THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - July 15 - Full Text - Shabbat Shalom!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

JULY 15

PSALMS: 15, 45, 75, 105, 135

PROVERBS: 15

OLD TESTAMENT: JEREMIAH 2:31 - 4:18

NEW TESTAMENT: COLOSIANS 1:1 - 17

PSALMS: 15

A psalm of David.

¹ LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?

Who may live on your holy hill?

² He whose walk is blameless

and who does what is righteous,

who speaks the truth from his heart

³ and has no slander on his tongue,

who does his neighbor no wrong

and casts no slur on his fellowman,

⁴ who despises a vile man

but honors those who fear the LORD,

who keeps his oath

even when it hurts,

⁵ who lends his money without usury

and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things

will never be shaken. ¹

PSALMS: 45

For the director of music. To the tune of "Lilies." Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. ^A A wedding song.

¹ My heart is stirred by a noble theme

as I recite my verses for the king;

my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

² You are the most excellent of men

and your lips have been anointed with grace,

since God has blessed you forever.

³ Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one;

clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.

⁴ In your majesty ride forth victoriously

in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness;

let your right hand display awesome deeds.

⁵ Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies;

let the nations fall beneath your feet.

⁶ Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;

a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness;

therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions

by anointing you with the oil of joy.

⁸ All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;

from palaces adorned with ivory

the music of the strings makes you glad.

⁹ Daughters of kings are among your honored women;

at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

¹⁰ Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear:

Forget your people and your father's house. ²

¹¹ The king is enthralled by your beauty;

honor him, for he is your lord.

¹² The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift, ^B

men of wealth will seek your favor.

¹³ All glorious is the princess within her chamber;

her gown is interwoven with gold.

¹⁴ In embroidered garments she is led to the king;

her virgin companions follow her

and are brought to you.

¹⁵ They are led in with joy and gladness;

they enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶ Your sons will take the place of your fathers;

you will make them princes throughout the land.

¹⁷ I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;

therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever. ³

PSALMS: 75

For the director of music. To the tune of "Do Not Destroy." A psalm of Asaph. A song.

¹ We give thanks to you, O God,

we give thanks, for your Name is near;

men tell of your wonderful deeds.

² You say, "I choose the appointed time;

it is I who judge uprightly.

³ When the earth and all its people quake,

it is I who hold its pillars firm.

Selah

⁴ To the arrogant I say, `Boast no more,'

and to the wicked, `Do not lift up your horns.

⁵ Do not lift your horns against heaven;

do not speak with outstretched neck.'"

⁶ No one from the east or the west

or from the desert can exalt a man.

⁷ But it is God who judges:

He brings one down, he exalts another.

⁸ In the hand of the LORD is a cup

full of foaming wine mixed with spices;

he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth

drink it down to its very dregs.

⁹ As for me, I will declare this forever;

I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.

¹⁰ I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,

but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up. ⁴

PSALMS: 105

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

² Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

³ Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

⁴ Look to the LORD and his strength;

seek his face always.

⁵ Remember the wonders he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

⁶ O descendants of Abraham his servant,

O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

⁷ He is the LORD our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸ He remembers his covenant forever,

the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,

⁹ the covenant he made with Abraham,

the oath he swore to Isaac.

¹⁰ He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

¹¹ "To you I will give the land of Canaan

as the portion you will inherit."

¹² When they were but few in number,

few indeed, and strangers in it,

¹³ they wandered from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another.

¹⁴ He allowed no one to oppress them;

for their sake he rebuked kings:

¹⁵ "Do not touch my anointed ones;

do my prophets no harm." ⁵

¹⁶ He called down famine on the land

and destroyed all their supplies of food;

¹⁷ and he sent a man before them--

Joseph, sold as a slave.

¹⁸ They bruised his feet with shackles,

his neck was put in irons,

¹⁹ till what he foretold came to pass,

till the word of the LORD proved him true.

²⁰ The king sent and released him,

the ruler of peoples set him free.

²¹ He made him master of his household,

ruler over all he possessed,

²² to instruct his princes as he pleased

and teach his elders wisdom.

²³ Then Israel entered Egypt;

Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.

²⁴ The LORD made his people very fruitful;

he made them too numerous for their foes,

^{2 5}whose hearts he turned to hate his people,

to conspire against his servants.

²⁶ He sent Moses his servant,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

²⁷ They performed his miraculous signs among them,

his wonders in the land of Ham.

²⁸ He sent darkness and made the land dark--

for had they not rebelled against his words?

²⁹ He turned their waters into blood,

causing their fish to die.

³⁰ Their land teemed with frogs,

which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.

³¹ He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,

and gnats throughout their country.

³² He turned their rain into hail,

with lightning throughout their land; ⁶

³³ he struck down their vines and fig trees

and shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came,

grasshoppers without number;

³⁵ they ate up every green thing in their land,

ate up the produce of their soil.

³⁶ Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the firstfruits of all their manhood.

³⁷ He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,

and from among their tribes no one faltered.

