1 Chronicles 15

• 1. After David had constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.
• 2. Then David said, "No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD chose them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before him forever."
• 3. David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to the place he had prepared for it.
• 4. He called together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites:
• 5. From the descendants of Kohath, Uriel the leader and 120 relatives;
• 6. from the descendants of Merari, Asaiah the leader and 220 relatives;
• 7. from the descendants of Gershon, Joel the leader and 130 relatives;
• 8. from the descendants of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the leader and 200 relatives;
• 9. from the descendants of Hebron, Eliel the leader and 80 relatives;
• 10. from the descendants of Uzziel, Amminadab the leader and 112 relatives.
• 11. Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites.
• 12. He said to them, "You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.
• 13. It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way."
• 14. So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.
• 15. And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.
• 16. David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals.
• 17. So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berekiah; and from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah;
• 18. and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.
• 19. The musicians Heman, Asaph and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals;
• 20. Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah were to play the lyres according to alamoth,
• 21. and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah were to play the harps, directing according to sheminith.
• 22. Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it.
• 23. Berekiah and Elkanah were to be doorkeepers for the ark.
• 24. Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer the priests were to blow trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also to be doorkeepers for the ark.
• 25. So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of units of a thousand went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-Edom, with rejoicing.
• 26. Because God had helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, seven bulls and seven rams were sacrificed.
• 27. Now David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and as were the singers, and Kenaniah, who was in charge of the singing of the choirs. David also wore a linen ephod.
• 28. So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouts, with the sounding of rams' horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps.
• 29. As the ark of the covenant of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him in her heart.

James 2

• 1. My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.
• 2. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.
• 3. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet,"
• 4. have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
• 5. Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
• 6. But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?
• 7. Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
• 8. If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.
• 9. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
• 10. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
• 11. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
• 12. Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,
• 13. because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
• 14. What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
• 15. Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
• 16. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
• 17. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
• 18. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
• 19. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.
• 20. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
• 21. Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
• 22. You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
• 23. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.
• 24. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
• 25. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
• 26. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Amos 9

• 1. I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: "Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape.
• 2. Though they dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.
• 3. Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.
• 4. Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good."
• 5. The Lord, the LORD Almighty, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who live in it mourn- the whole land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt-
• 6. he who builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land- the LORD is his name.
• 7. "Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?" declares the LORD. "Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?
• 8. "Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth- yet I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob," declares the LORD.
• 9. "For I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground.
• 10. All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, 'Disaster will not overtake or meet us.'
• 11. "In that day I will restore David's fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be,
• 12. so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name, "declares the LORD, who will do these things.
• 13. "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.
• 14. I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
• 15. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the LORD your God.

New International Version

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