the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Daily Bible Reading
June 21 - Bible-in-a-Year
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2 Samuel 14
Chapter 14
Absalom Restored to David
1 Joab son of Zeruiah observed that the king's mind was on Absalom. 2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa(a) to bring a clever(b) woman from there. He told her, "Pretend to be in mourning: dress in mourning clothes and don't put on any oil.(c) Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time. 3 Go to the king and speak these words to him." Then Joab told her exactly what to say.
4 When the woman from Tekoa came[a] to the king, she fell with her face to the ground in homage and said, "Help me, my king!"
5 "What's the matter?" the king asked her.
"To tell the truth, I am a widow; my husband died," she said.(d) 6 "Your servant had two sons. They were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. 7 Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant and said, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother so we may put him to death for the life of the brother he murdered. We will destroy the heir!' They would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband's name or posterity on earth."
8 The king told the woman, "Go home. I will issue a command on your behalf."
9 Then the woman of Tekoa said to the king, "My lord the king, may any blame be on me(e) and my father's house, and may the king and his throne be innocent."
10 "Whoever speaks to you," the king said, "bring him to me. He will not trouble you again!"
11 She replied, "Please, may the king invoke the Lord your God, so that the avenger of blood will not increase the loss, and they will not eliminate my son!"(f)
"As the Lord lives," he vowed, "not a hair of your son will fall to the ground."(g)
12 Then the woman said, "Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?"
"Speak," he replied.
13 The woman asked, "Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one. 14 We will certainly die(h) and be like water poured out on the ground, which can't be recovered. But God would not take away a life; He would devise plans so that the one banished from Him does not remain banished.
15 "Now therefore, I've come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought: I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant's request. 16 The king will surely listen in order to rescue his servant from the hand of this man who would eliminate both me and my son from God's inheritance. 17 Your servant thought: May the word of my lord the king bring relief, for my lord the king is able to discern the good and the bad like the Angel of God. May the Lord your God be with you."
18 Then the king answered the woman, "I'm going to ask you something; don't conceal it from me!"
"Let my lord the king speak," the woman replied.
19 The king asked, "Did Joab put you up to[b] all this?"
The woman answered. "As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or left from all my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave orders to me; he told your servant exactly what to say. 20 Joab your servant has done this to address the issue indirectly,[c] but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the Angel of God, knowing everything on earth."
21 Then the king said to Joab, "I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the young man Absalom."
22 Joab fell with his face to the ground in homage and praised the king. "Today," Joab said, "your servant knows I have found favor with you, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your servant."
23 So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom(i) to Jerusalem. 24 However, the king added, "He may return to his house, but he may not see my face." So Absalom returned to his house, but he did not see the king.[d]
25 No man in all Israel was as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw. 26 When he shaved his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off—he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds[e] according to the royal standard.
27 Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman. 28 Absalom resided in Jerusalem two years but never saw the king. 29 Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab was unwilling to come. So he sent again, a second time, but he still wouldn't come. 30 Then Absalom said to his servants, "See, Joab has a field right next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set fire to it!" So Absalom's servants set the field on fire.[f]
31 Then Joab came to Absalom's house and demanded, "Why did your servants set my field on fire?"
32 "Look," Absalom explained to Joab, "I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? I'd be better off if I were still there.' So now, let me see the king. If I am guilty, let him kill me."
33 Joab went to the king and told him. So David summoned Absalom, who came to the king and bowed down with his face to the ground before him. Then the king kissed Absalom.
Daniel 8
Chapter 8
The Vision of a Ram and a Goat
1 In the third year of King Belshazzar's(a) reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me earlier.(b) 2 I saw the vision, and as I watched, I was in the fortress city of Susa,(c) in the province of Elam.(d) I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal. 3 I looked up,[a] and there was a ram(e) standing beside the canal. He had two horns. The two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up last. 4 I saw the ram charging to the west, the north, and the south.(f) No animal could stand against him, and there was no rescue from his power. He did whatever he wanted(g) and became great.
