Bible Reading Plan

1 Kings 22

Chapter 22

Ahab's Third Campaign against Aram

¹ Now ^(F1)three years passed without war between Aram and Israel.^2 (C1)In the third year, ^(C2)Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.³ Now the king of Israel said to his servants, "Are you aware that ^(C1)Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, yet we are hesitant to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?"⁴ So he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go to battle with me at Ramoth-gilead?" And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "^(F1)(C1)Consider me yours, my people yours, and my horses yours!"

⁵ However, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Please request the word of the LORD ^(F1)first."⁶ So ^(C1)the king of Israel assembled the ^(F1)prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Should I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead or should I refrain?" And they said, "Go up, for the Lord will hand it over to the king."⁷ But ^(C1)Jehoshaphat said, "Is there no longer a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of him?"⁸ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy anything good regarding me, but only bad. He is Micaiah the son of Imlah." But Jehoshaphat said, "May the king not say so."⁹ Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah quickly."¹⁰ Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting, each on his throne, dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and ^(C1)all the prophets were prophesying before them.¹¹ Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made ^(C1)horns of iron for himself and said, "This is what the LORD says: '^(C2)With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed!'"¹² All the prophets were prophesying this as well, saying, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and succeed, for the LORD will hand it over to the king."

Micaiah Predicts Defeat

¹³ Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, "Behold now, the words of the prophets are ^(F1)unanimously favorable to the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably."¹⁴ But Micaiah said, "^(C1)As the LORD lives, whatever ^(C2)the LORD says to me, I shall speak it."

¹⁵ When he came to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, should we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?" And he said, "^(C1)Go up and succeed, for the LORD will hand it over to the king!"¹⁶ Then the king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear that you will tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"¹⁷ So he said,

"I saw all Israel
Scattered on the mountains,
^(C1)Like sheep that have no shepherd.
And the LORD said,
'These people have no master.
Each of them is to return to his house in peace.'"

¹⁹ And Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. ^(C1)I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and ^(C2)all the ^(F1)angels of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.²⁰ "And the LORD said, 'Who will ^(F1)entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one spirit said this, while another said that.²¹ "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, 'I will ^(F1)entice him.'²² "And the LORD said to him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and ^(C1)be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You shall ^(F1)entice him, and you will also prevail. Go and do so.'²³ "Now then, behold, ^(C1)the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours; and the LORD has declared disaster against you."

²⁴ Then ^(C1)Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah approached and struck Micaiah on the cheek; and he said, "^(C2)How did the Spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak to you?"²⁵ And Micaiah said, "Behold, you are going to see how on that day when you ^(C1)go from one inner room to ^(F1)another trying to hide yourself."²⁶ Then the king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;²⁷ and say, 'This is what the king says: "^(C1)Put this man in prison, and feed him enough bread and water to survive until I ^(F1)return safely."'"²⁸ But Micaiah said, "^(C1)If you actually return ^(F1)safely, the LORD has not spoken by me." And he said, "^(C2)Listen, all you people!"

Defeat and Death of Ahab

²⁹ So ^(C1)the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead.³⁰ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "^(C1)I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.³¹ Now ^(C1)the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two commanders of his chariots, saying, "Do not fight with the small or great, but only with the king of Israel."³² So when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "Surely he is the king of Israel!" And they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out.³³ Then, when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

³⁴ Now one man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel ^(F1)in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn ^(F2)around and take me out of the battle, ^(C1)for I am severely wounded."³⁵ The battle ^(F1)raged on that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot in front of the Arameans, and he died at evening, and the blood from the wound ran into the bottom of the chariot.^36 (C1)Then the word passed throughout the army close to sunset, saying, "Every man to his city, and every man to his ^(F1)country!"

³⁷ So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria.³⁸ They washed out the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (it was there that the prostitutes bathed themselves) ^(C1)in accordance with the word of the LORD which He had spoken.³⁹ Now as for the rest of the acts of Ahab and everything that he did, and ^(C1)the ivory house which he built and all the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?⁴⁰ So Ahab ^(F1)lay down with his fathers, and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.

The New Rulers

^41 (C1)Now Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.⁴² Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.^43 (C1)He walked ^(F1)entirely in the way of his father Asa; he did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the LORD. ^(C2)However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.^44 (C1)Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.

