Genesis 4

• 1. Now Adam slept with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When the time came, she gave birth to Cain, and she said, "With the LORD's help, I have brought forth a man!"
• 2. Later she gave birth to a second son and named him Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain was a farmer.
• 3. At harvesttime Cain brought to the LORD a gift of his farm produce,
• 4. while Abel brought several choice lambs from the best of his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his offering,
• 5. but he did not accept Cain and his offering. This made Cain very angry and dejected.
• 6. "Why are you so angry?" the LORD asked him. "Why do you look so dejected?
• 7. You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it."
• 8. Later Cain suggested to his brother, Abel, "Let's go out into the fields." And while they were there, Cain attacked and killed his brother.
• 9. Afterward the LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother? Where is Abel?I don't know!" Cain retorted. "Am I supposed to keep track of him wherever he goes?"
• 10. But the LORD said, "What have you done? Listen--your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!
• 11. You are hereby banished from the ground you have defiled with your brother's blood.
• 12. No longer will it yield abundant crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless fugitive on the earth, constantly wandering from place to place."
• 13. Cain replied to the LORD, "My punishment is too great for me to bear!
• 14. You have banished me from my land and from your presence; you have made me a wandering fugitive. All who see me will try to kill me!"
• 15. The LORD replied, "They will not kill you, for I will give seven times your punishment to anyone who does." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him.
• 16. So Cain left the LORD's presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
• 17. Then Cain's wife became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and they named him Enoch. When Cain founded a city, he named it Enoch after his son.
• 18. Enoch was the father of Irad. Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael. Methushael was the father of Lamech.
• 19. Lamech married two women--Adah and Zillah.
• 20. Adah gave birth to a baby named Jabal. He became the first of the herdsmen who live in tents.
• 21. His brother's name was Jubal, the first musician--the inventor of the harp and flute.
• 22. To Lamech's other wife, Zillah, was born Tubal-cain. He was the first to work with metal, forging instruments of bronze and iron. Tubal-cain had a sister named Naamah.
• 23. One day Lamech said to Adah and Zillah, "Listen to me, my wives. I have killed a youth who attacked and wounded me.
• 24. If anyone who kills Cain is to be punished seven times, anyone who takes revenge against me will be punished seventy-seven times!"
• 25. Adam slept with his wife again, and she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth, for she said, "God has granted me another son in place of Abel, the one Cain killed."
• 26. When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. It was during his lifetime that people first began to worship the LORD.

Genesis 5

• 1. This is the history of the descendants of Adam. When God created people, he made them in the likeness of God.
• 2. He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them "human."
• 3. When Adam was 130 years old, his son Seth was born, and Seth was the very image of his father.
• 4. After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
• 5. He died at the age of 930.
• 6. When Seth was 105 years old, his son Enosh was born.
• 7. After the birth of Enosh, Seth lived another 807 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
• 8. He died at the age of 912.
• 9. When Enosh was 90 years old, his son Kenan was born.
• 10. After the birth of Kenan, Enosh lived another 815 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
• 11. He died at the age of 905.
• 12. When Kenan was 70 years old, his son Mahalalel was born.
• 13. After the birth of Mahalalel, Kenan lived another 840 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
• 14. He died at the age of 910.
• 15. When Mahalalel was 65 years old, his son Jared was born.
• 16. After the birth of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
• 17. He died at the age of 895.
• 18. When Jared was 162 years old, his son Enoch was born.
• 19. After the birth of Enoch, Jared lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
• 20. He died at the age of 962.
• 21. When Enoch was 65 years old, his son Methuselah was born.
• 22. After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived another 300 years in close fellowship with God, and he had other sons and daughters.
• 23. Enoch lived 365 years in all.
• 24. He enjoyed a close relationship with God throughout his life. Then suddenly, he disappeared because God took him.
• 25. When Methuselah was 187 years old, his son Lamech was born.
• 26. After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived another 782 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
• 27. He died at the age of 969.
• 28. When Lamech was 182 years old, his son Noah was born.
• 29. Lamech named his son Noah, for he said, "He will bring us relief from the painful labor of farming this ground that the LORD has cursed."
• 30. After the birth of Noah, Lamech lived 595 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
• 31. He died at the age of 777.
• 32. By the time Noah was 500 years old, he had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Matthew 4

