2 Kings 5

• 1. The king of Aram had high admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the LORD had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.
• 2. Now groups of Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman's wife as a maid.
• 3. One day the girl said to her mistress, "I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy."
• 4. So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said.
• 5. "Go and visit the prophet," the king told him. "I will send a letter of introduction for you to carry to the king of Israel." So Naaman started out, taking as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing.
• 6. The letter to the king of Israel said: "With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy."
• 7. When the king of Israel read it, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, "This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can kill and give life? He is only trying to find an excuse to invade us again."
• 8. But when Elisha, the man of God, heard about the king's reaction, he sent this message to him: "Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel."
• 9. So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha's house.
• 10. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: "Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of leprosy."
• 11. But Naaman became angry and stalked away. "I thought he would surely come out to meet me!" he said. "I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the LORD his God and heal me!
• 12. Aren't the Abana River and Pharpar River of Damascus better than all the rivers of Israel put together? Why shouldn't I wash in them and be healed?" So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.
• 13. But his officers tried to reason with him and said, "Sir, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply to go and wash and be cured!"
• 14. So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his flesh became as healthy as a young child's, and he was healed!
• 15. Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, "I know at last that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Now please accept my gifts."
• 16. But Elisha replied, "As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept any gifts." And though Naaman urged him to take the gifts, Elisha refused.
• 17. Then Naaman said, "All right, but please allow me to load two of my mules with earth from this place, and I will take it back home with me. From now on I will never again offer any burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the LORD.
• 18. However, may the LORD pardon me in this one thing. When my master the king goes into the temple of the god Rimmon to worship there and leans on my arm, may the LORD pardon me when I bow, too."
• 19. "Go in peace," Elisha said. So Naaman started home again.
• 20. But Gehazi, Elisha's servant, said to himself, "My master should not have let this Aramean get away without accepting his gifts. As surely as the LORD lives, I will chase after him and get something from him."
• 21. So Gehazi set off after him. When Naaman saw him running after him, he climbed down from his chariot and went to meet him. "Is everything all right?" Naaman asked.
• 22. "Yes," Gehazi said, "but my master has sent me to tell you that two young prophets from the hill country of Ephraim have just arrived. He would like 75 pounds of silver and two sets of clothing to give to them."
• 23. "By all means, take 150 pounds of silver," Naaman insisted. He gave him two sets of clothing, tied up the money in two bags, and sent two of his servants to carry the gifts for Gehazi.
• 24. But when they arrived at the hill, Gehazi took the gifts from the servants and sent the men back. Then he hid the gifts inside the house.
• 25. When he went in to his master, Elisha asked him, "Where have you been, Gehazi?I haven't been anywhere," he replied.
• 26. But Elisha asked him, "Don't you realize that I was there in spirit when Naaman stepped down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to receive money and clothing and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and servants?
• 27. Because you have done this, you and your children and your children's children will suffer from Naaman's leprosy forever." When Gehazi left the room, he was leprous; his skin was as white as snow.

1 Timothy 2

• 1. I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God's mercy upon them, and give thanks.
• 2. Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity.
• 3. This is good and pleases God our Savior,
• 4. for he wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.
• 5. For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and people. He is the man Christ Jesus.
• 6. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message that God gave to the world at the proper time.
• 7. And I have been chosen--this is the absolute truth--as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles about faith and truth.
• 8. So wherever you assemble, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.
• 9. And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes.
• 10. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.
• 11. Women should listen and learn quietly and submissively.
• 12. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly.
• 13. For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve.
• 14. And it was the woman, not Adam, who was deceived by Satan, and sin was the result.
• 15. But women will be saved through childbearing and by continuing to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.

Daniel 9

• 1. It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians.
• 2. During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, was studying the writings of the prophets. I learned from the word of the LORD, as recorded by Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.
• 3. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I wore rough sackcloth and sprinkled myself with ashes.
• 4. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: "O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and keep your commands.
• 5. But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations.
• 6. We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke your messages to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.
• 7. "Lord, you are in the right; but our faces are covered with shame, just as you see us now. This is true of us all, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you.
• 8. O LORD, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.
• 9. But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.
• 10. We have not obeyed the LORD our God, for we have not followed the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.
• 11. All Israel has disobeyed your law and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice. "So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out against us because of our sin.
• 12. You have done exactly what you warned you would do against us and our rulers. Never in all history has there been a disaster like the one that happened in Jerusalem.
• 13. Every curse written against us in the law of Moses has come true. All the troubles he predicted have taken place. But we have refused to seek mercy from the LORD our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth.
• 14. The LORD has brought against us the disaster he prepared, for we did not obey him, and the LORD our God is just in everything he does.
• 15. "O Lord our God, you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from Egypt in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness.
• 16. In view of all your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn your furious anger away from your city of Jerusalem, your holy mountain. All the neighboring nations mock Jerusalem and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors.
• 17. "O our God, hear your servant's prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary.
• 18. "O my God, listen to me and hear my request. Open your eyes and see our wretchedness. See how your city lies in ruins--for everyone knows that it is yours. We do not ask because we deserve help, but because you are so merciful.
• 19. "O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, O my God, do not delay, for your people and your city bear your name."
• 20. I went on praying and confessing my sin and the sins of my people, pleading with the LORD my God for Jerusalem, his holy mountain.
• 21. As I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice.
• 22. He explained to me, "Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding.
• 23. The moment you began praying, a command was given. I am here to tell you what it was, for God loves you very much. Now listen, so you can understand the meaning of your vision.
• 24. "A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to put down rebellion, to bring an end to sin, to atone for guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
• 25. Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times.
• 26. "After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.
• 27. He will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. Then as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the end that has been decreed is poured out on this defiler."

New Living Translation: 297 of 365 days.