Genesis 20

• 1. Now Abraham moved south to the Negev and settled for a while between Kadesh and Shur at a place called Gerar.
• 2. Abraham told people there that his wife, Sarah, was his sister. So King Abimelech sent for her and had her brought to him at his palace.
• 3. But one night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, "You are a dead man, for that woman you took is married."
• 4. But Abimelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, "Lord, will you kill an innocent man?
• 5. Abraham told me, `She is my sister,' and she herself said, `Yes, he is my brother.' I acted in complete innocence!"
• 6. "Yes, I know you are innocent," God replied. "That is why I kept you from sinning against me; I did not let you touch her.
• 7. Now return her to her husband, and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet. Then you will live. But if you don't return her to him, you can be sure that you and your entire household will die."
• 8. Abimelech got up early the next morning and hastily called a meeting of all his servants. When he told them what had happened, great fear swept through the crowd.
• 9. Then Abimelech called for Abraham. "What is this you have done to us?" he demanded. "What have I done to you that deserves treatment like this, making me and my kingdom guilty of this great sin? This kind of thing should not be done!
• 10. Why have you done this to us?"
• 11. "Well," Abraham said, "I figured this to be a godless place. I thought, `They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.'
• 12. Besides, she is my sister--we both have the same father, though different mothers--and I married her.
• 13. When God sent me to travel far from my father's home, I told her, `Wherever we go, have the kindness to say that you are my sister.'"
• 14. Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and servants--both men and women--and gave them to Abraham, and he returned his wife, Sarah, to him.
• 15. "Look over my kingdom, and choose a place where you would like to live," Abimelech told him.
• 16. Then he turned to Sarah. "Look," he said, "I am giving your `brother' a thousand pieces of silver to compensate for any embarrassment I may have caused you. This will settle any claim against me in this matter."
• 17. Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and the other women of the household, so they could have children.
• 18. For the LORD had stricken all the women with infertility as a warning to Abimelech for having taken Abraham's wife.

Matthew 19

• 1. After Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went southward to the region of Judea and into the area east of the Jordan River.
• 2. Vast crowds followed him there, and he healed their sick.
• 3. Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: "Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for any reason?"
• 4. "Haven't you read the Scriptures?" Jesus replied. "They record that from the beginning 'God made them male and female.'
• 5. And he said, 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.'
• 6. Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has joined them together."
• 7. "Then why did Moses say a man could merely write an official letter of divorce and send her away?" they asked.
• 8. Jesus replied, "Moses permitted divorce as a concession to your hard-hearted wickedness, but it was not what God had originally intended.
• 9. And I tell you this, a man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery--unless his wife has been unfaithful. "
• 10. Jesus' disciples then said to him, "Then it is better not to marry!"
• 11. "Not everyone can accept this statement," Jesus said. "Only those whom God helps.
• 12. Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made that way by others, and some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone who can, accept this statement."
• 13. Some children were brought to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. The disciples told them not to bother him.
• 14. But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these."
• 15. And he put his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.
• 16. Someone came to Jesus with this question: "Teacher, what good things must I do to have eternal life?"
• 17. "Why ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "Only God is good. But to answer your question, you can receive eternal life if you keep the commandments."
• 18. "Which ones?" the man asked. And Jesus replied: "'Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not testify falsely.
• 19. Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
• 20. "I've obeyed all these commandments," the young man replied. "What else must I do?"
• 21. Jesus told him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
• 22. But when the young man heard this, he went sadly away because he had many possessions.
• 23. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
• 24. I say it again--it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!"
• 25. The disciples were astounded. "Then who in the world can be saved?" they asked.
• 26. Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible."
• 27. Then Peter said to him, "We've given up everything to follow you. What will we get out of it?"
• 28. And Jesus replied, "I assure you that when I, the Son of Man, sit upon my glorious throne in the Kingdom, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
• 29. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will have eternal life.
• 30. But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then, and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then.

