Daily Readings for August 8

Daily Readings for August 8
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1Kings 2

1.Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2."I am going the way of all the earth. You be strong therefore, and show yourself a man; 3.and keep the instruction of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself. 4.That Yahweh may establish his word which he spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you,' he said, 'a man on the throne of Israel.'

5."Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his sash that was about his waist, and in his shoes that were on his feet. 6.Do therefore according to your wisdom, and don't let his gray head go down to Sheol³ in peace. 7.But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those who eat at your table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.

8."Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Yahweh, saying, 'I will not put you to death with the sword.' 9.Now therefore don't hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man; and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down to Sheol⁴ with blood." 10.David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. 11.The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12.Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was firmly established. 13.Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. She said, "Do you come peaceably?"

He said, "Peaceably. 14.He said moreover, I have something to tell you."

She said, "Say on."

15.He said, "You know that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign. However the kingdom is turned around, and has become my brother's; for it was his from Yahweh. 16.Now I ask one petition of you. Don't deny me."

She said to him, "Say on." 17.He said, "Please speak to Solomon the king (for he will not tell you 'no'), that he give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife."

18.Bathsheba said, "Alright. I will speak for you to the king."

19.Bathsheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand. 20.Then she said, "I ask one small petition of you; don't deny me."

The king said to her, "Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny you."

21.She said, "Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife."

22.King Solomon answered his mother, "Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah." 23.Then king Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, "God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life. 24.Now therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day."

25.King Solomon sent by Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he died. 26.To Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go to Anathoth, to your own fields; for you are worthy of death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord⁵ Yahweh before David my father, and because you were afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted." 27.So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh, that he might fulfill the word of Yahweh, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

28.The news came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he didn't turn after Absalom. Joab fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. 29.It was told king Solomon, "Joab has fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and behold, he is by the altar." Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, fall on him."

30.Benaiah came to the Tent of Yahweh, and said to him, "Thus says the king, 'Come forth!'"

He said, "No; but I will die here."

Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, "Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me."

31.The king said to him, "Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father's house. 32.Yahweh will return his blood on his own head, because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David didn't know it: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah. 33.So shall their blood return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever. But to David, and to his seed, and to his house, and to his throne, there shall be peace forever from Yahweh."

34.Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell on him, and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35.The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his place over the army; and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar. 36.The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and don't go out from there anywhere. 37.For on the day you go out, and pass over the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall surely die: your blood shall be on your own head."

38.Shimei said to the king, "The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do." Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

39.It happened at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, "Behold, your servants are in Gath."

40.Shimei arose, and saddled his donkey, and went to Gath to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath. 41.It was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and had come again.

42.The king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, "Didn't I adjure you by Yahweh, and warn you, saying, 'Know for certain, that on the day you go out, and walk abroad any where, you shall surely die?' You said to me, 'The saying that I have heard is good.' 43.Why then have you not kept the oath of Yahweh, and the commandment that I have instructed you with?" 44.The king said moreover to Shimei, "You know all the wickedness which your heart is privy to, that you did to David my father. Therefore Yahweh shall return your wickedness on your own head. 45.But king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before Yahweh forever." 46.So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out, and fell on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.

Jeremiah 29

1.Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, 2.(after that Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the eunuchs, [and] the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem), 3.by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), saying, 4.Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, to all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5.Build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat their fruit. 6.Take wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and don't be diminished. 7.Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you shall have peace. 8.For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Don't let your prophets who are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9.For they prophesy falsely to you in my name: I have not sent them, says Yahweh. 10.For thus says Yahweh, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11.For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. 12.You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13.You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart. 14.I will be found by you, says Yahweh, and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh; and I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive. 15.Because you have said, Yahweh has raised us up prophets in Babylon; 16.thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven't gone forth with you into captivity; 17.thus says Yahweh of Armies; Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can't be eaten, they are so bad. 18.I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them; 19.because they have not listened to my words, says Yahweh, with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear, says Yahweh. 20.Hear therefore the word of Yahweh, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21.Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall kill them before your eyes; 22.and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; 23.because they have worked folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn't command them; and I am he who knows, and am witness, says Yahweh. 24.Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying, 25.Thus speaks Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, saying, Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26.Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in the house of Yahweh, for every man who is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles. 27.Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you, 28.because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, [The captivity] is long: build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat their fruit? 29.Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. 30.Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah, saying, 31.Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn't send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie; 32.therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed; he shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall he see the good that I will do to my people, says Yahweh, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.

Mark 3

1.He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had his hand withered. 2.They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him. 3.He said to the man who had his hand withered, "Stand up." 4.He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?" But they were silent. 5.When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other. 6.The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

7.Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples, and a great multitude followed him from Galilee, from Judea, 8.from Jerusalem, from Idumaea, beyond the Jordan, and those from around Tyre and Sidon. A great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came to him. 9.He spoke to his disciples that a little boat should stay near him because of the crowd, so that they wouldn't press on him. 10.For he had healed many, so that as many as had diseases pressed on him that they might touch him. 11.The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, "You are the Son of God!" 12.He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.

13.He went up into the mountain, and called to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him. 14.He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach, 15.and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16.Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; 17.James the son of Zebedee; John, the brother of James, and he surnamed them Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder; 18.Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot; 19.and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

He came into a house. 20.The multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21.When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him: for they said, "He is insane." 22.The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebul," and, "By the prince of the demons he casts out the demons."

23.He summoned them, and said to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? 24.If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25.If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26.If Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he can't stand, but has an end. 27.But no one can enter into the house of the strong man to plunder, unless he first binds the strong man; and then he will plunder his house. 28.Most certainly I tell you, all sins of the descendants of man will be forgiven, including their blasphemies with which they may blaspheme; 29.but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" 30.--because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."

31.His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him, calling him. 32.A multitude was sitting around him, and they told him, "Behold, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters⁵ are outside looking for you."

33.He answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" 34.Looking around at those who sat around him, he said, "Behold, my mother and my brothers! 35.For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother."