

Selah ^[4]

¹⁰ Then I thought, "To this I will appeal:

the years of the right hand of the Most High."

¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the LORD;

yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

¹² I will meditate on all your works

and consider all your mighty deeds.

¹³ Your ways, O God, are holy.

What god is so great as our God?

¹⁴ You are the God who performs miracles;

you display your power among the peoples.

¹⁵ With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

Selah

¹⁶ The waters saw you, O God,

the waters saw you and writhed;

the very depths were convulsed.

¹⁷ The clouds poured down water,

the skies resounded with thunder;

your arrows flashed back and forth.

¹⁸ Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,

your lightning lit up the world;

the earth trembled and quaked.

¹⁹ Your path led through the sea,

your way through the mighty waters,

though your footprints were not seen.

²⁰ You led your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron. ^[5]

PSALMS:   107

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

² Let the redeemed of the LORD say this--

those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

³ those he gathered from the lands,

from east and west, from north and south. ^A

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastelands,

finding no way to a city where they could settle.

⁵ They were hungry and thirsty,

and their lives ebbed away.

⁶ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

⁷ He led them by a straight way

to a city where they could settle.

⁸ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men,

⁹ for he satisfies the thirsty

and fills the hungry with good things.

¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom,

prisoners suffering in iron chains,

¹¹ for they had rebelled against the words of God

and despised the counsel of the Most High.

¹² So he subjected them to bitter labor;

they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

¹³ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom

and broke away their chains.

¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men,

¹⁶ for he breaks down gates of bronze

and cuts through bars of iron. ^[6]

¹⁷ Some became fools through their rebellious ways

and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.

¹⁸ They loathed all food

and drew near the gates of death.

¹⁹ Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

²⁰ He sent forth his word and healed them;

he rescued them from the grave.

²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men.

²² Let them sacrifice thank offerings

and tell of his works with songs of joy.

²³ Others went out on the sea in ships;

they were merchants on the mighty waters.

²⁴ They saw the works of the LORD,

his wonderful deeds in the deep.

²⁵ For he spoke and stirred up a tempest

that lifted high the waves.

²⁶ They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;

in their peril their courage melted away.

²⁷ They reeled and staggered like drunken men;

they were at their wits' end.

²⁸ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

and he brought them out of their distress.

²⁹ He stilled the storm to a whisper;

the waves of the sea were hushed.

³⁰ They were glad when it grew calm,

and he guided them to their desired haven.

³¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men.

³² Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people ^[7]

and praise him in the council of the elders.

³³ He turned rivers into a desert,

flowing springs into thirsty ground,

³⁴ and fruitful land into a salt waste,

because of the wickedness of those who lived there.

³⁵ He turned the desert into pools of water

and the parched ground into flowing springs;

³⁶ there he brought the hungry to live,

and they founded a city where they could settle.

³⁷ They sowed fields and planted vineyards

that yielded a fruitful harvest;

³⁸ he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,

and he did not let their herds diminish.

³⁹ Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled

by oppression, calamity and sorrow;

⁴⁰ he who pours contempt on nobles

made them wander in a trackless waste.

⁴¹ But he lifted the needy out of their affliction

and increased their families like flocks.

⁴² The upright see and rejoice,

but all the wicked shut their mouths.

⁴³ Whoever is wise, let him heed these things

and consider the great love of the LORD. ^[8]

PSALMS:   137

¹ By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept

when we remembered Zion.

² There on the poplars

we hung our harps,

³ for there our captors asked us for songs,

our tormentors demanded songs of joy;

they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the LORD

while in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

may my right hand forget its skill.

⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth

if I do not remember you,

if I do not consider Jerusalem

my highest joy.

⁷ Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did

on the day Jerusalem fell.

"Tear it down," they cried,

"tear it down to its foundations!"

⁸ O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,

happy is he who repays you

for what you have done to us--

⁹ he who seizes your infants

and dashes them against the rocks. ^[9]

PROVERBS:  17

17 ¹ Better a dry crust with peace and quiet

than a house full of feasting, ^A with strife.

² A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son,

and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.

³ The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,

but the LORD tests the heart.

⁴ A wicked man listens to evil lips;

a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue.

⁵ He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;

whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

⁶ Children's children are a crown to the aged,

and parents are the pride of their children.

⁷ Arrogant^B lips are unsuited to a fool--

how much worse lying lips to a ruler!

⁸ A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it;

wherever he turns, he succeeds.

⁹ He who covers over an offense promotes love,

but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

¹⁰ A rebuke impresses a man of discernment

more than a hundred lashes a fool.

