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Reading Plan
Day 114 Day 115Day 116

1 Samuel chapter 30

1
Two days later David and his men arrived back at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and attacked Ziklag. They had burned down the town
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and captured all the women; they had not killed anyone, but had taken everyone with them when they left.
3
When David and his men arrived, they found that the town had been burned down and that their wives, sons, and daughters had been carried away.
4
David and his men started crying and did not stop until they were completely exhausted.
5
Even David's two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken away.
6
David was now in great trouble, because his men were all very bitter about losing their children, and they were threatening to stone him; but the LORD his God gave him courage.
7
David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod," and Abiathar brought it to him.
8
David asked the LORD, "Shall I go after those raiders? And will I catch them?" He answered, "Go after them; you will catch them and rescue the captives."
9
So David and his six hundred men started out, and when they arrived at Besor Brook, some of them stayed there.
10
David continued on his way with four hundred men; the other two hundred men were too tired to cross the brook and so stayed behind.
11
The men with David found a young Egyptian out in the country and brought him to David. They gave him some food and water,
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some dried figs, and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, his strength returned; he had not had anything to eat or drink for three full days.
13
David asked him, "Who is your master, and where are you from?" "I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite," he answered. "My master left me behind three days ago because I got sick.
14
We had raided the territory of the Cherethites in the southern part of Judah and the territory of the clan of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag."
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"Will you lead me to those raiders?" David asked him. He answered, "I will if you promise me in God's name that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master."
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And he led David to them. The raiders were scattered all over the place, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the enormous amount of loot they had captured from Philistia and Judah.
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At dawn the next day David attacked them and fought until evening. Except for four hundred young men who mounted camels and got away, none of them escaped.
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David rescued everyone and everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives;
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nothing at all was missing. David got back all his men's sons and daughters, and all the loot the Amalekites had taken.
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He also recovered all the flocks and herds; his men drove all the livestock in front of them and said, "This belongs to David!"
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Then David went back to the two hundred men who had been too weak to go with him and had stayed behind at Besor Brook. They came forward to meet David and his men, and David went up to them and greeted them warmly.
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But some mean and worthless men who had gone with David said, "They didn't go with us, and so we won't give them any of the loot. They can take their wives and children and go away."
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But David answered, "My brothers, you can't do this with what the LORD has given us! He kept us safe and gave us victory over the raiders.
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No one can agree with what you say! All must share alike: whoever stays behind with the supplies gets the same share as the one who goes into battle."
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David made this a rule, and it has been followed in Israel ever since.
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When David returned to Ziklag, he sent part of the loot to his friends, the leaders of Judah, with the message, "Here is a present for you from the loot we took from the LORD's enemies."
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He sent it to the people in Bethel, to the people in Ramah in the southern part of Judah, and to the people in the towns of Jattir,
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Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,
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and Racal; to the clan of Jerahmeel, to the Kenites,
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and to the people in the towns of Hormah, Borashan, Athach,
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and Hebron. He sent it to all the places where he and his men had roamed.

1 Samuel chapter 31

1
The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled.
2
But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.
3
The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he himself was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded.
4
He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won't gloat over me and kill me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.
5
The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his own sword and died with Saul.
6
And that is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died; all of Saul's men died that day.
7
When the Israelites on the other side of Jezreel Valley and east of the Jordan River heard that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had been killed, they abandoned their towns and fled. Then the Philistines came and occupied the towns.
8
The day after the battle the Philistines went to plunder the corpses, and they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa.
9
They cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers with them throughout Philistia to tell the good news to their idols and to their people.
10
Then they put his weapons in the temple of the goddess Astarte, and they nailed his body to the wall of the city of Beth Shan.
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When the people of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
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the bravest men started out and marched all night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, brought them back to Jabesh, and burned them there.
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Then they took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in town, and fasted for seven days.

