← Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry
Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry
May 13 (1 Samuel 11–13; Psalm 119:25–32; 2 Corinthians 3–4)
00:14:10
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- [00:01]
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A reading from one Samuel. Then Nahash the ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, make a treaty with us, and we will serve you. But Nahash the ammonite said to them, on this condition, I will make a treaty with you that I gouge out all your right eyes and thus bring disgrace on all Israel. The elders of Jabesh said to him, give us seven days respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you. When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people. And all the people wept aloud. Now behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, what is wrong with the people that they are weeping? So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. When he mustered them at Bezek, the people of Israel were 300,000 and the men of Judah 30,000. And they said to the messengers who had come, thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh, gilead, tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have salvation. When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you. And the next day, Saul put the people in three companies, and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. Then the people said to Samuel, who is it that said, shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men, that we may put them to death. But Saul said, not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel. Then Samuel said to the people, come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom. And Samuel said to all Israel, behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me, and have made a King over you. And now behold, the king walks before you. And I am old and gray. And behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am. Testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me, and I will restore it to you. They said, you have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand. And he said to them, the Lord is witness against you and is anointed as witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand. And they said, he is witness. And Samuel said to the people, the Lord is witness who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore, stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God, and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. And they cried out to the Lord and said, we have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies that we may serve you. And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side. And you lived in safety. And when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, came against you, you said to me, no. But a king shall reign over us. When the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked. Behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord. And if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. Now therefore, stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, and asking for yourselves a king. So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel, pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, but for we have added to all our sins this evil to ask for ourselves a king. And Samuel said to the people, do not be afraid. You have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. And I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart, for consider what great things he has done for you. Saul lived for one year and then became king. And when he had reigned for two years over Israel, Saul chose 3000 men of Israel. 2000 were with Saul and Michmash in the hill country of Bethel. And a thousand were with Jonathan and Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home every man to his tent. Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba. And the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, let the Hebrews hear. And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines. And also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal. And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and troops, like the sand on the seashore in multitude, they came up and encamped in Michmash to the east of Beth Aven. When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble, for the people were hard pressed. The people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns. And some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling. He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, bring the burnt offering here to me and the peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. Samuel said, what have you done? And Saul said, when I saw that the people were scattering from me and that you did not come within the days appointed and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal. And I have not sought the favor of the Lord. So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering. And Samuel said to Saul, you have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. And the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army. They went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about 600 men. And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin. But the Philistines encamped in Michmash. And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah to the land of Shul. Another company turned toward Beth Horon. And another company turned toward the border that looks down on the valley of Zeboam toward the wilderness. Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel. For the Philistines said, lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears. But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe or his sickle. And the charge was 2/3 of a shekel for the ploughshares and for the mattocks and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. So on the day of the battle, there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan. But Saul and Jonathan, his son, had them. A reading from the Book of Psalms.
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My soul clings to the dust. Give me life according to your word. When I told of my ways, you answered me. Teach me your statutes, make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. My soul melts away for sorrow. Strengthen me according to your word. Put false ways far from me, and graciously teach me your law. I have chosen the way of faithfulness. I set your rules before me. I cling to your testimonies. O Lord, let me not be put to shame. I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart.
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A reading from the book of 2 Corinthians.
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Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now, if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold. Not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they wreath the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is There is freedom. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants, for Jesus sake. For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not driven to despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you, since we have the same spirit of faith. According to what has been written, I believed and so I spoke. We also believe and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake. So that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.
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And.