MARCH 31
PSALMS: 31, 61, 91, 121
PROVERBS: 31
OLD TESTAMENT: 1 KINGS 22:1 - 53
NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 16:16 - 41
PSALMS: 31
1 In you, LORD, do I take refuge.
Let me never be put to shame:
Deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Bow down your ear to me.
Deliver me speedily.
Be to me a strong rock,
A house of defense to save me.
3 For you are my rock and my fortress,
Therefore for your name's sake lead me and guide me.
4 Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me,
For you are my stronghold.
5 Into your hand I commend my spirit.
You redeem me, LORD, God of truth.
6 I hate those who regard lying vanities,
But I trust in the LORD.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness,
For you have seen my affliction.
You have known my soul in adversities.
8 You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy.
You have set my feet in a large place.
9 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am in distress.
My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
My years with sighing.
My strength fails because of my iniquity.
My bones are wasted away.
11 Because of all my adversaries
I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbors,
A fear to my acquaintances.
Those who saw me on the street fled from me.
12 I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man.
I am like broken pottery.
13 For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side,
While they conspire together against me,
They plot to take away my life.
14 But I trust in you, LORD.
I said, You are my God.
15 My times are in your hand.
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine on your servant.
Save me in your loving kindness.
17 Let me not be put to shame, LORD,
for I have called on you.
Let the wicked be put to shame.
Let them be silent in She'ol.
18 Let the lying lips be mute,
Which speak against the righteous insolently,
with pride and contempt.
19 Oh how great is your goodness,
Which you have laid up for those who fear you,
‘Which you have worked for those who take refuge in you,
Before the sons of men!
20 In the covert of your presence will you hide them from the plotting of man.
You will keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
21 Praise be to the LORD,
For he has shown me his marvelous loving kindness in a strong city.
22 As for me, I said in my haste,
"I am cut off from before your eyes."
Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
23 Oh love the LORD, all you his holy ones!
The LORD preserves the faithful,
And pays back him who deals proudly in full.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
All you who hope in the LORD.
PSALMS: 61
1 Hear my cry, God.
Listen to my prayer.
2 From the end of the eretz,
I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For you have been a refuge for me,
A strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will dwell in your tent forever.
I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
Selah.
5 For you, God, have heard my vows.
You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 You will prolong the king's life;
His years shall be for generations.
7 He shall be enthroned in God's presence forever.
Appoint your loving kindness and truth,
that they may preserve him.
8 So I will sing praise to your name forever,
That I may fulfill my vows daily.
PSALMS: 91
1 He who dwells in the secret place of Ha`Elyon
Will rest in the shadow of Shaddai.
2 I will say of the LORD,
"He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in whom I trust."
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler,
From the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions.
Under his wings you will take refuge.
His truth is a shield and a buckler.
5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes,
And see the reward of the wicked.
9 For you, LORD, are my refuge!
You have made Ha`Elyon your habitation.
10 No evil shall happen to you,
Neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
11 For he will give his angels charge over you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands,
So that you won't dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and cobra.
You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.
14 "Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him.
I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him.
I will be with him in trouble.
I will deliver him, and honor him.
16 I will satisfy him with long life,
And show him my yeshu`ah."
PSALMS: 121
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills.
Where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and eretz.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved.
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Yisra'el
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper.
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil.
He will keep your soul.
8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in,
From this time forth, and forevermore.
PROVERBS: 31
1 The words of king Lemo'el;
the oracle which his mother taught him.
2 "Oh, my son!" Oh, son of my womb!
Oh, son of my vows!
3 Don't give your strength to women,
Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.
4 It is not for kings, Lemo'el;
it is not for kings to drink wine;
Nor for princes to say, 'Where is strong drink?'
5 Lest they drink, and forget the law,
And pervert the justice due to anyone who is afflicted.
6 Give strong drink to him who is ready to perish;
And wine to the bitter in soul:
7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty,
And remember his misery no more.
8 Open your mouth for the mute,
In the cause of all who are left desolate.
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And serve justice to the poor and needy."
10 Who can find a worthy woman?
For her price is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her.
He shall have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
All the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
And works eagerly with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships.
She brings her bread from afar.
15 She rises also while it is yet night,
Gives food to her household,
And portions for her servant girls.
16 She considers a field, and buys it.
With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds her loins with strength,
And makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp doesn't go out by night.
19 She lays her hands to the distaff,
And her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her arms to the poor;
Yes, she extends her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household;
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes for herself carpets of tapestry.
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected in the gates,
When he sits among the Zakenim of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing.
She laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom.
Faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household,
And doesn't eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed.
Her husband also praises her:
29 "Many women do noble things,
But you excel them all."
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain;
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands;
Let her works praise her in the gates.
OLD TESTAMENT: 1 KINGS 22:1 - 53
22:1 They continued three years without war between Aram and Yisra'el.
2 It happened in the third year, that Yehoshafat the king of Yehudah came down to the king of Yisra'el.
3 The king of Yisra'el said to his servants, "You know that Ramot-Gil`ad is ours, and we are still, and don't take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?"
4 He said to Yehoshafat, Will you go with me to battle to Ramot-Gil`ad? Yehoshafat said to the king of Yisra'el, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.
5 Yehoshafat said to the king of Yisra'el, Please inquire first for the word of the LORD.
6 Then the king of Yisra'el gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramot-Gil`ad to battle, or shall I forbear? They said, Go up; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.
7 But Yehoshafat said, Isn't there here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we may inquire of him?
8 The king of Yisra'el said to Yehoshafat, there is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Mikhayahu the son of Yimlah: but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. Yehoshafat said, "Don't let the king say so."
9 Then the king of Yisra'el called an officer, and said, Get quickly Mikhayahu the son of Yimlah.
10 Now the king of Yisra'el and Yehoshafat the king of Yehudah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Shomron; and all the prophets were prophesying before them.
