MARCH 23
PSALMS: 23, 53, 83, 113, 143
PROVERBS: 23
OLD TESTAMENT: 1 KINGS 9:1 - 10:27
NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 8:14 - 40
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: 1 KINGS 9:1 - 10:27
9:1 It happened, when Shlomo had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all Shlomo's desire which he was pleased to do, 2 that the LORD appeared to Shlomo the second time, as he had appeared to him at Giv`on. 3 The LORD said to him, I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me: I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. 4 As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances; 5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Yisra'el forever, according as I promised to David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man on the throne of Yisra'el. 6 But if you shall turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my mitzvot and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; 7 then will I cut off Yisra'el out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Yisra'el shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 8 Though this house is so high, yet shall everyone who passes by it be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why has the LORD done thus to this land, and to this house? 9 and they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Mitzrayim, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served them: therefore has the LORD brought all this evil on them. 10 It happened at the end of twenty years, in which Shlomo had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king's house 11 (now Hiram the king of Tzor had furnished Shlomo with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire), that then king Shlomo gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of the Galil. 12 Hiram came out from Tzor to see the cities which Shlomo had given him; and they didn't please him. 13 He said, What cities are these which you have given me, my brother? He called them the land of Kavul to this day. 14 Hiram sent to the king one hundred twenty talents of gold. 15 This is the reason of the levy which king Shlomo raised, to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Yerushalayim, and Hatzor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 Par`oh king of Mitzrayim had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Kana`anim who lived in the city, and given it for a portion to his daughter, Shlomo's wife. 17 Shlomo built Gezer, and Beit-Horon the lower, 18 and Ba`alat, and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land, 19 and all the store-cities that Shlomo had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and that which Shlomo desired to build for his pleasure in Yerushalayim, and in Levanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 20 As for all the people who were left of the Amori, the Hitti, the Perizzi, the Hivvi, and the Yevusi, who were not of the children of Yisra'el; 21 their children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Yisra'el were not able utterly to destroy, of them did Shlomo raise a levy of bondservants to this day. 22 But of the children of Yisra'el did Shlomo make no bondservants; but they were the men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen. 23 These were the chief officers who were over Shlomo's work, five hundred fifty, who bore rule over the people who labored in the work. 24 But Par`oh's daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which [Shlomo] had built for her: then did he build Millo. 25 Three times a year did Shlomo offer burnt offerings and peace-offerings on the altar which he built to the LORD, burning incense therewith, [on the altar] that was before the LORD. So he finished the house. 26 King Shlomo made a navy of ships in `Etzyon-Gever, which is beside Elot, on the shore of the Sea of Suf, in the land of Edom. 27 Hiram sent in the navy his servants, sailors who had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Shlomo. 28 They came to Ofir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Shlomo.
10:1 When the queen of Sheva heard of the fame of Shlomo concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions. 2 She came to Yerushalayim with a very great train, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she was come to Shlomo, she talked with him of all that was in her heart.
3 Shlomo told her all her questions: there was not anything hidden from the king which he didn't tell her. 4 When the queen of Sheva had seen all the wisdom of Shlomo, and the house that he had built, 5 and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, and his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her. 6 She said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom. 7 However I didn't believe the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me; your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. 8 Happy are your men, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, [and] who hear your wisdom. 9 Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Yisra'el: because the LORD loved Yisra'el forever, therefore made he you king, to do justice and righteousness. 10 She gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheva gave to king Shlomo. 11 The navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ofir, brought in from Ofir great plenty of almug trees and precious stones. 12 The king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for the singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen, to this day. 13 King Shlomo gave to the queen of Sheva all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which Shlomo gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants. 14 Now the weight of gold that came to Shlomo in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, 15 besides [that which] the traders [brought], and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mixed people, and of the governors of the country. 16 King Shlomo made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred [shekels] of gold went to one buckler. 17 [he made] three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Levanon. 18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. 19 There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were stays on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays. 20 Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps: there was nothing like it made in any kingdom. 21 All king Shlomo's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Levanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was nothing accounted of in the days of Shlomo. 22 For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram: once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 23 So king Shlomo exceeded all the kings of the eretz in riches and in wisdom. 24 All the eretz sought the presence of Shlomo, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 They brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and clothing, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 26 Shlomo gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Yerushalayim. 27 The king made silver to be in Yerushalayim as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.
NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 8:14 - 40
8:14 Now when the apostles who were at Yerushalayim heard that Shomron had received the word of God, they sent Kefa and Yochanan to them,
15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Ruach HaKodesh;
16 for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been immersed into the name of the Lord Yeshua.
17 Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Ruach HaKodesh.
18 Now when Shim`on saw that the Ruach HaKodesh was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,
19 saying, "Give me also this power, that whoever I lay my hands on may receive the Ruach HaKodesh."
20 But Kefa said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!
21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart isn't right before God.
22 Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity."
24 Shim`on answered, "Pray for me to the Lord, that none of the things which you have spoken come on me."
25 They therefore, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to Yerushalayim, and preached the Good News to many villages of the Shomroni.
26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Pilipos, saying, "Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Yerushalayim to `Aza. This is a desert."
27 He arose and went. Behold, there was a man of Kush, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Kushim, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Yerushalayim to worship.
28 He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Yesha`yahu.
29 The Spirit said to Pilipos, "Go near, and join yourself to this chariot."
30 Pilipos ran to him, and heard him reading Yesha`yahu the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
31 He said, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" He begged Pilipos to come up and sit with him.
32 Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, So he doesn't open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generations? For his life is taken from the eretz."
34 The eunuch answered Pilipos, "Please tell who the prophet is talking about: about himself, or about some other?"
35 Pilipos opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Yeshua.
36 As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being immersed?"
37
38 He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both Pilipos and the eunuch, and he immersed him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Pilipos away, and the eunuch didn't see him any more, for he went on his way rejoicing.
40 But Pilipos was found at Ashdod. Passing through, he preached the Good News to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
No comments:
Post a Comment