2 Samuel 3

• 1. That was the beginning of a long war between those who had been loyal to Saul and those who were loyal to David. As time passed David became stronger and stronger, while Saul's dynasty became weaker and weaker.
• 2. These were the sons who were born to David in Hebron: The oldest was Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam of Jezreel.
• 3. The second was Kileab, whose mother was Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel. The third was Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur.
• 4. The fourth was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith. The fifth was Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital.
• 5. The sixth was Ithream, whose mother was David's wife Eglah. These sons were all born to David in Hebron.
• 6. As the war went on, Abner became a powerful leader among those who were loyal to Saul's dynasty.
• 7. One day Ishbosheth, Saul's son, accused Abner of sleeping with one of his father's concubines, a woman named Rizpah.
• 8. Abner became furious. "Am I a Judean dog to be kicked around like this?" he shouted. "After all I have done for you and your father by not betraying you to David, is this my reward--that you find fault with me about this woman?
• 9. May God deal harshly with me if I don't help David get all that the LORD has promised him!
• 10. I should just go ahead and give David the rest of Saul's kingdom. I should set him up as king over Israel as well as Judah, from Dan to Beersheba."
• 11. Ishbosheth didn't dare say another word because he was afraid of what Abner might do.
• 12. Then Abner sent messengers to David, saying, "Let's make an agreement, and I will help turn the entire nation of Israel over to you."
• 13. "All right," David replied, "but I will not negotiate with you unless you bring back my wife Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come."
• 14. David then sent this message to Ishbosheth, Saul's son: "Give me back my wife Michal, for I bought her with the lives of one hundred Philistines."
• 15. So Ishbosheth took Michal away from her husband Palti son of Laish.
• 16. Palti followed along behind her as far as Bahurim, weeping as he went. Then Abner told him, "Go back home!" So Palti returned.
• 17. Meanwhile, Abner had consulted with the leaders of Israel. "For some time now," he told them, "you have wanted to make David your king.
• 18. Now is the time! For the LORD has said, `I have chosen David to save my people from the Philistines and from all their other enemies.'"
• 19. Abner also spoke with the leaders of the tribe of Benjamin. Then he went to Hebron to tell David that all the people of Israel and Benjamin supported him.
• 20. When Abner came to Hebron with his twenty men, David entertained them with a great feast.
• 21. Then Abner said to David, "Let me go and call all the people of Israel to your side. They will make a covenant with you to make you their king. Then you will be able to rule over everything your heart desires." So David sent Abner safely on his way.
• 22. But just after Abner left, Joab and some of David's troops returned from a raid, bringing much plunder with them.
• 23. When Joab was told that Abner had just been there visiting the king and had been sent away in safety,
• 24. he rushed to see the king. "What have you done?" he demanded. "What do you mean by letting Abner get away?
• 25. You know perfectly well that he came to spy on you and to discover everything you are doing!"
• 26. Joab then left David and sent messengers to catch up with Abner. They found him at the pool of Sirah and brought him back with them. But David knew nothing about it.
• 27. When Abner arrived at Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gateway as if to speak with him privately. But then he drew his dagger and killed Abner in revenge for killing his brother Asahel.
• 28. When David heard about it, he declared, "I vow by the LORD that I and my people are innocent of this crime against Abner.
• 29. Joab and his family are the guilty ones. May his family in every generation be cursed with a man who has open sores or leprosy or who walks on crutches or who dies by the sword or who begs for food!"
• 30. So Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because Abner had killed their brother Asahel at the battle of Gibeon.
• 31. Then David said to Joab and all those who were with him, "Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth. Go into deep mourning for Abner." And King David himself walked behind the procession to the grave.
• 32. They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king and all the people wept at his graveside.
• 33. Then the king sang this funeral song for Abner: "Should Abner have died as fools die?
• 34. Your hands were not bound; your feet were not chained. No, you were murdered--the victim of a wicked plot." All the people wept again for Abner.
• 35. David had refused to eat anything the day of the funeral, and now everyone begged him to eat. But David had made a vow, saying, "May God kill me if I eat anything before sundown."
• 36. This pleased the people very much. In fact, everything the king did pleased them!
• 37. So everyone in Judah and Israel knew that David was not responsible for Abner's death.
• 38. Then King David said to the people, "Do you not realize that a great leader and a great man has fallen today in Israel?
• 39. And even though I am the anointed king, these two sons of Zeruiah--Joab and Abishai--are too strong for me to control. So may the LORD repay these wicked men for their wicked deeds."

