Daily Readings

¹ And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom.² And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.³ And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.⁴ But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!⁵ And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;⁶ In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.⁷ Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants: for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now.⁸ Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.⁹ And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.¹⁰ And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?¹¹ And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house.¹² Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king?¹³ And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.¹⁴ And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants.¹⁵ So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.¹⁶ And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.¹⁷ And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king.¹⁸ And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan;¹⁹ And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.²⁰ For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.²¹ But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD's anointed?²² And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?²³ Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him.²⁴ And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.²⁵ And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?²⁶ And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.²⁷ And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes.²⁸ For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king?²⁹ And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.³⁰ And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.³¹ And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.³² Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.³³ And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.³⁴ And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem?³⁵ I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?³⁶ Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?³⁷ Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.³⁸ And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee.³⁹ And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king was come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place.⁴⁰ Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel.⁴¹ And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David's men with him, over Jordan?⁴² And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king's cost? or hath he given us any gift?⁴³ And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

¹ Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.² Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.³ And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.⁴ And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.⁵ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.⁶ In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.⁷ Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;⁸ But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.⁹ Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.¹⁰ For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.¹¹ For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.¹² Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.¹³ And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.¹⁴ I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.¹⁵ Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.¹⁶ Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.¹⁷ They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.¹⁸ For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?¹⁹ Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.²⁰ The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.²¹ I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.²² But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.²³ Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?²⁴ Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.²⁵ I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.²⁶ How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;²⁷ Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.²⁸ The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.²⁹ Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?³⁰ Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.³² Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.³³ And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.³⁴ And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.³⁵ Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?³⁶ And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.³⁷ Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?³⁸ But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;³⁹ Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:⁴⁰ And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

¹ Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.² For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.³ For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.⁵ For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.⁶ But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)⁷ Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)⁸ But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;⁹ That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.¹⁰ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.¹¹ For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.¹² For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.¹³ For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.¹⁴ How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?¹⁵ And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?¹⁷ So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.¹⁸ But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.¹⁹ But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.²⁰ But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.²¹ But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

¹ I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.² God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying,³ Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.⁴ But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.⁵ Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.⁶ And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.⁷ What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.⁸ (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.⁹ And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.¹² Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?¹³ For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:¹⁴ If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.¹⁵ For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?¹⁶ For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.¹⁷ And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;¹⁸ Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.¹⁹ Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.²⁰ Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:²¹ For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.²² Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.²³ And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.²⁴ For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?²⁵ For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.²⁶ And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:²⁷ For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.²⁸ As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes.²⁹ For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.³⁰ For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:³¹ Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.³² For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.³³ O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!³⁴ For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?³⁵ Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?³⁶ For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.