OCTOBER 31
PSALMS: 31, 61, 91, 121
PROVERBS: 31
OLD TESTAMENT: GENESIS 41:17 – 42:17
NEW TESTAMENT: MATTHEW 13:24 – 46
PSALMS: 31
1 In you, LORD, do I take refuge.
Let me never be put to shame:
Deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Bow down your ear to me.
Deliver me speedily.
Be to me a strong rock,
A house of defense to save me.
3 For you are my rock and my fortress,
Therefore for your name’s sake lead me and guide me.
4 Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me,
For you are my stronghold.
5 Into your hand I commend my spirit.
You redeem me, LORD, God of truth.
6 I hate those who regard lying vanities,
But I trust in the LORD.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness,
For you have seen my affliction.
You have known my soul in adversities.
8 You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy.
You have set my feet in a large place.
9 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am in distress.
My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
My years with sighing.
My strength fails because of my iniquity.
My bones are wasted away.
11 Because of all my adversaries
I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbors,
A fear to my acquaintances.
Those who saw me on the street fled from me.
12 I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man.
I am like broken pottery.
13 For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side,
While they conspire together against me,
They plot to take away my life.
14 But I trust in you, LORD.
I said, You are my God.
15 My times are in your hand.
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine on your servant.
Save me in your loving kindness.
17 Let me not be put to shame, LORD,
for I have called on you.
Let the wicked be put to shame.
Let them be silent in She’ol.
18 Let the lying lips be mute,
Which speak against the righteous insolently,
with pride and contempt.
19 Oh how great is your goodness,
Which you have laid up for those who fear you,
‘Which you have worked for those who take refuge in you,
Before the sons of men!
20 In the covert of your presence will you hide them from the plotting of man.
You will keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
21 Praise be to the LORD,
For he has shown me his marvelous loving kindness in a strong city.
22 As for me, I said in my haste,
“I am cut off from before your eyes.”
Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
23 Oh love the LORD, all you his holy ones!
The LORD preserves the faithful,
And pays back him who deals proudly in full.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
All you who hope in the LORD.
PSALMS: 61
1 Hear my cry, God.
Listen to my prayer.
2 From the end of the eretz,
I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For you have been a refuge for me,
A strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will dwell in your tent forever.
I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
Selah.
5 For you, God, have heard my vows.
You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 You will prolong the king’s life;
His years shall be for generations.
7 He shall be enthroned in God’s presence forever.
Appoint your loving kindness and truth,
that they may preserve him.
8 So I will sing praise to your name forever,
That I may fulfill my vows daily.
PSALMS: 91
1 He who dwells in the secret place of Ha`Elyon
Will rest in the shadow of Shaddai.
2 I will say of the LORD,
“He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler,
From the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions.
Under his wings you will take refuge.
His truth is a shield and a buckler.
5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes,
And see the reward of the wicked.
9 For you, LORD, are my refuge!
You have made Ha`Elyon your habitation.
10 No evil shall happen to you,
Neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
11 For he will give his angels charge over you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands,
So that you won’t dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and cobra.
You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.
14 “Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him.
I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him.
I will be with him in trouble.
I will deliver him, and honor him.
16 I will satisfy him with long life,
And show him my yeshu`ah.”
PSALMS: 121
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills.
Where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and eretz.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved.
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Yisra’el
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is your keeper.
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all evil.
He will keep your soul.
8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in,
From this time forth, and forevermore.
PROVERBS: 31
1 The words of king Lemo’el;
the oracle which his mother taught him.
2 “Oh, my son!” Oh, son of my womb!
Oh, son of my vows!
3 Don’t give your strength to women,
Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.
4 It is not for kings, Lemo’el;
it is not for kings to drink wine;
Nor for princes to say, ‘Where is strong drink?’
5 Lest they drink, and forget the law,
And pervert the justice due to anyone who is afflicted.
6 Give strong drink to him who is ready to perish;
And wine to the bitter in soul:
7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty,
And remember his misery no more.
8 Open your mouth for the mute,
In the cause of all who are left desolate.
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And serve justice to the poor and needy.”
10 Who can find a worthy woman?
For her price is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her.
He shall have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
All the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
And works eagerly with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships.
She brings her bread from afar.
15 She rises also while it is yet night,
Gives food to her household,
And portions for her servant girls.
