May 7 Reading through the Bible

1 SAMUEL 1:1-2:21 JOHN 5:1-23 PSALM 105:37-45 PROVERBS 14:28-29

1 SAMUEL 1:1-2:21

There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham and grandson of Elihu, from the family of Tohu and the clan of Zuph. 2 Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, while Hannah did not. 3 Each year Elkanah and his family would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at the Tabernacle. The priests of the LORD at that time were the two sons of Eli--Hophni and Phinehas. 4 On the day Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the sacrifice to Peninnah and each of her children. 5 But he gave Hannah a special portion because he loved her very much, even though the LORD had given her no children. 6 But Peninnah made fun of Hannah because the LORD had closed her womb. 7 Year after year it was the same--Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Hannah would finally be reduced to tears and would not even eat. 8 " What's the matter, Hannah?" Elkanah would ask. " Why aren't you eating? Why be so sad just because you have no children? You have me--isn't that better than having ten sons?" 9 Once when they were at Shiloh, Hannah went over to the Tabernacle after supper to pray to the LORD. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance. 10 Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD. 11 And she made this vow: " O LORD Almighty, if you will look down upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the LORD, his hair will never be cut." 12 As she was praying to the LORD, Eli watched her. 13 Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. 14 " Must you come here drunk?" he demanded. " Throw away your wine!" 15 " Oh no, sir!" she replied, " I'm not drunk! But I am very sad, and I was pouring out my heart to the LORD. 16 Please don't think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow." 17 " In that case," Eli said, " cheer up! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him." 18 " Oh, thank you, sir!" she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad. 19 The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the LORD once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the LORD remembered her request, 20 and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, " I asked the LORD for him." 21 The next year Elkanah, Peninnah, and their children went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the LORD. 22 But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, " Wait until the baby is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the LORD permanently." 23 " Whatever you think is best," Elkanah agreed. " Stay here for now, and may the LORD help you keep your promise." So she stayed home and nursed the baby.24 When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and half a bushel of flour and some wine. 25 After sacrificing the bull, they took the child to Eli. 26 " Sir, do you remember me?" Hannah asked. " I am the woman who stood here several years ago praying to the LORD. 27 I asked the LORD to give me this child, and he has given me my request. 28 Now I am giving him to the LORD, and he will belong to the LORD his whole life." And they worshiped the LORD there. 2:1 THEN Hannah prayed: " My heart rejoices in the LORD! Oh, how the LORD has blessed me! Now I have an answer for my enemies, as I delight in your deliverance. 2 No one is holy like the LORD! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. 3 "Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don't speak with such arrogance! The LORD is a God who knows your deeds and he will judge you for what you have done. 4 Those who were mighty are mighty no more; and those who were weak are now strong. 5 Those who were well fed are now starving; and those who were starving are now full. The barren woman now has seven children, but the woman with many children will have no more. 6 The LORD brings both death and life; he brings some down to the grave but raises others up. 7 The LORD makes one poor and another rich; he brings one down and lifts another up. 8 He lifts the poor from the dust-- yes, from a pile of ashes! He treats them like princes, placing them in seats of honor." For all the earth is the LORD's, and he has set the world in order. 9 He will protect his godly ones, but the wicked will perish in darkness. No one will succeed by strength alone. 10 Those who fight against the LORD will be broken. He thunders against them from heaven; the LORD judges throughout the earth. He gives mighty strength to his king; he increases the might of his anointed one." 11 Then Elkanah and Hannah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy became the LORD's helper, for he assisted Eli the priest. 12 Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD 13 or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli's sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling, 14 the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli's sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way. 15 Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal's fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting. 16 The man offering the sacrifice might reply, " Take as much as you want, but the fat must first be burned." Then the servant would demand, " No, give it to me now, or I'll take it by force." 17 So the sin of these young men was very serious in the LORD's sight, for they treated the LORD's offerings with contempt. 18 Now Samuel, though only a boy, was the LORD's helper. He wore a linen tunic just like that of a priest. 19 Each year his mother made a small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the sacrifice. 20 Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, " May the LORD give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the LORD." 21 And the LORD gave Hannah three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

