Daily Readings for July 12

Daily Readings for July 12
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1Samuel 25

1.Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 2.There was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3.Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful face: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. 4.David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5.David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6.You shall tell him, 'Long life to you! Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7.Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds have now been with us, and we didn't hurt them, neither was there anything missing from them, all the while they were in Carmel. 8.Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore, let the young men find favor in your eyes; for we come in a good day. Please give whatever comes to your hand, to your servants, and to your son David.'"

9.When David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.

10.Nabal answered David's servants, and said, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants who break away from their masters these days. 11.Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men who I don't know where they come from?"

12.So David's young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words. 13.David said to his men, "Every man put on his sword!"

Every man put on his sword. David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David; and two hundred stayed by the baggage. 14.But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to Greet our master; and he railed at them. 15.But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields. 16.They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17.Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such a worthless fellow that one can't speak to him."

18.Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two bottles of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19.She said to her young men, "Go on before me. Behold, I come after you." But she didn't tell her husband, Nabal. 20.It was so, as she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.

21.Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. He has returned me evil for good. 22.God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.⁹"

23.When Abigail saw David, she hurried, and alighted from her donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. 24.She fell at his feet, and said, "On me, my lord, on me be the iniquity; and please let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid. 25.Please don't let my lord regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your handmaid, didn't see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26.Now therefore, my lord, as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, since Yahweh has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. 27.Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28.Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid. For Yahweh will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights the battles of Yahweh; and evil shall not be found in you all your days. 29.Though men may rise up to pursue you, and to seek your soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with Yahweh your God. He will sling out the souls of your enemies, as from the hollow of a sling. 30.It shall come to pass, when Yahweh has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you prince over Israel, 31.that this shall be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. When Yahweh has dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid."

32.David said to Abigail, "Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33.Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, that have kept me this day from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34.For indeed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn't have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.¹⁰"

35.So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said to her, "Go up in peace to your house. Behold, I have listened to your voice, and have granted your request."

36.Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken. Therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. 37.It happened in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38.It happened about ten days after, that Yahweh struck Nabal, so that he died. 39.When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed is Yahweh, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil. Yahweh has returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head." David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to him as wife. 40.When the servants of David had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, "David has sent us to you, to take you to him as wife."

41.She arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, "Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord." 42.Abigail hurried, and arose, and rode on a donkey, with five ladies of hers who followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. 43.David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they both became his wives. 44.Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

Jeremiah 2

1.The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2."Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh, "I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. 3.Israel was holiness to Yahweh, the first fruits of his increase. All who devour him shall be held guilty. Evil shall come on them,"' says Yahweh."

4.Hear the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel! 5.Thus says Yahweh, "What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? 6.Neither did they say, 'Where is Yahweh who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man lived?' 7.I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat its fruit and its goodness; but when you entered, you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. 8.The priests didn't say, 'Where is Yahweh?' and those who handle the law didn't know me. The rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

9."Therefore I will yet contend with you," says Yahweh, "and I will contend with your children's children. 10.For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there has been such a thing. 11.Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

12."Be astonished, you heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate," says Yahweh. 13."For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 14.Is Israel a servant? Is he a native-born slave? Why has he become a prey? 15.The young lions have roared at him, and yelled. They have made his land waste. His cities are burned up, without inhabitant. 16.The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head.

17."Haven't you procured this to yourself, in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God³, when he led you by the way? 18.Now what have you to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or what have you to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

19."Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backsliding shall reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you," says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies. 20."For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bonds; and you said, 'I will not serve;' for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute. 21.Yet I had planted you a noble vine, wholly a right seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me? 22.For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me," says the Lord Yahweh.

23."How can you say, 'I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals'? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways; 24.a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that snuffs up the wind in her desire. When she is in heat, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her.

25."Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, 'It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them.' 26.As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets; 27.who tell wood, 'You are my father;' and a stone, 'You have brought me out:' for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, 'Arise, and save us.'

28."But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah.

29."Why will you contend with me? You all have transgressed against me," says Yahweh.

30."I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion. 31.Generation, consider the word of Yahweh. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, 'We have broken loose. We will come to you no more?'

32."Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number. 33.How well you prepare your way to seek love! Therefore you have taught even the wicked women your ways. 34.Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts. You did not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things.

35."Yet you said, 'I am innocent. Surely his anger has turned away from me.'

"Behold, I will judge you, because you say, 'I have not sinned.' 36.Why do you go about so much to change your way? You will be ashamed of Egypt also, as you were ashamed of Assyria. 37.From there also you shall go forth, with your hands on your head; for Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper with them.

Matthew 13

1.On that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside. 2.Great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat, and sat, and all the multitude stood on the beach. 3.He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Behold, a farmer went out to sow. 4.As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. 5.Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn't have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. 6.When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. 7.Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. 8.Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. 9.He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

10.The disciples came, and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"

11.He answered them, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. 12.For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn't have, from him will be taken away even that which he has. 13.Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don't see, and hearing, they don't hear, neither do they understand. 14.In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, 'By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive: 15.for this people's heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and should turn again; and I would heal them.'[64]

16."But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. 17.For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn't see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn't hear them.

18."Hear, then, the parable of the farmer. 19.When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn't understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside. 20.What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it; 21.yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22.What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23.What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and brings forth, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty."

24.He set another parable before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25.but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds⁶⁵ also among the wheat, and went away. 26.But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then the darnel weeds appeared also. 27.The servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where did this darnel come from?'

28."He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.'

"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and gather them up?'

29."But he said, 'No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them. 30.Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, "First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

31.He set another parable before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; 32.which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches."

33.He spoke another parable to them. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures⁶⁶ of meal, until it was all leavened."

34.Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he didn't speak to them, 35.that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world."[67]

36.Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field."

37.He answered them, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38.the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. 39.The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40.As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. 41.The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, 42.and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 43.Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

44."Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

45."Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46.who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

47."Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet, that was cast into the sea, and gathered some fish of every kind, 48.which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach. They sat down, and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49.So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come forth, and separate the wicked from among the righteous, 50.and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth." 51.Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?"

They answered him, "Yes, Lord."

52.He said to them, "Therefore, every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things."

53.It happened that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there. 54.Coming into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom, and these mighty works? 55.Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James, Joses, Simon, and Judas⁶⁸? 56.Aren't all of his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all of these things?" 57.They were offended by him.

But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house." 58.He didn't do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.