AUGUST 23
PSALMS: 23, 53, 83, 113, 143
PROVERBS: 23
OLD TESTAMENT: EZEKIEL 24:1 - 26:21
NEW TESTAMENT: HEBREWS 11:1 - 16
PSALMS: 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd:
I shall lack nothing.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You have anointed my head with oil.
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell in the LORD's house forever.
PSALMS: 53
1 The fool has said in his heart,
"There is no God."
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity.
There is no one who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven on the children of men,
To see if there are any who understood, Who seek after God.
3 Every one of them has gone back.
They have become filthy together.
There is no one who does good, no, not one.
4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And don't call on God?
5 There they were in great fear, where no fear was,
For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you.
You have put them to shame,
Because God has rejected them.
6 Oh that the yeshu`ah of Yisra'el would come out of Tziyon!
When God brings back the captivity of his people,
Then shall Ya`akov rejoice.
Yisra'el shall be glad.
2 For, behold, your enemies are stirred up.
Those who hate you have lifted up their heads.
3 They conspire with cunning against your people.
They plot against your cherished ones.
4 "Come," they say, "and let us destroy them as a nation,
That the name of Yisra'el may be remembered no more."
5 For they have conspired together with one mind.
They form an alliance against you.
6 The tents of Edom and the Yishme`elim;
Mo'av, and the Hagrim;
7 Geval, `Ammon, and `Amalek;
Peleshet with the inhabitants of Tzor;
8 Ashshur also is joined with them.
They have helped the children of Lot.
Selah.
9 Do to them as you did to Midyan,
As to Sisera, as to Yavin, at the river Kishon;
10 Who perished at `En-Dor,
Who became as dung for the eretz.
11 Make their nobles like `Orev and Ze'ev;
Yes, all their princes like Zevach and Tzalmunnah;
12 Who said, "Let us take possession
Of God's pasturelands."
13 My God, make them like tumbleweed;
Like chaff before the wind.
14 As the fire that burns the forest,
As the flame that sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with your tempest,
Terrify them with your storm.
16 Fill their faces with confusion,
That they may seek your name, LORD.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever.
Yes, let them be confounded and perish;
18 That they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD,
Are Ha`Elyon over all the eretz.
2 Blessed be the name of the LORD,
From this time forth and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same,
The LORD's name is to be praised.
4 The LORD is high above all nations,
His glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD, our God,
Who has his seat on high,
6 Who stoops down to see in heaven and in the eretz?
7 He raises up the poor out of the dust.
Lifts up the needy from the ash heap;
8 That he may set him with princes,
Even with the princes of his people.
9 He settles the barren woman in her home,
As a joyful mother of children.
Praise the LORD!
PSALMS: 143
Listen to my petitions.
In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.
2 Don't enter into judgment with your servant,
For in your sight no man living is righteous.
3 For the enemy pursues my soul.
He has struck my life down to the ground.
He has made me live in dark places,
as those who have been long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me.
My heart within me is desolate.
5 I remember the days of old.
I meditate on all your doings.
I contemplate the work of your hands.
6 I spread forth my hands to you.
My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land.
Selah.
7 Hurry to answer me, LORD.
My spirit fails.
Don't hide your face from me,
So that I don't become like those who go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning,
For I trust in you.
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to you.
9 Deliver me, LORD, from my enemies.
I flee to you to hide me.
10 Teach me to do your will,
For you are my God.
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of uprightness.
11 Revive me, LORD, for your name's sake.
In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.
12 In your loving kindness, cut off my enemies,
And destroy all those who afflict my soul,
For I am your servant.
2 Put a knife to your throat,
If you are a man given to appetite.
3 Don't be desirous of his dainties,
Seeing they are deceitful food.
4 Don't weary yourself to be rich.
In your wisdom, show restraint
5 Why do you set your eyes on that which is not?
For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
6 Don't eat the food of him who has a stingy eye,
And don't crave his delicacies:
7 For as he thinks about the cost, so he is.
"Eat and drink!" he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.
8 The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up,
And lose your good words.
9 Don't speak in the ears of a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Don't move the ancient boundary stone.
Don't encroach on the fields of the fatherless:
11 For their Defender is strong.
He will plead their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction,
And your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Don't withhold correction from a child.
If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Punish him with the rod,
And save his soul from She'ol
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
Then my heart will be glad, even mine:
16 Yes, my heart will rejoice,
When your lips speak what is right.
17 Don't let your heart envy sinners;
But rather fear the LORD all the day long.
18 Indeed surely there is a future hope,
And your hope will not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise,
And keep your heart on the right path
20 Don't be among ones drinking too much wine,
Or those who gorge themselves on meat:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor;
And drowsiness clothes them in rags
22 Listen to your father who gave you life,
And don't despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and don't sell it:
Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous has great joy.
Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad!
Let her who bore you rejoice!
26 My son, give me your heart;
And let your eyes keep in my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit;
And a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber,
And increases the unfaithful among men.
29 Who has woe?
Who has sorrow?
Who has strife?
Who has complaints?
Who has needless bruises?
Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who stay long at the wine;
Those who go to seek out mixed wine.
31 Don't look at the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup,
When it goes down smoothly:
32 At the last it bites like a snake,
And poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
And your mind will imagine confusing things.
34 Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea,
Or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
35 "They hit me, and I was not hurt;
They beat me, and I don't feel it!
When will I wake up?
I can do it again.
I can find another.
