Psalm 112:1-9

Psalm 111 Psalm 113

Psalm 112:1-9New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 112^[a]

¹Praise the Lord.^[b]

Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
who find great delight in his commands.

²Their children will be mighty in the land;
    the generation of the upright will be blessed.
³Wealth and riches are in their houses,
    and their righteousness endures forever.
⁴Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
    for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
⁵Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
    who conduct their affairs with justice.

⁶Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
    they will be remembered forever.
⁷They will have no fear of bad news;
    their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
⁸Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
    in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
⁹They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,
    their righteousness endures forever;
    their horn^[c] will be lifted high in honor.

Footnotes:

Psalm 112:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the lines of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 112:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah
Psalm 112:9 Horn here symbolizes dignity.

New International Version (NIV)

Isaiah 29:1-12

Isaiah 28 Isaiah 30

Isaiah 29:1-12New International Version (NIV)

Woe to David’s City

29 Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel,
    the city where David settled!
Add year to year
    and let your cycle of festivals go on.
²Yet I will besiege Ariel;
    she will mourn and lament,
    she will be to me like an altar hearth.^[a]
³I will encamp against you on all sides;
    I will encircle you with towers
    and set up my siege works against you.
⁴Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
    your speech will mumble out of the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth;
    out of the dust your speech will whisper.

⁵But your many enemies will become like fine dust,
    the ruthless hordes like blown chaff.
Suddenly, in an instant,
⁶    the Lord Almighty will come
with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
    with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.
⁷Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
    that attack her and her fortress and besiege her,
will be as it is with a dream,
    with a vision in the night—
⁸as when a hungry person dreams of eating,
    but awakens hungry still;
as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking,
    but awakens faint and thirsty still.
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
    that fight against Mount Zion.

⁹Be stunned and amazed,
    blind yourselves and be sightless;
be drunk, but not from wine,
    stagger, but not from beer.
¹⁰The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep:
    He has sealed your eyes (the prophets);
    he has covered your heads (the seers).

¹¹For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” ¹²Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”

Footnotes:

Isaiah 29:2 The Hebrew for altar hearth sounds like the Hebrew for Ariel.

New International Version (NIV)

James 3:13-18

James 2 James 4

James 3:13-18New International Version (NIV)

Two Kinds of Wisdom

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

¹⁷But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.