¹¹ An evil man is bent only on rebellion;

a merciless official will be sent against him. ^[10]

¹² Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs

than a fool in his folly.

¹³ If a man pays back evil for good,

evil will never leave his house.

¹⁴ Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;

so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

¹⁵ Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent--

the LORD detests them both.

¹⁶ Of what use is money in the hand of a fool,

since he has no desire to get wisdom?

¹⁷ A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁸ A man lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge

and puts up security for his neighbor.

¹⁹ He who loves a quarrel loves sin;

he who builds a high gate invites destruction.

²⁰ A man of perverse heart does not prosper;

he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.

²¹ To have a fool for a son brings grief;

there is no joy for the father of a fool. ^[11]

²² A cheerful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

²³ A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret

to pervert the course of justice.

²⁴ A discerning man keeps wisdom in view,

but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

²⁵ A foolish son brings grief to his father

and bitterness to the one who bore him.

²⁶ It is not good to punish an innocent man,

or to flog officials for their integrity.

²⁷ A man of knowledge uses words with restraint,

and a man of understanding is even-tempered.

²⁸ Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent,

and discerning if he holds his tongue. ^[12]

OLD TESTAMENT:  NUMBERS 10:1 - 11:23

10 ¹ The LORD said to Moses: ² "Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. ³ When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁴ If only one is sounded, the leaders--the heads of the clans of Israel--are to assemble before you. ⁵ When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are to set out. ⁶ At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set out. The blast will be the signal for setting out. ⁷ To gather the assembly, blow the trumpets, but not with the same signal.

⁸ "The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. ⁹ When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies. ¹⁰ Also at your times of rejoicing--your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals--you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, ^A  and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God."

¹¹ On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. ¹² Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran. ¹³ They set out, this first time, at the LORD's command through Moses.

¹⁴ The divisions of the camp of Judah went first, under their standard. Nahshon son of Amminadab was in command. ¹⁵Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar, ¹⁶ and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun. ¹⁷ Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and Merarites, who carried it, set out.

¹⁸ The divisions of the camp of Reuben went next, under their standard. Elizur son of Shedeur was in command. ¹⁹ Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon, ²⁰ and Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad. ²¹ Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things. The tabernacle was to be set up before they arrived.

²² The divisions of the camp of Ephraim went next, under their standard. Elishama son of Ammihud was in command. ²³ Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh, ²⁴ and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin.

²⁵ Finally, as the rear guard for all the units, the divisions of the camp of Dan set out, under their standard. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was in command. ²⁶ Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher, ²⁷ and Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali. ²⁸ This was the order of march for the Israelite divisions as they set out.

²⁹ Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, `I will give it to you.' Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel."

³⁰ He answered, "No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and my own people." ^[13]

³¹ But Moses said, "Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert, and you can be our eyes. ³² If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us."

³³ So they set out from the mountain of the LORD and traveled for three days. The ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them during those three days to find them a place to rest. ³⁴ The cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

³⁵ Whenever the ark set out, Moses said,

 

"Rise up, O LORD!

May your enemies be scattered;

may your foes flee before you."

³⁶ Whenever it came to rest, he said,

"Return, O LORD,

to the countless thousands of Israel."

11 ¹ Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. ² When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the LORD and the fire died down. ³ So that place was called Taberah, ^A because fire from the LORD had burned among them.

⁴ The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! ⁵ We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost--also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. ⁶ But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"

⁷ The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. ⁸ The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a handmill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into cakes. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. ⁹ When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.

¹⁰ Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. ¹¹ He asked the LORD, "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? ¹² Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse ^[14]carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their forefathers? ¹³ Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, `Give us meat to eat!' ¹⁴ I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. ¹⁵ If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now--if I have found favor in your eyes--and do not let me face my own ruin."

¹⁶ The LORD said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. ¹⁷ I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.

¹⁸ "Tell the people: `Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you wailed, "If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!" Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. ¹⁹ You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, ²⁰ but for a whole month--until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it--because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?"'"

²¹ But Moses said, "Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, `I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!' ²² Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?"

²³ The LORD answered Moses, "Is the LORD's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you." ^[15]

NEW TESTAMENT:  MARK 14:1 - 21

14 ¹ Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. ² "But not during the Feast," they said, "or the people may riot."

³ While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

⁴ Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for more than a year's wages^A and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly.

⁶ "Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.

⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ⁹ I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹ They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

¹² On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"

¹³ So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴ Say to the owner of the house he enters, `The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' ¹⁵ He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."

¹⁶ The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷ When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. ¹⁸ While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me--one who is eating with me."

¹⁹ They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely not I?"

²⁰ "It is one of the Twelve," he replied, "one who dips bread into the bowl with me. ²¹ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."

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^[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