May 14 Reading through the Bible Day 135

1 SAMUEL 15:1-16:23
JOHN 8:1-20
PSALM 110:1-7
PROVERBS 15:8-10

1 SAMUEL 15:1-16:23
One day Samuel said to Saul, " I anointed you king of Israel because the LORD told me to. Now listen to this message from the LORD! 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: ` I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt. 3 Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation--men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.' " 4 So Saul mobilized his army at Telaim. There were 200,000 troops in addition to 10,000 men from Judah. 5 Then Saul went to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Saul sent this message to the Kenites: " Move away from where the Amalekites live or else you will die with them. For you were kind to the people of Israel when they came up from Egypt." So the Kenites packed up and left. 7 Then Saul slaughtered the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, east of Egypt. 8 He captured Agag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else. 9 Saul and his men spared Agag's life and kept the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs--everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality. 10 Then the LORD said to Samuel, 11 " I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has again refused to obey me." Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the LORD all night. 12 Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul. Someone told him, " Saul went to Carmel to set up a monument to himself; then he went on to Gilgal." 13 When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. " May the LORD bless you," he said. " I have carried out the LORD's command!" 14 " Then what is all the bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle I hear?" Samuel demanded. 15 " It's true that the army spared the best of the sheep and cattle," Saul admitted. " But they are going to sacrifice them to the LORD your God. We have destroyed everything else." 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, " Stop! Listen to what the LORD told me last night!" " What was it?" Saul asked. 17 And Samuel told him, " Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The LORD has anointed you king of Israel. 18 And the LORD sent you on a mission and told you, ` Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.' 19 Why haven't you obeyed the LORD? Why did you rush for the plunder and do exactly what the LORD said not to do?" 20 " But I did obey the LORD," Saul insisted. " I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else. 21 Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep and cattle and plunder to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal." 22 But Samuel replied, " What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening to him is much better than offering the fat of rams. 23 Rebellion is as bad as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you from being king." 24 Then Saul finally admitted, " Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the LORD's command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded. 25 Oh, please, forgive my sin now and go with me to worship the LORD." 26 But Samuel replied, " I will not return with you! Since you have rejected the LORD's command, he has rejected you from being the king of Israel." 27 As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed at him to try to hold him back and tore his robe. 28 And Samuel said to him, " See? The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to someone else--one who is better than you. 29 And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!" 30 Then Saul pleaded again, " I know I have sinned. But please, at least honor me before the leaders and before my people by going with me to worship the LORD your God." 31 So Samuel finally agreed and went with him, and Saul worshiped the LORD. 32 Then Samuel said, " Bring King Agag to me." Agag arrived full of smiles, for he thought, " Surely the worst is over, and I have been spared!" 33 But Samuel said, " As your sword has killed the sons of many mothers, now your mother will be childless." And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went home to Ramah, and Saul returned to his house at Gibeah. 35 Samuel never went to meet with Saul again, but he mourned constantly for him. And the LORD was sorry he had ever made Saul king of Israel.16:1 FINALLY, the LORD said to Samuel, " You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel. Now fill your horn with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my new king." 2 But Samuel asked, " How can I do that? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me." " Take a heifer with you," the LORD replied, " and say that you have come to make a sacrifice to the LORD. 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you which of his sons to anoint for me." 4 So Samuel did as the LORD instructed him. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the leaders of the town became afraid. " What's wrong?" they asked. " Do you come in peace?" 5 " Yes," Samuel replied. " I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." Then Samuel performed the purification rite for Jesse and his sons and invited them, too. 6 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, " Surely this is the LORD's anointed!" 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, " Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn't make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at a person's thoughts and intentions." 8 Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, " This is not the one the LORD has chosen." 9 Next Jesse summoned Shammah, but Samuel said, " Neither is this the one the LORD has chosen." 10 In the same way all seven of Jesse's sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, " The LORD has not chosen any of these." 11 Then Samuel asked, " Are these all the sons you have?" " There is still the youngest," Jesse replied. " But he's out in the fields watching the sheep." " Send for him at once," Samuel said. " We will not sit down to eat until he arrives." 12 So Jesse sent for him. He was ruddy and handsome, with pleasant eyes. And the LORD said, " This is the one; anoint him." 13 So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the olive oil he had brought and poured it on David's head. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah. 14 Now the Spirit of the LORD had left Saul, and the LORD sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear. 15 Some of Saul's servants suggested a remedy. " It is clear that a spirit from God is tormenting you," they said. 16 " Let us find a good musician to play the harp for you whenever the tormenting spirit is bothering you. The harp music will quiet you, and you will soon be well again." 17 " All right," Saul said. " Find me someone who plays well and bring him here." 18 One of the servants said to Saul, " The son of Jesse is a talented harp player. Not only that; he is brave and strong and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the LORD is with him." 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, " Send me your son David, the shepherd." 20 Jesse responded by sending David to Saul, along with a young goat and a donkey loaded down with food and wine. 21 So David went to Saul and served him. Saul liked David very much, and David became one of Saul's armor bearers. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse asking, " Please let David join my staff, for I am very pleased with him." 23 And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.

