THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation - February 6 - Full Text!

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

THEINC-HIM Daily Bible Meditation

FEBRUARY 6

PSALMS: 6, 37, 67, 97, 127

PROVERBS: 6

OLD TESTAMENT: JUDGES 8:18 - 9:21

NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 23:44 - 24:12

PSALMS: 6

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

¹ O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

² Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint;

O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.

³ My soul is in anguish.

How long, O LORD, how long?

⁴ Turn, O LORD, and deliver me;

save me because of your unfailing love.

⁵ No one remembers you when he is dead.

Who praises you from the grave ^B?

⁶ I am worn out from groaning;

all night long I flood my bed with weeping

and drench my couch with tears.

⁷ My eyes grow weak with sorrow;

they fail because of all my foes.

⁸ Away from me, all you who do evil,

for the LORD has heard my weeping.

⁹ The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;

the LORD accepts my prayer.

¹⁰ All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;

they will turn back in sudden disgrace. ¹

PSALMS: 36

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD.

¹ An oracle is within my heart

concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: ^A

There is no fear of God

before his eyes.

² For in his own eyes he flatters himself

too much to detect or hate his sin.

³ The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;

he has ceased to be wise and to do good.

⁴ Even on his bed he plots evil;

he commits himself to a sinful course

and does not reject what is wrong.

⁵ Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the skies.

⁶ Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,

your justice like the great deep.

O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.

⁷ How priceless is your unfailing love!

Both high and low among men

find ^B refuge in the shadow of your wings.

⁸ They feast on the abundance of your house;

you give them drink from your river of delights.

⁹ For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light.

¹⁰ Continue your love to those who know you,

your righteousness to the upright in heart.

¹¹ May the foot of the proud not come against me, ²

nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

¹² See how the evildoers lie fallen--

thrown down, not able to rise! ³

PSALMS: 66

For the director of music. A song. A psalm.

¹ Shout with joy to God, all the earth!

² Sing the glory of his name;

make his praise glorious!

³ Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!

So great is your power

that your enemies cringe before you.

⁴ All the earth bows down to you;

they sing praise to you,

they sing praise to your name."

Selah

⁵ Come and see what God has done,

how awesome his works in man's behalf!

⁶ He turned the sea into dry land,

they passed through the waters on foot--

come, let us rejoice in him.

⁷ He rules forever by his power,

his eyes watch the nations--

let not the rebellious rise up against him.

Selah

⁸ Praise our God, O peoples,

let the sound of his praise be heard;

⁹ he has preserved our lives

and kept our feet from slipping.

¹⁰ For you, O God, tested us;

you refined us like silver.

¹¹ You brought us into prison

and laid burdens on our backs.

¹² You let men ride over our heads; ⁴

we went through fire and water,

but you brought us to a place of abundance.

¹³ I will come to your temple with burnt offerings

and fulfill my vows to you--

¹⁴ vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke

when I was in trouble.

¹⁵ I will sacrifice fat animals to you

and an offering of rams;

I will offer bulls and goats.

Selah

¹⁶ Come and listen, all you who fear God;

let me tell you what he has done for me.

¹⁷ I cried out to him with my mouth;

his praise was on my tongue.

¹⁸ If I had cherished sin in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened;

¹⁹ but God has surely listened

and heard my voice in prayer.

²⁰ Praise be to God,

who has not rejected my prayer

or withheld his love from me! ⁵

PSALMS: 96

¹ Sing to the LORD a new song;

sing to the LORD, all the earth.

² Sing to the LORD, praise his name;

proclaim his salvation day after day.

³ Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

⁴ For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;

he is to be feared above all gods.

⁵ For all the gods of the nations are idols,

but the LORD made the heavens.

⁶ Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

⁷ Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations,

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

⁸ Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;

bring an offering and come into his courts.

⁹ Worship the LORD in the splendor of his ^A holiness;

tremble before him, all the earth.

¹⁰ Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns."

The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;

he will judge the peoples with equity.

¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;

let the sea resound, and all that is in it;

¹² let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;

¹³ they will sing before the LORD, for he comes,

he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples in his truth. ⁶

PSALMS: 126

A song of ascents.

¹ When the LORD brought back the captives to ^A Zion,

we were like men who dreamed. ^B

² Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations,

"The LORD has done great things for them."

³ The LORD has done great things for us,

and we are filled with joy.

⁴ Restore our fortunes, ^C O LORD,

like streams in the Negev.

⁵ Those who sow in tears

will reap with songs of joy.

