MARCH
20
PSALMS: 20, 50, 80, 110, 140
PROVERBS: 20
OLD TESTAMENT: 1 KINGS 5:1 - 6:38
NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 7:1 - 29
PSALMS: 20
For
the director of music. A psalm of David.
1
May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
may
the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
2
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and
grant you support from Zion.
3
May he remember all your sacrifices
and
accept your burnt offerings.
Selah
4
May he give you the desire of your heart
and
make all your plans succeed.
5
We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and
will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May
the LORD grant all your requests.
6
Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he
answers him from his holy heaven
with
the saving power of his right hand.
7
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but
we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
8
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but
we rise up and stand firm.
9
O LORD, save the king!
Answer
A us when we call! [1]
PSALMS: 50
A
psalm of Asaph.
1
The Mighty One, God, the LORD,
speaks
and summons the earth
from
the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.
2
From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God
shines forth.
3
Our God comes and will not be silent;
a
fire devours before him,
and
around him a tempest rages.
4
He summons the heavens above,
and
the earth, that he may judge his people:
5
"Gather to me my
consecrated ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice."
6
And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for
God himself is judge.
Selah
7
"Hear, O my people,
and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
8 I do not
rebuke you for your sacrifices
or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
9 I have no
need of a bull from your stall
or of goats from your pens,
10 for every
animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know
every bird in the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
13 Do I eat
the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Sacrifice
thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,
15 and call
upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me."
16
But to the wicked, God says:
"What right have you to recite my laws
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 You hate
my instruction
and cast my words behind you.
18 When you
see a thief, you join with him;
you throw in your lot with adulterers.
19 You use
your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue to deceit.
20 You speak
continually against your brother
and slander your own mother's son.
21 These
things you have done and I kept silent;
you thought I was altogether A like you.
But I will rebuke you
and accuse you to your face.
22
"Consider this, you
who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue:
23 He who
sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and he prepares the way
PSALMS: 80
For
the director of music. To the tune of "The Lilies of the Covenant."
Of Asaph. A psalm.
1
Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,
you
who lead Joseph like a flock;
you
who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
2
before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken
your might;
come
and save us.
3
Restore us, O God;
make
your face shine upon us,
that
we may be saved.
4
O LORD God Almighty,
how
long will your anger smolder
against
the prayers of your people?
5
You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you
have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6
You have made us a source of contention to our
neighbors,
and
our enemies mock us.
7
Restore us, O God Almighty;
make
your face shine upon us,
that
we may be saved.
8
You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you
drove out the nations and planted it.
9
You cleared the ground for it,
and
it took root and filled the land.
10
The mountains were covered with its shade,
the
mighty cedars with its branches. [4]
11
It sent out its boughs to the Sea, A
its
shoots as far as the River. B
12
Why have you broken down its walls
so
that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13
Boars from the forest ravage it
and
the creatures of the field feed on it.
14
Return to us, O God Almighty!
Look
down from heaven and see!
Watch
over this vine,
15
the root your right hand has planted,
the
son C you have raised up for yourself.
16
Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
at
your rebuke your people perish.
17
Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the
son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18
Then we will not turn away from you;
revive
us, and we will call on your name.
19
Restore us, O LORD God Almighty;
make
your face shine upon us,
that
we may be saved. [5]
PSALMS: 110
Of
David. A psalm.
1
The LORD says to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet."
2
The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion;
you
will rule in the midst of your enemies.
3
Your troops will be willing
on
your day of battle.
Arrayed
in holy majesty,
from
the womb of the dawn
you
will receive the dew of your youth. A
4
The LORD has sworn
and
will not change his mind:
"You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek."
5
The Lord is at your right hand;
he
will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6
He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and
crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7
He will drink from a brook beside the way B;
therefore
he will lift up his head. [6]
PSALMS: 140
For
the director of music. A psalm of David.
1
Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men;
protect
me from men of violence,
2
who devise evil plans in their hearts
and
stir up war every day.
3
They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's;
the
poison of vipers is on their lips.
Selah
4
Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
protect
me from men of violence
who
plan to trip my feet.
5
Proud men have hidden a snare for me;
they
have spread out the cords of their net
and
have set traps for me along my path.
Selah
6
O LORD, I say to you, "You are my God."
Hear,
O LORD, my cry for mercy.
7
O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer,
who
shields my head in the day of battle--
8
do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD;
do
not let their plans succeed,
or
they will become proud.
Selah
9
Let the heads of those who surround me
be
covered with the trouble their lips have caused.
10Let
burning coals fall upon them;
may
they be thrown into the fire,
into
miry pits, never to rise. [7]
11
Let slanderers not be established in the land;
may
disaster hunt down men of violence.
12
I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor
and
upholds the cause of the needy.
13 Surely the righteous
will praise your name
and
the upright will live before you. [8]
PROVERBS: 20
20
1 Wine is a mocker and
beer a brawler;
whoever
is led astray by them is not wise.
2
A king's wrath is like the roar of a lion;
he
who angers him forfeits his life.
3
It is to a man's honor to avoid strife,
but
every fool is quick to quarrel.
4
A sluggard does not plow in season;
so
at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.
5
The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters,
but
a man of understanding draws them out.
6
Many a man claims to have unfailing love,
but
a faithful man who can find?
7
The righteous man leads a blameless life;
blessed
are his children after him.
8
When a king sits on his throne to judge,
he
winnows out all evil with his eyes.
9
Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure;
I
am clean and without sin"?
10
Differing weights and differing measures--
the
LORD detests them both.
11
Even a child is known by his actions,
by
whether his conduct is pure and right. [9]
12
Ears that hear and eyes that see--
the
LORD has made them both.
