THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION: THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - February 12

Monday, February 12, 2018

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - February 12 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

FEBRUARY 12

PSALMS: 12, 42, 72, 102, 132

PROVERBS: 12

OLD TESTAMENT: JUDGES 19:1 - 20:48

NEW TESTAMENT: JOHN 3:22 - 4:3

PSALMS: 12

For the director of music. According to sheminith. ^A A psalm of David.

¹Help, LORD, for the godly are no more;

the faithful have vanished from among men.

²Everyone lies to his neighbor;

their flattering lips speak with deception.

³May the LORD cut off all flattering lips

and every boastful tongue

⁴that says, "We will triumph with our tongues;

we own our lips ^B--who is our master?"

⁵"Because of the oppression of the weak

and the groaning of the needy,

I will now arise," says the LORD.

"I will protect them from those who malign them."

⁶And the words of the LORD are flawless,

like silver refined in a furnace of clay,

purified seven times.

⁷O LORD, you will keep us safe

and protect us from such people forever.

⁸The wicked freely strut about

when what is vile is honored among men. ¹

PSALMS: 42

For ^A the director of music. A maskil ^B of the Sons of Korah.

¹As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, O God.

²My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?

³My tears have been my food

day and night,

while men say to me all day long,

"Where is your God?"

⁴These things I remember

as I pour out my soul:

how I used to go with the multitude,

leading the procession to the house of God,

with shouts of joy and thanksgiving

among the festive throng.

⁵Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and ⁶my God.

My ^C soul is downcast within me;

therefore I will remember you

from the land of the Jordan,

the heights of Hermon--from Mount Mizar.

⁷Deep calls to deep

in the roar of your waterfalls;

all your waves and breakers

have swept over me.

⁸By day the LORD directs his love,

at night his song is with me--

a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹I say to God my Rock,

"Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning,

oppressed by the enemy?"

¹⁰My bones suffer mortal agony

as my foes taunt me,

saying to me all day long,

"Where is your God?"

¹¹Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God. ²

PSALMS: 72

Of Solomon.

¹Endow the king with your justice, O God,

the royal son with your righteousness.

²He will ^A judge your people in righteousness,

your afflicted ones with justice.

³The mountains will bring prosperity to the people,

the hills the fruit of righteousness.

⁴He will defend the afflicted among the people

and save the children of the needy;

he will crush the oppressor.

⁵He will endure ^B as long as the sun,

as long as the moon, through all generations.

⁶He will be like rain falling on a mown field,

like showers watering the earth.

⁷In his days the righteous will flourish;

prosperity will abound till the moon is no more.

⁸He will rule from sea to sea

and from the River ^C to the ends of the earth. ^D

⁹The desert tribes will bow before him

and his enemies will lick the dust.

¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores

will bring tribute to him;

the kings of Sheba and Seba

will present him gifts.

¹¹All kings will bow down to him

and all nations will serve him. ³

Of Solomon.

¹²For he will deliver the needy who cry out,

the afflicted who have no one to help.

¹³He will take pity on the weak and the needy

and save the needy from death.

¹⁴He will rescue them from oppression and violence,

for precious is their blood in his sight.

¹⁵Long may he live!

May gold from Sheba be given him.

May people ever pray for him

and bless him all day long.

¹⁶Let grain abound throughout the land;

on the tops of the hills may it sway.

Let its fruit flourish like Lebanon;

let it thrive like the grass of the field.

¹⁷May his name endure forever;

may it continue as long as the sun.

All nations will be blessed through him,

and they will call him blessed. ⁴

¹⁸Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,

who alone does marvelous deeds.

¹⁹Praise be to his glorious name forever;

may the whole earth be filled with his glory.

Amen and Amen.

²⁰This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse. ⁵

PSALMS: 102

A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and pours out his lament before the LORD.

¹Hear my prayer, O LORD;

let my cry for help come to you.

²Do not hide your face from me

when I am in distress.

Turn your ear to me;

when I call, answer me quickly.

³For my days vanish like smoke;

my bones burn like glowing embers.

⁴My heart is blighted and withered like grass;

I forget to eat my food.

⁵Because of my loud groaning

I am reduced to skin and bones.

⁶I am like a desert owl,

like an owl among the ruins.

⁷I lie awake; I have become

like a bird alone on a roof.

⁸All day long my enemies taunt me;

those who rail against me use my name as a curse.

⁹For I eat ashes as my food

and mingle my drink with tears

¹⁰because of your great wrath,

for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.

¹¹My days are like the evening shadow;

I wither away like grass. ⁶

¹²But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever;

your renown endures through all generations.

¹³You will arise and have compassion on Zion,

for it is time to show favor to her;

the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For her stones are dear to your servants;

her very dust moves them to pity.

¹⁵The nations will fear the name of the LORD,

all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.

¹⁶For the LORD will rebuild Zion

and appear in his glory.

¹⁷He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;

he will not despise their plea.

¹⁸Let this be written for a future generation,

that a people not yet created may praise the LORD:

¹⁹"The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high,

from heaven he viewed the earth,

²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoners

and release those condemned to death."

