Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Daily Bible Readings June 30, 2015

2 Samuel 1:1Common English Bible (CEB)

David learns of Saul’s death

1 After Saul’s death, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, he stayed in Ziklag two days.

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

2 Samuel 1:17-27Common English Bible (CEB)

David mourns Saul and Jonathan

17 Then David sang this funeral song[a] for Saul and his son Jonathan. 18 David ordered everyone in Judah to learn the Song of the Bow.[b] (In fact, it is written in the scroll from Jashar.)

19 Oh, no, Israel! Your prince[c] lies dead on your heights.[d]
    Look how the mighty warriors have fallen!
20 Don’t talk about it in Gath;
        don’t bring news of it to Ashkelon’s streets,
    or else the Philistines’ daughters will rejoice;
    the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate.
21 You hills of Gilboa!
    Let there be no dew or rain on you,
    and no fields yielding grain offerings.[e]
Because it was there that the mighty warrior’s[f] shield was defiled—
    the shield of Saul!—never again anointed with oil.
22 Jonathan’s bow never wavered from the blood of the slain,
    from the gore of the warriors.
        Never did Saul’s sword return empty.
23 Saul and Jonathan! So well loved, so dearly cherished!
    In their lives and in their deaths they were never separated.
They were faster than eagles,
    stronger than lions!
24 Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul!
    He dressed you in crimson with jewels;
    he decorated your clothes with gold jewelry.
25 Look how the mighty warriors have fallen in the midst of battle!
    Jonathan lies dead on your heights.
26 I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan!
    You were so dear to me!
    Your love was more amazing to me[g] than the love of women.
27 Look how the mighty warriors have fallen!
    Look how the weapons of war have been destroyed!

Footnotes:

2 Samuel 1:17 Or lament
2 Samuel 1:18 Heb lacks Song.
2 Samuel 1:19 Or gazelle or splendor or splendid one
2 Samuel 1:19 Correction
2 Samuel 1:21 Heb uncertain, perhaps bountiful fields; alternatively, with LXXL, fields of death, or with correction and no springs from the deep
2 Samuel 1:21 Or warriors’ (plural)
2 Samuel 1:26 Or your love (or care; cf 1 Sam 18:1, 3; 20:17) for me was more amazing

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Monday, June 29, 2015

Daily Bible Readings June 29, 2015

1 Samuel 8:4-22Common English Bible (CEB)

4 So all the Israelite elders got together and went to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “Listen. You are old now, and your sons don’t follow in your footsteps. So appoint us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”6 It seemed very bad to Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” so he prayed to the Lord.

7 The Lord answered Samuel, “Comply with the people’s request—everything they ask of you—because they haven’t rejected you. No, they’ve rejected me as king over them. 8 They are doing to you only what they’ve been doing to me[a] from the day I brought them out of Egypt to this very minute, abandoning me and worshipping other gods. 9 So comply with their request, but give them a clear warning, telling them how the king will rule over them.”[b]

10 Then Samuel explained everything the Lord had said to the people who were asking for a king. 11 “This is how the king will rule over you,” Samuel said:

“He will take your sons, and will use them for his chariots and his cavalry and as runners for his chariot. 12 He will use them as his commanders of troops of one thousand and troops of fifty, or to do his plowing and his harvesting, or to make his weapons or parts for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, or bakers. 14 He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves and give them to his servants. 15 He will give one-tenth of your grain and your vineyards to his officials and servants. 16 He will take your male and female servants, along with the best of your cattle[c] and donkeys, and make them do his work. 17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and then you yourselves will become his slaves! 18 When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you chose for yourselves, but on that day the Lordwon’t answer you.”

19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel and said, “No! There must be a king over us 20 so we can be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us and fight our battles.”

21 Samuel listened to everything the people said and repeated it directly to the Lord. 22 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Comply with their request. Give them a king.”

Samuel then told the Israelite people, “Go back, each of you, to your own hometown.”

Footnotes:

1 Samuel 8:8 LXX; MT lacks to me.
1 Samuel 8:9 Or telling them the lawful practice of the king; also in 8:11; cf 10:25.
1 Samuel 8:16 LXX; MT young men

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Daily Bible Readings June 28, 2015

John 2:1-12Common English Bible (CEB)

Wedding at Cana

2 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and 2 Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They don’t have any wine.”

