Bible Readings for August 1, 2015

Today our passages are 2 Chronicles 30:1–31:21; Romans 15:1-22; Psalm 25:1-15; and Proverbs 20:13-15. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal. 

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2 Chronicles 30-31:21 (Contemporary English Version)

2 Chronicles 30

Hezekiah Prepares To Celebrate Passover

 ^1-4Passover wasn't celebrated in the first month, ^[a] which was the usual time, because many of the priests were still unclean and unacceptable to serve, and because not everyone in Judah had come to Jerusalem for the festival. So Hezekiah, his officials, and the people agreed to celebrate Passover in the second month. ^[b]Hezekiah sent a message to everyone in Israel and Judah, including those in the territories of Ephraim and West Manasseh, inviting them to the temple in Jerusalem for the celebration of Passover in honor of the LORD God of Israel.   ⁵Everyone from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north was invited. This was the largest crowd of people that had ever celebrated Passover, according to the official records.
   ⁶Hezekiah's messengers went everywhere in Israel and Judah with the following letter:
   People of Israel, now that you have survived the invasion of the Assyrian kings, ^[c] it's time for you to turn back to the LORD God our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiped. If you do this, he will stop being angry.
   ⁷Don't follow the example of your ancestors and your Israelite relatives in the north. They were unfaithful to the LORD, and he punished them horribly.
   ⁸Don't be stubborn like your ancestors. Decide now to obey the LORD our God! Come to Jerusalem and worship him in the temple that will belong to him forever. Then he will stop being angry,
   ⁹and the enemies that have captured your families will show pity and send them back home. The LORD God is kind and merciful, and if you turn back to him, he will no longer turn his back on you.
   ¹⁰The messengers went to every town in Ephraim and West Manasseh as far north as the territory of Zebulun, but everyone laughed and insulted them.
   ¹¹Only a few people from the tribes of Asher, West Manasseh, and Zebulun were humble and went to Jerusalem.
   ¹²God also made everyone in Judah eager to do what Hezekiah and his officials had commanded.
   

Passover Is Celebrated

 ¹³In the second month, ^[d] a large crowd of people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Thin Bread. ^[e]   ¹⁴They took all the foreign altars and incense altars in Jerusalem and threw them into Kidron Valley.
   ^15-17Then, on the fourteenth day of that same month, the Levites began killing the lambs for Passover, because many of the worshipers were unclean and were not allowed to kill their own lambs. Meanwhile, some of the priests and Levites felt ashamed because they had not gone through the ceremony to make themselves clean. They immediately went through that ceremony and went to the temple, where they offered sacrifices to please the LORD. ^[f] Then the priests and Levites took their positions, according to the Law of Moses, the servant of God. As the Levites killed the lambs, they handed some of the blood to the priests, who splattered it on the altar.
   ^18-19Most of the people that came from Ephraim, West Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not made themselves clean, but they ignored God's Law and ate the Passover lambs anyway. Hezekiah found out what they had done and prayed, "LORD God, these people are unclean according to the laws of holiness. But they are worshiping you, just as their ancestors did. So, please be kind and forgive them."
   ²⁰The LORD answered Hezekiah's prayer and did not punish them.
   ²¹The worshipers in Jerusalem were very happy and celebrated the Festival for seven days. The Levites and priests sang praises to the LORD every day and played their instruments.
   ²²Hezekiah thanked the Levites for doing such a good job, leading the celebration.
   The worshipers celebrated for seven days by offering sacrifices, by eating the sacred meals, and by praising the LORD God of their ancestors.
   ²³Everyone was so excited that they agreed to celebrate seven more days.
   ²⁴So Hezekiah gave the people one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep to be offered as sacrifices and to be used as food for the sacred meals. His officials gave one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep, and many more priests agreed to go through the ceremony to make themselves clean.
   ²⁵Everyone was very happy, including those from Judah and Israel, the priests and Levites, and the foreigners living in Judah and Israel.
   ²⁶It was the biggest celebration in Jerusalem since the days of King Solomon, the son of David.
   ²⁷The priests and Levites asked God to bless the people, and from his home in heaven, he did.
   

