the Fourth Week after Easter
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
July 9 - Bible-in-a-Year
niv
1 Kings 10
Chapter 10
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon(a)
1 When the queen of Sheba(b) heard about the fame(c) of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord , she came to test Solomon with hard questions.(d) 2 Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan(e)—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. 3 Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, 5 the food on his table,(f) the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at[a] the temple of the Lord , she was overwhelmed.
6 She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 7 But I did not believe(g) these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth(h) you have far exceeded the report I heard. 8 How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear(i) your wisdom! 9 Praise(j) be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord 's eternal love(k) for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice(l) and righteousness."
10 And she gave the king 120 talents[b] of gold,(m) large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 (Hiram's ships brought gold from Ophir;(n) and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood[c] and precious stones. 12 The king used the almugwood to make supports[d] for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)
13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.
Solomon's Splendor(o)
14 The weight of the gold(p) that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,[e] 15 not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.
16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields(q) of hammered gold; six hundred shekels[f] of gold went into each shield. 17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas[g] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.(r)
18 Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21 All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.(s) Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days. 22 The king had a fleet of trading ships[h](t) at sea along with the ships(u) of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
23 King Solomon was greater in riches(v) and wisdom(w) than all the other kings of the earth. 24 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom(x) God had put in his heart. 25 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift(y)—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
26 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses;(z) he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,[i] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common(aa) in Jerusalem as stones,(ab) and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig(ac) trees in the foothills. 28 Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue[j]—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. 29 They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.[k] They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites(ad) and of the Arameans.
Hosea 11:12-12:14
Chapter 11
12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,(ai)
Israel with deceit.
And Judah is unruly against God,
even against the faithful(aj) Holy One.[b](ak)
Chapter 12
1 [a]1 Ephraim(a) feeds on the wind;(b)
he pursues the east wind all day
and multiplies lies and violence.(c)
He makes a treaty with Assyria(d)
and sends olive oil to Egypt.(e)
2 The
Lord
has a charge(f) to bring against Judah;(g)
he will punish(h) Jacob[b] according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.(i)
3 In the womb he grasped his brother's heel;(j)
as a man he struggled(k) with God.
4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him;
he wept and begged for his favor.
He found him at Bethel(l)
and talked with him there—
5 the
Lord
God Almighty,
the
Lord
is his name!(m)
6 But you must return(n) to your God;
maintain love and justice,(o)
and wait for your God always.(p)
7 The merchant uses dishonest scales(q)
and loves to defraud.
8 Ephraim boasts,(r)
"I am very rich; I have become wealthy.(s)
With all my wealth they will not find in me
any iniquity or sin."
9 "I have been the
Lord
your God
ever since you came out of Egypt;(t)
I will make you live in tents(u) again,
as in the days of your appointed festivals.
10 I spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parables(v) through them."(w)
11 Is Gilead wicked?(x)
Its people are worthless!
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?(y)
Their altars will be like piles of stones
on a plowed field.(z)
12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram[c];(aa)
Israel served to get a wife,
and to pay for her he tended sheep.(ab)
13 The
Lord
used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt,(ac)
by a prophet he cared for him.(ad)
14 But Ephraim has aroused his bitter anger;
his Lord will leave on him the guilt of his bloodshed(ae)
and will repay him for his contempt.(af)
Mark 15:1-20
Chapter 15
Jesus Before Pilate(a)
1 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law(b) and the whole Sanhedrin,(c) made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.(d)
2 "Are you the king of the Jews?"(e) asked Pilate.
"You have said so," Jesus replied.
3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."
5 But Jesus still made no reply,(f) and Pilate was amazed.
6 Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
9 "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?"(g) asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas(h) instead.
12 "What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.
13 "Crucify him!" they shouted.
14 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged,(i) and handed him over to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus(j)
16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace(k) (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!"(l) 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out(m) to crucify him.
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