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Reading Plan
Day 85 Day 86Day 87

Judges chapter 1

1
After Joshua's death the people of Israel asked the LORD, "Which of our tribes should be the first to go and attack the Canaanites?"
2
The LORD answered, "The tribe of Judah will go first. I am giving them control of the land."
3
The people of Judah said to the people of Simeon, "Go with us into the territory assigned to us, and we will fight the Canaanites together. Then we will go with you into the territory assigned to you." So the tribes of Simeon
4
and Judah went into battle together. The LORD gave them victory over the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and they defeated ten thousand men at Bezek.
5
They found Adonibezek there and fought him.
6
He ran away, but they chased him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
7
Adonibezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. God has now done to me what I did to them." He was taken to Jerusalem, where he died.
8
The people of Judah attacked Jerusalem and captured it. They killed its people and set fire to the city.
9
After this they went on to fight the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the foothills, and in the dry country to the south.
10
They marched against the Canaanites living in the city of Hebron, which used to be called Kiriath Arba. There they defeated the clans of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
11
From there the men of Judah marched against the city of Debir, at that time called Kiriath Sepher.
12
One of them, called Caleb, said, "I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the man who succeeds in capturing Kiriath Sepher."
13
Othniel, the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz, captured the city, so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage.
14
On the wedding day Othniel urged her to ask her father for a field. She got down from her donkey, and Caleb asked her what she wanted.
15
She answered, "I want some water holes. The land you have given me is in the dry country." So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
16
The descendants of Moses' father-in-law, the Kenite, went on with the people of Judah from Jericho, the city of palm trees, into the barren country south of Arad in Judah. There they settled among the Amalekites.
17
The people of Judah went with the people of Simeon, and together they defeated the Canaanites who lived in the city of Zephath. They put a curse on the city, destroyed it, and named it Hormah.
18
The LORD helped the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they did not capture Gaza, Ashkelon, or Ekron, with their surrounding territories. These people living along the coast had iron chariots, and so the people of Judah were not able to drive them out.
19
(SEE 1:18)
20
As Moses had commanded, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove out of the city the three clans descended from Anak.
21
But the people of the tribe of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, and the Jebusites have continued to live there with the people of Benjamin ever since.
22
The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh went to attack the city of Bethel, at that time called Luz. The LORD helped them. They sent spies to the city,
23
(SEE 1:22)
24
who saw a man leaving and said to him, "Show us how to get into the city, and we won't hurt you."
25
So he showed them, and the people of Ephraim and Manasseh killed everyone in the city, except this man and his family.
26
He later went to the land of the Hittites, built a city there, and named it Luz, which is still its name.
27
The tribe of Manasseh did not drive out the people living in the cities of Beth Shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and the nearby towns; the Canaanites continued to live there.
28
When the Israelites became stronger, they forced the Canaanites to work for them, but still they did not drive them all out.
29
The tribe of Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites living in the city of Gezer, and so the Canaanites continued to live there with them.
30
The tribe of Zebulun did not drive out the people living in the cities of Kitron and Nahalal, and so the Canaanites continued to live there with them and were forced to work for them.
31
The tribe of Asher did not drive out the people living in the cities of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphek, and Rehob.
32
The people of Asher lived with the local Canaanites, since they had not been driven out.
33
The tribe of Naphtali did not drive out the people living in the cities of Beth Shemesh and Bethanath. The people of Naphtali lived with the local Canaanites, but forced them to work for them.
34
The Amorites forced the people of the tribe of Dan into the hill country and did not let them come down to the plain.
35
The Amorites continued to live at Aijalon, Shaalbim, and Mount Heres, but the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh kept them under their rule and forced them to work for them.
36
North of Sela, the Edomite border ran through Akrabbim Pass.

Judges chapter 2

1
The angel of the LORD went from Gilgal to Bochim and said to the Israelites, "I took you out of Egypt and brought you to the land that I promised to your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you.
2
You must not make any covenant with the people who live in this land. You must tear down their altars.' But you have not done what I told you. You have done just the opposite!
3
So I tell you now that I will not drive these people out as you advance. They will be your enemies, and you will be trapped by the worship of their gods."
4
When the angel had said this, all the people of Israel began to cry,
5
and that is why the place is called Bochim. There they offered sacrifices to the LORD.
6
Joshua sent the people of Israel on their way, and each man went to take possession of his own share of the land.
7
As long as Joshua lived, the people of Israel served the LORD, and even after his death they continued to do so as long as the leaders were alive who had seen for themselves all the great things that the LORD had done for Israel.
8
The LORD's servant Joshua son of Nun died at the age of a hundred and ten.
9
He was buried in his own part of the land at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.
10
That whole generation also died, and the next generation forgot the LORD and what he had done for Israel.
11
Then the people of Israel sinned against the LORD and began to serve the Baals.
12
They stopped worshiping the LORD, the God of their ancestors, the God who had brought them out of Egypt, and they began to worship other gods, the gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and made the LORD angry.
13
They stopped worshiping the LORD and served the Baals and the Astartes.
14
And so the LORD became furious with Israel and let raiders attack and rob them. He let the enemies all around overpower them, and the Israelites could no longer protect themselves.
15
Every time they would go into battle, the LORD was against them, just as he had said he would be. They were in great distress.
16
Then the LORD gave the Israelites leaders who saved them from the raiders.
17
But the Israelites paid no attention to their leaders. Israel was unfaithful to the LORD and worshiped other gods. Their fathers had obeyed the LORD's commands, but this new generation soon stopped doing so.
18
Whenever the LORD gave Israel a leader, the LORD would help that leader and would save the people from their enemies as long as that leader lived. The LORD would have mercy on them because they groaned under their suffering and oppression.
19
But when the leader died, the people would return to the old ways and behave worse than the previous generation. They would serve and worship other gods, and stubbornly continue their own evil ways.
20
Then the LORD would become furious with Israel and say, "This nation has broken the covenant that I commanded their ancestors to keep. Because they have not obeyed me,
21
I will no longer drive out any of the nations that were still in the land when Joshua died.
22
I will use them to find out whether or not these Israelites will follow my ways, as their ancestors did."
23
So the LORD allowed these nations to remain in the land; he did not give Joshua victory over them, nor did he drive them out soon after Joshua's death.

