JANUARY 3
PSALMS: 3, 33, 63, 93, 123
PROVERBS: 3
OLD TESTAMENT: DEUTERONOMY 4:1 - 49
NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 6:39 - 7:10
PSALMS: 3
1 A psalm of David,
when he fled from Avshalom his son:
ADONAI, how many enemies I have!
How countless are those attacking me;
2 how countless those who say of me,
"There is no salvation for him in God."
(Selah)
3 But you, ADONAI, are a shield for me;
you are my glory, you lift my head high.
4 With my voice I call out to ADONAI,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
(Selah)
5 I lie down and sleep, then wake up again,
because ADONAI sustains me.
6 I am not afraid of the tens of thousands
set against me on every side.
7 Rise up, ADONAI!
Save me, my God!
For you slap all my enemies in the face,
you smash the teeth of the wicked.
8 Victory comes from ADONAI;
may your blessing rest on your people.
(Selah)
PSALMS: 33
1 Rejoice in ADONAI, you righteous!
Praise is well-suited to the upright.
2 Give thanks to ADONAI with the lyre,
sing praises to him with a ten-stringed harp.
3 Sing to him a new song,
make music at your best among shouts of joy.
4 For the word of ADONAI is true,
and all his work is trustworthy.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the grace of ADONAI.
6 By the word of ADONAI the heavens were made,
and their whole host by a breath from his mouth.
7 He collects the sea waters together in a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear ADONAI!
Let all living in the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and there it was;
he commanded, and there it stood.
10 ADONAI brings to nothing the plans of nations,
he foils the plans of the peoples.
11 But the counsel of ADONAI stands forever,
his heart's plans are for all generations.
12 How blessed is the nation whose God is ADONAI,
the people he chose as his heritage!
13 ADONAI looks out from heaven;
he sees every human being;
14 from the place where he lives he
watches everyone living on earth,
15 he who fashioned the hearts of them
all and understands all they do.
16 A king is not saved by the size of his army,
a strong man not delivered by his great strength.
17 To rely on a horse for safety is vain,
nor does its great power assure escape.
18 But ADONAI's eyes watch over those who fear him,
over those who wait for his grace
19 to rescue them from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 We are waiting for ADONAI;
he is our help and shield.
21 For in him our hearts rejoice,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 May your mercy, ADONAI, be over us,
because we put our hope in you.
PSALMS: 63
1 A psalm of David,
when he was in the desert of Y'hudah:
O God, you are my God;
I will seek you eagerly.
My heart thirsts for you,
my body longs for you in a land parched and exhausted,
where no water can be found.
2 I used to contemplate you in the sanctuary,
seeing your power and glory;
3 for your grace is better than life.
My lips will worship you.
4 Yes, I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I am as satisfied as with rich food;
my mouth praises you with joy on my lips
6 when I remember you on my bed
and meditate on you in the night watches.
7 For you have been my help;
in the shadow of your wings I rejoice;
8 my heart clings to you;
your right hand supports me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life -may
they go to the lowest parts of the earth.
10 May they be given over to the power of the sword;
may they become prey for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God.
Everyone who swears by him will exult,
for the mouths of liars will be silenced.
PSALMS: 93
1 ADONAI is king, robed in majesty;
ADONAI is robed, girded with strength;
The world is well established;
it cannot be moved.
2 Your throne was established long ago;
you have existed forever.
3 ADONAI, the deep is raising up, the deep is raising up
its voice, the deep is raising its crashing waves.
4 More than the sound of rushing waters or the mighty breakers of the sea,
ADONAI on high is mighty.
5 Your instructions are very sure;
holiness befits your house,
ADONAI, for all time to come.
PSALMS: 123
1 A song of ascents:
I raise my eyes to you, whose throne is in heaven.
2 As a servant looks to the hand of his master,
or a slave-girl to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes turn to ADONAI our God,
until he has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, ADONAI, have mercy;
for we have had our fill of contempt,
4 more than our fill of scorn from the complacent
and contempt from the arrogant.
PROVERBS: 3
1 My son, don't forget my teaching,
keep my commands in your heart;
2 for they will add to you many days,
years of life and peace.
3 Do not let grace and truth leave you -bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and esteem
in the sight of God and of people.
5 Trust in ADONAI with all your heart;
do not rely on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him;
then he will level your paths.
7 Don't be conceited about your own wisdom;
but fear ADONAI, and turn from evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and give strength to your bones.
9 Honor ADONAI with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your income.
10 Then your granaries will be filled
and your vats overflow with new wine.
11 My son, don't despise ADONAI's discipline
or resent his reproof;
12 for ADONAI corrects those he loves
like a father who delights in his son.
13 Happy the person who finds wisdom,
the person who acquires understanding;
14 for her profit exceeds that of silver,
gaining her is better than gold,
15 she is more precious than pearls -nothing
you want can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand,
riches and honor in her left.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who grasp her;
whoever holds fast to her will be made happy.
19 ADONAI by wisdom founded the earth,
by understanding he established the heavens,
20 by his knowledge the deep [springs] burst open
and the dew condenses from the sky.
