Genesis 1:1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
MARCH
20
PSALMS:
20, 50, 80, 110, 140
PROVERBS:
20
OLD
TESTAMENT:
1 KINGS 5:1 - 6:38
NEW
TESTAMENT:
ACTS 7:1 - 29
PSALMS:
20
For
the director of music. A psalm of David.
1
May
the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
may
the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
2
May
he send you help from the sanctuary
and
grant you support from Zion.
3
May
he remember all your sacrifices
and
accept your burnt offerings.
Selah
4
May
he give you the desire of your heart
and
make all your plans succeed.
5
We
will shout for joy when you are victorious
and
will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May
the LORD grant all your requests.
6
Now
I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he
answers him from his holy heaven
with
the saving power of his right hand.
7
Some
trust in chariots and some in horses,
but
we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
8
They
are brought to their knees and fall,
but
we rise up and stand firm.
9
O
LORD, save the king!
PSALMS:
50
A
psalm of Asaph.
1
The
Mighty One, God, the LORD,
speaks
and summons the earth
from
the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.
2
From
Zion, perfect in beauty,
God
shines forth.
3
Our
God comes and will not be silent;
a
fire devours before him,
and
around him a tempest rages.
4
He
summons the heavens above,
and
the earth, that he may judge his people:
5
"Gather
to me my consecrated ones,
who
made a covenant with me by sacrifice."
6
And
the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for
God himself is judge.
Selah
7
"Hear,
O my people, and I will speak,
O
Israel, and I will testify against you:
I
am God, your God.
8
I
do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
or
your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
9
I
have no need of a bull from your stall
or
of goats from your pens,
10
for
every animal of the forest is mine,
and
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11
I
know every bird in the mountains,
and
the creatures of the field are mine.
for
the world is mine, and all that is in it.
13
Do
I eat the flesh of bulls
or
drink the blood of goats?
14
Sacrifice
thank offerings to God,
fulfill
your vows to the Most High,
15
and
call upon me in the day of trouble;
I
will deliver you, and you will honor me."
16
But
to the wicked, God says:
"What
right have you to recite my laws
or
take my covenant on your lips?
17
You
hate my instruction
and
cast my words behind you.
18
When
you see a thief, you join with him;
you
throw in your lot with adulterers.
19
You
use your mouth for evil
and
harness your tongue to deceit.
20
You
speak continually against your brother
and
slander your own mother's son.
21
These
things you have done and I kept silent;
you
thought I was altogether A
like you.
But
I will rebuke you
and
accuse you to your face.
22
"Consider
this, you who forget God,
or
I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue:
23
He
who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and
he prepares the way
PSALMS:
80
For
the director of music. To the tune of "The Lilies of the
Covenant." Of Asaph. A psalm.
1
Hear
us, O Shepherd of Israel,
you
who lead Joseph like a flock;
you
who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
2
before
Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken
your might;
come
and save us.
3
Restore
us, O God;
make
your face shine upon us,
that
we may be saved.
4
O
LORD God Almighty,
how
long will your anger smolder
against
the prayers of your people?
5
You
have fed them with the bread of tears;
you
have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6
You
have made us a source of contention to our neighbors,
and
our enemies mock us.
7
Restore
us, O God Almighty;
make
your face shine upon us,
that
we may be saved.
8
You
brought a vine out of Egypt;
you
drove out the nations and planted it.
9
You
cleared the ground for it,
and
it took root and filled the land.
10
The
mountains were covered with its shade,
the
mighty cedars with its branches. 4
11
It
sent out its boughs to the Sea, A
its
shoots as far as the River. B
12
Why
have you broken down its walls
so
that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13
Boars
from the forest ravage it
and
the creatures of the field feed on it.
14
Return
to us, O God Almighty!
Look
down from heaven and see!
Watch
over this vine,
15
the
root your right hand has planted,
the
son C
you have raised up for yourself.
16
Your
vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
at
your rebuke your people perish.
17
Let
your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the
son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18
Then
we will not turn away from you;
revive
us, and we will call on your name.
19
Restore
us, O LORD God Almighty;
make
your face shine upon us,
that
we may be saved. 5
PSALMS:
110
Of
David. A psalm.
1
The
LORD says to my Lord:
"Sit
at my right hand
until
I make your enemies
a
footstool for your feet."
2
The
LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion;
you
will rule in the midst of your enemies.
