May 6 Reading through the Bible

RUTH 2:1-4:22
JOHN 4:43-54
PSALM 105:16-36
PROVERBS 14:26-27

RUTH 2:1-4:22
Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi's husband, Elimelech. 2 One day Ruth said to Naomi, " Let me go out into the fields to gather leftover grain behind anyone who will let me do it." And Naomi said, " All right, my daughter, go ahead." 3 So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech. 4 While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. " The LORD be with you!" he said. " The LORD bless you!" the harvesters replied. 5 Then Boaz asked his foreman, " Who is that girl over there?"6 And the foreman replied, " She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. 7 She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes' rest over there in the shelter." 8 Boaz went over and said to Ruth, " Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don't go to any other fields. Stay right behind the women working in my field. 9 See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to bother you. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well." 10 Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. " Why are you being so kind to me?" she asked. " I am only a foreigner." 11 " Yes, I know," Boaz replied. " But I also know about the love and kindness you have shown your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. 12 May the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully." 13 " I hope I continue to please you, sir," she replied. " You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not as worthy as your workers." 14 At lunch time Boaz called to her, " Come over here and help yourself to some of our food. You can dip your bread in the wine if you like." So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her food--more than she could eat. 15 When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, " Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her. 16 And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don't give her a hard time!" 17 So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it came to about half a bushel. 18 She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the food that was left over from her lunch. 19 " So much!" Naomi exclaimed. " Where did you gather all this grain today? Where did you work? May the LORD bless the one who helped you!" So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. And she said, " The man I worked with today is named Boaz." 20 " May the LORD bless him!" Naomi told her daughter-in-law. " He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers." 21 Then Ruth said, " What's more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed." 22 " This is wonderful!" Naomi exclaimed. " Do as he said. Stay with his workers right through the whole harvest. You will be safe there, unlike in other fields." 23 So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz's fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she worked with them through the wheat harvest, too. But all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.3:1 ONE day Naomi said to Ruth, " My daughter, it's time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for. 2 Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he's been very kind by letting you gather grain with his workers. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3 Now do as I tell you--take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don't let Boaz see you until he has finished his meal. 4 Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do." 5 " I will do everything you say," Ruth replied. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law. 7 After Boaz had finished his meal and was in good spirits, he lay down beside the heap of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Around midnight, Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! 9 " Who are you?" he demanded. " I am your servant Ruth," she replied. " Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer."10 " The LORD bless you, my daughter!" Boaz exclaimed. " You are showing more family loyalty now than ever by not running after a younger man, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don't worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are an honorable woman. 12 But there is one problem. While it is true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, then let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the LORD lives, I will marry you! Now lie down here until morning." 14 So Ruth lay at Boaz's feet until the morning, but she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other. For Boaz said, " No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor." 15 Boaz also said to her, " Bring your cloak and spread it out." He measured out six scoops of barley into the cloak and helped her put it on her back. Then Boaz returned to the town. 16 When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, " What happened, my daughter?" Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her, 17 and she added, " He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, ` Don't go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.' "18 Then Naomi said to her, " Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won't rest until he has followed through on this. He will settle it today." 4:1 SO Boaz went to the town gate and took a seat there. When the family redeemer he had mentioned came by, Boaz called out to him, " Come over here, friend. I want to talk to you." So they sat down together. 2 Then Boaz called ten leaders from the town and asked them to sit as witnesses. 3 And Boaz said to the family redeemer, " You know Naomi, who came back from Moab. She is selling the land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4 I felt that I should speak to you about it so that you can redeem it if you wish. If you want the land, then buy it here in the presence of these witnesses. But if you don't want it, let me know right away, because I am next in line to redeem it after you." The man replied, " All right, I'll redeem it." 5 Then Boaz told him, " Of course, your purchase of the land from Naomi also requires that you marry Ruth, the Moabite widow. That way, she can have children who will carry on her husband's name and keep the land in the family." 6 " Then I can't redeem it," the family redeemer replied, " because this might endanger my own estate. You redeem the land; I cannot do it." 7 In those days it was the custom in Israel for anyone transferring a right of purchase to remove his sandal and hand it to the other party. This publicly validated the transaction. 8 So the other family redeemer drew off his sandal as he said to Boaz, " You buy the land." 9 Then Boaz said to the leaders and to the crowd standing around, " You are witnesses that today I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. 10 And with the land I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name of her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in his hometown. You are all witnesses today." 11 Then the leaders and all the people standing there replied, " We are witnesses! May the LORD make the woman who is now coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you be great in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. 12 And may the LORD give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah." 13 So Boaz married Ruth and took her home to live with him. When he slept with her, the LORD enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. 14 And the women of the town said to Naomi, " Praise the LORD who has given you a family redeemer today! May he be famous in Israel. 15 May this child restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you so much and who has been better to you than seven sons!" 16 Naomi took care of the baby and cared for him as if he were her own. 17 The neighbor women said, " Now at last Naomi has a son again!" And they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. 18 This is their family line beginning with their ancestor Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron. 19 Hezron was the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab. 20 Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon. 21 Salmon was the father of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed. 22 Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David.

JOHN 4:43-54
At the end of the two days' stay, Jesus went on into Galilee. 44 He had previously said, " A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own country." 45 The Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen all his miraculous signs. 46 In the course of his journey through Galilee, he arrived at the town of Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in the city of Capernaum whose son was very sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea and was traveling in Galilee, he went over to Cana. He found Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum with him to heal his son, who was about to die. 48 Jesus asked, " Must I do miraculous signs and wonders before you people will believe in me?" 49 The official pleaded, " Lord, please come now before my little boy dies." 50 Then Jesus told him, " Go back home. Your son will live!" And the man believed Jesus' word and started home. 51 While he was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. 52 He asked them when the boy had begun to feel better, and they replied, " Yesterday afternoon at one o'clock his fever suddenly disappeared!" 53 Then the father realized it was the same time that Jesus had told him, " Your son will live." And the officer and his entire household believed in Jesus. 54 This was Jesus' second miraculous sign in Galilee after coming from Judea.

PSALM 105:16-36
He [the LORD] called for a famine on the land of Canaan,
cutting off its food supply.
17 Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them--
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 There in prison, they bruised his feet with fetters
and placed his neck in an iron collar.
19 Until the time came to fulfill his word,
the LORD tested Joseph's character.
20 Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free;
the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.
21 Joseph was put in charge of all the king's household;
he became ruler over all the king's possessions.
22 He could instruct the king's aides as he pleased
and teach the king's advisers.
23 Then Israel arrived in Egypt;
Jacob lived as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
24 And the LORD multiplied the people of Israel
until they became too mighty for their enemies.
25 Then he turned the Egyptians against the Israelites,
and they plotted against the LORD's servants.
26 But the LORD sent Moses his servant,
along with Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed miraculous signs among the Egyptians,
and miracles in the land of Ham.
28 The LORD blanketed Egypt in darkness,
for they had defied his commands to let his people go.
29 He turned the nation's water into blood,
poisoning all the fish.
30 Then frogs overran the land;
they were found even in the king's private rooms.
31 When he spoke, flies descended on the Egyptians,
and gnats swarmed across Egypt.
32 Instead of rain, he sent murderous hail,
and flashes of lightning overwhelmed the land.
33 He ruined their grapevines and fig trees
and shattered all the trees.
34 He spoke, and hordes of locusts came--
locusts beyond number.
35 They ate up everything green in the land,
destroying all the crops.
36 Then he killed the oldest child in each Egyptian home,
the pride and joy of each family.

PROVERBS 14:26-27

Those who fear the LORD are secure; he will be a place of refuge for their children. Fear of the LORD is a life-giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death. 

