MAY
18
PSALMS:
18, 48, 78, 108, 138
PROVERBS:
18
OLD
TESTAMENT:
EZRA 4:24 - 6:22
NEW
TESTAMENT:
1 CORINTHIANS 3:5 - 23
PSALMS:
18
1 I
love you, LORD, my strength.
2 The
LORD is my rock,
and
my fortress, and my deliverer;
My
God, my rock, in whom I will take refuge;
My
shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
3 I
will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So
shall I be saved from my enemies.
4 The
cords of death surrounded me.
The
floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The
cords of She'ol were round about me;
The
snares of death came on me.
6 In
my distress I called on the LORD,
And
cried to my God.
He
heard my voice out of his temple,
My
cry before him came into his ears.
7 Then
the eretz shook and trembled.
The
foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken,
Because
he was angry.
8 There
went up a smoke out of his nostrils,
Fire
out of his mouth devoured;
Coals
were kindled by it.
9 He
bowed the heavens also, and came down.
Thick
darkness was under his feet.
10 He
rode on a Keruv, and flew.
Yes,
he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He
made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion around him,
Darkness
of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 At
the brightness before him his thick clouds passed,
Hailstones
and coals of fire.
13 The
LORD also thundered in the sky,
The
Elyon uttered his voice,
Hailstones
and coals of fire.
14 He
sent out his arrows, and scattered them;
Yes,
lightnings manifold, and routed them.
15 Then
the channels of waters appeared,
The
foundations of the world were laid bare,
At
your rebuke, LORD,
At
the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He
sent from on high.
He
took me.
He
drew me out of many waters.
17 He
delivered me from my strong enemy,
From
those who hated me;
for
they were too mighty for me.
18 They
came on me in the day of my calamity,
But
the LORD was my support.
19 He
brought me forth also into a large place.
He
delivered me, because he delighted in me.
20 The
LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness.
According
to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me.
21 For
I have kept the ways of the LORD,
And
have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For
all his ordinances were before me.
I
didn't put away his statutes from me.
23 I
was also blameless with him.
I
kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore
has the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, According
to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
25 With
the merciful you will show yourself merciful.
With
the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.
26 With
the pure, you will show yourself pure.
With
the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.
27 For
you will save the afflicted people,
But
the haughty eyes you will bring down.
28 For
you will light my lamp.
The
LORD, my God, will light up my darkness.
29 For
by you, I advance through a troop.
By
my God, I leap over a wall.
30 As
for God, his way is perfect.
The
word of the LORD is tried.
He
is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.
31 For
who is God, except the LORD?
Who
is a rock, besides our God,
32 The
God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect?
33 He
makes my feet like hinds' feet,
And
sets me on my high places.
34
He
teaches my hands to war;
So
that my arms bend a bow of bronze.
35 You
have also given me the shield of your salvation.
Your
right hand sustains me.
Your
gentleness has made me great.
36 You
have enlarged my steps under me,
My
feet have not slipped.
37 I
will pursue my enemies, and overtake them.
Neither
will I turn again until they are consumed.
38 I
will strike them through, so that they will not be able to rise.
They
shall fall under my feet.
39 For
you have girded me with strength to the battle.
You
have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You
have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,
That
I might cut off those who hate me.
41 They
cried, but there was none to save;
Even
to the LORD, but he didn't answer them.
42 Then
I beat them small as the dust before the wind.
I
cast them out as the mire of the streets.
43 You
have delivered me from the strivings of the people.
You
have made me the head of the nations.
A
people whom I have not known shall serve me.
44 As
soon as they hear of me they shall obey me.
The
foreigners shall submit themselves to me.
45 The
foreigners shall fade away,
And
shall come trembling out of their close places.
46
The
LORD lives;
and
blessed be my rock.
Exalted
be the God of my salvation,
47 Even
the God who executes vengeance for me,
And
subdues peoples under me.