16 She considers a field, and buys it.
With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds her loins with strength,
And makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp doesn’t go out by night.
19 She lays her hands to the distaff,
And her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her arms to the poor;
Yes, she extends her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household;
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes for herself carpets of tapestry.
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected in the gates,
When he sits among the Zakenim of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing.
She laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom.
Faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household,
And doesn’t eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed.
Her husband also praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
But you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain;
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands;
Let her works praise her in the gates.
OLD TESTAMENT: GENESIS 41:17 – 42:17
41:17 Par`oh spoke to Yosef, “In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river: 18 and, behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat-fleshed and well-favored. They fed in the reed-grass, 19 and, behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ill-favored and lean-fleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Mitzrayim for badness. 20 The lean and ill-favored cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle, 21 and when they had eaten them up, it couldn’t be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ill-favored, as at the beginning. So I awoke. 22 I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up on one stalk, full and good: 23 and, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. 24 The thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. I told it to the magicians; but there was no one who could explain it to me.” 25 Yosef said to Par`oh, “The dream of Par`oh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Par`oh. 26 The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years. The dream is one. 27 The seven lean and ill-favored cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine. 28 That is the thing which I spoke to Par`oh. What God is about to do he has shown to Par`oh. 29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Mitzrayim. 30 There will arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Mitzrayim. The famine will consume the land, 31 and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous. 32 The dream was doubled to Par`oh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. 33 Now therefore let Par`oh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Mitzrayim. 34 Let Par`oh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Mitzrayim’s produce in the seven plenteous years. 35 Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Par`oh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. 36 The food will be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Mitzrayim; that the land not perish through the famine.” 37 The thing was good in the eyes of Par`oh, and in the eyes of all his servants. 38 Par`oh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the spirit of God?” 39 Par`oh said to Yosef, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is none so discreet and wise as you. 40 You shall be over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” 41 Par`oh said to Yosef, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Mitzrayim.” 42 Par`oh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Yosef’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck, 43 and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, “Bow the knee!” He set him over all the land of Mitzrayim. 44 Par`oh said to Yosef, “I am Par`oh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Mitzrayim.” 45 Par`oh called Yosef’s name Tzafenat-Pa`neach; and he gave him Asenat, the daughter of Potiphera Kohen of On as a wife. Yosef went out over the land of Mitzrayim. 46 Yosef was thirty years old when he stood before Par`oh king of Mitzrayim. Yosef went out from the presence of Par`oh, and went throughout all the land of Mitzrayim. 47 In the seven plenteous years the eretz brought forth by handfuls. 48 He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Mitzrayim, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, he laid up in the same. 49 Yosef laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. 50 To Yosef were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenat, the daughter of Potiphera Kohen of On, bore to him. 51 Yosef called the name of the firstborn Menashsheh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” 52 The name of the second, he called Efrayim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” 53 The seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Mitzrayim, came to an end. 54 The seven years of famine began to come, just as Yosef had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Mitzrayim there was bread. 55 When all the land of Mitzrayim was famished, the people cried to Par`oh for bread, and Par`oh said to all the Mitzrim, “Go to Yosef. What he says to you, do.” 56 The famine was over all the surface of the eretz. Yosef opened all the store-houses, and sold to the Mitzrim. The famine was severe in the land of Mitzrayim. 57 All countries came into Mitzrayim, to Yosef, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the eretz.
42:1 Now Ya`akov saw that there was grain in Mitzrayim, and Ya`akov said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Mitzrayim. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.” 3 Yosef’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Mitzrayim. 4 But Ya`akov didn’t send Binyamin, Yosef’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm befall him.” 5 The sons of Yisra’el came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Kana`an. 6 Yosef was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Yosef’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the eretz. 7 Yosef saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?” They said, “From the land of Kana`an to buy food.” 8 Yosef recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. 9 Yosef remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.” 10 They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.” 12 He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” 13 They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Kana`an; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.” 14 Yosef said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies.’ 15 Hereby you shall be tested. By the life of Par`oh you shall not go forth from here, unless your youngest brother come here. 16 Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Par`oh surely you are spies.” 17 He put them all together into custody three days.
NEW TESTAMENT: MATTHEW 13:24 – 46
13:24 He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,
25 but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel also among the wheat, and went away.
