One Year Bible.

David’s Last Song

¹These are the last words of David:

“The oracle of David son of Jesse,

the oracle of the man raised on high,

the one anointed by the God of Jacob,

and the sweet psalmist of Israel:

²The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me;

His word was on my tongue.

³The God of Israel spoke;

the Rock of Israel said to me,

‘He who rules the people with justice,

who rules in the fear of God,

⁴is like the light of the morning

at sunrise of a cloudless dawn,

the glistening after the rain

on the sprouting grass of the earth.’

⁵Is not my house right with God?

For He has established with me

an everlasting covenant,

ordered and secured in every part.

Will He not bring about my full salvation

and my every desire?

⁶But the worthless are all like thorns raked aside,

for they can never be gathered by hand.

⁷The man who touches them must be armed with iron

or with the shaft of a spear.

The fire burns them to ashes

in the place where they lie.”

David’s Mighty Men

⁸These are the names of David’s mighty men:

Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite was chief of the Three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed at one time.

⁹Next in command was Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he went with David to taunt the Philistines who had gathered for battle at Pas-dammim. The men of Israel retreated, ¹⁰but Eleazar stood his ground and struck the Philistines until his hand grew weary and stuck to his sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. Then the troops returned to him, but only to plunder the dead.

¹¹And after him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines had banded together near a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. ¹²But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field, defended it, and struck down the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory.

¹³At harvest time, three of the thirty chief men went down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a company of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴At that time David was in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was at Bethlehem. ¹⁵David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

¹⁶So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead , he poured it out to the LORD, ¹⁷saying, “Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this! Is this not the blood of the men who risked their lives?” So he refused to drink it.

Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.

¹⁸Now Abishai, the brother of Joab and son of Zeruiah, was chief of the Three, and he wielded his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three. ¹⁹Was he not more honored than the Three? And he became their commander, even though he was not included among the Three.

²⁰And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of Moab, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion. ²¹He also struck down an Egyptian, a huge man. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club, snatched the spear from his hand, and killed the Egyptian with his own spear. ²²These were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who won a name along with the three mighty men. ²³He was most honored among the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. And David appointed him over his guard.

²⁴Now these were members of the Thirty:

Asahel the brother of Joab,

Elhanan son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

²⁵Shammah the Harodite,

Elika the Harodite,

²⁶Helez the Paltite,

Ira son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

²⁷Abiezer the Anathothite,

Mebunnai the Hushathite,

²⁸Zalmon the Ahohite,

Maharai the Netophathite,

²⁹Heled son of Baanah the Netophathite,

Ittai son of Ribai from Gibeah of the Benjamites,

³⁰Benaiah the Pirathonite,

Hiddai from the brooks of Gaash,

³¹Abi-albon the Arbathite,

Azmaveth the Barhumite,

³²Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

the sons of Jashen,

Jonathan ³³son of Shammah the Hararite,

Ahiam son of Sharar the Hararite,

³⁴Eliphelet son of Ahasbai the Maacathite,

Eliam son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,

³⁵Hezro the Carmelite,

Paarai the Arbite,

³⁶Igal son of Nathan of Zobah,

Bani the Gadite,

³⁷Zelek the Ammonite,

Naharai the Beerothite, the armor-bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah,

³⁸Ira the Ithrite,

Gareb the Ithrite,

³⁹and Uriah the Hittite.

There were thirty-seven in all.

Greetings to the Thessalonians

¹Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you.

²We always thank God for all of you, remembering you in our prayers ³and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴Brothers who are beloved by God, we know that He has chosen you, ⁵because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with great conviction — just as you know we lived among you for your sake. ⁶And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering.

⁷As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. ⁸For not only did the message of the Lord ring out from you to Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone out to every place, so that we have no need to say anything more. ⁹For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God ¹⁰and to await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead — Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

The Mission of John the Baptist

¹In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” ³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for Him.’”

⁴John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan. ⁶Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁷But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. ⁹And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹²His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”

¹⁵“Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him.

¹⁶As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. ¹⁷And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

The Temptation of Jesus

¹Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ²After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.

³The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴But Jesus answered, “It is written:

‘Man shall not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. ⁶“If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He will command His angels concerning You,

and they will lift You up in their hands,

so that You will not strike Your foot

against a stone.’”

⁷Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹“All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus told him. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

¹¹Then the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹²When Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned, He withdrew to Galilee. ¹³Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵“Land of Zebulun

and land of Naphtali,

the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles —

¹⁶the people living in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of the shadow of death,

a light has dawned.”

¹⁷From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

The First Disciples

¹⁸As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰And at once they left their nets and followed Him.

²¹Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them, ²²and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

Jesus Heals the Multitudes

²³Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them.

²⁵Large crowds followed Him, having come from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.