2 Chronicles 31

The People Destroy the Local Shrines

(2 Kings 18.4)

 ¹After the Festival, the people went to every town in Judah and smashed the stone images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred poles ^[g] for worshiping the goddess Asherah. They destroyed all the local shrines ^[h]  and foreign altars in Judah, as well as those in the territories of Benjamin, Ephraim, and West Manasseh. Then everyone went home.   

Offerings for the Priests and Levites

 ²Hezekiah divided the priests and Levites into groups, according to their duties. Then he assigned them the responsibilities of offering sacrifices to please the LORD ^[i] and sacrifices to ask his blessing. ^[j] He also appointed people to serve at the temple and to sing praises at the temple gates.   ³Hezekiah provided animals from his own herds and flocks to use for the morning and evening sacrifices, as well as for the sacrifices during the Sabbath celebrations, the New Moon Festivals, and the other religious feasts required by the Law of the LORD.
   ⁴He told the people of Jerusalem to bring the offerings that were to be given to the priests and Levites, so that they would have time to serve the LORD with their work.
   ⁵As soon as the people heard what the king wanted, they brought a tenth of everything they owned, including their best grain, wine, olive oil, honey, and other crops.
   ⁶The people from the other towns of Judah brought a tenth of their herds and flocks, as well as a tenth of anything they had dedicated to the LORD.
   ⁷The people started bringing their offerings to Jerusalem in the third month, ^[k] and the last ones arrived four months later.
   ⁸When Hezekiah and his officials saw these offerings, they thanked the LORD and the people.
   ⁹Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the large amount of offerings.
   ¹⁰The high priest at the time was Azariah, a descendant of Zadok, and he replied, "Ever since the people have been bringing us their offerings, we have had more than enough food and supplies. The LORD has certainly blessed his people. Look at how much is left over!"
   ¹¹So the king gave orders for storerooms to be built in the temple, and when they were completed,
   ^12-13all the extra offerings were taken there. Hezekiah and Azariah then appointed Conaniah the Levite to be in charge of these storerooms. His brother Shimei was his assistant, and the following Levites worked with them: Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah.
   ¹⁴Kore son of Imnah was assigned to guard the East Gate, and he was put in charge of receiving the offerings voluntarily given to God and of dividing them among the priests and Levites.
   ^15-16He had six assistants who were responsible for seeing that all the priests in the other towns of Judah also got their share of these offerings. They were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah.
   Every priest and every Levite over thirty ^[l] years old who worked daily in the temple received part of these offerings, according to their duties.
   ¹⁷The priests were listed in the official records by clans, and the Levites twenty years old and older were listed by their duties.
   ¹⁸The official records also included their wives and children, because they had also been faithful in keeping themselves clean and acceptable to serve the LORD.
   ¹⁹Hezekiah also appointed other men to take food and supplies to the priests and Levites whose homes were in the pastureland around the towns of Judah. But the priests had to be descendants of Aaron, and the Levites had to be listed in the official records.
   ^20-21Everything Hezekiah did while he was king of Judah, including what he did for the temple in Jerusalem,  was right and good. He was a successful king, because he obeyed the LORD God with all his heart.
   

Footnotes:

1. 2 Chronicles 30:1 first month: See the note at 29.3.
2. 2 Chronicles 30:1 second month: See the note at 3.1,2.
3. 2 Chronicles 30:6 the invasion of the Assyrian kings: See 2 Kings 17.1-22.
4. 2 Chronicles 30:13 second month: See the note at 3.1,2.
5. 2 Chronicles 30:13 the Festival of Thin Bread: The celebration of this Festival began one day after Passover. And so these two festivals were often referred to as one.
6. 2 Chronicles 30:15 sacrifices to please the LORD: See the note at 1.6.
7. 2 Chronicles 31:1 sacred poles: See the note at 14.3.
8. 2 Chronicles 31:1 local shrines: See the note at 11.15.
9. 2 Chronicles 31:2 sacrifices to please the LORD: See the note at 1.6.
10. 2 Chronicles 31:2 sacrifices to ask his blessing: See the note at 29.33.
11. 2 Chronicles 31:7 third month: Sivan, the third month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-May to mid-June.
12. 2 Chronicles 31:15 thirty: The Hebrew text has "three" instead of "thirty"; in Hebrew, these two words look almost exactly the same (see also Numbers 4.3; 1 Chronicles 23.3).

