Through the Bible – Day 223

Bible text(s)

Psalms 112

God blesses his worshippers

₁Shout praises to the LORD!

The LORD blesses everyone

who worships him and gladly

obeys his teachings.

₂Their descendants will have

great power in the land,

because the LORD blesses

all who do right.

₃They will get rich and prosper

and will always be remembered

for their fairness.

₄They will be so kind

and merciful and good,

that they will be a light

in the dark for others

who do the right thing.

₅Life will go well for those

who freely lend

and are honest in business.

₆They won't ever be troubled,

and the kind things they do

will never be forgotten.

₇Bad news won't bother them;

they have decided

to trust the LORD.

₈They are dependable

and not afraid,

and they will live to see

their enemies defeated.

₉They will always be remembered

and greatly praised,

because they were kind

and freely gave to the poor.

₁₀When evil people see this,

they angrily bite their tongues

and disappear.

They will never get

what they really want.

Psalms 113

The LORD helps people in need

₁Shout praises to the LORD!

Everyone who serves him,

come and praise his name.

₂Let the name of the LORD

be praised now and for ever.

₃From dawn until sunset

the name of the LORD

deserves to be praised.

₄The LORD is far above

all the nations;

he is more glorious

than the heavens.

₅No one can compare

with the LORD our God.

His throne is high above,

₆and he looks down to see

the heavens and the earth.

₇God lifts the poor and needy

from dust and ashes,

₈and he lets them take part

in ruling his people.

₉When a wife has no children,

he blesses her with some,

and she is happy.

Shout praises to the LORD!

Psalms 114

The LORD works wonders

₁God brought his people

out of Egypt, that land

with a strange language.

₂He made Judah his holy place

and ruled over Israel.

₃When the sea looked at God,

it ran away,

and the River Jordan

flowed upstream.

₄The mountains and the hills

skipped around like goats.

₅Ask the sea why it ran away

or ask the Jordan

why it flowed upstream.

₆Ask the mountains and the hills

why they skipped like goats!

₇Earth, you will tremble,

when the Lord God of Jacob

comes near,

₈because he turns solid rock

into flowing streams

and pools of water.

Psalms 115

The LORD deserves to be praised

₁We don't deserve praise!

The LORD alone deserves

all the praise,

because of his love

and faithfulness.

₂Why should the nations ask,

“Where is your God?”

₃Our God is in the heavens,

doing as he chooses.

₄The idols of the nations

are made of silver and gold.

₅They have a mouth and eyes,

but they can't speak or see.

₆Their ears can't hear,

and their noses can't smell.

₇Their hands have no feeling,

their legs don't move,

and they can't make a sound.

₈Everyone who made the idols

and all who trust them

are just as helpless

as those useless gods.

₉People of Israel,

you must trust the LORD

to help and protect you.

₁₀Family of Aaron the priest,

you must trust the LORD

to help and protect you.

₁₁All of you worship the LORD,

so you must trust him

to help and protect you.

₁₂The LORD will not forget

to give us his blessing;

he will bless all Israel

and the family of Aaron.

₁₃All who worship the LORD,

no matter who they are,

will receive his blessing.

₁₄I pray that the LORD

will let your family

and your descendants

always grow strong.

₁₅May the LORD who created

the heavens and the earth

give you his blessing.

₁₆The LORD has kept the heavens

for himself,

but he has given the earth

to us humans.

₁₇The dead are silent

and cannot praise the LORD,

₁₈but we will praise him

now and for evermore.

Shout praises to the LORD!

Psalms 116

When the LORD saves you from death

₁I love you, LORD!

You answered my prayers.

₂You paid attention to me,

and so I will pray to you

as long as I live.

₃Death attacked from all sides,

and I was captured

by its painful chains.

But when I was really suffering,

₄I prayed and said, “LORD,

please don't let me die!”

₅You are kind, LORD,

so good and merciful.

₆You protect ordinary people,

and when I was helpless,

you saved me

₇and treated me so kindly

that I don't need

to worry any more.

₈You, LORD, have saved

my life from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling.

