SEPTEMBER 4
PSALMS: 4, 34, 64, 94, 124
PROVERBS: 4
OLD TESTAMENT: EZEKIEL 47:1 - 48:35
NEW TESTAMENT: 1 PETER 2:11 - 3:7
PSALMS: 4
1 For the leader.
With stringed instruments.
A psalm of David:
O God, my vindicator!
Answer me when I call!
When I was distressed, you set me free;
now have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
2 Men of rank, how long will you shame my honor,
love what is vain, chase after lies?
(Selah)
3 Understand that ADONAI sets apart the godly person for himself;
ADONAI will hear when I call to him.
4 You can be angry, but do not sin!
Think about this as you lie in bed, and calm down.
(Selah)
5 Offer sacrifices rightly,
and put your trust in ADONAI.
6 Many ask, "Who can show us some good?"
ADONAI, lift the light of your face over us!
7 You have filled my heart with more joy
than all their grain and new wine.
8 I will lie down and sleep in peace;
for, ADONAI, you alone make me live securely.
PSALMS: 34
1 By David,
when he pretended to be insane before Avimelekh,
who then drove him away;
so he left:
I will bless ADONAI at all times;
his praise will always be in my mouth.
2 When I boast, it will be about ADONAI;
the humble will hear of it and be glad.
3 Proclaim with me the greatness of ADONAI;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought ADONAI, and he answered me;
he rescued me from everything I feared.
5 They looked to him and grew radiant;
their faces will never blush for shame.
6 This poor man cried;
ADONAI heard and saved him from all his troubles.
7 The angel of ADONAI,
who encamps around those who fear him, delivers them.
8 Taste, and see that ADONAI is good.
How blessed are those who take refuge in him!
9 Fear ADONAI, you holy ones of his,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 Young lions can be needy, they can go hungry,
but those who seek ADONAI lack nothing good.
11 Come, children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of ADONAI.
12 Which of you takes pleasure in living?
Who wants a long life to see good things?
13 [If you do,] keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from deceiving talk;
14 turn from evil, and do good;
seek peace, go after it!
15 The eyes of ADONAI watch over the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
16 But the face of ADONAI opposes those who do evil,
to cut off all memory of them from the earth.
17 [The righteous] cried out, and ADONAI heard,
and he saved them from all their troubles.
18 ADONAI is near those with broken hearts;
he saves those whose spirit is crushed.
19 The righteous person suffers many evils,
but ADONAI rescues him out of them all.
20 He protects all his bones;
not one of them gets broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked, and those who
hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 But ADONAI redeems his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
PSALMS: 64
1 For the leader.
A psalm of David:
Hear my voice, God, as I plead:
preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret intrigues of the wicked
and the open insurrection of evildoers.
3 They sharpen their tongues like a sword;
they aim their arrows, poisoned words,
4 in order to shoot from cover at the innocent,
shooting suddenly and fearing nothing.
5 They support each other's evil plans;
they talk of hiding snares and ask, "Who would see them?"
6 They search for ways to commit crimes,
bringing their diligent search to completion when each
of them has thought it through in the depth of his heart.
7 Suddenly God shoots them down with an arrow,
leaving them with wounds;
8 their own tongues make them stumble.
All who see them shake their heads.
9 Everyone is awestruck they acknowledge that it is God at work,
they understand what he has done.
10 The righteous will rejoice in ADONAI;
they will take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will exult.
PSALMS: 94
1 God of vengeance, ADONAI!
God of vengeance, appear!
2 Assert yourself as judge of the earth!
Pay back the proud as they deserve!
3 How long are the wicked, ADONAI,
how long are the wicked to triumph?
4 They pour out insolent words,
they go on bragging, all these evildoers.
5 They crush your people, ADONAI,
they oppress your heritage.
6 They kill widows and strangers
and murder the fatherless.
7 They say, "Yah isn't looking;
the God of Ya'akov won't notice."
8 Take notice, yourselves, you boors among the people!
You fools, when will you understand?
9 Will the one who planted the ear not hear?
Will the one who formed the eye not see?
10 Will the one who disciplines nations not correct them?
Will the teacher of humanity not know?
11 ADONAI understands that people's thoughts
are merely a puff of wind.
12 How happy the man whom you correct, Yah,
whom you teach from your Torah,
13 giving him respite from days of trouble,
till a pit is dug for the wicked!
14 For ADONAI will not desert his people,
he will not abandon his heritage.
15 Justice will once again become righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will champion my cause against the wicked?
Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
17 If ADONAI hadn't helped me,
I would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
18 When I said, "My foot is slipping!"
your grace, ADONAI, supported me.
