September 15: Proverbs 19-20; Psalm 70; John 11

Proverbs 19-20

19   Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
    than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
  Desire¹ without knowledge is not good,
    and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.
  When a man's folly brings his way to ruin,
    his heart rages against the LORD.
  Wealth brings many new friends,
    but a poor man is deserted by his friend.
  A false witness will not go unpunished,
    and he who breathes out lies will not escape.
  Many seek the favor of a generous man,²
    and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.
  All a poor man's brothers hate him;
    how much more do his friends go far from him!
  He pursues them with words, but does not have them.³
  Whoever gets sense loves his own soul;
    he who keeps understanding will discover good.
  A false witness will not go unpunished,
    and he who breathes out lies will perish.
  It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury,
    much less for a slave to rule over princes.
  Good sense makes one slow to anger,
    and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
  A king's wrath is like the growling of a lion,
    but his favor is like dew on the grass.
  A foolish son is ruin to his father,
    and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.
  House and wealth are inherited from fathers,
    but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
  Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep,
    and an idle person will suffer hunger.
  Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life;
    he who despises his ways will die.
  Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD,
    and he will repay him for his deed.
  Discipline your son, for there is hope;
    do not set your heart on putting him to death.
  A man of great wrath will pay the penalty,
    for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.
  Listen to advice and accept instruction,
    that you may gain wisdom in the future.
  Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
    but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.
  What is desired in a man is steadfast love,
    and a poor man is better than a liar.
  The fear of the LORD leads to life,
    and whoever has it rests satisfied;
    he will not be visited by harm.
  The sluggard buries his hand in the dish
    and will not even bring it back to his mouth.
  Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence;
    reprove a man of understanding, and he will gain knowledge.
  He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother
    is a son who brings shame and reproach.
  Cease to hear instruction, my son,
    and you will stray from the words of knowledge.
  A worthless witness mocks at justice,
    and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.
  Condemnation is ready for scoffers,
    and beating for the backs of fools.
20   Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
    and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.⁴
  The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion;
    whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his life.
  It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,
    but every fool will be quarreling.
  The sluggard does not plow in the autumn;
    he will seek at harvest and have nothing.
  The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water,
    but a man of understanding will draw it out.
  Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love,
    but a faithful man who can find?
  The righteous who walks in his integrity—
    blessed are his children after him!
  A king who sits on the throne of judgment
    winnows all evil with his eyes.
  Who can say, “I have made my heart pure;
    I am clean from my sin”?
  Unequal⁵ weights and unequal measures
    are both alike an abomination to the LORD.
  Even a child makes himself known by his acts,
    by whether his conduct is pure and upright.⁶
  The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
    the LORD has made them both.
  Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty;
    open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.
  “Bad, bad,” says the buyer,
    but when he goes away, then he boasts.
  There is gold and abundance of costly stones,
    but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
  Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
    and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for foreigners.⁷
  Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
    but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.
  Plans are established by counsel;
    by wise guidance wage war.
  Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets;
    therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.⁸
  If one curses his father or his mother,
    his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.
  An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning
    will not be blessed in the end.
  Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
    wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.
  Unequal weights are an abomination to the LORD,
    and false scales are not good.
  A man's steps are from the LORD;
    how then can man understand his way?
  It is a snare to say rashly, “It is holy,”
    and to reflect only after making vows.
  A wise king winnows the wicked
    and drives the wheel over them.
  The spirit⁹ of man is the lamp of the LORD,
    searching all his innermost parts.
  Steadfast love and faithfulness preserve the king,
    and by steadfast love his throne is upheld.
  The glory of young men is their strength,
    but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.
  Blows that wound cleanse away evil;
    strokes make clean the innermost parts.

(ESV)

Psalm 70

O Lord, Do Not Delay

To the choirmaster. Of David, for the memorial offering.

70   Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
    O LORD, make haste to help me!
  Let them be put to shame and confusion
    who seek my life!
  Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
    who delight in my hurt!
  Let them turn back because of their shame
    who say, “Aha, Aha!”
  May all who seek you
    rejoice and be glad in you!
  May those who love your salvation
    say evermore, “God is great!”
  But I am poor and needy;
    hasten to me, O God!
  You are my help and my deliverer;
    O LORD, do not delay!

(ESV)

John 11

The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus¹ was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”So Thomas, called the Twin,² said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles³ off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.⁴ Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved⁵ in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for⁶ Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

(ESV)