The Book of Psalms (30-Day Journey)

Lost Kings | Steward Like a King

Come Holy Spirit

Faith in Hard Times

Unapologetically Sold Out: 7 Days of Prayers for Millennials to Live Whole-Heartedly Committed to Jesus Christ

When You’re Desperate: 21 Days of Honest Prayer

God’s Answer to Anxiety: 7 Truths That Calm the Chaos Inside

Breath & Blueprint: Your Creative Awakening

Transformational Days of Courage for Women

God Says I Am: Embracing Peace & Walking in Power

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2SA">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="2SA.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">Ish-Bosheth Murdered</div><div class="p"> 1When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed. 2Now Saul&#8217;s son had two men who were leaders of raiding bands. One was named Baanah and the other Rekab; they were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the tribe of Benjamin&#8212;Beeroth is considered part of Benjamin, 3because the people of Beeroth fled to Gittaim and have resided there as foreigners to this day.</div><div class="p"> 4(Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.)</div><div class="p"> 5Now Rekab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out for the house of Ish-Bosheth, and they arrived there in the heat of the day while he was taking his noonday rest. 6They went into the inner part of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rekab and his brother Baanah slipped away.</div><div class="p"> 7They had gone into the house while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed and killed him, they cut off his head. Taking it with them, they traveled all night by way of the Arabah. 8They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, &#8220;Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, your enemy, who tried to kill you. This day the Lord has avenged my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, &#8220;As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, 10when someone told me, &#8216;Saul is dead,&#8217; and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news! 11How much more&#8212;when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed&#8212;should I not now demand his blood from your hand and rid the earth of you!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12So David gave an order to his men, and they killed them. They cut off their hands and feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in Abner&#8217;s tomb at Hebron.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2SA">
 <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="2SA.5">
 <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1">David Becomes King Over Israel</div><div class="p"> 1All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, &#8220;We are your own flesh and blood. 2In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, &#8216;You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.</div><div class="p"> 4David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 5In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.</div><div class="s1">David Conquers Jerusalem</div><div class="p"> 6The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, &#8220;You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.&#8221; They thought, &#8220;David cannot get in here.&#8221; 7Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion&#8212;which is the City of David.</div><div class="p"> 8On that day David had said, &#8220;Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those &#8216;lame and blind&#8217; who are David&#8217;s enemies.#5:8 Or are hated by David&#8221; That is why they say, &#8220;The &#8216;blind and lame&#8217; will not enter the palace.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces#5:9 Or the Millo inward. 10And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.</div><div class="p"> 11Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. 12Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.</div><div class="p"> 13After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. 14These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.</div><div class="s1">David Defeats the Philistines</div><div class="p"> 17When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. 18Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 19so David inquired of the Lord, &#8220;Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?&#8221;</div><div class="p">The Lord answered him, &#8220;Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, &#8220;As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me.&#8221; So that place was called Baal Perazim.#5:20 Baal Perazim means the lord who breaks out. 21The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.</div><div class="p"> 22Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 23so David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, &#8220;Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. 24As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.&#8221; 25So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon#5:25 Septuagint (see also 1 Chron. 14:16); Hebrew Geba to Gezer.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2SA">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="2SA.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1">The Ark Brought to Jerusalem</div><div class="p"> 1David again brought together all the able young men of Israel&#8212;thirty thousand. 2He and all his men went to Baalah#6:2 That is, Kiriath Jearim (see 1 Chron. 13:6) in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name,#6:2 Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate do not have the Name. the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. 3They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4with the ark of God on it,#6:3,4 Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts; Masoretic Text cart 4 and they brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets,#6:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint (see also 1 Chron. 13:8) songs harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.</div><div class="p"> 6When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7The Lord&#8217;s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.</div><div class="p"> 8Then David was angry because the Lord&#8217;s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.#6:8 Perez Uzzah means outbreak against Uzzah.</div><div class="p"> 9David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, &#8220;How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?&#8221; 10He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.</div><div class="p"> 12Now King David was told, &#8220;The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.&#8221; So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.</div><div class="p"> 16As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.</div><div class="p"> 17They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. 18After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. 19Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.</div><div class="p"> 20When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, &#8220;How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21David said to Michal, &#8220;It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord&#8217;s people Israel&#8212;I will celebrate before the Lord. 22I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkLUK">
 <div class="chapter ch18" data-usfm="LUK.18.18+LUK.18.19+LUK.18.20+LUK.18.21+LUK.18.22+LUK.18.23+LUK.18.24+LUK.18.25+LUK.18.26+LUK.18.27+LUK.18.28+LUK.18.29+LUK.18.30+LUK.18.31+LUK.18.32+LUK.18.33+LUK.18.34+LUK.18.35+LUK.18.36+LUK.18.37+LUK.18.38+LUK.18.39+LUK.18.40+LUK.18.41+LUK.18.42+LUK.18.43">
 <div class="p">18A certain ruler asked him, &#8220;Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19 &#8220;Why do you call me good?&#8221; Jesus answered. &#8220;No one is good&#8212;except God alone. 20You know the commandments: &#8216;You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.&#8217;#18:20 Exodus 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21&#8220;All these I have kept since I was a boy,&#8221; he said.</div><div class="p"> 22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, &#8220;You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24Jesus looked at him and said, &#8220;How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 26Those who heard this asked, &#8220;Who then can be saved?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27Jesus replied, &#8220;What is impossible with man is possible with God.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 28Peter said to him, &#8220;We have left all we had to follow you!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 29 &#8220;Truly I tell you,&#8221; Jesus said to them, &#8220;no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time</div><div class="p"> 31Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, &#8220;We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; 33they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 34The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.</div><div class="s1">A Blind Beggar Receives His Sight</div><div class="p"> 35As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37They told him, &#8220;Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 38He called out, &#8220;Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 39Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, &#8220;Son of David, have mercy on me!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 40Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41&#8220;What do you want me to do for you?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Lord, I want to see,&#8221; he replied.</div><div class="p"> 42Jesus said to him, &#8220;Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.&#8221; 43Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year OneSample

Scripture

About this Plan

Related Plans