JOHN 5:1-23

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people--blind, lame, or paralyzed--lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, he asked him, " Would you like to get well?" 7 " I can't, sir," the sick man said, " for I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me." 8 Jesus told him, " Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk!" 9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up the mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath day. 10 So the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, " You can't work on the Sabbath! It's illegal to carry that sleeping mat!" 11 He replied, " The man who healed me said to me, ` Pick up your sleeping mat and walk.' " 12 " Who said such a thing as that?" they demanded.13 The man didn't know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, " Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you." 15 Then the man went to find the Jewish leaders and told them it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, " My Father never stops working, so why should I?" 18 So the Jewish leaders tried all the more to kill him. In addition to disobeying the Sabbath rules, he had spoken of God as his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.19 Jesus replied, " I assure you, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and tells him everything he is doing, and the Son will do far greater things than healing this man. You will be astonished at what he does. 21 He will even raise from the dead anyone he wants to, just as the Father does. 22 And the Father leaves all judgment to his Son, 23 so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. But if you refuse to honor the Son, then you are certainly not honoring the Father who sent him."

PSALM 105:37-45

But he [the LORD] brought his people safely out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold;

there were no sick or feeble people among them.

38 Egypt was glad when they were gone,

for the dread of them was great.

39 The LORD spread out a cloud above them as a covering

and gave them a great fire to light the darkness.

40 They asked for meat, and he sent them quail;

he gave them manna--bread from heaven.

41 He opened up a rock, and water gushed out

to form a river through the dry and barren land.

42 For he remembered his sacred promise

to Abraham his servant.

43 So he brought his people out of Egypt with joy,

his chosen ones with rejoicing.

44 He gave his people the lands of pagan nations,

and they harvested crops that others had planted.

45 All this happened so they would follow his principles

and obey his laws.

Praise the LORD!

PROVERBS 14:28-29

A growing population is a king's glory; a dwindling nation is his doom. Those who control their anger have great understanding; those with a hasty temper will make mistakes.

 