1 Corinthians 14

• 1. Let love be your highest goal, but also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives, especially the gift of prophecy.
• 2. For if your gift is the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking to God but not to people, since they won't be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious.
• 3. But one who prophesies is helping others grow in the Lord, encouraging and comforting them.
• 4. A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally in the Lord, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.
• 5. I wish you all had the gift of speaking in tongues, but even more I wish you were all able to prophesy. For prophecy is a greater and more useful gift than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church can get some good out of it.
• 6. Dear brothers and sisters, if I should come to you talking in an unknown language, how would that help you? But if I bring you some revelation or some special knowledge or some prophecy or some teaching--that is what will help you.
• 7. Even musical instruments like the flute or the harp, though they are lifeless, are examples of the need for speaking in plain language. For no one will recognize the melody unless the notes are played clearly.
• 8. And if the bugler doesn't sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle?
• 9. And it's the same for you. If you talk to people in a language they don't understand, how will they know what you mean? You might as well be talking to an empty room.
• 10. There are so many different languages in the world, and all are excellent for those who understand them,
• 11. but to me they mean nothing. I will not understand people who speak those languages, and they will not understand me.
• 12. Since you are so eager to have spiritual gifts, ask God for those that will be of real help to the whole church.
• 13. So anyone who has the gift of speaking in tongues should pray also for the gift of interpretation in order to tell people plainly what has been said.
• 14. For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don't understand what I am saying.
• 15. Well then, what shall I do? I will do both. I will pray in the spirit, and I will pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will sing in words I understand.
• 16. For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don't understand you praise God along with you? How can they join you in giving thanks when they don't understand what you are saying?
• 17. You will be giving thanks very nicely, no doubt, but it doesn't help the other people present.
• 18. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.
• 19. But in a church meeting I would much rather speak five understandable words that will help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language.
• 20. Dear brothers and sisters, don't be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature and wise in understanding matters of this kind.
• 21. It is written in the Scriptures, "I will speak to my own people through unknown languages and through the lips of foreigners. But even then, they will not listen to me," says the Lord.
• 22. So you see that speaking in tongues is a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for the benefit of believers, not unbelievers.
• 23. Even so, if unbelievers or people who don't understand these things come into your meeting and hear everyone talking in an unknown language, they will think you are crazy.
• 24. But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don't understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin, and they will be condemned by what you say.
• 25. As they listen, their secret thoughts will be laid bare, and they will fall down on their knees and worship God, declaring, "God is really here among you."
• 26. Well, my brothers and sisters, let's summarize what I am saying. When you meet, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in an unknown language, while another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must be useful to all and build them up in the Lord.
• 27. No more than two or three should speak in an unknown language. They must speak one at a time, and someone must be ready to interpret what they are saying.
• 28. But if no one is present who can interpret, they must be silent in your church meeting and speak in tongues to God privately.
• 29. Let two or three prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said.
• 30. But if someone is prophesying and another person receives a revelation from the Lord, the one who is speaking must stop.
• 31. In this way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged.
• 32. Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can wait their turn.
• 33. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the other churches.
• 34. Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says.
• 35. If they have any questions to ask, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings.
• 36. Do you think that the knowledge of God's word begins and ends with you Corinthians? Well, you are mistaken!
• 37. If you claim to be a prophet or think you are very spiritual, you should recognize that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself.
• 38. But if you do not recognize this, you will not be recognized.
• 39. So, dear brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and don't forbid speaking in tongues.
• 40. But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.

Ezekiel 12

• 1. Again a message came to me from the LORD:
• 2. "Son of man, you live among rebels who could see the truth if they wanted to, but they don't want to. They could hear me if they would listen, but they won't listen because they are rebellious.
• 3. So now put on a demonstration to show them what it will be like to go off into exile. Pack whatever you can carry on your back and leave your home to go on a journey. Make your preparations in broad daylight so the people can see you, for perhaps they will even yet consider what this means, even though they are such rebels.
• 4. Bring your baggage outside during the day so they can watch you. Then as they are watching, leave your house in the evening, just as captives do when they begin a long march to distant lands.
• 5. Dig a hole through the wall while they are watching and carry your possessions out through it.
• 6. As they watch, lift your pack to your shoulders and walk away into the night. Cover your face and don't look around. All of these actions will be a sign for the people of Israel."
• 7. So I did as I was told. In broad daylight I brought my pack outside, filled with the things I might carry into exile. Then in the evening while the people looked on, I dug through the wall with my hands and went out into the darkness with my pack on my shoulder.
• 8. The next morning this message came to me from the LORD:
• 9. "Son of man, these rebels, the people of Israel, have asked you what all this means.
• 10. Say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: These actions contain a message for Zedekiah in Jerusalem and for all the people of Israel.'
• 11. Then explain that your actions are a demonstration of what will soon happen to them, for they will be driven from their homes and sent away into exile.
• 12. "Even Zedekiah will leave Jerusalem at night through a hole in the wall, taking only what he can carry with him. He will cover his face, and his eyes will never see his homeland again.
• 13. Then I will spread out my net and capture him in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Babylonians, though he will never see it, and he will die there.
• 14. I will scatter his servants and guards to the four winds and send the sword after them.
• 15. And when I scatter them among the nations, they will know that I am the LORD.
• 16. But I will spare a few of them from death by war, famine, or disease, so they can confess to their captors about how wicked they have been. Then they will know that I am the LORD!"
• 17. Then this message came to me from the LORD:
• 18. "Son of man, tremble as you eat your food. Drink your water with fear, as if it were your last.
• 19. Give the people this message from the Sovereign LORD concerning those living in Israel and Jerusalem: They will eat their food with trembling and sip their tiny portions of water in utter despair, because their land will be stripped bare on account of their violence.
• 20. The cities will be destroyed and the farmland deserted. Then you will know that I am the LORD."
• 21. Again a message came to me from the LORD:
• 22. "Son of man, what is that proverb they quote in Israel: `Time passes, making a liar of every prophet'?
• 23. Give the people this message from the Sovereign LORD: I will put an end to this proverb, and you will soon stop quoting it. Now give them this new proverb to replace the old one: `The time has come for every prophecy to be fulfilled!'
• 24. "Then you will see what becomes of all the false visions and misleading predictions about peace in Israel.
• 25. For I am the LORD! What I threaten always happens. There will be no more delays, you rebels of Israel! I will fulfill my threat of destruction in your own lifetime, says the Sovereign LORD."
• 26. Then this message came to me from the LORD:
• 27. "Son of man, the people of Israel are saying, `His visions won't come true for a long, long time.'
• 28. Therefore, give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: No more delay! I will now do everything I have threatened! I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!"

New Living Translation: 252 of 365 days.