OLD TESTAMENT: EZEKIEL 24:1 - 26:21
24:1 Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth [day] of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, write you the name of the day, [even] of this same day: the king of Bavel drew close to Yerushalayim this same day. 3 Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, Thus says the Lord GOD, Set on the caldron, set it on, and also pour water into it: 4 gather the pieces of it into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones. 5 Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile [of wood] for the bones under [the caldron]; make it boil well; yes, let the bones of it be boiled in the midst of it. 6 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the caldron whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it! take out of it piece after piece; No lot is fallen on it. 7 For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it on the bare rock; she didn't pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust. 8 That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be covered. 9 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. 10 Heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil well the flesh, and make thick the broth, and let the bones be burned. 11 Then set it empty on the coals of it, that it may be hot, and the brass of it may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the rust of it may be consumed. 12 She has wearied [herself] with toil; yet her great rust doesn't go forth out of her; her rust doesn't [go forth] by fire. 13 In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed you and you weren't cleansed, you shall not be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward you to rest. 14 I, the LORD, have spoken it: it shall happen, and I will do it: I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you, says the Lord GOD. 15 Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 16 Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke: yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears run down.17 Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning for the dead; bind your headdress on you, and put your shoes on your feet, and don't cover your lips, and don't eat men's bread. 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded. 19 The people said to me, Won't you tell us what these things are to us, that you do so? 20 Then I said to them, The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 21 Speak to the house of Yisra'el, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pities; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind shall fall by the sword. 22 You shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. 23 Your tires shall be on your heads, and your shoes on your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another. 24 Thus shall Yechezkel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done shall you do: when this comes, then shall you know that I am the Lord GOD. 25 You, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their heart, their sons and their daughters, 26 that in that day he who escapes shall come to you, to cause you to hear it with your ears? 27 In that day shall your mouth be opened to him who is escaped, and you shall speak, and be no more mute: so shall you be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
25:1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, set your face toward the children of `Ammon, and prophesy against them: 3 and tell the children of `Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Because you said, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against Eretz-Yisra'el, when it was made desolate; and against the house of Yehudah, when they went into captivity: 4 therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in you, and make their dwellings in you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the children of `Ammon a couching-place for flocks: and you shall know that I am the LORD. 6 For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have clapped your hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the despite of your soul against Eretz-Yisra'el; 7 therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand on you, and will deliver you for a spoil to the nations; and I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish out of the countries: I will destroy you; and you shall know that I am the LORD. 8 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Mo'av and Se`ir say, Behold, the house of Yehudah is like all the nations; 9 therefore, behold, I will open the side of Mo'av from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beit-Hayshimot, Ba`al-Me`on, and Kiryatayim, 10 to the children of the east, [to go] against the children of `Ammon; and I will give them for a possession, that the children of `Ammon may not be remembered among the nations. 11 and I will execute judgments on Mo'av; and they shall know that I am the LORD. 12 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom has dealt against the house of Yehudah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and revenged himself on them; 13 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, I will stretch out my hand on Edom, and will cut off man and animal from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; even to Dedan shall they fall by the sword. 14 I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Yisra'el; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord GOD. 15 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Pelishtim have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy with perpetual enmity; 16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will stretch out my hand on the Pelishtim, and I will cut off the Kereti, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. 17 I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance on them.
26:1 It happened in the eleventh year, in the first [day] of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, because Tzor has said against Yerushalayim, Aha, she is broken: the gate of the peoples; she is turned to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste: 3 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against you, Tzor, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. 4 They shall destroy the walls of Tzor, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock. 5 She shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, says the Lord GOD; and she shall become a spoil to the nations. 6 Her daughters who are in the field shall be slain with the sword: and they shall know that I am the LORD. 7 For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring on Tzor Nevukhadretztzar king of Bavel, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and much people. 8 He shall kill with the sword your daughters in the field; and he shall make forts against you, and cast up a mound against you, and raise up the buckler against you. 9 He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers. 10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover you: your walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wagons, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into your gates, as men enter into a city in which is made a breach. 11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all your streets; he shall kill your people with the sword; and the pillars of your strength shall go down to the ground. 12 They shall make a spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters. 13 I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your harps shall be no more heard. 14 I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, says the Lord GOD. 15 Thus says the Lord GOD to Tzor: shall not the isles shake at the sound of your fall, when the wounded groan, when the slaughter is made in the midst of you? 16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit on the ground, and shall tremble every moment, and be astonished at you. 17 They shall take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, How are you destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there! 18 Now shall the isles tremble in the day of your fall; yes, the isles that are in the sea shall be dismayed at your departure. 19 For thus says the Lord GOD: When I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep on you, and the great waters shall cover you; 20 then will I bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you to dwell in the lower parts of the eretz, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living: 21 I will make you a terror, and you shall no more have any being; though you are sought for, yet shall you never be found again, says the Lord GOD.
NEW TESTAMENT: HEBREWS 11:1 - 16
11:1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
2 For by this, the Zakenim obtained testimony.
3 By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.
4 By faith, Hevel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Kayin, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness with respect to his gifts; and through it he, being dead, still speaks.
5 By faith, Hanokh was translated, so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God translated him. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God.
6 Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.
7 By faith, Noach, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a teivah for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith, Avraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.
9 By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Yitzchak and Ya`akov, the heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith, even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore they were fathered by one, and him as good as dead, as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the eretz.
14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking after a country of their own.
15 If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
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