Daily Readings for June 17
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Judges 19

 

1.It happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite living on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah. 2.His concubine played the prostitute against him, and went away from him to her father's house to Bethlehem Judah, and was there the space of four months. 3.Her husband arose, and went after her, to speak kindly to her, to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of donkeys: and she brought him into her father's house; and when the father of the young lady saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. 4.His father-in-law, the young lady's father, retained him; and he stayed with him three days: so they ate and drink, and lodged there.

5.It happened on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning, and he rose up to depart: and the young lady's father said to his son-in-law, "Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward you shall go your way." 6.So they sat down, ate, and drank, both of them together: and the young lady's father said to the man, "Please be pleased to stay all night, and let your heart be merry." 7.The man rose up to depart; but his father-in-law urged him, and he lodged there again. 8.He arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart; and the young lady's father said, "Please strengthen your heart and stay until the day declines;" and they both ate.

9.When the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the young lady's father, said to him, "Behold, now the day draws toward evening, please stay all night: behold, the day grows to an end, lodge here, that your heart may be merry; and tomorrow go on your way early, that you may go home." 10.But the man wouldn't stay that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus (the same is Jerusalem): and there were with him a couple of donkeys saddled; his concubine also was with him.

11.When they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, "Please come and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it."

12.His master said to him, "We won't turn aside into the city of a foreigner, that is not of the children of Israel; but we will pass over to Gibeah." 13.He said to his servant, "Come and let us draw near to one of these places; and we will lodge in Gibeah, or in Ramah." 14.So they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down on them near to Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. 15.They turned aside there, to go in to lodge in Gibeah: and he went in, and sat him down in the street of the city; for there was no man who took them into his house to lodge.

16.Behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at evening: now the man was of the hill country of Ephraim, and he lived in Gibeah; but the men of the place were Benjamites. 17.He lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the street of the city; and the old man said, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?"

18.He said to him, "We are passing from Bethlehem Judah to the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem Judah. I am going to the house of Yahweh; and there is no man who takes me into his house. 19.Yet there is both straw and provender for our donkeys; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for your handmaid, and for the young man who is with your servants: there is no want of anything."

20.The old man said, "Peace be to you; howsoever let all your wants lie on me; only don't lodge in the street." 21.So he brought him into his house, and gave the donkeys fodder; and they washed their feet, and ate and drink. 22.As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain base fellows, surrounded the house, beating at the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may have sex with him!"

23.The man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, "No, my brothers, please don't act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, don't do this folly. 24.Behold, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. I will bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them what seems good to you; but to this man don't do any such folly."

25.But the men wouldn't listen to him: so the man laid hold of his concubine, and brought her out to them; and they had sex with her, and abused her all night until the morning: and when the day began to dawn, they let her go. 26.Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, until it was light. 27.Her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way; and behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.

28.He said to her, "Get up, and let us be going!" but no one answered. Then he took her up on the donkey; and the man rose up, and went to his place.

29.When he had come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the borders of Israel. 30.It was so, that all who saw it said, "There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt to this day! Consider it, take counsel, and speak."

 

Isaiah 41

 

1."Keep silent before me, islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let's meet together for judgment. 2.Who has raised up one from the east? Who called him to his foot in righteousness? He hands over nations to him, and makes him rule over kings. He gives them like the dust to his sword, like the driven stubble to his bow. 3.He pursues them, and passes by safely, Even by a way that he had not gone with his feet. 4.Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, the first, and with the last, I am he."

5.The islands have seen, and fear. The ends of the earth tremble. They approach, and come. 6.Everyone helps his neighbor. They say to their brothers, "Be strong!" 7.So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith. He who smoothes with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good;" and he fastens it with nails, that it might not totter. 8."But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend, 9.You whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from its corners, and said to you, 'You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away;' 10.Don't you be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. 11.Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish. 12.You will seek them, and won't find them, even those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as a non-existent thing. 13.For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Don't be afraid. I will help you.' 14.Don't be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you," says Yahweh, "and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. 15.Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff. 16.You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel. 17.The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18.I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. 19.I will put cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oil trees in the wilderness. I will set fir trees, pine, and box trees together in the desert; 20.that they may see, know, consider, and understand together, that the hand of Yahweh has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. 21.Produce your cause," says Yahweh. "Bring forth your strong reasons," says the King of Jacob. 22."Let them announce, and declare to us what shall happen. Declare the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come. 23.Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and see it together. 24.Behold, you are of nothing, and your work is of nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination.

25."I have raised up one from the north, and he has come; from the rising of the sun, one who calls on my name; and he shall come on rulers as on mortar, and as the potter treads clay. 26.Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know? And before, that we may say, 'He is right?' Surely, there is no one who declares. Surely, there is no one who shows. Surely, there is no one who hears your words. 27.I am the first to say to Zion, 'Behold, look at them;' and I will give one who brings good news to Jerusalem. 28.When I look, there is no man; even among them there is no counselor who, when I ask of them, can answer a word. 29.Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion.

 

1John 3

 

1.Behold, how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know him. 2.Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. 3.Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. 4.Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. 5.You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. 6.Whoever remains in him doesn't sin. Whoever sins hasn't seen him, neither knows him.

7.Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8.He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9.Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can't sin, because he is born of God. 10.In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn't do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn't love his brother. 11.For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12.unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous. 13.Don't be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14.We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn't love his brother remains in death. 15.Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

16.By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17.But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart of compassion against him, how does the love of God remain in him? 18.My little children, let's not love in word only, neither with the tongue only, but in deed and truth. 19.And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him, 20.because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21.Beloved, if our hearts don't condemn us, we have boldness toward God; 22.and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. 23.This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded. 24.He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.

 

1John 4

 

1.Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2.By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3.and every spirit who doesn't confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already. 4.You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. 5.They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. 6.We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn't listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

7.Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God. 8.He who doesn't love doesn't know God, for God is love. 9.By this God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10.In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice⁴ for our sins. 11.Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another. 12.No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.

13.By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14.We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. 15.Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. 16.We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17.In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world. 18.There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. 19.We love him, because he first loved us. 20.If a man says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn't love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21.This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.

 

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