FEBRUARY 4
PSALMS: 4, 34, 64, 94, 124
PROVERBS: 4
OLD TESTAMENT: JUDGES 6:1 - 40
NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 22:54 - 23:12
PSALMS: 4
1 For the leader.
With stringed instruments.
A psalm of David:
O God, my vindicator!
Answer me when I call!
When I was distressed, you set me free;
now have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
2 Men of rank, how long will you shame my honor,
love what is vain, chase after lies?
(Selah)
3 Understand that ADONAI sets apart the godly person for himself;
ADONAI will hear when I call to him.
4 You can be angry, but do not sin!
Think about this as you lie in bed, and calm down.
(Selah)
5 Offer sacrifices rightly,
and put your trust in ADONAI.
6 Many ask, "Who can show us some good?"
ADONAI, lift the light of your face over us!
7 You have filled my heart with more joy
than all their grain and new wine.
8 I will lie down and sleep in peace;
for, ADONAI, you alone make me live securely.
PSALMS: 34
1 By David,
when he pretended to be insane before Avimelekh,
who then drove him away;
so he left:
I will bless ADONAI at all times;
his praise will always be in my mouth.
2 When I boast, it will be about ADONAI;
the humble will hear of it and be glad.
3 Proclaim with me the greatness of ADONAI;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought ADONAI, and he answered me;
he rescued me from everything I feared.
5 They looked to him and grew radiant;
their faces will never blush for shame.
6 This poor man cried;
ADONAI heard and saved him from all his troubles.
7 The angel of ADONAI,
who encamps around those who fear him, delivers them.
8 Taste, and see that ADONAI is good.
How blessed are those who take refuge in him!
9 Fear ADONAI, you holy ones of his,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 Young lions can be needy, they can go hungry,
but those who seek ADONAI lack nothing good.
11 Come, children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of ADONAI.
12 Which of you takes pleasure in living?
Who wants a long life to see good things?
13 [If you do,] keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from deceiving talk;
14 turn from evil, and do good;
seek peace, go after it!
15 The eyes of ADONAI watch over the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
16 But the face of ADONAI opposes those who do evil,
to cut off all memory of them from the earth.
17 [The righteous] cried out, and ADONAI heard,
and he saved them from all their troubles.
18 ADONAI is near those with broken hearts;
he saves those whose spirit is crushed.
19 The righteous person suffers many evils,
but ADONAI rescues him out of them all.
20 He protects all his bones;
not one of them gets broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked, and those who
hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 But ADONAI redeems his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
PSALMS: 64
1 For the leader.
A psalm of David:
Hear my voice, God, as I plead:
preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret intrigues of the wicked
and the open insurrection of evildoers.
3 They sharpen their tongues like a sword;
they aim their arrows, poisoned words,
4 in order to shoot from cover at the innocent,
shooting suddenly and fearing nothing.
5 They support each other's evil plans;
they talk of hiding snares and ask, "Who would see them?"
6 They search for ways to commit crimes,
bringing their diligent search to completion when each
of them has thought it through in the depth of his heart.
7 Suddenly God shoots them down with an arrow,
leaving them with wounds;
8 their own tongues make them stumble.
All who see them shake their heads.
9 Everyone is awestruck they acknowledge that it is God at work,
they understand what he has done.
10 The righteous will rejoice in ADONAI;
they will take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will exult.
PSALMS: 94
1 God of vengeance, ADONAI!
God of vengeance, appear!
2 Assert yourself as judge of the earth!
Pay back the proud as they deserve!
3 How long are the wicked, ADONAI,
how long are the wicked to triumph?
4 They pour out insolent words,
they go on bragging, all these evildoers.
5 They crush your people, ADONAI,
they oppress your heritage.
6 They kill widows and strangers
and murder the fatherless.
7 They say, "Yah isn't looking;
the God of Ya'akov won't notice."
8 Take notice, yourselves, you boors among the people!
You fools, when will you understand?
9 Will the one who planted the ear not hear?
Will the one who formed the eye not see?
10 Will the one who disciplines nations not correct them?
Will the teacher of humanity not know?
11 ADONAI understands that people's thoughts
are merely a puff of wind.