May 5 Reading through the Bible

JUDGES 21:1--RUTH 1:22
JOHN 4:4-42
PSALM 105:1-15
PROVERBS 14:25

JUDGES 21:1--RUTH 1:22
The Israelites had vowed at Mizpah never to give their daughters in marriage to a man from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 And the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. 3 " O LORD, God of Israel," they cried out, " why has this happened? Now one of our tribes is missing!" 4 Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it. 5 Then they said, " Was any tribe of Israel not represented when we held our council in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah?" At that time they had taken a solemn oath in the LORD's presence, vowing that anyone who refused to come must die. 6 The Israelites felt deep sadness for Benjamin and said, " Today we have lost one of the tribes from our family; it is nearly wiped out. 7 How can we find wives for the few who remain, since we have sworn by the LORD not to give them our daughters in marriage?" 8 So they asked, " Was anyone absent when we presented ourselves to the LORD at Mizpah?" And they discovered that no one from Jabesh-gilead had attended. 9 For after they counted all the people, no one from Jabesh-gilead was present. 10 So they sent twelve thousand warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children. 11 " This is what you are to do," they said. " Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin." 12 Among the residents of Jabesh-gilead they found four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. 13 The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the little remnant of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon. 14 Then the men of Benjamin returned to their homes, and the four hundred women of Jabesh-gilead who were spared were given to them as wives. But there were not enough women for all of them. 15 The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had left this gap in the tribes of Israel. 16 So the Israelite leaders asked, " How can we find wives for the few who remain, since all the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead? 17 There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel will not be lost forever. 18 But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this will fall under God's curse."19 Then they thought of the annual festival of the LORD held in Shiloh, between Lebonah and Bethel, along the east side of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem. 20 They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, " Go and hide in the vineyards. 21 When the women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to be your wife! 22 And when their fathers and brothers come to us in protest, we will tell them, ` Please be understanding. Let them have your daughters, for we didn't find enough wives for them when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead. And you are not guilty of breaking the vow since you did not give your daughters in marriage to them.' " 23 So the men of Benjamin did as they were told. They kidnapped the women who took part in the celebration and carried them off to the land of their own inheritance. Then they rebuilt their towns and lived in them. 24 So the assembly of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes. 25 In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.1:1 IN the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a man from Bethlehem in Judah left the country because of a severe famine. He took his wife and two sons and went to live in the country of Moab. 2 The man's name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. During their stay in Moab, 3 Elimelech died and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her husband or sons. 6 Then Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah. 8 But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, " Go back to your mothers' homes instead of coming with me. And may the LORD reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. 9 May the LORD bless you with the security of another marriage." Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept. 10 " No," they said. " We want to go with you to your people." 11 But Naomi replied, " Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? 12 No, my daughters, return to your parents' homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what? 13 Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD himself has caused me to suffer." 14 And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth insisted on staying with Naomi. 15 " See," Naomi said to her, " your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same."16 But Ruth replied, " Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 I will die where you die and will be buried there. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!" 18 So when Naomi saw that Ruth had made up her mind to go with her, she stopped urging her. 19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was stirred by their arrival. " Is it really Naomi?" the women asked. 20 " Don't call me Naomi," she told them. " Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the LORD has brought me home empty. Why should you call me Naomi when the LORD has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy?" 22 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

JOHN 4:4-42
He [Jesus] had to go through Samaria on the way. 5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, " Please give me a drink." 8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. 9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, " You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?" 10 Jesus replied, " If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." 11 " But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, " and this is a very deep well. Where would you get this living water? 12 And besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his cattle enjoyed?" 13 Jesus replied, " People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water. 14 But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life." 15 " Please, sir," the woman said, " give me some of that water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to haul water." 16 " Go and get your husband," Jesus told her. 17 " I don't have a husband," the woman replied.Jesus said, " You're right! You don't have a husband--18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now." 19 " Sir," the woman said, " you must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?" 21 Jesus replied, " Believe me, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father here or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know so little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth." 25 The woman said, " I know the Messiah will come--the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." 26 Then Jesus told her, " I am the Messiah!" 27 Just then his disciples arrived. They were astonished to find him talking to a woman, but none of them asked him why he was doing it or what they had been discussing. 28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and went back to the village and told everyone, 29 " Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Messiah?" 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him. 31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus to eat. 32 " No," he said, " I have food you don't know about." 33 " Who brought it to him?" the disciples asked each other.34 Then Jesus explained: " My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35 Do you think the work of harvesting will not begin until the summer ends four months from now? Look around you! Vast fields are ripening all around us and are ready now for the harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, ` One person plants and someone else harvests.' And it's true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant; others had already done the work, and you will gather the harvest." 39 Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, " He told me everything I ever did!" 40 When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay at their village. So he stayed for two days, 41 long enough for many of them to hear his message and believe. 42 Then they said to the woman, " Now we believe because we have heard him ourselves, not just because of what you told us. He is indeed the Savior of the world."

PSALM 105:1-15
Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
2 Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his miracles.
3 Exult in his holy name;
O worshipers of the LORD, rejoice!
4 Search for the LORD and for his strength,
and keep on searching.
5 Think of the wonderful works he has done,
the miracles and the judgments he handed down,
6 O children of Abraham, God's servant,
O descendants of Jacob, God's chosen one.
7 He is the LORD our God.
His rule is seen throughout the land.
8 He always stands by his covenant--
the commitment he made to a thousand generations.
9 This is the covenant he made with Abraham
and the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to the people of Israel as a never-ending treaty:
11 " I will give you the land of Canaan
as your special possession."
12 He said this when they were few in number,
a tiny group of strangers in Canaan.
13 They wandered back and forth between nations,
from one kingdom to another.
14 Yet he did not let anyone oppress them.
He warned kings on their behalf:
15 " Do not touch these people I have chosen,
and do not hurt my prophets."

PROVERBS 14:25

A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is a traitor. 

May 4 Reading through the Bible

 

