Bible Reading
September 11, 12, 13
The World English Bible
Sept.
11
Psalms
58-60
Psa
58:1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge
blamelessly, you sons of men?
Psa
58:2 No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the
violence of your hands in the earth.
Psa
58:3 The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as
they are born, speaking lies.
Psa
58:4 Their poison is like the poison of a snake; like a deaf cobra
that stops its ear,
Psa
58:5 which doesn't listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how
skillful the charmer may be.
Psa
58:6 Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great
teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
Psa
58:7 Let them vanish as water that flows away. When they draw the
bow, let their arrows be made blunt.
Psa
58:8 Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away, like the
stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.
Psa
58:9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, he will sweep
away the green and the burning alike.
Psa
58:10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He
shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
Psa
58:11 so that men shall say, "Most certainly there is a reward
for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the
earth."
Psa
59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, my God. Set me on high from those
who rise up against me.
Psa
59:2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Save me from the
bloodthirsty men.
Psa
59:3 For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty gather
themselves together against me, not for my disobedience, nor for my
sin, Yahweh.
Psa
59:4 I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Rise up,
behold, and help me!
Psa
59:5 You, Yahweh God of Armies, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to
punish the nations. Show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah.
Psa
59:6 They return at evening, howling like dogs, and prowl around the
city.
Psa
59:7 Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips,
"For," they say, "who hears us?"
Psa
59:8 But you, Yahweh, laugh at them. You scoff at all the nations.
Psa
59:9 Oh, my Strength, I watch for you, for God is my high tower.
Psa
59:10 My God will go before me with his loving kindness. God will
let me look at my enemies in triumph.
Psa
59:11 Don't kill them, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your
power, and bring them down, Lord our shield.
Psa
59:12 For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let
them be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies which they
utter.
Psa
59:13 Consume them in wrath. Consume them, and they will be no more.
Let them know that God rules in Jacob, to the ends of the earth.
Selah.
Psa
59:14 At evening let them return. Let them howl like a dog, and go
around the city.
Psa
59:15 They shall wander up and down for food, and wait all night if
they aren't satisfied.
Psa
59:16 But I will sing of your strength. Yes, I will sing aloud of
your loving kindness in the morning. For you have been my high tower,
a refuge in the day of my distress.
Psa
59:17 To you, my strength, I will sing praises. For God is my high
tower, the God of my mercy.
Psa
60:1 God, you have rejected us. You have broken us down. You have
been angry. Restore us, again.
Psa
60:2 You have made the land tremble. You have torn it. Mend its
fractures, for it quakes.
Psa
60:3 You have shown your people hard things. You have made us drink
the wine that makes us stagger.
Psa
60:4 You have given a banner to those who fear you, that it may be
displayed because of the truth. Selah.
Psa
60:5 So that your beloved may be delivered, save with your right
hand, and answer us.
Psa
60:6 God has spoken from his sanctuary: "I will triumph. I will
divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth.
Psa
60:7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is the
defense of my head. Judah is my scepter.
Psa
60:8 Moab is my wash basin. I will throw my shoe on Edom. I shout in
triumph over Philistia."
Psa
60:9 Who will bring me into the strong city? Who has led me to Edom?
Psa
60:10 Haven't you, God, rejected us? You don't go out with our
armies, God.
Psa
60:11 Give us help against the adversary, for the help of man is
vain.
Psa
60:12 Through God we shall do valiantly, for it is he who will tread
down our adversaries.
Sept.
12
Psalms
61-63
Psa
61:1 Hear my cry, God. Listen to my prayer.
Psa
61:2 From the end of the earth, I will call to you, when my heart is
overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Psa
61:3 For you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the
enemy.
Psa
61:4 I will dwell in your tent forever. I will take refuge in the
shelter of your wings. Selah.
Psa
61:5 For you, God, have heard my vows. You have given me the
heritage of those who fear your name.
Psa
61:6 You will prolong the king's life; his years shall be for
generations.
Psa
61:7 He shall be enthroned in God's presence forever. Appoint your
loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him.
Psa
61:8 So I will sing praise to your name forever, that I may fulfill
my vows daily.
Psa
62:1 My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him.
