Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
DECEMBER
31
PSALMS:
31, 61, 91, 121
PROVERBS:
31
OLD
TESTAMENT:
NUMBERS 33:40 - 35:34
NEW
TESTAMENT:
LUKE 5:12 - 28
PSALMS:
31
For
the director of music. A psalm of David.
1
In
you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
let
me never be put to shame;
deliver
me in your righteousness.
2
Turn
your ear to me,
come
quickly to my rescue;
be
my rock of refuge,
a
strong fortress to save me.
3
Since
you are my rock and my fortress,
for
the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4
Free
me from the trap that is set for me,
for
you are my refuge.
5
Into
your hands I commit my spirit;
redeem
me, O LORD, the God of truth.
6
I
hate those who cling to worthless idols;
I
trust in the LORD.
7
I
will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for
you saw my affliction
and
knew the anguish of my soul.
8
You
have not handed me over to the enemy
but
have set my feet in a spacious place.
9
Be
merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my
eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my
soul and my body with grief.
10
My
life is consumed by anguish
and
my years by groaning;
my
strength fails because of my affliction, A
and
my bones grow weak. 1
11
Because
of all my enemies,
I
am the utter contempt of my neighbors;
I
am a dread to my friends--
those
who see me on the street flee from me.
12
I
am forgotten by them as though I were dead;
I
have become like broken pottery.
13
For
I hear the slander of many;
there
is terror on every side;
they
conspire against me
and
plot to take my life.
14
But
I trust in you, O LORD;
I
say, "You are my God."
15
My
times are in your hands;
deliver
me from my enemies
and
from those who pursue me.
16
Let
your face shine on your servant;
save
me in your unfailing love.
17
Let
me not be put to shame, O LORD,
for
I have cried out to you;
but
let the wicked be put to shame
and
lie silent in the grave. B
18
Let
their lying lips be silenced,
for
with pride and contempt
they
speak arrogantly against the righteous.
19
How
great is your goodness,
which
you have stored up for those who fear you,
which
you bestow in the sight of men
on
those who take refuge in you.
20
In
the shelter of your presence you hide them
from
the intrigues of men;
in
your dwelling you keep them safe 2
from
accusing tongues.
21
Praise
be to the LORD,
for
he showed his wonderful love to me
when
I was in a besieged city.
22
In
my alarm I said,
"I
am cut off from your sight!"
Yet
you heard my cry for mercy
when
I called to you for help.
23
Love
the LORD, all his saints!
The
LORD preserves the faithful,
but
the proud he pays back in full.
24
Be
strong and take heart,
all
you who hope in the LORD. 3
PSALMS:
61
For
the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.
1
Hear
my cry, O God;
listen
to my prayer.
2
From
the ends of the earth I call to you,
I
call as my heart grows faint;
lead
me to the rock that is higher than I.
3
For
you have been my refuge,
a
strong tower against the foe.
4
I
long to dwell in your tent forever
and
take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
Selah
5
For
you have heard my vows, O God;
you
have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6
Increase
the days of the king's life,
his
years for many generations.
7
May
he be enthroned in God's presence forever;
appoint
your love and faithfulness to protect him.
8
Then
will I ever sing praise to your name
and
fulfill my vows day after day. 4
PSALMS:
91
1
He
who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will
rest in the shadow of the Almighty. A
2
I
will say B
of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my
God, in whom I trust."
3
Surely
he will save you from the fowler's snare
and
from the deadly pestilence.
4
He
will cover you with his feathers,
and
under his wings you will find refuge;
his
faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5
You
will not fear the terror of night,
nor
the arrow that flies by day,
6
nor
the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor
the plague that destroys at midday.
7
A
thousand may fall at your side,
ten
thousand at your right hand,
but
it will not come near you.
8
You
will only observe with your eyes
and
see the punishment of the wicked.
9
If
you make the Most High your dwelling--
even
the LORD, who is my refuge--
10then
no harm will befall you,
no
disaster will come near your tent.
11
For
he will command his angels concerning you
to
guard you in all your ways;
12
they
will lift you up in their hands,
so
that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13
You
will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you
will trample the great lion and the serpent. 5
14
"Because
he loves me,"
says the LORD, "I
will rescue him;
I
will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15
He
will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I
will be with him in trouble,
I
will deliver him and honor him.
16
With
long life will I satisfy him
and
show him my salvation."
6
PSALMS:
121
A
song of ascents.
1
I
lift up my eyes to the hills--
where
does my help come from?
2
My
help comes from the LORD,
the
Maker of heaven and earth.
3
He
will not let your foot slip--
he
who watches over you will not slumber;
4
indeed,
he who watches over Israel
will
neither slumber nor sleep.
5
The
LORD watches over you--
the
LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6
the
sun will not harm you by day,
nor
the moon by night.
