1 Kings 2

• 1. As the time of King David's death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon:
• 2. "I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man.
• 3. Observe the requirements of the LORD your God and follow all his ways. Keep each of the laws, commands, regulations, and stipulations written in the law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go.
• 4. If you do this, then the LORD will keep the promise he made to me: `If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.'
• 5. "And there is something else. You know that Joab son of Zeruiah murdered my two army commanders, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He pretended that it was an act of war, but it was done in a time of peace, staining his belt and sandals with the blood of war.
• 6. Do with him what you think best, but don't let him die in peace.
• 7. "Be kind to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead. Make them permanent guests of the king, for they took care of me when I fled from your brother Absalom.
• 8. "And remember Shimei son of Gera, the man from Bahurim in Benjamin. He cursed me with a terrible curse as I was fleeing to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, I swore by the LORD that I would not kill him.
• 9. But that oath does not make him innocent. You are a wise man, and you will know how to arrange a bloody death for him."
• 10. Then David died and was buried in the City of David.
• 11. He had reigned over Israel for forty years, seven of them in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.
• 12. Solomon succeeded him as king, replacing his father, David, and he was firmly established on the throne.
• 13. One day Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, came to see Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. "Have you come to make trouble?" she asked him. "No," he said, "I come in peace.
• 14. In fact, I have a favor to ask of you.What is it?" she asked.
• 15. He replied, "As you know, the kingdom was mine; everyone expected me to be the next king. But the tables were turned, and everything went to my brother instead; for that is the way the LORD wanted it.
• 16. So now I have just one favor to ask of you. Please don't turn me down.What is it?" she asked.
• 17. He replied, "Speak to King Solomon on my behalf, for I know he will do anything you request. Ask him to give me Abishag, the girl from Shunem, as my wife."
• 18. "All right," Bathsheba replied. "I will speak to the king for you."
• 19. So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak on Adonijah's behalf. The king rose from his throne to meet her, and he bowed down before her. When he sat down on his throne again, he ordered that a throne be brought for his mother, and she sat at his right hand.
• 20. "I have one small request to make of you," she said. "I hope you won't turn me down.What is it, my mother?" he asked. "You know I won't refuse you."
• 21. "Then let your brother Adonijah marry Abishag, the girl from Shunem," she replied.
• 22. "How can you possibly ask me to give Abishag to Adonijah?" Solomon demanded. "You might as well be asking me to give him the kingdom! You know that he is my older brother, and that he has Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah on his side."
• 23. Then King Solomon swore solemnly by the LORD: "May God strike me dead if Adonijah has not sealed his fate with this request.
• 24. The LORD has confirmed me and placed me on the throne of my father, David; he has established my dynasty as he promised. So as surely as the LORD lives, Adonijah will die this very day!"
• 25. So King Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada to execute him, and Adonijah was put to death.
• 26. Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, "Go back to your home in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not kill you now, because you carried the Ark of the Sovereign LORD for my father, and you suffered right along with him through all his troubles."
• 27. So Solomon deposed Abiathar from his position as priest of the LORD, thereby fulfilling the decree the LORD had made at Shiloh concerning the descendants of Eli.
• 28. Although he had not followed Absalom earlier, Joab had also joined Adonijah's revolt. When Joab heard about Adonijah's death, he ran to the sacred tent of the LORD and caught hold of the horns of the altar.
• 29. When news of this reached King Solomon, he sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada to execute him.
• 30. Benaiah went into the sacred tent of the LORD and said to Joab, "The king orders you to come out!" But Joab answered, "No, I will die here." So Benaiah returned to the king and told him what Joab had said.
• 31. "Do as he said," the king replied. "Kill him there beside the altar and bury him. This will remove the guilt of his senseless murders from me and from my father's family.
• 32. Then the LORD will repay him for the murders of two men who were more righteous and better than he. For my father was no party to the deaths of Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah.
• 33. May Joab and his descendants be forever guilty of these murders, and may the LORD grant peace to David and his descendants and to his throne forever."
• 34. So Benaiah son of Jehoiada returned to the sacred tent and killed Joab, and Joab was buried at his home in the wilderness.
• 35. Then the king appointed Benaiah to command the army in place of Joab, and he installed Zadok the priest to take the place of Abiathar.
• 36. The king then sent for Shimei and told him, "Build a house here in Jerusalem and live there. But don't step outside the city to go anywhere else.
• 37. On the day you cross the Kidron Valley, you will surely die; your blood will be on your own head."
• 38. Shimei replied, "Your sentence is fair; I will do whatever my lord the king commands." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time.
• 39. But three years later, two of Shimei's slaves escaped to King Achish of Gath. When Shimei learned where they were,
• 40. he saddled his donkey and went to Gath to search for them. When he had found them, he took them back to Jerusalem.
• 41. Solomon heard that Shimei had left Jerusalem and had gone to Gath and returned.
• 42. So he sent for Shimei and demanded, "Didn't I make you swear by the LORD and warn you not to go anywhere else, or you would surely die? And you replied, `The sentence is fair; I will do as you say.'
• 43. Then why haven't you kept your oath to the LORD and obeyed my command?"
• 44. The king also said to Shimei, "You surely remember all the wicked things you did to my father, King David. May the LORD punish you for them.
• 45. But may I receive the LORD's rich blessings, and may one of David's descendants always sit on this throne."
• 46. Then, at the king's command, Benaiah son of Jehoiada took Shimei outside and killed him. So the kingdom was now firmly in Solomon's grip.