²¹So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion

and his praise in Jerusalem

²²when the peoples and the kingdoms

assemble to worship the LORD.

²³In the course of my life ^A he broke my strength;

he cut short my days.

²⁴So I said:

"Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days;

your years go on through all generations.

²⁵In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands.⁷

²⁶They will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

Like clothing you will change them

and they will be discarded.

²⁷But you remain the same,

and your years will never end.

²⁸The children of your servants will live in your presence;

their descendants will be established before you." ⁸

PSALMS: 132

A song of ascents.

¹O LORD, remember David

and all the hardships he endured.

²He swore an oath to the LORD

and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:

³"I will not enter my house

or go to my bed--

⁴I will allow no sleep to my eyes,

no slumber to my eyelids,

⁵till I find a place for the LORD,

a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob."

⁶We heard it in Ephrathah,

we came upon it in the fields of Jaar ^A: ^B

⁷"Let us go to his dwelling place;

let us worship at his footstool--

⁸arise, O LORD, and come to your resting place,

you and the ark of your might.

⁹May your priests be clothed with righteousness;

may your saints sing for joy."

¹⁰For the sake of David your servant,

do not reject your anointed one. ⁹

¹¹The LORD swore an oath to David,

a sure oath that he will not revoke:

"One of your own descendants

I will place on your throne--

¹²if your sons keep my covenant

and the statutes I teach them,

then their sons will sit

on your throne for ever and ever."

¹³For the LORD has chosen Zion,

he has desired it for his dwelling:

¹⁴"This is my resting place for ever and ever;

here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it--

¹⁵I will bless her with abundant provisions;

her poor will I satisfy with food.

¹⁶I will clothe her priests with salvation,

and her saints will ever sing for joy.

¹⁷"Here I will make a horn ^C grow for David

and set up a lamp for my anointed one.

¹⁸I will clothe his enemies with shame,

but the crown on his head will be resplendent." ¹⁰

PROVERBS: 12

12 ¹ Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,

but he who hates correction is stupid.

²A good man obtains favor from the LORD,

but the LORD condemns a crafty man.

³A man cannot be established through wickedness,

but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

⁴A wife of noble character is her husband's crown,

but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.

⁵The plans of the righteous are just,

but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,

but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷Wicked men are overthrown and are no more,

but the house of the righteous stands firm.

⁸A man is praised according to his wisdom,

but men with warped minds are despised.

⁹Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant

than pretend to be somebody and have no food.

¹⁰A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal,

but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹He who works his land will have abundant food,

but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. ¹¹

¹²The wicked desire the plunder of evil men,

but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk,

but a righteous man escapes trouble.

¹⁴From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things

as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.

¹⁵The way of a fool seems right to him,

but a wise man listens to advice.

¹⁶A fool shows his annoyance at once,

but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

¹⁷A truthful witness gives honest testimony,

but a false witness tells lies.

¹⁸Reckless words pierce like a sword,

but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips endure forever,

but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

²⁰There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil,

but joy for those who promote peace.

²¹No harm befalls the righteous,

but the wicked have their fill of trouble. ¹²

²²The LORD detests lying lips,

but he delights in men who are truthful.

²³A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself,

but the heart of fools blurts out folly.

²⁴Diligent hands will rule,

but laziness ends in slave labor.

²⁵An anxious heart weighs a man down,

but a kind word cheers him up.

²⁶A righteous man is cautious in friendship, ^A

but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The lazy man does not roast ^B his game,

but the diligent man prizes his possessions.

²⁸In the way of righteousness there is life;

along that path is immortality. ¹³

OLD TESTAMENT: JUDGES 19:1 - 20:48

19 ¹In those days Israel had no king.

Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. ²But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months,

³her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her father's house, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. ⁴His father-in-law, the girl's father, prevailed upon him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.

⁵On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the girl's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go." ⁶So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the girl's father said, "Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself." ⁷And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. ⁸On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the girl's father said, "Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!" So the two of them ate together.

⁹Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said, "Now look, it's almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home." ¹⁰But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine. ¹⁴

¹¹When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, "Come, let's stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night."

¹²His master replied, "No. We won't go into an alien city, whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah." ¹³He added, "Come, let's try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places." ¹⁴So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. ¹⁵There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them into his home for the night.

¹⁶That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the men of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. ¹⁷When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?"

¹⁸He answered, "We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the LORD. No one has taken me into his house. ¹⁹We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants--me, your maidservant, and the young man with us. We don't need anything."

²⁰"You are welcome at my house," the old man said. "Let me supply whatever you need. Only don't spend the night in the square." ²¹So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had ¹⁵washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.

²²While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him."

²³The owner of the house went outside and said to them, "No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this disgraceful thing. ²⁴Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don't do such a disgraceful thing."

²⁵But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. ²⁶At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.

²⁷When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸He said to her, "Get up; let's go." But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.

