1 Samuel 2

• 1. Then Hannah prayed: "My heart rejoices in the LORD! Oh, how the LORD has blessed me! Now I have an answer for my enemies, as I delight in your deliverance.
• 2. No one is holy like the LORD! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.
• 3. "Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don't speak with such arrogance! The LORD is a God who knows your deeds; and he will judge you for what you have done.
• 4. Those who were mighty are mighty no more; and those who were weak are now strong.
• 5. Those who were well fed are now starving; and those who were starving are now full. The barren woman now has seven children; but the woman with many children will have no more.
• 6. The LORD brings both death and life; he brings some down to the grave but raises others up.
• 7. The LORD makes one poor and another rich; he brings one down and lifts another up.
• 8. He lifts the poor from the dust--yes, from a pile of ashes! He treats them like princes, placing them in seats of honor. "For all the earth is the LORD's, and he has set the world in order.
• 9. He will protect his godly ones, but the wicked will perish in darkness. No one will succeed by strength alone.
• 10. Those who fight against the LORD will be broken. He thunders against them from heaven; the LORD judges throughout the earth. He gives mighty strength to his king; he increases the might of his anointed one."
• 11. Then Elkanah and Hannah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy became the LORD's helper, for he assisted Eli the priest.
• 12. Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD
• 13. or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli's sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling,
• 14. the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli's sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way.
• 15. Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal's fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting.
• 16. The man offering the sacrifice might reply, "Take as much as you want, but the fat must first be burned." Then the servant would demand, "No, give it to me now, or I'll take it by force."
• 17. So the sin of these young men was very serious in the LORD's sight, for they treated the LORD's offerings with contempt.
• 18. Now Samuel, though only a boy, was the LORD's helper. He wore a linen tunic just like that of a priest.
• 19. Each year his mother made a small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the sacrifice.
• 20. Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "May the LORD give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the LORD. "
• 21. And the LORD gave Hannah three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.
• 22. Now Eli was very old, but he was aware of what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
• 23. Eli said to them, "I have been hearing reports from the people about the wicked things you are doing. Why do you keep sinning?
• 24. You must stop, my sons! The reports I hear among the LORD's people are not good.
• 25. If someone sins against another person, God can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede?" But Eli's sons wouldn't listen to their father, for the LORD was already planning to put them to death.
• 26. Meanwhile, as young Samuel grew taller, he also continued to gain favor with the LORD and with the people.
• 27. One day a prophet came to Eli and gave him this message from the LORD: "Didn't I reveal myself to your ancestors when the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt?
• 28. I chose your ancestor Aaron from among all his relatives to be my priest, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly garments as he served me. And I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests.
• 29. So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you honor your sons more than me--for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people!
• 30. "Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The terrible things you are doing cannot continue! I had promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor only those who honor me, and I will despise those who despise me.
• 31. I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as my priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will live to a ripe old age.
• 32. You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel. But no members of your family will ever live out their days.
• 33. Those who are left alive will live in sadness and grief, and their children will die a violent death.
• 34. And to prove that what I have said will come true, I will cause your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to die on the same day!
• 35. "Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I tell him to do. I will bless his descendants, and his family will be priests to my anointed kings forever.
• 36. Then all of your descendants will bow before his descendants, begging for money and food. `Please,' they will say, `give us jobs among the priests so we will have enough to eat.'"