³⁸ Egypt was glad when they left,

because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

³⁹ He spread out a cloud as a covering,

and a fire to give light at night.

⁴⁰ They asked, and he brought them quail

and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out;

like a river it flowed in the desert.

⁴² For he remembered his holy promise

given to his servant Abraham.

⁴³ He brought out his people with rejoicing,

his chosen ones with shouts of joy;

⁴⁴ he gave them the lands of the nations,

and they fell heir to what others had toiled for--

⁴⁵ that they might keep his precepts

and observe his laws.

Praise the LORD. ^{A 7}

PSALMS: 135

¹ Praise the LORD. ^A

Praise the name of the LORD;

praise him, you servants of the LORD,

² you who minister in the house of the LORD,

in the courts of the house of our God.

³ Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;

sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.

⁴ For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own,

Israel to be his treasured possession.

⁵ I know that the LORD is great,

that our Lord is greater than all gods.

⁶ The LORD does whatever pleases him,

in the heavens and on the earth,

in the seas and all their depths.

⁷ He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;

he sends lightning with the rain

and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

⁸ He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

the firstborn of men and animals.

⁹ He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,

against Pharaoh and all his servants.

¹⁰ He struck down many nations

and killed mighty kings--

¹¹ Sihon king of the Amorites,

Og king of Bashan

and all the kings of Canaan--

¹² and he gave their land as an inheritance,

an inheritance to his people Israel. ⁸

¹³ Your name, O LORD, endures forever,

your renown, O LORD, through all generations.

¹⁴ For the LORD will vindicate his people

and have compassion on his servants.

¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

made by the hands of men.

¹⁶ They have mouths, but cannot speak,

eyes, but they cannot see;

¹⁷ they have ears, but cannot hear,

nor is there breath in their mouths.

¹⁸ Those who make them will be like them,

and so will all who trust in them.

¹⁹ O house of Israel, praise the LORD;

O house of Aaron, praise the LORD;

²⁰ O house of Levi, praise the LORD;

you who fear him, praise the LORD.

²¹ Praise be to the LORD from Zion,

to him who dwells in Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD. ⁹

PROVERBS: 15

15 ¹ A gentle answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger.

² The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,

but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

³ The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,

keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

⁴ The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life,

but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

⁵ A fool spurns his father's discipline,

but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.

⁶ The house of the righteous contains great treasure,

but the income of the wicked brings them trouble.

⁷ The lips of the wise spread knowledge;

not so the hearts of fools.

⁸ The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked,

but the prayer of the upright pleases him.

⁹ The LORD detests the way of the wicked

but he loves those who pursue righteousness.

¹⁰ Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path;

he who hates correction will die.

¹¹ Death and Destruction ^A lie open before the LORD--

how much more the hearts of men! ¹⁰

¹² A mocker resents correction;

he will not consult the wise.

¹³ A happy heart makes the face cheerful,

but heartache crushes the spirit.

¹⁴ The discerning heart seeks knowledge,

but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.

¹⁵ All the days of the oppressed are wretched,

but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.

¹⁶ Better a little with the fear of the LORD

than great wealth with turmoil.

¹⁷ Better a meal of vegetables where there is love

than a fattened calf with hatred.

¹⁸ A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension,

but a patient man calms a quarrel.

¹⁹ The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,

but the path of the upright is a highway.

²⁰ A wise son brings joy to his father,

but a foolish man despises his mother.

²¹ Folly delights a man who lacks judgment,

but a man of understanding keeps a straight course.

²² Plans fail for lack of counsel,

but with many advisers they succeed. ¹¹

²³ A man finds joy in giving an apt reply--

and how good is a timely word!

²⁴ The path of life leads upward for the wise

to keep him from going down to the grave. ^B

²⁵ The LORD tears down the proud man's house

but he keeps the widow's boundaries intact.

²⁶ The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked,

but those of the pure are pleasing to him.

²⁷ A greedy man brings trouble to his family,

but he who hates bribes will live.

²⁸ The heart of the righteous weighs its answers,

but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.

²⁹ The LORD is far from the wicked

but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

³⁰ A cheerful look brings joy to the heart,

and good news gives health to the bones.

³¹ He who listens to a life-giving rebuke

will be at home among the wise.

³² He who ignores discipline despises himself,

but whoever heeds correction gains understanding. ¹²

³³ The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, ^C

and humility comes before honor. ^{13 14}

OLD TESTAMENT: JEREMIAH 2:31 - 4:18

³¹ "You of this generation, consider the word of the LORD:

"Have I been a desert to Israel

or a land of great darkness?

Why do my people say, `We are free to roam;

we will come to you no more'?

³² Does a maiden forget her jewelry,

a bride her wedding ornaments?

Yet my people have forgotten me,

days without number.

³³ How skilled you are at pursuing love!

Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.

³⁴ On your clothes men find

the lifeblood of the innocent poor,

though you did not catch them breaking in.

Yet in spite of all this

³⁵ you say, `I am innocent;

he is not angry with me.'

But I will pass judgment on you

because you say, `I have not sinned.'

