1 Samuel 15

• 1. One day Samuel said to Saul, "I anointed you king of Israel because the LORD told me to. Now listen to this message from the LORD!
• 2. This is what the LORD Almighty says: `I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt.
• 3. Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation--men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.'"
• 4. So Saul mobilized his army at Telaim. There were 200,000 troops in addition to 10,000 men from Judah.
• 5. Then Saul went to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley.
• 6. Saul sent this message to the Kenites: "Move away from where the Amalekites live or else you will die with them. For you were kind to the people of Israel when they came up from Egypt." So the Kenites packed up and left.
• 7. Then Saul slaughtered the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, east of Egypt.
• 8. He captured Agag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else.
• 9. Saul and his men spared Agag's life and kept the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs--everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality.
• 10. Then the LORD said to Samuel,
• 11. "I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has again refused to obey me." Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the LORD all night.
• 12. Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul. Someone told him, "Saul went to Carmel to set up a monument to himself; then he went on to Gilgal."
• 13. When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. "May the LORD bless you," he said. "I have carried out the LORD's command!"
• 14. "Then what is all the bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle I hear?" Samuel demanded.
• 15. "It's true that the army spared the best of the sheep and cattle," Saul admitted. "But they are going to sacrifice them to the LORD your God. We have destroyed everything else."
• 16. Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stop! Listen to what the LORD told me last night!What was it?" Saul asked.
• 17. And Samuel told him, "Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The LORD has anointed you king of Israel.
• 18. And the LORD sent you on a mission and told you, `Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.'
• 19. Why haven't you obeyed the LORD? Why did you rush for the plunder and do exactly what the LORD said not to do?"
• 20. "But I did obey the LORD," Saul insisted. "I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else.
• 21. Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep and cattle and plunder to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal."
• 22. But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening to him is much better than offering the fat of rams.
• 23. Rebellion is as bad as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you from being king."
• 24. Then Saul finally admitted, "Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the LORD's command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded.
• 25. Oh, please, forgive my sin now and go with me to worship the LORD."
• 26. But Samuel replied, "I will not return with you! Since you have rejected the LORD's command, he has rejected you from being the king of Israel."
• 27. As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed at him to try to hold him back and tore his robe.
• 28. And Samuel said to him, "See? The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to someone else--one who is better than you.
• 29. And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!"
• 30. Then Saul pleaded again, "I know I have sinned. But please, at least honor me before the leaders and before my people by going with me to worship the LORD your God."
• 31. So Samuel finally agreed and went with him, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
• 32. Then Samuel said, "Bring King Agag to me." Agag arrived full of smiles, for he thought, "Surely the worst is over, and I have been spared!"
• 33. But Samuel said, "As your sword has killed the sons of many mothers, now your mother will be childless." And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
• 34. Then Samuel went home to Ramah, and Saul returned to his house at Gibeah.
• 35. Samuel never went to meet with Saul again, but he mourned constantly for him. And the LORD was sorry he had ever made Saul king of Israel.

Romans 13

• 1. Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God.
• 2. So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow.
• 3. For the authorities do not frighten people who are doing right, but they frighten those who do wrong. So do what they say, and you will get along well.
• 4. The authorities are sent by God to help you. But if you are doing something wrong, of course you should be afraid, for you will be punished. The authorities are established by God for that very purpose, to punish those who do wrong.
• 5. So you must obey the government for two reasons: to keep from being punished and to keep a clear conscience.
• 6. Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid so they can keep on doing the work God intended them to do.
• 7. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and import duties, and give respect and honor to all to whom it is due.
• 8. Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God's law.
• 9. For the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and coveting--and any other commandment--are all summed up in this one commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
• 10. Love does no wrong to anyone, so love satisfies all of God's requirements.
• 11. Another reason for right living is that you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for the coming of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
• 12. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So don't live in darkness. Get rid of your evil deeds. Shed them like dirty clothes. Clothe yourselves with the armor of right living, as those who live in the light.
• 13. We should be decent and true in everything we do, so that everyone can approve of our behavior. Don't participate in wild parties and getting drunk, or in adultery and immoral living, or in fighting and jealousy.
• 14. But let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and don't think of ways to indulge your evil desires.

Jeremiah 52

• 1. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.
• 2. But Zedekiah did what was evil in the LORD's sight, just as Jehoiakim had done.
• 3. So the LORD, in his anger, finally banished the people of Jerusalem and Judah from his presence and sent them into exile. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
• 4. So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls.
• 5. Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah's reign.
• 6. By July 18 of Zedekiah's eleventh year, the famine in the city had become very severe, with the last of the food entirely gone.
• 7. Then a section of the city wall was broken down, and all the soldiers made plans to escape from the city. But since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, they waited for nightfall and fled through the gate between the two walls behind the king's gardens. They made a dash across the fields, in the direction of the Jordan Valley.
• 8. But the Babylonians chased after them and caught King Zedekiah on the plains of Jericho, for by then his men had all abandoned him.
• 9. They brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, where sentence was passed against him.
• 10. There at Riblah, the king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as all his sons were killed; they also killed all the other leaders of Judah.
• 11. Then they gouged out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon. Zedekiah remained there in prison for the rest of his life.
• 12. On August 17 of that year, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem.
• 13. He burned down the Temple of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city.
• 14. Then the captain of the guard supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem.
• 15. Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, then took as exiles some of the poorest of the people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen and the troops who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon.
• 16. But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind in Judah to care for the vineyards and fields.
• 17. The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze water carts, and the bronze Sea that were at the LORD's Temple, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon.
• 18. They also took all the pots, shovels, lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and all the other bronze utensils used for making sacrifices at the Temple.
• 19. Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, also took the small bowls, firepans, basins, pots, lampstands, dishes, bowls used for drink offerings, and all the other utensils made of pure gold or silver.
• 20. The bronze from the two pillars, the water carts, and the Sea with the twelve bulls beneath it was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the LORD's Temple in the days of King Solomon.
• 21. Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference. They were hollow, with walls 3 inches thick.
• 22. The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7 1/2 feet high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around.
• 23. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, and a total of one hundred on the network around the top.
• 24. The captain of the guard took with him as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, his assistant Zephaniah, and the three chief gatekeepers.
• 25. And of the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer of the Judean army, seven of the king's personal advisers, the army commander's chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment, and sixty other citizens.
• 26. Nebuzaradan the commander took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
• 27. And there at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land.
• 28. The number of captives taken to Babylon in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign was 3,023.
• 29. Then in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year he took 832 more.
• 30. In his twenty-third year he sent Nebuzaradan, his captain of the guard, who took 745 more--a total of 4,600 captives in all.
• 31. In the thirty-seventh year of King Jehoiachin's exile in Babylon, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to Jehoiachin and released him from prison on March 31 of that year.
• 32. He spoke pleasantly to Jehoiachin and gave him preferential treatment over all the other exiled kings in Babylon.
• 33. He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine at the king's table for the rest of his life.
• 34. The Babylonian king also gave him a regular allowance to cover his living expenses until the day of his death.

New Living Translation: 235 of 365 days.