SEPTEMBER 28
PSALMS: 28, 58, 88, 118, 148
PROVERBS: 28
OLD TESTAMENT: HABAKKUK 1:1 - 3:19
NEW TESTAMENT: REVELATIONS 9:1 - 21
PSALMS: 28
1 To you, LORD, I call.
My rock, don't be deaf to me;
Lest, if you are silent to me,
I would become like those who go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my petitions, when I cry to you,
When I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.
3 Don't draw me away with the wicked,
With the workers of iniquity who speak shalom with their neighbors,
But mischief is in their hearts.
4 Give them according to their work,
and according to the wickedness of their doings.
Give them according to the operation of their hands.
Bring back on them what they deserve.
5 Because they don't regard the works of the LORD,
Nor the operation of his hands,
He will break them down and not build them up.
6 Blessed be the LORD,
Because he has heard the voice of my petitions.
7 The LORD is my strength and my shield.
My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped.
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices.
With my song I will thank him.
8 The LORD is their strength.
He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
9 Save your people, and bless your inheritance.
Be their shepherd also, and bear them up forever.
PSALMS: 58
1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones?
Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?
2 No, in your heart you plot injustice.
You measure out the violence of your hands in the eretz.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb.
They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a snake;
Like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 Which doesn't listen to the voice of charmers,
No matter how skillful the charmer may be.
6Break their teeth, God, in their mouth.
Break out the great teeth of the young lions, LORD.
7 Let them vanish as water that flows away.
When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.
8 Let them be as a snail which melts and passes away,
Like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the thorns,
He will sweep away, the green and the burning alike.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance.
He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
11 So that men shall say, "Most assuredly there is a reward for the righteous.
Most assuredly there is a God who judges the eretz."
PSALMS: 88
1 LORD, the God of my salvation,
I have cried day and night before you.
2 Let my prayer enter into your presence.
Turn your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles.
My life draws near to She'ol.
4 I am counted among those who go down into the pit.
I am like a man who has no help,
5 Set apart among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom you remember no more.
They are cut off from your hand.
6 You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily on me.
You have afflicted me with all your waves.
Selah.
8 You have taken my friends from me.
You have made me an abomination to them.
I am confined, and I can't escape.
9 My eyes are dim from grief.
I have called on you daily, LORD.
I have spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you show wonders to the dead?
Do the dead rise up and praise you? Selah.
11 Is your loving kindness declared in the grave?
Or your faithfulness in Destruction?
12 Are your wonders made known in the dark?
Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But to you, LORD, I have cried.
In the morning, my prayer comes before you.
14 LORD, why do you reject my soul?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up.
While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.
16 Your fierce wrath has gone over me.
Your terrors have cut me off.
17 They came around me like water all day long.
They completely engulfed me.
18 You have put lover and friend far from me,
And my friends into darkness.
PSALMS: 148
1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens!
Praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all his host!
3 Praise him, sun and moon!
Praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you heavens of heavens,
You waters that are above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, ‘
For he commanded, and they were created.
6 He has also established them forever and ever.
He has made a decree which will not pass away.
7 Praise the LORD from the eretz,
You great sea creatures, and all depths!
8 Lightning and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling his word;
9 Mountains and all hills;
Fruit trees and all cedars;
10 Wild animals and all cattle;
Small creatures and flying birds;
11 Kings of the eretz and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the eretz;
12 Both young men and maidens;
Old men and children:
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
For his name alone is exalted.
His glory is above the eretz and the heavens.
14 He has lifted up the horn of his people,
The praise of all his holy ones;
Even of the children of Yisra'el, a people near to him.
Praise the LORD!
PROVERBS: 28
1 The wicked flee when no one pursues;
But the righteous are as bold as a lion.
2 In rebellion, a land has many rulers,
But order is maintained by a man of understanding and knowledge.
3 A needy man who oppresses the poor
Is like a driving rain which leaves no crops.
4 Those who forsake the law praise the wicked;
But those who keep the law contend with them.
5 Evil men don't understand justice;
But those who seek the LORD understand it fully.
6 Better is the poor who walks in his integrity,
Than he who is perverse in his ways, and he is rich.
7 Whoever keeps the law is a wise son;
But he who is a companion of gluttons shames his father.
8 He who increases his wealth by excessive interest
Gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.
9 He who turns away his ear from hearing the law,
Even his prayer is an abomination.
10 Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way,
He will fall into his own trap;
But the blameless will inherit good.
11 The rich man is wise in his own eyes;
But the poor who has understanding sees through him.
12 When the righteous triumph, there is great glory;
But when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.
13 He who conceals his sins doesn't prosper,
But whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
14 Blessed is the man who always fears;
But one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
15 As a roaring lion or a charging bear,
So is a wicked ruler over helpless people.
16 The ruler who lacks judgment is a great tyrant.
One who hates ill-gotten gain will have long days.
17 A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death;
No one will support him.
18 Whoever walks blamelessly is kept safe;
But one with perverse ways will fall suddenly.