Psa
62:2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress-- I will
never be greatly shaken.
Psa
62:3 How long will you assault a man, would all of you throw him
down, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
Psa
62:4 They fully intend to throw him down from his lofty place. They
delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, but they curse
inwardly. Selah.
Psa
62:5 My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is
from him.
Psa
62:6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not
be shaken.
Psa
62:7 With God is my salvation and my honor. The rock of my strength,
and my refuge, is in God.
Psa
62:8 Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart
before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Psa
62:9 Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high
degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together
lighter than a breath.
Psa
62:10 Don't trust in oppression. Don't become vain in robbery. If
riches increase, don't set your heart on them.
Psa
62:11 God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power
belongs to God.
Psa
62:12 Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward
every man according to his work.
Psa
63:1 God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts
for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there
is no water.
Psa
63:2 So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and
your glory.
Psa
63:3 Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall
praise you.
Psa
63:4 So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in
your name.
Psa
63:5 My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth
shall praise you with joyful lips,
Psa
63:6 when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night
watches.
Psa
63:7 For you have been my help. I will rejoice in the shadow of your
wings.
Psa
63:8 My soul stays close to you. Your right hand holds me up.
Psa
63:9 But those who seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the
lower parts of the earth.
Psa
63:10 They shall be given over to the power of the sword. They shall
be jackal food.
Psa
63:11 But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by him
will praise him, for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be
silenced.
Sept.
13
Psalms
64-67
Psa
64:1 Hear my voice, God, in my complaint. Preserve my life from fear
of the enemy.
Psa
64:2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the noisy crowd
of the ones doing evil;
Psa
64:3 who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows,
deadly words,
Psa
64:4 to shoot innocent men from ambushes. They shoot at him suddenly
and fearlessly.
Psa
64:5 They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying
snares secretly. They say, "Who will see them?"
Psa
64:6 They plot injustice, saying, "We have made a perfect
plan!" Surely man's mind and heart are cunning.
Psa
64:7 But God will shoot at them. They will be suddenly struck down
with an arrow.
Psa
64:8 Their own tongues shall ruin them. All who see them will shake
their heads.
Psa
64:9 All mankind shall be afraid. They shall declare the work of
God, and shall wisely ponder what he has done.
Psa
64:10 The righteous shall be glad in Yahweh, and shall take refuge
in him. All the upright in heart shall praise him!
Psa
65:1 Praise waits for you, God, in Zion. To you shall vows be
performed.
Psa
65:2 You who hear prayer, to you all men will come.
Psa
65:3 Sins overwhelmed me, but you atoned for our transgressions.
Psa
65:4 Blessed is one whom you choose, and cause to come near, that he
may live in your courts. We will be filled with the goodness of your
house, your holy temple.
Psa
65:5 By awesome deeds of righteousness, you answer us, God of our
salvation. You who are the hope of all the ends of the earth, of
those who are far away on the sea;
Psa
65:6 Who by his power forms the mountains, having armed yourself
with strength;
Psa
65:7 who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
Psa
65:8 They also who dwell in faraway places are afraid at your
wonders. You call the morning's dawn and the evening with songs of
joy.
Psa
65:9 You visit the earth, and water it. You greatly enrich it. The
river of God is full of water. You provide them grain, for so you
have ordained it.
Psa
65:10 You drench its furrows. You level its ridges. You soften it
with showers. You bless it with a crop.
Psa
65:11 You crown the year with your bounty. Your carts overflow with
abundance.
Psa
65:12 The wilderness grasslands overflow. The hills are clothed with
gladness.
Psa
65:13 The pastures are covered with flocks. The valleys also are
clothed with grain. They shout for joy! They also sing.
Psa
66:1 Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
Psa
66:2 Sing to the glory of his name! Offer glory and praise!
Psa
66:3 Tell God, "How awesome are your deeds! Through the
greatness of your power, your enemies submit themselves to you.
Psa
66:4 All the earth will worship you, and will sing to you; they will
sing to your name." Selah.
Psa
66:5 Come, and see God's deeds-- awesome work on behalf of the
children of men.
Psa
66:6 He turned the sea into dry land. They went through the river on
foot. There, we rejoiced in him.
