2 Samuel 7

• 1. When the LORD had brought peace to the land and King David was settled in his palace,
• 2. David summoned Nathan the prophet. "Look!" David said. "Here I am living in this beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of God is out in a tent!"
• 3. Nathan replied, "Go ahead and do what you have in mind, for the LORD is with you."
• 4. But that same night the LORD said to Nathan,
• 5. "Go and tell my servant David, `This is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build me a temple to live in?
• 6. I have never lived in a temple, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until now. My home has always been a tent, moving from one place to another.
• 7. And I have never once complained to Israel's leaders, the shepherds of my people Israel. I have never asked them, "Why haven't you built me a beautiful cedar temple?"'
• 8. "Now go and say to my servant David, `This is what the LORD Almighty says: I chose you to lead my people Israel when you were just a shepherd boy, tending your sheep out in the pasture.
• 9. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies. Now I will make your name famous throughout the earth!
• 10. And I have provided a permanent homeland for my people Israel, a secure place where they will never be disturbed. It will be their own land where wicked nations won't oppress them as they did in the past,
• 11. from the time I appointed judges to rule my people. And I will keep you safe from all your enemies. "`And now the LORD declares that he will build a house for you--a dynasty of kings!
• 12. For when you die, I will raise up one of your descendants, and I will make his kingdom strong.
• 13. He is the one who will build a house--a temple--for my name. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
• 14. I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will use other nations to punish him.
• 15. But my unfailing love will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed before you.
• 16. Your dynasty and your kingdom will continue for all time before me, and your throne will be secure forever.'"
• 17. So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the LORD had said.
• 18. Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and prayed, "Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?
• 19. And now, Sovereign LORD, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving me a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign LORD?
• 20. What more can I say? You know what I am really like, Sovereign LORD.
• 21. For the sake of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have shown them to me.
• 22. "How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you--there is no other God. We have never even heard of another god like you!
• 23. What other nation on earth is like Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you rescued your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way.
• 24. You made Israel your people forever, and you, O LORD, became their God.
• 25. "And now, O LORD God, do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever.
• 26. And may your name be honored forever so that all the world will say, `The LORD Almighty is God over Israel!' And may the dynasty of your servant David be established in your presence.
• 27. "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer because you have revealed that you will build a house for me--an eternal dynasty!
• 28. For you are God, O Sovereign LORD. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to me, your servant.
• 29. And now, may it please you to bless me and my family so that our dynasty may continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign LORD, it is an eternal blessing!"

2 Corinthians 1

• 1. This letter is from Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our dear brother Timothy. We are writing to God's church in Corinth and to all the Christians throughout Greece.
• 2. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you his grace and peace.
• 3. All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us.
• 4. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
• 5. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.
• 6. So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer.
• 7. We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God's comfort.
• 8. I think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it.
• 9. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead.
• 10. And he did deliver us from mortal danger. And we are confident that he will continue to deliver us.
• 11. He will rescue us because you are helping by praying for us. As a result, many will give thanks to God because so many people's prayers for our safety have been answered.
• 12. We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have been honest and sincere in all our dealings. We have depended on God's grace, not on our own earthly wisdom. That is how we have acted toward everyone, and especially toward you.
• 13. My letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can't understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us,
• 14. even if you don't fully understand us now. Then on the day when our Lord Jesus comes back again, you will be proud of us in the same way we are proud of you.
• 15. Since I was so sure of your understanding and trust, I wanted to give you a double blessing.
• 16. I wanted to stop and see you on my way to Macedonia and again on my return trip. Then you could send me on my way to Judea.
• 17. You may be asking why I changed my plan. Hadn't I made up my mind yet? Or am I like people of the world who say yes when they really mean no?
• 18. As surely as God is true, I am not that sort of person. My yes means yes
• 19. because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, never wavers between yes and no. He is the one whom Timothy, Silas, and I preached to you, and he is the divine Yes--God's affirmation.
• 20. For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in him. That is why we say "Amen" when we give glory to God through Christ.
• 21. It is God who gives us, along with you, the ability to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us,
• 22. and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment of everything he will give us.
• 23. Now I call upon God as my witness that I am telling the truth. The reason I didn't return to Corinth was to spare you from a severe rebuke.
• 24. But that does not mean we want to tell you exactly how to put your faith into practice. We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy as you stand firm in your faith.

Ezekiel 15

• 1. Then this message came to me from the LORD:
• 2. "Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine's wood as useful as the wood of a tree?
• 3. Can its wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans?
• 4. No, it can only be used for fuel, and even as fuel, it burns too quickly.
• 5. Vine branches are useless both before and after being put into the fire!
• 6. "And this is what the Sovereign LORD says: The people of Jerusalem are like grapevines growing among the trees of the forest. Since they are useless, I have set them aside to be burned!
• 7. And I will see to it that if they escape from one fire, they will fall into another. When this happens, you will know that I am the LORD.
• 8. And I will make the land desolate because my people have been unfaithful to me, says the Sovereign LORD."

New Living Translation: 255 of 365 days.