1 Kings 3

• 1. Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and married one of his daughters. He brought her to live in the City of David until he could finish building his palace and the Temple of the LORD and the wall around the city.
• 2. At that time the people of Israel sacrificed their offerings at local altars, for a temple honoring the name of the LORD had not yet been built.
• 3. Solomon loved the LORD and followed all the instructions of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local altars.
• 4. The most important of these altars was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed one thousand burnt offerings.
• 5. That night the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, "What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!"
• 6. Solomon replied, "You were wonderfully kind to my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued this great kindness to him today by giving him a son to succeed him.
• 7. O LORD my God, now you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn't know his way around.
• 8. And here I am among your own chosen people, a nation so great they are too numerous to count!
• 9. Give me an understanding mind so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great nation of yours?"
• 10. The Lord was pleased with Solomon's reply and was glad that he had asked for wisdom.
• 11. So God replied, "Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people and have not asked for a long life or riches for yourself or the death of your enemies--
• 12. I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding mind such as no one else has ever had or ever will have!
• 13. And I will also give you what you did not ask for--riches and honor! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life!
• 14. And if you follow me and obey my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life."
• 15. Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Lord's covenant, where he sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he invited all his officials to a great banquet.
• 16. Some time later, two prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled.
• 17. "Please, my lord," one of them began, "this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me in the house.
• 18. Three days later, she also had a baby. We were alone; there were only two of us in the house.
• 19. But her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it.
• 20. Then she got up in the night and took my son from beside me while I was asleep. She laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her.
• 21. And in the morning when I tried to nurse my son, he was dead! But when I looked more closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn't my son at all."
• 22. Then the other woman interrupted, "It certainly was your son, and the living child is mine.No," the first woman said, "the dead one is yours, and the living one is mine." And so they argued back and forth before the king.
• 23. Then the king said, "Let's get the facts straight. Both of you claim the living child is yours, and each says that the dead child belongs to the other.
• 24. All right, bring me a sword." So a sword was brought to the king.
• 25. Then he said, "Cut the living child in two and give half to each of these women!"
• 26. Then the woman who really was the mother of the living child, and who loved him very much, cried out, "Oh no, my lord! Give her the child--please do not kill him!" But the other woman said, "All right, he will be neither yours nor mine; divide him between us!"
• 27. Then the king said, "Do not kill him, but give the baby to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!"
• 28. Word of the king's decision spread quickly throughout all Israel, and the people were awed as they realized the great wisdom God had given him to render decisions with justice.

Ephesians 1

• 1. This letter is from Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. It is written to God's holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.
• 2. May grace and peace be yours, sent to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
• 3. How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ.
• 4. Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
• 5. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.
• 6. So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son.
• 7. He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven.
• 8. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
• 9. God's secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure.
• 10. And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ--everything in heaven and on earth.
• 11. Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago.
• 12. God's purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God.
• 13. And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.
• 14. The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.
• 15. Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for Christians everywhere,
• 16. I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,
• 17. asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.
• 18. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people.
• 19. I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power
• 20. that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms.
• 21. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come.
• 22. And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church.
• 23. And the church is his body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence.

Ezekiel 34

• 1. Then this message came to me from the LORD:
• 2. "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: Destruction is certain for you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn't shepherds feed their sheep?
• 3. You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve.
• 4. You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the broken bones. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with force and cruelty.
• 5. So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd. They are easy prey for any wild animal.
• 6. They have wandered through the mountains and hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.
• 7. "Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
• 8. As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. Though you were my shepherds, you didn't search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve.
• 9. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD.
• 10. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, along with their right to feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey.
• 11. "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep.
• 12. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.
• 13. I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers in all the places where people live.
• 14. Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in lush mountain pastures.
• 15. I myself will tend my sheep and cause them to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD.
• 16. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes--feed them justice!
• 17. "And as for you, my flock, my people, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, separating the sheep from the goats.
• 18. Is it not enough for you to keep the best of the pastures for yourselves? Must you also trample down the rest? Is it not enough for you to take the best water for yourselves? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?
• 19. All that is left for my flock to eat is what you have trampled down. All they have to drink is water that you have fouled.
• 20. "Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep.
• 21. For you fat sheep push and butt and crowd my sick and hungry flock until they are scattered to distant lands.
• 22. So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused and destroyed. And I will judge between one sheep and another.
• 23. And I will set one shepherd over them, even my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them.
• 24. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the LORD, have spoken!
• 25. "I will make a covenant of peace with them and drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then my people will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods without fear.
• 26. I will cause my people and their homes around my holy hill to be a blessing. And I will send showers, showers of blessings, which will come just when they are needed.
• 27. The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the LORD.
• 28. They will no longer be prey for other nations, and wild animals will no longer attack them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.
• 29. "And I will give them a land famous for its crops, so my people will never again go hungry or be shamed by the scorn of foreign nations.
• 30. In this way, they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign LORD.
• 31. You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God, says the Sovereign LORD."

New Living Translation: 274 of 365 days.