Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
FEBRUARY
25
PSALMS: 25, 55, 85, 115,
145
PROVERBS: 25
OLD
TESTAMENT: 1 SAMUEL 20:1 - 21:15
NEW
TESTAMENT: JOHN 9:1 - 41
PSALMS: 25
Of
David.
1
To
A you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
2
in
you I trust, O my God.
Do
not let me be put to shame,
nor
let my enemies triumph over me.
3
No
one whose hope is in you
will
ever be put to shame,
but
they will be put to shame
who
are treacherous without excuse.
4
Show
me your ways, O LORD,
teach
me your paths;
5
guide
me in your truth and teach me,
for
you are God my Savior,
and
my hope is in you all day long.
6
Remember,
O LORD, your great mercy and love,
for
they are from of old.
7
Remember
not the sins of my youth
and
my rebellious ways;
according
to your love remember me,
for
you are good, O LORD.
8
Good
and upright is the LORD;
therefore
he instructs sinners in his ways.
9
He
guides the humble in what is right
and
teaches them his way.
10
All
the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
for
those who keep the demands of his covenant.
11
For
the sake of your name, O LORD,
forgive
my iniquity, though it is great.
12
Who,
then, is the man that fears the LORD? [1]
He
will instruct him in the way chosen for him.
13
He
will spend his days in prosperity,
and
his descendants will inherit the land.
14
The
LORD confides in those who fear him;
he
makes his covenant known to them.
15
My
eyes are ever on the LORD,
for
only he will release my feet from the snare.
16
Turn
to me and be gracious to me,
for
I am lonely and afflicted.
17
The
troubles of my heart have multiplied;
free
me from my anguish.
18
Look
upon my affliction and my distress
and
take away all my sins.
19
See
how my enemies have increased
and
how fiercely they hate me!
20
Guard
my life and rescue me;
let
me not be put to shame,
for
I take refuge in you.
21
May
integrity and uprightness protect me,
because
my hope is in you.
22
Redeem
Israel, O God,
from
all their troubles! [2]
PSALMS: 55
For
the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil A
of David.
1
Listen
to my prayer, O God,
do
not ignore my plea;
2
hear
me and answer me.
My
thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
3
at
the voice of the enemy,
at
the stares of the wicked;
for
they bring down suffering upon me
and
revile me in their anger.
4
My
heart is in anguish within me;
the
terrors of death assail me.
5
Fear
and trembling have beset me;
horror
has overwhelmed me.
6
I
said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I
would fly away and be at rest--
7
I
would flee far away
and
stay in the desert;
Selah
8
I
would hurry to my place of shelter,
far
from the tempest and storm."
9
Confuse
the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech,
for
I see violence and strife in the city.
10
Day
and night they prowl about on its walls;
malice
and abuse are within it.
11
Destructive
forces are at work in the city;
threats
and lies never leave its streets. [3]
12
If
an enemy were insulting me,
I
could endure it;
if
a foe were raising himself against me,
I
could hide from him.
13
But
it is you, a man like myself,
my
companion, my close friend,
14
with
whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
as
we walked with the throng at the house of God.
15
Let
death take my enemies by surprise;
let
them go down alive to the grave, B
for
evil finds lodging among them.
16
But
I call to God,
and
the LORD saves me.
17
Evening,
morning and noon
I
cry out in distress,
and
he hears my voice.
18
He
ransoms me unharmed
from
the battle waged against me,
even
though many oppose me.
19
God,
who is enthroned forever,
will
hear them and afflict them--
Selah
men
who never change their ways
and
have no fear of God.
20
My
companion attacks his friends;
he
violates his covenant.
21
His
speech is smooth as butter,
yet
war is in his heart;
his
words are more soothing than oil, [4]
yet
they are drawn swords.
22
Cast
your cares on the LORD
and
he will sustain you;
he
will never let the righteous fall.
23
But
you, O God, will bring down the wicked
into
the pit of corruption;
bloodthirsty
and deceitful men
will
not live out half their days.
But
as for me, I trust in you. [5]
PSALMS: 85
For
the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
1
You
showed favor to your land, O LORD;
you
restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2
You
forgave the iniquity of your people
and
covered all their sins.
Selah
3
You
set aside all your wrath
and
turned from your fierce anger.
4
Restore
us again, O God our Savior,
and
put away your displeasure toward us.