3
Your
troops will be willing
on
your day of battle.
Arrayed
in holy majesty,
from
the womb of the dawn
you
will receive the dew of your youth. A
4
The
LORD has sworn
and
will not change his mind:
"You
are a priest forever,
in
the order of Melchizedek."
5
The
Lord is at your right hand;
he
will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6
He
will judge the nations, heaping up the dead
and
crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7
He
will drink from a brook beside the way B;
therefore
he will lift up his head. 6
PSALMS:
140
For
the director of music. A psalm of David.
1
Rescue
me, O LORD, from evil men;
protect
me from men of violence,
2
who
devise evil plans in their hearts
and
stir up war every day.
3
They
make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's;
the
poison of vipers is on their lips.
Selah
4
Keep
me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
protect
me from men of violence
who
plan to trip my feet.
5
Proud
men have hidden a snare for me;
they
have spread out the cords of their net
and
have set traps for me along my path.
Selah
6
O
LORD, I say to you, "You are my God."
Hear,
O LORD, my cry for mercy.
7
O
Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer,
who
shields my head in the day of battle--
8
do
not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD;
do
not let their plans succeed,
or
they will become proud.
Selah
9
Let
the heads of those who surround me
be
covered with the trouble their lips have caused.
10Let
burning coals fall upon them;
may
they be thrown into the fire,
into
miry pits, never to rise. 7
11
Let
slanderers not be established in the land;
may
disaster hunt down men of violence.
12
I
know that the LORD secures justice for the poor
and
upholds the cause of the needy.
13
Surely
the righteous will praise your name
and
the upright will live before you. 8
PROVERBS:
20
20
1
Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;
whoever
is led astray by them is not wise.
2
A
king's wrath is like the roar of a lion;
he
who angers him forfeits his life.
3
It
is to a man's honor to avoid strife,
but
every fool is quick to quarrel.
4
A
sluggard does not plow in season;
so
at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.
5
The
purposes of a man's heart are deep waters,
but
a man of understanding draws them out.
6
Many
a man claims to have unfailing love,
but
a faithful man who can find?
7
The
righteous man leads a blameless life;
blessed
are his children after him.
8
When
a king sits on his throne to judge,
he
winnows out all evil with his eyes.
9
Who
can say, "I have kept my heart pure;
I
am clean and without sin"?
10
Differing
weights and differing measures--
the
LORD detests them both.
11
Even
a child is known by his actions,
by
whether his conduct is pure and right. 9
12
Ears
that hear and eyes that see--
the
LORD has made them both.
13
Do
not love sleep or you will grow poor;
stay
awake and you will have food to spare.
14
"It's
no good, it's no good!" says the buyer;
then
off he goes and boasts about his purchase.
15
Gold
there is, and rubies in abundance,
but
lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.
16
Take
the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
hold
it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.
17
Food
gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man,
but
he ends up with a mouth full of gravel.
18
Make
plans by seeking advice;
if
you wage war, obtain guidance.
19
A
gossip betrays a confidence;
so
avoid a man who talks too much.
20
If
a man curses his father or mother,
his
lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.
21
An
inheritance quickly gained at the beginning
will
not be blessed at the end.
22
Do
not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!"
Wait
for the LORD, and he will deliver you. 10
23
The
LORD detests differing weights,
and
dishonest scales do not please him.
24
A
man's steps are directed by the LORD.
How
then can anyone understand his own way?
25
It
is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly
and
only later to consider his vows.
26
A
wise king winnows out the wicked;
he
drives the threshing wheel over them.
27
The
lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man A;
it
searches out his inmost being.
28
Love
and faithfulness keep a king safe;
through
love his throne is made secure.
29
The
glory of young men is their strength,
gray
hair the splendor of the old.
30
Blows
and wounds cleanse away evil,
and
beatings purge the inmost being. 11
OLD
TESTAMENT:
1 KINGS 5:1 - 6:38
5
1
When
Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to
succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he
had always been on friendly terms with David. 2
Solomon
sent back this message to Hiram:
3
"You
know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all
sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God
until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. 4
But
now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no
adversary or disaster. 5
I
intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God,
as the LORD told my father David, when he said, `Your son whom I will
put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.'
6
"So
give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work
with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set.
You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the
Sidonians."
7
When
Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was greatly pleased and said,
"Praise be to the LORD today, for he has given David a wise son
to rule over this great nation."
