1 Samuel 9

• 1. Kish was a rich, influential man from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel and grandson of Zeror, from the family of Becorath and the clan of Aphiah.
• 2. His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel--head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land.
• 3. One day Kish's donkeys strayed away, and he told Saul, "Take a servant with you, and go look for them."
• 4. So Saul took one of his servants and traveled all through the hill country of Ephraim, the land of Shalishah, the Shaalim area, and the entire land of Benjamin, but they couldn't find the donkeys anywhere.
• 5. Finally, they entered the region of Zuph, and Saul said to his servant, "Let's go home. By now my father will be more worried about us than about the donkeys!"
• 6. But the servant said, "I've just thought of something! There is a man of God who lives here in this town. He is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true. Let's go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go."
• 7. "But we don't have anything to offer him," Saul replied. "Even our food is gone, and we don't have a thing to give him."
• 8. "Well," the servant said, "I have one small silver piece. We can at least offer it to him and see what happens!"
• 9. (In those days if people wanted a message from God, they would say, "Let's go and ask the seer," for prophets used to be called seers.)
• 10. "All right," Saul agreed, "let's try it!" So they started into the town where the man of God was.
• 11. As they were climbing a hill toward the town, they met some young women coming out to draw water. So Saul and his servant asked, "Is the seer here today?"
• 12. "Yes," they replied. "Stay right on this road. He is at the town gates. He has just arrived to take part in a public sacrifice up on the hill.
• 13. Hurry and catch him before he goes up the hill to eat. The guests won't start until he arrives to bless the food."
• 14. So they entered the town, and as they passed through the gates, Samuel was coming out toward them to climb the hill.
• 15. Now the LORD had told Samuel the previous day,
• 16. "About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him to be the leader of my people, Israel. He will rescue them from the Philistines, for I have looked down on my people in mercy and have heard their cry."
• 17. When Samuel noticed Saul, the LORD said, "That's the man I told you about! He will rule my people."
• 18. Just then Saul approached Samuel at the gateway and asked, "Can you please tell me where the seer's house is?"
• 19. "I am the seer!" Samuel replied. "Go on up the hill ahead of me to the place of sacrifice, and we'll eat there together. In the morning I will tell you what you want to know and send you on your way.
• 20. And don't worry about those donkeys that were lost three days ago, for they have been found. And I am here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all Israel's hopes."
• 21. Saul replied, "But I'm only from Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?"
• 22. Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the great hall and placed them at the head of the table, honoring them above the thirty special guests.
• 23. Samuel then instructed the cook to bring Saul the finest cut of meat, the piece that had been set aside for the guest of honor.
• 24. So the cook brought it in and placed it before Saul. "Go ahead and eat it," Samuel said. "I was saving it for you even before I invited these others!" So Saul ate with Samuel.
• 25. After the feast, when they had returned to the town, Samuel took Saul up to the roof of the house and prepared a bed for him there.
• 26. At daybreak the next morning, Samuel called up to Saul, "Get up! It's time you were on your way." So Saul got ready, and he and Samuel left the house together.
• 27. When they reached the edge of town, Samuel told Saul to send his servant on ahead. After the servant was gone, Samuel said, "Stay here, for I have received a special message for you from God."

Romans 7

• 1. Now, dear brothers and sisters--you who are familiar with the law--don't you know that the law applies only to a person who is still living?
• 2. Let me illustrate. When a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her.
• 3. So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.
• 4. So this is the point: The law no longer holds you in its power, because you died to its power when you died with Christ on the cross. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, you can produce good fruit, that is, good deeds for God.
• 5. When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced sinful deeds, resulting in death.
• 6. But now we have been released from the law, for we died with Christ, and we are no longer captive to its power. Now we can really serve God, not in the old way by obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way, by the Spirit.
• 7. Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is evil? Of course not! The law is not sinful, but it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, "Do not covet."
• 8. But sin took advantage of this law and aroused all kinds of forbidden desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power.
• 9. I felt fine when I did not understand what the law demanded. But when I learned the truth, I realized I had broken the law and was a sinner, doomed to die.
• 10. So the good law, which was supposed to show me the way of life, instead gave me the death penalty.
• 11. Sin took advantage of the law and fooled me; it took the good law and used it to make me guilty of death.
• 12. But still, the law itself is holy and right and good.
• 13. But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my doom? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God's good commandment for its own evil purposes.
• 14. The law is good, then. The trouble is not with the law but with me, because I am sold into slavery, with sin as my master.
• 15. I don't understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate.
• 16. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good.
• 17. But I can't help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things.
• 18. I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't.
• 19. When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway.
• 20. But if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it.
• 21. It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
• 22. I love God's law with all my heart.
• 23. But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
• 24. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?
• 25. Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