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Romans 15:1-22 (Contemporary English Version)

Romans 15

Please Others and Not Yourself

 ¹If our faith is strong, we should be patient with the Lord's followers whose faith is weak. We should try to please them instead of ourselves. ²We should think of their good and try to help them by doing what pleases them. ³Even Christ did not try to please himself. But as the Scriptures say, "The people who insulted you also insulted me." ⁴And the Scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope. ⁵God is the one who makes us patient and cheerful. I pray that he will help you live at peace with each other, as you follow Christ. ⁶Then all of you together will praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.   

The Good News Is for Jews and Gentiles

 ⁷Honor God by accepting each other, as Christ has accepted you. ⁸I tell you that Christ came as a servant of the Jews to show that God has kept the promises he made to their famous ancestors. Christ also came, ⁹so that the Gentiles would praise God for being kind to them. It is just as the Scriptures say,   "I will tell the nations
   about you,
   and I will sing praises
   to your name."
    ¹⁰The Scriptures also say to the Gentiles, "Come and celebrate with God's people."
    ¹¹Again the Scriptures say,
   "Praise the Lord,
   all you Gentiles.
   All you nations, come
   and worship him."
    ¹²Isaiah says,
   "Someone from David's family
   will come to power.
   He will rule the nations,
   and they will put their hope
   in him."
    ¹³I pray that God, who gives hope, will bless you with complete happiness and peace because of your faith. And may the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope.
   

Paul's Work as a Missionary

 ¹⁴My friends, I am sure that you are very good and that you have all the knowledge you need to teach each other. ¹⁵But I have spoken to you plainly and have tried to remind you of some things. God was so kind to me! ¹⁶He chose me to be a servant of Christ Jesus for the Gentiles and to do the work of a priest in the service of his good news. God did this so that the Holy Spirit could make the Gentiles into a holy offering, pleasing to him.    ¹⁷Because of Christ Jesus, I can take pride in my service for God. ¹⁸In fact, all I will talk about is how Christ let me speak and work, so that the Gentiles would obey him. ¹⁹Indeed, I will tell how Christ worked miracles and wonders by the power of the Holy Spirit. I have preached the good news about him all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum. ²⁰But I have always tried to preach where people have never heard about Christ. I am like a builder who doesn't build on anyone else's foundation. ²¹It is just as the Scriptures say,
   "All who haven't been told
   about him
   will see him,
   and those who haven't heard
   about him
   will understand."
   

Paul's Plan To Visit Rome

 ²²My work has always kept me from coming to see you.

 

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Psalm 25:1-15 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 25

(By David.)

A Prayer for Guidance and Help

 ¹I offer you my heart, LORD God,    ²and I trust you.
   Don't make me ashamed
   or let enemies defeat me.
    ³Don't disappoint any
   of your worshipers,
   but disappoint all
   deceitful liars.
    ⁴Show me your paths
   and teach me to follow;
    ⁵guide me by your truth
   and instruct me.
   You keep me safe,
   and I always trust you.
    ⁶Please, LORD, remember,
   you have always
   been patient and kind.
    ⁷Forget each wrong I did
   when I was young.
   Show how truly kind you are
   and remember me.
    ⁸You are honest and merciful,
   and you teach sinners
   how to follow your path.
    ⁹You lead humble people
   to do what is right
   and to stay on your path.
    ¹⁰In everything you do,
   you are kind and faithful
   to everyone who keeps
   our agreement with you.
    ¹¹Be true to your name, LORD,
   by forgiving each one
   of my terrible sins.
    ¹²You will show the right path
   to all who worship you.
    ¹³They will have plenty,
   and then their children
   will receive the land.
    ¹⁴Our LORD, you are the friend
   of your worshipers,
   and you make an agreement
   with all of us.
    ¹⁵I always look to you,
   because you rescue me
   from every trap.

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Proverbs 20:13-15 (Contemporary English Version)

¹³If you sleep all the time,
   you will starve;
   if you get up and work,
   you will have enough food.
    ¹⁴Everyone likes to brag
   about getting a bargain.
    ¹⁵Sensible words are better
   than gold or jewels.