8
So
Hiram sent word to Solomon:
"I
have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in
providing the cedar and pine logs. 9
My
men will haul them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will float
them in rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate
them and you can 12
take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my
royal household."
10
In
this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and pine logs
he wanted, 11
and
Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors A
of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand
baths B
C
of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year
after year. 12
The
LORD gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were
peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them
made a treaty.
13
King
Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel--thirty thousand men. 14
He
sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that
they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was
in charge of the forced labor.
15
Solomon
had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the
hills, 16
as
well as thirty-three hundred D
foremen who supervised the project and directed the workmen. 17
At
the king's command they removed from the quarry large blocks of
quality stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the
temple.
18
The
craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and the men of Gebal E
cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.
13
6
1
In
the four hundred and eightieth A
year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year
of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second
month, he began to build the temple of the LORD.
2
The
temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long,
twenty wide and thirty high. B
3
The
portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the
width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, C
and projected ten cubits D
from the front of the temple. 4
He
made narrow clerestory windows in the temple. 5
Against
the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure
around the building, in which there were side rooms. 6
The
lowest floor was five cubits E
wide, the middle floor six cubits F
and the third floor seven. G
He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that
nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.
7
In
building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and
no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site
while it was being built.
8
The
entrance to the lowest H
floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the
middle level and from there to the third. 9
So
he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar
planks. 10
And
he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was
five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.
1
1 The
word of the LORD came to Solomon: 12
"As
for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, carry out
my regulations
14
and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you
the promise I gave to David your father.
13
And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people
Israel."
14
So
Solomon built the temple and completed it. 15
He
lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the
floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the
temple with planks of pine. 16
He
partitioned off twenty cubits I
at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to
form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 17
The
main hall in front of this room was forty cubits J
long. 18
The
inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers.
Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.
19
He
prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the
covenant of the LORD there. 20
The
inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high.
K
He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar
of cedar.
21
Solomon
covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold
chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid
with gold. 22
So
he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold
the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.
23
In
the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim of olive wood, each
ten cubits L
high. 24
One
wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing
five cubits--ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. 25
The
second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were
identical in size and shape. 26
The
height of each 15
cherub was ten cubits. 27
He
placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with
their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall,
while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings
touched each other in the middle of the room. 28
He
overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29
On
the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms,
he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. 30
He
also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the
temple with gold.
31
For
the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood with
five-sided jambs. 32
And
on the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open
flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with beaten gold.
33
In
the same way he made four-sided jambs of olive wood for the entrance
to the main hall. 34
He
also made two pine doors, each having two leaves that turned in
sockets. 35
He
carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid
them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.
36
And
he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and
one course of trimmed cedar beams.
37
The
foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid in the fourth year, in
the month of Ziv. 38
In
the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple
was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He
had spent seven years building it. 16
NEW
TESTAMENT:
ACTS 7:1 - 29
7
1
Then
the high priest asked him, "Are these charges true?"
2
To
this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of
glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in
Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.
3
`Leave
your country and your people,'
God said, `and
go to the land I will show you.'
A
4
"So
he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the
death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now
living. 5
He
gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God
promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the
land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6
God
spoke to him in this way: `Your
descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they
will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
7
But
I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,'
God said, `and
afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this
place.'
B
8
Then
he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the
father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later
Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the
twelve patriarchs.
9
"Because
the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into
Egypt. But God was with him 10
and
rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled
him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him
ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
11
"Then
a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and
our fathers could not find food. 12
When
Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on
their first visit. 17
13
On
their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh
learned about Joseph's family. 14
After
this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family,
seventy-five in all. 15
Then
Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. 16
Their
bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that
Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain
sum of money.
17
"As
the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the
number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18
Then
another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt.
19
He
dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by
forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would
die.
20
"At
that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. C
For three months he was cared for in his father's house. 21
When
he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up
as her own son. 22
Moses
was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in
speech and action.
23
"When
Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites.
24
He
saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his
defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25
Moses
thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to
rescue them, but they did not. 26
The
next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried
to reconcile them by saying, `Men, you are brothers; why do you want
to hurt each other?' 18
27
"But
the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said,
`Who made you ruler and judge over us?
28
Do
you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' D
29
When
Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner
and had two sons. 19
1
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4
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5
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10
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11
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12
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13
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14
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15
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16
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17
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18
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19
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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
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