Daily Readings for July 11
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1Samuel 24

 

1.It happened, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi." 2.Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats. 3.He came to the sheep pens by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave. 4.The men of David said to him, "Behold, the day of which Yahweh said to you, 'Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.'" Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly. 5.It happened afterward, that David's heart struck him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. 6.He said to his men, "Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, Yahweh's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, since he is Yahweh's anointed." 7.So David checked his men with these words, and didn't allow them to rise against Saul. Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. 8.David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, "My lord the king!"

When Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and showed respect. 9.David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to men's words, saying, 'Behold, David seeks your hurt?' 10.Behold, this day your eyes have seen how that Yahweh had delivered you today into my hand in the cave. Some urged me to kill you; but I spared you; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he is Yahweh's anointed. 11.Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and didn't kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you hunt for my life to take it. 12.May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me of you; but my hand shall not be on you. 13.As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness;' but my hand shall not be on you. 14.Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea? 15.May Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand."

16.It came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 17.He said to David, "You are more righteous than I; for you have done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you. 18.You have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, because when Yahweh had delivered me up into your hand, you didn't kill me. 19.For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? Therefore may Yahweh reward you good for that which you have done to me this day. 20.Now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21.Swear now therefore to me by Yahweh, that you will not cut off my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house."

22.David swore to Saul. Saul went home; but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

 

Jeremiah 1

 

1.The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: 2.to whom the word of Yahweh¹ came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3.It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. 4.Now the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 5."Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. Before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." 6.Then I said, "Ah, Lord² Yahweh! Behold, I don't know how to speak; for I am a child."

7.But Yahweh said to me, "Don't say, 'I am a child;' for to whoever I shall send you, you shall go, and whatever I shall command you, you shall speak. 8.Don't be afraid because of them; for I am with you to deliver you," says Yahweh. 9.Then Yahweh put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and Yahweh said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10.Behold, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." 11.Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?"

I said, "I see a branch of an almond tree."

12.Then Yahweh said to me, "You have seen well; for I watch over my word to perform it."

13.The word of Yahweh came to me the second time, saying, "What do you see?"

I said, "I see a boiling caldron; and it is tipping away from the north."

14.Then Yahweh said to me, "Out of the north evil will break out on all the inhabitants of the land. 15.For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north," says Yahweh; "and they shall come, and they shall each set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah. 16.I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.

17."You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Don't be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them. 18.For, behold, I have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. 19.They will fight against you; but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you," says Yahweh, "to deliver you."

 

Matthew 12

 

1.At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the grain fields. His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2.But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, "Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath."

3.But he said to them, "Haven't you read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him; 4.how he entered into the house of God, and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for those who were with him, but only for the priests?[60] 5.Or have you not read in the law, that on the Sabbath day, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? 6.But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7.But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,'[61] you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8.For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

9.He departed there, and went into their synagogue. 10.And behold there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?" that they might accuse him.

11.He said to them, "What man is there among you, who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won't he grab on to it, and lift it out? 12.Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day." 13.Then he told the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other. 14.But the Pharisees went out, and conspired against him, how they might destroy him. 15.Jesus, perceiving that, withdrew from there. Great multitudes followed him; and he healed them all, 16.and commanded them that they should not make him known: 17.that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, 18."Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit on him. He will proclaim justice to the nations. 19.He will not strive, nor shout; neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets. 20.He won't break a bruised reed. He won't quench a smoking flax, until he leads justice to victory. 21.In his name, the nations will hope."[62]

22.Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23.All the multitudes were amazed, and said, "Can this be the son of David?" 24.But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons."

25.Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26.If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27.If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28.But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. 29.Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and plunder his goods, unless he first bind the strong man? Then he will plunder his house.

30."He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn't gather with me, scatters. 31.Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32.Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is to come.

33."Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34.You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. 35.The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure[63] brings out evil things. 36.I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37.For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

38.Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you."

39.But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. 40.For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41.The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, someone greater than Jonah is here. 42.The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, someone greater than Solomon is here. 43.But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn't find it. 44.Then he says, 'I will return into my house from which I came out,' and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45.Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation."

46.While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him. 47.One said to him, "Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside, seeking to speak to you."

48.But he answered him who spoke to him, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" 49.He stretched out his hand towards his disciples, and said, "Behold, my mother and my brothers! 50.For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother."

 

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