Daily Readings for September 7

Daily Readings for September 7
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2Kings 13

1.In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria for seventeen years. 2.He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; he didn't depart from it. 3.The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, continually. 4.Jehoahaz begged Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them. 5.(Yahweh gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel lived in their tents as before. 6.Nevertheless they didn't depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin, but walked therein: and there remained the Asherah also in Samaria.) 7.For he didn't leave to Jehoahaz of the people any more than fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria destroyed them, and made them like the dust in threshing. 8.Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 9.Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his place. 10.In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria for sixteen years. 11.He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh; he didn't depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin; but he walked therein. 12.Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 13.Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat on his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. 14.Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness of which he died: and Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and said, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!"

15.Elisha said to him, "Take bow and arrows;" and he took to him bow and arrows. 16.He said to the king of Israel, "Put your hand on the bow;" and he put his hand on it. Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands. 17.He said, "Open the window eastward;" and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot!" and he shot. He said, "Yahweh's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria; for you shall strike the Syrians in Aphek, until you have consumed them."

18.He said, "Take the arrows;" and he took them. He said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground;" and he struck three times, and stopped. 19.The man of God was angry with him, and said, "You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have struck Syria until you had consumed it, whereas now you shall strike Syria just three times."

20.Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. 21.It happened, as they were burying a man, that behold, they spied a band; and they cast the man into the tomb of Elisha: and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. 22.Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23.But Yahweh was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet. 24.Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his place. 25.Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Joash struck him three times, and recovered the cities of Israel.

Ezekiel 3

1.He said to me, Son of man, eat that which you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. 2.So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the scroll. 3.He said to me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this scroll that I give you. Then I ate it; and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. 4.He said to me, Son of man, go to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them. 5.For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel; 6.not to many peoples of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can not understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. 7.But the house of Israel will not listen to you; for they will not listen to me: for all the house of Israel are obstinate⁵ and hard-hearted. 8.Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. 9.As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: don't be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. 10.Moreover he said to me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. 11.Go to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. 12.Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, [saying], Blessed be the glory of Yahweh from his place. 13.[I heard] the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing. 14.So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me. 15.Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv, that lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. 16.It happened at the end of seven days, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 17.Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18.When I tell the wicked, You shall surely die; and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand. 19.Yet if you warn the wicked, and he doesn't turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. 20.Again, when a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand. 21.Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and you have delivered your soul. 22.The hand of Yahweh was there on me; and he said to me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with you. 23.Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and behold, the glory of Yahweh stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. 24.Then the Spirit entered into me, and set me on my feet; and he spoke with me, and said to me, Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25.But you, son of man, behold, they shall lay bands on you, and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out among them: 26.and I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, that you shall be mute, and shall not be to them a reprover; for they are a rebellious house. 27.But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: He who hears, let him hear; and he who forbears, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.

2Corinthians 10

1.Now I Paul, myself, entreat you by the humility and gentleness of Christ; I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. 2.Yes, I beg you that I may not, when present, show courage with the confidence with which I intend to be bold against some, who consider us to be walking according to the flesh. 3.For though we walk in the flesh, we don't wage war according to the flesh; 4.for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, 5.throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; 6.and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full. 7.Do you look at things only as they appear in front of your face? If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ's, let him consider this again with himself, that, even as he is Christ's, so also we are Christ's. 8.For though I should boast somewhat abundantly concerning our authority, (which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for casting you down) I will not be disappointed, 9.that I may not seem as if I desire to terrify you by my letters. 10.For, "His letters," they say, "are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised." 11.Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such are we also in deed when we are present. 12.For we are not bold to number or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But they themselves, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding. 13.But we will not boast beyond proper limits, but within the boundaries with which God appointed to us, which reach even to you. 14.For we don't stretch ourselves too much, as though we didn't reach to you. For we came even as far as to you with the Good News of Christ, 15.not boasting beyond proper limits in other men's labors, but having hope that as your faith grows, we will be abundantly enlarged by you in our sphere of influence, 16.so as to preach the Good News even to the parts beyond you, not to boast in what someone else has already done. 17.But "he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord."¹⁰ 18.For it isn't he who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

2Corinthians 11

1.I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you do bear with me. 2.For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I married you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3.But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4.For if he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if you receive a different spirit, which you did not receive, or a different "good news", which you did not accept, you put up with that well enough. 5.For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles. 6.But though I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not unskilled in knowledge. No, in every way we have been revealed to you in all things. 7.Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God's Good News free of charge? 8.I robbed other assemblies, taking wages from them that I might serve you. 9.When I was present with you and was in need, I wasn't a burden on anyone, for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my need. In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so. 10.As the truth of Christ is in me, no one will stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia. 11.Why? Because I don't love you? God knows. 12.But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them that desire an occasion, that in which they boast, they may be found even as we. 13.For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ's apostles. 14.And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. 15.It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

16.I say again, let no one think me foolish. But if so, yet receive me as foolish, that I also may boast a little. 17.That which I speak, I don't speak according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. 18.Seeing that many boast after the flesh, I will also boast. 19.For you bear with the foolish gladly, being wise. 20.For you bear with a man, if he brings you into bondage, if he devours you, if he takes you captive, if he exalts himself, if he strikes you on the face. 21.I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet however any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also. 22.Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. 23.Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I am more so; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often. 24.Five times from the Jews I received forty stripes minus one. 25.Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep. 26.I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brothers; 27.in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.

28.Besides those things that are outside, there is that which presses on me daily, anxiety for all the assemblies. 29.Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I don't burn with indignation? 30.If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness. 31.The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forevermore, knows that I don't lie. 32.In Damascus the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes desiring to arrest me. 33.Through a window I was let down in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hands.