Galatians 6

• 1. Dear brothers and sisters, if another Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.
• 2. Share each other's troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ.
• 3. If you think you are too important to help someone in need, you are only fooling yourself. You are really a nobody.
• 4. Be sure to do what you should, for then you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else.
• 5. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
• 6. Those who are taught the word of God should help their teachers by paying them.
• 7. Don't be misled. Remember that you can't ignore God and get away with it. You will always reap what you sow!
• 8. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
• 9. So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.
• 10. Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters.
• 11. Notice what large letters I use as I write these closing words in my own handwriting.
• 12. Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised are doing it for just one reason. They don't want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save.
• 13. And even those who advocate circumcision don't really keep the whole law. They only want you to be circumcised so they can brag about it and claim you as their disciples.
• 14. As for me, God forbid that I should boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world died long ago, and the world's interest in me is also long dead.
• 15. It doesn't make any difference now whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people.
• 16. May God's mercy and peace be upon all those who live by this principle. They are the new people of God.
• 17. From now on, don't let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.
• 18. My dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Ezekiel 33

• 1. Once again a message came to me from the LORD:
• 2. "Son of man, give your people this message: When I bring an army against a country, the people of that land choose a watchman.
• 3. When the watchman sees the enemy coming, he blows the alarm to warn the people.
• 4. Then if those who hear the alarm refuse to take action--well, it is their own fault if they die.
• 5. They heard the warning but wouldn't listen, so the responsibility is theirs. If they had listened to the warning, they could have saved their lives.
• 6. But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn't sound the alarm to warn the people, he is responsible for their deaths. They will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman accountable.
• 7. "Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me.
• 8. If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to warn them about changing their ways, then they will die in their sins, but I will hold you responsible for their deaths.
• 9. But if you warn them to repent and they don't repent, they will die in their sins, but you will not be held responsible.
• 10. "Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, `Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?'
• 11. As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?
• 12. "Son of man, give your people this message: The good works of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the sins of evil people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins.
• 13. When I tell righteous people that they will live, but then they sin, expecting their past righteousness to save them, then none of their good deeds will be remembered. I will destroy them for their sins.
• 14. And suppose I tell some wicked people that they will surely die, but then they turn from their sins and do what is just and right.
• 15. For instance, they might give back a borrower's pledge, return what they have stolen, and obey my life-giving laws, no longer doing what is evil. If they do this, then they will surely live and not die.
• 16. None of their past sins will be brought up again, for they have done what is just and right, and they will surely live.
• 17. "Your people are saying, `The Lord is not just,' but it is they who are not just.
• 18. For again I say, when righteous people turn to evil, they will die.
• 19. But if wicked people turn from their wickedness and do what is just and right, they will live.
• 20. O people of Israel, you are saying, `The Lord is not just.' But I will judge each of you according to your deeds."
• 21. On January 8, during the twelfth year of our captivity, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city has fallen!"
• 22. The previous evening the LORD had taken hold of me and opened my mouth, so I would be able to speak when this man arrived the next morning.
• 23. Then this message came to me from the LORD:
• 24. "Son of man, the scattered remnants of Judah living among the ruined cities keep saying, `Abraham was only one man, and yet he gained possession of the entire land! We are many; surely the land should be given to us as a possession.'
• 25. Now give these people this message from the Sovereign LORD: You eat meat with blood in it, you worship idols, and you murder the innocent. Do you really think the land should be yours?
• 26. Murderers! Idolaters! Adulterers! Should the land belong to you?
• 27. "Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: As surely as I live, those living in the ruins will die by the sword. Those living in the open fields will be eaten by wild animals. Those hiding in the forts and caves will die of disease.
• 28. I will destroy the land and demolish her pride. Her arrogant power will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so ruined that no one will even travel through them.
• 29. When I have ruined the land because of their disgusting sins, then they will know that I am the LORD.
• 30. "Son of man, your people are whispering behind your back. They talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors, saying, `Come on, let's have some fun! Let's go hear the prophet tell us what the LORD is saying!'
• 31. So they come pretending to be sincere and sit before you listening. But they have no intention of doing what I tell them. They express love with their mouths, but their hearts seek only after money.
• 32. You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don't do it!
• 33. But when all these terrible things happen to them--as they certainly will--then they will know a prophet has been among them."

New Living Translation: 273 of 365 days.