Romans 2

• 1. You may be saying, "What terrible people you have been talking about!" But you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you do these very same things.
• 2. And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things.
• 3. Do you think that God will judge and condemn others for doing them and not judge you when you do them, too?
• 4. Don't you realize how kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Or don't you care? Can't you see how kind he has been in giving you time to turn from your sin?
• 5. But no, you won't listen. So you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself because of your stubbornness in refusing to turn from your sin. For there is going to come a day of judgment when God, the just judge of all the world,
• 6. will judge all people according to what they have done.
• 7. He will give eternal life to those who persist in doing what is good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.
• 8. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and practice evil deeds.
• 9. There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on sinning--for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.
• 10. But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good--for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.
• 11. For God does not show favoritism.
• 12. God will punish the Gentiles when they sin, even though they never had God's written law. And he will punish the Jews when they sin, for they do have the law.
• 13. For it is not merely knowing the law that brings God's approval. Those who obey the law will be declared right in God's sight.
• 14. Even when Gentiles, who do not have God's written law, instinctively follow what the law says, they show that in their hearts they know right from wrong.
• 15. They demonstrate that God's law is written within them, for their own consciences either accuse them or tell them they are doing what is right.
• 16. The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone's secret life. This is my message.
• 17. If you are a Jew, you are relying on God's law for your special relationship with him. You boast that all is well between yourself and God.
• 18. Yes, you know what he wants; you know right from wrong because you have been taught his law.
• 19. You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a beacon light for people who are lost in darkness without God.
• 20. You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that in God's law you have complete knowledge and truth.
• 21. Well then, if you teach others, why don't you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal?
• 22. You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you do it? You condemn idolatry, but do you steal from pagan temples?
• 23. You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it.
• 24. No wonder the Scriptures say, "The world blasphemes the name of God because of you."
• 25. The Jewish ceremony of circumcision is worth something only if you obey God's law. But if you don't obey God's law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile.
• 26. And if the Gentiles obey God's law, won't God give them all the rights and honors of being his own people?
• 27. In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God's law will be much better off than you Jews who are circumcised and know so much about God's law but don't obey it.
• 28. For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the Jewish ceremony of circumcision.
• 29. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not a cutting of the body but a change of heart produced by God's Spirit. Whoever has that kind of change seeks praise from God, not from people.

Jeremiah 40

• 1. The LORD gave a message to Jeremiah after Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being sent to exile in Babylon.
• 2. The captain of the guard called for Jeremiah and said, "The LORD your God has brought this disaster on this land,
• 3. just as he said he would. For these people have sinned against the LORD and disobeyed him. That is why it happened.
• 4. Now I am going to take off your chains and let you go. If you want to come with me to Babylon, you are welcome. I will see that you are well cared for. But if you don't want to come, you may stay here. The whole land is before you--go wherever you like.
• 5. If you decide to stay, then return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. He has been appointed governor of Judah by the king of Babylon. Stay there with the people he rules. But it's up to you; go wherever you like." Then Nebuzaradan gave Jeremiah some food and money and let him go.
• 6. So Jeremiah returned to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and lived in Judah with the few who were still left in the land.
• 7. The leaders of the Judean guerrilla bands in the countryside heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the poor people who were left behind in Judah, and that he hadn't exiled everyone to Babylon.
• 8. So they came to see Gedaliah at Mizpah. These are the names of the leaders who came: Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan, sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite, and all their men.
• 9. Gedaliah assured them that it would be safe for them to surrender to the Babylonians. "Stay here, and serve the king of Babylon," he said, "and all will go well for you.
• 10. As for me, I will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to meet with us. Settle in any town you wish, and live off the land. Harvest the grapes and summer fruits and olives, and store them away."
• 11. When the Judeans in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and the other nearby countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a few people in Judah and that Gedaliah was the governor,
• 12. they began to return to Judah from the places to which they had fled. They stopped at Mizpah to discuss their plans with Gedaliah and then went out into the Judean countryside to gather a great harvest of grapes and other crops.
• 13. Soon after this, Johanan son of Kareah and the other guerrilla leaders came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.
• 14. They said to him, "Did you know that Baalis, king of Ammon, has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to assassinate you?" But Gedaliah refused to believe them.
• 15. Later Johanan had a private conference with Gedaliah and volunteered to kill Ishmael secretly. "Why should we let him come and murder you?" Johanan asked. "What will happen then to the Judeans who have returned? Why should the few of us who are still left be scattered and lost?"
• 16. But Gedaliah said to Johanan, "I forbid you to do any such thing, for you are lying about Ishmael."

New Living Translation: 224 of 365 days.