7
The
LORD will keep you from all harm--
he
will watch over your life;
8
the
LORD will watch over your coming and going
both
now and forevermore. 7
PROVERBS:
31
31
1
The
sayings of King Lemuel--an oracle A
his mother taught him:
2
"O
my son, O son of my womb,
O
son of my vows, B
3
do
not spend your strength on women,
your
vigor on those who ruin kings.
4
"It
is not for kings, O Lemuel--
not
for kings to drink wine,
not
for rulers to crave beer,
5
lest
they drink and forget what the law decrees,
and
deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
6
Give
beer to those who are perishing,
wine
to those who are in anguish;
7
let
them drink and forget their poverty
and
remember their misery no more.
8
"Speak
up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for
the rights of all who are destitute.
9
Speak
up and judge fairly;
defend
the rights of the poor and needy."
8
10
C
A wife of noble character who can find?
She
is worth far more than rubies.
11
Her
husband has full confidence in her
and
lacks nothing of value.
12
She
brings him good, not harm,
all
the days of her life.
13
She
selects wool and flax
and
works with eager hands.
14
She
is like the merchant ships,
bringing
her food from afar.
15
She
gets up while it is still dark;
she
provides food for her family
and
portions for her servant girls.
16
She
considers a field and buys it;
out
of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17
She
sets about her work vigorously;
her
arms are strong for her tasks.
18
She
sees that her trading is profitable,
and
her lamp does not go out at night.
19
In
her hand she holds the distaff
and
grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20
She
opens her arms to the poor
and
extends her hands to the needy.
21
When
it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for
all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22
She
makes coverings for her bed;
she
is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23
Her
husband is respected at the city gate,
where
he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24
She
makes linen garments and sells them,
and
supplies the merchants with sashes.
25
She
is clothed with strength and dignity;
she
can laugh at the days to come.
26
She
speaks with wisdom, 9
and
faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27
She
watches over the affairs of her household
and
does not eat the bread of idleness.
28
Her
children arise and call her blessed;
her
husband also, and he praises her:
29
"Many
women do noble things,
but
you surpass them all."
30
Charm
is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but
a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31
Give
her the reward she has earned,
and
let her works bring her praise at the city gate.10
OLD
TESTAMENT:
NUMBERS 33:40 - 35:34
41
They
left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.
42
They
left Zalmonah and camped at Punon.
43
They
left Punon and camped at Oboth.
44
They
left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab.
45
They
left Iyim C
and camped at Dibon Gad.
46
They
left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.
47
They
left Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, near
Nebo.
48
They
left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the
Jordan across from Jericho. D
49
There
on the plains of Moab they camped along the Jordan from Beth
Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim.
50
On
the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the LORD said to
Moses,
51
"Speak
to the Israelites and say to them:
`When
you cross the Jordan into Canaan,
52
drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all
their carved images and their cast idols,
and demolish all their high places.
53
Take possession of the land and settle in it,
for
I have given you the land to possess.
54
Distribute the land by lot,
according to your clans.
To a larger group give a larger inheritance,
and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot
will be theirs.
Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes.
55
"`But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those
you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your
sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.
56
And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.'"
34
1
The
LORD said to Moses, 2 "Command the Israelites and say to them:
`When you enter Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an
inheritance will have these boundaries:
3
"`Your
southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin along the border
of Edom.
On the east,
your southern boundary will start from the end of the Salt Sea,
A
4
cross south of Scorpion B
Pass, continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will
go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon,
5
where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt and end at the Sea. C
11
6
"`Your
western boundary will be the coast of the Great Sea.
This will be your boundary on the west.
7
"`For
your northern boundary,
run
a line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor 8and
from Mount Hor to Lebo D
Hamath. Then the boundary will go to Zedad,
9
continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan.
This will be your boundary on the north.
10
"`For
your eastern boundary, run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham.
11
The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of
Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Kinnereth.
E
12
Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt
Sea.
"`This
will be your land,
with its boundaries on every side.'"
13
Moses
commanded the Israelites: "Assign this land by lot as an
inheritance. The LORD has ordered that it be given to the nine and a
half tribes, 14
because
the families of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the
half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.
15
These
two and a half tribes have received their inheritance on the east
side of the Jordan of Jericho, F
toward the sunrise."
16
The
LORD said to Moses, 17
"These
are the names of the men who are to assign the land for you as an
inheritance:
Eleazar
the priest and Joshua son of Nun.
18
And appoint one leader from each tribe to help assign the land.