JOHN 8:1-20
Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and Pharisees brought a woman they had caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. 4 " Teacher," they said to Jesus, " this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?" 6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, " All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!" 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to her, " Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?" 11 " No, Lord," she said. And Jesus said, " Neither do I. Go and sin no more."*12 Jesus said to the people, " I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." 13 The Pharisees replied, " You are making false claims about yourself!" 14 Jesus told them, " These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don't know this about me. 15 You judge me with all your human limitations, but I am not judging anyone. 16 And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone--I have with me the Father who sent me. 17 Your own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact. 18 I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other." 19 " Where is your father?" they asked.Jesus answered, " Since you don't know who I am, you don't know who my Father is. If you knew me, then you would know my Father, too." 20 Jesus made these statements while he was teaching in the section of the Temple known as the Treasury. But he was not arrested, because his time had not yet come.

PSALM 110:1-7
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD said to my Lord,
" Sit in honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet."
2 The LORD will extend your powerful dominion from Jerusalem;
you will rule over your enemies.
3 In that day of battle,
your people will serve you willingly.
Arrayed in holy garments,
your vigor will be renewed each day like the morning dew.
4 The LORD has taken an oath and will not break his vow:
" You are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek."
5 The Lord stands at your right hand to protect you.
He will strike down many kings in the day of his anger.
6 He will punish the nations
and fill them with their dead;
he will shatter heads
over the whole earth.
7 But he himself will be refreshed from brooks along the way.
He will be victorious.

PROVERBS 15:8-10
The LORD hates the sacrifice of the wicked, but he delights in the prayers of the upright. The LORD despises the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue godliness. Whoever abandons the right path will be severely punished; whoever hates correction will die.

