June 11

JUNE 11

PSALMS: 11, 41, 71, 101, 131

PROVERBS: 11

OLD TESTAMENT: JOB 37:1 – 39:30

NEW TESTAMENT: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:13 – 5:10

PSALMS: 11

For the director of music. Of David.

¹In the LORD I take refuge.

How then can you say to me:

“Flee like a bird to your mountain.

²For look, the wicked bend their bows;

they set their arrows against the strings

to shoot from the shadows

at the upright in heart.

³When the foundations are being destroyed,

what can the righteous do ^A?”

⁴The LORD is in his holy temple;

the LORD is on his heavenly throne.

He observes the sons of men;

his eyes examine them.

⁵The LORD examines the righteous,

but the wicked ^B and those who love violence

his soul hates.

⁶On the wicked he will rain

fiery coals and burning sulfur;

a scorching wind will be their lot.

⁷For the LORD is righteous,

he loves justice;

upright men will see his face. ^{^[1]}

PSALMS: 41

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;

the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.

²The LORD will protect him and preserve his life;

he will bless him in the land

and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.

³The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed

and restore him from his bed of illness.

⁴I said, “O LORD, have mercy on me;

heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

⁵My enemies say of me in malice,

“When will he die and his name perish?”

⁶Whenever one comes to see me,

he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander;

then he goes out and spreads it abroad.

⁷All my enemies whisper together against me;

they imagine the worst for me, saying,

⁸“A vile disease has beset him;

he will never get up from the place where he lies.”

⁹Even my close friend, whom I trusted,

he who shared my bread,

has lifted up his heel against me. ^{^[2]}

¹⁰But you, O LORD, have mercy on me;

raise me up, that I may repay them.

¹¹I know that you are pleased with me,

for my enemy does not triumph over me.

¹²In my integrity you uphold me

and set me in your presence forever.

¹³Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and Amen ^{^[3]}

PSALMS: 71

¹In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame.

²Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness;

turn your ear to me and save me.

³Be my rock of refuge,

to which I can always go;

give the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

⁴Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of evil and cruel men.

⁵For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD,

my confidence since my youth.

⁶From birth I have relied on you;

you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.

I will ever praise you.

⁷I have become like a portent to many,

but you are my strong refuge.

⁸My mouth is filled with your praise,

declaring your splendor all day long.

⁹Do not cast me away when I am old;

do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

¹⁰For my enemies speak against me;

those who wait to kill me conspire together.

¹¹They say, “God has forsaken him;

pursue him and seize him,

for no one will rescue him.”

¹²Be not far from me, O God;

come quickly, O my God, to help me.

¹³May my accusers perish in shame;

may those who want to harm me

be covered with scorn and disgrace. ^{^[4]}

¹⁴But as for me, I will always have hope;

I will praise you more and more.

¹⁵My mouth will tell of your righteousness,

of your salvation all day long,

though I know not its measure.

¹⁶I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD;

I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.

¹⁷Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,

and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

¹⁸Even when I am old and gray,

do not forsake me, O God,

till I declare your power to the next generation,

your might to all who are to come.

¹⁹Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,

you who have done great things.

Who, O God, is like you?

²⁰Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,

you will restore my life again;

from the depths of the earth

you will again bring me up.

²¹You will increase my honor

and comfort me once again.

²²I will praise you with the harp

for your faithfulness, O my God;

I will sing praise to you with the lyre,

O Holy One of Israel.

²³My lips will shout for joy

when I sing praise to you–

I, whom you have redeemed.

²⁴My tongue will tell of your righteous acts ^{^[5]}

all day long,

for those who wanted to harm me

have been put to shame and confusion. ^{^[6]}

PSALMS: 101

Of David. A psalm.

¹I will sing of your love and justice;

to you, O LORD, I will sing praise.

²I will be careful to lead a blameless life–

when will you come to me?

I will walk in my house

with blameless heart.

³I will set before my eyes

no vile thing.

The deeds of faithless men I hate;

they will not cling to me.

⁴Men of perverse heart shall be far from me;

I will have nothing to do with evil.

⁵Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret,

him will I put to silence;

whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart,

him will I not endure.

⁶My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,

that they may dwell with me;

he whose walk is blameless

will minister to me.^{^[7]}

⁷No one who practices deceit

will dwell in my house;

no one who speaks falsely

will stand in my presence.