Psa
66:7 He rules by his might forever. His eyes watch the nations.
Don't let the rebellious rise up against him. Selah.
Psa
66:8 Praise our God, you peoples! Make the sound of his praise
heard,
Psa
66:9 who preserves our life among the living, and doesn't allow our
feet to be moved.
Psa
66:10 For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver
is refined.
Psa
66:11 You brought us into prison. You laid a burden on our backs.
Psa
66:12 You allowed men to ride over our heads. We went through fire
and through water, but you brought us to the place of abundance.
Psa
66:13 I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay
my vows to you,
Psa
66:14 which my lips promised, and my mouth spoke, when I was in
distress.
Psa
66:15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat animals, with the
offering of rams, I will offer bulls with goats. Selah.
Psa
66:16 Come, and hear, all you who fear God. I will declare what he
has done for my soul.
Psa
66:17 I cried to him with my mouth. He was extolled with my tongue.
Psa
66:18 If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn't have
listened.
Psa
66:19 But most certainly, God has listened. He has heard the voice
of my prayer.
Psa
66:20 Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor his
loving kindness from me.
Psa
67:1 May God be merciful to us, bless us, and cause his face to
shine on us. Selah.
Psa
67:2 That your way may be known on earth, and your salvation among
all nations,
Psa
67:3 let the peoples praise you, God. Let all the peoples praise
you.
Psa
67:4 Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you will judge
the peoples with equity, and govern the nations on earth. Selah.
Psa
67:5 Let the peoples praise you, God. Let all the peoples praise
you.
Psa
67:6 The earth has yielded its increase. God, even our own God, will
bless us.
Psa
67:7 God will bless us. All the ends of the earth shall fear him.
Sept.
11
1
Corinthians 7
1Co
7:1 Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is
good for a man not to touch a woman.
1Co
7:2 But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own
wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
1Co
7:3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection owed her, and
likewise also the wife to her husband.
1Co
7:4 The wife doesn't have authority over her own body, but the
husband. Likewise also the husband doesn't have authority over his
own body, but the wife.
1Co
7:5 Don't deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season,
that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be
together again, that Satan doesn't tempt you because of your lack of
self-control.
1Co
7:6 But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment.
1Co
7:7 Yet I wish that all men were like me. However each man has his
own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind.
1Co
7:8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if
they remain even as I am.
1Co
7:9 But if they don't have self-control, let them marry. For it's
better to marry than to burn.
1Co
7:10 But to the married I command--not I, but the Lord--that the
wife not leave her husband
1Co
7:11 (but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be
reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife.
1Co
7:12 But to the rest I--not the Lord--say, if any brother has an
unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not
leave her.
1Co
7:13 The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to
live with her, let her not leave her husband.
1Co
7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the
unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your
children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
1Co
7:15 Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The
brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has
called us in peace.
1Co
7:16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?
Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
1Co
7:17 Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has
called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
1Co
7:18 Was anyone called having been circumcised? Let him not become
uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not
be circumcised.
1Co
7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the
keeping of the commandments of God.
1Co
7:20 Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called.
1Co
7:21 Were you called being a bondservant? Don't let that bother you,
but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it.
1Co
7:22 For he who was called in the Lord being a bondservant is the
Lord's free man. Likewise he who was called being free is Christ's
bondservant.
1Co
7:23 You were bought with a price. Don't become bondservants of men.
1Co
7:24 Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called,
stay in that condition with God.
1Co
7:25 Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord,
but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to
be trustworthy.
1Co
7:26 I think that it is good therefore, because of the distress that
is on us, that it is good for a man to be as he is.
1Co
7:27 Are you bound to a wife? Don't seek to be freed. Are you free
from a wife? Don't seek a wife.
1Co
7:28 But if you marry, you have not sinned. If a virgin marries, she
has not sinned. Yet such will have oppression in the flesh, and I
want to spare you.
1Co
7:29 But I say this, brothers: the time is short, that from now on,
both those who have wives may be as though they had none;
1Co
7:30 and those who weep, as though they didn't weep; and those who
rejoice, as though they didn't rejoice; and those who buy, as though
they didn't possess;
1Co
7:31 and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest.
For the mode of this world passes away.
