1 Chronicles 13
DAVID AND THE ARK
David consulted with all his leaders, the commanders of hundreds and of thousands.
2 Then he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is from the Lord our God, let’s spread out and send the message to the rest of our relatives in all the districts of Israel, including the priests and Levites in their cities with pasturelands, that they should gather together with us. 3 Then let’s bring back the ark of our God, for we did not inquire of him in Saul’s days.” 4 Since the proposal seemed right to all the people, the whole assembly agreed to do it.
5 So David assembled all Israel, from the Shihor of Egypt to the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. 6 David and all Israel went to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah) to take from there the ark of God, which bears the name of the Lord who is enthroned between the cherubim. 7 At Abinadab’s house they set the ark of God on a new cart. Uzzah and Ahio were guiding the cart.
8 David and all Israel were dancing with all their might before God with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets. 9 When they came to Chidon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to hold the ark because the oxen had stumbled. 10 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him dead because he had reached out to the ark. So he died there in the presence of God.
11 David was angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, so he named that place Outburst Against Uzzah, as it is still named today. 12 David feared God that day and said, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to me? ” 13 So David did not bring the ark of God home to the city of David; instead, he diverted it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath. 14 The ark of God remained with Obed-edom’s family in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his family and all that he had.
1 Chronicles 14
GOD’S BLESSING ON DAVID
King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters to build a palace for him.
2 Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been exalted for the sake of his people Israel.
3 David took more wives in Jerusalem, and he became the father of more sons and daughters. 4 These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5 Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7 Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.
8 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they all went in search of David; when David heard of this, he went out to face them. 9 Now the Philistines had come and raided in Rephaim Valley, 10 so David inquired of God, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me? ”
The Lord replied, “Attack, and I will hand them over to you.”
11 So the Israelites went up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated the Philistines there. Then David said, “Like a bursting flood, God has used me to burst out against my enemies.” Therefore, they named that place The Lord Bursts Out. 12 The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David ordered that they be burned in the fire.
13 Once again the Philistines raided in the valley. 14 So David again inquired of God, and God answered him, “Do not pursue them directly. Circle around them and attack them opposite the balsam trees. 15 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to battle, for God will have gone out ahead of you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” 16 So David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer. 17 Then David’s fame spread throughout the lands, and the Lord caused all the nations to be terrified of him.
James 1
GREETING
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ:
To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad.
Greetings.
TRIALS AND MATURITY
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God — who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly — and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, 8 being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation, 10 but let the rich boast in his humiliation because he will pass away like a flower of the field. 11 For the sun rises and, together with the scorching wind, dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance perishes. In the same way, the rich person will wither away while pursuing his activities.
12 Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone. 14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
HEARING AND DOING THE WORD
19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works — this person will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Amos 8
FOURTH VISION: A BASKET OF SUMMER FRUIT
The Lord God showed me this: a basket of summer fruit.
2 He asked me, “What do you see, Amos? ”
I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.”
The Lord said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel; I will no longer spare them. 3 In that day the temple songs will become wailing” — this is the Lord God’s declaration. “Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere! Silence! ”
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy
and do away with the poor of the land,
5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over
so we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath,
so we may market wheat?
We can reduce the measure
while increasing the price
and cheat with dishonest scales.
6 We can buy the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and even sell the chaff! ”
7 The Lord has sworn by the Pride of Jacob:
I will never forget all their deeds.
8 Because of this, won’t the land quake
and all who dwell in it mourn?
All of it will rise like the Nile;
it will surge and then subside
like the Nile in Egypt.
9 And in that day —
this is the declaration of the Lord God —
I will make the sun go down at noon;
I will darken the land in the daytime.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentation;
I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth
and every head to be shaved.
I will make that grief
like mourning for an only son
and its outcome like a bitter day.
11 Look, the days are coming —
this is the declaration of the Lord God —
when I will send a famine through the land:
not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and roam from north to east
seeking the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.
13 In that day the beautiful young women,
the young men also, will faint from thirst.
14 Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria
and say, “As your god lives, Dan,”
or, “As the way of Beer-sheba lives” —
they will fall, never to rise again.
Psalm 90
ETERNAL GOD AND MORTAL MAN
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
Lord, you have been our refuge
in every generation.
2 Before the mountains were born,
before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
from eternity to eternity, you are God.
3 You return mankind to the dust,
saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.”
4 For in your sight a thousand years
are like yesterday that passes by,
like a few hours of the night.
5 You end their lives; they sleep.
They are like grass that grows in the morning —
6 in the morning it sprouts and grows;
by evening it withers and dries up.
7 For we are consumed by your anger;
we are terrified by your wrath.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 For all our days ebb away under your wrath;
we end our years like a sigh.
10 Our lives last seventy years
or, if we are strong, eighty years.
Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow;
indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away.
11 Who understands the power of your anger?
Your wrath matches the fear that is due you.
12 Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.
13 Lord — how long?
Turn and have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your faithful love
so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us rejoice for as many days as you have humbled us,
for as many years as we have seen adversity.
16 Let your work be seen by your servants,
and your splendor by their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us;
establish for us the work of our hands —
establish the work of our hands!
— 1 Chronicles 13-14, James 1, Amos 8, Psalm 90 (CSB)