5
Will
you be angry with us forever?
Will
you prolong your anger through all generations?
6
Will
you not revive us again,
that
your people may rejoice in you?
7
Show
us your unfailing love, O LORD,
and
grant us your salvation.
8
I
will listen to what God the LORD will say;
he
promises peace to his people, his saints--
but
let them not return to folly.
9
Surely
his salvation is near those who fear him,
that
his glory may dwell in our land.
10
Love
and faithfulness meet together;
righteousness
and peace kiss each other.
11
Faithfulness
springs forth from the earth,
and
righteousness looks down from heaven.
12
The
LORD will indeed give what is good,
and
our land will yield its harvest.
13
Righteousness
goes before him [6]
and
prepares the way for his steps. [7]
PSALMS: 115
1
Not
to us, O LORD, not to us
but
to your name be the glory,
because
of your love and faithfulness.
2
Why
do the nations say,
"Where
is their God?"
3
Our
God is in heaven;
he
does whatever pleases him.
4
But
their idols are silver and gold,
made
by the hands of men.
5
They
have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes,
but they cannot see;
6
they
have ears, but cannot hear,
noses,
but they cannot smell;
7
they
have hands, but cannot feel,
feet,
but they cannot walk;
nor
can they utter a sound with their throats.
8
Those
who make them will be like them,
and
so will all who trust in them.
9
O
house of Israel, trust in the LORD--
he
is their help and shield.
10
O
house of Aaron, trust in the LORD--
he
is their help and shield.
11
You
who fear him, trust in the LORD--
he
is their help and shield.
12
The
LORD remembers us and will bless us:
He
will bless the house of Israel,
he
will bless the house of Aaron,
13
he
will bless those who fear the LORD--
small
and great alike. [8]
14
May
the LORD make you increase,
both
you and your children.
15
May
you be blessed by the LORD,
the
Maker of heaven and earth.
16
The
highest heavens belong to the LORD,
but
the earth he has given to man.
17
It
is not the dead who praise the LORD,
those
who go down to silence;
18
it
is we who extol the LORD,
both
now and forevermore.
Praise
the LORD. A [9]
PSALMS: 145
A
psalm of praise. Of David.
1
I
A will exalt you, my God the King;
I
will praise your name for ever and ever.
2
Every
day I will praise you
and
extol your name for ever and ever.
3
Great
is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his
greatness no one can fathom.
4
One
generation will commend your works to another;
they
will tell of your mighty acts.
5
They
will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and
I will meditate on your wonderful works. B
6
They
will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and
I will proclaim your great deeds.
7
They
will celebrate your abundant goodness
and
joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8
The
LORD is gracious and compassionate,
slow
to anger and rich in love.
9
The
LORD is good to all;
he
has compassion on all he has made.
10
All
you have made will praise you, O LORD;
your
saints will extol you.
11
They
will tell of the glory of your kingdom
and
speak of your might,
12
so
that all men may know of your mighty acts
and
the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13
Your
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and
your dominion endures through all generations. [10]
The
LORD is faithful to all his promises
and
loving toward all he has made. C
14
The
LORD upholds all those who fall
and
lifts up all who are bowed down.
15
The
eyes of all look to you,
and
you give them their food at the proper time.
16
You
open your hand
and
satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17
The
LORD is righteous in all his ways
and
loving toward all he has made.
18
The
LORD is near to all who call on him,
to
all who call on him in truth.
19
He
fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he
hears their cry and saves them.
20
The
LORD watches over all who love him,
but
all the wicked he will destroy.
21
My
mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.
Let
every creature praise his holy name
for
ever and ever. [11]
PROVERBS: 25
25
1
These
are more proverbs of Solomon, copied by the men of Hezekiah king of
Judah:
2
It
is the glory of God to conceal a matter;
to
search out a matter is the glory of kings.
3
As
the heavens are high and the earth is deep,
so
the hearts of kings are unsearchable.
4
Remove
the dross from the silver,
and
out comes material for A the silversmith;
5
remove
the wicked from the king's presence,
and
his throne will be established through righteousness.
6
Do
not exalt yourself in the king's presence,
and
do not claim a place among great men;
7
it
is better for him to say to you, "Come up here,"
than
for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.
What
you have seen with your eyes
8
do not bring B hastily to court,
for
what will you do in the end
if
your neighbor puts you to shame?
