Judges 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."

Acts 14

• 1. In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went together to the synagogue and preached with such power that a great number of both Jews and Gentiles believed.
• 2. But the Jews who spurned God's message stirred up distrust among the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas, saying all sorts of evil things about them.
• 3. The apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. The Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders.
• 4. But the people of the city were divided in their opinion about them. Some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles.
• 5. A mob of Gentiles and Jews, along with their leaders, decided to attack and stone them.
• 6. When the apostles learned of it, they fled for their lives. They went to the region of Lycaonia, to the cities of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding area,
• 7. and they preached the Good News there.
• 8. While they were at Lystra, Paul and Barnabas came upon a man with crippled feet. He had been that way from birth, so he had never walked.
• 9. He was listening as Paul preached, and Paul noticed him and realized he had faith to be healed.
• 10. So Paul called to him in a loud voice, "Stand up!" And the man jumped to his feet and started walking.
• 11. When the listening crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, "These men are gods in human bodies!"
• 12. They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul, because he was the chief speaker, was Hermes.
• 13. The temple of Zeus was located on the outskirts of the city. The priest of the temple and the crowd brought oxen and wreaths of flowers, and they prepared to sacrifice to the apostles at the city gates.
• 14. But when Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting,
• 15. "Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings like yourselves! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.
• 16. In earlier days he permitted all the nations to go their own ways,
• 17. but he never left himself without a witness. There were always his reminders, such as sending you rain and good crops and giving you food and joyful hearts."
• 18. But even so, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them.
• 19. Now some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and turned the crowds into a murderous mob. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, apparently dead.
• 20. But as the believers stood around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
• 21. After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned again to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia,
• 22. where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.
• 23. Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church and prayed for them with fasting, turning them over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had come to trust.
• 24. Then they traveled back through Pisidia to Pamphylia.
• 25. They preached again in Perga, then went on to Attalia.
• 26. Finally, they returned by ship to Antioch of Syria, where their journey had begun and where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.
• 27. Upon arriving in Antioch, they called the church together and reported about their trip, telling all that God had done and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, too.
• 28. And they stayed there with the believers in Antioch for a long time.

Jeremiah 23

• 1. "I will send disaster upon the leaders of my people--the shepherds of my sheep--for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for," says the LORD.
• 2. This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds: "Instead of leading my flock to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them.
• 3. But I will gather together the remnant of my flock from wherever I have driven them. I will bring them back into their own fold, and they will be fruitful and increase in number.
• 4. Then I will appoint responsible shepherds to care for them, and they will never be afraid again. Not a single one of them will be lost or missing," says the LORD.
• 5. "For the time is coming," says the LORD, "when I will place a righteous Branch on King David's throne. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land.
• 6. And this is his name: `The LORD Is Our Righteousness.' In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.
• 7. "In that day," says the LORD, "when people are taking an oath, they will no longer say, `As surely as the LORD lives, who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.'
• 8. Instead, they will say, `As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them.' Then they will live in their own land."
• 9. My heart is broken because of the false prophets, and I tremble uncontrollably. I stagger like a drunkard, like someone overcome by wine, because of the holy words the LORD has spoken against them.
• 10. For the land is full of adultery, and it lies under a curse. The land itself is in mourning--its pastures are dried up. For the prophets do evil and abuse their power.
• 11. "The priests are like the prophets, all ungodly, wicked men. I have seen their despicable acts right here in my own Temple," says the LORD.
• 12. "Therefore, their paths will be dark and slippery. They will be chased down dark and treacherous trails, where they will fall. For I will bring disaster upon them when their time of punishment comes. I, the LORD, have spoken!
• 13. "I saw that the prophets of Samaria were terribly evil, for they prophesied by Baal and led my people of Israel into sin.
• 14. But now I see that the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! They commit adultery, and they love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil instead of turning them away from their sins. These prophets are as wicked as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once were."
• 15. Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty says concerning the prophets: "I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. For it is because of Jerusalem's prophets that wickedness fills this land.
• 16. This is my warning to my people," says the LORD Almighty. "Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for the LORD!
• 17. They keep saying to these rebels who despise my word, `Don't worry! The LORD says you will have peace!' And to those who stubbornly follow their own evil desires, they say, `No harm will come your way!'
• 18. "But can you name even one of these prophets who knows the LORD well enough to hear what he is saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen?
• 19. Look! The LORD's anger bursts out like a storm, a whirlwind that swirls down on the heads of the wicked.
• 20. The anger of the LORD will not diminish until it has finished all his plans. In the days to come, you will understand all this very clearly.
• 21. "I have not sent these prophets, yet they claim to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they prophesy.
• 22. If they had listened to me, they would have spoken my words and turned my people from their evil ways.
• 23. Am I a God who is only in one place?" asks the LORD. "Do they think I cannot see what they are doing?
• 24. Can anyone hide from me? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?" asks the LORD.
• 25. "I have heard these prophets say, `Listen to the dream I had from God last night.' And then they proceed to tell lies in my name.
• 26. How long will this go on? If they are prophets, they are prophets of deceit, inventing everything they say.
• 27. By telling these false dreams, they are trying to get my people to forget me, just as their ancestors did by worshiping the idols of Baal.
• 28. Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my every word. There is a difference between chaff and wheat!
• 29. Does not my word burn like fire?" asks the LORD. "Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes rock to pieces?
• 30. "Therefore," says the LORD, "I stand against these prophets who get their messages from each other--
• 31. these smooth-tongued prophets who say, `This prophecy is from the LORD!'
• 32. Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin. I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all for my people," says the LORD.
• 33. "Suppose one of the people or one of the prophets or priests asks you, `What prophecy has the LORD burdened you with now?' You must reply, `You are the burden! The LORD says he will abandon you!'
• 34. If any prophet, priest, or anyone else says, `I have a prophecy from the LORD,' I will punish that person along with his entire family.
• 35. You should keep asking each other, `What is the LORD's answer?' or `What is the LORD saying?'
• 36. But stop using this phrase, `prophecy from the LORD.' For people are using it to give authority to their own ideas, turning upside down the words of our God, the living God, the LORD Almighty.
• 37. "This is what you should say to the prophets: `What is the LORD's answer?' or `What is the LORD saying?'
• 38. But suppose they respond, `This is a prophecy from the LORD!' Then you should say, `This is what the LORD says: Because you have used this phrase, "prophecy from the LORD," even though I warned you not to use it,
• 39. I will forget you completely. I will expel you from my presence, along with this city that I gave to you and your ancestors.
• 40. And I will make you an object of ridicule, and your name will be infamous throughout the ages.'"

New Living Translation: 208 of 365 days.