JUDGES 19:1-20:48
JOHN 3:22-4:3
PSALM 104:24-35
PROVERBS 14:22-24

JUDGES 19:1-20:48
Now in those days Israel had no king. There was a man from the tribe of Levi living in a remote area of the hill country of Ephraim. One day he brought home a woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine. 2 But she was unfaithful to him and returned to her father's home in Bethlehem. After about four months, 3 her husband took a servant and an extra donkey to Bethlehem to persuade her to come back. When he arrived at her father's house, she took him inside, and her father welcomed him. 4 Her father urged him to stay awhile, so he stayed three days, eating, drinking, and sleeping there. 5 On the fourth day the man was up early, ready to leave, but the woman's father said, " Have something to eat before you go." 6 So the two of them sat down together and had something to eat and drink. Then the woman's father said, " Please stay the night and enjoy yourself." 7 The man got up to leave, but his father-in-law kept urging him to stay, so he finally gave in and stayed the night. 8 On the morning of the fifth day he was up early again, ready to leave, and again the woman's father said, " Have something to eat; then you can leave some time this afternoon." So they had another day of feasting. 9 That afternoon, as he and his concubine and servant were preparing to leave, his father-in-law said, " Look, it's getting late. Stay the night and enjoy yourself. Tomorrow you can get up early and be on your way." 10 But this time the man was determined to leave. So he took his two saddled donkeys and his concubine and headed in the direction of Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). 11 It was late in the day when they reached Jebus, and the man's servant said to him, " It's getting too late to travel; let's stay in this Jebusite city tonight." 12 " No," his master said, " we can't stay in this foreign city where there are no Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah. 13 We will find a place to spend the night in either Gibeah or Ramah." 14 So they went on. The sun was setting as they came to Gibeah, a town in the land of Benjamin, 15 so they stopped there to spend the night. They rested in the town square, but no one took them in for the night. 16 That evening an old man came home from his work in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, but he was living in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. 17 When he saw the travelers sitting in the town square, he asked them where they were from and where they were going. 18 " We have been in Bethlehem in Judah," the man replied. " We are on our way home to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim, and we're going to the Tabernacle of the LORD. But no one has taken us in for the night, 19 even though we have everything we need. We have straw and fodder for our donkeys and plenty of bread and wine for ourselves." 20 " You are welcome to stay with me," the old man said. " I will give you anything you might need. But whatever you do, don't spend the night in the square." 21 So he took them home with him and fed their donkeys. After they washed their feet, they had supper together. 22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men in the town surrounded the house. They began beating at the door and shouting to the old man, " Bring out the man who is staying with you so we can have sex with him." 23 The old man stepped outside to talk to them. " No, my brothers, don't do such an evil thing. For this man is my guest, and such a thing would be shameful. 24 Here, take my virgin daughter and this man's concubine. I will bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you like to them. But don't do such a shameful thing to this man." 25 But they wouldn't listen to him. Then the Levite took his concubine and pushed her out the door. The men of the town abused her all night, taking turns raping her until morning. Finally, at dawn, they let her go. 26 At daybreak the woman returned to the house where her husband was staying. She collapsed at the door of the house and lay there until it was light. 27 When her husband opened the door to leave, he found her there. She was lying face down, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said, " Get up! Let's go!" But there was no answer. So he put her body on his donkey and took her home. 29 When he got home, he took a knife and cut his concubine's body into twelve pieces. Then he sent one piece to each tribe of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it said, " Such a horrible crime has not been committed since Israel left Egypt. Shouldn't we speak up and do something about this?"20:1 THEN all the Israelites, from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead, came together in one large assembly and stood in the presence of the LORD at Mizpah. 2 The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel--400,000 warriors armed with swords--took their positions in the assembly of the people of God. 3 (Word soon reached the land of Benjamin that the other tribes had gone up to Mizpah.) The Israelites then asked how this terrible crime had happened. 4 The Levite, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, said, " My concubine and I came to Gibeah, a town in the land of Benjamin, to spend the night. 5 That night some of the leaders of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she was dead. 6 So I cut her body into twelve pieces and sent the pieces throughout the land of Israel, for these men have committed this terrible and shameful crime. 7 Now then, the entire community of Israel must decide what should be done about this!" 8 And all the people stood up together and replied, " Not one of us will return home. 9 Instead, we will draw lots to decide who will attack Gibeah. 10 One tenth of the men from each tribe will be chosen to supply the warriors with food, and the rest of us will take revenge on Gibeah for this shameful thing they have done in Israel." 11 So all the Israelites were united, and they gathered together to attack the town. 12 The Israelites sent messengers to the tribe of Benjamin, saying, " What a terrible thing has been done among you! 13 Give up these evil men from Gibeah so we can execute them and purge Israel of this evil." But the people of Benjamin would not listen. 14 Instead, they came from their towns and gathered at Gibeah to fight the Israelites. 15 Twenty-six thousand of their warriors armed with swords arrived in Gibeah to join the seven hundred warriors who lived there. 16 Seven hundred of Benjamin's warriors were left-handed, each of whom could sling a rock and hit a target within a hairsbreadth, without missing. 17 Israel had 400,000 warriors armed with swords, not counting Benjamin's warriors. 18 Before the battle the Israelites went to Bethel and asked God, " Which tribe should lead the attack against the people of Benjamin?" The LORD answered, " Judah is to go first." 19 So the Israelites left early the next morning and camped near Gibeah. 20 Then they advanced toward Gibeah to attack the men of Benjamin. 21 But Benjamin's warriors, who were defending the town, came out and killed twenty-two thousand Israelites in the field that day. 22 But the Israelites took courage and assembled at the same place they had fought the previous day. 23 (For they had gone up to Bethel and wept in the presence of the LORD until evening. Then they asked the LORD, " Should we fight against our relatives from Benjamin again?" And the LORD said, " Go out and fight against them.") 24 So they went out to fight against the warriors of Benjamin, 25 but the men of Benjamin killed another eighteen thousand Israelites, all of whom were experienced with a sword. 26 Then all the Israelites went up to Bethel and wept in the presence of the LORD and fasted until evening. They also brought burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD. 27 And the Israelites went up seeking direction from the LORD. (In those days the Ark of the Covenant of God was in Bethel, 28 and Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron was the priest.) The Israelites asked the LORD, " Should we fight against our relatives from Benjamin again or should we stop?" The LORD said, " Go! Tomorrow I will give you victory over them." 29 So the Israelites set an ambush all around Gibeah. 30 They went out on the third day and assembled at the same place as before. 31 When the warriors of Benjamin came out to attack, they were drawn away from the town. And as they had done before, they began to kill the Israelites. About thirty Israelites died in the open fields and along the roads leading to Bethel and Gibeah. 32 Then the warriors of Benjamin shouted, " We're defeating them as we did in the first battle!" But the Israelites had agreed in advance to run away so that the men of Benjamin would chase them along the roads and be drawn away from the town. 33 When the main group of Israelite warriors reached Baal-tamar, they turned and prepared to attack. Then the Israelites hiding in ambush west of Gibeah jumped up from where they were 34 and advanced against Benjamin from behind. The fighting was so heavy that Benjamin didn't realize the impending disaster. 35 So the LORD helped Israel defeat Benjamin, and that day the Israelites killed 25,100 of Benjamin's warriors, all of whom were experienced with a sword. 36 Then the men of Benjamin saw that they were beaten. The Israelites had retreated from Benjamin's warriors in order to give those hiding in ambush more room to maneuver. 37 Then those who were in hiding rushed in from all sides and killed everyone in the town. 38 They sent up a large cloud of smoke from the town, 39 which was the signal for the Israelites to turn and attack Benjamin's warriors. By that time Benjamin's warriors had killed about thirty Israelites, and they shouted, " We're defeating them as we did in the first battle!" 40 But when the warriors of Benjamin looked behind them and saw the smoke rising into the sky from every part of the town, 41 the Israelites turned and attacked. At this point Benjamin's warriors realized disaster was near and became terrified. 42 So they ran toward the wilderness, but the Israelites chased after them and killed them. 43 The Israelites surrounded the men of Benjamin and were relentless in chasing them down, finally overtaking them east of Gibeah. 44 Eighteen thousand of Benjamin's greatest warriors died in that day's battle. 45 The survivors fled into the wilderness toward the rock of Rimmon, but Israel killed five thousand of them along the road. They continued the chase until they had killed another two thousand near Gidom. 46 So the tribe of Benjamin lost twenty-five thousand brave warriors that day, 47 leaving only six hundred men who escaped to the rock of Rimmon, where they lived for four months. 48 Then the Israelites returned and slaughtered every living thing in all the towns--the people, the cattle--everything. They also burned down every town they came to.

JOHN 3:22-4:3
Afterward Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem, but they stayed in Judea for a while and baptized there. 23 At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there and people kept coming to him for baptism. 24 This was before John was put into prison. 25 At that time a certain Jew began an argument with John's disciples over ceremonial cleansing. 26 John's disciples came to him and said, " Teacher, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you said was the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going over there instead of coming here to us." 27 John replied, " God in heaven appoints each person's work. 28 You yourselves know how plainly I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am here to prepare the way for him--that is all. 29 The bride will go where the bridegroom is. A bridegroom's friend rejoices with him. I am the bridegroom's friend, and I am filled with joy at his success. 30 He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. 31 " He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. I am of the earth, and my understanding is limited to the things of earth, but he has come from heaven. 32 He tells what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them! 33 Those who believe him discover that God is true. 34 For he is sent by God. He speaks God's words, for God's Spirit is upon him without measure or limit. 35 The Father loves his Son, and he has given him authority over everything. 36 And all who believe in God's Son have eternal life. Those who don't obey the Son will never experience eternal life, but the wrath of God remains upon them."4:1 JESUS learned that the Pharisees had heard, " Jesus is baptizing and making more disciples than John" 2 (though Jesus himself didn't baptize them--his disciples did). 3 So he left Judea to return to Galilee.