26 But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then the darnel appeared also.
27 The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did this darnel come from?’
28 “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’
29 “But he said, ‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel, you root up the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘”
31 He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field;
32 which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.”
33 He spoke another parable to them. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.”
34 Yeshua spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he didn’t speak to them,
35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”
36 Then Yeshua sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His talmidim came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.”
37 He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,
38 the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the darnel are the sons of the evil one.
39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
40 As therefore the darnel is gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be in the end of this age.
41 The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity,
42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
43 Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.
45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls,
46 who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
MARCH 15
PSALMS: 15, 45, 75, 105, 135
PROVERBS: 15
OLD TESTAMENT: 2 SAMUEL 22:1 – 23:23
NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 2:1 – 47
PSALMS: 15
1 LORD, who shall dwell in your sanctuary?
Who shall live on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly, does what is right,
And speaks truth in his heart;
3 He who doesn’t slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his friend,
Nor casts slurs against his fellow man;
4 In whose eyes a vile man is despised,
But who honors those who fear the LORD;
He who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;
5 He who doesn’t lend out his money for usury,
Nor take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be shaken.
PSALMS: 45
1 My heart overflows with a noble theme.
I recite my verses for the king.
My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.
2 You are the most excellent of the sons of men.
Grace has anointed your lips,
Therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, mighty one,
Your splendor and your majesty.
4 In your majesty ride on victoriously on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness. Let your right hand display awesome deeds.
5 Your arrows are sharp.
The nations fall under you, with arrows in the heart of the king’s enemies.
6 Your throne, God, is forever and ever.
A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.
7 You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil
of gladness above your fellows.
8 All your garments smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.
9 Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women.
At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ofir.
10 Listen, daughter, consider, and turn your ear.
Forget your own people, and also your father’s house.
11 So will the king desire your beauty,
Honor him, for he is your lord.
12 The daughter of Tzor comes with a gift.
The rich among the people entreat your favor.
13 The princess inside is all glorious.
Her clothing is interwoven with gold.
14 She shall be led to the king in embroidered work.
The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to you.
15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be led.
They shall enter into the king’s palace.
16 Your sons will take the place of your fathers.
You shall make them princes in all the eretz.
17 I will make your name to be remembered in all generations.
Therefore the peoples shall give you thanks forever and ever.
PSALMS: 75
1 We give thanks to you, God,
We give thanks, for your Name is near.
Men tell about your wondrous works.
2 When I choose the appointed time,
I will judge blamelessly.
3 The eretz and all its inhabitants quake.
I firmly hold its pillars. Selah.
4 I said to the arrogant,
“Don’t boast;”
To the wicked,
“Don’t lift up the horn.
5 Don’t lift up your horn on high.
Don’t speak with a stiff neck.”
6 For neither from the east, nor from the west,
Nor yet from the south, comes exaltation.
7 But God is the judge.
He puts down one, and lifts up another.
8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup,
Full of foaming wine mixed with spices.
He pours it out.
Indeed the wicked of the eretz drink and drink it to its very dregs.
9 But I will declare this forever:
I will sing praises to the God of Ya`akov.
10 I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,
But the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.
PSALMS: 105
1 Give thanks to the LORD!
Call on his name! Make his doings known among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him!
Tell of all his marvelous works.
3 Glory in his holy name.
Let the heart of them rejoice who seek the LORD.
4 Seek the LORD and his strength.
Seek his face forever more.
5 Remember his marvelous works that he has done;
His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
6 You seed of Avraham, his servant,
You children of Ya`akov, his chosen ones.
7 He is the LORD, our God.
His judgments are in all the eretz.
8 He has remembered his covenant forever,
The word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
9 The covenant which he made with Avraham,
His oath to Yitzchak,
10 And confirmed the same to Ya`akov for a statute;
To Yisra’el for an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, “To you I will give the land of Kana`an,
The lot of your inheritance;”
12 When they were but a few men in number,
Yes, very few, and sojourners in it.
13 They went about from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people.
14 He allowed no one to do them wrong.
Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,
15 “Don’t touch my anointed ones.
Do my prophets no harm.”
16 He called for a famine on the land.
He destroyed the food supplies.
17 He sent a man before them.
Yosef was sold for a slave.