⁸Every morning I will put to silence

all the wicked in the land;

I will cut off every evildoer

from the city of the LORD. ^{^[8]}

PSALMS: 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹My heart is not proud, O LORD,

my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters

or things too wonderful for me.

²But I have stilled and quieted my soul;

like a weaned child with its mother,

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³O Israel, put your hope in the LORD

both now and forevermore. ^{^[9]}

PROVERBS: 11

11 ¹ The LORD abhors dishonest scales,

but accurate weights are his delight.

²When pride comes, then comes disgrace,

but with humility comes wisdom.

³The integrity of the upright guides them,

but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

⁴Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,

but righteousness delivers from death.

⁵ The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them,

but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.

⁶The righteousness of the upright delivers them,

but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.

⁷When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes;

all he expected from his power comes to nothing.

⁸The righteous man is rescued from trouble,

and it comes on the wicked instead.

⁹With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor,

but through knowledge the righteous escape.

¹⁰When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;

when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

¹¹Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,

but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.^{^[10]}

¹²A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor,

but a man of understanding holds his tongue.

¹³A gossip betrays a confidence,

but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.

¹⁴For lack of guidance a nation falls,

but many advisers make victory sure.

¹⁵He who puts up security for another will surely suffer,

but whoever refuses to strike hands in pledge is safe.

¹⁶A kindhearted woman gains respect,

but ruthless men gain only wealth.

¹⁷A kind man benefits himself,

but a cruel man brings trouble on himself.

¹⁸The wicked man earns deceptive wages,

but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.

¹⁹The truly righteous man attains life,

but he who pursues evil goes to his death.

²⁰The LORD detests men of perverse heart

but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.

²¹Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished,

but those who are righteous will go free.^{^[11]}

²²Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout

is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

²³The desire of the righteous ends only in good,

but the hope of the wicked only in wrath.

²⁴One man gives freely, yet gains even more;

another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

²⁵A generous man will prosper;

he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

²⁶People curse the man who hoards grain,

but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell.

²⁷He who seeks good finds goodwill,

but evil comes to him who searches for it.

²⁸Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,

but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.

²⁹He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind,

and the fool will be servant to the wise.

³⁰The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

and he who wins souls is wise.

³¹If the righteous receive their due on earth,

how much more the ungodly and the sinner! ^{^[12]}

OLD TESTAMENT: JOB 37:1 – 39:30

37 ¹ “At this my heart pounds

and leaps from its place.

²Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,

to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.

³He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven

and sends it to the ends of the earth.

⁴After that comes the sound of his roar;

he thunders with his majestic voice.

When his voice resounds,

he holds nothing back.

⁵God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;

he does great things beyond our understanding.

⁶He says to the snow, `Fall on the earth,’

and to the rain shower, `Be a mighty downpour.’

⁷So that all men he has made may know his work,

he stops every man from his labor. ^A

⁸The animals take cover;

they remain in their dens.

⁹The tempest comes out from its chamber,

the cold from the driving winds.

¹⁰The breath of God produces ice,

and the broad waters become frozen.

¹¹He loads the clouds with moisture;

he scatters his lightning through them.

¹²At his direction they swirl around ^{^[13]}

over the face of the whole earth

to do whatever he commands them.

¹³He brings the clouds to punish men,

or to water his earth ^B and show his love.

¹⁴“Listen to this, Job;

stop and consider God’s wonders.

¹⁵Do you know how God controls the clouds

and makes his lightning flash?

¹⁶Do you know how the clouds hang poised,

those wonders of him who is perfect in knowledge?

¹⁷You who swelter in your clothes

when the land lies hushed under the south wind,

¹⁸can you join him in spreading out the skies,

hard as a mirror of cast bronze?

¹⁹“Tell us what we should say to him;

we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.

²⁰Should he be told that I want to speak?

Would any man ask to be swallowed up?

²¹Now no one can look at the sun,

bright as it is in the skies

after the wind has swept them clean.

²²Out of the north he comes in golden splendor;

God comes in awesome majesty.

²³The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; ^{^[14]}

in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.

²⁴Therefore, men revere him,

for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart? ^C”

38 ¹Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:

²“Who is this that darkens my counsel

with words without knowledge?

³ Brace yourself like a man;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

Tell me, if you understand.

⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

Who stretched a measuring line across it?

⁶ On what were its footings set,

or who laid its cornerstone–

⁷ while the morning stars sang together

and all the angels ^A shouted for joy?