PSALM 104:24-35
O LORD, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the ocean, vast and wide,
teeming with life of every kind,
both great and small.
26 See the ships sailing along,
and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea.
27 Every one of these depends on you
to give them their food as they need it.
28 When you supply it, they gather it.
You open your hand to feed them, and they are satisfied.
29 But if you turn away from them, they panic.
When you take away their breath, they die
and turn again to dust.
30 When you send your Spirit, new life is born
to replenish all the living of the earth.
31 May the glory of the LORD last forever!
The LORD rejoices in all he has made!
32 The earth trembles at his glance;
the mountains burst into flame at his touch.
33 I will sing to the LORD as long as I live.
I will praise my God to my last breath!
34 May he be pleased by all these thoughts about him,
for I rejoice in the LORD.
35 Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth;
let the wicked disappear forever.
As for me--I will praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!

PROVERBS 14:22-24
If you plot evil, you will be lost; but if you plan good, you will be granted unfailing love and faithfulness. Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty! Wealth is a crown for the wise; the effort of fools yields only folly.

May 3 Reading through the Bible

JUDGES 17:1-18:31
JOHN 3:1-21
PSALM 104:1-23
PROVERBS 14:20-21

JUDGES 17:1-18:31
A man named Micah lived in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 One day he said to his mother, " I heard you curse the thief who stole eleven hundred pieces of silver from you. Well, here they are. I was the one who took them." " The LORD bless you for admitting it," his mother replied. 3 He returned the money to her, and she said, " I now dedicate these silver coins to the LORD. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast." 4 So his mother took two hundred of the silver coins to a silversmith, who made them into an image and an idol. And these were placed in Micah's house. 5 Micah set up a shrine, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as the priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. 7 One day a young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah 8 arrived in that area of Ephraim, looking for a good place to live. He happened to stop at Micah's house as he was traveling through. 9 " Where are you from?" Micah asked him. And he replied, " I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am looking for a place to live." 10 " Stay here with me," Micah said, " and you can be a father and priest to me. I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, plus a change of clothes and your food." 11 The Levite agreed to this and became like one of Micah's sons. 12 So Micah ordained the Levite as his personal priest, and he lived in Micah's house. 13 " I know the LORD will bless me now," Micah said, " because I have a Levite serving as my priest."18:1 NOW in those days Israel had no king. And the tribe of Dan was trying to find a place to settle, for they had not yet driven out the people who lived in the land assigned to them. 2 So the men of Dan chose five warriors from among their clans, who lived in the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol, to scout out a land for them to settle in. When these warriors arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, they came to Micah's home and spent the night there. 3 Noticing the young Levite's accent, they took him aside and asked him, " Who brought you here, and what are you doing? Why are you here?" 4 He told them about his agreement with Micah and that he was Micah's personal priest. 5 Then they said, " Ask God whether or not our journey will be successful." 6 " Go in peace," the priest replied. " For the LORD will go ahead of you on your journey." 7 So the five men went on to the town of Laish, where they noticed the people living carefree lives, like the Sidonians; they were peaceful and secure. The people were also wealthy because their land was very fertile. And they lived a great distance from Sidon and had no allies nearby. 8 When the men returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their relatives asked them, " What did you find?" 9 The men replied, " Let's attack! We have seen the land, and it is very good. You should not hesitate to go and take possession of it. 10 When you get there, you will find the people living carefree lives. God has given us a spacious and fertile land, lacking in nothing!" 11 So six hundred warriors from the tribe of Dan set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 12 They camped at a place west of Kiriath-jearim in Judah, which is called Mahaneh-dan to this day. 13 Then they went up into the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. 14 The five men who had scouted out the land around Laish said to the others, " There is a shrine here with a sacred ephod, some household idols, a carved image, and a cast idol. It's obvious what we ought to do." 15 So the five men went over to Micah's house, where the young Levite lived, and greeted him kindly. 16 As the six hundred warriors from the tribe of Dan stood just outside the gate, 17 the five spies entered the shrine and took the carved image, the sacred ephod, the household idols, and the cast idol. 18 When the priest saw the men carrying all the sacred objects out of Micah's shrine, he said, " What are you doing?" 19 " Be quiet and come with us," they said. " Be a father and priest to all of us. Isn't it better to be a priest for an entire tribe of Israel than just for the household of one man?" 20 The young priest was quite happy to go with them, so he took along the sacred ephod, the household idols, and the carved image. 21 They started on their way again, placing their children, livestock, and possessions in front of them. 22 When the people from the tribe of Dan were quite a distance from Micah's home, Micah and some of his neighbors came chasing after them. 23 They were shouting as they caught up with them. The men of Dan turned around and said, " What do you want? Why have you called these men together and chased after us like this?" 24 " What do you mean, What do I want? " Micah replied. " You've taken away all my gods and my priest, and I have nothing left!" 25 The men of Dan said, " Watch what you say! Some of us are short-tempered, and they might get angry and kill you and your family." 26 So the men of Dan went on their way. When Micah saw that there were too many of them for him to attack, he turned around and went home. 27 Then, with Micah's idols and his priest, the men of Dan came to the town of Laish, whose people were peaceful and secure. They attacked and killed all the people and burned the town to the ground. 28 There was no one to rescue the residents of the town, for they lived a great distance from Sidon and had no allies nearby. This happened in the valley near Beth-rehob. Then the people of the tribe of Dan rebuilt the town and lived there. 29 They renamed the town Dan after their ancestor, Israel's son, but it had originally been called Laish. 30 Then they set up the carved image, and they appointed Jonathan son of Gershom, a descendant of Moses, as their priest. This family continued as priests for the tribe of Dan until the Exile. 31 So Micah's carved image was worshiped by the tribe of Dan as long as the Tabernacle of God remained at Shiloh.

JOHN 3:1-21
After dark one evening, a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus, a Pharisee, 2 came to speak with Jesus. " Teacher," he said, " we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are proof enough that God is with you." 3 Jesus replied, " I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God." 4 " What do you mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. " How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?" 5 Jesus replied, " The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. 7 So don't be surprised at my statement that you must be born again. 8 Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit." 9 " What do you mean?" Nicodemus asked. 10 Jesus replied, " You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don't understand these things? 11 I assure you, I am telling you what we know and have seen, and yet you won't believe us. 12 But if you don't even believe me when I tell you about things that happen here on earth, how can you possibly believe if I tell you what is going on in heaven? 13 For only I, the Son of Man, have come to earth and will return to heaven again. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so I, the Son of Man, must be lifted up on a pole,* 15 so that everyone who believes in me will have eternal life.16 " For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. 18 " There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God. 19 Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants."

PSALM 104:1-23
Praise the LORD, I tell myself;
O LORD my God, how great you are!
You are robed with honor and with majesty;
2 you are dressed in a robe of light.
You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;
3 you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.
You make the clouds your chariots;
you ride upon the wings of the wind.
4 The winds are your messengers;
flames of fire are your servants.
5 You placed the world on its foundation
so it would never be moved.
6 You clothed the earth with floods of water,
water that covered even the mountains.
7 At the sound of your rebuke, the water fled;
at the sound of your thunder, it fled away.
8 Mountains rose and valleys sank
to the levels you decreed.
9 Then you set a firm boundary for the seas,
so they would never again cover the earth.
10 You make the springs pour water into ravines,
so streams gush down from the mountains.
11 They provide water for all the animals,
and the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds nest beside the streams
and sing among the branches of the trees.
13 You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home,
and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor.
14 You cause grass to grow for the cattle.
You cause plants to grow for people to use.
You allow them to produce food from the earth--
15 wine to make them glad,
olive oil as lotion for their skin,
and bread to give them strength.
16 The trees of the LORD are well cared for--
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests,
and the storks make their homes in the firs.
18 High in the mountains are pastures for the wild goats,
and the rocks form a refuge for rock badgers.
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons
and the sun that knows when to set.
20 You send the darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals prowl about.
21 Then the young lions roar for their food,
but they are dependent on God.
22 At dawn they slink back
into their dens to rest.
23 Then people go off to their work;
they labor until the evening shadows fall again.