11 Tzidkiyahu the son of Kena`anah made him horns of iron, and said, Thus says the LORD, With these shall you push the Aram, until they be consumed.
12 All the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramot-Gil`ad, and prosper; for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.
13 The messenger who went to call Mikhayahu spoke to him, saying, See now, the words of the prophets [declare] good to the king with one mouth: please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak you good.
14 Mikhayahu said, As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that will I speak.
15 When he was come to the king, the king said to him, Mikhayahu, shall we go to Ramot-Gil`ad to battle, or shall we forbear? He answered him, Go up and prosper; and the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.
16 The king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?
17 He said, I saw all Yisra'el scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in shalom.
18 The king of Yisra'el said to Yehoshafat, Didn't I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?
19 [Mikhayahu] said, Therefore hear you the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
20 The LORD said, Who shall entice Ach'av, that he may go up and fall at Ramot-Gil`ad? One said on this manner; and another said on that manner.
21 There came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him.
22 The LORD said to him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' He said, 'You shall entice him, and shall prevail also: go forth, and do so.'
23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has spoken evil concerning you.
24 Then Tzidkiyahu the son of Kena`anah came near, and struck Mikhayahu on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak to you?
25 Mikhayahu said, Behold, you shall see on that day, when you shall go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.
26 The king of Yisra'el said, Take Mikhayahu, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Yo'ash the king's son;
27 and say, Thus says the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in shalom.
28 Mikhayahu said, If you return at all in shalom, the LORD has not spoken by me. He said, Hear, you peoples, all of you.
29 So the king of Yisra'el and Yehoshafat the king of Yehudah went up to Ramot-Gil`ad.
30 The king of Yisra'el said to Yehoshafat, I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but put you on your robes. The king of Yisra'el disguised himself, and went into the battle.
31 Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Yisra'el.
32 It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Yehoshafat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Yisra'el; and they turned aside to fight against him: and Yehoshafat cried out.
33 It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Yisra'el, that they turned back from pursuing him.
34 A certain man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Yisra'el between the joints of the armor: therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn your hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am severely wounded.
35 The battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Aram, and died at even; and the blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot.
36 There went a cry throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his country.
37 So the king died, and was brought to Shomron; and they buried the king in Shomron.
38 They washed the chariot by the pool of Shomron; and the dogs licked up his blood (now the prostitutes washed themselves [there]); according to the word of the LORD which he spoke.
39 Now the rest of the acts of Ach'av, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities that he built, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yisra'el?
40 So Ach'av slept with his fathers; and Achazyah his son reigned in his place.
41 Yehoshafat the son of Asa began to reign over Yehudah in the fourth year of Ach'av king of Yisra'el.
42 Yehoshafat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-five years in Yerushalayim. His mother's name was `Azuvah the daughter of Shilchi.
43 He walked in all the way of Asa his father; He didn't turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: however the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
44 Yehoshafat made shalom with the king of Yisra'el.
45 Now the rest of the acts of Yehoshafat, and his might that he shown, and how he warred, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Yehudah?
46 The remnant of the sodomites, that remained in the days of his father Asa, he put away out of the land.
47 There was no king in Edom: a deputy was king.
48 Yehoshafat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ofir for gold: but they didn't go; for the ships were broken at `Etzyon-Gever.
49 Then said Achazyah the son of Ach'av to Yehoshafat, Let my servants go with your servants in the ships. But Yehoshafat would not.
50 Yehoshafat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; Yehoram his son reigned in his place.
51 Achazyah the son of Ach'av began to reign over Yisra'el in Shomron in the seventeenth year of Yehoshafat king of Yehudah, and he reigned two years over Yisra'el.
52 He did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Yarov`am the son of Nevat, in which he made Yisra'el to sin.
53 He served Ba`al, and worshiped him, and provoked to anger the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, according to all that his father had done.
NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 13:16 - 41
13:16 Sha'ul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, "Men of Yisra'el, and you who fear God, listen.
17 The God of this people Yisra'el chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they stayed as aliens in the land of Mitzrayim, and with an uplifted arm, he led them forth out of it.
18 For about the time of forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.
19 When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Kana`an, he gave them their land for an inheritance, for about four hundred fifty years.
20 After these things he gave them judges until Shemu'el the prophet.
21 Afterward they asked for a king, and God gave to them Sha'ul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Binyamin, for forty years.
22 When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified, 'I have found David the son of Yishai, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.'
23 From this man's seed, God has brought salvation to Yisra'el according to his promise,
24 before his coming, when Yochanan had first preached the immersion of repentance to all the people of Yisra'el.
25 As Yochanan was fulfilling his course, he said, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But behold, one comes after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.'
26Brothers, children of the stock of Avraham, and those among you who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent forth to you.
27 For those who dwell in Yerushalayim, and their rulers, because they didn't know him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Shabbat, fulfilled them by condemning him.
28 Though they found no cause for death, they still asked Pilate to have him killed.
29 When they had fulfilled all things that were written about him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb.
30 But God raised him from the dead,
31 and he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from the Galil to Yerushalayim, who are his witnesses to the people.
32 We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers,
33 that God has fulfilled the same to us, their children, in that he raised up Yeshua. As it is also written in the second psalm, 'You are my Son. Today I have become your father.'
34 "Concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: 'I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.'
35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, 'You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.'
36 For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw decay.
37 But he whom God raised up saw no decay.
38 Be it known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man is proclaimed to you remission of sins,
39 and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moshe.
40 Beware therefore, lest that come on you which is spoken in the prophets:
41 'Behold, you scoffers, and wonder, and perish; For I work a work in your days, A work which you will in no way believe, if one declares it to you.'"