19
These are their names:
Caleb
son of Jephunneh,
from
the tribe of Judah;
20
Shemuel son of Ammihud,
from
the tribe of Simeon;
21
Elidad son of Kislon,
from
the tribe of Benjamin;
22
Bukki son of Jogli,
the
leader from the tribe of Dan;
23
Hanniel son of Ephod,
the
leader from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph;
24
Kemuel son of Shiphtan,
the
leader from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph;
25
Elizaphan son of Parnach,
the
leader from the tribe of Zebulun; 12 [12]
26
Paltiel son of Azzan,
the
leader from the tribe of Issachar;
27
Ahihud son of Shelomi,
the
leader from the tribe of Asher;
28
Pedahel son of Ammihud,
the
leader from the tribe of Naphtali."
29
These
are the men the LORD commanded to assign the inheritance to the
Israelites in the land of Canaan.
35
1
On
the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, A
the
LORD said to Moses, 2
"Command
the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the
inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands
around the towns.
3
Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for their
cattle, flocks and all their other livestock.
4
"The
pasturelands around the towns that you give the Levites will extend
out fifteen hundred feet B
from the town wall.
5
Outside the town, measure three thousand feet C
on the east side,
three thousand on the south side,
three thousand on the west and three thousand on the north, with the
town in the center.
They will have this area as pastureland for the towns.
6
"Six
of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which
a person who has killed someone may flee.
In
addition, give them forty-two other towns.
7
In
all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their
pasturelands.
8
The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess
are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe:
Take
many towns from a tribe that has many,
but few from one that has few."
9
Then
the LORD said to Moses: 10
"Speak
to the Israelites and say to them:
`When
you cross the Jordan into Canaan,
11
select
some towns to be your cities of refuge,
to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee.
12
They will be places of refuge from the avenger,
so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial
before the assembly.
13
These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge.
14
Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities
of refuge.
15
These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites,
aliens and any other people living among them,
so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.
16
"`If
a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a
murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
17
Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill,
and
he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer
shall be put to death.
18
Or if anyone has a 12
wooden
object in his hand that could kill,
and he hits someone so that he dies,
he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. 19
The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death;
when he meets him, he shall put him to death.
20
If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something
at him intentionally so that he dies 21
or if in hostility he hits him with his fist so that he dies, that
person shall be put to death;
he
is a murderer.
The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets
him.
22
"`But
if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws
something at him unintentionally
23
or,
without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he
dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm
him,
24
the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood
according to these regulations.
25
The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger
of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled.
He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was
anointed with the holy oil.
26
"`But
if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to
which he has fled
27
and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city, the avenger of
blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder.
28
The
accused must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high
priest;
only after the death of the high priest may he return to his own
property.
29
"`These
are to be legal requirements for you throughout the generations to
come, wherever you live.
30
"`Anyone
who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the
testimony of witnesses.
But
no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
31
"`Do
not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer,
who
deserves to die.
He must surely be put to death.
32
"`Do
not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and
so allow him to go back and live on his own land before the death of
the high priest.
33
"`Do
not pollute the land where you are.
Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the
land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who
shed it.
34
Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell,
for
I,
the
LORD, dwell among the Israelites.'
"
13
NEW
TESTAMENT:
LUKE 5:12 - 28
12
While
Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with
leprosy. C
When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged
him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
13
Jesus
reached out his hand and touched the man. "I
am willing,"
he said. "Be
clean!"
And immediately the leprosy left him.
14
Then
Jesus ordered him, "Don't
tell anyone,
but go,
show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses
commanded for your cleansing,
as a testimony to them."
15
Yet
the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came
to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16
But
Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
17
One
day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had
come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were
sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal
the sick. 18
Some
men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the
house to lay him before Jesus. 19
When
they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went
up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the
middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
20
When
Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend,
your sins are forgiven."
21
The
Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves,
"Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins
but God alone?"
22
Jesus
knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why
are you thinking these things in your hearts?
23
Which is easier:
to say,
`Your
sins are forgiven,'
or to say,
`Get
up and walk'?
24
But
that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed man, "I
tell you,
get up, take your mat and go home."
25
Immediately
he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went
home praising God. 26
Everyone
was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and
said, "We have seen remarkable things today."
27
After
this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi
sitting at his tax booth. "Follow
me,"
Jesus said to him, 28
and
Levi got up, left everything and followed him. 14
1
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Interactive Bible NIV.
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights
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2
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3
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4
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Interactive Bible NIV.
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights
Reserved
5
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Interactive Bible NIV.
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights
Reserved
6
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Interactive Bible NIV.
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights
Reserved
7
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Interactive Bible NIV.
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Reserved
8
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Interactive Bible NIV.
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights
Reserved
9
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Interactive Bible NIV.
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Reserved
10
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Interactive Bible NIV.
Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 SoftKey Multimedia Inc. All Rights
Reserved
11 [11]
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Interactive Bible NIV.
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12 [13]
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Interactive Bible NIV.
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13 [14]
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Interactive Bible NIV.
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14 [15]
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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