18 They bruised his feet with shackles.
His neck was locked in irons,
19 Until the time that his word happened,
And the LORD’s word proved him true.
20 The king sent and freed him;
Even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.
21 He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all of his possessions;
22 To discipline his princes at his pleasure,
And to teach his Zakenim wisdom.
23 Yisra’el also came into Mitzrayim.
Ya`akov sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 He increased his people greatly,
And made them stronger than their adversaries.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people,
To conspire against his servants.
26 He sent Moshe, his servant,
And Aharon, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed miracles among them,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark.
They didn’t rebel against his words.
29He turned their waters into blood,
And killed their fish.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
Even in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and swarms of flies came, ‘
And lice in all their borders.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
With lightning in their land.
33 He struck their vines and also their fig trees,
And shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
And the grasshoppers, without number,
35 Ate up every plant in their land;
Ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck also all the firstborn in their land,
The chief of all their strength.
37 He brought them forth with silver and gold.
There was not one feeble person among his tribes.
38Mitzrayim was glad when they departed,
For the fear of them had fallen on them.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering,
Fire to give light in the night.
40 They asked, and he brought quails,
And satisfied them with the bread of the sky.
41 He opened the rock, and waters gushed out.
They ran as a river in the dry places.
42 For he remembered his holy word,
And Avraham, his servant.
43 He brought forth his people with joy,
His chosen with singing.
44 He gave them the lands of the nations.
They took the labor of the peoples in possession,
45 That they might keep his statutes,
And observe his laws.
Praise the LORD!
PSALMS: 135
1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the name of the LORD!
Praise him, you servants of the LORD,
2 You who stand in the house of the LORD,
In the courts of our God’s house.
3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good.
Sing praises to his name, for that is pleasant.
4 For the LORD has chosen Ya`akov for himself;
Yisra’el for his own possession.
5 For I know that the LORD is great,
That our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the LORD pleased, that he has done,
In heaven and in eretz, in the seas and in all deeps;
7 Who causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the eretz;
Who makes lightnings with the rain;
Who brings forth the wind out of his treasuries;
8 Who struck the firstborn of Mitzrayim,
Both of man and animal;
9 Who sent signs and wonders into the midst of you,
Mitzrayim,
On Par`oh, and on all his servants;
10 Who struck many nations,
And killed mighty kings,
11 Sichon king of the Amori, `Og king of Bashan,
All the kingdoms of Kana`an,
12 And gave their land for a heritage,
A heritage to Yisra’el, his people.
13 Your name, LORD, endures forever;
Your renown, LORD, throughout all generations.
14 For the LORD will judge his people,
And have compassion on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
16 They have mouths, but they can’t speak;
They have eyes, but they can’t see;
17 They have ears, but they can’t hear;
Neither is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them;
Yes, everyone who trusts in them.
19 House of Yisra’el, praise the LORD!
House of Aharon, praise the LORD!
20House of Levi, praise the LORD!
You who fear the LORD, praise the LORD!
21 Blessed be the LORD from Tziyon,
Who dwells at Yerushalayim. Praise the LORD!
PROVERBS: 15
1 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
But the mouth of fools gush out folly.
3 The LORD’s eyes are everywhere,
Keeping watch on the evil and the good.
4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life,
But deceit in it crushes the spirit.
5 A fool despises his father’s correction,
But he who heeds reproof shows prudence.
6 In the house of the righteous is much treasure,
But the income of the wicked brings trouble.
7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge;
Not so with the heart of fools.
8 The sacrifice made by the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
But the prayer of the upright is his delight.
9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
But he loves him who follows after righteousness.
10 There is stern discipline for one who forsakes the way:
Whoever hates reproof shall die.
11 She’ol and Avaddon are before the LORD —
How much more then the hearts of the children of men!
12 A scoffer doesn’t love to be reproved;
He will not go to the wise.
13 A glad heart makes a cheerful face;
But an aching heart breaks the spirit.
14 The heart of one who has understanding seeks knowledge,
But the mouths of fools feed on folly.
15 All the days of the afflicted are wretched,
But one who has a cheerful heart enjoys a continual feast.
16 Better is little, with the fear of the LORD,
Than great treasure with trouble.
17 Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is,
Than a fattened calf with hatred.
18 A wrathful man stirs up contention,
But one who is slow to anger appeases strife.
