Daily Readings for August 15
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1Kings 10

 

1.When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of Yahweh, she came to prove him with hard questions. 2.She came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was in her heart. 3.Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hidden from the king which he didn't tell her. 4.When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 5.and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, and his cup bearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Yahweh; there was no more spirit in her. 6.She said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom. 7.However I didn't believe the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it. Behold, the half was not told me! Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. 8.Happy are your men, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, who hear your wisdom. 9.Blessed is Yahweh your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because Yahweh loved Israel forever, therefore made he you king, to do justice and righteousness." 10.She gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones. There came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

11.The navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees and precious stones. 12.The king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of Yahweh, and for the king's house, harps also and stringed instruments for the singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen, to this day. 13.King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants. 14.Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, 15.besides that which the traders brought, and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mixed people, and of the governors of the country. 16.King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went to one buckler. 17.he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. 18.Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. 19.There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were stays on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays. 20.Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps: there was nothing like it made in any kingdom. 21.All king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. 22.For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram: once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 23.So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 24.All the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25.They brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and clothing, and armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 26.Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. 27.The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance. 28.The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; and the king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price. 29.A chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty; and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, they brought them out by their means.

 

Jeremiah 36

 

1.It happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2.Take a scroll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. 3.It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do to them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. 4.Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Yahweh, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book. 5.Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I can't go into the house of Yahweh: 6.therefore you go, and read in the scroll, which you have written from my mouth, the words of Yahweh in the ears of the people in Yahweh's house on the fast day; and also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities. 7.It may be they will present their supplication before Yahweh, and will return everyone from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that Yahweh has pronounced against this people. 8.Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of Yahweh in Yahweh's house. 9.Now it happened in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before Yahweh. 10.Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of Yahweh's house, in the ears of all the people. 11.When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of Yahweh, 12.he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's room: and behold, all the princes were sitting there, [to wit], Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. 13.Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people. 14.Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, Take in your hand the scroll in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them. 15.They said to him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears. 16.Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said to Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words. 17.They asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How did you write all these words at his mouth? 18.Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. 19.Then the princes said to Baruch, Go, hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no man know where you are. 20.They went in to the king into the court; but they had laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king. 21.So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll; and he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who stood beside the king. 22.Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month: and [there was a fire in] the brazier burning before him. 23.It happened, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, that [the king] cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. 24.They were not afraid, nor tore their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words. 25.Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not hear them. 26.The king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Yahweh hid them. 27.Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 28.Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29.Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, Thus says Yahweh: You have burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from there man and animal? 30.Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David; and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. 31.I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they didn't listen. 32.Then took Jeremiah another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and there were added besides to them many like words.

 

Mark 10

 

1.He arose from there and came into the borders of Judea and beyond the Jordan. Multitudes came together to him again. As he usually did, he was again teaching them. 2.Pharisees came to him testing him, and asked him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"

3.He answered, "What did Moses command you?"

4.They said, "Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written, and to divorce her."

5.But Jesus said to them, "For your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment. 6.But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.²⁵ 7.For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife, 8.and the two will become one flesh,²⁶ so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9.What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

10.In the house, his disciples asked him again about the same matter. 11.He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her. 12.If a woman herself divorces her husband, and marries another, she commits adultery."

13.They were bringing to him little children, that he should touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who were bringing them. 14.But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them, "Allow the little children to come to me! Don't forbid them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15.Most certainly I tell you, whoever will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child, he will in no way enter into it." 16.He took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

17.As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"

18.Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except one--God. 19.You know the commandments: 'Do not murder,' 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not give false testimony,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and mother.'"²⁷

20.He said to him, "Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth."

21.Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross."

22.But his face fell at that saying, and he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions. 23.Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, "How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into the Kingdom of God!"

24.The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again, "Children, how hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter into the Kingdom of God! 25.It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God."

26.They were exceedingly astonished, saying to him, "Then who can be saved?"

27.Jesus, looking at them, said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God."

28.Peter began to tell him, "Behold, we have left all, and have followed you."

29.Jesus said, "Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News, 30.but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life. 31.But many who are first will be last; and the last first."

32.They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He again took the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him. 33."Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles. 34.They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again."

35.James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, saying, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask."

36.He said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?"

37.They said to him, "Grant to us that we may sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left hand, in your glory."

38.But Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"

39.They said to him, "We are able."

Jesus said to them, "You shall indeed drink the cup that I drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; 40.but to sit at my right hand and at my left hand is not mine to give, but for whom it has been prepared."

41.When the ten heard it, they began to be indignant towards James and John.

42.Jesus summoned them, and said to them, "You know that they who are recognized as rulers over the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43.But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant. 44.Whoever of you wants to become first among you, shall be bondservant of all. 45.For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

46.They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. 47.When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, and say, "Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!" 48.Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, "You son of David, have mercy on me!"

49.Jesus stood still, and said, "Call him."

They called the blind man, saying to him, "Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!"

50.He, casting away his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

51.Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?"

The blind man said to him, "Rabboni,²⁸ that I may see again."

52.Jesus said to him, "Go your way. Your faith has made you well." Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

 

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