1 Chronicles chapter 10

1
The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled.
2
But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.
3
The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded.
4
He said to the young man carrying his weapons, "Draw your sword and kill me, to keep these godless Philistines from gloating over me." But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.
5
The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his sword and died.
6
So Saul and his three sons all died together, and none of his descendants ever ruled.
7
When the Israelites who lived in Jezreel Valley heard that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and ran off. Then the Philistines came and occupied them.
8
The day after the battle the Philistines went to plunder the corpses, and they found the bodies of Saul and his sons lying on Mount Gilboa.
9
They cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers with them throughout Philistia to tell the good news to their idols and to their people.
10
They put his weapons in one of their temples and hung his head in the temple of their god Dagon.
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When the people of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
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the bravest men went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons and took them to Jabesh. They buried them there under an oak and fasted for seven days.
13
Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD. He disobeyed the LORD's commands; he tried to find guidance by consulting the spirits of the dead
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instead of consulting the LORD. So the LORD killed him and gave control of the kingdom to David son of Jesse.

Matthew chapter 12

1
Not long afterward Jesus was walking through some wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began to pick heads of wheat and eat the grain.
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When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, "Look, it is against our Law for your disciples to do this on the Sabbath!"
3
Jesus answered, "Have you never read what David did that time when he and his men were hungry?
4
He went into the house of God, and he and his men ate the bread offered to God, even though it was against the Law for them to eat it---only the priests were allowed to eat that bread.
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Or have you not read in the Law of Moses that every Sabbath the priests in the Temple actually break the Sabbath law, yet they are not guilty?
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I tell you that there is something here greater than the Temple.
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The scripture says, 'It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.' If you really knew what this means, you would not condemn people who are not guilty;
8
for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
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Jesus left that place and went to a synagogue,
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where there was a man who had a paralyzed hand. Some people were there who wanted to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they asked him, "Is it against our Law to heal on the Sabbath?"
11
Jesus answered, "What if one of you has a sheep and it falls into a deep hole on the Sabbath? Will you not take hold of it and lift it out?
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And a human being is worth much more than a sheep! So then, our Law does allow us to help someone on the Sabbath."
13
Then he said to the man with the paralyzed hand, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and it became well again, just like the other one.
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Then the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.
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When Jesus heard about the plot against him, he went away from that place; and large crowds followed him. He healed all the sick
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and gave them orders not to tell others about him.
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He did this so as to make come true what God had said through the prophet Isaiah:
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"Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, the one I love, and with whom I am pleased. I will send my Spirit upon him, and he will announce my judgment to the nations.
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He will not argue or shout, or make loud speeches in the streets.
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He will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. He will persist until he causes justice to triumph,
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and on him all peoples will put their hope."
22
Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man, so that he was able to talk and see.
23
The crowds were all amazed at what Jesus had done. "Could he be the Son of David?" they asked.
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When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, "He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so."
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Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so he said to them, "Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart.
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So if one group is fighting another in Satan's kingdom, this means that it is already divided into groups and will soon fall apart!
27
You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. Well, then, who gives your followers the power to drive them out? What your own followers do proves that you are wrong!
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No, it is not Beelzebul, but God's Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you.
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"No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house.
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"Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.
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For this reason I tell you: people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say; but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
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Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven---now or ever.
33
"To have good fruit you must have a healthy tree; if you have a poor tree, you will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it bears.
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You snakes---how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
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A good person brings good things out of a treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of a treasure of bad things.
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"You can be sure that on the Judgment Day you will have to give account of every useless word you have ever spoken.
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Your words will be used to judge you---to declare you either innocent or guilty."
38
Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up. "Teacher," they said, "we want to see you perform a miracle."
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"How evil and godless are the people of this day!" Jesus exclaimed. "You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah.
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In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth.
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On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I tell you that there is something here greater than Jonah!
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On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse you, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Solomon!
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"When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can't find one,
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it says to itself, 'I will go back to my house.' So it goes back and finds the house empty, clean, and all fixed up.
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Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than at the beginning. This is what will happen to the evil people of this day."
46
Jesus was still talking to the people when his mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside, asking to speak with him.
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So one of the people there said to him, "Look, your mother and brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak with you."
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Jesus answered, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?"
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Then he pointed to his disciples and said, "Look! Here are my mother and my brothers!
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Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants is my brother, my sister, and my mother."

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