September 23 Reading

2:1 After this David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

When they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,” David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by the LORD, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him. Now may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim, and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel. Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is at Gibeon. And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle. And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.

But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill. Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?” And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning.” So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore.

And Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole morning, they came to Mahanaim. Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David’s servants nineteen men besides Asahel. But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner’s men. And they took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. And Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.

3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison).

Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

A Maskil of Asaph.

78:1   Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
  I will open my mouth in a parable;
    I will utter dark sayings from of old,
  things that we have heard and known,
    that our fathers have told us.
  We will not hide them from their children,
    but tell to the coming generation
  the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
    and the wonders that he has done.
  He established a testimony in Jacob
    and appointed a law in Israel,
  which he commanded our fathers
    to teach to their children,
  that the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
  and arise and tell them to their children,
    so that they should set their hope in God
  and not forget the works of God,
    but keep his commandments;
  and that they should not be like their fathers,
    a stubborn and rebellious generation,
  a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God.
  The Ephraimites, armed with the bow,
    turned back on the day of battle.
  They did not keep God’s covenant,
    but refused to walk according to his law.
  They forgot his works
    and the wonders that he had shown them.
  In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
  He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
    and made the waters stand like a heap.
  In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
    and all the night with a fiery light.
  He split rocks in the wilderness
    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
  He made streams come out of the rock
    and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
  Yet they sinned still more against him,
    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
  They tested God in their heart
    by demanding the food they craved.
  They spoke against God, saying,
    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
  He struck the rock so that water gushed out
    and streams overflowed.
  Can he also give bread
    or provide meat for his people?”
  Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;
    a fire was kindled against Jacob;
    his anger rose against Israel,
  because they did not believe in God
    and did not trust his saving power.
  Yet he commanded the skies above
    and opened the doors of heaven,
  and he rained down on them manna to eat
    and gave them the grain of heaven.
  Man ate of the bread of the angels;
    he sent them food in abundance.
  He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
    and by his power he led out the south wind;
  he rained meat on them like dust,
    winged birds like the sand of the seas;
  he let them fall in the midst of their camp,
    all around their dwellings.
  And they ate and were well filled,
    for he gave them what they craved.
  But before they had satisfied their craving,
    while the food was still in their mouths,
  the anger of God rose against them,
    and he killed the strongest of them
    and laid low the young men of Israel.
  In spite of all this, they still sinned;
    despite his wonders, they did not believe.
  So he made their days vanish like a breath,
    and their years in terror.
  When he killed them, they sought him;
    they repented and sought God earnestly.
  They remembered that God was their rock,
    the Most High God their redeemer.
  But they flattered him with their mouths;
    they lied to him with their tongues.
  Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
  Yet he, being compassionate,
    atoned for their iniquity
    and did not destroy them;
  he restrained his anger often
    and did not stir up all his wrath.
  He remembered that they were but flesh,
    a wind that passes and comes not again.
  How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
    and grieved him in the desert!
  They tested God again and again
    and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
  They did not remember his power
    or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
  when he performed his signs in Egypt
    and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.
  He turned their rivers to blood,
    so that they could not drink of their streams.
  He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
    and frogs, which destroyed them.
  He gave their crops to the destroying locust
    and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
  He destroyed their vines with hail
    and their sycamores with frost.
  He gave over their cattle to the hail
    and their flocks to thunderbolts.
  He let loose on them his burning anger,
    wrath, indignation, and distress,
    a company of destroying angels.
  He made a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death,
    but gave their lives over to the plague.
  He struck down every firstborn in Egypt,
    the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
  Then he led out his people like sheep
    and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
  He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,
    but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
  And he brought them to his holy land,
    to the mountain which his right hand had won.
  He drove out nations before them;
    he apportioned them for a possession
    and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
  Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God
    and did not keep his testimonies,
  but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
    they twisted like a deceitful bow.
  For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
    they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
  When God heard, he was full of wrath,
    and he utterly rejected Israel.
  He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,
    the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
  and delivered his power to captivity,
    his glory to the hand of the foe.
  He gave his people over to the sword
    and vented his wrath on his heritage.
  Fire devoured their young men,
    and their young women had no marriage song.
  Their priests fell by the sword,
    and their widows made no lamentation.
  Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
    like a strong man shouting because of wine.
  And he put his adversaries to rout;
    he put them to everlasting shame.
  He rejected the tent of Joseph;
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
  but he chose the tribe of Judah,
    Mount Zion, which he loves.
  He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
    like the earth, which he has founded forever.
  He chose David his servant
    and took him from the sheepfolds;
  from following the nursing ewes he brought him
    to shepherd Jacob his people,
    Israel his inheritance.
  With upright heart he shepherded them
    and guided them with his skillful hand.