May 14 Reading through the Bible

 

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.