One Year Bible.

David’s Messengers Disgraced

¹Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died and was succeeded by his son Hanun. ²And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.”

So David sent some of his servants to console Hanun concerning his father. But when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites, ³the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Has not David instead sent his servants to explore the city, spy it out, and overthrow it?”

⁴So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away.

⁵When this was reported to David, he sent messengers to meet the men, since they had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”

⁶When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah and twelve thousand men from Tob.

⁷On hearing this, David sent Joab and the entire army of mighty men. ⁸The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.

David Defeats Ammon and Aram

⁹When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans. ¹⁰And he placed the rest of the troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites.

¹¹“If the Arameans are too strong for me,” said Joab, “then you will come to my rescue. And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to your rescue. ¹²Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do what is good in His sight.”

¹³So Joab and his troops advanced to fight the Arameans, who fled before him. ¹⁴When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they regrouped. ¹⁶Hadadezer sent messengers to bring more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates, and they came to Helam with Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.

¹⁷When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and went to Helam. Then the Arameans arrayed themselves against David and fought against him. ¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach the commander of their army, who died there.

¹⁹When all the kings who were subject to Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

The Parable of the Banquet

¹Once again, Jesus spoke to them in parables: ²“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come.

⁴Again, he sent other servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵But they paid no attention and went away, one to his field, another to his business. ⁶The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.

⁷The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city. ⁸Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited were not worthy. ⁹Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’

¹⁰So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. ¹²‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’

But the man was speechless.

¹³Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words. ¹⁶They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You seek favor from no one, because You pay no attention to external appearance. ¹⁷So tell us what You think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus knew their evil intent and said, “You hypocrites, why are you testing Me? ¹⁹Show Me the coin used for the tax.”

And they brought Him a denarius.

²⁰“Whose image is this,” He asked, “and whose inscription?”

²¹“Caesar’s,” they answered.

So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

²²And when they heard this, they were amazed. So they left Him and went away.

The Sadducees and the Resurrection

²³That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him. ²⁴“Teacher,” they said, “Moses declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. ²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died without having children. So he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶The same thing happened to the second and third brothers, down to the seventh. ²⁷And last of all, the woman died. ²⁸In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For all of them were married to her.”

²⁹Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. ³⁰In the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you: ³²‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

³³When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

The Greatest Commandment

³⁴And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together. ³⁵One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question: ³⁶“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?”

³⁷Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Whose Son Is the Christ?

⁴¹While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus questioned them: ⁴²“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?”

“David’s,” they answered.

⁴³Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says:

⁴⁴‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand

until I put Your enemies

under Your feet.”’

⁴⁵So if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how can He be David’s son?”

⁴⁶No one was able to answer a word, and from that day on no one dared to question Him any further.

Spiritual Gifts

¹Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. ²You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵There are different ministries, but the same Lord. ⁶There are different ways of working, but the same God works all things in all people.

⁷Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines.

The Body of Christ

¹²The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ. ¹³For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

¹⁴For the body does not consist of one part, but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

¹⁸But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design. ¹⁹If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.” ²²On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and the parts we consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with special modesty, ²⁴whereas our presentable parts have no such need.

But God has composed the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another. ²⁶If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

The Greater Gifts

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it. ²⁸And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And now I will show you the most excellent way.