PROVERBS 14:20-21

The poor are despised even by their neighbors, while the rich have many " friends." It is sin to despise one's neighbors; blessed are those who help the poor. 

May 2 Reading through the Bible

 

JUDGES 13:1-14:20
JOHN 1:29-51
PSALM 102:1-28
PROVERBS 14:15-16

JUDGES 13:1-14:20
Again the Israelites did what was evil in the LORD's sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines, who kept them in subjection for forty years. 2 In those days, a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. 3 The angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah's wife and said, " Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink or eat any forbidden food. 5 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will rescue Israel from the Philistines." 6 The woman ran and told her husband, " A man of God appeared to me! He was like one of God's angels, terrifying to look at. I didn't ask where he was from, and he didn't tell me his name. 7 But he told me, ` You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink or eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.' " 8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD. He said, " Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be born." 9 God answered his prayer, and the angel of God appeared once again to his wife as she was sitting in the field. But her husband, Manoah, was not with her. 10 So she quickly ran and told her husband, " The man who appeared to me the other day is here again!" 11 Manoah ran back with his wife and asked, " Are you the man who talked to my wife the other day?" " Yes," he replied, " I am." 12 So Manoah asked him, " When your words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy's life and work?" 13 The angel of the LORD replied, " Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her. 14 She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food." 15 Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, " Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat." 16 " I will stay," the angel of the LORD replied, " but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the LORD." (Manoah didn't realize it was the angel of the LORD.) 17 Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, " What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you." 18 " Why do you ask my name?" the angel of the LORD replied. " You wouldn't understand if I told you." 19 Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the LORD did an amazing thing. 20 As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground. 21 The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the LORD, 22 and he said to his wife, " We will die, for we have seen God!" 23 But his wife said, " If the LORD were going to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn't have appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles." 24 When her son was born, they named him Samson. And the LORD blessed him as he grew up. 25 And in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol, the Spirit of the LORD began to take hold of him.14:1 ONE day when Samson was in Timnah, he noticed a certain Philistine woman. 2 When he returned home, he told his father and mother, " I want to marry a young Philistine woman I saw in Timnah." 3 His father and mother objected strenuously, " Isn't there one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry? Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?" But Samson told his father, " Get her for me. She is the one I want." 4 His father and mother didn't realize the LORD was at work in this, creating an opportunity to disrupt the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time. 5 As Samson and his parents were going down to Timnah, a young lion attacked Samson near the vineyards of Timnah. 6 At that moment the Spirit of the LORD powerfully took control of him, and he ripped the lion's jaws apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as if it were a young goat. But he didn't tell his father or mother about it. 7 When Samson arrived in Timnah, he talked with the woman and was very pleased with her. 8 Later, when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion. And he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass. 9 He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it along the way. He also gave some to his father and mother, and they ate it. But he didn't tell them he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion. 10 As his father was making final arrangements for the marriage, Samson threw a party at Timnah, as was the custom of the day. 11 Thirty young men from the town were invited to be his companions. 12 Samson said to them, " Let me tell you a riddle. If you solve my riddle during these seven days of the celebration, I will give you thirty plain linen robes and thirty fancy robes. 13 But if you can't solve it, then you must give me thirty linen robes and thirty fancy robes." " All right," they agreed, " let's hear your riddle." 14 So he said: " From the one who eats came something to eat;
out of the strong came something sweet."
Three days later they were still trying to figure it out. 15 On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, " Get the answer to the riddle from your husband, or we will burn down your father's house with you in it. Did you invite us to this party just to make us poor?" 16 So Samson's wife came to him in tears and said, " You don't love me; you hate me! You have given my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer." " I haven't even given the answer to my father or mother," he replied. " Why should I tell you?" 17 So she cried whenever she was with him and kept it up for the rest of the celebration. At last, on the seventh day, he told her the answer because of her persistent nagging. Then she gave the answer to the young men. 18 So before sunset of the seventh day, the men of the town came to Samson with their answer: " What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?"
Samson replied, " If you hadn't plowed with my heifer, you wouldn't have found the answer to my riddle!" 19 Then the Spirit of the LORD powerfully took control of him. He went down to the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had answered his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother. 20 So his wife was given in marriage to the man who had been Samson's best man at the wedding.

JOHN 1:29-51
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, " Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30He is the one I was talking about when I said, ` Soon a man is coming who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before I did.' 31I didn't know he was the one, but I have been baptizing with water in order to point him out to Israel." 32 Then John said, " I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. 33 I didn't know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ` When you see the Holy Spirit descending and resting upon someone, he is the one you are looking for. He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Son of God." 35 The following day, John was again standing with two of his disciples. 36 As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and then declared, " Look! There is the Lamb of God!" 37 Then John's two disciples turned and followed Jesus. 38 Jesus looked around and saw them following. " What do you want?" he asked them. They replied, " Rabbi" (which means Teacher), " where are you staying?"39 " Come and see," he said. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place, and they stayed there the rest of the day. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of these men who had heard what John said and then followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon, and tell him, " We have found the Messiah" (which means the Christ). 42 Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, " You are Simon, the son of John--but you will be called Cephas" (which means Peter). 43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, " Come, be my disciple." 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter's hometown. 45 Philip went off to look for Nathanael and told him, " We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth."46 " Nazareth!" exclaimed Nathanael. " Can anything good come from there?" " Just come and see for yourself," Philip said. 47 As they approached, Jesus said, " Here comes an honest man--a true son of Israel." 48 " How do you know about me?" Nathanael asked. And Jesus replied, " I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you." 49 Nathanael replied, " Teacher, you are the Son of God--the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus asked him, " Do you believe all this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." 51 Then he said, " The truth is, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down upon the Son of Man."

PSALM 102:1-28
A prayer of one overwhelmed with trouble, pouring out problems before the LORD.
1 LORD, hear my prayer!
Listen to my plea!
2 Don't turn away from me
in my time of distress.
Bend down your ear
and answer me quickly when I call to you,
3 for my days disappear like smoke,
and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
4 My heart is sick, withered like grass,
and I have lost my appetite.
5 Because of my groaning,
I am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like an owl in the desert,
like a lonely owl in a far-off wilderness.
7 I lie awake,
lonely as a solitary bird on the roof.
8 My enemies taunt me day after day.
They mock and curse me.
9 I eat ashes instead of my food.
My tears run down into my drink
10 because of your anger and wrath.
For you have picked me up and thrown me out.
11 My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.
I am withering like grass.
12 But you, O LORD, will rule forever.
Your fame will endure to every generation.
13 You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem--
and now is the time to pity her,
now is the time you promised to help.
14 For your people love every stone in her walls
and show favor even to the dust in her streets.
15 And the nations will tremble before the LORD.
The kings of the earth will tremble before his glory.
16 For the LORD will rebuild Jerusalem.
He will appear in his glory.
17 He will listen to the prayers of the destitute.
He will not reject their pleas.
18 Let this be recorded for future generations,
so that a nation yet to be created will praise the LORD.
19 Tell them the LORD looked down
from his heavenly sanctuary.
He looked to the earth from heaven
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to release those condemned to die.
21 And so the LORD's fame will be celebrated in Zion,
his praises in Jerusalem,
22 when multitudes gather together
and kingdoms come to worship the LORD.
23 He has cut me down in midlife,
shortening my days.
24 But I cried to him, " My God, who lives forever,
don't take my life while I am still so young!
25 In ages past you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 Even they will perish, but you remain forever;
they will wear out like old clothing.
You will change them like a garment,
and they will fade away.
27 But you are always the same;
your years never end.
28 The children of your people
will live in security.
Their children's children
will thrive in your presence."