Jeremiah 45

• 1. The prophet Jeremiah gave a message to Baruch son of Neriah in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, after Baruch had written down everything Jeremiah had dictated to him. He said,
• 2. "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch:
• 3. You have said, `I am overwhelmed with trouble! Haven't I had enough pain already? And now the LORD has added more! I am weary of my own sighing and can find no rest.'
• 4. "Baruch, this is what the LORD says: I will destroy this nation that I built. I will uproot what I planted.
• 5. Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don't do it! But don't be discouraged. I will bring great disaster upon all these people, but I will protect you wherever you go. I, the LORD, have spoken!"

Jeremiah 46

• 1. The following messages were given to Jeremiah the prophet from the LORD concerning foreign nations.
• 2. This message concerning Egypt was given in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, the king of Judah, on the occasion of the battle of Carchemish when Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, and his army were defeated beside the Euphrates River by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
• 3. "Buckle on your armor and advance into battle!
• 4. Harness the horses, and prepare to mount them. Put on your helmets, sharpen your spears, and prepare your armor.
• 5. But look! The Egyptian army flees in terror. The bravest of its fighting men run without a backward glance. They are terrorized at every turn, says the LORD.
• 6. The swiftest cannot flee; the mightiest warriors cannot escape. By the Euphrates River to the north they stumble and fall.
• 7. "Who is this, rising like the Nile River at floodtime, overflowing all the land?
• 8. It is the Egyptian army, boasting that it will cover the earth like a flood, destroying every foe.
• 9. Then come, you horses and chariots and mighty warriors of Egypt! Come, all you allies from Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia who are skilled with the shield and bow!
• 10. For this is the day of the Lord, the LORD Almighty, a day of vengeance on his enemies. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, yes, drunk with your blood! The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will receive a sacrifice today in the north country beside the Euphrates River.
• 11. Go up to Gilead to get ointment, O virgin daughter of Egypt! But your many medicines will bring you no healing.
• 12. The nations have heard of your shame. The earth is filled with your cries of despair. Your mightiest warriors will stumble across each other and fall together."
• 13. Then the LORD gave the prophet Jeremiah this message about King Nebuchadnezzar's plans to attack Egypt.
• 14. "Shout it out in Egypt! Publish it in the cities of Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes! Mobilize for battle, for the sword of destruction will devour everyone around you.
• 15. Why have your warriors fled in terror? They cannot stand because the LORD has driven them away.
• 16. They stumble and fall over each other and say among themselves, `Come, let's go back to our homeland where we were born. Let's get away from the sword of the enemy!'
• 17. There they will say, `Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is a loudmouth who missed his opportunity!'
• 18. "As surely as I live," says the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty, "one is coming against Egypt who is as tall as Mount Tabor or Mount Carmel by the sea!
• 19. Pack up! Get ready to leave for exile, you citizens of Egypt! The city of Memphis will be destroyed, without a single person living there.
• 20. Egypt is as sleek as a young cow, but a gadfly from the north is on its way!
• 21. Egypt's famed mercenaries have become like fattened calves. They turn and run, for it is a day of great disaster for Egypt, a time of great punishment.
• 22. Silent as a serpent gliding away, Egypt flees. The invading army marches in; they come against her with axes like woodsmen.
• 23. They will cut down her people like trees," says the LORD, "for they are more numerous than grasshoppers.
• 24. Egypt will be humiliated; she will be handed over to men from the north."
• 25. The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes, and all the other gods of Egypt. I will punish its rulers and Pharaoh, too, and all who trust in him.
• 26. I will hand them over to those who want them killed--to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his army. But afterward the land will recover from the ravages of war. I, the LORD, have spoken!
• 27. "But do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel. For I will bring you home again from distant lands, and your children will return from their exile. Israel will return and will have peace and quiet, and nothing will make them afraid.
• 28. Fear not, Jacob, my servant," says the LORD, "for I am with you. I will destroy the nations to which I have exiled you, but I will not destroy you. But I must discipline you; I cannot let you go unpunished."

New Living Translation: 229 of 365 days.