19 The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch,
But the path of the upright is a highway.
20 A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish man despises his mother.
21 Folly is joy to one who is void of wisdom,
But a man of understanding keeps his way straight.
22 Where there is no counsel, plans fail;
But in a multitude of counselors they are established.
23 Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth.
How good is a word at the right time!
24 The path of life leads upward for the wise,
To keep him from going downward to She’ol.
25 The LORD will uproot the house of the proud,
But he will keep the widow’s borders intact.
26 The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked,
But the thoughts of the pure are pleasing.
27 He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house,
But he who hates bribes will live.
28 The heart of the righteous weighs answers,
But the mouth of the wicked gushes out evil.
29 The LORD is far from the wicked,
But he hears the prayer of the righteous.
30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart.
Good news gives health to the bones.
31 The ear that listens to the reproof lives,
And will be at home among the wise.
32 He who refuses correction despises his own soul,
But he who listens to reproof gets understanding.
33 The fear of the LORD teaches wisdom.
Before honor is humility.
OLD TESTAMENT: 2 SAMUEL 22:1 – 23:23
22:1 David spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Sha’ul: 2and he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine; 3 God, my rock, in him will I take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge; My savior, you save me from violence. 4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from my enemies. 5 For the waves of death compassed me; The floods of ungodliness made me afraid: 6 The cords of She’ol were round about me; The snares of death came on me. 7 In my distress I called on the LORD; Yes, I called to my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, My cry [came] into his ears. 8 Then the eretz shook and trembled, The foundations of heaven quaked Were shaken, because he was angry. 9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, Fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it. 10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; Thick darkness was under his feet. 11 He rode on a Keruv, and did fly; Yes, he was seen on the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness pavilions round about him, Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 13 At the brightness before him Coals of fire were kindled. 14 The LORD thundered from heaven, The Elyon uttered his voice. 15 He sent out arrows, and scattered them; Lightning, and confused them. 16 Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare, By the rebuke of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of his nostrils. 17 He sent from on high, he took me; He drew me out of many waters; 18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. 19 They came on me in the day of my calamity; But the LORD was my stay. 20 He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me. 21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God. 23 For all his ordinances were before me; As for his statutes, I did not depart from them. 24 I was also perfect toward him; I kept myself from my iniquity. 25 Therefore has the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in his eyesight. 26 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful; With the perfect man you will show yourself perfect; 27 With the pure you will show yourself pure; With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd. 28 The afflicted people you will save; But your eyes are on the haughty, that you may bring them down. 29 For you are my lamp, LORD; The LORD will lighten my darkness. 30 For by you I run on a troop; By my God do I leap over a wall. 31 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. 32 For who is God, save the LORD? Who is a rock, save our God? 33 God is my strong fortress; He guides the perfect in his way. 34 He makes his feet like hinds’ [feet], Sets me on my high places. 35 He teaches my hands to war, So that my arms do bend a bow of brass. 36 You have also given me the shield of your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great. 37 You have enlarged my steps under me; My feet have not slipped. 38 I have pursued my enemies, and destroyed them; Neither did I turn again until they were consumed. 39 I have consumed them, and struck them through, so that they can’t arise: Yes, they are fallen under my feet. 40 For you have girded me with strength to the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. 41 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, That I might cut off those who hate me. 42 They looked, but there was none to save; Even to the LORD, but he didn’t answer them. 43 Then did I beat them small as the dust of the eretz, I did crush them as the mire of the streets, and did spread them abroad. 44 You also have delivered me from the strivings of my people; You have kept me to be the head of the nations: A people whom I have not known shall serve me. 45 The foreigners shall submit themselves to me: As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me. 46 The foreigners shall fade away, Shall come trembling out of their close places. 47 The LORD lives; Blessed be my rock; Exalted be God, the rock of my salvation, 48 Even the God who executes vengeance for me, Who brings down peoples under me, 49 Who brings me forth from my enemies: Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me; You deliver me from the violent man. 50 Therefore I will give thanks to you, LORD, among the nations, Will sing praises to your name. 51 Great deliverance gives he to his king, Shows lovingkindness to his anointed, To David and to his seed, forevermore.
