Day 172 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 102:1–8

¹Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come before You. ²Do not hide Your face from me in my day of distress. Incline Your ear to me; answer me quickly when I call. ³For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers. ⁴My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread. ⁵Through my loud groaning my flesh clings to my bones. ⁶I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. ⁷I lie awake; I am like a lone bird on a housetop. ⁸All day long my enemies taunt me; they ridicule me and curse me.

New Testament·John 20

¹Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ²So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she said, “and we do not know where they have put Him!” ³Then Peter and the other disciple set out for the tomb. ⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent down and looked in at the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶Simon Peter arrived just after him. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. ⁷The cloth that had been around Jesus’ head was rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths. ⁸Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. And he saw and believed. ⁹For they still did not understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples returned to their homes. ¹¹But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent down to look into the tomb, ¹²and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³“Woman, why are you weeping?” they asked. “Because they have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I do not know where they have put Him.” ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not recognize that it was Jesus. ¹⁵“Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus asked. “Whom are you seeking?” Thinking He was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him off, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). ¹⁷“Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’” ¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what He had said to her. ¹⁹It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them. ²⁰After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” ²²When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” ²⁴Now Thomas called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.” ²⁶Eight days later, His disciples were once again inside with the doors locked, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.” ²⁸Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” ³⁰Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

Old Testament·1 Kings 15–16

¹In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam became king of Judah, ²and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. ³And Abijam walked in all the sins that his father before him had committed, and his heart was not as fully devoted to the LORD his God as the heart of David his forefather had been. ⁴Nevertheless, for the sake of David, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and to make Jerusalem strong. ⁵For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶And there was war between the houses of Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of Abijam’s life. ⁷As for the rest of the acts of Abijam, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ⁸And Abijam rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, and his son Asa reigned in his place. ⁹In the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Asa became king of Judah, ¹⁰and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done. ¹²He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. ¹³He also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the LORD all his days. ¹⁵And he brought into the house of the LORD the silver and gold and other articles that he and his father had dedicated. ¹⁶Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their days. ¹⁷Baasha king of Israel went to war against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this message to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus: ¹⁹“Let there be a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Now go and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.” ²⁰And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth. ²¹When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. ²²Then King Asa summoned all the men of Judah, with no exceptions, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had used for building. And with these materials King Asa built up Geba of Benjamin, as well as Mizpah. ²³Now the rest of the acts of Asa, along with all his might, all his accomplishments, and the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? In his old age, however, he became diseased in his feet. ²⁴And Asa rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of his father David, and his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place. ²⁵In the second year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel, and he reigned two years. ²⁶And he did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit. ²⁷Then Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against Nadab, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon of the Philistines while Nadab and all Israel were besieging the city. ²⁸In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha killed Nadab and reigned in his place. ²⁹As soon as Baasha became king, he struck down the entire household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he had provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger. ³¹As for the rest of the acts of Nadab, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ³²And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their days. ³³In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah twenty-four years. ³⁴And Baasha did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit.

16Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha, saying: ²“Even though I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused My people Israel to sin and to provoke Me to anger by their sins. ³So now I will consume Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat: ⁴Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.” ⁵As for the rest of the acts of Baasha, along with his accomplishments and might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁶And Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah reigned in his place. ⁷Moreover, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil he had done in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands and becoming like the house of Jeroboam, and also because Baasha had struck down the house of Jeroboam. ⁸In the twenty-sixth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years. ⁹However, while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk in the house of Arza the steward of his household there, Elah’s servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. ¹⁰So in the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri went in, struck Elah down, and killed him. And Zimri reigned in his place. ¹¹As soon as Zimri began to reign and was seated on the throne, he struck down the entire household of Baasha. He did not leave a single male, whether a kinsman or friend. ¹²So Zimri destroyed the entire household of Baasha, according to the word that the LORD had spoken against Baasha through Jehu the prophet. ¹³This happened because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had caused Israel to commit, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger with their worthless idols. ¹⁴As for the rest of the acts of Elah, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ¹⁵In the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines, ¹⁶and the people in the camp heard that Zimri had not only conspired but had also struck down the king. So there in the camp that very day, all Israel proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel. ¹⁷Then Omri and all the Israelites marched up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he entered the citadel of the royal palace and burned it down upon himself. So he died ¹⁹because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the sight of the LORD and following the example of Jeroboam and the sin he had committed and had caused Israel to commit. ²⁰As for the rest of the acts of Zimri and the treason he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²¹At that time the people of Israel were divided: Half of the people supported Tibni son of Ginath as king, and half supported Omri. ²²But the followers of Omri proved stronger than those of Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri became king. ²³In the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. ²⁴He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city there, calling it Samaria after the name of Shemer, who had owned the hill. ²⁵But Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD and acted more wickedly than all who were before him. ²⁶For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sins, which he caused Israel to commit, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger with their worthless idols. ²⁷As for the rest of the acts of Omri, along with his accomplishments and the might he exercised, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸And Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab reigned in his place. ²⁹In the thirty-eighth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰However, Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. ³¹And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then proceeded to serve and worship Baal. ³²First, Ahab set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. ³³Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him. ³⁴In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.