13
Do not love sleep or you will grow poor;
stay
awake and you will have food to spare.
14
"It's no good, it's no good!" says the
buyer;
then
off he goes and boasts about his purchase.
15
Gold there is, and rubies in abundance,
but
lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.
16
Take the garment of one who puts up security for a
stranger;
hold
it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.
17
Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man,
but
he ends up with a mouth full of gravel.
18
Make plans by seeking advice;
if
you wage war, obtain guidance.
19
A gossip betrays a confidence;
so
avoid a man who talks too much.
20
If a man curses his father or mother,
his
lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.
21
An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning
will
not be blessed at the end.
22
Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this
wrong!"
Wait
for the LORD, and he will deliver you.[10]
23
The LORD detests differing weights,
and
dishonest scales do not please him.
24
A man's steps are directed by the LORD.
How
then can anyone understand his own way?
25
It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly
and
only later to consider his vows.
26
A wise king winnows out the wicked;
he
drives the threshing wheel over them.
27
The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man A;
it
searches out his inmost being.
28
Love and faithfulness keep a king safe;
through
love his throne is made secure.
29
The glory of young men is their strength,
gray
hair the splendor of the old.
30
Blows and wounds cleanse away evil,
and
beatings purge the inmost being. [11]
OLD TESTAMENT:
1 KINGS 5:1 - 6:38
5 1
When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been
anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon,
because he had always been on friendly terms with David. 2 Solomon
sent back this message to Hiram:
3 "You
know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he
could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put
his enemies under his feet. 4 But now the LORD my God has given me
rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. 5 I
intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the
LORD told my father David, when he said, `Your son whom I will put on the
throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.'
6 "So
give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours,
and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have
no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians."
7 When
Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was greatly pleased and said, "Praise be
to the LORD today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great
nation."
8 So
Hiram sent word to Solomon:
"I have received
the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and pine
logs. 9 My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I
will float them in rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate
them and you can [12]take
them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal
household."
10 In
this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and pine logs he
wanted, 11 and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors A
of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths BC
of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. 12
The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were
peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a
treaty.
13 King
Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel--thirty thousand men. 14 He
sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent
one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the
forced labor.
15 Solomon
had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16
as well as thirty-three hundred D foremen who supervised the
project and directed the workmen. 17 At the king's command they
removed from the quarry large blocks of quality stone to provide a foundation
of dressed stone for the temple.
18 The
craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and the men of Gebal E cut and
prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple. [13]
6 1
In the four hundred and eightieth A year
after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's
reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the
temple of the LORD.
2 The
temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide
and thirty high. B 3 The portico at the front of the main
hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, C
and projected ten cubits D from the front of the temple.
4 He
made narrow clerestory windows in the temple. 5 Against the walls of
the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in
which there were side rooms. 6 The lowest floor was five cubits E
wide, the middle floor six cubits F and the third floor seven. G
He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be
inserted into the temple walls.
7 In
building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no
hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was
being built.
8 The
entrance to the lowest H floor was on the south side of the temple;
a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third.
9 So he built the temple and
completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks. 10 And he
built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits,
and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.
1 1 The
word of the LORD came to Solomon: 12 "As
for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, carry out my
regulations
[14] and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the
promise I gave to David your father. 13 And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people
Israel."
14 So
Solomon built the temple and completed it. 15 He lined its interior
walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the
ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of pine. 16 He
partitioned off twenty cubitsI at the rear of the temple with cedar
boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the
Most Holy Place. 17 The main hall in front of this room was forty
cubits J long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar,
carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be
seen.
19 He
prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant
of the LORD there. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long,
twenty wide and twenty high. K He overlaid the inside with pure
gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.
21 Solomon
covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains
across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22 So
he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar
that belonged to the inner sanctuary.
23 In
the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits L
high. 24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the
other wing five cubits--ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 25 The
second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in
size and shape. 26 The height of each [15]
cherub was ten cubits. 27 He placed the cherubim inside the
innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one
cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall,
and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 He
overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 On
the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved
cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. 30 He also covered the floors
of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.
31 For
the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood with five-sided
jambs. 32 And on the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm
trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with beaten
gold. 33 In the same way he made four-sided jambs of olive wood for
the entrance to the main hall. 34 He also made two pine doors, each
having two leaves that turned in sockets. 35 He carved cherubim,
palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly
over the carvings.
36 And
he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course
of trimmed cedar beams.
37 The
foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid in the fourth year, in the month
of Ziv. 38 In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth
month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its
specifications. He had spent seven years building it. [16]
NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 7:1 - 29
7 1
Then the high priest asked him, "Are these
charges true?"
2 To
this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory
appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he
lived in Haran.
3 `Leave
your country and your people,' God said, `and
go to the land I will show you.' A
4 "So
he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his
father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He
gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him
that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at
that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: `Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their
own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 7 But I will punish the
nation they serve as slaves,' God said, `and
afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.' B
8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham
became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth.
Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the
twelve patriarchs.
9 "Because
the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But
God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave
Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so
he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
11 "Then
a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers
could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in
Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit. [17]
13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh
learned about Joseph's family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his
father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then
Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. 16 Their
bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had
bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
17 "As
the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our
people in Egypt greatly increased. 18 Then another king, who knew
nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. 19 He dealt
treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to
throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
20 "At
that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. C For three
months he was cared for in his father's house. 21 When he was placed
outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22
Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in
speech and action.
23 "When
Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. 24 He
saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and
avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own
people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26
The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried
to reconcile them by saying, `Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt
each other?' [18]
27 "But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses
aside and said, `Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Do you
want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' D 29 When
Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had
two sons. [19]
[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
[16] 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
[19] Excerpted from Compton's
Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia
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