23:1 Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Yishai says, The man who was raised on high says, The anointed of the God of Ya`akov, The sweet psalmist of Yisra’el: 2 The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, His word was on my tongue. 3 The God of Yisra’el said, The Rock of Yisra’el spoke to me: One who rules over men righteously, Who rules in the fear of God, 4 [He shall be] as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, [When] the tender grass [springs] out of the eretz, Through clear shining after rain 5 Most assuredly my house is not so with God; Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things, and sure: For it is all my salvation, and all [my] desire, Although he doesn’t make it grow. 6 But the ungodly shall be all of them as thorns to be thrust away, Because they can’t be taken with the hand 7 But the man who touches them Must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear: They shall be utterly burned with fire in [their] place 8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Yoshev-Bashshevet a Tachkemonite, chief of the captains; the same was `Adino the Etznite, against eight hundred slain at one time. 9 After him was El`azar the son of Dodo the son of an Achochi, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Pelishtim who were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Yisra’el were gone away. 10 He arose, and struck the Pelishtim until his hand was weary, and his hand froze to the sword; and the LORD worked a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to take spoil. 11 After him was Shammah the son of Agee a Harari. The Pelishtim were gathered together into a troop, where was a plot of ground full of lentils; and the people fled from the Pelishtim. 12 But he stood in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and killed the Pelishtim; and the LORD worked a great victory. 13 Three of the thirty chief men went down, and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of `Adullam; and the troop of the Pelishtim was encamped in the valley of Refa’im. 14 David was then in the stronghold; and the garrison of the Pelishtim was then in Beit-Lechem 15 David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Beit-Lechem, which is by the gate! 16 The three mighty men broke through the host of the Pelishtim, and drew water out of the well of Beit-Lechem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but he would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD. 17 He said, Be it far from me, LORD, that I should do this: [shall I drink] the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men. 18 Avishai, the brother of Yo’av, the son of Tzeru’yah, was chief of the three. He lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name among the three. 19 Wasn’t he most honorable of the three? therefore he was made their captain: however he didn’t attain to the [first] three 20 Benayah the son of Yehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kavtz’el, who had done mighty deeds, he killed the two [sons of] Ari’el of Mo’av: he went down also and killed a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow. 21 He killed a Mitzrian, a goodly man: and the Mitzrian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Mitzrian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear 22 These things did Benayah the son of Yehoiada, and had a name among the three mighty men. 23 He was more honorable than the thirty, but he didn’t attain to the [first] three. David set him over his guard.
NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS 2:1 – 47
2:1 Now when the day of Shavu`ot had come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and it sat on each one of them.
4 They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
5 Now there were dwelling at Yerushalayim Yehudim, devout men, from every nation under the sky.
6 When this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because everyone heard them speaking in his own language.
7 They were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Behold, aren’t all these who speak from the Galil?
8 How do we hear, everyone in our own native language?
9 Parthians, Madai, Elamites, and people from Aram-Naharayim, Yehudah, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,
10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Mitzrayim, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Yehudim and proselytes,
11 Cretans and `Aravi’im: we hear them speaking in our languages the mighty works of God!”
12 They were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, “What does this mean?”
13 Others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14 But Kefa, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke out to them, “You men of Yehudah, and all you who dwell at Yerushalayim, let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
15 For these aren’t drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day.
16 But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Yo’el:
17 ‘It will be in the last days, says God, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.
18 Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the the sky above, And signs on the eretz beneath; Blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21 It will be, that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
22 “You men of Yisra’el, hear these words. Yeshua of Natzeret, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, even as you yourselves know,
23 him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;
24 whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
25 For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before my face, For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.
26 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope;
27 Because you will not leave my soul in She’ol, Neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
28 You made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29 “Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Messiah to sit on his throne,
31 he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah, that neither was his soul left in She’ol, nor did his flesh see decay.
32 This Yeshua God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33 Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Ruach HaKodesh, he has poured forth this, which you now see and hear.
34 For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand,
35 Until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”‘
36 “Let all the house of Yisra’el therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Yeshua whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Kefa and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Kefa said to them, “Repent, and be immersed, everyone of you, in the name of Yeshua the Messiah for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh.
39 For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
40 With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
41 Then those who gladly received his word were immersed. There were added that day about three thousand souls.
42 They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.
43 Fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 All who believed were together, and had all things common.
45 They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need.
46 Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.
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