Daily Readings for July 3

Daily Readings for July 3
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1Samuel 15

1.Samuel said to Saul, "Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of the words of Yahweh. 2.Thus says Yahweh of Armies, 'I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt. 3.Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don't spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'"

4.Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5.Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. 6.Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

7.Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt. 8.He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9.But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the cattle, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and wouldn't utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. 10.Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying, 11."It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments." Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night.

12.Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal."

13.Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, "You are blessed by Yahweh! I have performed the commandment of Yahweh."

14.Samuel said, "Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?"

15.Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God. We have utterly destroyed the rest."

16.Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stay, and I will tell you what Yahweh has said to me last night."

He said to him, "Say on."

17.Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel; 18.and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.' 19.Why then didn't you obey the voice of Yahweh, but took the spoils, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh?"

20.Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21.But the people took of the spoil, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal."

22.Samuel said, "Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 23.For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has also rejected you from being king."

24.Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 25.Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh."

26.Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel." 27.As Samuel turned about to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28.Samuel said to him, "Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. 29.Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent."

30.Then he said, "I have sinned: yet please honor me now before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God."

31.So Samuel went back with Saul; and Saul worshiped Yahweh. 32.Then Samuel said, "Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites!"

Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."

33.Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!" Samuel cut Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal.

34.Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35.Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Isaiah 59

1.Behold, Yahweh's hand is not shortened, that it can't save; neither his ear heavy, that it can't hear: 2.but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 3. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness. 4.None sues in righteousness, and none pleads in truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 5.They hatch adders' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he who eats of their eggs dies; and that which is crushed breaks out into a viper. 6.Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 7.Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths. 8.The way of peace they don't know; and there is no justice in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whoever goes therein does not know peace. 9.Therefore is justice far from us, neither does righteousness overtake us: we look for light, but, behold, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity. 10.We grope for the wall like the blind; yes, we grope as those who have no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the twilight; among those who are lusty we are as dead men. 11.We roar all like bears, and moan bitterly like doves: we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

12.For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them: 13.transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. 14.Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness can't enter. 15.Yes, truth is lacking; and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Yahweh saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. 16.He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his own arm brought salvation to him; and his righteousness, it upheld him. 17.He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle. 18.According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense. 19.So shall they fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath of Yahweh drives.

20."A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob," says Yahweh.

21."As for me, this is my covenant with them," says Yahweh. "My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed's seed," says Yahweh, "from henceforth and forever."

Matthew 3

1.In those days, John the Baptizer came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2."Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" 3.For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight."⁸

4.Now John himself wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5.Then people from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him. 6.They were baptized⁹ by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 7.But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism,¹⁰ he said to them, "You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8.Therefore bring forth fruit worthy of repentance! 9.Don't think to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

10."Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn't bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire. 11.I indeed baptize¹¹ you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.¹² 12.His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire."

13.Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14.But John would have hindered him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?"

15.But Jesus, answering, said to him, "Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed him. 16.Jesus, when he was baptized, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him. 17.Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

Matthew 4

1.Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2.When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward. 3.The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

4.But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'"¹³

5.Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6.and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will put his angels in charge of you.' and, 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don't dash your foot against a stone.'"¹⁴

7.Jesus said to him, "Again, it is written, 'You shall not test the Lord, your God.'"¹⁵

8.Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. 9.He said to him, "I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me."

10.Then Jesus said to him, "Get behind me,¹⁶ Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.'"¹⁷

11.Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him. 12.Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee. 13.Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14.that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, 15."The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, 16.the people who sat in darkness saw a great light, to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, to them light has dawned."¹⁸

17.From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, "Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

18.Walking by the sea of Galilee, he¹⁹ saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19.He said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men."

20.They immediately left their nets and followed him. 21.Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them. 22.They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.

23.Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. 24.The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them. 25.Great multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and from beyond the Jordan followed him.