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Verse of the Day

“You are my place of safety and my shield. Your word is my only hope.” - Psalm 119:114

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

American Major League Baseball outfielder and manager, Casey Stengel wrote, “Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story.”

Bible Readings for January 3, 2014

Today our passages are Genesis 5:1–7:24; Matthew 3:7–4:11; Psalm 3:1-8; and Proverbs 1:10-19. The readings are from the  The Message  by Eugene H. Peterson.

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Genesis 5-7:24 (The Message)

Genesis 5

The Family Tree of the Human Race

 ^1-2 This is the family tree of the human race: When God created the human race, he made it godlike, with a nature akin to God. He created both male and female and blessed them, the whole human race.  ^3-5 When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was just like him, his very spirit and image, and named him Seth. After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years, having more sons and daughters. Adam lived a total of 930 years. And he died.
 ^6-8 When Seth was 105 years old, he had Enosh. After Seth had Enosh, he lived another 807 years, having more sons and daughters. Seth lived a total of 912 years. And he died.
 ^9-11 When Enosh was ninety years old, he had Kenan. After he had Kenan, he lived another 815 years, having more sons and daughters. Enosh lived a total of 905 years. And he died.
 ^12-14 When Kenan was seventy years old, he had Mahalalel. After he had Mahalalel, he lived another 840 years, having more sons and daughters. Kenan lived a total of 910 years. And he died.
 ^15-17 When Mahalalel was sixty-five years old, he had Jared. After he had Jared, he lived another 830 years, having more sons and daughters. Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years. And he died.
 ^18-20 When Jared was 162 years old, he had Enoch. After he had Enoch, he lived another 800 years, having more sons and daughters. Jared lived a total of 962 years. And he died.
 ^21-23 When Enoch was sixty-five years old, he had Methuselah. Enoch walked steadily with God. After he had Methuselah, he lived another 300 years, having more sons and daughters. Enoch lived a total of 365 years.
 ²⁴ Enoch walked steadily with God. And then one day he was simply gone: God took him.
 ^25-27 When Methuselah was 187 years old, he had Lamech. After he had Lamech, he lived another 782 years. Methuselah lived a total of 969 years. And he died.
 ^28-31 When Lamech was 182 years old, he had a son. He named him Noah, saying, "This one will give us a break from the hard work of farming the ground that God cursed." After Lamech had Noah, he lived another 595 years, having more sons and daughters. Lamech lived a total of 777 years. And he died.
 ³² When Noah was 500 years old, he had Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 6

Giants in the Land

 ^1-2 When the human race began to increase, with more and more daughters being born, the sons of God noticed that the daughters of men were beautiful. They looked them over and picked out wives for themselves.  ³ Then God said, "I'm not going to breathe life into men and women endlessly. Eventually they're going to die; from now on they can expect a life span of 120 years."
 ⁴ This was back in the days (and also later) when there were giants in the land. The giants came from the union of the sons of God and the daughters of men. These were the mighty men of ancient lore, the famous ones.

Noah and His Sons

^5-7 God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I'm sorry I made them."  ⁸ But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah.
 ^9-10 This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
 ^11-12 As far as God was concerned, the Earth had become a sewer; there was violence everywhere. God took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting—life itself corrupt to the core.
 ¹³ God said to Noah, "It's all over. It's the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I'm making a clean sweep.
 ^14-16 "Build yourself a ship from teakwood. Make rooms in it. Coat it with pitch inside and out. Make it 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. Build a roof for it and put in a window eighteen inches from the top; put in a door on the side of the ship; and make three decks, lower, middle, and upper.
 ¹⁷ "I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.
 ^18-21 "But I'm going to establish a covenant with you: You'll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons' wives will come on board with you. You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile—two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. Also get all the food you'll need and store it up for you and them."
 ²² Noah did everything God commanded him to do.