48 He
rescues me from my enemies.
Yes,
you lift me up above those who rise up against me.
You
deliver me from the violent man.
49 Therefore
I will give thanks to you, LORD, among the nations,
And
will sing praises to your name.
50
He
gives great deliverance to his king,
And
shows loving kindness to his anointed,
To
David and to his seed, forevermore.
PSALMS:
48
1 Great
is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
In
the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
2 Beautiful
in elevation, the joy of the whole eretz,
Is
Mount Tziyon, on the north sides,
The
city of the great King.
3 God
has shown himself in her citadels as a refuge.
4 For,
behold, the kings assembled themselves,
They
passed by together.
5 They
saw it, then were they amazed.
They
were dismayed,
They
hurried away.
6 Trembling
took hold of them there,
Pain,
as of a woman in travail.
7
With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish.
8 As
we have heard, so have we seen,
In
the city of the LORD of Hosts, in the city of our God.
God
will establish it forever.
Selah.
9 We
have thought about your loving kindness,
God,
In the midst of your temple.
10 As
is your name, God,
So
is your praise to the ends of the eretz.
Your
right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let
Mount Tziyon be glad!
Let
the daughters of Yehudah rejoice,
Because
of your judgments.
12 Walk
about Tziyon, and go around her.
Number
the towers of it;
13 Mark
well her bulwarks.
Consider
her palaces, ‘
That
you may tell it to the next generation.
14 For
this God is our God forever and ever.
He
will be our guide even to death.
PSALMS:
78
1 Hear
my law, my people.
Turn
your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I
will open my mouth in a parable.
I
will utter dark sayings of old,
3 Which
we have heard and known,
Our
fathers have told us.
4 We
will not hide them from their children,
Telling
to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
His
strength, and his wondrous works that he has done.
5 For
he established a testimony in Ya`akov,
And
appointed a law in Yisra'el,
Which
he commanded our fathers,
That
they should make them known to their children;
6 That
the generation to come might know,
even
the children who should be born; Who should arise and tell their
children,
7 That
they might set their hope in God,
And
not forget the works of God,
But
keep his mitzvot,
8 And
might not be as their fathers,
A
stubborn and rebellious generation,
A
generation that didn't make their hearts loyal,
Whose
spirit was not steadfast with God.
9 The
children of Efrayim, being armed and carrying bows,
Turned
back in the day of battle.
10
They
didn't keep the covenant of God,
And
refused to walk in his law.
11 They
forgot his doings,
His
wondrous works that he had shown them.
12 Marvelous
things did he in the sight of their fathers,
In
the land of Mitzrayim, in the field of Tzo`an.
13 He
split the sea, and caused them to pass through;
He
made the waters stand as a heap.
14 In
the daytime he also led them with a cloud,
All
the night with a light of fire.
15 He
split rocks in the wilderness,
And
gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
16 He
brought streams also out of the rock,
And
caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 Yet
they still went on to sin against him,
To
rebel against Ha`Elyon in the desert.
18 They
tempted God in their heart
By
asking food according to their desire.
19 Yes,
they spoke against God.
They
said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold,
he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out,
Streams
overflowed.
Can
he give bread also?
Will
he provide flesh for his people?"
21 Therefore
the LORD heard, and was angry.
A
fire was kindled against Ya`akov,
Anger
also went up against Yisra'el,
22 Because
they didn't believe in God,
And
didn't trust in his yeshu`ah.
23 Yet
he commanded the skies above,
And
opened the doors of heaven.
24 He
rained down manna on them to eat,
And
gave them food from the sky.
25 Man
ate the bread of angels.
He
sent them food to the full.
26 He
caused the east wind to blow in the sky.
By
his power he guided the south wind.
27 He
rained also flesh on them as the dust;
Winged
birds as the sand of the seas.
28 He
let them fall in the midst of their camp,
Around
their habitations.
29 So
they ate, and were well filled.