9
If
you argue your case with a neighbor,
do
not betray another man's confidence,
10
or
he who hears it may shame you
and
you will never lose your bad reputation.
11
A
word aptly spoken
is
like apples of gold in settings of silver.
12
Like
an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold
is
a wise man's rebuke to a listening ear. [12]
13
Like
the coolness of snow at harvest time
is
a trustworthy messenger to those who send him;
he
refreshes the spirit of his masters.
14
Like
clouds and wind without rain
is
a man who boasts of gifts he does not give.
15
Through
patience a ruler can be persuaded,
and
a gentle tongue can break a bone.
16
If
you find honey, eat just enough--
too
much of it, and you will vomit.
17
Seldom
set foot in your neighbor's house--
too
much of you, and he will hate you.
18
Like
a club or a sword or a sharp arrow
is
the man who gives false testimony against his neighbor.
19
Like
a bad tooth or a lame foot
is
reliance on the unfaithful in times of trouble.
20
Like
one who takes away a garment on a cold day,
or
like vinegar poured on soda,
is
one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
21
If
your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
if
he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
22
In
doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
and
the LORD will reward you.
23
As
a north wind brings rain,
so
a sly tongue brings angry looks. [13]
24
Better
to live on a corner of the roof
than
share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
25
Like
cold water to a weary soul
is
good news from a distant land.
26
Like
a muddied spring or a polluted well
is
a righteous man who gives way to the wicked.
27
It
is not good to eat too much honey,
nor
is it honorable to seek one's own honor.
28
Like
a city whose walls are broken down
is
a man who lacks self-control. [14]
OLD
TESTAMENT: 1 SAMUEL 20:1 - 21:15
20
1
Then
David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, "What have I
done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to
take my life?"
2
"Never!"
Jonathan replied. "You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn't do
anything, great or small, without confiding in me. Why would he hide this from
me? It's not so!"
3
But
David took an oath and said, "Your father knows very well that I have found
favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, `Jonathan must not know this or
he will be grieved.' Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is
only a step between me and death."
4
Jonathan
said to David, "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do for you."
5
So
David said, "Look, tomorrow is the New Moon festival, and I am supposed to dine
with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day
after tomorrow. 6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, `David
earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an
annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.' 7 If he
says, `Very well,' then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you
can be sure that he is determined to harm me. 8 As for you, show
kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you
before the LORD. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your
father?"
9
"Never!"
Jonathan said. "If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm
you, wouldn't I tell you?"
10
David
asked, "Who will tell me if your father answers you [15]harshly?"
11
"Come,"
Jonathan said, "let's go out into the field." So they went there together.
12
Then
Jonathan said to David: "By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will surely sound out
my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed
toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? 13 But if my
father is inclined to harm you, may the LORD deal with me, be it ever so
severely, if I do not let you know and send you away safely. May the LORD be
with you as he has been with my father. 14 But show me unfailing
kindness like that of the LORD as long as I live, so that I may not be killed,
15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family--not even
when the LORD has cut off every one of David's enemies from the face of the
earth."
16
So
Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "May the LORD call
David's enemies to account." 17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his
oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.
18
Then
Jonathan said to David: "Tomorrow is the New Moon festival. You will be missed,
because your seat will be empty. 19 The day after tomorrow, toward
evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the
stone Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though
I were shooting at a target. 21 Then I will send a boy and say, `Go,
find the arrows.' If I say to him, `Look, the arrows are on this side of you;
bring them here,' then come, because, as surely as the LORD lives, you are safe;
there is no danger.
22
But
if I say to the boy, `Look, the arrows are [16]
beyond you,' then you must go, because the LORD has sent you away. 23
And about the matter you and I discussed--remember, the LORD is witness
between you and me forever."
24
So
David hid in the field, and when the New Moon festival came, the king sat down
to eat. 25 He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite
Jonathan, A and Abner sat next to Saul, but David's place was empty.
26 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, "Something must have
happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean--surely he is unclean."
27 But the next day, the second day of the month, David's place was
empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, "Why hasn't the son of Jesse
come to the meal, either yesterday or today?"
28
Jonathan
answered, "David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29
He said, `Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the
town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your
eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.' That is why he has not come to the
king's table."
30
Saul's
anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, "You son of a perverse and
rebellious woman! Don't I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your
own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? 31 As long as
the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be
established. Now send and bring him to me, for he must die!"