Nehemiah 9

• 1. On October 31 the people returned for another observance. This time they fasted and dressed in sackcloth and sprinkled dust on their heads.
• 2. Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors.
• 3. The Book of the Law of the LORD their God was read aloud to them for about three hours. Then for three more hours they took turns confessing their sins and worshiping the LORD their God.
• 4. Some of the Levites were standing on the stairs, crying out to the LORD their God. Their names were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani.
• 5. Then the leaders of the Levites--Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah--called out to the people: "Stand up and praise the LORD your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!" Then they continued, "Praise his glorious name! It is far greater than we can think or say.
• 6. You alone are the LORD. You made the skies and the heavens and all the stars. You made the earth and the seas and everything in them. You preserve and give life to everything, and all the angels of heaven worship you.
• 7. "You are the LORD God, who chose Abram and brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans and renamed him Abraham.
• 8. When he had proved himself faithful, you made a covenant with him to give him and his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites. And you have done what you promised, for you are always true to your word.
• 9. "You saw the sufferings and sorrows of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cries from beside the Red Sea.
• 10. You displayed miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, his servants, and all his people, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians were treating them. You have a glorious reputation that has never been forgotten.
• 11. You divided the sea for your people so they could walk through on dry land! And then you hurled their enemies into the depths of the sea. They sank like stones beneath the mighty waters.
• 12. You led our ancestors by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night so that they could find their way.
• 13. "You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and instructions that were just, and laws and commands that were true.
• 14. You instructed them concerning the laws of your holy Sabbath. And you commanded them, through Moses your servant, to obey all your commands, laws, and instructions.
• 15. "You gave them bread from heaven when they were hungry and water from the rock when they were thirsty. You commanded them to go and take possession of the land you had sworn to give them.
• 16. But our ancestors were a proud and stubborn lot, and they refused to obey your commands.
• 17. "They refused to listen and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt! But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and full of unfailing love and mercy. You did not abandon them,
• 18. even though they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, 'This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!' They sinned and committed terrible blasphemies.
• 19. But in your great mercy you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud still led them forward by day, and the pillar of fire showed them the way through the night.
• 20. You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them bread from heaven or water for their thirst.
• 21. For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing in all that time. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell!
• 22. "Then you helped our ancestors conquer great kingdoms and many nations, and you placed your people in every corner of the land. They completely took over the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan.
• 23. You made their descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and brought them into the land you had promised to their ancestors.
• 24. They went in and took possession of the land. You subdued whole nations before them. Even the kings and the Canaanites, who inhabited the land, were powerless! Your people could deal with them as they pleased.
• 25. Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and orchards in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings.
• 26. "But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They threw away your law, they killed the prophets who encouraged them to return to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies.
• 27. So you handed them over to their enemies. But in their time of trouble they cried to you, and you heard them from heaven. In great mercy, you sent them deliverers who rescued them from their enemies.
• 28. "But when all was going well, your people turned to sin again, and once more you let their enemies conquer them. Yet whenever your people cried to you again for help, you listened once more from heaven. In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them repeatedly!
• 29. You warned them to return to your law, but they became proud and obstinate and disobeyed your commands. They did not follow your regulations, by which people will find life if only they obey. They stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to listen.
• 30. In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit, who, through the prophets, warned them about their sins. But still they wouldn't listen! So once again you allowed the pagan inhabitants of the land to conquer them.
• 31. But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!
• 32. "And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of unfailing love, do not let all the hardships we have suffered be as nothing to you. Great trouble has come upon us and upon our kings and princes and priests and prophets and ancestors from the days when the kings of Assyria first triumphed over us until now.
• 33. Every time you punished us you were being just. We have sinned greatly, and you gave us only what we deserved.
• 34. Our kings, princes, priests, and ancestors did not obey your law or listen to your commands and solemn warnings.
• 35. Even while they had their own kingdom, they did not serve you even though you showered your goodness on them. You gave them a large, fertile land, but they refused to turn from their wickedness.
• 36. "So now today we are slaves here in the land of plenty that you gave to our ancestors! We are slaves among all this abundance!
• 37. The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They have power over us and our cattle. We serve them at their pleasure, and we are in great misery.
• 38. "Yet in spite of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our princes and Levites and priests."

New Living Translation: 19 of 365 days.