₉Now I will walk at your side

in this land of the living.

₁₀I was faithful to you

when I was suffering,

₁₁though in my confusion I said,

“I can't trust anyone!”

₁₂What must I give you, LORD,

for being so good to me?

₁₃I will pour out an offering

of wine to you,

and I will pray in your name

because you

have saved me.

₁₄I will keep my promise to you

when your people meet.

₁₅You are deeply concerned

when one of your loyal people

faces death.

₁₆I worship you, LORD,

just as my mother did,

and you have rescued me

from the chains of death.

₁₇I will offer you a sacrifice

to show how grateful I am,

and I will pray.

₁₈I will keep my promise to you

when your people

₁₉gather at your temple

in Jerusalem.

Shout praises to the LORD!

Psalms 112:1-116:19CEVOpen in Bible reader

Romans 10

Anyone can be saved

₅Moses said that a person could become acceptable to God by obeying the Law. He did this when he wrote, “If you want to live, you must do all that the Law commands.”

₆But people whose faith makes them acceptable to God will never ask, “Who will go up to heaven to bring Christ down?” ₇Neither will they ask, “Who will go down into the world of the dead to raise him to life?”

₈All who are acceptable because of their faith simply say, “The message is as near as your mouth or your heart.” And this is the same message we preach about faith. ₉So you will be saved, if you honestly say, “Jesus is Lord”, and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death. ₁₀God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others.

₁₁The Scriptures say that no one who has faith will be disappointed, ₁₂no matter if that person is a Jew or a Gentile. There is only one Lord, and he is generous to everyone who asks for his help. ₁₃All who call out to the Lord will be saved.

₁₄How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them? ₁₅And how can anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord? The Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to preach the good news. ₁₆Yet not everyone has believed the message. For example, the prophet Isaiah asked, “Lord, has anyone believed what we said?”

₁₇No one can have faith without hearing the message about Christ. ₁₈But am I saying that the people of Israel did not hear? No, I am not! The Scriptures say,

“The message was told

everywhere on earth.

It was announced

all over the world.”

₁₉Did the people of Israel understand or not? Moses answered this question when he told that the Lord had said,

“I will make Israel jealous

of people

who are a nation

of nobodies.

I will make them angry

with people

who don't understand

a thing.”

₂₀Isaiah was fearless enough to tell that the Lord had said,

“I was found by people

who were not looking

for me.

I appeared to the ones

who were not asking

about me.”

₂₁And Isaiah said about the people of Israel,

“All day long the Lord

has reached out

to people who are stubborn

and refuse to obey.”

Romans 11

God has not rejected his people

₁Am I saying that God has turned his back on his people? Certainly not! I am one of the people of Israel, and I myself am a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. ₂God did not turn his back on his chosen people. Don't you remember reading in the Scriptures how Elijah complained to God about the people of Israel? ₃He said, “Lord, they killed your prophets and destroyed your altars. I am the only one left, and now they want to kill me.”

₄But the Lord told Elijah, “I still have seven thousand followers who have not worshipped Baal.” ₅It is the same way now. God was kind to the people of Israel, and so a few of them are still his followers. ₆This happened because of God's undeserved kindness and not because of anything they have done. It could not have happened except for God's kindness.

₇This means that only a chosen few of the people of Israel found what all of them were searching for. And the rest of them were stubborn, ₈just as the Scriptures say,

“God made them so stupid

that their eyes are blind,

and their ears

are still deaf.”

₉Then David said,

“Turn their meals

into bait for a trap,

so that they will stumble

and be given

what they deserve.

₁₀Blindfold their eyes!

Don't let them see.

Bend their backs

beneath a burden

that will never be lifted.”

Gentiles will be saved

₁₁Do I mean that the people of Israel fell, never to get up again? Certainly not! Their failure made it possible for the Gentiles to be saved, and this will make the people of Israel jealous. ₁₂But if the rest of the world's people were helped so much by Israel's sin and loss, they will be helped even more by their full return.

Romans 10:5-11:12CEVOpen in Bible reader