19 One who works his land will have an abundance of food;
But one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
20 A faithful man is rich with blessings;
But one who is eager to be rich will not go unpunished.
21 To show partiality is not good;
Yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.
22 A stingy man hurries after riches,
And doesn't know that poverty waits for him.
23 One who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor
Than one who flatters with the tongue.
24 Whoever robs his father or his mother, and says,
"It's not wrong."
He is a partner with a destroyer.
25 One who is greedy stirs up strife;
But one who trusts in the LORD will prosper.
26 One who trusts in himself is a fool;
But one who walks in wisdom, he is kept safe.
27 One who gives to the poor has no lack;
But one who closes his eyes will have many curses.
28 When the wicked rise, men hide themselves;
But when they perish, the righteous thrive.
OLD TESTAMENT: HABAKKUK 1:1 - 3:19
1:1 The oracle which Havakkuk the prophet saw. 2 LORD, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you "Violence!" and will you not save? 3 Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up. 4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted. 5 "Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you. 6 For, behold, I raise up the Kasdim, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the eretz, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. 7 They are feared and dreaded. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. 8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour. 9 All of them come for violence. Their hordes face the desert. He gathers prisoners like sand. 10 Yes, he scoffs at kings, and princes are a derision to him. He laughs at every stronghold, for he builds up an earthen ramp, and takes it. 11 Then he sweeps by like the wind, and goes on. He is indeed guilty, whose strength is his god." 12 Aren't you from everlasting, LORD my God, my Holy One? We will not die. LORD, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish. 13 You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he, 14 and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? 15 He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net, and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad. 16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good. 17 Will he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?
2:1 I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. 2 The LORD answered me, "Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. 3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won't prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won't delay. 4 Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith. 5 Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous. A haughty man who doesn't stay at home, who enlarges his desire as She'ol, and he is like death, and can't be satisfied, but gathers to himself all nations, and heaps to himself all peoples. 6 Won't all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, 'Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?' 7 Won't your debtors rise up suddenly, and wake up those who make you tremble, and you will be their victim? 8 Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it. 9 Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil! 10 You have devised shame to your house, by cutting off many peoples, and have sinned against your soul. 11 For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork will answer it. 12 Woe to him who builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity! 13 Behold, isn't it of the LORD of Hosts that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity? 14 For the eretz will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. 15 "Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies! 16 You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of the LORD's right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. 17 For the violence done to Levanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals, which made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to every city and to those who dwell in them. 18 "What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols? 19 Woe to him who says to the wood, 'Awake!' or to the mute stone, 'Arise!' Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. 20 But the LORD is in his holy temple. Let all the eretz be silent before him!"
3:1 A prayer of Havakkuk, the prophet, set to victorious music. 2 LORD, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Renew your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make it known. In wrath, you remember mercy. 3 God came from Teman, The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, And his praise filled the eretz. 4 His splendor is like the sunrise. Rays shine from his hand, where his power is hidden. 5 Plague went before him, And pestilence followed his feet. 6 He stood, and shook the eretz. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal. 7 I saw the tents of Kushan in affliction. The dwellings of the land of Midyan trembled. 8 Was the LORD displeased with the rivers? Was your anger against the rivers, Or your wrath against the sea, That you rode on your horses, On your chariots of salvation? 9 You uncovered your bow. You called for your sworn arrows. Selah. You split the eretz with rivers. 10 The mountains saw you, and were afraid. The tempest of waters passed by. The deep roared and lifted up its hands on high. 11 The sun and moon stood still in the sky, At the light of your arrows as they went, At the shining of your glittering spear. 12 You marched through the land in wrath. You threshed the nations in anger. 13 You went forth for the salvation of your people, For the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the land of wickedness. You stripped them head to foot. Selah. 14 You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears. They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, Gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret. 15 You trampled the sea with your horses, Churning mighty waters. 16 I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place, Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, For the coming up of the people who invade us. 17 For though the fig tree doesn't flourish, Nor fruit be in the vines; The labor of the olive fails, The fields yield no food; The flocks are cut off from the fold, And there is no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! 19 The LORD, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer's feet, And enables me to go in high places. For the music director, on my stringed instruments.
NEW TESTAMENT: REVELATIONS 9:1 - 21
9:1 The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky fallen to the eretz. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him.
2 He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a great furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit.
3 Then out of the smoke came forth locusts on the eretz, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the eretz have power.
4 They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the eretz, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men who don't have God's seal on their foreheads.
5 They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a man.
6 In those days men will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7 The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for war. On their heads were something like gold crowns, and their faces were like men's faces.
8 They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like those of lions.
9 They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war.
10 They have tails like those of scorpions, and stings. In their tails is their power to harm men for five months.
11 They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is "Avaddon," but in Yevanit, he has the name "Apollyon."
12 The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this.
13 The sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 saying to the sixth angel who had one shofar, "Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Perat."
15 The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they would kill one third of mankind.
16 The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them.
17 Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of lions. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
18 By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths.
19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths, and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, and have heads, and with them they harm.
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn't repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn't worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk.
21 They didn't repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their sexual immorality, nor of their thefts.
