Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
FEBRUARY
23
PSALMS: 23, 53, 83, 113,
143
PROVERBS: 23
OLD
TESTAMENT: 1 SAMUEL 17:1 - 18:4
NEW
TESTAMENT: JOHN 8:21 - 30
PSALMS: 23
A
psalm of David.
1
The
LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2
He
makes me lie down in green pastures,
he
leads me beside quiet waters,
3
he
restores my soul.
He
guides me in paths of righteousness
for
his name's sake.
4
Even
though I walk
through
the valley of the shadow of death, A
I
will fear no evil,
for
you are with me;
your
rod and your staff,
they
comfort me.
5
You
prepare a table before me
in
the presence of my enemies.
You
anoint my head with oil;
my
cup overflows.
6
Surely
goodness and love will follow me
all
the days of my life,
and
I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
[1]
PSALMS: 53
For
the director of music. According to mahalath. A A maskil
B of David.
1
The
fool says in his heart,
"There
is no God."
They
are corrupt, and their ways are vile;
there
is no one who does good.
2
God
looks down from heaven
on
the sons of men
to
see if there are any who understand,
any
who seek God.
3
Everyone
has turned away,
they
have together become corrupt;
there
is no one who does good,
not
even one.
4
Will
the evildoers never learn--
those
who devour my people as men eat bread
and
who do not call on God?
5
There
they were, overwhelmed with dread,
where
there was nothing to dread.
God
scattered the bones of those who attacked you;
you
put them to shame, for God despised them.
6
Oh,
that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When
God restores the fortunes of his people,
let
Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad! [2]
PSALMS: 83
A
song. A psalm of Asaph.
1
O
God, do not keep silent;
be
not quiet, O God, be not still.
2
See
how your enemies are astir,
how
your foes rear their heads.
3
With
cunning they conspire against your people;
they
plot against those you cherish.
4
"Come,"
they say, "let us destroy them as a nation,
that
the name of Israel be remembered no more."
5
With
one mind they plot together;
they
form an alliance against you--
6
the
tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of
Moab and the Hagrites,
7
Gebal,
A Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia,
with the people of Tyre.
8
Even
Assyria has joined them
to
lend strength to the descendants of Lot.
Selah
9
Do
to them as you did to Midian,
as
you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10
who
perished at Endor
and
became like refuse on the ground.
11
Make
their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
all
their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12
who
said, "Let us take possession
of
the pasturelands of God." [3]
13
Make
them like tumbleweed, O my God,
like
chaff before the wind.
14
As
fire consumes the forest
or
a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15
so
pursue them with your tempest
and
terrify them with your storm.
16
Cover
their faces with shame
so
that men will seek your name, O LORD.
17
May
they ever be ashamed and dismayed;
may
they perish in disgrace.
18
Let
them know that you, whose name is the LORD--
that
you alone are the Most High over all the earth. [4]
PSALMS: 113
1
Praise
the LORD. A
Praise,
O servants of the LORD,
praise
the name of the LORD.
2
Let
the name of the LORD be praised,
both
now and forevermore.
3
From
the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the
name of the LORD is to be praised.
4
The
LORD is exalted over all the nations,
his
glory above the heavens.
5
Who
is like the LORD our God,
the
One who sits enthroned on high,
6
who
stoops down to look
on
the heavens and the earth?
7
He
raises the poor from the dust
and
lifts the needy from the ash heap;
8
he
seats them with princes,
with
the princes of their people.
9
He
settles the barren woman in her home
as
a happy mother of children.
Praise
the LORD. [5]
PSALMS: 143
A
psalm of David.
1
O
LORD, hear my prayer,
listen
to my cry for mercy;
in
your faithfulness and righteousness
come
to my relief.
2
Do
not bring your servant into judgment,
for
no one living is righteous before you.
3
The
enemy pursues me,
he
crushes me to the ground;
he
makes me dwell in darkness
like
those long dead.
4
So
my spirit grows faint within me;
my
heart within me is dismayed.
5
I
remember the days of long ago;
I
meditate on all your works
and
consider what your hands have done.
6
I
spread out my hands to you;
my
soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
Selah
7
Answer
me quickly, O LORD;
my
spirit fails.
Do
not hide your face from me
or
I will be like those who go down to the pit.
8
Let
the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for
I have put my trust in you.
Show
me the way I should go,
for
to you I lift up my soul.
9
Rescue
me from my enemies, O LORD, [6]
for
I hide myself in you.
10
Teach
me to do your will,
for
you are my God;
may
your good Spirit
lead
me on level ground.
11
For
your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life;
in
your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
12In
your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
destroy
all my foes,
for
I am your servant. [7]
PROVERBS: 23
23
1
When you sit to dine with a ruler,
note
well what A is before you,
2
and
put a knife to your throat
if
you are given to gluttony.
3
Do
not crave his delicacies,
for
that food is deceptive.
4
Do
not wear yourself out to get rich;
have
the wisdom to show restraint.
5
Cast
but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
for
they will surely sprout wings
and
fly off to the sky like an eagle.
6
Do
not eat the food of a stingy man,
do
not crave his delicacies;
7
for
he is the kind of man
who
is always thinking about the cost. B
"Eat
and drink," he says to you,
but
his heart is not with you.