²⁹When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. ³⁰Everyone who saw it said, "Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Think about it! Consider it! Tell us what to do!" ¹⁶

20 ¹Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out as one man and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah. ²The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords. ³(The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, "Tell us how this awful thing happened."

⁴So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, "I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. ⁵During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. ⁶I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel's inheritance, because they committed this lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.

⁷Now, all you Israelites, speak up and give your verdict."

⁸All the people rose as one man, saying, "None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. ⁹But now this is what we'll do to Gibeah: We'll go up against it as the lot directs. ¹⁰We'll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah ^A in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for all this vileness done in Israel." ¹¹So all the men of Israel got together and united as one man against the city.

¹²The tribes of Israel sent men throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What about this awful crime that was committed among you? ¹³Now surrender those wicked men of Gibeah so that we may ¹⁷ put them to death and purge the evil from Israel."

But the Benjamites would not listen to their fellow Israelites. ¹⁴From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. ¹⁵At once the Benjamites mobilized twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred chosen men from those living in Gibeah. ¹⁶Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

¹⁷Israel, apart from Benjamin, mustered four hundred thousand swordsmen, all of them fighting men.

¹⁸The Israelites went up to Bethel ^B and inquired of God. They said, "Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?"

The LORD replied, "Judah shall go first."

¹⁹The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah. ²⁰The men of Israel went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah. ²¹The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day. ²²But the men of Israel encouraged one another and again took up their positions where they had stationed themselves the first day.

²³The Israelites went up and wept before the LORD until evening, and they inquired of the LORD. They said, "Shall we go up again to battle against the Benjamites, our brothers?"

The LORD answered, "Go up against them."

²⁴Then the Israelites drew near to Benjamin the second day. ²⁵This time, when the Benjamites came out from Gibeah to oppose ¹⁸ them, they cut down another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of them armed with swords.

²⁶Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings ^C to the LORD. ²⁷And the Israelites inquired of the LORD. (In those days the ark of the covenant of God was there, ²⁸with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it.) They asked, "Shall we go up again to battle with Benjamin our brother, or not?"

The LORD responded, "Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands."

²⁹Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah. ³⁰They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before.

³¹The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads--the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.

³²While the Benjamites were saying, "We are defeating them as before," the Israelites were saying, "Let's retreat and draw them away from the city to the roads."

³³All the men of Israel moved from their places and took up positions at Baal Tamar, and the Israelite ambush charged out of its place on the west ^D of Gibeah. ^E ³⁴Then ten thousand of Israel's finest men made a frontal attack on Gibeah. The fighting was so heavy that the Benjamites did not realize how near disaster was. ³⁵The LORD ¹⁹ defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords. ³⁶Then the Benjamites saw that they were beaten.

Now the men of Israel had given way before Benjamin, because they relied on the ambush they had set near Gibeah. ³⁷The men who had been in ambush made a sudden dash into Gibeah, spread out and put the whole city to the sword. ³⁸The men of Israel had arranged with the ambush that they should send up a great cloud of smoke from the city, ³⁹and then the men of Israel would turn in the battle.

The Benjamites had begun to inflict casualties on the men of Israel (about thirty), and they said, "We are defeating them as in the first battle." ⁴⁰But when the column of smoke began to rise from the city, the Benjamites turned and saw the smoke of the whole city going up into the sky. ⁴¹Then the men of Israel turned on them, and the men of Benjamin were terrified, because they realized that disaster had come upon them.

⁴²So they fled before the Israelites in the direction of the desert, but they could not escape the battle. And the men of Israel who came out of the towns cut them down there. ⁴³They surrounded the Benjamites, chased them and easily ^F overran them in the vicinity of Gibeah on the east. ⁴⁴Eighteen thousand Benjamites fell, all of them valiant fighters. ⁴⁵As they turned and fled toward the desert to the rock of Rimmon, the Israelites cut down five thousand men along the roads. They kept pressing after the Benjamites as far as Gidom and struck down two thousand more. ²⁰ ⁴⁶On that day twenty-five thousand Benjamite swordsmen fell, all of them valiant fighters. ⁴⁷But six hundred men turned and fled into the desert to the rock of Rimmon, where they stayed four months. ⁴⁸The men of Israel went back to Benjamin and put all the towns to the sword, including the animals and everything else they found. All the towns they came across they set on fire. ²¹

NEW TESTAMENT: JOHN 3:22 - 4:3

²²After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. ²³Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. ²⁴(This was before John was put in prison.) ²⁵An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew ^I over the matter of ceremonial washing. ²⁶They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan--the one you testified about--well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him."

²⁷To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.

²⁸You yourselves can testify that I said, `I am not the Christ ^J but am sent ahead of him.'

²⁹The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰He must become greater; I must become less.

³¹"The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³²He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.

³³The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God ^K gives the Spirit without limit.

³⁵The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.

³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." ^L
²²

4 ¹The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, ²although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. ²³

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

THEINC-HIM DAILY BIBLE MEDITATION

Monday, February 12, 2018

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - February 12 - Full Text!

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John 3:16-21