1 Chronicles 21

• 1. Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the Israelites.
• 2. David gave these orders to Joab and his commanders: "Take a census of all the people in the land--from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north--and bring me the totals so I may know how many there are."
• 3. But Joab replied, "May the LORD increase the number of his people a hundred times over! But why, my lord, do you want to do this? Are they not all your servants? Why must you cause Israel to sin?"
• 4. But the king insisted that Joab take the census, so Joab traveled throughout Israel to count the people. Then he returned to Jerusalem
• 5. and reported the number of people to David. There were 1,100,000 men of military age in Israel, and 470,000 in Judah.
• 6. But Joab did not include the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in the census because he was so distressed at what the king had made him do.
• 7. God was very displeased with the census, and he punished Israel for it.
• 8. Then David said to God, "I have sinned greatly and shouldn't have taken the census. Please forgive me for doing this foolish thing."
• 9. Then the LORD spoke to Gad, David's seer. This was the message:
• 10. "Go and say to David, `This is what the LORD says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will do it.'"
• 11. So Gad came to David and said, "These are the choices the LORD has given you.
• 12. You may choose three years of famine, three months of destruction by your enemies, or three days of severe plague as the angel of the LORD brings devastation throughout the land of Israel. Think this over and let me know what answer to give the LORD."
• 13. "This is a desperate situation!" David replied to Gad. "But let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands."
• 14. So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand people died as a result.
• 15. And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But just as the angel was preparing to destroy it, the LORD relented and said to the death angel, "Stop! That is enough!" At that moment the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
• 16. David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the leaders of Israel put on sackcloth to show their distress and fell down with their faces to the ground.
• 17. And David said to God, "I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are innocent--what have they done? O LORD my God, let your anger fall against me and my family, but do not destroy your people."
• 18. Then the angel of the LORD told Gad to instruct David to build an altar to the LORD at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
• 19. So David obeyed the instructions the LORD had given him through Gad.
• 20. Araunah, who was busy threshing wheat at the time, turned and saw the angel there. His four sons, who were with him, ran away and hid.
• 21. When Araunah saw the king approaching, he left his threshing floor and bowed to the ground before David.
• 22. David said to Araunah, "Let me buy this threshing floor from you at its full price. Then I will build an altar to the LORD there, so that he will stop the plague."
• 23. "Take it, my lord, and use it as you wish," Araunah said to David. "Here are oxen for the burnt offerings, and you can use the threshing tools for wood to build a fire on the altar. And take the wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all to you."
• 24. But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying what it is worth. I cannot take what is yours and give it to the LORD. I will not offer a burnt offering that has cost me nothing!"
• 25. So David gave Araunah six hundred pieces of gold in payment for the threshing floor.
• 26. David built an altar there to the LORD and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And when David prayed, the LORD answered him by sending fire from heaven to burn up the offering on the altar.
• 27. Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put the sword back into its sheath.
• 28. When David saw that the LORD had answered his prayer, he offered sacrifices there at Araunah's threshing floor.
• 29. At that time, the Tabernacle of the LORD and the altar that Moses made in the wilderness were located at the hill of Gibeon.
• 30. But David was not able to go there to inquire of God, because he was terrified by the drawn sword of the angel of the LORD.

1 Peter 2

• 1. So get rid of all malicious behavior and deceit. Don't just pretend to be good! Be done with hypocrisy and jealousy and backstabbing.
• 2. You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. Cry out for this nourishment as a baby cries for milk,
• 3. now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness.
• 4. Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him.
• 5. And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are God's holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ.
• 6. As the Scriptures express it, "I am placing a stone in Jerusalem, a chosen cornerstone, and anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed. "
• 7. Yes, he is very precious to you who believe. But for those who reject him, "The stone that was rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone."
• 8. And the Scriptures also say, "He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that will make them fall." They stumble because they do not listen to God's word or obey it, and so they meet the fate that has been planned for them.
• 9. But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
• 10. "Once you were not a people; now you are the people of God. Once you received none of God's mercy; now you have received his mercy."
• 11. Dear brothers and sisters, you are foreigners and aliens here. So I warn you to keep away from evil desires because they fight against your very souls.
• 12. Be careful how you live among your unbelieving neighbors. Even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will believe and give honor to God when he comes to judge the world.
• 13. For the Lord's sake, accept all authority--the king as head of state,
• 14. and the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish all who do wrong and to honor those who do right.
• 15. It is God's will that your good lives should silence those who make foolish accusations against you.
• 16. You are not slaves; you are free. But your freedom is not an excuse to do evil. You are free to live as God's slaves.
• 17. Show respect for everyone. Love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God. Show respect for the king.
• 18. You who are slaves must accept the authority of your masters. Do whatever they tell you--not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are harsh.
• 19. For God is pleased with you when, for the sake of your conscience, you patiently endure unfair treatment.
• 20. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing right and are patient beneath the blows, God is pleased with you.
• 21. This suffering is all part of what God has called you to. Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in his steps.
• 22. He never sinned, and he never deceived anyone.
• 23. He did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.
• 24. He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds!
• 25. Once you were wandering like lost sheep. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

Jonah 4

• 1. This change of plans upset Jonah, and he became very angry.
• 2. So he complained to the LORD about it: "Didn't I say before I left home that you would do this, LORD? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily you could cancel your plans for destroying these people.
• 3. Just kill me now, LORD! I'd rather be dead than alive because nothing I predicted is going to happen."
• 4. The LORD replied, "Is it right for you to be angry about this?"
• 5. Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see if anything would happen to the city.
• 6. And the LORD God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah's head, shading him from the sun. This eased some of his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
• 7. But God also prepared a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant, so that it soon died and withered away.
• 8. And as the sun grew hot, God sent a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. "Death is certainly better than this!" he exclaimed.
• 9. Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?Yes," Jonah retorted, "even angry enough to die!"
• 10. Then the LORD said, "You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. And a plant is only, at best, short lived.
• 11. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?"

New Living Translation: 329 of 365 days.