He
gave them their own desire.
30 They
didn't turn from their cravings.
Their
food was yet in their mouths,
31 When
the anger of God went up against them,
And
killed some of the fattest of them,
And
struck down the young men of Yisra'el.
32 For
all this they still sinned,
And
didn't believe in his wondrous works.
33 Therefore
he consumed their days in vanity,
And
their years in terror.
34 When
he killed them, then they inquired after him.
They
returned and sought God earnestly.
35 They
remembered that God was their rock, ‘
The
El `Elyon their redeemer.
36 But
they flattered him with their mouth,
And
lied to him with their tongue.
37
For their heart was not right with him,
Neither
were they faithful in his covenant.
38 But
he, being merciful, forgave iniquity,
and
didn't destroy them.
Yes,
many times he turned his anger away,
And
didn't stir up all his wrath.
39 He
remembered that they were but flesh,
A
wind that passes away, and doesn't come again.
40 How
often did they rebel against him in the wilderness,
And
grieve him in the desert!
41 They
turned again and tempted God,
And
provoked the Holy One of Yisra'el.
42 They
didn't remember his hand,
Nor
the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
43 How
he set his signs in Mitzrayim,
His
wonders in the field of Tzo`an,
44 Turned
their rivers into blood,
Their
streams, so that they could not drink.
45 He
sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;
Frogs,
which destroyed them.
46 He
gave also their increase to the caterpillar,
Their labor to
the arbeh.
47 He
destroyed their vines with hail,
Their
sycamore-fig trees with frost.
48 He
gave over their cattle also to the hail,
And
their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49 He
threw on them the fierceness of his anger,
Wrath,
indignation, and trouble,
And
a band of angels of evil.
50 He
made a path for his anger.
He
didn't spare their soul from death,
But
gave their life over to the pestilence,
51 And
struck all the firstborn in Mitzrayim,
The
chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 But
he led forth his own people like sheep,
And
guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 He
led them safely, so that they weren't afraid,
But
the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 He
brought them to the border of his sanctuary,
To
this mountain, which his right hand had taken.
55 He
also drove out the nations before them,
Allotted
them for an inheritance by line,
And
made the tribes of Yisra'el to dwell in their tents.
56 Yet
they tempted and rebelled against
Ha`Elyon
God, And didn't keep his testimonies;
57 But
turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers.
They
were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 For
they provoked him to anger with their high places,
And
moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.
59
When
God heard this, he was angry,
And
greatly abhorred Yisra'el;
60 So
that he forsook the tent of Shiloh,
The
tent which he placed among men;
61 And
delivered his strength into captivity,
His
glory into the adversary's hand.
62 He
also gave his people over to the sword,
And
was angry with his inheritance.
63 Fire
devoured their young men;
Their
virgins had no wedding song.
64 Their
Kohanim fell by the sword;
Their
widows made no lamentation.
65 Then
the Lord awakened as one out of sleep,
Like
a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine.
66 He
struck his adversaries backward.
He
put them to a perpetual reproach.
67 Moreover
he rejected the tent of Yosef,
And
didn't choose the tribe of Efrayim,
68 But
chose the tribe of Yehudah,
Mount
Tziyon which he loved.
69 He
built his sanctuary like the heights,
Like
the eretz which he has established forever.
70
He
also chose David his servant,
And
took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From
following the ewes that have their young he brought him
To
be the shepherd of Ya`akov, his people, and Yisra'el, his
inheritance.
72 So
he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart,
And
guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
PSALMS:
108
1 My
heart is steadfast, God.
I
will sing and I will make music with my soul.
2 Wake
up, harp and lyre!
I
will wake up the dawn.
3
I
will give thanks to you, LORD, among the nations.
I
will sing praises to you among the peoples.
4 For
your loving kindness is great above the heavens.
Your
faithfulness reaches to the skies.
