To finish the Bible in one year, Read Psalms 50 to 54 and 2nd Corinthians 10
Old Testament Reading for today – Listen or read it for yourself:
Reflection for Today.
Also read the verses, if you like.
Psalm 50
1 [Psalm Of Asaph] The God of gods, Yahweh, is speaking, from east to west he summons the earth.
2 From Zion, perfection of beauty, he shines forth;
3 he is coming, our God, and will not be silent. Devouring fire ahead of him, raging tempest around him,
4 he summons the heavens from on high, and the earth to judge his people.
5 ‘Gather to me my faithful, who sealed my covenant by sacrifice.’
6 The heavens proclaim his saving justice, ‘God himself is judge.
7 ‘Listen, my people, I am speaking, Israel, I am giving evidence against you, I, God, your God.
8 ‘It is not with your sacrifices that I find fault, those burnt offerings constantly before me;
9 I will not accept any bull from your homes, nor a single goat from your folds.
10 ‘For all forest creatures are mine already, the animals on the mountains in their thousands.
11 I know every bird in the air, whatever moves in the fields is mine.
12 ‘If I am hungry I shall not tell you, since the world and all it holds is mine.
13 Am I to eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
14 ‘Let thanksgiving be your sacrifice to God, fulfil the vows you make to the Most High;
15 then if you call to me in time of trouble I will rescue you and you will honour me.’
16 But to the wicked, God says: ‘What right have you to recite my statutes, to take my covenant on your lips,
17 when you detest my teaching, and thrust my words behind you?
18 ‘You make friends with a thief as soon as you see one, you feel at home with adulterers,
19 your conversation is devoted to wickedness, and your tongue to inventing lies.
20 ‘You sit there, slandering your own brother, you malign your own mother’s son.
21 You do this, and am I to say nothing? Do you think that I am really like you? I charge you, indict you to your face.
22 ‘Think it out, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart without hope of a rescuer.
23 Honour to me is a sacrifice of thanksgiving; to the upright I will show God’s salvation.’
Psalm 51
1 [For the choirmaster Of David When the prophet Nathan had come to him because he had gone to Bathsheba] Have mercy on me, O God, in your faithful love, in your great tenderness wipe away my offences;
2 wash me clean from my guilt, purify me from my sin.
3 For I am well aware of my offences, my sin is constantly in mind.
4 Against you, you alone, I have sinned, I have done what you see to be wrong, that you may show your saving justice when you pass sentence, and your victory may appear when you give judgement,
5 remember, I was born guilty, a sinner from the moment of conception.
6 But you delight in sincerity of heart, and in secret you teach me wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop till I am clean, wash me till I am whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear the sound of joy and gladness, and the bones you have crushed will dance.
9 Turn away your face from my sins, and wipe away all my guilt.
10 God, create in me a clean heart, renew within me a resolute spirit,
11 do not thrust me away from your presence, do not take away from me your spirit of holiness.
12 Give me back the joy of your salvation, sustain in me a generous spirit.
13 I shall teach the wicked your paths, and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, God, God of my salvation, and my tongue will acclaim your saving justice.
15 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will speak out your praise.
16 Sacrifice gives you no pleasure, burnt offering you do not desire.
17 Sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a broken, contrite heart you never scorn.
18 In your graciousness do good to Zion, rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in upright sacrifices,-burnt offerings and whole oblations — and young bulls will be offered on your altar.
Psalm 52
1 [For the choirmaster Poem Of David When Doeg the Edomite went and warned Saul, ‘David has gone to Abimelech’s house’] Why take pride in being wicked, you champion in villainy, all day long
2 plotting crime? Your tongue is razor-sharp, you artist in perfidy.
3 You prefer evil to good, lying to uprightness.
4 You revel in destructive talk, treacherous tongue!
5 That is why God will crush you, destroy you once and for all, snatch you from your tent, uproot you from the land of the living.
6 The upright will be awestruck as they see it, they will mock him,
7 ‘So much for someone who would not place his reliance in God, but relied on his own great wealth, and made himself strong by crime.’
