THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - November 14 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

NOVEMBER 14

PSALMS: 14, 44, 74, 104, 134

PROVERBS: 14

OLD TESTAMENT: EXODUS 17:8 - 19:15

NEW TESTAMENT: MATTHEW 22:34 - 23:12

PSALMS: 14

For the director of music. Of David.

¹ The 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: EXODUS 17:8 - 19:15

⁸ The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."

¹⁰ So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. ¹² When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset. ¹³ So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."

¹⁵ Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. ¹⁶ He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The ^C LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."

18 ¹ Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

² After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her

³ and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, ^A for Moses said, "I have become an alien in a foreign land"; ⁴and the other was named Eliezer, ^B for he said, "My father's God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh."

⁵ Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, together with Moses' sons and wife, came to him in the desert, where he was camped near the mountain of God. ⁶ Jethro had sent word to him, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons."

⁷ So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them.

⁹ Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰ He said, "Praise be to the LORD, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the ¹⁵ Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly." ¹² Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law in the presence of God.

¹³ The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?"

¹⁵ Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God's will.

⁶ Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and laws."

¹⁷ Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. ¹⁹ Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 

²⁰ Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. ²¹ But select capable men from all the people--men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain--and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²² Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. ²³ If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied."

²⁴ Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. ²⁵ He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²⁶ They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.

²⁷ Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.

19 ¹ In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt--on the very day--they came to the Desert of Sinai. ² After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.

³ Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ⁴ `You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought ¹⁶ you to myself. ⁵ Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 

⁶ you ^A will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

⁷ So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. ⁸ The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.

⁹ The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said.

¹⁰ And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes ¹¹ and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, `Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. ¹³ He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live.' Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain."

¹⁴ After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes.

¹⁵ Then he said to the people, "Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations." ¹⁷

NEW TESTAMENT: MATTHEW 22:34 - 23:12

³⁴ Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. ³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ³⁶ "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

³⁷ Jesus replied: “`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' <sup>B 38</sup> This is the first and greatest commandment. <sup>39</sup> And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' ^{C 40} All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

⁴¹ While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴² "What do you think about the Christ ^D? Whose son is he?"

"The son of David," they replied.

⁴³ He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him `Lord'? For he says,

⁴⁴ "`The Lord said to my Lord:

"Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies

under your feet."` ^E

⁴⁵ If then David calls him `Lord,' how can he be his son?" ⁴⁶ No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

23 ¹ Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. ³ So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴ They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁵ "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries ^A wide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷ they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them `Rabbi.'

⁸ "But you are not to be called `Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. <sup>9</sup> And do not call anyone on earth `father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called `teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. ^{B 11} The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. ¹⁸

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

 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