Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
FEBRUARY
14
PSALMS: 14, 44, 74, 104,
134
PROVERBS: 14
OLD
TESTAMENT: RUTH 2:1 - 4:22
NEW
TESTAMENT: JOHN 4:43 - 54
PSALMS: 14
For
the director of music. Of David.
1The
fool A says in his heart,
"There
is no God."
They
are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there
is no one who does good.
2
The
LORD looks down from heaven
on
the sons of men
to
see if there are any who understand,
any
who seek God.
3
All
have turned aside,
they
have together become corrupt;
there
is no one who does good,
not
even one.
4
Will
evildoers never learn--
those
who devour my people as men eat bread
and
who do not call on the LORD?
5
There
they are, overwhelmed with dread,
for
God is present in the company of the righteous.
6
You
evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
but
the LORD is their refuge.
7
Oh,
that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When
the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,
let
Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad! [1]
PSALMS: 44
For
the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.
A
1
We
have heard with our ears, O God;
our
fathers have told us
what
you did in their days,
in
days long ago.
2
With
your hand you drove out the nations
and
planted our fathers;
you
crushed the peoples
and
made our fathers flourish.
3
It
was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor
did their arm bring them victory;
it
was your right hand, your arm,
and
the light of your face, for you loved them.
4
You
are my King and my God,
who
decrees B victories for Jacob.
5
Through
you we push back our enemies;
through
your name we trample our foes.
6
I
do not trust in my bow,
my
sword does not bring me victory;
7
but
you give us victory over our enemies,
you
put our adversaries to shame.
8
In
God we make our boast all day long,
and
we will praise your name forever.
Selah
9
But
now you have rejected and humbled us;
you
no longer go out with our armies.
10
You
made us retreat before the enemy,
and
our adversaries have plundered us. [2]
11
You
gave us up to be devoured like sheep
and
have scattered us among the nations.
12
You
sold your people for a pittance,
gaining
nothing from their sale.
13
You
have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
the
scorn and derision of those around us.
14
You
have made us a byword among the nations;
the
peoples shake their heads at us.
15
My
disgrace is before me all day long,
and
my face is covered with shame
16
at
the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,
because
of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.
17
All
this happened to us,
though
we had not forgotten you
or
been false to your covenant.
18
Our
hearts had not turned back;
our
feet had not strayed from your path.
19
But
you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals
and
covered us over with deep darkness.
20
If
we had forgotten the name of our God
or
spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21
would
not God have discovered it,
since
he knows the secrets of the heart?
22
Yet
for your sake we face death all day long;
we
are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
23
Awake,
O Lord! Why do you sleep?
Rouse
yourself! Do not reject us forever. [3]
24
Why
do you hide your face
and
forget our misery and oppression?
25
We
are brought down to the dust;
our
bodies cling to the ground.
26
Rise
up and help us;
redeem
us because of your unfailing love. [4]
PSALMS: 74
A
maskil A of Asaph.
1
Why
have you rejected us forever, O God?
Why
does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
2
Remember
the people you purchased of old,
the
tribe of your inheritance, whom you redeemed--
Mount
Zion, where you dwelt.
3
Turn
your steps toward these everlasting ruins,
all
this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.
4
Your
foes roared in the place where you met with us;
they
set up their standards as signs.
5
They
behaved like men wielding axes
to
cut through a thicket of trees.
6
They
smashed all the carved paneling
with
their axes and hatchets.
7
They
burned your sanctuary to the ground;
they
defiled the dwelling place of your Name.
8
They
said in their hearts, "We will crush them completely!"
They
burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.
9
We
are given no miraculous signs;
no
prophets are left,
and
none of us knows how long this will be.
10
How
long will the enemy mock you, O God?
Will
the foe revile your name forever?
11
Why
do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take
it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!
12
But
you, O God, are my king from of old;
you
bring salvation upon the earth. [5]
13
It
was you who split open the sea by your power;
you
broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
14
It
was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
and
gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.
15
It
was you who opened up springs and streams;
you
dried up the ever flowing rivers.
16
The
day is yours, and yours also the night;
you
established the sun and moon.
17
It
was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
you
made both summer and winter.
18
Remember
how the enemy has mocked you, O LORD,
how
foolish people have reviled your name.
19
Do
not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;
do
not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.
20
Have
regard for your covenant,
because
haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
21
Do
not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;
may
the poor and needy praise your name.
22
Rise
up, O God, and defend your cause;
remember
how fools mock you all day long.
23
Do
not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,
the
uproar of your enemies, which rises continually. [6]
PSALMS: 104
1
Praise
the LORD, O my soul.
O
LORD my God, you are very great;
you
are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2
He
wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he
stretches out the heavens like a tent
3
and
lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He
makes the clouds his chariot
and
rides on the wings of the wind.
4
He
makes winds his messengers, A
flames
of fire his servants.
5
He
set the earth on its foundations;
it
can never be moved.