⁸ “Who shut up the sea behind doors ^{^[15]}

when it burst forth from the womb,

⁹ when I made the clouds its garment

and wrapped it in thick darkness,

¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it

and set its doors and bars in place,

¹¹ when I said, `This far you may come and no farther;

here is where your proud waves halt’?

¹²“Have you ever given orders to the morning,

or shown the dawn its place,

¹³ that it might take the earth by the edges

and shake the wicked out of it?

¹⁴ The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;

its features stand out like those of a garment.

¹⁵ The wicked are denied their light,

and their upraised arm is broken.

¹⁶ “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea

or walked in the recesses of the deep?

¹⁷ Have the gates of death been shown to you?

Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death^B?

¹⁸ Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?

Tell me, if you know all this.

¹⁹ “What is the way to the abode of light?

And where does darkness reside? ^{^[16]}

²⁰ Can you take them to their places?

Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

²¹ Surely you know, for you were already born!

You have lived so many years!

²² “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow

or seen the storehouses of the hail,

²³ which I reserve for times of trouble,

for days of war and battle?

²⁴ What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,

or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

²⁵ Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,

and a path for the thunderstorm,

²⁶ to water a land where no man lives,

a desert with no one in it,

²⁷ to satisfy a desolate wasteland

and make it sprout with grass?

²⁸ Does the rain have a father?

Who fathers the drops of dew?

²⁹ From whose womb comes the ice?

Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

³⁰ when the waters become hard as stone,

when the surface of the deep is frozen? ^{^[17]}

³¹“Can you bind the beautiful ^C Pleiades?

Can you loose the cords of Orion?

³² Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons ^D

or lead out the Bear ^E with its cubs?

³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens?

Can you set up God’s ^F dominion over the earth?

³⁴ “Can you raise your voice to the clouds

and cover yourself with a flood of water?

³⁵ Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?

Do they report to you, `Here we are’?

³⁶ Who endowed the heart ^G with wisdom

or gave understanding to the mind ^H?

³⁷ Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?

Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

³⁸when the dust becomes hard

and the clods of earth stick together?

³⁹ “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness

and satisfy the hunger of the lions

⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens

or lie in wait in a thicket?

⁴¹ Who provides food for the raven

when its young cry out to God

and wander about for lack of food? ^{^[18]}

39 ¹ “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?

Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

² Do you count the months till they bear?

Do you know the time they give birth?

³ They crouch down and bring forth their young;

their labor pains are ended.

⁴ Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;

they leave and do not return.

⁵ “Who let the wild donkey go free?

Who untied his ropes?

⁶ I gave him the wasteland as his home,

the salt flats as his habitat.

⁷ He laughs at the commotion in the town;

he does not hear a driver’s shout.

⁸ He ranges the hills for his pasture

and searches for any green thing.

⁹“Will the wild ox consent to serve you?

Will he stay by your manger at night?

¹⁰ Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?

Will he till the valleys behind you?

¹¹ Will you rely on him for his great strength?

Will you leave your heavy work to him?

¹²Can you trust him to bring in your grain ^{^[19]}

and gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³ “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,

but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.

¹⁴ She lays her eggs on the ground

and lets them warm in the sand,

¹⁵ unmindful that a foot may crush them,

that some wild animal may trample them.

¹⁶ She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;

she cares not that her labor was in vain,

¹⁷ for God did not endow her with wisdom

or give her a share of good sense.

¹⁸ Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,

she laughs at horse and rider.

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse his strength

or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?

²⁰ Do you make him leap like a locust,

striking terror with his proud snorting?

²¹ He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,

and charges into the fray.

²² He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;

he does not shy away from the sword.

²³ The quiver rattles against his side,

along with the flashing spear and lance.

²⁴ In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; ^{^[20]}

he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

²⁵ At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, `Aha!’

He catches the scent of battle from afar,

the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

²⁶“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom

and spread his wings toward the south?

²⁷ Does the eagle soar at your command

and build his nest on high?

²⁸ He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;

a rocky crag is his stronghold.

²⁹ From there he seeks out his food;

his eyes detect it from afar.

³⁰ His young ones feast on blood,

and where the slain are, there is he.” ^{^[21]}

NEW TESTAMENT: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:13 – 5:10

¹³It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” ^B With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. ¹⁵All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

5 ¹Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ²Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, ³because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

⁶Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷We live by faith, not by sight. ⁸We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. ^{^[22]}