April 7 Reading through the Bible

DEUTERONOMY 31:1-32:27
LUKE 12:8-34
PSALM 78:32-55
PROVERBS 12:21-23

DEUTERONOMY 31:1-32:27
When Moses had finished saying these things to all the people of Israel, 2 he said, " I am now 120 years old and am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has told me that I will not cross the Jordan River. 3 But the LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua is your new leader, and he will go with you, just as the LORD promised. 4 The LORD will destroy the nations living in the land, just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites. 5 The LORD will hand over to you the people who live there, and you will deal with them as I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid of them! The LORD your God will go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you." 7 Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel watched he said to him, " Be strong and courageous! For you will lead these people into the land that the LORD swore to give their ancestors. You are the one who will deliver it to them as their inheritance. 8 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD is the one who goes before you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor forsake you." 9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, who carried the Ark of the LORD's covenant, and to the leaders of Israel. 10 Then Moses gave them this command: " At the end of every seventh year, the Year of Release, during the Festival of Shelters, 11 you must read this law to all the people of Israel when they assemble before the LORD your God at the place he chooses. 12 Call them all together--men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns--so they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully obey all the terms of this law. 13 Do this so that your children who have not known these laws will hear them and will learn to fear the LORD your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy." 14 Then the LORD said to Moses, " The time has come for you to die. Call Joshua and take him with you to the Tabernacle, and I will commission him there." So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tabernacle. 15 And the LORD appeared to them in a pillar of cloud at the entrance to the sacred tent. 16 The LORD said to Moses, " You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin worshiping foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break the covenant I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will blaze forth against them. I will abandon them, hiding my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Terrible trouble will come down on them, so that they will say, ` These disasters have come because God is no longer among us!' 18 At that time I will hide my face from them on account of all the sins they have committed by worshiping other gods. 19 " Now write down the words of this song, and teach it to the people of Israel. Teach them to sing it, so it may serve as a witness against them. 20 For I will bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors--a land flowing with milk and honey. There they will become prosperous; they will eat all the food they want and become well nourished. Then they will begin to worship other gods; they will despise me and break my covenant. 21 Then great disasters will come down on them, and this song will stand as evidence against them, for it will never be forgotten by their descendants. I know what these people are like, even before they have entered the land I swore to give them." 22 So that very day Moses wrote down the words of the song and taught it to the Israelites. 23 Then the LORD commissioned Joshua son of Nun with these words: " Be strong and courageous! You must bring the people of Israel into the land I swore to give them. I will be with you." 24 When Moses had finished writing down this entire body of law in a book, 25 he gave these instructions to the Levites who carried the Ark of the LORD's covenant: 26 " Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, so it may serve as a witness against the people of Israel. 27 For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Even now, while I am still with you, you have rebelled against the LORD. How much more rebellious will you be after my death! 28 Now summon all the leaders and officials of your tribes so that I can speak to them and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and will turn from the path I have commanded you to follow. In the days to come, disaster will come down on you, for you will make the LORD very angry by doing what is evil in his sight." 30 So Moses recited this entire song to the assembly of Israel:32:1 " LISTEN, O heavens, and I will speak!
Hear, O earth, the words that I say!
2 My teaching will fall on you like rain;
my speech will settle like dew.
My words will fall like rain on tender grass,
like gentle showers on young plants.
3 I will proclaim the name of the LORD;
how glorious is our God!
4 He is the Rock; his work is perfect.
Everything he does is just and fair.
He is a faithful God who does no wrong;
how just and upright he is!
5 " But they have acted corruptly toward him;
when they act like that, are they really his children?
They are a deceitful and twisted generation.
6 Is this the way you repay the LORD,
you foolish and senseless people?
Isn't he your Father who created you?
Has he not made you and established you?
7 Remember the days of long ago;
think about the generations past.
Ask your father and he will inform you.
Inquire of your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High assigned lands to the nations,
when he divided up the human race,
he established the boundaries of the peoples
according to the number of angelic beings.
9 For the people of Israel belong to the LORD;
Jacob is his special possession.
10 " He found them in a desert land,
in an empty, howling wasteland.
He surrounded them and watched over them;
he guarded them as his most precious possession.
11 Like an eagle that rouses her chicks
and hovers over her young,
so he spread his wings to take them in
and carried them aloft on his pinions.
12 The LORD alone guided them;
they lived without any foreign gods.
13 He made them ride over the highlands;
he let them feast on the crops of the fields.
He nourished them with honey from the cliffs,
with olive oil from the hard rock.
14 He fed them curds from the herd and milk from the flock,
together with the fat of lambs and goats.
He gave them choice rams and goats from Bashan,
together with the choicest wheat.
You drank the finest wine,
made from the juice of grapes.
15 But Israel soon became fat and unruly;
the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed!
Then they abandoned the God who had made them;
they made light of the Rock of their salvation.
16 They stirred up his jealousy by worshiping foreign gods;
they provoked his fury with detestable acts.
17 They offered sacrifices to demons, non-gods,
to gods they had not known before,
to gods only recently arrived,
to gods their ancestors had never feared.
18 You neglected the Rock who had fathered you;
you forgot the God who had given you birth.
19 " The LORD saw this and was filled with loathing.
He was provoked to anger by his own sons and daughters.
20 He said, ` I will abandon them;
I will see to their end!
For they are a twisted generation,
children without integrity.
21 They have roused my jealousy by worshiping non-gods;
they have provoked my fury with useless idols.
Now I will rouse their jealousy by blessing other nations;
I will provoke their fury by blessing the foolish Gentiles.
22 For my anger blazes forth like fire
and burns to the depths of the grave.
It devours the earth and all its crops
and ignites the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will heap disasters upon them
and shoot them down with my arrows.
24 I will send against them wasting famine,
burning fever, and deadly disease.
They will be troubled by the fangs of wild beasts,
by poisonous snakes that glide in the dust.
25 Outside, the sword will bring death,
and inside, terror will strike
both young men and young women,
both infants and the aged.
26 I decided to scatter them,
so even the memory of them would disappear.
27 But I feared the taunt of the enemy,
that their adversaries might misunderstand and say,
" Our power has triumphed!
It was not the LORD who did this!" ' "

