To finish the Bible in one year, Read Psalms 55 to 60 and 2nd Corinthians 11 : 1-15
Old Testament Reading for today – Listen or read it for yourself:
Reflection for Today.
Also read the verses, if you like.
Psalm 55
1 [For the choirmaster For strings Poem Of David] God, hear my prayer, do not hide away from my plea,
2 give me a hearing, answer me, my troubles give me no peace. I shudder
3 at the enemy’s shouts, at the outcry of the wicked; they heap up charges against me, in their anger bring hostile accusations against me.
4 My heart writhes within me, the terrors of death come upon me,
5 fear and trembling overwhelm me, and shuddering grips me.
6 And I say, ‘Who will give me wings like a dove, to fly away and find rest?’
7 How far I would escape, and make a nest in the desert!
8 I would soon find a refuge from the storm of abuse, from the
9 destructive tempest, Lord, from the flood of their tongues. For I see violence and strife in the city,
10 day and night they make their rounds along the city walls, Inside live malice and mischief,
11 inside lives destruction, tyranny and treachery never absent from its central square.
12 Were it an enemy who insulted me, that I could bear; if an opponent pitted himself against me, I could turn away from him.
13 But you, a person of my own rank, a comrade and dear friend,
14 to whom I was bound by intimate friendship in the house of God! May they recoil in disorder,
15 may death descend on them, may they go down alive to Sheol, since evil shares their home with them.
16 For my part, I appeal to God, and Yahweh saves me;
17 evening, morning, noon, I complain and I groan. He hears my cry,
18 he ransoms me and gives me peace from the feud against me, for they are taking me to law.
19 But God will listen and will humble them, he who has been enthroned from the beginning; no change of heart for them, for they do not fear God.
20 They attack those at peace with them, going back on their oaths;
21 though their mouth is smoother than butter, enmity is in their hearts; their words more soothing than oil, yet sharpened like swords.
22 Unload your burden onto Yahweh and he will sustain you; never will he allow the upright to stumble.
23 You, God, will thrust them down to the abyss of destruction, men bloodthirsty and deceptive, before half their days are spent. For my part, I put my trust in you.
Psalm 56
1 [For the choirmaster Tune: ‘The oppression of distant princes’ Of David In a quiet voice When the Philistines seized him in Gath] Take pity on me, God, as they harry me, pressing their attacks home all day.
2 Those who harry me lie in wait for me all day, countless are those who attack me from the heights.
3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you,
4 in God, whose word I praise, in God I put my trust and have no fear, what power has human strength over me?
5 All day long they carp at my words, their only thought is to harm me,
6 they gather together, lie in wait and spy on my movements, as though determined to take my life.
7 Because of this crime reject them, in your anger, God, strike down the nations.
8 You yourself have counted up my sorrows, collect my tears in your wineskin.
9 Then my enemies will turn back on the day when I call. This I know, that God is on my side.
10 In God whose word I praise, in Yahweh whose word I praise,
11 in God I put my trust and have no fear; what can mortal man do to me?
12 I am bound by the vows I have made, God, I will pay you the debt of thanks,
13 for you have saved my life from death to walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
Psalm 57
1 [For the choirmaster Tune: ‘Do not destroy’ Of David In a quiet voice When he escaped from Saul in the cave] Take pity on me, God, take pity on me, for in you I take refuge, in the shadow of your wings I take refuge, until the destruction is past.
2 I call to God the Most High, to God who has done everything for me;
3 may he send from heaven and save me, and check those who harry me; may God send his faithful love and his constancy.
4 I lie surrounded by lions, greedy for human prey, their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongue a sharp sword.
5 Be exalted above the heavens, God! Your glory over all the earth!
6 They laid a snare in my path — I was bowed with care — they dug a pit ahead of me, but fell in it themselves.
7 My heart is ready, God, my heart is ready; I will sing, and make music for you.
8 Awake, my glory, awake, lyre and harp, that I may awake the Dawn.
9 I will praise you among the peoples, Lord, I will make music for you among nations,
10 for your faithful love towers to heaven, your constancy to the clouds.
11 Be exalted above the heavens, God! Your glory over all the earth!
Psalm 58
[For the choirmaster Tune: ‘Do not destroy’ Of David In a quiet voice] Divine as you are, do you truly give upright verdicts? do you judge fairly the children of Adam?
2 No! You devise injustice in your hearts, and with your hands you administer tyranny on the earth.
3 Since the womb they have gone astray, the wicked, on the wrong path since their birth, with their unjust verdicts.
4 They are poisonous as any snake, deaf as an adder that blocks its ears
5 so as not to hear the magician’s music, however skilful his spells.
6 God, break the teeth in their mouths, snap off the fangs of these young lions, Yahweh.
7 May they drain away like water running to waste, may they wither like trampled grass,
8 like the slug that melts as it moves or a still-born child that never sees the sun.
9 Before they sprout thorns like the bramble, green or burnt up, may retribution whirl them away.
10 The upright will rejoice to see vengeance done, and will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 ‘So’, people will say, ‘the upright does have a reward; there is a God to dispense justice on earth.’
Psalm 59
1 [For the choirmaster Tune: ‘Do not destroy’ Of David In a quiet voice When Saul sent men to watch David’s house in order to have him killed] Rescue me from my enemies, my God, be my stronghold from my assailants,
2 rescue me from evil-doers, from men of violence save me.