8
You
will vomit up the little you have eaten
and
will have wasted your compliments.
9
Do
not speak to a fool,
for
he will scorn the wisdom of your words.
10
Do
not move an ancient boundary stone
or
encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11
for
their Defender is strong;
he
will take up their case against you.
12
Apply
your heart to instruction
and
your ears to words of knowledge. [8]
13
Do
not withhold discipline from a child;
if
you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
14
Punish
him with the rod
and
save his soul from death. C
15
My
son, if your heart is wise,
then
my heart will be glad;
16
my
inmost being will rejoice
when
your lips speak what is right.
17
Do
not let your heart envy sinners,
but
always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.
18
There
is surely a future hope for you,
and
your hope will not be cut off.
19
Listen,
my son, and be wise,
and
keep your heart on the right path.
20
Do
not join those who drink too much wine
or
gorge themselves on meat,
21
for
drunkards and gluttons become poor,
and
drowsiness clothes them in rags.
22
Listen
to your father, who gave you life,
and
do not despise your mother when she is old.
23
Buy
the truth and do not sell it;
get
wisdom, discipline and understanding.
24
The
father of a righteous man has great joy;
he
who has a wise son delights in him.
25
May
your father and mother be glad;
may
she who gave you birth rejoice! [9]
26
My
son, give me your heart
and
let your eyes keep to my ways,
27
for
a prostitute is a deep pit
and
a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28
Like
a bandit she lies in wait,
and
multiplies the unfaithful among men.
29
Who
has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who
has strife? Who has complaints?
Who
has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30
Those
who linger over wine,
who
go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
31
Do
not gaze at wine when it is red,
when
it sparkles in the cup,
when
it goes down smoothly!
32
In
the end it bites like a snake
and
poisons like a viper.
33
Your
eyes will see strange sights
and
your mind imagine confusing things.
34
You
will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
lying
on top of the rigging. [10]
OLD
TESTAMENT: 1 SAMUEL 17:1 - 18:4
17
1
Now
the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah.
They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. 2 Saul
and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their
battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one
hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.
4
A
champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He
was over nine feet A tall. 5He had a bronze helmet on his
head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels
B; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze
javelin was slung on his back. 7His spear shaft was like a weaver's
rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. C His shield
bearer went ahead of him.
8
Goliath
stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for
battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a
man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill
me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will
become our subjects and serve us." 10 Then the Philistine said, "This
day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."
11 On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites
were dismayed and terrified.
12
Now
David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah.
Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was old and well advanced in years.
13
Jesse's
three oldest [11]sons
had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and
the third, Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest
followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his
father's sheep at Bethlehem.
16
For
forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his
stand.
17
Now
Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah D of roasted grain and
these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18
Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. E
See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance F from them.
19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of
Elah, fighting against the Philistines."
20
Early
in the morning David left the flock with a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as
Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle
positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were
drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things
with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers.
23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from
Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard
it. 24 When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in
great fear.
25
Now
the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He
comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills
him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father's
family from taxes in Israel." [12]
26 David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the
man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this
uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
27
They
repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be
done for the man who kills him."
28
When
Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with
anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you
leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked
your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."
29
"Now
what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?" 30 He then
turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered
him as before. 31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul,
and Saul sent for him.
32
David
said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant
will go and fight him."
33
Saul
replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you
are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
34
But
David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a
lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went
after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me,
I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has
killed both the lion and the bear; this [13]
uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the
armies of the living God.
37
The
LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will
deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
Saul
said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
38
Then
Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze
helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and
tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
"I
cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he
took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five
smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and,
with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
41
Meanwhile,
the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to
David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy
and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, "Am I a dog,
that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44 "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of
the air and the beasts of the field!"
45
David
said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin,
but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies
of Israel, whom you have [14]
defied.
46
This
day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your
head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the
air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a
God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by
sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will
give all of you into our hands."
48
As
the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle
line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he
slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his
forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50
So
David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in
his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
51
David
ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from
the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.
When
the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52
Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued
the Philistines to the entrance of Gath G and to the gates of Ekron.
Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53
When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered
their camp. 54 David took the Philistine's head and brought it to
Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent. [15]
55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to
Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?"
Abner
replied, "As surely as you live, O king, I don't know."
56
The
king said, "Find out whose son this young man is."
57
As
soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought
him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head.
58
"Whose
son are you, young man?" Saul asked him.
David
said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."
18
1
After
David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David,
and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him
and did not let him return to his father's house. 3 And Jonathan made
a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan
took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and
even his sword, his bow and his belt. [16]
NEW
TESTAMENT: JOHN 8:21 - 30
21
Once
more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you
will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot
come."
22
This
made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, `Where I go, you
cannot come'?"
23
But
he continued, "You are from below; I am from above.
You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not
believe that I am the one I claim to be, A you will indeed die in your sins."
25
"Who
are you?" they asked.
"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus
replied. 26 "I have much to say in judgment
of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell
the world."
27
They
did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So
Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man,
then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my
own but speak just what the Father has taught me.
29
The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what
pleases him."
30 Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him. [17]
[1]
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[3]
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[4]
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[7]
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[8]
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[9]
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[10]
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[11]
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[12]
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[13]
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[14]
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[15]
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[16]
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[17]
Excerpted from Compton
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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