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Old/New Testament

Each day includes a passage from both the Old Testament and New Testament.
Duration: 365 days
Lexham English Bible (LEB)
Version
1 Samuel 30-31

David Recovers His Loved Ones

30 Now[a] when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. When they attacked Ziklag, they burned it with fire. They took captive the women[b] who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest.[c] They did not kill anyone, but carried them off and went on their way. When David and his men came to the city, they saw,[d] and it was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until there was not enough strength in them to weep. Two of David’s wives had been taken captive. Ahinoam from Jezreel[e] and Abigail, the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was in a very precarious situation,[f] for the people spoke of stoning him, for the souls of all the people were bitter, each one over his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here for me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should I pursue after this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue them.” So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the Wadi[g] Besor, but the rest remained. 10 David pursued, he and four hundred men; but two hundred men stayed because they were too exhausted to pass over the Wadi Besor.

11 Then they found an Egyptian man in the open country and brought him to David, and they gave him food and he ate; they also gave him water. 12 They gave him a slice of fig cake and two raisin cakes; he ate and this revived him,[h] because he had not eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong,[i] and from where are you? The young man said, “I am an Egyptian young man, a servant of an Amalekite man, but my master abandoned me because I became ill three days ago. 14 We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and that which belongs to Judah and then the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 So David asked him, “Will you take me down to this band of raiders?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me and that you will not deliver me into my master’s hand! Then I will take you down to this band.” 16 So he took him down, and there they were,[j] spread out over the surface of all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all of the abundant plunder which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped except[k] four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. 18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; David also rescued his two wives. 19 None of theirs was missing from the smallest to the greatest,[l] even sons and daughters, from the plunder up to everything they had taken for themselves; David brought back everything. 20 And David took all of the sheep,[m] and the cattle they drove along in front of that livestock, and they said, “This is David’s plunder.”

21 Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow[n] David; they had left them behind at the Wadi[o] Besor. They went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. David came near with the people and asked them how they were doing.[p] 22 Then all the corrupt and useless men among the men who went with David reacted and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them anything from the plunder which we recovered, except[q] each man may take his own wife and children. They must take them along and go!” 23 But David said to them, “You should not do so, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given to us! He has preserved us and has given the raiding band that came against us into our hand. 24 And who would listen to you regarding this matter? For as the share of the one who went down into the battle, so the share of the one who remained with the baggage will be. They will share alike.” 25 So[r] from that day and beyond, he made it a rule and a regulation for Israel until this day.

26 Then David came to Ziklag, and he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is[s] a gift for you from the plunder of the enemies of Yahweh!” 27 It was for those in Bethel, for those in Ramoth of the Negev, for those in Jattir, 28 for those in Aroer, for those in Siphmoth, for those in Eshtemoa, 29 for those in Racal, for those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, for those in the towns of the Kenites, 30 for those in Hormah, for those in Bor Ashan, for those in Athach, 31 for those in Hebron, and for all the places where David and his men had roamed.[t]

Saul and Jonathan Die on Mount Gilboa

31 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and they fell slain on Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul. Saul was in the thick of the battle,[u] and the archers[v] spotted[w] him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor bearer,[x] “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised do not come and thrust me through and make a fool of me!” But his armor bearer[y] was not willing to do so because he was very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. And when his armor bearer[z] saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul died, and his three sons, his armor bearer,[aa] and all his men together that same day.

And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those who were beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the towns and fled. Thus the Philistines came and lived in them.

And then[ab] the next day, the Philistines came to strip the dead and they found Saul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor. Then they sent messengers around in the land of the Philistines to proclaim victory in the temples[ac] of their idols and to the people. 10 And they put his armor in the temple[ad] of the Ashtoreth,[ae] and they fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth Shan. 11 When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard about it, what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all of the valiant men[af] set out and went all night and took the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.

Luke 13:23-35

23 And someone said to him, “Lord, are there only[a] a few who are saved?” And he said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able to, 25 when once the master of the house has gotten up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open the door[b] for us!’ And he will answer and[c] say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from!’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets!’ 27 And he will reply, saying to you, ‘I do not know where you are from! Go away from me, all you evildoers!’[d] 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside! 29 And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

The Lament over Jerusalem

31 At that same hour some Pharisees came up and[e] said to him, “Go out and depart from here, because Herod wants to kill you!” 32 And he said to them, “Go and[f] tell that fox, ‘Behold, I am expelling demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete my work.’[g] 33 Nevertheless, it is necessary for me to be on the way today and tomorrow and on the next day, because it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside Jerusalem.

34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How many times I wanted to gather your children together the way[h] a hen gathers[i] her own brood under her[j] wings, and you were not willing! 35 Behold, your house has been left to you! And I tell you, you will never see me until the time[k] will come when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”[l]

Lexham English Bible (LEB)

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