19 When my cares within me are many,
your comforts cheer me up.
20 Can unjust judges be allied with you,
those producing wrong in the name of law?
21 They band together against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But ADONAI has become my stronghold,
my God is my rock of refuge.
23 But he repays them as their guilt deserves;
he will cut them off with their own evil;
ADONAI our God will cut them off.
PSALMS: 124
1 A song of ascents.
By David:
If ADONAI hadn't been for us -let Isra'el repeat it -
2 If ADONAI hadn't been for us
when people rose to attack us,
3 then, when their anger blazed against us,
they would have swallowed us alive!
4 Then the water would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us.
5 Yes, the raging water would have swept right over us.
6 Blessed be ADONAI,
who did not leave us to be a prey for their teeth!
7 We escaped like a bird from the hunter's trap;
the trap is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of ADONAI,
the maker of heaven and earth.
PROVERBS: 4
1 Listen, children, to a father's instruction;
pay attention, in order to gain insight;
2 for I am giving you good advice;
so don't abandon my teaching.
3 For I too was once a child to my father;
and my mother, too, thought of me as her special darling.
4 He too taught me; he said to me,
"Let your heart treasure my words;
keep my commands, and live;
5 gain wisdom, gain insight;
don't forget or turn from the words I am saying.
6 Don't abandon [wisdom];
then she will preserve you;
love her, and she will protect you.
7 The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom!
And along with all your getting, get insight!
8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will bring you honor;
9 she will give your head a garland of grace,
bestow on you a crown of glory."
10 Listen, my son, receive what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
11 I'm directing you on the way of wisdom,
guiding you in paths of uprightness;
12 when you walk, your step won't be hindered;
and if you run, you won't stumble.
13 Hold fast to discipline, don't let it go;
guard it, for it is your life.
14 Don't follow the path of the wicked
or walk on the way of evildoers.
15 Avoid it, don't go on it,
turn away from it, and pass on.
16 For they can't sleep if they haven't done evil,
they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone fall.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
shining ever brighter until full daylight.
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;
they don't even know what makes them stumble.
20 My son, pay attention to what I am saying;
incline your ear to my words.
21 Don't let them out of your sight,
keep them deep in your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to their whole being.
23 Above everything else, guard your heart;
for it is the source of life's consequences.
24 Keep crooked speech out of your mouth,
banish deceit from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze on what lies in front of you.
26 Level the path for your feet,
let all your ways be properly prepared;
27 then deviate neither right nor left;
and keep your foot far from evil.
OLD TESTAMENT: EZEKIEL 47:1 - 48:35
47:1 He brought me back to the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward; (for the forefront of the house was toward the east;) and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round by the way outside to the outer gate, by the way of [the gate] that looks toward the east; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 3 When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles. 4 Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through [the waters], waters that were to the loins. 5 Afterward he measured one thousand; [and it was] a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. 6 He said to me, Son of man, have you seen [this]? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river. 7 Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 Then said he to me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the `Aravah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea [shall the waters go] which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed. 9 It shall happen, that every living creature which swarms, in every place where the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters are come there, and [the waters of the sea] shall be healed, and everything shall live wherever the river comes. 10 It shall happen, that fishermen shall stand by it: from `En-Gedi even to `En-`Eglayim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. 11 But the miry places of it, and the marshes of it, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt. 12 By the river on the bank of it, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall the fruit of it fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because the waters of it issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit of it shall be for food, and the leaf of it for healing. 13 Thus says the Lord GOD: This shall be the border, whereby you shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Yisra'el: Yosef [shall have two] portions. 14 You shall inherit it, one as well as another; for I swore to give it to your fathers: and this land shall fall to you for inheritance. 15 This shall be the border of the land: On the north side, from the great sea, by the way of Hetlon, to the entrance of Tzedad; 16 Hamat, Berotah, Sivrai, which is between the border of Dammesek and the border of Hamat; the middle Hatzer, which is by the border of Havran. 17 The border from the sea, shall be Hatzar-`Enon at the border of Dammesek; and on the north northward is the border of Hamat. This is the north side. 18 The east side, between Hauran and Dammesek and Gil`ad, and Eretz-Yisra'el, shall be the Yarden; from the [north] border to the east sea shall you measure. This is the east side. 19 The south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Merivot-Kadesh, to the brook [of Mitzrayim], to the great sea. This is the south side southward. 20 The west side shall be the great sea, from the [south] border as far as over against the entrance of Hamat. This is the west side. 21 So shall you divide this land to you according to the tribes of Yisra'el. 22 It shall happen, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the strangers who sojourn among you, who shall father children among you; and they shall be to you as the home-born among the children of Yisra'el; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Yisra'el. 23 It shall happen, that in what tribe the stranger sojourns, there shall you give him his inheritance, says the Lord GOD.
