2 Samuel 4

• 1. When Ishbosheth heard about Abner's death at Hebron, he lost all courage, and his people were paralyzed with fear.
• 2. Now there were two brothers, Baanah and Recab, who were captains of Ishbosheth's raiding parties. They were sons of Rimmon, a member of the tribe of Benjamin who lived in Beeroth. The town of Beeroth is now part of Benjamin's territory
• 3. because the original people of Beeroth fled to Gittaim, where they still live as foreigners.
• 4. (Saul's son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth, who was crippled as a child. He was five years old when Saul and Jonathan were killed at the battle of Jezreel. When news of the battle reached the capital, the child's nurse grabbed him and fled. But she fell and dropped him as she was running, and he became crippled as a result.)
• 5. One day Recab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon from Beeroth, went to Ishbosheth's home around noon as he was taking a nap.
• 6. The doorkeeper, who had been sifting wheat, became drowsy and fell asleep. So Recab and Baanah slipped past the doorkeeper, went into Ishbosheth's bedroom, and stabbed him in the stomach. Then they escaped.
• 7. But before leaving, they cut off his head as he lay there on his bed. Taking his head with them, they fled across the Jordan Valley through the night.
• 8. They arrived at Hebron and presented Ishbosheth's head to David. "Look!" they exclaimed. "Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Saul who tried to kill you. Today the LORD has given you revenge on Saul and his entire family!"
• 9. But David said to Recab and Baanah, "As surely as the LORD lives, the one who saves me from my enemies, I will tell you the truth.
• 10. Once before, someone told me, `Saul is dead,' thinking he was bringing me good news. But I seized him and killed him at Ziklag. That's the reward I gave him for his news!
• 11. Now what reward should I give the wicked men who have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed? Should I not also demand your very lives?"
• 12. So David ordered his young men to kill them, and they did. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies beside the pool in Hebron. Then they took Ishbosheth's head and buried it in Abner's tomb in Hebron.

2 Samuel 5

• 1. Then all the tribes of Israel went to David at Hebron and told him, "We are all members of your family.
• 2. For a long time, even while Saul was our king, you were the one who really led Israel. And the LORD has told you, `You will be the shepherd of my people Israel. You will be their leader.'"
• 3. So there at Hebron, David made a covenant with the leaders of Israel before the LORD. And they anointed him king of Israel.
• 4. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in all.
• 5. He had reigned over Judah from Hebron for seven years and six months, and from Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years.
• 6. David then led his troops to Jerusalem to fight against the Jebusites. "You'll never get in here," the Jebusites taunted. "Even the blind and lame could keep you out!" For the Jebusites thought they were safe.
• 7. But David captured the fortress of Zion, now called the City of David.
• 8. When the insulting message from the defenders of the city reached David, he told his own troops, "Go up through the water tunnel into the city and destroy those `lame' and `blind' Jebusites. How I hate them." That is the origin of the saying, "The blind and the lame may not enter the house."
• 9. So David made the fortress his home, and he called it the City of David. He built additional fortifications around the city, starting at the Millo and working inward.
• 10. And David became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him.
• 11. Then King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with carpenters and stonemasons to build him a palace. Hiram also sent many cedar logs for lumber.
• 12. And David realized that the LORD had made him king over Israel and had made his kingdom great for the sake of his people Israel.
• 13. After moving from Hebron to Jerusalem, David married more wives and concubines, and he had many sons and daughters.
• 14. These are the names of David's sons who were born in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,
• 15. Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,
• 16. Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
• 17. When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king of Israel, they mobilized all their forces to capture him. But David was told they were coming and went into the stronghold.
• 18. The Philistines arrived and spread out across the valley of Rephaim.
• 19. So David asked the LORD, "Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?" The LORD replied, "Yes, go ahead. I will certainly give you the victory."
• 20. So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. "The LORD has done it!" David exclaimed. "He burst through my enemies like a raging flood!" So David named that place Baal-perazim (which means "the Lord who bursts through").
• 21. The Philistines had abandoned their idols there, so David and his troops confiscated them.
• 22. But after a while the Philistines returned and again spread out across the valley of Rephaim.
• 23. And once again David asked the LORD what to do. "Do not attack them straight on," the LORD replied. "Instead, circle around behind them and attack them near the balsam trees.
• 24. When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the balsam trees, attack! That will be the signal that the LORD is moving ahead of you to strike down the Philistines."
• 25. So David did what the LORD commanded, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

