Genesis 15

• 1. Afterward the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great."
• 2. But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since I don't have a son, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth.
• 3. You have given me no children, so one of my servants will have to be my heir."
• 4. Then the LORD said to him, "No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own to inherit everything I am giving you."
• 5. Then the LORD brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that--too many to count!"
• 6. And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD declared him righteous because of his faith.
• 7. Then the LORD told him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land."
• 8. But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that you will give it to me?"
• 9. Then the LORD told him, "Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
• 10. Abram took all these and killed them. He cut each one down the middle and laid the halves side by side. He did not, however, divide the birds in half.
• 11. Some vultures came down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.
• 12. That evening, as the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep. He saw a terrifying vision of darkness and horror.
• 13. Then the LORD told Abram, "You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, and they will be oppressed as slaves for four hundred years.
• 14. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth.
• 15. (But you will die in peace, at a ripe old age.)
• 16. After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, when the sin of the Amorites has run its course."
• 17. As the sun went down and it became dark, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses.
• 18. So the LORD made a covenant with Abram that day and said, "I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River--
• 19. the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
• 20. Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
• 21. Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."

Matthew 14

• 1. When Herod Antipas heard about Jesus,
• 2. he said to his advisers, "This must be John the Baptist come back to life again! That is why he can do such miracles."
• 3. For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John as a favor to his wife Herodias (the former wife of Herod's brother Philip).
• 4. John kept telling Herod, "It is illegal for you to marry her."
• 5. Herod would have executed John, but he was afraid of a riot, because all the people believed John was a prophet.
• 6. But at a birthday party for Herod, Herodias's daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him,
• 7. so he promised with an oath to give her anything she wanted.
• 8. At her mother's urging, the girl asked, "I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray!"
• 9. The king was sorry, but because of his oath and because he didn't want to back down in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders.
• 10. So John was beheaded in the prison,
• 11. and his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl, who took it to her mother.
• 12. John's disciples came for his body and buried it. Then they told Jesus what had happened.
• 13. As soon as Jesus heard the news, he went off by himself in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed by land from many villages.
• 14. A vast crowd was there as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
• 15. That evening the disciples came to him and said, "This is a desolate place, and it is getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves."
• 16. But Jesus replied, "That isn't necessary--you feed them."
• 17. "Impossible!" they exclaimed. "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish!"
• 18. "Bring them here," he said.
• 19. Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. And he took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and asked God's blessing on the food. Breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave some of the bread and fish to each disciple, and the disciples gave them to the people.
• 20. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.
• 21. About five thousand men had eaten from those five loaves, in addition to all the women and children!
• 22. Immediately after this, Jesus made his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake while he sent the people home.
• 23. Afterward he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.
• 24. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves.
• 25. About three o'clock in the morning Jesus came to them, walking on the water.
• 26. When the disciples saw him, they screamed in terror, thinking he was a ghost.
• 27. But Jesus spoke to them at once. "It's all right," he said. "I am here! Don't be afraid."
• 28. Then Peter called to him, "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you by walking on water."
• 29. "All right, come," Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.
• 30. But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted.
• 31. Instantly Jesus reached out his hand and grabbed him. "You don't have much faith," Jesus said. "Why did you doubt me?"
• 32. And when they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.
• 33. Then the disciples worshiped him. "You really are the Son of God!" they exclaimed.
• 34. After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret.
• 35. The news of their arrival spread quickly throughout the whole surrounding area, and soon people were bringing all their sick to be healed.
• 36. The sick begged him to let them touch even the fringe of his robe, and all who touched it were healed.

Nehemiah 4

• 1. Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews,
• 2. saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, "What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they are doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a day if they offer enough sacrifices? Look at those charred stones they are pulling out of the rubbish and using again!"
• 3. Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, "That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!"
• 4. Then I prayed, "Hear us, O our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land!
• 5. Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in the presence of the builders."
• 6. At last the wall was completed to half its original height around the entire city, for the people had worked very hard.
• 7. But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the work was going ahead and that the gaps in the wall were being repaired, they became furious.
• 8. They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and to bring about confusion there.
• 9. But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.
• 10. Then the people of Judah began to complain that the workers were becoming tired. There was so much rubble to be moved that we could never get it done by ourselves.
• 11. Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, "Before they know what's happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work."
• 12. The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, "They will come from all directions and attack us!"
• 13. So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows.
• 14. Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the leaders and the people and said to them, "Don't be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your friends, your families, and your homes!"
• 15. When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall.
• 16. But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The officers stationed themselves behind the people of Judah
• 17. who were building the wall. The common laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon.
• 18. All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm.
• 19. Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, "The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall.
• 20. When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!"
• 21. We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset. And half the men were always on guard.
• 22. I also told everyone living outside the walls to move into Jerusalem. That way they and their servants could go on guard duty at night as well as work during the day.
• 23. During this time, none of us--not I, nor my relatives, nor my servants, nor the guards who were with me--ever took off our clothes. We carried our weapons with us at all times, even when we went for water.

New Living Translation: 14 of 365 days.