³⁶ Why do you go about so much,

changing your ways?

You will be disappointed by Egypt

as you were by Assyria.

³⁷ You will also leave that place

with your hands on your head,

for the LORD has rejected those you trust; ¹⁵

you will not be helped by them.

3 ¹ "If a man divorces his wife

and she leaves him and marries another man,

should he return to her again?

Would not the land be completely defiled?

But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers--

would you now return to me?"

declares the LORD.

² "Look up to the barren heights and see.

Is there any place where you have not been ravished?

By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers,

sat like a nomad ^A in the desert.

You have defiled the land

with your prostitution and wickedness.

³ Therefore the showers have been withheld,

and no spring rains have fallen.

Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute;

you refuse to blush with shame.

⁴ Have you not just called to me:

`My Father, my friend from my youth, ¹⁶

⁵ will you always be angry?

Will your wrath continue forever?'

This is how you talk,

but you do all the evil you can."

⁶ During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, "Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. ⁷ I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. ⁸ I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. ⁹ Because Israel's immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. ¹⁰ In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense," declares the LORD.

¹¹ The LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.

¹² Go, proclaim this message toward the north:

"`Return, faithless Israel,' declares the LORD,

`I will frown on you no longer,

for I am merciful,' declares the LORD,

`I will not be angry forever.

¹³ Only acknowledge your guilt--

you have rebelled against the LORD your God,

you have scattered your favors to foreign gods

under every spreading tree,

and have not obeyed me,'"

declares the LORD. ¹⁷

¹⁴ "Return, faithless people," declares the LORD, "for I am your husband. I will choose you--one from a town and two from a clan--and bring you to Zion. ¹⁵ Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶ In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land," declares the LORD, "men will no longer say, `The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. ¹⁷ At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. ¹⁸ In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance.

¹⁹ "I myself said,

"`How gladly would I treat you like sons

and give you a desirable land,

the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.'

I thought you would call me `Father'

and not turn away from following me.

²⁰ But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,

so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel,"

declares the LORD.

²¹ A cry is heard on the barren heights,

the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel,

because they have perverted their ways

and have forgotten the LORD their God.

²² "Return, faithless people;

I will cure you of backsliding."

"Yes, we will come to you, ¹⁸

for you are the LORD our God.

²³ Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills

and mountains is a deception;

surely in the LORD our God

is the salvation of Israel.

²⁴ From our youth shameful gods have consumed

the fruits of our fathers' labor--

their flocks and herds,

their sons and daughters.

²⁵ Let us lie down in our shame,

and let our disgrace cover us.

We have sinned against the LORD our God,

both we and our fathers;

from our youth till this day

we have not obeyed the LORD our God."

4 ¹ "If you will return, O Israel,

return to me,"

declares the LORD.

"If you put your detestable idols out of my sight

and no longer go astray,

² and if in a truthful, just and righteous way

you swear, `As surely as the LORD lives,'

then the nations will be blessed by him ¹⁹

and in him they will glory."

³ This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:

"Break up your unplowed ground

and do not sow among thorns.

⁴ Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,

circumcise your hearts,

you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem,

or my wrath will break out and burn like fire

because of the evil you have done--

burn with no one to quench it.

⁵ "Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say:

`Sound the trumpet throughout the land!'

Cry aloud and say:

`Gather together!

Let us flee to the fortified cities!'

⁶ Raise the signal to go to Zion!

Flee for safety without delay!

For I am bringing disaster from the north,

even terrible destruction."

⁷ A lion has come out of his lair;

a destroyer of nations has set out. ²⁰

He has left his place

to lay waste your land.

Your towns will lie in ruins

without inhabitant.

⁸ So put on sackcloth,

lament and wail,

for the fierce anger of the LORD

has not turned away from us.

⁹ "In that day," declares the LORD,

"the king and the officials will lose heart,

the priests will be horrified,

and the prophets will be appalled."

¹⁰ Then I said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, `You will have peace,' when the sword is at our throats."

¹¹ At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, "A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; ¹² a wind too strong for that comes from me. ^A Now I pronounce my judgments against them."

¹³ Look! He advances like the clouds,

his chariots come like a whirlwind,

his horses are swifter than eagles.

Woe to us! We are ruined!

¹⁴ O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved.

How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?

¹⁵ A voice is announcing from Dan, ²¹

proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.

¹⁶ "Tell this to the nations,

proclaim it to Jerusalem:

`A besieging army is coming from a distant land,

raising a war cry against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷ They surround her like men guarding a field,

because she has rebelled against me,'"

declares the LORD.

¹⁸ "Your own conduct and actions

have brought this upon you.

This is your punishment.

How bitter it is!

How it pierces to the heart!" ²²

NEW TESTAMENT: COLOSSIANS 1:1 - 17

1 ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

² To the holy and faithful ^A brothers in Christ at Colosse:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father. ^B

³ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

⁴ because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—⁵ the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel ⁶ that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.

⁷ You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our ^C behalf, ⁸ and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰ And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you ^D to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, ^E the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ²³

1 Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Bible NIV. Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved

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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