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

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

DECEMBER 14

PSALMS: 14, 44, 74, 104, 134

PROVERBS: 14

OLD TESTAMENT: NUMBERS 4:1 - 5:31

NEW TESTAMENT: MARK 12:18 - 37

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.

³⁴May 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: NUMBERS 4:1 - 5:31

4 ¹ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: ² "Take a census of the Kohathite branch of the Levites by their clans and families. ³ Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work in the Tent of Meeting.

⁴ "This is the work of the Kohathites in the Tent of Meeting: the care of the most holy things. ⁵ When the camp is to move, Aaron and his sons are to go in and take down the shielding curtain and cover the ark of the Testimony with it. ⁶ Then they are to cover this with hides of sea cows, ^A spread a cloth of solid blue over that and put the poles in place.

⁷ "Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes and bowls, and the jars for drink offerings; the bread that is continually there is to remain on it. ⁸ Over these they are to spread a scarlet cloth, cover that with hides of sea cows and put its poles in place.

⁹ "They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand that is for light, together with its lamps, its wick trimmers and trays, and all its jars for the oil used to supply it.

¹⁰ Then they are to wrap it and all its accessories in a covering of hides of sea cows and put it on a carrying frame.

¹¹ "Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth and cover that with hides of sea cows and put its poles in place.

¹² "They are to take all the articles used for ministering in the sanctuary, wrap them in a blue cloth, cover that with hides of sea cows and put them on a carrying frame.

¹³ "They are to remove the ashes from the bronze altar and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴ Then they are to place on it all the utensils used for ministering at the altar, including the firepans, meat forks, shovels and sprinkling bowls. Over it they are to spread a covering of hides of sea cows and put its poles in place.

¹⁵ "After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites are to come to do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁶ "Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, is to have charge of the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering and the anointing oil. He is to be in charge of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including its holy furnishings and articles."

¹⁷ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ¹⁸ "See that the Kohathite tribal clans are not cut off from the Levites. ¹⁹ So that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go into the sanctuary and assign to each man his work and what he is to carry. ²⁰ But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die."

²¹ The LORD said to Moses, ²² "Take a census also of the Gershonites by their families and clans. ²³ Count all the men from thirty to fifty years ¹⁵ of age who come to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.

²⁴ "This is the service of the Gershonite clans as they work and carry burdens:

²⁵ They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, its covering and the outer covering of hides of sea cows, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, ²⁶ the curtains of the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and altar, the curtain for the entrance, the ropes and all the equipment used in its service. The Gershonites are to do all that needs to be done with these things. ²⁷ All their service, whether carrying or doing other work, is to be done under the direction of Aaron and his sons. You shall assign to them as their responsibility all they are to carry. ²⁸ This is the service of the Gershonite clans at the Tent of Meeting. Their duties are to be under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest.

²⁹ "Count the Merarites by their clans and families. ³⁰ Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting. ³¹ This is their duty as they perform service at the Tent of Meeting: to carry the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts and bases, ³² as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, ropes, all their equipment and everything related to their use. Assign to each man the specific things he is to carry. ³³ This is the service of the Merarite clans as they work at the Tent of Meeting under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest."

³⁴ Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the Kohathites by their clans and families. ³⁵ All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work in the Tent of Meeting, ³⁶ counted by clans, were 2,750. ³⁷ This was the total of all those in the Kohathite clans who served in the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the LORD's command through Moses.

³⁸ The Gershonites were counted by their clans and families. ³⁹ All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting, ⁴⁰ counted by their clans and families, were 2,630. ⁴¹ This was the total of those in the Gershonite clans who served at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the LORD's command.

⁴² The Merarites were counted by their clans and families. ⁴³ All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting, ⁴⁴ counted by their clans, were 3,200. ⁴⁵ This was the total of those in the Merarite clans. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the LORD's command through Moses.

⁴⁶ So Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted all the Levites by their clans and families. ⁴⁷ All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to do the work of serving and carrying the Tent of Meeting ⁴⁸ numbered 8,580. ⁴⁹At the LORD's command through Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry.

Thus they were counted, as the LORD commanded Moses. ¹⁶

5 ¹ The LORD said to Moses, ² "Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has an infectious skin disease ^A or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. ³ Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them."

⁴ The Israelites did this; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as the LORD had instructed Moses.

⁵ The LORD said to Moses, ⁶ "Say to the Israelites: `When a man or woman wrongs another in any way ^B and so is unfaithful to the LORD, that person is guilty ⁷ and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged. ⁸ But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the LORD and must be given to the priest, along with the ram with which atonement is made for him. ⁹ All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him. ¹⁰ Each man's sacred gifts are his own, but what he gives to the priest will belong to the priest.' "

¹¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹² "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: `If a man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him ¹³ by sleeping with another man, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), ¹⁴ and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure--or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure—¹⁵ then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an Ephah ^C of barley flour on her behalf. He must not pour oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder offering to draw attention to guilt.

¹⁶ "`The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the LORD. ¹⁷ Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. ¹⁸ After the priest has had the woman stand before the LORD, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹ Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, "If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. ²⁰ But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have defiled yourself by sleeping with a man other than your husband"—²¹ here the priest is to put the woman under this curse of the oath--"may the LORD cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell. ^{D 22} May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away. ^E"

"`Then the woman is to say, "Amen. So be it."

²³ "`The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water. ²⁴ He shall have the woman drink the bitter ¹⁷ water that brings a curse, and this water will enter her and cause bitter suffering. ²⁵ The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD and bring it to the altar.

²⁶ The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial offering and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water. ²⁷ If she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then when she is made to drink the water that brings a curse, it will go into her and cause bitter suffering; her abdomen will swell and her thigh waste away, ^F and she will become accursed among her people.

²⁸ If, however, the woman has not defiled herself and is free from impurity, she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children.

²⁹ "`This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray and defiles herself while married to her husband, ³⁰ or when feelings of jealousy come over a man because he suspects his wife. The priest is to have her stand before the LORD and is to apply this entire law to her. ³¹ The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.'" ¹⁸

NEW TESTAMENT: MARK 12:18 - 37

¹⁸ Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. ¹⁹ "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. ²⁰ Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹ The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²² In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³ At the resurrection ^C whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"

²⁴ Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵ When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. ²⁶ Now about the dead rising--have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, `I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' ^D? ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

²⁹ "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: `Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. <sup>E 30</sup> Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' <sup>F 31</sup> The second is this: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' ^G There is no commandment greater than these."

³² "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

³⁵ While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, "How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ ^H is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:

"`The Lord said to my Lord:

"Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies

under your feet."' ^I

³⁷ David himself calls him `Lord.' How then can he be his son?" ¹⁹

The large crowd listened to him with delight. ²⁰

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

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

20 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