Daily Readings for June 16

Daily Readings for June 16
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Judges 17

1.There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2.He said to his mother, "The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it."

His mother said, "Blessed be my son of Yahweh."

3.He restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, "I most certainly dedicate the silver to Yahweh from my hand for my son, to make an engraved image and a molten image. Now therefore I will restore it to you."

4.When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made of it an engraved image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah.

5.The man Micah had a house of gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6.In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. 7.There was a young man out of Bethlehem Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he lived there. 8.The man departed out of the city, out of Bethlehem Judah, to live where he could find a place, and he came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he traveled. 9.Micah said to him, "Where did you come from?"

He said to him, "I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah, and I am looking for a place to live." 10.Micah said to him, "Dwell with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver per year, a suit of clothing, and your food." So the Levite went in. 11.The Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was to him as one of his sons. 12.Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13.Then Micah said, "Now know I that Yahweh will do good to me, since I have a Levite to my priest."

Judges 18

1.In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day, their inheritance had not fallen to them among the tribes of Israel. 2.The children of Dan sent of their family five men from their whole number, men of valor, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they said to them, "Go, explore the land!"

They came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3.When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite; and they turned aside there, and said to him, "Who brought you here? What do you do in this place? What do you have here?"

4.He said to them, "Thus and thus has Micah dealt with me, and he has hired me, and I am become his priest."

5.They said to him, "Please ask counsel of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous."

6.The priest said to them, "Go in peace. Your way in which you go is before Yahweh."

7.Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people who were therein, how they lived in security, in the way of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was none in the land, possessing authority, that might put them to shame in anything, and they were far from the Sidonians, and had no dealings with any man. 8.They came to their brothers to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brothers said to them, "What do you say?"

9.They said, "Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. Do you stand still? Don't be slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land. 10.When you go, you shall come to a secure people, and the land is large; for God has given it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth."

11.There set forth from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men girt with weapons of war. 12.They went up, and encamped in Kiriath Jearim, in Judah: therefore they called that place Mahaneh Dan, to this day; behold, it is behind Kiriath Jearim. 13.They passed there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.

14.Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered, and said to their brothers, "Do you know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and an engraved image, and a molten image? Now therefore consider what you have to do." 15.They turned aside there, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare. 16.The six hundred men girt with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. 17.The five men who went to spy out the land went up, and came in there, and took the engraved image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood by the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men girt with weapons of war.

18.When these went into Micah's house, and fetched the engraved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"

19.They said to him, "Hold your peace, put your hand on your mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?"

20.The priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the engraved image, and went in the midst of the people. 21.So they turned and departed, and put the little ones and the livestock and the goods before them. 22.When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook the children of Dan. 23.They cried to the children of Dan. They turned their faces, and said to Micah, "What ails you, that you come with such a company?"

24.He said, "You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and what more do I have? How then do you say to me, 'What ails you?'"

25.The children of Dan said to him, "Don't let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall on you, and you lose your life, with the lives of your household."

26.The children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house. 27.They took that which Micah had made, and the priest whom he had, and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burnt the city with fire. 28.There was no deliverer, because it was far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with any man; and it was in the valley that lies by Beth Rehob. They built the city, and lived therein. 29.They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel: however the name of the city was Laish at the first. 30.The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. 31.So they set them up Micah's engraved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

Isaiah 40

1."Comfort, comfort my people," says your God. 2."Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh's hand double for all her sins."

3.The voice of one who calls out, "Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God. 4.Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain. 5.The glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it." 6.The voice of one saying, "Cry!" One said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field. 7.The grass withers, the flower fades, because Yahweh's breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass. 8.The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever."

9.You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Don't be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold, your God!" 10.Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11.He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.

12.Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 13.Who has directed the Spirit of Yahweh, or has taught him as his counselor? 14.Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? 15.Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing. 16.Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering. 17.All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity. 18.To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him? 19.A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it. 20.He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved.

21.Haven't you known? Haven't you heard, yet? Haven't you been told from the beginning? Haven't you understood from the foundations of the earth? 22.It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in; 23.who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth like meaningless. 24.They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.

25."To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?" says the Holy One. 26.Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, Not one is lacking. 27.Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, "My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?" 28.Haven't you known? Haven't you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, The Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't faint. He isn't weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29.He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might. 30.Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; 31.But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.

1John 1

1.That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life 2.(and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); 3.that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4.And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.

5.This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6.If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don't tell the truth. 7.But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8.If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10.If we say that we haven't sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1John 2

1.My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor¹ with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. 2.And he is the atoning sacrifice² for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. 3.This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. 4.One who says, "I know him," and doesn't keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn't in him. 5.But whoever keeps his word, God's love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him: 6.he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.

7.Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. 8.Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shines. 9.He who says he is in the light and hates his brother, is in the darkness even until now. 10.He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him. 11.But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn't know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12.I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

13.I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

I write to you, little children, because you know the Father.

14.I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

15.Don't love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father's love isn't in him. 16.For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn't the Father's, but is the world's. 17.The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God's will remains forever.

18.Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour. 19.They went out from us, but they didn't belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us. 20.You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.³ 21.I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22.Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23.Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn't have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.

24.Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father. 25.This is the promise which he promised us, the eternal life. 26.These things I have written to you concerning those who would lead you astray. 27.As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don't need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him. 28.Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29.If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him.