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Daily Readings for August 27
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1Kings 22
1.They continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. 2.It happened in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. 3.The king of Israel said to his servants, "You know that Ramoth Gilead is ours, and we are still, and don't take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?" 4.He said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to battle to Ramoth Gilead?"
Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." 5.Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Please inquire first for the word of Yahweh."
6.Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?"
They said, "Go up; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king."
7.But Jehoshaphat said, "Isn't there here a prophet of Yahweh, that we may inquire of him?"
8.The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him; for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil."
Jehoshaphat said, "Don't let the king say so."
9.Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, "Quickly get Micaiah the son of Imlah."
10.Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11.Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said, "Thus says Yahweh, 'With these you shall push the Syrians, until they are consumed.'" 12.All the prophets prophesied so, saying, "Go up to Ramoth Gilead, and prosper; for Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king."
13.The messenger who went to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, "See now, the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak good."
14.Micaiah said, "As Yahweh lives, what Yahweh says to me, that I will speak."
15.When he had come to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall we forbear?"
He answered him, "Go up and prosper; and Yahweh will deliver it into the hand of the king." 16.The king said to him, "How many times do I have to adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of Yahweh?"
17.He said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. Yahweh said, 'These have no master. Let them each return to his house in peace.'"
18.The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?"
19.Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. 20.Yahweh said, 'Who shall entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?' One said one thing; and another said another. 21.A spirit came out and stood before Yahweh, and said, 'I will entice him.' 22.Yahweh said to him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' He said, 'You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.' 23.Now therefore, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and Yahweh has spoken evil concerning you."
24.Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, "Which way did the Spirit of Yahweh go from me to speak to you?"
25.Micaiah said, "Behold, you will see on that day, when you go into an inner room to hide yourself."
26.The king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son. 27.Say, 'Thus says the king, "Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace."'"
28.Micaiah said, "If you return at all in peace, Yahweh has not spoken by me." He said, "Listen, all you people!"
29.So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 30.The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but you put on your robes." The king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
31.Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel. 32.It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, "Surely that is the king of Israel!" and they turned aside to fight against him. Jehoshaphat cried out. 33.It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. 34.A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn your hand, and carry me out of the battle; for I am severely wounded." 35.The battle increased that day. The king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. 36.A cry went throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, "Every man to his city, and every man to his country!"
37.So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria. 38.They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood where the prostitutes washed themselves; according to the word of Yahweh which he spoke.
39.Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities that he built, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 40.So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. 41.Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 42.Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43.He walked in all the way of Asa his father; He didn't turn aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh: however the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places. 44.Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. 45.Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 46.The remnant of the sodomites, that remained in the days of his father Asa, he put away out of the land. 47.There was no king in Edom: a deputy was king. 48.Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they didn't go; for the ships were broken at Ezion Geber. 49.Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships." But Jehoshaphat would not. 50.Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 51.Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. 52.He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in which he made Israel to sin. 53.He served Baal, and worshiped him, and provoked to anger Yahweh, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
Jeremiah 49
1.Of the children of Ammon. Thus says Yahweh: Has Israel no sons? has he no heir? why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people well in its cities? 2.Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those who possessed him, says Yahweh. 3.Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, clothe yourself in sackcloth: lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together. 4.Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? who trusted in her treasures, [saying], Who shall come to me? 5.Behold, I will bring a fear on you, says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, from all who are around you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives. 6.But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon, says Yahweh. 7.Of Edom. Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished? 8.Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him. 9.If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, wouldn't they destroy until they had enough? 10.But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more. 11.Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me. 12.For thus says Yahweh: Behold, they to whom it didn't pertain to drink of the cup shall certainly drink; and are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink. 13.For I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes. 14.I have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, [saying], Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. 15.For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men. 16.As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says Yahweh. 17.Edom shall become an astonishment: everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues. 18.As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities of it, says Yahweh, no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein. 19.Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like me? and who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd who will stand before me? 20.Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them. 21.The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea4. 22.Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. 23.Of Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it can't be quiet. 24.Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail. 25.How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy? 26.Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh of Armies. 27.I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben Hadad. 28.Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. Thus says Yahweh: Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east. 29.Their tents and their flocks shall they take; they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, Terror on every side! 30.Flee, wander far off, dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor, says Yahweh; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you. 31.Arise, go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care, says Yahweh; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone. 32.Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners [of their hair] cut off; and I will bring their calamity from every side of them, says Yahweh. 33.Hazor shall be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein. 34.The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 35.Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. 36.On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come. 37.I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life; and I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger, says Yahweh; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them; 38.and I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes, says Yahweh. 39.But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, says Yahweh.
1Corinthians 8
1.Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2.But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn't yet know as he ought to know. 3.But if anyone loves God, the same is known by him. 4.Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5.For though there are things that are called "gods," whether in the heavens or on earth; as there are many "gods" and many "lords;" 6.yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him. 7.However, that knowledge isn't in all men. But some, with consciousness of the idol until now, eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8.But food will not commend us to God. For neither, if we don't eat, are we the worse; nor, if we eat, are we the better. 9.But be careful that by no means does this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to the weak. 10.For if a man sees you who have knowledge sitting in an idol's temple, won't his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols? 11.And through your knowledge, he who is weak perishes, the brother for whose sake Christ died. 12.Thus, sinning against the brothers, and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13.Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will eat no meat forevermore, that I don't cause my brother to stumble.
1Corinthians 9
1.Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren't you my work in the Lord? 2.If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 3.My defense to those who examine me is this. 4.Have we no right to eat and to drink? 5.Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? 6.Or have only Barnabas and I no right to not work? 7.What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn't eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn't drink from the flock's milk? 8.Do I speak these things according to the ways of men? Or doesn't the law also say the same thing? 9.For it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain."10 Is it for the oxen that God cares, 10.or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope. 11.If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your fleshly things? 12.If others partake of this right over you, don't we yet more? Nevertheless we did not use this right, but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the Good News of Christ. 13.Don't you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar? 14.Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News should live from the Good News. 15.But I have used none of these things, and I don't write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone should make my boasting void. 16.For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about; for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me, if I don't preach the Good News. 17.For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. 18.What then is my reward? That, when I preach the Good News, I may present the Good News of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Good News. 19.For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. 20.To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law; 21.to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law. 22.To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. 23.Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it. 24.Don't you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win. 25.Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. 26.I therefore run like that, as not uncertainly. I fight like that, as not beating the air, 27.but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.