Genesis 7

 ¹ Next God said to Noah, "Now board the ship, you and all your family—out of everyone in this generation, you're the righteous one.  ^2-4 "Take on board with you seven pairs of every clean animal, a male and a female; one pair of every unclean animal, a male and a female; and seven pairs of every kind of bird, a male and a female, to insure their survival on Earth. In just seven days I will dump rain on Earth for forty days and forty nights. I'll make a clean sweep of everything that I've made." ⁵ Noah did everything God commanded him.
 ^6-10 Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters covered the Earth. Noah and his wife and sons and their wives boarded the ship to escape the flood. Clean and unclean animals, birds, and all the crawling creatures came in pairs to Noah and to the ship, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. In seven days the floodwaters came.
 ^11-12 It was the six-hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month that it happened: all the underground springs erupted and all the windows of Heaven were thrown open. Rain poured for forty days and forty nights.
 ^13-16 That's the day Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, accompanied by his wife and his sons' wives, boarded the ship. And with them every kind of wild and domestic animal, right down to all the kinds of creatures that crawl and all kinds of birds and anything that flies. They came to Noah and to the ship in pairs—everything and anything that had the breath of life in it, male and female of every creature came just as God had commanded Noah. Then God shut the door behind him.
 ^17-23 The flood continued forty days and the waters rose and lifted the ship high over the Earth. The waters kept rising, the flood deepened on the Earth, the ship floated on the surface. The flood got worse until all the highest mountains were covered—the high-water mark reached twenty feet above the crest of the mountains. Everything died. Anything that moved—dead. Birds, farm animals, wild animals, the entire teeming exuberance of life—dead. And all people—dead. Every living, breathing creature that lived on dry land died; he wiped out the whole works—people and animals, crawling creatures and flying birds, every last one of them, gone. Only Noah and his company on the ship lived.
 ²⁴ The floodwaters took over for 150 days.

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Matthew 3:7-4:11 (The Message)

 ^7-10When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: "Brood of snakes! What do you think you're doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It's your life that must change, not your skin! And don't think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire.
 ^11-12"I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I'm a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He's going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."
 ^13-14Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. John objected, "I'm the one who needs to be baptized, not you!"
 ¹⁵But Jesus insisted. "Do it. God's work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism." So John did it.
 ^16-17The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God's Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: "This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life."

Matthew 4

The Test

 ^1-3 Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: "Since you are God's Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread."  ⁴Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: "It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God's mouth."
 ^5-6For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, "Since you are God's Son, jump." The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: "He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won't so much as stub your toe on a stone."
 ⁷Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: "Don't you dare test the Lord your God."
 ^8-9For the third test, the Devil took him to the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the earth's kingdoms, how glorious they all were. Then he said, "They're yours—lock, stock, and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they're yours."
 ¹⁰Jesus' refusal was curt: "Beat it, Satan!" He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness."
 ¹¹The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus' needs.

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Psalm 3:1-8 (The Message)

Psalm 3

 ^1-2 God! Look! Enemies past counting! Enemies sprouting like mushrooms,
   Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery:
   "Hah! No help for him from God!"

 ^3-4 But you, God, shield me on all sides;
   You ground my feet, you lift my head high;
   With all my might I shout up to God,
   His answers thunder from the holy mountain.

 ^5-6 I stretch myself out. I sleep.
   Then I'm up again—rested, tall and steady,
   Fearless before the enemy mobs
   Coming at me from all sides.

 ⁷ Up, God! My God, help me!
   Slap their faces,
   First this cheek, then the other,
   Your fist hard in their teeth!

 ⁸ Real help comes from God.
   Your blessing clothes your people!

 

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Proverbs 1:10-19 (The Message)

 ^8-19 Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you;
   never forget what you learned at your mother's knee.
Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair,
   like rings on your fingers.
Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you,
   don't go along with them.
If they say—"Let's go out and raise some hell.
   Let's beat up some old man, mug some old woman.
Let's pick them clean
   and get them ready for their funerals.
We'll load up on top-quality loot.
   We'll haul it home by the truckload.
Join us for the time of your life!
   With us, it's share and share alike!"—
Oh, friend, don't give them a second look;
   don't listen to them for a minute.
They're racing to a very bad end,
   hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on.
Nobody robs a bank
   with everyone watching,
Yet that's what these people are doing—
   they're doing themselves in.
When you grab all you can get, that's what happens:
   the more you get, the less you are.

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Verse of the Day

“[God's Kindness and the New Life]God has shown us how kind he is by coming to save all people. He taught us to give up our wicked ways and our worldly desires and to live decent and honest lives in this world.” - Titus 2:11-12

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American Major League Baseball outfielder and manager Casey Stengel said, “Most ball games are lost, not won.”