6
You
covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the
waters stood above the mountains.
7
But
at your rebuke the waters fled,
at
the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
8
they
flowed over the mountains,
they
went down into the valleys,
to
the place you assigned for them.
9
You
set a boundary they cannot cross;
never
again will they cover the earth.
10
He
makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it
flows between the mountains.
11
They
give water to all the beasts of the field;
the
wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12
The
birds of the air nest by the waters;
they
sing among the branches.
13
He
waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the
earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14
He
makes grass grow for the cattle,
and
plants for man to cultivate--
bringing
forth food from the earth: [7]
15
wine
that gladdens the heart of man,
oil
to make his face shine,
and
bread that sustains his heart.
16
The
trees of the LORD are well watered,
the
cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17
There
the birds make their nests;
the
stork has its home in the pine trees.
18
The
high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the
crags are a refuge for the coneys. B
19
The
moon marks off the seasons,
and
the sun knows when to go down.
20
You
bring darkness, it becomes night,
and
all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21
The
lions roar for their prey
and
seek their food from God.
22
The
sun rises, and they steal away;
they
return and lie down in their dens.
23
Then
man goes out to his work,
to
his labor until evening.
24
How
many are your works, O LORD!
In
wisdom you made them all;
the
earth is full of your creatures.
25
There
is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming
with creatures beyond number--
living
things both large and small.
26
There
the ships go to and fro,
and
the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. [8]
27
These
all look to you
to
give them their food at the proper time.
28
When
you give it to them,
they
gather it up;
when
you open your hand,
they
are satisfied with good things.
29
When
you hide your face,
they
are terrified;
when
you take away their breath,
they
die and return to the dust.
30
When
you send your Spirit,
they
are created,
and
you renew the face of the earth.
31
May
the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may
the LORD rejoice in his works--
32
he
who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who
touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33
I
will sing to the LORD all my life;
I
will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34
May
my meditation be pleasing to him,
as
I rejoice in the LORD.
35
But
may sinners vanish from the earth
and
the wicked be no more.
Praise
the LORD, O my soul.
Praise
the LORD. C [9]
PSALMS: 134
A
song of ascents.
1
Praise
the LORD, all you servants of the LORD
who
minister by night in the house of the LORD.
2
Lift
up your hands in the sanctuary
and
praise the LORD.
3
May
the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth,
bless
you from Zion. [10]
PROVERBS: 14
14
1
The wise woman builds her house,
but
with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.
2
He
whose walk is upright fears the LORD,
but
he whose ways are devious despises him.
3
A
fool's talk brings a rod to his back,
but
the lips of the wise protect them.
4
Where
there are no oxen, the manger is empty,
but
from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.
5
A
truthful witness does not deceive,
but
a false witness pours out lies.
6
The
mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,
but
knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
7
Stay
away from a foolish man,
for
you will not find knowledge on his lips.
8
The
wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,
but
the folly of fools is deception.
9
Fools
mock at making amends for sin,
but
goodwill is found among the upright.
10
Each
heart knows its own bitterness,
and
no one else can share its joy.
11
The
house of the wicked will be destroyed,
but
the tent of the upright will flourish. [11]
12
There
is a way that seems right to a man,
but
in the end it leads to death.
13
Even
in laughter the heart may ache,
and
joy may end in grief.
14
The
faithless will be fully repaid for their ways,
and
the good man rewarded for his.
15
A
simple man believes anything,
but
a prudent man gives thought to his steps.
16
A
wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil,
but
a fool is hotheaded and reckless.
17
A
quick-tempered man does foolish things,
and
a crafty man is hated.
18
The
simple inherit folly,
but
the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
19
Evil
men will bow down in the presence of the good,
and
the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
20
The
poor are shunned even by their neighbors,
but
the rich have many friends.
21
He
who despises his neighbor sins,
but
blessed is he who is kind to the needy.
22
Do
not those who plot evil go astray?
But
those who plan what is good find A love and faithfulness. [12]
23
All
hard work brings a profit,
but
mere talk leads only to poverty.
24
The
wealth of the wise is their crown,
but
the folly of fools yields folly.
25
A
truthful witness saves lives,
but
a false witness is deceitful.
26
He
who fears the LORD has a secure fortress,
and
for his children it will be a refuge.
27
The
fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
turning
a man from the snares of death.
28
A
large population is a king's glory,
but
without subjects a prince is ruined.
29
A
patient man has great understanding,
but
a quick-tempered man displays folly.
30
A
heart at peace gives life to the body,
but
envy rots the bones.
31
He
who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
but
whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
32
When
calamity comes, the wicked are brought down,
but
even in death the righteous have a refuge.
33
Wisdom
reposes in the heart of the discerning
and
even among fools she lets herself be known. B [13]
34
Righteousness
exalts a nation,
but
sin is a disgrace to any people.
35
A
king delights in a wise servant,
but
a shameful servant incurs his wrath. [14]
OLD
TESTAMENT: RUTH 2:1 - 4:22
2
1
Now
Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of
standing, whose name was Boaz.