PROVERBS 14:15-16
Only simpletons believe everything they are told! The prudent carefully consider their steps. The wise are cautious and avoid danger; fools plunge ahead with great confidence.

May 1 Reading through the Bible

 

JUDGES 13:1-14:20
JOHN 1:29-51
PSALM 102:1-28
PROVERBS 14:15-16

JUDGES 13:1-14:20
Again the Israelites did what was evil in the LORD's sight, so the LORD handed them over to the Philistines, who kept them in subjection for forty years. 2 In those days, a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. 3 The angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah's wife and said, " Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink or eat any forbidden food. 5 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will rescue Israel from the Philistines." 6 The woman ran and told her husband, " A man of God appeared to me! He was like one of God's angels, terrifying to look at. I didn't ask where he was from, and he didn't tell me his name. 7 But he told me, ` You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink or eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.' " 8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD. He said, " Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be born." 9 God answered his prayer, and the angel of God appeared once again to his wife as she was sitting in the field. But her husband, Manoah, was not with her. 10 So she quickly ran and told her husband, " The man who appeared to me the other day is here again!" 11 Manoah ran back with his wife and asked, " Are you the man who talked to my wife the other day?" " Yes," he replied, " I am." 12 So Manoah asked him, " When your words come true, what kind of rules should govern the boy's life and work?" 13 The angel of the LORD replied, " Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her. 14 She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food." 15 Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, " Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat." 16 " I will stay," the angel of the LORD replied, " but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the LORD." (Manoah didn't realize it was the angel of the LORD.) 17 Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, " What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you." 18 " Why do you ask my name?" the angel of the LORD replied. " You wouldn't understand if I told you." 19 Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the LORD did an amazing thing. 20 As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the LORD ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground. 21 The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the LORD, 22 and he said to his wife, " We will die, for we have seen God!" 23 But his wife said, " If the LORD were going to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn't have appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles." 24 When her son was born, they named him Samson. And the LORD blessed him as he grew up. 25 And in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol, the Spirit of the LORD began to take hold of him.14:1 ONE day when Samson was in Timnah, he noticed a certain Philistine woman. 2 When he returned home, he told his father and mother, " I want to marry a young Philistine woman I saw in Timnah." 3 His father and mother objected strenuously, " Isn't there one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry? Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?" But Samson told his father, " Get her for me. She is the one I want." 4 His father and mother didn't realize the LORD was at work in this, creating an opportunity to disrupt the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time. 5 As Samson and his parents were going down to Timnah, a young lion attacked Samson near the vineyards of Timnah. 6 At that moment the Spirit of the LORD powerfully took control of him, and he ripped the lion's jaws apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as if it were a young goat. But he didn't tell his father or mother about it. 7 When Samson arrived in Timnah, he talked with the woman and was very pleased with her. 8 Later, when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion. And he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass. 9 He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it along the way. He also gave some to his father and mother, and they ate it. But he didn't tell them he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion. 10 As his father was making final arrangements for the marriage, Samson threw a party at Timnah, as was the custom of the day. 11 Thirty young men from the town were invited to be his companions. 12 Samson said to them, " Let me tell you a riddle. If you solve my riddle during these seven days of the celebration, I will give you thirty plain linen robes and thirty fancy robes. 13 But if you can't solve it, then you must give me thirty linen robes and thirty fancy robes." " All right," they agreed, " let's hear your riddle." 14 So he said: " From the one who eats came something to eat;
out of the strong came something sweet."
Three days later they were still trying to figure it out. 15 On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, " Get the answer to the riddle from your husband, or we will burn down your father's house with you in it. Did you invite us to this party just to make us poor?" 16 So Samson's wife came to him in tears and said, " You don't love me; you hate me! You have given my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer." " I haven't even given the answer to my father or mother," he replied. " Why should I tell you?" 17 So she cried whenever she was with him and kept it up for the rest of the celebration. At last, on the seventh day, he told her the answer because of her persistent nagging. Then she gave the answer to the young men. 18 So before sunset of the seventh day, the men of the town came to Samson with their answer: " What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?"
Samson replied, " If you hadn't plowed with my heifer, you wouldn't have found the answer to my riddle!" 19 Then the Spirit of the LORD powerfully took control of him. He went down to the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had answered his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother. 20 So his wife was given in marriage to the man who had been Samson's best man at the wedding.

JOHN 1:29-51
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, " Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30He is the one I was talking about when I said, ` Soon a man is coming who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before I did.' 31I didn't know he was the one, but I have been baptizing with water in order to point him out to Israel." 32 Then John said, " I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. 33 I didn't know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ` When you see the Holy Spirit descending and resting upon someone, he is the one you are looking for. He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Son of God." 35 The following day, John was again standing with two of his disciples. 36 As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and then declared, " Look! There is the Lamb of God!" 37 Then John's two disciples turned and followed Jesus. 38 Jesus looked around and saw them following. " What do you want?" he asked them. They replied, " Rabbi" (which means Teacher), " where are you staying?"39 " Come and see," he said. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place, and they stayed there the rest of the day. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of these men who had heard what John said and then followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon, and tell him, " We have found the Messiah" (which means the Christ). 42 Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, " You are Simon, the son of John--but you will be called Cephas" (which means Peter). 43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, " Come, be my disciple." 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter's hometown. 45 Philip went off to look for Nathanael and told him, " We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth."46 " Nazareth!" exclaimed Nathanael. " Can anything good come from there?" " Just come and see for yourself," Philip said. 47 As they approached, Jesus said, " Here comes an honest man--a true son of Israel." 48 " How do you know about me?" Nathanael asked. And Jesus replied, " I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you." 49 Nathanael replied, " Teacher, you are the Son of God--the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus asked him, " Do you believe all this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." 51 Then he said, " The truth is, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down upon the Son of Man."

PSALM 102:1-28
A prayer of one overwhelmed with trouble, pouring out problems before the LORD.
1 LORD, hear my prayer!
Listen to my plea!
2 Don't turn away from me
in my time of distress.
Bend down your ear
and answer me quickly when I call to you,
3 for my days disappear like smoke,
and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
4 My heart is sick, withered like grass,
and I have lost my appetite.
5 Because of my groaning,
I am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like an owl in the desert,
like a lonely owl in a far-off wilderness.
7 I lie awake,
lonely as a solitary bird on the roof.
8 My enemies taunt me day after day.
They mock and curse me.
9 I eat ashes instead of my food.
My tears run down into my drink
10 because of your anger and wrath.
For you have picked me up and thrown me out.
11 My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.
I am withering like grass.
12 But you, O LORD, will rule forever.
Your fame will endure to every generation.
13 You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem--
and now is the time to pity her,
now is the time you promised to help.
14 For your people love every stone in her walls
and show favor even to the dust in her streets.
15 And the nations will tremble before the LORD.
The kings of the earth will tremble before his glory.
16 For the LORD will rebuild Jerusalem.
He will appear in his glory.
17 He will listen to the prayers of the destitute.
He will not reject their pleas.
18 Let this be recorded for future generations,
so that a nation yet to be created will praise the LORD.
19 Tell them the LORD looked down
from his heavenly sanctuary.
He looked to the earth from heaven
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to release those condemned to die.
21 And so the LORD's fame will be celebrated in Zion,
his praises in Jerusalem,
22 when multitudes gather together
and kingdoms come to worship the LORD.
23 He has cut me down in midlife,
shortening my days.
24 But I cried to him, " My God, who lives forever,
don't take my life while I am still so young!
25 In ages past you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 Even they will perish, but you remain forever;
they will wear out like old clothing.
You will change them like a garment,
and they will fade away.
27 But you are always the same;
your years never end.
28 The children of your people
will live in security.
Their children's children
will thrive in your presence."

