2 Samuel 12

• 1. So the LORD sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: "There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor.
• 2. The rich man owned many sheep and cattle.
• 3. The poor man owned nothing but a little lamb he had worked hard to buy. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man's own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter.
• 4. One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing a lamb from his own flocks for food, he took the poor man's lamb and killed it and served it to his guest."
• 5. David was furious. "As surely as the LORD lives," he vowed, "any man who would do such a thing deserves to die!
• 6. He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity."
• 7. Then Nathan said to David, "You are that man! The LORD, the God of Israel, says, `I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.
• 8. I gave you his house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more.
• 9. Why, then, have you despised the word of the LORD and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah and stolen his wife.
• 10. From this time on, the sword will be a constant threat to your family, because you have despised me by taking Uriah's wife to be your own.
• 11. " `Because of what you have done, I, the LORD, will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man, and he will go to bed with them in public view.
• 12. You did it secretly, but I will do this to you openly in the sight of all Israel.'"
• 13. Then David confessed to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "Yes, but the LORD has forgiven you, and you won't die for this sin.
• 14. But you have given the enemies of the LORD great opportunity to despise and blaspheme him, so your child will die."
• 15. After Nathan returned to his home, the LORD made Bathsheba's baby deathly ill.
• 16. David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground.
• 17. The leaders of the nation pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused.
• 18. Then on the seventh day the baby died. David's advisers were afraid to tell him. "He was so broken up about the baby being sick," they said. "What will he do to himself when we tell him the child is dead?"
• 19. But when David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. "Is the baby dead?" he asked. "Yes," they replied.
• 20. Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. Then he went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the LORD. After that, he returned to the palace and ate.
• 21. His advisers were amazed. "We don't understand you," they told him. "While the baby was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the baby is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again."
• 22. David replied, "I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, `Perhaps the LORD will be gracious to me and let the child live.'
• 23. But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me."
• 24. Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved the child
• 25. and sent word through Nathan the prophet that his name should be Jedidiah--"beloved of the LORD"--because the LORD loved him.
• 26. Meanwhile, Joab and the Israelite army were successfully ending their siege of Rabbah, the capital of Ammon.
• 27. Joab sent messengers to tell David, "I have fought against Rabbah and captured its water supply.
• 28. Now bring the rest of the army and finish the job, so you will get credit for the victory instead of me."
• 29. So David led the rest of his army to Rabbah and captured it.
• 30. David removed the crown from the king's head, and it was placed on David's own head. The crown was made of gold and set with gems, and it weighed about seventy-five pounds. David took a vast amount of plunder from the city.
• 31. He also made slaves of the people of Rabbah and forced them to labor with saws, picks, and axes, and to work in the brick kilns. That is how he dealt with the people of all the Ammonite cities. Then David and his army returned to Jerusalem.

2 Corinthians 5

• 1. For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down--when we die and leave these bodies--we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.
• 2. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.
• 3. For we will not be spirits without bodies, but we will put on new heavenly bodies.
• 4. Our dying bodies make us groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and have no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by everlasting life.
• 5. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
• 6. So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.
• 7. That is why we live by believing and not by seeing.
• 8. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.
• 9. So our aim is to please him always, whether we are here in this body or away from this body.
• 10. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in our bodies.
• 11. It is because we know this solemn fear of the Lord that we work so hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.
• 12. Are we trying to pat ourselves on the back again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart before God.
• 13. If it seems that we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.
• 14. Whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live.
• 15. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them.
• 16. So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now!
• 17. What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!
• 18. All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him.
• 19. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.
• 20. We are Christ's ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, "Be reconciled to God!"
• 21. For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Ezekiel 19

• 1. "Sing this funeral song for the princes of Israel:
• 2. `What is your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among the young lions and reared her cubs.
• 3. She raised one of her cubs to become a strong young lion. He learned to catch and devour prey, and he became a man-eater.
• 4. Then the nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him away in chains to the land of Egypt.
• 5. `When the mother lion saw that all her hopes for him were gone, she took another of her cubs and taught him to be a strong lion.
• 6. He prowled among the other lions and became a leader among them. He learned to catch and devour prey, and he, too, became a man-eater.
• 7. He demolished fortresses in nearby nations and destroyed their towns and cities. Their farms were desolated, and their crops were destroyed. Everyone in the land trembled in fear when they heard him roar.
• 8. Then the armies of the nations attacked him, surrounding him from every direction. They spread out their nets for him and captured him in their pit.
• 9. With hooks, they dragged him into a cage and brought him before the king of Babylon. They held him in captivity, so his voice could never again be heard on the mountains of Israel.
• 10. `Your mother was like a vine planted by the water's edge. It had lush, green foliage because of the abundant water.
• 11. Its branches became very strong, strong enough to be a ruler's scepter. It soon became very tall, towering above all the others. It stood out because of its height and because of its many lush branches.
• 12. But the vine was uprooted in fury and thrown down to the ground. The desert wind dried up its fruit and tore off its branches. Its stem was destroyed by fire.
• 13. Now the vine is growing in the wilderness, where the ground is hard and dry.
• 14. A fire has come from its branches and devoured its fruit. None of the remaining limbs is strong enough to be a ruler's scepter.' This is a funeral song, and it is now time for the funeral."

New Living Translation: 259 of 365 days.