• 1. Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil.
• 2. For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry.
• 3. Then the Devil came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, change these stones into loaves of bread."
• 4. But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, 'People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.'"
• 5. Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple,
• 6. and said, "If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, 'He orders his angels to protect you. And they will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.'"
• 7. Jesus responded, "The Scriptures also say, 'Do not test the Lord your God.'"
• 8. Next the Devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the nations of the world and all their glory.
• 9. "I will give it all to you," he said, "if you will only kneel down and worship me."
• 10. "Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "For the Scriptures say, 'You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.'"
• 11. Then the Devil went away, and angels came and cared for Jesus.
• 12. When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
• 13. But instead of going to Nazareth, he went to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.
• 14. This fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy:
• 15. "In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River--in Galilee where so many Gentiles live--
• 16. the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined."
• 17. From then on, Jesus began to preach, "Turn from your sins and turn to God, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near. "
• 18. One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers--Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew--fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen.
• 19. Jesus called out to them, "Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!"
• 20. And they left their nets at once and went with him.
• 21. A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets. And he called them to come, too.
• 22. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.
• 23. Jesus traveled throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues, preaching everywhere the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed people who had every kind of sickness and disease.
• 24. News about him spread far beyond the borders of Galilee so that the sick were soon coming to be healed from as far away as Syria. And whatever their illness and pain, or if they were possessed by demons, or were epileptics, or were paralyzed--he healed them all.
• 25. Large crowds followed him wherever he went--people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.

Ezra 4

• 1. The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were rebuilding a Temple to the LORD, the God of Israel.
• 2. So they approached Zerubbabel and the other leaders and said, "Let us build with you, for we worship your God just as you do. We have sacrificed to him ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here."
• 3. But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other leaders of Israel replied, "You may have no part in this work, for we have nothing in common. We alone will build the Temple for the LORD, the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us."
• 4. Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work.
• 5. They bribed agents to work against them and to frustrate their aims. This went on during the entire reign of King Cyrus of Persia and lasted until King Darius of Persia took the throne.
• 6. Years later when Xerxes began his reign, the enemies of Judah wrote him a letter of accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
• 7. And even later, during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, the enemies of Judah, led by Bishlam, Mithredath, and Tabeel, sent a letter to Artaxerxes in the Aramaic language, and it was translated for the king.
• 8. Rehum the governor and Shimshai the court secretary wrote the letter, telling King Artaxerxes about the situation in Jerusalem.
• 9. They greeted the king for all their colleagues--the judges and local leaders, the people of Tarpel, the Persians, the Babylonians, and the people of Erech and Susa (that is, Elam).
• 10. They also sent greetings from the rest of the people whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal had deported and relocated in Samaria and throughout the neighboring lands of the province west of the Euphrates River.
• 11. This is a copy of the letter they sent him: "To Artaxerxes, from your loyal subjects in the province west of the Euphrates River.
• 12. "Please be informed that the Jews who came here to Jerusalem from Babylon are rebuilding this rebellious and evil city. They have already laid the foundation for its walls and will soon complete them.
• 13. But we wish you to know that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, it will be much to your disadvantage, for the Jews will then refuse to pay their tribute, customs, and tolls to you.
• 14. "Since we are loyal to you as your subjects and we do not want to see you dishonored in this way, we have sent you this information.
• 15. We suggest that you search your ancestors' records, where you will discover what a rebellious city this has been in the past. In fact, it was destroyed because of its long history of sedition against the kings and countries who attempted to control it.
• 16. We declare that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the province west of the Euphrates River will be lost to you."
• 17. Then Artaxerxes made this reply: "To Rehum the governor, Shimshai the court secretary, and their colleagues living in Samaria and throughout the province west of the Euphrates River.
• 18. "Greetings. The letter you sent has been translated and read to me.
• 19. I have ordered a search to be made of the records and have indeed found that Jerusalem has in times past been a hotbed of insurrection against many kings. In fact, rebellion and sedition are normal there!
• 20. Powerful kings have ruled over Jerusalem and the entire province west of the Euphrates River and have received vast tribute, customs, and tolls.
• 21. Therefore, issue orders to have these people stop their work. That city must not be rebuilt except at my express command.
• 22. Do not delay, for we must not permit the situation to get out of control."
• 23. When this letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai, and their colleagues, they hurried to Jerusalem and forced the Jews to stop building.
• 24. The work on the Temple of God in Jerusalem had stopped, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.

New Living Translation: 4 of 365 days.