⁶ He who goes out weeping,

carrying seed to sow,

will return with songs of joy,

carrying sheaves with him. ⁷

PROVERBS: 6

6 ¹ My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,

if you have struck hands in pledge for another,

² if you have been trapped by what you said,

ensnared by the words of your mouth,

³ then do this, my son, to free yourself,

since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands:

Go and humble yourself;

press your plea with your neighbor!

⁴ Allow no sleep to your eyes,

no slumber to your eyelids.

⁵ Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard;

consider its ways and be wise!

⁷ It has no commander,

no overseer or ruler,

⁸ yet it stores its provisions in summer

and gathers its food at harvest.

⁹ How long will you lie there, you sluggard?

When will you get up from your sleep?

¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest--

¹¹ and poverty will come on you like a bandit

and scarcity like an armed man. ^A

¹² A scoundrel and villain,

who goes about with a corrupt mouth,

¹³ who winks with his eye,

signals with his feet

and motions with his fingers,

¹⁴ who plots evil with deceit in his heart--

he always stirs up dissension.

¹⁵ Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; ⁸

he will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy.

¹⁶ There are six things the LORD hates,

seven that are detestable to him:

¹⁷ haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes,

feet that are quick to rush into evil,

¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies

and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

²⁰ My son, keep your father's commands

and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

²¹ Bind them upon your heart forever;

fasten them around your neck.

²² When you walk, they will guide you;

when you sleep, they will watch over you;

when you awake, they will speak to you.

²³ For these commands are a lamp,

this teaching is a light,

and the corrections of discipline

are the way to life,

²⁴ keeping you from the immoral woman,

from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.

²⁵ Do not lust in your heart after her beauty

or let her captivate you with her eyes,

²⁶ for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread,

and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

²⁷ Can a man scoop fire into his lap

without his clothes being burned?

²⁸ Can a man walk on hot coals

without his feet being scorched?

²⁹ So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; ⁹

no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰ Men do not despise a thief if he steals

to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.

³¹ Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,

though it costs him all the wealth of his house.

³² But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment;

whoever does so destroys himself.

³³ Blows and disgrace are his lot,

and his shame will never be wiped away;

³⁴ for jealousy arouses a husband's fury,

and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

³⁵ He will not accept any compensation;

he will refuse the bribe, however great it is. ¹⁰

OLD TESTAMENT: JUDGES 8:18 - 9:21

¹⁸ Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, "What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?"

"Men like you," they answered, "each one with the bearing of a prince."

¹⁹ Gideon replied, "Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the LORD lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you." ²⁰ Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, "Kill them!" But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.

²¹ Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Come, do it yourself. `As is the man, so is his strength.' " So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels' necks.

²² The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us--you, your son and your grandson--because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian."

²³ But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you." ²⁴ And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)

²⁵ They answered, "We'll be glad to give them." So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. ²⁶ The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, ^B not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were ¹¹purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks.

²⁷ Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

²⁸ Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years.

²⁹ Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. ³⁰ He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. ³¹ His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech. ³² Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³ No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and ³⁴ did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.

³⁵ They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things he had done for them.

9 ¹ Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother's brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother's clan, ² "Ask all the citizens of Shechem, `Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal's sons rule over you, or just one man?' Remember, I am your flesh and blood."

³ When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, ¹² they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother." ⁴ They gave him seventy shekels ^A of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech used it to hire reckless adventurers, who became his followers. ⁵ He went to his father's home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. ⁶ Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelech king.

⁷ When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, "Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.

⁸ One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, `Be our king.'

⁹ "But the olive tree answered, `Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are honored, to hold sway over the trees?'

¹⁰ "Next, the trees said to the fig tree, `Come and be our king.'

¹¹ "But the fig tree replied, `Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?'

¹² "Then the trees said to the vine, `Come and be our king.'

¹³ "But the vine answered, `Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and men, to hold sway over the trees?'

¹⁴ "Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, `Come and be our king.'

¹⁵ "The thornbush said to the trees, `If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then ¹³ let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!'

¹⁶ "Now if you have acted honorably and in good faith when you made Abimelech king, and if you have been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family, and if you have treated him as he deserves—¹⁷ and to think that my father fought for you, risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian ¹⁸ (but today you have revolted against my father's family, murdered his seventy sons on a single stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave girl, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is your brother)—¹⁹ if then you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today, may Abimelech be your joy, and may you be his, too! ²⁰ But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelech!"

²¹ Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech. ¹⁴

NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 23:44 - 24:12

⁴⁴ It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

⁴⁷ The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." ⁴⁸ When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. ⁴⁹ But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

⁵⁰ Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, ⁵¹ who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. ⁵² Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. ⁵³ Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. ⁵⁴ It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵ The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. ⁵⁶ Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. ¹⁵

24 ¹ On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ `The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" ⁸ Then they remembered his words.

⁹ When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹ But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. ¹⁶

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

 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