48:1 Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hetlon to the entrance of Hamat, Hatzar-`Enan at the border of Dammesek, northward beside Hamat, (and they shall have their sides east [and] west,) Dan, one [portion]. 2 By the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one [portion]. 3 By the border of Asher, from the east side even to the west side, Naftali, one [portion]. 4 By the border of Naftali, from the east side to the west side, Menashsheh, one [portion]. 5 By the border of Menashsheh, from the east side to the west side, Efrayim, one [portion]. 6 By the border of Efrayim, from the east side even to the west side, Re'uven, one [portion]. 7 By the border of Re'uven, from the east side to the west side, Yehudah, one [portion]. 8 By the border of Yehudah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the offering which you shall offer, twenty-five thousand [reeds] in breadth, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side to the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it. 9 The offering that you shall offer to the LORD shall be twenty-five thousand [reeds] in length, and ten thousand in breadth. 10 For these, even for the Kohanim, shall be the holy offering: toward the north twenty-five thousand [in length], and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst of it. 11 [It shall be] for the Kohanim who are sanctified of the sons of Tzadok, who have kept my charge, who didn't go astray when the children of Yisra'el went astray, as the Levites went astray. 12 It shall be to them an offering from the offering of the land, a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites. 13 Answerable to the border of the Kohanim, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. 14 They shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be alienated; for it is holy to the LORD. 15 The five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for suburbs; and the city shall be in the midst of it. 16 These shall be the measures of it: the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred. 17 The city shall have suburbs: toward the north two hundred fifty, and toward the south two hundred fifty, and toward the east two hundred fifty, and toward the west two hundred fifty. 18 The remainder in the length, answerable to the holy offering, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and it shall be answerable to the holy offering; and the increase of it shall be for food to those who labor in the city. 19 Those who labor in the city, out of all the tribes of Yisra'el, shall until it. 20 All the offering shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you shall offer the holy offering four-square, with the possession of the city. 21 The residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, answerable to the portions, it shall be for the prince: and the holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst of it. 22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Yehudah and the border of Binyamin, it shall be for the prince. 23 As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Binyamin, one [portion]. 24 By the border of Binyamin, from the east side to the west side, Shim`on, one [portion]. 25 By the border of Shim`on, from the east side to the west side, Yissakhar, one [portion]. 26 By the border of Yissakhar, from the east side to the west side, Zevulun, one [portion]. 27 By the border of Zevulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one [portion]. 28 By the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Merivat-Kadesh, to the brook [of Mitzrayim], to the great sea. 29 This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Yisra'el for inheritance, and these are their several portions, says the Lord GOD. 30 These are the exits of the city: On the north side four thousand and five hundred [reeds] by measure; 31 and the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Yisra'el, three gates northward: the gate of Re'uven, one; the gate of Yehudah, one; the gate of Levi, one. 32 At the east side four thousand and five hundred [reeds], and three gates: even the gate of Yosef, one; the gate of Binyamin, one; the gate of Dan, one. 33 At the south side four thousand and five hundred [reeds] by measure, and three gates: the gate of Shim`on, one; the gate of Yissakhar, one; the gate of Zevulun, one. 34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred [reeds], with their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naftali, one. 35 It shall be eighteen thousand [reeds] round about: and the name of the city from that day shall be, the LORD is there.
NEW TESTAMENT: 1 PETER 2:11 - 3:7
2:11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lust, which war against the soul; 12 having good behavior among the nations, so in that which they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether to the king, as supreme; 14 or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to those who do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. 18 Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the wicked. 19 For it is commendable if someone endures pain, suffering unjustly, because of conscience toward God. 20 For what glory is it, if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if, when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is commendable with God. 21 For to this were you called, because Messiah also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps, 22who did not sin, "neither was deceit found in his mouth." 23 Who, when he was reviled, didn't revile back. When he suffered, didn't threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously; 24 who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were going astray like sheep; but are now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
3:1 In like manner, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; so that, even if any don't obey the Word, they may be gained by the behavior of their wives without a word; 2 seeing your pure behavior in fear. 3 Let your beauty be not just the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on fine clothing; 4 but in the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women before, who hoped in God, also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands: 6 as Sarah obeyed Avraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are, if you do well, and are not put in fear by any terror. 7 You husbands, in like manner, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as being also joint heirs of the grace of life; not cutting off your prayers.
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