1Co
7:32 But I desire to have you to be free from cares. He who is
unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please
the Lord;
1Co
7:33 but he who is married is concerned about the things of the
world, how he may please his wife.
1Co
7:34 There is also a difference between a wife and a virgin. The
unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be
holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about
the things of the world--how she may please her husband.
1Co
7:35 This I say for your own profit; not that I may ensnare you, but
for that which is appropriate, and that you may attend to the Lord
without distraction.
1Co
7:36 But if any man thinks that he is behaving inappropriately
toward his virgin, if she is past the flower of her age, and if need
so requires, let him do what he desires. He doesn't sin. Let them
marry.
1Co
7:37 But he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity,
but has power over his own heart, to keep his own virgin, does well.
1Co
7:38 So then both he who gives his own virgin in marriage does well,
and he who doesn't give her in marriage does better.
1Co
7:39 A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if
the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whoever she
desires, only in the Lord.
1Co
7:40 But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my judgment, and
I think that I also have God's Spirit.
Sept.
12
1
Corinthians 8
1Co
8:1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all
have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
1Co
8:2 But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn't yet know
as he ought to know.
1Co
8:3 But if anyone loves God, the same is known by him.
1Co
8:4 Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols,
we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no
other God but one.
1Co
8:5 For though there are things that are called "gods,"
whether in the heavens or on earth; as there are many "gods"
and many "lords;"
1Co
8:6 yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things,
and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all
things, and we live through him.
1Co
8:7 However, that knowledge isn't in all men. But some, with
consciousness of the idol until now, eat as of a thing sacrificed to
an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
1Co
8:8 But food will not commend us to God. For neither, if we don't
eat, are we the worse; nor, if we eat, are we the better.
1Co
8:9 But be careful that by no means does this liberty of yours
become a stumbling block to the weak.
1Co
8:10 For if a man sees you who have knowledge sitting in an idol's
temple, won't his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat
things sacrificed to idols?
1Co
8:11 And through your knowledge, he who is weak perishes, the
brother for whose sake Christ died.
1Co
8:12 Thus, sinning against the brothers, and wounding their
conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
1Co
8:13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will eat no
meat forevermore, that I don't cause my brother to stumble.
Sept.
13
1
Corinthians 9
1Co
9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen Jesus Christ,
our Lord? Aren't you my work in the Lord?
1Co
9:2 If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for
you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
1Co
9:3 My defense to those who examine me is this.
1Co
9:4 Have we no right to eat and to drink?
1Co
9:5 Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as
the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
1Co
9:6 Or have only Barnabas and I no right to not work?
1Co
9:7 What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a
vineyard, and doesn't eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and
doesn't drink from the flock's milk?
1Co
9:8 Do I speak these things according to the ways of men? Or doesn't
the law also say the same thing?
1Co
9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not
muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain." Is it for the oxen
that God cares,
1Co
9:10 or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written
for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who
threshes in hope should partake of his hope.
1Co
9:11 If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we
reap your fleshly things?
1Co
9:12 If others partake of this right over you, don't we yet more?
Nevertheless we did not use this right, but we bear all things, that
we may cause no hindrance to the Good News of Christ.
1Co
9:13 Don't you know that those who serve around sacred things eat
from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have
their portion with the altar?
1Co
9:14 Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News
should live from the Good News.
1Co
9:15 But I have used none of these things, and I don't write these
things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die,
than that anyone should make my boasting void.
1Co
9:16 For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about;
for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me, if I don't preach the
Good News.
1Co
9:17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of
my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
1Co
9:18 What then is my reward? That, when I preach the Good News, I
may present the Good News of Christ without charge, so as not to
abuse my authority in the Good News.
1Co
9:19 For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage
to all, that I might gain the more.
1Co
9:20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those
who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who
are under the law;
1Co
9:21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being
without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might
win those who are without law.
1Co
9:22 To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I
have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
1Co
9:23 Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a
joint partaker of it.
1Co
9:24 Don't you know that those who run in a race all run, but one
receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win.
1Co
9:25 Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in
all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an
incorruptible.
1Co
9:26 I therefore run like that, as not uncertainly. I fight like
that, as not beating the air,
1Co
9:27 but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any
means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