May 15 Reading through the Bible Day 136

1 SAMUEL 17:1-18:4
JOHN 8:21-30
PSALM 111:1-10
PROVERBS 15:11

1 SAMUEL 17:1-18:4
The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul countered by gathering his troops near the valley of Elah. 3 So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them. 4 Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was a giant of a man, measuring over nine feet tall! 5 He wore a bronze helmet and a coat of mail that weighed 125 pounds. 6 He also wore bronze leggings, and he slung a bronze javelin over his back. 7 The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver's beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed fifteen pounds. An armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a huge shield. 8 Goliath stood and shouted across to the Israelites, " Do you need a whole army to settle this? Choose someone to fight for you, and I will represent the Philistines. We will settle this dispute in single combat! 9 If your man is able to kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! 10 I defy the armies of Israel! Send me a man who will fight with me!" 11 When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken. 12 Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons in all. 13 Jesse's three oldest sons--Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah--had already joined Saul's army to fight the Philistines. 14 David was the youngest of Jesse's sons. Since David's three oldest brothers were in the army, they stayed with Saul's forces all the time. 15 But David went back and forth between working for Saul and helping his father with the sheep in Bethlehem. 16 For forty days, twice a day, morning and evening, the Philistine giant strutted in front of the Israelite army. 17 One day Jesse said to David, " Take this half-bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. 18 And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring me back a letter from them." 19 David's brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines. 20 So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts. He arrived at the outskirts of the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries. 21 Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, he saw Goliath, the champion from Gath, come out from the Philistine ranks, shouting his challenge to the army of Israel. 24 As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. 25 " Have you seen the giant?" the men were asking. " He comes out each day to challenge Israel. And have you heard about the huge reward the king has offered to anyone who kills him? The king will give him one of his daughters for a wife, and his whole family will be exempted from paying taxes!" 26 David talked to some others standing there to verify the report. " What will a man get for killing this Philistine and putting an end to his abuse of Israel?" he asked them. " Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?" 27 And David received the same reply as before: " What you have been hearing is true. That is the reward for killing the giant." 28 But when David's oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. " What are you doing around here anyway?" he demanded. " What about those few sheep you're supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and dishonesty. You just want to see the battle!" 29 " What have I done now?" David replied. " I was only asking a question!" 30 He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. 31 Then David's question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him. 32 " Don't worry about a thing," David told Saul. " I'll go fight this Philistine!" 33 " Don't be ridiculous!" Saul replied. " There is no way you can go against this Philistine. You are only a boy, and he has been in the army since he was a boy!" 34 But David persisted. " I have been taking care of my father's sheep," he said. " When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and take the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37 The LORD who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!" Saul finally consented. " All right, go ahead," he said. " And may the LORD be with you!" 38 Then Saul gave David his own armor--a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. 39 David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. " I can't go in these," he protested. " I'm not used to them." So he took them off again. 40 He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them in his shepherd's bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd's staff and sling, he started across to fight Goliath. 41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 " Am I a dog," he roared at David, " that you come at me with a stick?" And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 " Come over here, and I'll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!" Goliath yelled. 45 David shouted in reply, " You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD Almighty--the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone will know that the LORD does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The LORD will give you to us!" 48 As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. 49 Reaching into his shepherd's bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it from his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face downward to the ground. 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine giant with only a stone and sling. And since he had no sword, 51 he ran over and pulled Goliath's sword from its sheath. David used it to kill the giant and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the Israelites gave a great shout of triumph and rushed after the Philistines, chasing them as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron. The bodies of the dead and wounded Philistines were strewn all along the road from Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 Then the Israelite army returned and plundered the deserted Philistine camp. 54 (David took Goliath's head to Jerusalem, but he stored the Philistine's armor in his own tent.) 55 As Saul watched David go out to fight Goliath, he asked Abner, the general of his army, " Abner, whose son is he?" " I really don't know," Abner said. 56 " Well, find out!" the king told him.57 After David had killed Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul with the Philistine's head still in his hand. 58 " Tell me about your father, my boy," Saul said. And David replied, " His name is Jesse, and we live in Bethlehem."18:1 AFTER David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king's son. There was an immediate bond of love between them, and they became the best of friends. 2 From that day on Saul kept David with him at the palace and wouldn't let him return home. 3 And Jonathan made a special vow to be David's friend, 4 and he sealed the pact by giving him his robe, tunic, sword, bow, and belt.

JOHN 8:21-30
Later Jesus said to them [the Jewish leaders] again, " I am going away. You will search for me and die in your sin. You cannot come where I am going." 22 The Jewish leaders asked, " Is he planning to commit suicide? What does he mean, ` You cannot come where I am going'?" 23 Then he said to them, " You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not. 24 That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I say I am, you will die in your sins." 25 " Tell us who you are," they demanded. Jesus replied, " I am the one I have always claimed to be. 26 I have much to say about you and much to condemn, but I won't. For I say only what I have heard from the one who sent me, and he is true." 27 But they still didn't understand that he was talking to them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, " When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will realize that I am he and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak what the Father taught me. 29 And the one who sent me is with me--he has not deserted me. For I always do those things that are pleasing to him." 30 Then many who heard him say these things believed in him.

PSALM 111:1-10
Praise the LORD!
I will thank the LORD with all my heart
as I meet with his godly people.
2 How amazing are the deeds of the LORD!
All who delight in him should ponder them.
3 Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.
His righteousness never fails.
4 Who can forget the wonders he performs?
How gracious and merciful is our LORD!
5 He gives food to those who trust him;
he always remembers his covenant.
6 He has shown his great power to his people
by giving them the lands of other nations.
7 All he does is just and good,
and all his commandments are trustworthy.
8 They are forever true,
to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.
9 He has paid a full ransom for his people.
He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.
What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!
10 Reverence for the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom.
The rewards of wisdom come to all who obey him.
Praise his name forever!

PROVERBS 15:11
Even the depths of Death and Destruction> are known by the LORD. How much more does he know the human heart!