12 How happy the man whom you correct, Yah,
whom you teach from your Torah,
13 giving him respite from days of trouble,
till a pit is dug for the wicked!
14 For ADONAI will not desert his people,
he will not abandon his heritage.
15 Justice will once again become righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will champion my cause against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
17 If ADONAI hadn't helped me,
I would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
18 When I said, "My foot is slipping!"
your grace, ADONAI, supported me.
19 When my cares within me are many,
your comforts cheer me up.
20 Can unjust judges be allied with you,
those producing wrong in the name of law?
21 They band together against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But ADONAI has become my stronghold,
my God is my rock of refuge.
23 But he repays them as their guilt deserves;
he will cut them off with their own evil;
ADONAI our God will cut them off.
PSALMS: 124
1 A song of ascents.
By David:
If ADONAI hadn't been for us -let Isra'el repeat it -
2 If ADONAI hadn't been for us
when people rose to attack us,
3 then, when their anger blazed against us,
they would have swallowed us alive!
4 Then the water would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us.
5 Yes, the raging water would have swept right over us.
6 Blessed be ADONAI,
who did not leave us to be a prey for their teeth!
7 We escaped like a bird from the hunter's trap;
the trap is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of ADONAI,
the maker of heaven and earth.
PROVERBS: 4
1 Listen, children, to a father's instruction;
pay attention, in order to gain insight;
2 for I am giving you good advice;
so don't abandon my teaching.
3 For I too was once a child to my father;
and my mother, too, thought of me as her special darling.
4 He too taught me; he said to me,
"Let your heart treasure my words;
keep my commands, and live;
5 gain wisdom, gain insight;
don't forget or turn from the words I am saying.
6 Don't abandon [wisdom];
then she will preserve you;
love her, and she will protect you.
7 The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom!
And along with all your getting, get insight!
8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will bring you honor;
9 she will give your head a garland of grace,
bestow on you a crown of glory."
10 Listen, my son, receive what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
11 I'm directing you on the way of wisdom,
guiding you in paths of uprightness;
12 when you walk, your step won't be hindered;
and if you run, you won't stumble.
13 Hold fast to discipline, don't let it go;
guard it, for it is your life.
14 Don't follow the path of the wicked
or walk on the way of evildoers.
15 Avoid it, don't go on it,
turn away from it, and pass on.
16 For they can't sleep if they haven't done evil,
they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone fall.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
shining ever brighter until full daylight.
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;
they don't even know what makes them stumble.
20 My son, pay attention to what I am saying;
incline your ear to my words.
21 Don't let them out of your sight,
keep them deep in your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to their whole being.
23 Above everything else, guard your heart;
for it is the source of life's consequences.
24 Keep crooked speech out of your mouth,
banish deceit from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze on what lies in front of you.
26 Level the path for your feet,
let all your ways be properly prepared;
27 then deviate neither right nor left;
and keep your foot far from evil.
OLD TESTAMENT: JUDGES 6:1 - 40
6:1 The children of Yisra'el did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midyan seven years.
2 The hand of Midyan prevailed against Yisra'el; and because of Midyan the children of Yisra'el made them the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves, and the strongholds.
3 So it was, when Yisra'el had sown, that the Midyanim came up, and the `Amaleki, and the children of the east; they came up against them;
4 and they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the eretz, until you come to `Aza, and left no sustenance in Yisra'el, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey.
5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents; they came in as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number: and they came into the land to destroy it.
6 Yisra'el was brought very low because of Midyan; and the children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD.
7 It happened, when the children of Yisra'el cried to the LORD because of Midyan,
8 that the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Yisra'el: and he said to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, I brought you up from Mitzrayim, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
9 and I delivered you out of the hand of the Mitzrim, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land;
10 and I said to you, I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amori, in whose land you dwell. But you have not listened to my voice.
11 The angel of the LORD came, and sat under the oak which was in Ofrat, that pertained to Yo'ash the Avi-Ezri: and his son Gid`on was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midyanim.
12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, the LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor.
13 Gid`on said to him, Oh, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Mitzrayim? but now the LORD has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midyan.
14 The LORD looked at him, and said, Go in this your might, and save Yisra'el from the hand of Midyan: have not I sent you?
15 He said to him, Oh, Lord, with which shall I save Yisra'el? behold, my family is the poorest in Menashsheh, and I am the least in my father's house.