1 Corinthians 15

• 1. Now let me remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then and still do now, for your faith is built on this wonderful message.
• 2. And it is this Good News that saves you if you firmly believe it--unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.
• 3. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me--that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.
• 4. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said.
• 5. He was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles.
• 6. After that, he was seen by more than five hundred of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died by now.
• 7. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.
• 8. Last of all, I saw him, too, long after the others, as though I had been born at the wrong time.
• 9. For I am the least of all the apostles, and I am not worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted the church of God.
• 10. But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me--and not without results. For I have worked harder than all the other apostles, yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.
• 11. So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach. The important thing is that you believed what we preached to you.
• 12. But tell me this--since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?
• 13. For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either.
• 14. And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless.
• 15. And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can't be true if there is no resurrection of the dead.
• 16. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.
• 17. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins.
• 18. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished!
• 19. And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.
• 20. But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.
• 21. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ.
• 22. Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all who are related to Christ, the other man, will be given new life.
• 23. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised.
• 24. After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having put down all enemies of every kind.
• 25. For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet.
• 26. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
• 27. For the Scriptures say, "God has given him authority over all things." (Of course, when it says "authority over all things," it does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.)
• 28. Then, when he has conquered all things, the Son will present himself to God, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.
• 29. If the dead will not be raised, then what point is there in people being baptized for those who are dead? Why do it unless the dead will someday rise again?
• 30. And why should we ourselves be continually risking our lives, facing death hour by hour?
• 31. For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what the Lord Jesus Christ has done in you.
• 32. And what value was there in fighting wild beasts--those men of Ephesus--if there will be no resurrection from the dead? If there is no resurrection, "Let's feast and get drunk, for tomorrow we die!"
• 33. Don't be fooled by those who say such things, for "bad company corrupts good character."
• 34. Come to your senses and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don't even know God.
• 35. But someone may ask, "How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?"
• 36. What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn't grow into a plant unless it dies first.
• 37. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a dry little seed of wheat or whatever it is you are planting.
• 38. Then God gives it a new body--just the kind he wants it to have. A different kind of plant grows from each kind of seed.
• 39. And just as there are different kinds of seeds and plants, so also there are different kinds of flesh--whether of humans, animals, birds, or fish.
• 40. There are bodies in the heavens, and there are bodies on earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the beauty of the earthly bodies.
• 41. The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their beauty and brightness.
• 42. It is the same way for the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies, which die and decay, will be different when they are resurrected, for they will never die.
• 43. Our bodies now disappoint us, but when they are raised, they will be full of glory. They are weak now, but when they are raised, they will be full of power.
• 44. They are natural human bodies now, but when they are raised, they will be spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, so also there are spiritual bodies.
• 45. The Scriptures tell us, "The first man, Adam, became a living person." But the last Adam--that is, Christ--is a life-giving Spirit.
• 46. What came first was the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.
• 47. Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven.
• 48. Every human being has an earthly body just like Adam's, but our heavenly bodies will be just like Christ's.
• 49. Just as we are now like Adam, the man of the earth, so we will someday be like Christ, the man from heaven.
• 50. What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These perishable bodies of ours are not able to live forever.
• 51. But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed.
• 52. It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die.
• 53. For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die.
• 54. When this happens--when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die--then at last the Scriptures will come true: "Death is swallowed up in victory.
• 55. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"
• 56. For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.
• 57. How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord!
• 58. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

Ezekiel 13

• 1. Then this message came to me from the LORD:
• 2. "Son of man, speak against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies. Tell them to listen to the word of the LORD.
• 3. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Destruction is certain for the false prophets who are following their own imaginations and have seen nothing at all!
• 4. "O people of Israel, these prophets of yours are like jackals digging around in the ruins.
• 5. They have done nothing to strengthen the breaks in the walls around the nation. They have not helped it to stand firm in battle on the day of the LORD.
• 6. Instead, they have lied and said, `My message is from the LORD,' even though the LORD never sent them. And yet they expect him to fulfill their prophecies!
• 7. Can your visions be anything but false if you claim, `This message is from the LORD,' when I have not even spoken to you?
• 8. "Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because what you say is false and your visions are a lie, I will stand against you, says the Sovereign LORD.
• 9. I will raise my fist against all the lying prophets, and they will be banished from the community of Israel. I will blot their names from Israel's record books, and they will never again see their own land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD!
• 10. "These evil prophets deceive my people by saying, `All is peaceful!' when there is no peace at all! It's as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to hold it together by covering it with whitewash!
• 11. Tell these whitewashers that their wall will soon fall down. A heavy rainstorm will undermine it; great hailstones and mighty winds will knock it down.
• 12. And when the wall falls, the people will cry out, `Where is the whitewash you applied?'
• 13. "Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will sweep away your whitewashed wall with a storm of indignation, with a great flood of anger, and with hailstones of fury.
• 14. I will break down your wall right to the foundation, and when it falls, it will crush you. Then you will know that I am the LORD!
• 15. At last my anger against the wall and those who covered it with whitewash will be satisfied. Then I will say to you: `The wall and those who whitewashed it are both gone.
• 16. They were lying prophets who claimed peace would come to Jerusalem when there was no peace. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!'
• 17. "Now, son of man, also speak out against the women who prophesy from their own imaginations.
• 18. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Destruction is certain for you women who are ensnaring the souls of my people, both young and old alike. You tie magic charms on their wrists and furnish them with magic veils. Do you think you can trap others without bringing destruction on yourselves?
• 19. You turn my people away from me for a few handfuls of barley or a piece of bread. By lying to my people who love to listen to lies, you kill those who should not die, and you promise life to those who should not live.
• 20. "And so the Sovereign LORD says: I am against all your magic charms, which you use to ensnare my people like birds. I will tear them from your arms, setting my people free like birds set free from a cage.
• 21. I will tear off the magic veils and save my people from your grasp. They will no longer be your victims. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
• 22. You have discouraged the righteous with your lies, when I didn't want them to suffer grief. And you have encouraged the wicked by promising them life, even though they continue in their sins.
• 23. But you will no longer talk of seeing visions that you never saw, nor will you practice your magic. For I will rescue my people from your grasp. Then you will know that I am the LORD."

New Living Translation: 253 of 365 days.