Judges chapter 3

1
So then, the LORD left some nations in the land to test the Israelites who had not been through the wars in Canaan.
2
He did this only in order to teach each generation of Israelites about war, especially those who had never been in battle before.
3
Those left in the land were the five Philistine cities, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanon Mountains from Mount Baal Hermon as far as Hamath Pass.
4
They were to be a test for Israel, to find out whether or not the Israelites would obey the commands that the LORD had given their ancestors through Moses.
5
And so the people of Israel settled down among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
6
They intermarried with them and worshiped their gods.
7
The people of Israel forgot the LORD their God; they sinned against him and worshiped the idols of Baal and Asherah.
8
So the LORD became angry with Israel and let King Cushan Rishathaim of Mesopotamia conquer them. They were subject to him for eight years.
9
Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he sent someone to free them. This was Othniel, the son of Caleb's younger brother Kenaz.
10
The spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he became Israel's leader. Othniel went to war, and the LORD gave him the victory over the king of Mesopotamia.
11
There was peace in the land for forty years, and then Othniel died.
12
The people of Israel sinned against the LORD again. Because of this the LORD made King Eglon of Moab stronger than Israel.
13
Eglon joined the Ammonites and the Amalekites; they defeated Israel and captured Jericho, the city of palm trees.
14
The Israelites were subject to Eglon for eighteen years.
15
Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he sent someone to free them. This was Ehud, a left-handed man, who was the son of Gera, from the tribe of Benjamin. The people of Israel sent Ehud to King Eglon of Moab with gifts for him.
16
Ehud had made himself a double-edged sword about a foot and a half long. He had it fastened on his right side under his clothes.
17
Then he took the gifts to Eglon, who was a very fat man.
18
When Ehud had given him the gifts, he told the men who had carried them to go back home.
19
But Ehud himself turned back at the carved stones near Gilgal, went back to Eglon, and said, "Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you." So the king ordered his servants, "Leave us alone!" And they all went out.
20
Then, as the king was sitting there alone in his cool room on the roof, Ehud went over to him and said, "I have a message from God for you." The king stood up.
21
With his left hand Ehud took the sword from his right side and plunged it into the king's belly.
22
The whole sword went in, handle and all, and the fat covered it up. Ehud did not pull it out of the king's belly, and it stuck out behind, between his legs.
23
Then Ehud went outside, closed the doors behind him, locked them,
24
and left. The servants came and saw that the doors were locked, but they only thought that the king was inside, relieving himself.
25
They waited as long as they thought they should, but when he still did not open the door, they took the key and opened it. And there was their master, lying dead on the floor.
26
Ehud got away while they were waiting. He went past the carved stones and escaped to Seirah.
27
When he arrived there in the hill country of Ephraim, he blew a trumpet to call the people of Israel to battle; then he led them down from the hills.
28
He told them, "Follow me! The LORD has given you victory over your enemies, the Moabites." So they followed Ehud down and captured the place where the Moabites were to cross the Jordan; they did not allow anyone to cross.
29
That day they killed about ten thousand of the best Moabite soldiers; none of them escaped.
30
That day the Israelites defeated Moab, and there was peace in the land for eighty years.
31
The next leader was Shamgar son of Anath. He too rescued Israel, and did so by killing six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.

1 Corinthians chapter 12

1
Now, concerning what you wrote about the gifts from the Holy Spirit. I want you to know the truth about them, my friends.
2
You know that while you were still heathen, you were led astray in many ways to the worship of lifeless idols.
3
I want you to know that no one who is led by God's Spirit can say "A curse on Jesus!" and no one can confess "Jesus is Lord," without being guided by the Holy Spirit.
4
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.
5
There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served.
6
There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service.
7
The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.
8
The Spirit gives one person a message full of wisdom, while to another person the same Spirit gives a message full of knowledge.
9
One and the same Spirit gives faith to one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal.
10
The Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of speaking God's message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said.
11
But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.
12
Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts.
13
In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.
14
For the body itself is not made up of only one part, but of many parts.
15
If the foot were to say, "Because I am not a hand, I don't belong to the body," that would not keep it from being a part of the body.
16
And if the ear were to say, "Because I am not an eye, I don't belong to the body," that would not keep it from being a part of the body.
17
If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if it were only an ear, how could it smell?
18
As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be.
19
There would not be a body if it were all only one part!
20
As it is, there are many parts but one body.
21
So then, the eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" Nor can the head say to the feet, "Well, I don't need you!"
22
On the contrary, we cannot do without the parts of the body that seem to be weaker;
23
and those parts that we think aren't worth very much are the ones which we treat with greater care; while the parts of the body which don't look very nice are treated with special modesty,
24
which the more beautiful parts do not need. God himself has put the body together in such a way as to give greater honor to those parts that need it.
25
And so there is no division in the body, but all its different parts have the same concern for one another.
26
If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness.
27
All of you are Christ's body, and each one is a part of it.
28
In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues.
29
They are not all apostles or prophets or teachers. Not everyone has the power to work miracles
30
or to heal diseases or to speak in strange tongues or to explain what is said.
31
Set your hearts, then, on the more important gifts. Best of all, however, is the following way.

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