LUKE 12:8-34
" And I [Jesus] assure you of this: If anyone acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I, the Son of Man, will openly acknowledge that person in the presence of God's angels. 9 But if anyone denies me here on earth, I will deny that person before God's angels. 10 Yet those who speak against the Son of Man may be forgiven, but anyone who speaks blasphemies against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. 11 " And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don't worry about what to say in your defense, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you what needs to be said even as you are standing there." 13 Then someone called from the crowd, " Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father's estate with me." 14 Jesus replied, " Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?" 15 Then he said, " Beware! Don't be greedy for what you don't have. Real life is not measured by how much we own." 16 And he gave an illustration: " A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. 18 So he said, ` I know! I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll have room enough to store everything. 19 And I'll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!' 20 " But God said to him, ` You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?' 21 " Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God." 22 Then turning to his disciples, Jesus said, " So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life--whether you have enough food to eat or clothes to wear. 23 For life consists of far more than food and clothing. 24 Look at the ravens. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! 25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not! 26 And if worry can't do little things like that, what's the use of worrying over bigger things? 27 " Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 28 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! 29 And don't worry about food--what to eat and drink. Don't worry whether God will provide it for you. 30 These things dominate the thoughts of most people, but your Father already knows your needs. 31 He will give you all you need from day to day if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. 32 " So don't be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. 33 " Sell what you have and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven have no holes in them. Your treasure will be safe--no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. 34 Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be."

PSALM 78:32-55
But in spite of this, the people kept on sinning.
They refused to believe in his miracles.
33 So he ended their lives in failure
and gave them years of terror.
34 When God killed some of them, the rest finally sought him.
They repented and turned to God.
35 Then they remembered that God was their rock,
that their redeemer was the Most High.
36 But they followed him only with their words;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts were not loyal to him.
They did not keep his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins
and didn't destroy them all.
Many a time he held back his anger
and did not unleash his fury!
39 For he remembered that they were merely mortal,
gone in a moment like a breath of wind, never to return.
40 Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the desert
and grieved his heart in the wilderness.
41 Again and again they tested God's patience
and frustrated the Holy One of Israel.
42 They forgot about his power
and how he rescued them from their enemies.
43 They forgot his miraculous signs in Egypt,
his wonders on the plain of Zoan.
44 For he turned their rivers into blood,
so no one could drink from the streams.
45 He sent vast swarms of flies to consume them
and hordes of frogs to ruin them.
46 He gave their crops to caterpillars;
their harvest was consumed by locusts.
47 He destroyed their grapevines with hail
and shattered their sycamores with sleet.
48 He abandoned their cattle to the hail,
their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 He loosed on them his fierce anger--
all his fury, rage, and hostility.
He dispatched against them
a band of destroying angels.
50 He turned his anger against them;
he did not spare the Egyptians' lives
but handed them over to the plague.
51 He killed the oldest son in each Egyptian family,
the flower of youth throughout the land of Egypt.
52 But he led his own people like a flock of sheep,
guiding them safely through the wilderness.
53 He kept them safe so they were not afraid;
but the sea closed in upon their enemies.
54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this land of hills he had won for them.
55 He drove out the nations before them;
he gave them their inheritance by lot.
He settled the tribes of Israel into their homes.

PROVERBS 12:21-23

No real harm befalls the godly, but the wicked have their fill of trouble. The LORD hates those who don't keep their word, but he delights in those who do. Wise people don't make a show of their knowledge, but fools broadcast their folly.