5 As I was observing, a male goat appeared, coming from the west across the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground. The goat had a conspicuous horn[b] between his eyes.(h) 6 He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with savage fury. 7 I saw him approaching the ram, and infuriated with him, he struck the ram, shattering his two horns, and the ram was not strong enough to stand against him. The goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and there was no one to rescue the ram from his power. 8 Then the male goat became very great,(i) but when he became powerful, the large horn was shattered.(j) Four conspicuous horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.(k)
The Little Horn
9 From one of them a little horn(l) emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land.[c](m) 10 It grew as high as the heavenly host, made some of the stars and some of the host fall to the earth,(n) and trampled them.(o) 11 It made itself great,(p) even up to the Prince of the host;(q) it removed His daily sacrifice(r) and overthrew the place of His sanctuary. 12 Because of rebellion, a host, together with the daily sacrifice, will be given over. The horn will throw truth to the ground and will be successful(s) in whatever it does.
13 Then I heard a holy one speaking,(t) and another holy one said to the speaker, "How long will the events of this vision last(u)—the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?"(v)
14 He said to me,[d] "For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be restored."
Interpretation of the Vision
15 While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me someone who appeared to be a man.(w) 16 I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai: "Gabriel,(x) explain the vision to this man."
17 So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell facedown.(y) "Son of man," he said to me, "understand that the vision refers to the time of the end."(z) 18 While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep,(aa) with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, made me stand up,(ab) 19 and said, "I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end.(ac) 20 The two-horned ram(ad) that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king.[e] 22 The four horns that took the place of the shattered horn represent four kingdoms. They will rise from that nation, but without its power.
23 Near the end of their kingdoms,
when the rebels have reached
the full measure of their sin,[f]
an insolent king, skilled in intrigue,[g]
will come to the throne.
24 His power will be great,
but it will not be his own.
He will cause terrible destruction(ae)
and succeed in whatever he does.
He will destroy the powerful
along with the holy people.(af)
25 He will cause deceit to prosper
through his cunning and by his influence,
and in his own mind he will make himself great.
He will destroy many in a time of peace;
he will even stand against the Prince of princes.
Yet he will be shattered—not by human hands.(ag)
26 The vision of the evenings and the mornings
that has been told is true.
Now you must seal up the vision(ah)
because it refers to many days in the future."
27 I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days.(ai) Then I got up and went about the king's business.(aj) I was greatly disturbed by the vision and could not understand it.
Mark 5:21-43
Chapter 5
21 When(ag) Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a large crowd(ah) gathered around Him while He was by the sea. 22 One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus,(ai) came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet(aj) 23 and kept begging Him, "My little daughter is at death's door.[g] Come and lay Your hands on(ak) her so she can get well(al) and live."
24 So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against Him. 25 A woman suffering from bleeding(am) for 12 years 26 had endured(an) much under many doctors.(ao) She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. 27 Having heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched(ap) His robe.(aq) 28 For she said, "If I can just touch His robes, I'll be made well!"(ar) 29 Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured(as) of her affliction.
30 At once Jesus realized in Himself that power(at) had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd(au) and said, "Who touched My robes?" (av)
31 His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing against You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?' "
32 So He was looking around to see who had done this. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came with fear and trembling, fell down(aw) before Him, and told Him the whole truth.(ax) 34 "Daughter," He said to her, "your faith(ay) has made you well. [h](az) Go in peace and be free [i](ba) from your affliction." (bb)
35 While He was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader's house and said, "Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher(bc) anymore?"
36 But when Jesus overheard what was said, He told the synagogue leader, "Don't be afraid.(bd) Only believe." 37 He did not let anyone accompany Him except Peter,(be) James,(bf) and John,(bg) James's brother. 38 They came to the leader's house, and He saw a commotion—people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, "Why are you making a commotion and weeping?(bh) The child(bi) is not dead but asleep." (bj)
40 They started laughing at Him, but He put them all outside. He took the child's father,(bk) mother, and those who were with Him, and entered the place where the child was. 41 Then He took the child(bl) by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" [j] (which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" (bm)). 42 Immediately the girl got up(bn) and began to walk.(bo) (She was 12 years old.) At this they were utterly astounded.(bp) 43 Then He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this(bq) and said that she should be given something to eat.
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