PROVERBS 14:15-16
Only simpletons believe everything they are told! The prudent carefully consider their steps. The wise are cautious and avoid danger; fools plunge ahead with great confidence.

April 30 Reading through the Bible

 

JUDGES 11:1-12:15
JOHN 1:1-28
PSALM 101:1-8
PROVERBS 14:13-14

JUDGES 11:1-12:15
Now Jephthah of Gilead was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute. 2 Gilead's wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. " You will not get any of our father's inheritance," they said, " for you are the son of a prostitute." 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a large band of rebels following him. 4 At about this time, the Ammonites began their war against Israel. 5 When the Ammonites attacked, the leaders of Gilead sent for Jephthah in the land of Tob. They said, 6 " Come and be our commander! Help us fight the Ammonites!" 7 But Jephthah said to them, " Aren't you the ones who hated me and drove me from my father's house? Why do you come to me now when you're in trouble?" 8 " Because we need you," they replied. " If you will lead us in battle against the Ammonites, we will make you ruler over all the people of Gilead." 9 Jephthah said, " If I come with you and if the LORD gives me victory over the Ammonites, will you really make me ruler over all the people?" 10 " The LORD is our witness," the leaders replied. " We promise to do whatever you say." 11 So Jephthah went with the leaders of Gilead, and he became their ruler and commander of the army. At Mizpah, in the presence of the LORD, Jephthah repeated what he had said to the leaders. 12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon, demanding to know why Israel was being attacked. 13 The king of Ammon answered Jephthah's messengers, " When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and all the way to the Jordan. Now then, give back the land peaceably." 14 Jephthah sent this message back to the Ammonite king: 15 " This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not steal any land from Moab or Ammon. 16 When the people of Israel arrived at Kadesh on their journey from Egypt after crossing the Red Sea, 17 they sent messengers to the king of Edom asking for permission to pass through his land. But their request was denied. Then they asked the king of Moab for similar permission, but he wouldn't let them pass through either. So the people of Israel stayed in Kadesh. 18 " Finally, they went around Edom and Moab through the wilderness. They traveled along Moab's eastern border and camped on the other side of the Arnon River. But they never once crossed the Arnon River into Moab. 19 " Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, asking for permission to cross through his land to get to their destination. 20 But King Sihon didn't trust Israel to pass through his land. Instead, he mobilized his army at Jahaz and attacked them. 21 But the LORD, the God of Israel, gave his people victory over King Sihon. So Israel took control of all the land of the Amorites, who lived in that region, 22 from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 " So you see, it was the LORD, the God of Israel, who took away the land from the Amorites and gave it to Israel. Why, then, should we give it to you? 24 You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the LORD our God gives us. 25 Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he try to make a case against Israel for disputed land? Did he go to war? No, of course not. 26 But now after three hundred years you make an issue of this! Israel has been living here all this time, spread across the land from Heshbon to Aroer and in all the towns along the Arnon River. Why have you made no effort to recover it before now? 27 I have not sinned against you. Rather, you have wronged me by attacking me. Let the LORD, who is judge, decide today which of us is right--Israel or Ammon."28 But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah's message. 29 At that time the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and led an army against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. He said, " If you give me victory over the Ammonites, 31 I will give to the LORD the first thing coming out of my house to greet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." 32 So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave him victory. 33 He thoroughly defeated the Ammonites from Aroer to an area near Minnith--twenty towns--and as far away as Abel-keramim. Thus Israel subdued the Ammonites. 34 When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter--his only child--ran out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. " My daughter!" he cried out. " My heart is breaking! What a tragedy that you came out to greet me. For I have made a vow to the LORD and cannot take it back." 36 And she said, " Father, you have made a promise to the LORD. You must do to me what you have promised, for the LORD has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But first let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin." 38 " You may go," Jephthah said. And he let her go away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children. 39 When she returned home, her father kept his vow, and she died a virgin. So it has become a custom in Israel 40 for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Jephthah's daughter.12:1 THEN the tribe of Ephraim mobilized its army and crossed over to Zaphon. They sent this message to Jephthah: " Why didn't you call for us to help you fight against Ammon? We are going to burn down your house with you in it!" 2 " I summoned you at the beginning of the dispute, but you refused to come!" Jephthah said. " You failed to help us in our struggle against Ammon. 3 So I risked my life and went to battle without you, and the LORD gave me victory over the Ammonites. So why have you come to fight me?" 4 The leaders of Ephraim responded, " The men of Gilead are nothing more than rejects from Ephraim and Manasseh." So Jephthah called out his army and attacked the men of Ephraim and defeated them. 5 Jephthah captured the shallows of the Jordan, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim tried to go back across, the men of Gilead would challenge him. " Are you a member of the tribe of Ephraim?" they would ask. If the man said, " No, I'm not," 6 they would tell him to say " Shibboleth." If he was from Ephraim, he would say " Sibboleth," because people from Ephraim cannot pronounce the word correctly. Then they would take him and kill him at the shallows of the Jordan River. So forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time. 7 Jephthah was Israel's judge for six years. When he died, he was buried in one of the towns of Gilead. 8 After Jephthah, Ibzan became Israel's judge. He lived in Bethlehem, 9 and he had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He married his daughters to men outside his clan and brought in thirty young women from outside his clan to marry his sons. Ibzan judged Israel for seven years. 10 When he died, he was buried at Bethlehem. 11 After him, Elon from Zebulun became Israel's judge. He judged Israel for ten years. 12 When he died, he was buried at Aijalon in Zebulun. 13 After Elon died, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, became Israel's judge. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He was Israel's judge for eight years. 15 Then he died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

JOHN 1:1-28
In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make. 4 Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. 5 The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 6 God sent John the Baptist 7 to tell everyone about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was only a witness to the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world. 10 But although the world was made through him, the world didn't recognize him when he came. 11 Even in his own land and among his own people, he was not accepted. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan--this rebirth comes from God. 14 So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. 15 John pointed him out to the people. He shouted to the crowds, " This is the one I was talking about when I said, ` Someone is coming who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before I did.' " 16 We have all benefited from the rich blessings he brought to us--one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But his only Son, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart; he has told us about him. 19 This was the testimony of John when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants from Jerusalem to ask John whether he claimed to be the Messiah. 20 He flatly denied it. " I am not the Messiah," he said. 21 " Well then, who are you?" they asked. " Are you Elijah?" " No," he replied. " Are you the Prophet?" " No." 22 " Then who are you? Tell us, so we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?" 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah: " I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
` Prepare a straight pathway for the Lord's coming!' "
24 Then those who were sent by the Pharisees 25 asked him, " If you aren't the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?" 26 John told them, " I baptize with water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not know, 27 who will soon begin his ministry. I am not even worthy to be his slave." 28 This incident took place at Bethany, a village east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.

PSALM 101:1-8
A psalm of David.
1 I will sing of your love and justice.
I will praise you, LORD, with songs.
2 I will be careful to live a blameless life--
when will you come to my aid?
I will lead a life of integrity
in my own home.
3 I will refuse to look at
anything vile and vulgar.
I hate all crooked dealings;
I will have nothing to do with them.
4 I will reject perverse ideas
and stay away from every evil.
5 I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors.
I will not endure conceit and pride.
6 I will keep a protective eye on the godly,
so they may dwell with me in safety.
Only those who are above reproach
will be allowed to serve me.
7 I will not allow deceivers to serve me,
and liars will not be allowed to enter my presence.
8 My daily task will be to ferret out criminals
and free the city of the LORD from their grip.