⁴⁵ Now as for the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might which he showed and how he made war, are they not written ^(C1)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?⁴⁶ And the remnant of ^(C1)the cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father Asa, he eliminated from the land.

⁴⁷ Now ^(C1)there was no king in Edom; a governor served as king.⁴⁸ Jehoshaphat built ^(C1)ships of Tarshish to go to ^(C2)Ophir for gold, but ^(C3)they did not go, because the ships were destroyed at ^(C4)Ezion-geber.⁴⁹ Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants in the ships." But Jehoshaphat was not willing.^50 (C1)And Jehoshaphat ^(F1)lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoram became king in his place.

⁵¹ Ahaziah the son of Ahab ^(C1)became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years.⁵² He did evil in the sight of the LORD and ^(C1)walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who misled Israel into sin.^53 (C1)So he served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done.

Amos 6

Chapter 6

"Carefree in Zion"

^1 (C1)Woe to those who are carefree in Zion,
And to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,
The ^(C2)dignitaries of the foremost of nations,
To whom the house of Israel comes.

² Go over to ^(C1)Calneh and look,
And go from there to ^(C2)Hamath the great,
Then go down to ^(C3)Gath of the Philistines.
Are ^(F1)they better than these kingdoms,
Or is their territory greater than yours?

³ Are you ^(C1)postponing the day of disaster,
And would you ^(C2)bring near the seat of violence?

⁴ Those who lie on beds of ivory,
And lounge around on their ^(C1)couches,
And ^(C2)eat lambs from the flock,
And calves from the midst of the fattened cattle,

⁵ Who improvise to the sound of the harp,
And like David have ^(F1)composed ^(C1)songs for themselves,

⁶ Who ^(C1)drink wine from sacred bowls
While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils—
Yet they have not ^(C2)grieved over the collapse of Joseph.

⁷ Therefore, they will now ^(C1)go into exile at the head of the exiles,
And the revelry of those who ^(C2)lounge around will come to an end.

⁸ The Lord ^(F1)GOD has ^(C1)sworn by Himself, the LORD God of armies has declared:
"I ^(C2)loathe the arrogance of Jacob,
And ^(F2)detest his ^(C3)citadels;
Therefore I will ^(C4)give up the city and ^(F3)all it contains."

¹² Do horses run on rocks?
Or does one ^(F1)plow them with oxen?
Yet you have turned ^(C1)justice into poison,
And the fruit of righteousness into ^(F2)wormwood,

¹³ You who rejoice in ^(F1)(C1)Lodebar,
^(F2)And say, "Have we not ^(C2)by our own strength taken ^(F3)Karnaim for ourselves?"

¹⁴ "For behold, ^(C1)I am going to raise up a nation against you,
House of Israel," declares the LORD God of armies,
"And they will torment you from the ^(C2)entrance of Hamath
To the ^(C2)brook of the Arabah."

1 Corinthians 8

Chapter 8

Take Care with Your Liberty

¹ Now concerning ^(C1)food sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have ^(C2)knowledge. Knowledge ^(F1)(C3)makes one conceited, but love ^(C4)edifies people.^2 (C1)If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet ^(C2)known as he ought to know;³ but if anyone loves God, he ^(C1)is known by Him.

⁴ Therefore, concerning the eating of ^(C1)food sacrificed to idols, we know that an ^(C2)idol is ^(F1)nothing at all in the world, and that ^(C3)there is no God but one.⁵ For even if ^(C1)there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,⁶ yet for us ^(C1)there is only one God, ^(C2)the Father, ^(C3)from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and ^(C4)one Lord, Jesus Christ, ^(C5)by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

⁷ However, not all people ^(C1)have this knowledge; but ^(C2)some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.⁸ Now ^(C1)food will not bring us ^(F1)close to God; we are neither ^(F2)the worse if we do not eat, nor ^(F3)the better if we do eat.⁹ But ^(C1)take care that this ^(F1)freedom of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the ^(C2)weak.¹⁰ For if someone sees you, the one who has ^(C1)knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will his conscience, if he is weak, not be strengthened to eat ^(C2)things sacrificed to idols?¹¹ For through ^(C1)your knowledge the one who is weak ^(C2)is ruined, the brother or sister for whose sake Christ died.^12 (C1)And so, by sinning against the brothers and sisters and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin ^(C2)against Christ.¹³ Therefore, ^(C1)if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to sin.