32
"Why
should he be put to death? What has he done?" Jonathan asked his
father.
33 But Saul hurled his spear at him
to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David. [17]
34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day
of the month he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father's shameful
treatment of David.
35
In
the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a
small boy with him, 36 and he said to the boy, "Run and find the
arrows I shoot." As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When
the boy came to the place where Jonathan's arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out
after him, "Isn't the arrow beyond you?" 38 Then he shouted, "Hurry!
Go quickly! Don't stop!" The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
39 (The boy knew nothing of all this; only Jonathan and David knew.)
40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, "Go, carry
them back to town."
41
After
the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down
before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each
other and wept together--but David wept the most.
42
Jonathan
said to David, "Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the
name of the LORD, saying, `The LORD is witness between you and me, and between
your descendants and my descendants forever.'" Then David left, and Jonathan
went back to the town.
21
1
David
went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and
asked, "Why are you alone? Why is [18]
no one with you?"
2
David
answered Ahimelech the priest, "The king charged me with a certain matter and
said to me, `No one is to know anything about your mission and your
instructions.' As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place.
3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread,
or whatever you can find."
4
But
the priest answered David, "I don't have any ordinary bread on hand; however,
there is some consecrated bread here--provided the men have kept themselves from
women."
5
David
replied, "Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever A I
set out. The men's things B are holy even on missions that are not
holy. How much more so today!" 6 So the priest gave him the
consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the
Presence that had been removed from before the LORD and replaced by hot bread on
the day it was taken away.
7
Now
one of Saul's servants was there that day, detained before the LORD; he was Doeg
the Edomite, Saul's head shepherd.
8
David
asked Ahimelech, "Don't you have a spear or a sword here? I haven't brought my
sword or any other weapon, because the king's business was urgent."
9
The
priest replied, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the
Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want
it, take it; there is no sword here but [19]
that one."
David
said, "There is none like it; give it to me."
10
That
day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the
servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't
he the one they sing about in their dances:
"`Saul
has slain his thousands,
and
David his tens of thousands'?"
12
David
took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath.
13
So
he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he
acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva
run down his beard.
14
Achish
said to his servants, "Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me?
15
Am
I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like
this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?" [20]
NEW
TESTAMENT: JOHN 9:1 - 41
9
1
As
he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked
him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus,
"but this happened so that the work of God might be
displayed in his life. 4 As long as
it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one
can work. 5 While I am in the world,
I am the light of the world."
6
Having
said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on
the man's eyes. 7 "Go," he told him,
"wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means
Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
8
His
neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the
same man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some claimed that he was.
Others
said, "No, he only looks like him."
But
he himself insisted, "I am the man."
10
"How
then were your eyes opened?" they demanded.
11
He
replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told
me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."
12
"Where
is this man?" they asked him.
"I
don't know," he said.
13
They
brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day
on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath. 15
Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He
put mud on my eyes," the man [21]replied,
"and I washed, and now I see."
16
Some
of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the
Sabbath."
But
others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were divided.
17
Finally
they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your
eyes he opened."
The
man replied, "He is a prophet."
18
The
Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight
until they sent for the man's parents. 19 "Is this your son?" they
asked. "Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?"
20
"We
know he is our son," the parents answered, "and we know he was born blind.
21
But
how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. He is of
age; he will speak for himself." 22 His parents said this because
they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who
acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ A would be put out of the
synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."
24
A
second time they summoned the man who had been blind. "Give glory to God,
B" they said. "We know this man is a sinner."
25
He
replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I
was blind but now I see!"
26
Then
they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"
27
He
answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. [22]
Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?"
28
Then
they hurled insults at him and said, "You are this fellow's disciple! We are
disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for
this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from."
30
The
man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet
he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He
listens to the godly man who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard
of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from
God, he could do nothing."
34
To
this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!"
And they threw him out.
35
Jesus
heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
36
"Who
is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."
37
Jesus
said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one
speaking with you."
38
Then
the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.
39
Jesus
said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so
that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."
40
Some
Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind
too?"
41
Jesus
said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of
sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. [23]
[1]
Excerpted from Compton
[2]
Excerpted from Compton
[3]
Excerpted from Compton
[4]
Excerpted from Compton
[5]
Excerpted from Compton
[6]
Excerpted from Compton
[7]
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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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