2 Samuel 21

• 1. There was a famine during David's reign that lasted for three years, so David asked the LORD about it. And the LORD said, "The famine has come because Saul and his family are guilty of murdering the Gibeonites."
• 2. So King David summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were all that was left of the nation of the Amorites. Israel had sworn not to kill them, but Saul, in his zeal, had tried to wipe them out.
• 3. David asked them, "What can I do for you to make amends? Tell me so that the LORD will bless his people again."
• 4. "Well, money won't do it," the Gibeonites replied. "And we don't want to see the Israelites executed in revenge.What can I do then?" David asked. "Just tell me and I will do it for you."
• 5. Then they replied, "It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in Israel.
• 6. So let seven of Saul's sons or grandsons be handed over to us, and we will execute them before the LORD at Gibeon, on the mountain of the LORD. All right," the king said, "I will do it."
• 7. David spared Jonathan's son Mephibosheth, who was Saul's grandson, because of the oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the LORD.
• 8. But he gave them Saul's two sons Armoni and Mephibosheth, whose mother was Rizpah daughter of Aiah. He also gave them the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab, the wife of Adriel son of Barzillai from Meholah.
• 9. The men of Gibeon executed them on the mountain before the LORD. So all seven of them died together at the beginning of the barley harvest.
• 10. Then Rizpah, the mother of two of the men, spread sackcloth on a rock and stayed there the entire harvest season. She prevented vultures from tearing at their bodies during the day and stopped wild animals from eating them at night.
• 11. When David learned what Rizpah, Saul's concubine, had done,
• 12. he went to the people of Jabesh-gilead and asked for the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan. (When Saul and Jonathan had died in a battle with the Philistines, it was the people of Jabesh-gilead who had retrieved their bodies from the public square of the Philistine city of Beth-shan.)
• 13. So David brought the bones of Saul and Jonathan, as well as the bones of the men the Gibeonites had executed.
• 14. He buried them all in the tomb of Kish, Saul's father, at the town of Zela in the land of Benjamin. After that, God ended the famine in the land of Israel.
• 15. Once again the Philistines were at war with Israel. And when David and his men were in the thick of battle, David became weak and exhausted.
• 16. Ishbi-benob was a descendant of the giants; his bronze spearhead weighed more than seven pounds, and he was armed with a new sword. He had cornered David and was about to kill him.
• 17. But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his rescue and killed the Philistine. After that, David's men declared, "You are not going out to battle again! Why should we risk snuffing out the light of Israel?"
• 18. After this, there was another battle against the Philistines at Gob. As they fought, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, another descendant of the giants.
• 19. In still another battle at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair from Bethlehem killed the brother of Goliath of Gath. The handle of his spear was as thick as a weaver's beam!
• 20. In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot--a descendant of the giants--
• 21. defied and taunted Israel. But he was killed by Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shimea.
• 22. These four Philistines were descended from the giants of Gath, but they were killed by David and his warriors.

Galatians 1

• 1. This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group or by human authority. My call is from Jesus Christ himself and from God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.
• 2. All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending greetings to the churches of Galatia.
• 3. May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 4. He died for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.
• 5. That is why all glory belongs to God through all the ages of eternity. Amen.
• 6. I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who in his love and mercy called you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ. You are already following a different way
• 7. that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ.
• 8. Let God's curse fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other message than the one we told you about. Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him be forever cursed.
• 9. I will say it again: If anyone preaches any other gospel than the one you welcomed, let God's curse fall upon that person.
• 10. Obviously, I'm not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ's servant.
• 11. Dear brothers and sisters, I solemnly assure you that the Good News of salvation which I preach is not based on mere human reasoning or logic.
• 12. For my message came by a direct revelation from Jesus Christ himself. No one else taught me.
• 13. You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion--how I violently persecuted the Christians. I did my best to get rid of them.
• 14. I was one of the most religious Jews of my own age, and I tried as hard as possible to follow all the old traditions of my religion.
• 15. But then something happened! For it pleased God in his kindness to choose me and call me, even before I was born! What undeserved mercy!
• 16. Then he revealed his Son to me so that I could proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When all this happened to me, I did not rush out to consult with anyone else;
• 17. nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. No, I went away into Arabia and later returned to the city of Damascus.
• 18. It was not until three years later that I finally went to Jerusalem for a visit with Peter and stayed there with him for fifteen days.
• 19. And the only other apostle I met at that time was James, our Lord's brother.
• 20. You must believe what I am saying, for I declare before God that I am not lying.
• 21. Then after this visit, I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia.
• 22. And still the Christians in the churches in Judea didn't know me personally.
• 23. All they knew was that people were saying, "The one who used to persecute us now preaches the very faith he tried to destroy!"
• 24. And they gave glory to God because of me.

Ezekiel 28

• 1. Then this message came to me from the LORD:
• 2. "Son of man, give the prince of Tyre this message from the Sovereign LORD: In your great pride you claim, `I am a god! I sit on a divine throne in the heart of the sea.' But you are only a man and not a god, though you boast that you are like a god.
• 3. You regard yourself as wiser than Daniel and think no secret is hidden from you.
• 4. With your wisdom and understanding you have amassed great wealth--gold and silver for your treasuries.
• 5. Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich, and your riches have made you very proud.
• 6. "Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you think you are as wise as a god,
• 7. I will bring against you an enemy army, the terror of the nations. They will suddenly draw their swords against your marvelous wisdom and defile your splendor!
• 8. They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die there on your island home in the heart of the sea, pierced with many wounds.
• 9. Will you then boast, `I am a god!' to those who kill you? To them you will be no god but merely a man!
• 10. You will die like an outcast at the hands of foreigners. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!"
• 11. Then this further message came to me from the LORD:
• 12. "Son of man, weep for the king of Tyre. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty.
• 13. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone--red carnelian, chrysolite, white moonstone, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald--all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created.
• 14. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire.
• 15. "You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you.
• 16. Your great wealth filled you with violence, and you sinned. So I banished you from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire.
• 17. Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings.
• 18. You defiled your sanctuaries with your many sins and your dishonest trade. So I brought fire from within you, and it consumed you. I let it burn you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.
• 19. All who knew you are appalled at your fate. You have come to a terrible end, and you are no more."
• 20. Then another message came to me from the LORD:
• 21. "Son of man, look toward the city of Sidon and prophesy against it.
• 22. Give the people of Sidon this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am your enemy, O Sidon, and I will reveal my glory by what happens to you. When I bring judgment against you and reveal my holiness among you, everyone watching will know that I am the LORD.
• 23. I will send a plague against you, and blood will be spilled in your streets. The attack will come from every direction, and your people will lie slaughtered within your walls. Then everyone will know that I am the LORD.
• 24. No longer will Israel's scornful neighbors prick and tear at her like thorns and briers. For then they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.
• 25. "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The people of Israel will again live in their own land, the land I gave my servant Jacob. For I will gather them from the distant lands where I have scattered them. I will reveal to the nations of the world my holiness among my people.
• 26. They will live safely in Israel and build their homes and plant their vineyards. And when I punish the neighboring nations that treated them with contempt, they will know that I am the LORD their God."

New Living Translation: 268 of 365 days.