16 The LORD said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midyanim as one man.
17 He said to him, If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me.
18 Please don't go away, until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you. He said, I will wait until you come again.
19 Gid`on went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an efah of meal: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it.
20 The angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth. He did so.
21 Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there went up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
22 Gid`on saw that he was the angel of the LORD; and Gid`on said, Alas, Lord GOD! because I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.
23 The LORD said to him, Shalom be to you; don't be afraid: you shall not die.
24 Then Gid`on built an altar there to the LORD, and called it Yahweh-shalom: to this day it is yet in Ofrat of the Abiezrites.
25 It happened the same night, that the LORD said to him, Take your father's bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Ba`al that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it;
26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.
27 Then Gid`on took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had spoken to him: and it happened, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
28 When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Ba`al was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built.
29 They said one to another, Who has done this thing? When they inquired and asked, they said, Gid`on the son of Yo'ash has done this thing.
30 Then the men of the city said to Yo'ash, Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Ba`al, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.
31 Yo'ash said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Ba`al? Or will you save him? he who will contend for him, let him be put to death while [it is yet] morning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one has broken down his altar.
32 Therefore on that day he named him Yerubba`al, saying, Let Ba`al contend against him, because he has broken down his altar.
33 Then all the Midyanim and the `Amaleki and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Yizre`el.
34 But the Spirit of the LORD came on Gid`on; and he blew a shofar; and Avi-Ezer was gathered together after him.
35 He sent messengers throughout all Menashsheh; and they also were gathered together after him: and he sent messengers to Asher, and to Zevulun, and to Naftali; and they came up to meet them.
36 Gid`on said to God, If you will save Yisra'el by my hand, as you have spoken,
37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Yisra'el by my hand, as you have spoken.
38 It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39 Gid`on said to God, Don't let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once: Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.
40 God did so that night: for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 22:54 - 23:12
22:54 They seized him, and led him away, and brought him into the Kohen Gadol's house. But Kefa followed from a distance. 55 When they had kindled a fire in the midst of the court, and had sat down together, Kefa sat in the midst of them. 56 A certain servant girl saw him as he sat in the light, and looking intently at him, said, "This man also was with him."57 He denied Yeshua, saying, "Woman, I don't know him." 58 After a little while someone else saw him, and said, "You also are one of them!" But Kefa answered, "Man, I am not!" 59 After about one hour passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Truly this man also was with him, for he is a Gelili!" 60But Kefa said, "Man, I don't know what you are talking about!" Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned, and looked at Kefa. Kefa remembered the Lord's word, how he said to him, "Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times." 62 He went out, and wept bitterly. 63 The men who held Yeshua mocked him and beat him. 64 Having blindfolded him, they struck him on the face and asked him, "Prophesy! Who is the one who struck you?" 65 They spoke many other things against him, insulting him. 66 As soon as it was day, the assembly of the Zakenim of the people was gathered together, both chief Kohanim and Sofrim, and they led him away into their council, saying, 67 "If you are the Messiah, tell us." But he said to them, "If I tell you, you won't believe, 68 and if I ask, you will in no way answer me or let me go. 69 From now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God." 70 They all said, "Are you then the Son of God?" He said to them, "You say it, because I AM." 71 They said, "Why do we need any more witness? For we ourselves have heard from his own mouth!"
23:1 The whole company of them rose up and brought him before Pilate. 2 They began to accuse him, saying, "We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Messiah, a king." 3 Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Yehudim?" He answered him, "So you say." 4 Pilate said to the chief Kohanim and the multitudes, "I find no basis for a charge against this man. 5 But they insisted, saying, "He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Yehudah, beginning from the Galil even to this place." 6 But when Pilate heard Galil mentioned, he asked if the man was a Gelili. 7 When he found out that he was in Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Yerushalayim in those days. 8 Now when Herod saw Yeshua, he was exceedingly glad, for he had wanted to see him for a long time, because he had heard many things about him. He hoped to see some miracle done by him. 9 He questioned him with many words, but he gave no answers. 10 The chief Kohanim and the Sofrim stood, vehemently accusing him. 11 Herod with his soldiers humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they sent him back to Pilate. 12 Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before that they were enemies with each other.
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