PROVERBS 14:13-14
Laughter can conceal a heavy heart; when the laughter ends, the grief remains. Backsliders get what they deserve; good people receive their reward.

April 29 Reading through the Bible

 

JUDGES 9:22-10:18
LUKE 24:13-53
PSALM 100:1-5
PROVERBS 14:11-12

JUDGES 9:22-10:18
After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years, 23 God stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the people of Shechem, and they revolted. 24 In the events that followed, God punished Abimelech and the men of Shechem for murdering Gideon's seventy sons. 25 The people of Shechem set an ambush for Abimelech on the hilltops and robbed everyone who passed that way. But someone warned Abimelech about their plot. 26 At that time Gaal son of Ebed moved to Shechem with his brothers and gained the confidence of the people of Shechem. 27 During the annual harvest festival at Shechem, held in the temple of the local god, the wine flowed freely, and everyone began cursing Abimelech. 28 " Who is Abimelech?" Gaal shouted. " He's not a true descendant of Shechem! Why should we be Abimelech's servants? He's merely the son of Gideon, and Zebul is his administrator. Serve the men of Hamor, who are Shechem's true descendants. Why should we serve Abimelech? 29 If I were in charge, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him, ` Get some more soldiers, and come out and fight!' " 30 But when Zebul, the leader of the city, heard what Gaal was saying, he was furious. 31 He sent messengers to Abimelech in Arumah, telling him, " Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to live in Shechem, and now they are inciting the city to rebel against you. 32 Come by night with an army and hide out in the fields. 33 In the morning, as soon as it is daylight, storm the city. When Gaal and those who are with him come out against you, you can do with them as you wish."34 So Abimelech and his men went by night and split into four groups, stationing themselves around Shechem. 35 Gaal was standing at the city gates when Abimelech and his army came out of hiding. 36 When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul, " Look, there are people coming down from the hilltops!" Zebul replied, " It's just the shadows of the hills that look like men." 37 But again Gaal said, " No, people are coming down from the hills. And another group is coming down the road past the Diviners' Oak." 38 Then Zebul turned on him triumphantly. " Now where is that big mouth of yours?" he demanded. " Wasn't it you that said, ` Who is Abimelech, and why should we be his servants?' The men you mocked are right outside the city! Go out and fight them!" 39 Gaal then led the men of Shechem into battle against Abimelech, 40 but he was defeated and ran away. Many of Shechem's warriors were killed, and the ground was covered with dead bodies all the way to the city gate. 41 Abimelech stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem. 42 The next day the people of Shechem went out into the fields to battle. When Abimelech heard about it, 43 he divided his men into three groups and set an ambush in the fields. When Abimelech saw the people coming out of the city, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and attacked them. 44 Abimelech and his group stormed the city gate to keep the men of Shechem from getting back in, while Abimelech's other two groups cut them down in the fields. 45 The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city. He killed the people, leveled the city, and scattered salt all over the ground. 46 When the people who lived in the tower of Shechem heard what had happened, they took refuge within the walls of the temple of Baal-berith. 47 Someone reported to Abimelech that the people were gathered together in the temple, 48 so he led his forces to Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and chopped some branches from a tree, and he put them on his shoulder. " Quick, do as I have done!" he told his men. 49 So each of them cut down some branches, following Abimelech's example. They piled the branches against the walls of the temple and set them on fire. So all the people who had lived in the tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women. 50 Then Abimelech attacked the city of Thebez and captured it. 51 But there was a strong tower inside the city, and the entire population fled to it. They barricaded themselves in and climbed up to the roof of the tower. 52 Abimelech followed them to attack the tower. But as he prepared to set fire to the entrance, 53 a woman on the roof threw down a millstone that landed on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. 54 He said to his young armor bearer, " Draw your sword and kill me! Don't let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!" So the young man stabbed him with his sword, and he died. 55 When Abimelech's men saw that he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes. 56 Thus, God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers. 57 God also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon came true.10:1 AFTER Abimelech's death, Tola, the son of Puah and descendant of Dodo, came to rescue Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar but lived in the town of Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 He was Israel's judge for twenty-three years. When he died, he was buried in Shamir. 3 After Tola died, a man from Gilead named Jair judged Israel for twenty-two years. 4 His thirty sons rode around on thirty donkeys, and they owned thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which are still called the Towns of Jair. 5 When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon. 6 Again the Israelites did evil in the LORD's sight. They worshiped images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. Not only this, but they abandoned the LORD and no longer served him at all. 7 So the LORD burned with anger against Israel, and he handed them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites, 8 who began to oppress them that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites (that is, in Gilead). 9 The Ammonites also crossed to the west side of the Jordan and attacked Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. The Israelites were in great distress. 10 Finally, they cried out to the LORD, saying, " We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal." 11 The LORD replied, " Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me, and I rescued you. 13 Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. 14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!" 15 But the Israelites pleaded with the LORD and said, " We have sinned. Punish us as you see fit, only rescue us today from our enemies." 16 Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the LORD. And he was grieved by their misery. 17 At that time the armies of Ammon had gathered for war and were camped in Gilead, preparing to attack Israel's army at Mizpah. 18 The leaders of Gilead said to each other, " Whoever attacks the Ammonites first will become ruler over all the people of Gilead."

LUKE 24:13-53
That same day two of Jesus' followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles out of Jerusalem. 14 As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. 15 Suddenly, Jesus himself came along and joined them and began walking beside them. 16 But they didn't know who he was, because God kept them from recognizing him. 17 " You seem to be in a deep discussion about something," he said. " What are you so concerned about?" They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. 18 Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, " You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days." 19 " What things?" Jesus asked. " The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth," they said. " He was a prophet who did wonderful miracles. He was a mighty teacher, highly regarded by both God and all the people. 20 But our leading priests and other religious leaders arrested him and handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. 21 We had thought he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. That all happened three days ago. 22 Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. 23 They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive! 24 Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, Jesus' body was gone, just as the women had said." 25 Then Jesus said to them, " You are such foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. 26 Wasn't it clearly predicted by the prophets that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his time of glory?" 27 Then Jesus quoted passages from the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining what all the Scriptures said about himself. 28 By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus would have gone on, 29 but they begged him to stay the night with them, since it was getting late. So he went home with them. 30 As they sat down to eat, he took a small loaf of bread, asked God's blessing on it, broke it, then gave it to them. 31 Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared! 32 They said to each other, " Didn't our hearts feel strangely warm as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" 33 And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem, where the eleven disciples and the other followers of Jesus were gathered. When they arrived, they were greeted with the report, 34 " The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter!" 35 Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread. 36 And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. He said, " Peace be with you." 37 But the whole group was terribly frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost! 38 " Why are you frightened?" he asked. " Why do you doubt who I am? 39 Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it's really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don't have bodies, as you see that I do!" 40 As he spoke, he held out his hands for them to see, and he showed them his feet.41 Still they stood there doubting, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, " Do you have anything here to eat?" 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he ate it as they watched. 44 Then he said, " When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me by Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must all come true." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand these many Scriptures. 46 And he said, " Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah must suffer and die and rise again from the dead on the third day. 47 With my authority, take this message of repentance to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: `There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.' 48 You are witnesses of all these things. 49 " And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven." 50 Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. 52 They worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. 53 And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God.

PSALM 100:1-5
A psalm of thanksgiving.
1 Shout with joy to the LORD, O earth!
2 Worship the LORD with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
3 Acknowledge that the LORD is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

PROVERBS 14:11-12
The house of the wicked will perish, but the tent of the godly will flourish. There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.