21 My son, don't let these slip from your sight;
preserve common sense and discretion;
22 they will be life for your being
and grace for your neck.
23 Then you will walk your way securely,
without hurting your foot.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Don't be afraid of sudden terror or destruction caused by the wicked,
when it comes;
26 for you can rely on ADONAI;
he will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.
27 Don't withhold good from someone entitled to it when
you have in hand the power to do it.
28 Don't tell your neighbor, "Go away!
Come another time;
I'll give it to you tomorrow,"
when you have it now.
29 Don't plan harm against your neighbor who lives beside you trustingly.
30 Don't quarrel with someone for no reason, if he has done you no harm.
31 Don't envy a man of violence, don't choose any of his ways;
32 for the perverse is an abomination to ADONAI,
but he shares his secret counsel with the upright.
33 ADONAI's curse is in the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the home of the righteous.
34 The scornful he scorns,
but gives grace to the humble.
35 The wise win honor,
but fools win shame.
OLD TESTAMENT: DEUTERONOMY 4:1 - 49
1 Now, Yisra'el, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you.
2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the mitzvot of the LORD your God which I command you.
3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Ba`al-Pe`or; for all the men who followed Ba`al-Pe`or, the LORD your God has destroyed them from the midst of you.
4 But you who did cleave to the LORD your God are alive everyone of you this day.
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land where you go in to possess it.
6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
7 For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as the LORD our God is whenever we call on him?
8 What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
9 Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children's children;
10 the day that you stood before the LORD your God in Horev, when the LORD said to me, Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the eretz, and that they may teach their children.
11 You came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
12 The LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; only [you heard] a voice.
13 He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten mitzvot; and he wrote them on two tables of stone.
14 The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.
15 Take therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no manner of form on the day that the LORD spoke to you in Horev out of the midst of the fire.
16 Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 the likeness of any animal that is on the eretz, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the eretz;
19 and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.
20 But the LORD has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Mitzrayim, to be to him a people of inheritance, as at this day.
21 Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Yarden, and that I should not go in to that good land, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance:
22 but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Yarden; but you shall go over, and possess that good land.
23 Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you an engraved image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you.
24 For the LORD your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
25 When you shall father children, and children's children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, to provoke him to anger;
26 I call heaven and eretz to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over the Yarden to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
27 The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations, where the LORD shall lead you away.
28 There you shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 But from there you shall seek the LORD your God, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
30 When you are in oppression, and all these things are come on you, in the latter days you shall return to the LORD your God, and listen to his voice:
31 for the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.
32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the eretz, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been [any such thing] as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?
33 Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
34 Or has God tried to go and take him a nation from the midst of [another] nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Mitzrayim before your eyes?
35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD he is God; there is none else besides him.
36 Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you: and on eretz he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
37 Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Mitzrayim;
38 to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day.
39 Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above and on the eretz beneath; there is none else.
40 You shall keep his statutes, and his mitzvot, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD your God gives you, forever.
41 Then Moshe set apart three cities beyond the Yarden toward the sunrise;
42 that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares, and didn't hate him in time past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
43 [namely], Betzer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Re'uveni; and Ramot in Gil`ad, for the Gadi; and Galon in Bashan, for the Manashshi.
44 This is the law which Moshe set before the children of Yisra'el:
45 these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moshe spoke to the children of Yisra'el, when they came forth out of Mitzrayim,
46 beyond the Yarden, in the valley over against Beit-Pe`or, in the land of Sichon king of the Amori, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moshe and the children of Yisra'el struck, when they came forth out of Mitzrayim.
47 They took his land in possession, and the land of `Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amori, who were beyond the Yarden toward the sunrise;
48 from `Aro`er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Tzion (the same is Hermon),
49 and all the `Aravah beyond the Yarden eastward, even to the sea of the `Aravah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
NEW TESTAMENT: LUKE 6:39 - 7:10
6:39 He spoke a parable to them. "Can the blind guide the blind? Won't they both fall into a pit? 40 A talmid is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck of chaff that is in your brother's eye, but don't consider the beam that is in your own eye? 42 Or how can you tell your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck of chaff that is in your eye,' when you yourself don't see the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck of chaff that is in your brother's eye. 43 For there is no good tree that brings forth rotten fruit; nor again a rotten tree that brings forth good fruit. 44 For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people don't gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks. 46 "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things which I say? 47 Everyone who comes to me, and hears my words, and does them, I will show you who he is like. 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock. When a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who hears, and doesn't do, is like a man who built a house on the eretz without a foundation, against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."
7:1 After he had finished speaking in the hearing of the people, he entered into Kafar-Nachum. 2 A certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and at the point of death. 3 When he heard about Yeshua, he sent to him Zakenim of the Yehudim, asking him to come and save his servant. 4 When they came to Yeshua, they begged him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy for you to do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he built our synagogue for us." 6 Yeshua went with them. When he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof. 7 Therefore I didn't even think myself worthy to come to you; but say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, 'Go!' and he goes; and to another, 'Come!' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 9 When Yeshua heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude who followed him, "I tell you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Yisra'el." 10 Those who were sent, returning to the house, found that the servant who had been sick was well.
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
