Friday, October 18, 2013

A wife of Good Character who can find?


AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for Samoa- Pacific , San Marino - Europe and Sao Tomé & Principe - Africa

Oct 18: Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tomé & Principe

Lamentations 3 New International Version


Lamentations 3 New International Version (NIV)

[a]I am the man who has seen affliction
    by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.
He has driven me away and made me walk
    in darkness rather than light;
indeed, he has turned his hand against me
    again and again, all day long.
He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
    and has broken my bones.
He has besieged me and surrounded me
    with bitterness and hardship.
He has made me dwell in darkness
    like those long dead.
He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
    he has weighed me down with chains.
Even when I call out or cry for help,
    he shuts out my prayer.
He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
    he has made my paths crooked.
10 Like a bear lying in wait,
    like a lion in hiding,
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me
    and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow
    and made me the target for his arrows.
13 He pierced my heart
    with arrows from his quiver.
14 I became the laughingstock of all my people;
    they mock me in song all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
    and given me gall to drink.
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;
    he has trampled me in the dust.
17 I have been deprived of peace;
    I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
    and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
    the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
    and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
    while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,
    for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust
    there may yet be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
    and let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For no one is cast off
    by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
    so great is his unfailing love.
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
    or grief to anyone.
34 To crush underfoot
    all prisoners in the land,
35 to deny people their rights
    before the Most High,
36 to deprive them of justice—
    would not the Lord see such things?
37 Who can speak and have it happen
    if the Lord has not decreed it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
    that both calamities and good things come?
39 Why should the living complain
    when punished for their sins?
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,
    and let us return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
    to God in heaven, and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled
    and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;
    you have slain without pity.
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can get through.
45 You have made us scum and refuse
    among the nations.
46 “All our enemies have opened their mouths
    wide against us.
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,
    ruin and destruction.
48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes
    because my people are destroyed.
49 My eyes will flow unceasingly,
    without relief,
50 until the Lord looks down
    from heaven and sees.
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
    because of all the women of my city.
52 Those who were my enemies without cause
    hunted me like a bird.
53 They tried to end my life in a pit
    and threw stones at me;
54 the waters closed over my head,
    and I thought I was about to perish.
55 I called on your name, Lord,
    from the depths of the pit.
56 You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears
    to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near when I called you,
    and you said, “Do not fear.”
58 You, Lord, took up my case;
    you redeemed my life.
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.
    Uphold my cause!
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
    all their plots against me.
61 Lord, you have heard their insults,
    all their plots against me—
62 what my enemies whisper and mutter
    against me all day long.
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,
    they mock me in their songs.
64 Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
    for what their hands have done.
65 Put a veil over their hearts,
    and may your curse be on them!
66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them
    from under the heavens of the Lord.

Footnotes:

  1. Lamentations 3:1 This chapter is an acrostic poem; the verses of each stanza begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the verses within each stanza begin with the same letter.

Proverbs 18 (New International Version)



Proverbs 18

1 An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgment.

2 A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.

3 When wickedness comes, so does contempt, and with shame comes disgrace.

4 The words of a man's mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the innocent of justice.

6 A fool's lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating.

7 A fool's mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts.

9 One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.

10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall.

12 Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

13 He who answers before listening— that is his folly and his shame.

14 A man's spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out.

16 A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great.

17 The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.

18 Casting the lot settles disputes and keeps strong opponents apart.

19 An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.

20 From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.

21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

22 He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.

23 A poor man pleads for mercy, but a rich man answers harshly.

24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Psalm 7 (New International Version)




Psalm 7

A shiggaion[a] of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite.

1 O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
2 or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

3 O LORD my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands-

4 if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe-

5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust. Selah

6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice.

7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you. Rule over them from on high;

8 let the LORD judge the peoples. Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, according to my integrity, O Most High.

9 O righteous God, who searches minds and hearts, bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure.

10 My shield [b] is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.

11 God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day.

12 If he does not relent, he [c] will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.

13 He has prepared his deadly weapons; he makes ready his flaming arrows.

14 He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment.

15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made.

16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head.

17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.