5 Be
exalted, God, above the heavens,
Let
your glory be over all the eretz.
6 That
your beloved may be delivered,
Save
with your right hand, and answer us.
7 God
has spoken from his sanctuary:
"In
triumph, I will divide Shekhem, and measure out the valley of
Sukkot.
8 Gil`ad
is mine.
Menashsheh
is mine.
Efrayim
also is my helmet.
Yehudah
is my scepter.
9 Mo'av
is my wash pot.
I
will toss my sandal on Edom.
I
will shout over Peleshet."
10 Who
will bring me into the fortified city?
Who
has led me to Edom?
11 Haven't
you rejected us, God?
‘You
don't go forth, God, with our armies.
12 Give
us help against the enemy,
For
the help of man is vain.
13 Through
God, we will do valiantly.
For
it is he who will tread down our enemies.
PROVERBS:
18
1 An
unfriendly man pursues selfishness,
And
defies all sound judgment.
2 A
fool has no delight in understanding,
But
only in broadcasting his own opinion.
3 When
wickedness comes, contempt also comes,
And
with shame comes disgrace.
4 The
words of a man's mouth are like deep waters.
The
fountain of wisdom is like a flowing brook.
5 To
be partial to the faces of the wicked is not good,
Nor
to deprive the innocent of justice.
6 A
fool's lips come into strife,
And
his mouth invites beatings.
7 A
fool's mouth is his destruction,
And
his lips are a snare to his soul.
8 The
words of a gossip are like dainty morsels:
They
go down into a person's innermost parts.
9 One
who is slack in his work
Is
brother to him who is a master of destruction.
10 The
name of the LORD is a strong tower:
The
righteous run to him, and are safe.
11 The
rich man's wealth is his strong city,
Like
an unscalable wall in his own imagination.
12 Before
destruction the heart of man is proud,
But
before honor is humility.
13 He
who gives answer before he hears,
That
is folly and shame to him.
14 A
man's spirit will sustain him in sickness,
But
a crushed spirit who can bear?
15 The
heart of the discerning gets knowledge.
The
ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
16 A
man's gift makes room for him,
And
brings him before great men.
17
He who pleads his cause first seems right;
Until
another comes and questions him.
18 The
lot settles disputes,
And
keeps strong ones apart.
19 A
brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city;
And
disputes are like the bars of a castle.
20 A
man's stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth.
With
the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.
21 Death
and life are in the power of the tongue;
Those
who love it will eat its fruit.
22 Whoever
finds a wife finds a good thing,
And
obtains favor of the LORD.
23 The
poor pleads for mercy,
But
the rich answers harshly.
24 A
man of many companions may be ruined,
But
there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
OLD
TESTAMENT:
EZRA 4:24 - 6:22
4
24 Then
work stopped on God’s house which is at Jerusalem. It stopped until
the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
5
1 Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah
the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and
Jerusalem. They prophesied to them in the name of the God of
Israel. 2 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and
Yeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build God’s house
which is at Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God,
helping them.
3 At
the same time Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, came to them,
with Shetharbozenai and their companions, and asked them, “Who gave
you a decree to build this house and to finish this wall?” 4 They
also asked for the names of the men were who were making this
building. 5 But the eye of their God was on the
Jewish elders, and they didn’t make them cease until the matter
should come to Darius, and an answer should be returned by letter
concerning it.
6 The
copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and
Shetharbozenai, and his companions the Apharsachites who were beyond
the River, sent to Darius the king follows. 7 They
sent a letter to him, in which was written:
To
Darius the king, all peace.
