Day 197 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 109:1–6

¹O God of my praise, be not silent. ²For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues. ³They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause. ⁴In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. ⁵They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love. ⁶Set over him a wicked man; let an accuser stand at his right hand.

New Testament·Acts 14

¹At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. ²But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. ³So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. ⁴The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles. ⁵But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them, ⁶they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region, ⁷where they continued to preach the gospel. ⁸In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. ⁹This man was listening to the words of Paul, who looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed. ¹⁰In a loud voice Paul called out, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk. ¹¹When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!” ¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. ¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, hoping to offer a sacrifice along with the crowds. ¹⁴But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ¹⁵“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. ¹⁶In past generations, He let all nations go their own way. ¹⁷Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” ¹⁸Even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the crowds from sacrificing to them. ¹⁹Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead. ²⁰But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. And the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. ²¹They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, ²²strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. ²³Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed. ²⁴After passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. ²⁵And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. ²⁶From Attalia they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had just completed. ²⁷When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸And they spent a long time there with the disciples.

Old Testament·1 Chronicles 9–10

¹So all Israel was recorded in the genealogies written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. But Judah was exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. ²Now the first to resettle their own property in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants. ³These were some of the descendants of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh who lived in Jerusalem: ⁴Uthai son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, a descendant of Perez son of Judah. ⁵From the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons. ⁶From the Zerahites: Jeuel and 690 relatives. ⁷From the Benjamites: Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah; ⁸Ibneiah son of Jeroham; Elah son of Uzzi, the son of Michri; Meshullam son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah; ⁹and 956 of their relatives according to their genealogy. All these men were heads of their families. ¹⁰From the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, and Jachin; ¹¹Azariah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief official of God’s temple; ¹²Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah; Maasai son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer; ¹³and 1,760 of their relatives, the heads of their families, able men for the work of the service of the house of God. ¹⁴From the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, a descendant of Merari; ¹⁵Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph; ¹⁶Obadiah son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites. ¹⁷These were the gatekeepers: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their relatives. Shallum was their chief; ¹⁸he was previously stationed at the King’s Gate on the east side. These were the gatekeepers from the camp of the Levites. ¹⁹Shallum son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his relatives from the Korahites were assigned to guard the thresholds of the Tent, just as their fathers had been assigned to guard the entrance to the dwelling of the LORD. ²⁰In earlier times Phinehas son of Eleazar had been in charge of the gatekeepers, and the LORD was with him. ²¹Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was the gatekeeper at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ²²The number of those chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds was 212. They were registered by genealogy in their villages. David and Samuel the seer had appointed them to their positions of trust. ²³So they and their descendants were assigned to guard the gates of the house of the LORD—the house called the Tent. ²⁴The gatekeepers were stationed on the four sides: east, west, north, and south. ²⁵Their relatives came from their villages at fixed times to serve with them for seven-day periods. ²⁶But the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted with the rooms and the treasuries of the house of God. ²⁷They would spend the night stationed around the house of God, because they were responsible for guarding it and opening it every morning. ²⁸Some of them were in charge of the articles used in worship, to count them whenever they were brought in or taken out. ²⁹Others were put in charge of the furnishings and other articles of the sanctuary, as well as the fine flour, wine, oil, frankincense, and spices. ³⁰And some of the sons of the priests mixed the spices. ³¹A Levite named Mattithiah, the firstborn son of Shallum the Korahite, was entrusted with baking the bread. ³²Some of their Kohathite brothers were responsible for preparing the rows of the showbread every Sabbath. ³³Those who were musicians, the heads of Levite families, stayed in the temple chambers and were exempt from other duties because they were on duty day and night. ³⁴All these were heads of Levite families, chiefs according to their genealogies, and they lived in Jerusalem. ³⁵Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon. His wife’s name was Maacah. ³⁶Abdon was his firstborn son, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ³⁷Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth. ³⁸Mikloth was the father of Shimeam. They too lived alongside their relatives in Jerusalem. ³⁹Ner was the father of Kish, Kish was the father of Saul, and Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal. ⁴⁰The son of Jonathan: Merib-baal, who was the father of Micah. ⁴¹The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz. ⁴²Ahaz was the father of Jarah; Jarah was the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri was the father of Moza. ⁴³Moza was the father of Binea. Rephaiah was his son, Elasah his son, and Azel his son. ⁴⁴And Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

10Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ²The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ³When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him. ⁴Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died. ⁶So Saul died together with his three sons and all his house. ⁷When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities. ⁸The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹They stripped Saul, cut off his head, took his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. ¹⁰They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon. ¹¹When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²all their men of valor set out and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days. ¹³So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, ¹⁴and he failed to inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.