4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: Extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.
5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
6 God setteth the solitary in families: He bringeth out those which are bound with chains: But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
7 O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:
8 The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.
10 Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: Thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.
11 The Lord gave the word: Great was the company of those that published it.
12 Kings of armies did flee apace: And she that tarried at home divided the spoil.
13 Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Psalm 68:4–14.
1 Doesn’t Wisdom call out? Doesn’t Understanding make her voice heard?
2 At the heights overlooking the road, at the crossroads, she takes her stand.
3 Beside the gates at the entry to the city, at the main entrance, she cries out:
4 “People, I call out to you; my cry is to mankind.
5 Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced; develop common sense, you who are foolish.
6 Listen, for I speak of noble things, and what my lips say is right.
7 For my mouth tells the truth, and wickedness is detestable to my lips.
8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; none of them are deceptive or perverse.
9 All of them are clear to the perceptive, and right to those who discover knowledge.
10 Accept my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
11 For wisdom is better than jewels, and nothing desirable can compare with it.
12 I, Wisdom, share a home with shrewdness and have knowledge and discretion.
13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil. I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
14 I possess good advice and competence; I have understanding and strength.
15 It is by me that kings reign and rulers enact just law;
16 by me, princes lead, as do nobles and all righteous judges.
17 I love those who love me, and those who search for me find me.
18 With me are riches and honor, lasting wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than solid gold, and my harvest than pure silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,
21 giving wealth as an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.
22 “The LORD made me at the beginning of His creation, before His works of long ago.
23 I was formed before ancient times, from the beginning, before the earth began.
24 I was born when there were no watery depths and no springs filled with water.
25 I was delivered before the mountains and hills were established,
26 before He made the land, the fields, or the first soil on earth.
27 I was there when He established the heavens, when He laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean,
28 when He placed the skies above, when the fountains of the ocean gushed out,
29 when He set a limit for the sea so that the waters would not violate His command, when He laid out the foundations of the earth.
30 I was a skilled craftsman beside Him. I was His delight every day, always rejoicing before Him.
31 I was rejoicing in His inhabited world, delighting in the human race.
32 “And now, my sons, listen to me; those who keep my ways are happy.
33 Listen to instruction and be wise; don’t ignore it.
34 Anyone who listens to me is happy, watching at my doors every day, waiting by the posts of my doorway.
35 For the one who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,
36 but the one who misses me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Proverbs 8:1–36.
1 Dishonest scales are detestable to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
2 When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.
3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the treacherous destroys them.
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Proverbs 11:1–3.
1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Joel 3:1–2.
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Luke 4:18–19.
7 Therefore accept one another, just as the Messiah also accepted you, to the glory of God.
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Romans 15:7.
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will: To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s Rich Blessings
3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.
4 For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love
5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will,
6 to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.
7 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him
10 for the administration of the days of fulfillment — to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.
11 We have also received an inheritance in Him, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will,
12 so that we who had already put our hope in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.
13 When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
14 He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Ephesians 1:1–14.