8 Be
it known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the
house of the great God, which is being built with great stones and
timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on with diligence and
prospers in their hands. 9 Then we asked those
elders, and said to them thus, “Who gave you a decree to build this
house, and to finish this wall?” 10 We asked them
their names also, to inform you that we might write the names of the
men who were at their head. 11 Thus they returned us
answer, saying, “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth
and are building the house that was built these many years ago, which
a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But
after our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he gave
them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Kasdian,
who destroyed this house and carried the people away into
Babylon. 13 But in the first year of Cyrus king of
Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of
God. 14 The gold and silver vessels of God’s
house, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in
Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, those Cyrus the
king also took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered
to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. 15 He
said to him, ‘Take these vessels, go, put them in the temple that
is in Jerusalem, and let God’s house be built in its
place.’ 16 Then the same Sheshbazzar came and laid
the foundations of God’s house which is in Jerusalem. Since that
time even until now it has been being built, and yet it is not
completed.
17 Now
therefore, if it seems good to the king, let a search be made in the
king’s treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it is so
that a decree was made by Cyrus the king to build this house of God
at Jerusalem; and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning
this matter.”
6
1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and the house of the
archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon, was
searched. 2 A scroll was found at Achmetha, in the
palace that is in the province of Media, and in it this was written
for a record:
3 In
the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree:
Concerning God’s house at Jerusalem, let the house be built, the
place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be
strongly laid, with its height sixty cubits* and
its width sixty cubits; 4 with
three courses of great stones and a course of new timber. Let the
expenses be given out of the king’s house. 5 Also
let the gold and silver vessels of God’s house, which
Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple which is at Jerusalem and
brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple which
is at Jerusalem, everything to its place. You shall put them in God’s
house.
6 Now
therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and
your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River, you must
stay far from there. 7 Leave the work of this house
of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders
build this house of God in its place. 8 Moreover I
make a decree regarding what you shall do for these Jewish elders for
the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even
of the tribute beyond the River, expenses must be given with all
diligence to these men, that they not be hindered. 9 That
which they have need of, including young bulls, rams, and lambs, for
burnt offerings to the God of heaven; also wheat, salt, wine, and
oil, according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let
it be given them day by day without fail, 10 that
they may offer sacrifices of pleasant aroma to the God of heaven, and
pray for the life of the king and of his sons. 11 I
have also made a decree that whoever alters this message, let a beam
be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and fastened
on it; and let his house be made a dunghill for this. 12 May
the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow all kings
and peoples who stretch out their hand to alter this, to destroy this
house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree. Let
it be done with all diligence.
13 Then
Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and their
companions did accordingly with all diligence, because Darius the
king had sent a decree.
14 The
Jewish elders built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai
the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They built and finished
it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according
to the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of
Persia. 15 This house was finished on the third day
of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius
the king.
16 The
children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the
children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God
with joy. 17 They offered at the dedication of this
house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs;
and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according
to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 They set
the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses, for
the service of God which is at Jerusalem, as it is written in the
book of Moses.
19 The
children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of
the first month. 20 Because the priests and the
Levites had purified themselves together, all of them were pure. They
killed the Passover for all the children of the captivity, for their
brothers the priests, and for themselves. 21 The
children of Israel who had returned out of the captivity, and all who
had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations
of the land to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, ate, 22 and
kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; because the
LORD had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of
Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of God, the
God of Israel’s house.
NEW
TESTAMENT: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:5 - 23
3
5 Who
then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you
believed, and each as the Lord gave to him? 6 I
planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. 7 So
then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God
who gives the increase. 8 Now
he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive
his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For
we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s
building.
10 According
to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I
laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be
careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay
any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Yeshua
the Messiah. 12 But if anyone builds on the
foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or
straw, 13 each man’s work will be revealed. For
the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire
itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. 14 If
any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a
reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned, he will
suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.
16 Don’t
you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in
you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will
destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.
18 Let
no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in
this world, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For
the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written,
“He has taken the wise in their craftiness.”✡ 20 And
again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is
worthless.”✡ 21 Therefore
let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether
Paul, or Apollos, or Kefa, or the world, or life, or death, or things
present, or things to come. All are yours, 23 and
you are Messiah’s, and Messiah is God’s.
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