8 But I, like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God, put my trust in God’s faithful love, for ever and ever.
9 I shall praise you for ever for what you have done, and shall trust in your name, so full of goodness, in the presence of your faithful.
Psalm 53
1 [For the choirmaster In sickness Poem Of David] The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God!’ They are corrupt, vile and unjust, not one of them does right.
2 God looks down from heaven at the children of Adam, to see if a single one is wise, a single one seeks God.
3 All have proved faithless, all alike turned sour, not one of them does right, not a single one.
4 Are they not aware, these evil-doers? They are devouring my people; this is the bread they eat, and they never call upon God.
5 They will be gripped with fear, just where there is no need for fear, for God scatters the bones of him who besieges you; they are mocked because God rejects them.
6 Who will bring from Zion salvation for Israel? When God brings his people home, what joy for Jacob, what happiness for Israel!
Psalm 54
1 [For the choirmaster On stringed instruments Poem Of David When the Ziphites went to Saul and said,’Is not David hiding with us?’] God, save me by your name, in your power vindicate me.
2 God, hear my prayer, listen to the words I speak.
3 Arrogant men are attacking me, bullies hounding me to death, no room in their thoughts for God.
4 But now God is coming to my help, the Lord, among those who sustain me.
5 May their wickedness recoil on those who lie in wait for me. Yahweh, in your constancy destroy them.
6 How gladly will I offer you sacrifice, and praise your name, for it is good,
7 for it has rescued me from all my troubles, and my eye has feasted on my enemies.
2nd Corinthians 10
1 I want you to be quite certain, brothers, that our ancestors all had the cloud over them and all passed through the sea.
2 In the cloud and in the sea they were all baptised into Moses;
3 all ate the same spiritual food
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, since they drank from the spiritual rock which followed them, and that rock was Christ.
5 In spite of this, God was not pleased with most of them, and their corpses were scattered over the desert.
6 Now these happenings were examples, for our benefit, so that we should never set our hearts, as they did, on evil things;
7 nor are you to worship false gods, as some of them did, as it says in scripture: The people sat down to eat and drink, and afterwards got up to amuse themselves.
8 Nor, again, are we to fall into sexual immorality; some of them did this, and twenty-three thousand met their downfall in one day.
9 And we are not to put the Lord to the test; some of them put him to the test, and they were killed by snakes.
10 Never complain; some of them complained, and they were killed by the Destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were described in writing to be a lesson for us, to whom it has fallen to live in the last days of the ages.
12 Everyone, no matter how firmly he thinks he is standing, must be careful he does not fall.
13 None of the trials which have come upon you is more than a human being can stand. You can trust that God will not let you be put to the test beyond your strength, but with any trial will also provide a way out by enabling you to put up with it.
14 For that reason, my dear friends, have nothing to do with the worship of false gods.
15 I am talking to you as sensible people; weigh up for yourselves what I have to say.
16 The blessing-cup, which we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ; and the loaf of bread which we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
17 And as there is one loaf, so we, although there are many of us, are one single body, for we all share in the one loaf.
18 Now compare the natural people of Israel: is it not true that those who eat the sacrifices share the altar?
19 What does this mean? That the dedication of food to false gods amounts to anything? Or that false gods themselves amount to anything?
20 No, it does not; simply that when pagans sacrifice, what is sacrificed by them is sacrificed to demons who are not God. I do not want you to share with demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons as well; you cannot have a share at the Lord’s table and the demons’ table as well.
22 Do we really want to arouse the Lord’s jealousy; are we stronger than he is?
23 ‘Everything is permissible’; maybe so, but not everything does good. True, everything is permissible, but not everything builds people up.
24 Nobody should be looking for selfish advantage, but everybody for someone else’s.
25 Eat anything that is sold in butchers’ shops; there is no need to ask questions for conscience’s sake,
26 since To the Lord belong the earth and all it contains.
27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal, go if you want to, and eat whatever is put before you; you need not ask questions of conscience first.
28 But if someone says to you, ‘This food has been offered in sacrifice,’ do not eat it, out of consideration for the person that told you, for conscience’s sake-
29 not your own conscience, I mean, but the other person’s. Why should my freedom be governed by somebody else’s conscience?
30 Provided that I accept it with gratitude, why should I be blamed for eating food for which I give thanks?
31 Whatever you eat, then, or drink, and whatever else you do, do it all for the glory of God.
32 Never be a cause of offence, either to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God,
33 just as I try to accommodate everybody in everything, not looking for my own advantage, but for the advantage of everybody else, so that they may be saved.
Catholic Daily Readings and Reflections
10 Hear what Yahweh says, you rulers of Sodom; listen to what our God teaches, you people of Gomorrah.
11 ‘What are your endless sacrifices to me?’ says Yahweh. ‘I am sick of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of calves. I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come and present yourselves before me, who has asked you to trample through my courts?
13 Bring no more futile cereal offerings, the smoke from them fills me with disgust. New Moons, Sabbaths, assemblies — I cannot endure solemnity combined with guilt.
14 Your New Moons and your meetings I utterly detest; to me they are a burden I am tired of bearing.
15 When you stretch out your hands I turn my eyes away. You may multiply your prayers, I shall not be listening. Your hands are covered in blood,
16 wash, make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease doing evil.
17 Learn to do good, search for justice, discipline the violent, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23
8 ‘It is not with your sacrifices that I find fault, those burnt offerings constantly before me;
9 I will not accept any bull from your homes, nor a single goat from your folds.
16 But to the wicked, God says: ‘What right have you to recite my statutes, to take my covenant on your lips,
17 when you detest my teaching, and thrust my words behind you?
21 You do this, and am I to say nothing? Do you think that I am really like you? I charge you, indict you to your face.
23 Honour to me is a sacrifice of thanksgiving; to the upright I will show God’s salvation.’
Gospel, Matthew 10:34-11:1
34 ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword.
35 For I have come to set son against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law;
36 a person’s enemies will be the members of his own household.
37 ‘No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of me. No one who prefers son or daughter to me is worthy of me.
38 Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me.
39 Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
40 ‘Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
41 ‘Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes an upright person because he is upright will have the reward of an upright person.
42 ‘If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without his reward.’
1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.
Previous Daily Bible Study Blogs
Book of Psalms, Outline Summary, Outline Book of 2 Corinthians (we are studying these books presently)
Audio Drama: Old Testament New Testament Each book is read in its entirety. You can listen to the bible, one book at a time in contemporary English.
Dr. Myles Munroe
I am including a video by Dr. Myles Munroe, I’ve listened to him back in the nineties, and rediscovered him recently. Now his perspective seems to be a good way to also look at scripture. In Pursuit of Purpose – Book Highlights
Sermons Rosary Prayers Catholic Answers
Did Mary have other children? No, Listen here
Called to Communion
Pray the Rosary
Rosary Mysteries
The following 4 videos are the 4 Mysteries that we pray on certain days of the week. I like these videos, because I can pray it alone, with only the images, or go along with the sound. The images help me to focus on the particular mystery that I am contemplating as I say the Hail Mary on each bead.
Joyful Mysteries
Luminous Mysteries
Sorrowful Mysteries
Glorious Mysteries
Prayers of the Rosary
Links to “How to pray the rosary” Popular Catholic Prayers
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried,
He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
(this prayer is optional and may be said after all Glory Be to the Fathers…..)
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell.
Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of thy mercy.
Console the souls in Purgatory, particularly those most abandoned. Amen
Hail Mary,
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Hail, Holy Queen
Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
That we maybe made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Closing Prayer
O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation.
Grant, we beseech Thee, that while meditating on these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
that we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(The Fatima Prayer:)
Most Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – I adore thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference’s whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.
Prayer to St. Michael
Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Thurzo Gizella Bible Study 
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