2
And
Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields and pick up the
leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor."
Naomi
said to her, "Go ahead, my daughter." 3 So she went out and began to
glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself
working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
4
Just
then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "The LORD be with
you!"
"The
LORD bless you!" they called back.
5
Boaz
asked the foreman of his harvesters, "Whose young woman is that?"
6
The
foreman replied, "She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi.
7
She
said, `Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.'
She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except
for a short rest in the shelter."
8
So
Boaz said to Ruth, "My daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another
field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. 9
Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the
girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go
and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled." [15]
10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She
exclaimed, "Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me--a
foreigner?"
11
Boaz
replied, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law
since the death of your husband--how you left your father and mother and your
homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12
May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded
by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."
13
"May
I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord," she said. "You have given me
comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant--though I do not have the
standing of one of your servant girls."
14
At
mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the
wine vinegar."
When
she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all
she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz
gave orders to his men, "Even if she gathers among the sheaves, don't embarrass
her. 16 Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and
leave them for her to pick up, and don't rebuke her."
17
So
Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had
gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. A [16]
18
She
carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered.
Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten
enough.
19
Her
mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed
be the man who took notice of you!"
Then
Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working.
"The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz," she said.
20
"The
LORD bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing
his kindness to the living and the dead." She added, "That man is our close
relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers."
21
Then
Ruth the Moabitess said, "He even said to me, `Stay with my workers until they
finish harvesting all my grain.'"
22
Naomi
said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It will be good for you, my daughter, to go
with his girls, because in someone else's field you might be harmed."
23
So
Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and
wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her
mother-in-law.
3
1
One
day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not try to find
a home A for you, where you will be well provided for? 2
Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours?
Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the [17]threshing
floor. 3 Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes.
Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know you are there until
he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the
place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell
you what to do."
5
"I
will do whatever you say," Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the
threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.
7
When
Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to
lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered
his feet and lay down. 8 In the middle of the night something
startled the man, and he turned and discovered a woman lying at his feet.
9
"Who
are you?" he asked.
"I
am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me,
since you are a kinsman-redeemer."
10
"The
LORD bless you, my daughter," he replied. "This kindness is greater than that
which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich
or poor. 11 And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you
all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble
character. 12 Although it is true that I am near of kin, there is a
kinsman-redeemer nearer than I. 13 Stay here for the night, and in
the morning if he wants to redeem, good; let him redeem. But if he is not
willing, as surely as the LORD lives I will do it. Lie here until [18]
morning."
14
So
she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized;
and he said, "Don't let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor."
15
He
also said, "Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out." When she did
so, he poured into it six measures of barley and put it on her. Then he
B went back to town.
16
When
Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, "How did it go, my daughter?"
Then
she told her everything Boaz had done for her 17 and added, "He gave
me these six measures of barley, saying, `Don't go back to your mother-in-law
empty-handed.'"
18
Then
Naomi said, "Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man
will not rest until the matter is settled today."
4
1
Meanwhile
Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there. When the kinsman-redeemer he had
mentioned came along, Boaz said, "Come over here, my friend, and sit down." So
he went over and sat down.
2
Boaz
took ten of the elders of the town and said, "Sit here," and they did so. 3
Then he said to the kinsman-redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from Moab,
is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4
I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you
buy it in the presence of these seated [19]
here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do
so. But if you A will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has
the right to do it except you, and I am next in line."
"I
will redeem it," he said.
5
Then
Boaz said, "On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess,
you acquire B the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of
the dead with his property."
6
At
this, the kinsman-redeemer said, "Then I cannot redeem it because I might
endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it."
7
(Now
in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to
become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was
the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.)
8
So
the kinsman-redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it yourself." And he removed his sandal.
9
Then
Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I
have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. 10
I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in
order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will
not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are
witnesses!"
11
Then
the elders and all those at the gate said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make
the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built
up the house of [20]
Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12
Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your
family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah."
13
So
Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD
enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women
said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a
kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will
renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who
loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."
16
Then
Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him.
17
The
women living there said, "Naomi has a son." And they named him Obed. He was the
father of Jesse, the father of David.
18
This,
then, is the family line of Perez:
Perez
was the father of Hezron,
19
Hezron
the father of Ram,
Ram
the father of Amminadab,
20
Amminadab
the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon
the father of Salmon, C
21
Salmon
the father of Boaz,
Boaz
the father of Obed,
22
Obed
the father of Jesse,
and
Jesse the father of David. [21]
NEW
TESTAMENT: JOHN 4:43 - 54
43
After
the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed
out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he
arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had
done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.
46
Once
more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And
there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47
When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went
to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48
"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,"
Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
49
The
royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
50
Jesus
replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The
man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the
way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52
When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him,
"The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."
53
Then
the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him,
"Your son will live." So he and all his
household believed.
54
This
was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to
Galilee. [22]
[1]
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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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