4 Jesus replied, “Woman, what does that have to do with me? My time hasn’t come yet.”

5 His mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby were six stone water jars used for the Jewish cleansing ritual, each able to hold about twenty or thirty gallons.

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some from them and take it to the headwaiter,” and they did. 9 The headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine. He didn’t know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.

The headwaiter called the groom 10 and said, “Everyone serves the good wine first. They bring out the second-rate wine only when the guests are drinking freely. You kept the good wine until now.” 11 This was the first miraculous sign that Jesus did in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

12 After this, Jesus and his mother, his brothers, and his disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed there for a few days.

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Daily Bible Readings June 27, 2015

John 2:1-12Common English Bible (CEB)

Wedding at Cana

4 Jesus replied, “Woman, what does that have to do with me? My time hasn’t come yet.”

5 His mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby were six stone water jars used for the Jewish cleansing ritual, each able to hold about twenty or thirty gallons.

12 After this, Jesus and his mother, his brothers, and his disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed there for a few days.

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Friday, June 26, 2015

Daily Bible Readings June 26,2015

Mark 4:35-41Common English Bible (CEB)

Jesus stops a storm

35 Later that day, when evening came, Jesus said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” 36 They left the crowd and took him in the boat just as he was. Other boats followed along.

37 Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?”

39 He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. 40 Jesus asked them, “Why are you frightened? Don’t you have faith yet?”

41 Overcome with awe, they said to each other, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Daily Bible Readings June 25, 2015

2 Corinthians 6:1-13Common English Bible (CEB)

6 1 Since we work together with him, we are also begging you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 He says, I listened to you at the right time, and I helped you on the day of salvation.[a] Look, now is the right time! Look, now is the day of salvation!

3 We don’t give anyone any reason to be offended about anything so that our ministry won’t be criticized. 4 Instead, we commend ourselves as ministers of God in every way. We did this with our great endurance through problems, disasters, and stressful situations. 5 We went through beatings, imprisonments, and riots. We experienced hard work, sleepless nights, and hunger. 6 We displayed purity, knowledge, patience, and generosity. We served with the Holy Spirit, genuine love, 7 telling the truth, and God’s power. We carried the weapons of righteousness in our right hand and our left hand.8 We were treated with honor and dishonor and with verbal abuse and good evaluation. We were seen as both fake and real, 9 as unknown and well known, as dying—and look, we are alive! We were seen as punished but not killed, 10 as going through pain but always happy, as poor but making many rich, and as having nothing but owning everything.

Call to relationship and holiness

11 Corinthians, we have spoken openly to you, and our hearts are wide open.12 There are no limits to the affection that we feel for you. You are the ones who placed boundaries on your affection for us. 13 But as a fair trade—I’m talking to you like you are children—open your hearts wide too.

Footnotes:

2 Corinthians 6:2 Isa 49:8

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Daily Bible Readings June 24, 2015

Psalm 9:9-20Common English Bible (CEB)

9 The Lord is a safe place for the oppressed—
    a safe place in difficult times.
10 Those who know your name trust you
    because you have not abandoned
    any who seek you, Lord.

11 Sing praises to the Lord, who lives in Zion!
    Proclaim his mighty acts among all people!
12 Because the one who avenges bloodshed
    remembers those who suffer;
    the Lord hasn’t forgotten their cries for help.

13 Have mercy on me, Lord!
    Just look how I suffer
    because of those who hate me.
But you are the one who brings me back
    from the very gates of death

        so I can rejoice in your salvation
        in the gates of Daughter Zion.

15 The nations have fallen
    into the hole they themselves made!
    Their feet are caught
        in the very net they themselves hid!
16 The Lord is famous for the justice he has done;
    it’s his own doing that the wicked are trapped. Higgayon.[a] Selah

17 Let the wicked go straight to the grave,[b]
the same for every nation that forgets God.

18 Because the poor won’t be forgotten forever,
the hope of those who suffer won’t be lost for all time.

19 Get up, Lord! Don’t let people prevail!
Let the nations be judged before you.
20 Strike them with fear, Lord.
Let the nations know they are only human. Selah

Footnotes:

Psalm 9:16 Heb uncertain; or recitation (see Pss 1:2; 19:14) or melody (see Ps 92:3).
Psalm 9:17 Heb Sheol

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permission