3 Look at them, lurking to ambush me, violent men are attacking me, for no fault, no sin of mine, Yahweh,
4 for no guilt, they come running to take up position. Wake up, stand by me and keep watch,
5 Yahweh, God of Sabaoth, God of Israel, rise up, to punish all the nations, show no mercy to all these malicious traitors.
6 Back they come at nightfall, snarling like curs, prowling through the town.
7 Look how they rant in speech with swords on their lips, ‘Who is there to hear us?’
8 For your part, Yahweh, you laugh at them, you make mockery of all nations.
9 My strength, I keep my eyes fixed on you. For my stronghold is God,
10 the God who loves me faithfully is coming to meet me, God will let me feast my eyes on those who lie in wait for me.
11 Do not annihilate them, or my people may forget; shake them in your power, bring them low, Lord, our shield.
12 Sin is in their mouths, sin on their lips, so let them be trapped in their pride for the curses and lies that they utter.
13 Destroy them in your anger, destroy them till they are no more, and let it be known that God is Master in Jacob and the whole wide world.
14 Back they come at nightfall, snarling like curs, prowling through the town,
15 scavenging for something to eat, growling unless they have their fill.
16 And so I will sing of your strength, in the morning acclaim your faithful love; you have been a stronghold for me, a refuge when I was in trouble.
17 My strength, I will make music for you, for my stronghold is God, the God who loves me faithfully.
Psalm 60
1 [For the choirmaster To the tune ‘The decree is a lily’ In a quiet voice Of David To be learnt When he was at war with Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah, and Joab marched back to destroy twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt] God, you have rejected us, broken us, you were angry, come back to us!
2 You made the earth tremble, split it open; now mend the rifts, it is tottering still.
3 You have forced your people to drink a bitter draught, forced us to drink a wine that made us reel.
4 You gave a signal to those who fear you to let them escape out of range of the bow.
5 To rescue those you love, save with your right hand and answer us.
6 God has spoken from his sanctuary, ‘In triumph I will divide up Shechem, and share out the Valley of Succoth.
7 ‘Mine is Gilead, mine Manasseh, Ephraim the helmet on my head, Judah my commander’s baton,
8 ‘Moab a bowl for me to wash in, on Edom I plant my sandal. Now try shouting “Victory!” over me, Philistia!’
9 Who will lead me against a fortified city, who will guide me into Edom,
10 if not you, the God who has rejected us? God, you no longer march with our armies.
11 Bring us help in our time of crisis, any human help is worthless.
12 With God we shall do deeds of valour, he will trample down our enemies.
2nd Corinthians 11 : 1-15
1 Take me as your pattern, just as I take Christ for mine.
2 I congratulate you for remembering me so consistently and for maintaining the traditions exactly as I passed them on to you.
3 But I should like you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
4 For any man to pray or to prophesy with his head covered shows disrespect for his head.
5 And for a woman to pray or prophesy with her head uncovered shows disrespect for her head; it is exactly the same as if she had her hair shaved off.
6 Indeed, if a woman does go without a veil, she should have her hair cut off too; but if it is a shameful thing for a woman to have her hair cut off or shaved off, then she should wear a veil.
7 But for a man it is not right to have his head covered, since he is the image of God and reflects God’s glory; but woman is the reflection of man’s glory.
8 For man did not come from woman; no, woman came from man;
9 nor was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man:
10 and this is why it is right for a woman to wear on her head a sign of the authority over her, because of the angels.
11 However, in the Lord, though woman is nothing without man, man is nothing without woman;
12 and though woman came from man, so does every man come from a woman, and everything comes from God.
13 Decide for yourselves: does it seem fitting that a woman should pray to God without a veil?
14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him,
15 but when a woman has long hair, it is her glory? After all, her hair was given to her to be a covering.
Sermons by different people regarding the verses for today.
Catholic Daily Readings and Reflections
Reading 1, Isaiah 7:1-9
1 In the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah, Razon king of Aram advanced on Jerusalem with Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, to attack it; but he was unable to attack it.
2 The House of David was informed: ‘Aram has halted in Ephraimite territory.’ At this, his heart and his people’s hearts shook like forest trees shaking in the wind.
3 Yahweh then said to Isaiah, ‘Go out with your son Shear-Jashub, and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the Fuller’s Field,
4 and say to him, “Pay attention and keep calm. Do not be frightened or demoralised by these two smouldering sticks of firewood, by the fierce anger of Razon, Aram and the son of Remaliah,
5 or because Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah have been plotting against you and saying:
6 Let us mount an attack on Judah, destroy it, force it onto our side and install the son of Tabeel there as king.
7 “Lord Yahweh says this: This will not happen, it will never occur,
8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Razon; another sixty-five years, and Ephraim will cease to be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not take your stand on me you will not stand firm.” ‘
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 48:2-3, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
2 towering in beauty, the joy of the whole world: Mount Zion in the heart of the north, the settlement of the great king;
3 God himself among its palaces has proved himself its bulwark.
4 For look, kings made alliance, together they advanced;
5 without a second glance, when they saw, they panicked and fled away.
6 Trembling seized them on the spot, pains like those of a woman in labour;
7 it was the east wind, that wrecker of ships from Tarshish.
8 What we had heard we saw for ourselves in the city of our God, in the city of Yahweh Sabaoth, which God has established for ever.
Gospel, Matthew 11:20-24
20 Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.
21 ‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
22 Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgement Day than for you.
23 And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised as high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet.
24 Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on Judgement Day than for you.’
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 
Leave a comment