Daily Readings for October 21
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2Chronicles 14

 

1.So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet ten years. 2.Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of Yahweh his God: 3.for he took away the foreign altars, and the high places, and broke down the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, 4.and commanded Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. 5.Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the sun images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. 6.He built fortified cities in Judah; for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years, because Yahweh had given him rest. 7.For he said to Judah, "Let us build these cities, and make walls around them, with towers, gates, and bars. The land is yet before us, because we have sought Yahweh our God; we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered. 8.Asa had an army that bore bucklers and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred eighty thousand: all these were mighty men of valor. 9.There came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an army of a million troops, and three hundred chariots; and he came to Mareshah. 10.Then Asa went out to meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11.Asa cried to Yahweh his God, and said, "Yahweh, there is none besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength. Help us, Yahweh our God; for we rely on you, and in your name are we come against this multitude. Yahweh, you are our God. Don't let man prevail against you."

12.So Yahweh struck the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. 13.Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar: and there fell of the Ethiopians so many that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before Yahweh, and before his army; and they carried away very much booty. 14.They struck all the cities around Gerar; for the fear of Yahweh came on them: and they despoiled all the cities; for there was much spoil in them. 15.They struck also the tents of livestock, and carried away sheep in abundance, and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.

 

2Chronicles 15

 

1.The Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded: 2.and he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you, while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3.Now for a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. 4.But when in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. 5.In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands. 6.They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity. 7.But you be strong, and don't let your hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded."

8.When Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of Yahweh, that was before the porch of Yahweh. 9.He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who lived with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him. 10.So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11.They sacrificed to Yahweh in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep. 12.They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; 13.and that whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14.They swore to Yahweh with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets. 15.All Judah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and Yahweh gave them rest all around. 16.Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron. 17.But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 18.He brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19.There was no more war to the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

 

Ezekiel 47

 

1.He brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward; (for the forefront of the house was toward the east;) and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar. 2.Then he brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me round by the way outside to the outer gate, by the way of [the gate] that looks toward the east; and behold, there ran out waters on the right side. 3.When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles. 4.Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the knees. Again he measured one thousand, and caused me to pass through [the waters], waters that were to the waist. 5.Afterward he measured one thousand; [and it was] a river that I could not pass through; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. 6.He said to me, Son of man, have you seen [this]? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the bank of the river. 7.Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8.Then he said to me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern region, and shall go down into the Arabah; and they shall go toward the sea; into the sea [shall the waters go] which were made to issue forth; and the waters shall be healed. 9.It shall happen, that every living creature which swarms, in every place where the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish; for these waters have come there, and [the waters of the sea] shall be healed, and everything shall live wherever the river comes. 10.It shall happen, that fishermen shall stand by it: from En Gedi even to En Eglaim shall be a place for the spreading of nets; their fish shall be after their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. 11.But the miry places of it, and its marshes, shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt. 12.By the river on its bank, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for food, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall its fruit fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, because its waters issue out of the sanctuary; and its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for healing. 13.Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This shall be the border, by which you shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph [shall have two] portions. 14.You shall inherit it, one as well as another; for I swore to give it to your fathers: and this land shall fall to you for inheritance. 15.This shall be the border of the land: On the north side, from the great sea, by the way of Hethlon, to the entrance of Zedad; 16.Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer Hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran. 17.The border from the sea, shall be Hazar Enon at the border of Damascus; and on the north northward is the border of Hamath. This is the north side. 18.The east side, between Hauran and Damascus and Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the [north] border to the east sea you shall measure. This is the east side. 19.The south side southward shall be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth Kadesh, to the brook [of Egypt], to the great sea. This is the south side southward. 20.The west side shall be the great sea, from the [south] border as far as over against the entrance of Hamath. This is the west side. 21.So you shall divide this land to you according to the tribes of Israel. 22.It shall happen, that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance to you and to the aliens who live among you, who shall father children among you; and they shall be to you as the native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23.It shall happen, that in what tribe the stranger lives, there you shall give him his inheritance, says the Lord Yahweh.

 

John 15

 

1."I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2.Every branch in me that doesn't bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3.You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4.Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can't bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5.I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6.If a man doesn't remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7.If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

8."In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. 9.Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. 10.If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and remain in his love. 11.I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.

12."This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. 13.Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14.You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. 15.No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn't know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. 16.You didn't choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

17."I command these things to you, that you may love one another. 18.If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19.If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20.Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his lord.'[49] If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21.But all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they don't know him who sent me. 22.If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23.He who hates me, hates my Father also. 24.If I hadn't done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn't have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my Father. 25.But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, 'They hated me without a cause.'[50]

26."When the Counselor⁵¹ has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. 27.You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

 

John 16

 

1."These things have I spoken to you, so that you wouldn't be caused to stumble. 2.They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God. 3.They will do these things[52] because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4.But I have told you these things, so that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them. I didn't tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you. 5.But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6.But because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. 7.Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don't go away, the Counselor won't come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8.When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment; 9.about sin, because they don't believe in me; 10.about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won't see me any more; 11.about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged.

12."I have yet many things to tell you, but you can't bear them now. 13.However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming. 14.He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. 15.All things whatever the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he takes⁵³ of mine, and will declare it to you. 16.A little while, and you will not see me. Again a little while, and you will see me."

17.Some of his disciples therefore said to one another, "What is this that he says to us, 'A little while, and you won't see me, and again a little while, and you will see me;' and, 'Because I go to the Father?'" 18.They said therefore, "What is this that he says, 'A little while?' We don't know what he is saying."

19.Therefore Jesus perceived that they wanted to ask him, and he said to them, "Do you inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, 'A little while, and you won't see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?' 20.Most certainly I tell you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. 21.A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn't remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world. 22.Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

23."In that day you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24.Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full. 25.I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26.In that day you will ask in my name; and I don't say to you, that I will pray to the Father for you, 27.for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from God. 28.I came out from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father."

29.His disciples said to him, "Behold, now you speak plainly, and speak no figures of speech. 30.Now we know that you know all things, and don't need for anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came forth from God."

31.Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe? 32.Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33.I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world."

 

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