June 4th - Day 155

2 SAMUEL 22:1 - 23:23

22David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2He said:
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
3 my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my saviour; you save me from violence.
4I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.


5For the waves of death encompassed me,
the torrents of perdition assailed me;
6the cords of Sheol entangled me,
the snares of death confronted me.


7In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry came to his ears.


8Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations of the heavens trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
9Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
10He bowed the heavens, and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
11He rode on a cherub, and flew;
he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
12He made darkness around him a canopy,
thick clouds, a gathering of water.
13Out of the brightness before him
coals of fire flamed forth.
14The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High uttered his voice.
15He sent out arrows, and scattered them
—lightning, and routed them.
16Then the channels of the sea were seen,
the foundations of the world were laid bare
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.


17He reached from on high, he took me,
he drew me out of mighty waters.
18He delivered me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
19They came upon me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my stay.
20He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me.


21The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.
22For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23For all his ordinances were before me,
and from his statutes I did not turn aside.
24I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.
25Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.


26With the loyal you show yourself loyal;
with the blameless you show yourself blameless;
27with the pure you show yourself pure,
and with the crooked you show yourself perverse.
28You deliver a humble people,
but your eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down.
29Indeed, you are my lamp, O Lord,
the Lord lightens my darkness.
30By you I can crush a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31This God—his way is perfect;
the promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.


32For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
33The God who has girded me with strength*
has opened wide my path.*
34He made my* feet like the feet of deer,
and set me secure on the heights.
35He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your help* has made me great.
37You have made me stride freely,
and my feet do not slip;
38I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
39I consumed them; I struck them down, so that they did not rise;
they fell under my feet.
40For you girded me with strength for the battle;
you made my assailants sink under me.
41You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
42They looked, but there was no one to save them;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
43I beat them fine like the dust of the earth,
I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.


44You delivered me from strife with the peoples;*
you kept me as the head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.
45Foreigners came cringing to me;
as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
46Foreigners lost heart,
and came trembling out of their strongholds.


47The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock,
and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,
48the God who gave me vengeance
and brought down peoples under me,
49who brought me out from my enemies;
you exalted me above my adversaries,
you delivered me from the violent.


50For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations,
and sing praises to your name.
51He is a tower of salvation for his king,
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David and his descendants for ever.
23Now these are the last words of David:
The oracle of David, son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man whom God exalted,*
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
the favourite of the Strong One of Israel:


2The spirit of the Lord speaks through me,
his word is upon my tongue.
3The God of Israel has spoken,
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
One who rules over people justly,
ruling in the fear of God,
4is like the light of morning,
like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.


5Is not my house like this with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper
all my help and my desire?
6But the godless are* all like thorns that are thrown away;
for they cannot be picked up with the hand;
7to touch them one uses an iron bar
or the shaft of a spear.
And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.*


8 These are the names of the warriors whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the Three;* he wielded his spear* against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.
9 Next to him among the three warriors was Eleazar son of Dodo son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle. The Israelites withdrew, 10but he stood his ground. He struck down the Philistines until his arm grew weary, though his hand clung to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the people came back to him—but only to strip the dead.
11 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee, the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils; and the army fled from the Philistines. 12But he took his stand in the middle of the plot, defended it, and killed the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory.
13 Towards the beginning of harvest three of the thirty* chiefs went down to join David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim. 14David was then in the stronghold; and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. 15David said longingly, ‘O that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!’ 16Then the three warriors broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it; he poured it out to the Lord, 17for he said, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do this. Can I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?’ Therefore he would not drink it. The three warriors did these things.
18 Now Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Thirty.* With his spear he fought against three hundred men and killed them, and won a name beside the Three. 19He was the most renowned of the Thirty,* and became their commander; but he did not attain to the Three.
20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant warrior* from Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds; he struck down two sons of Ariel* of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. 21And he killed an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but Benaiah went against him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22Such were the things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did, and won a name beside the three warriors. 23He was renowned among the Thirty, but he did not attain to the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.




ACTS 2:1-47

2When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
22 ‘You that are Israelites,* listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth,* a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— 23this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. 24But God raised him up, having freed him from death,* because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. 25For David says concerning him,
“I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
26therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
moreover, my flesh will live in hope.
27For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One experience corruption.
28You have made known to me the ways of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.”
29 ‘Fellow Israelites,* I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. 31Foreseeing this, David* spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah,* saying,
“He was not abandoned to Hades,
nor did his flesh experience corruption.”
32This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. 33Being therefore exalted at* the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear. 34For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
“The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.’ ”
36Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah,* this Jesus whom you crucified.’
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers,* what should we do?’ 38Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’ 40And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ 41So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. 42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds* to all, as any had need. 46Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home* and ate their food with glad and generous* hearts, 47praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.


PSALM 122:1-9

1I was glad when they said to me,
‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’
2Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.


3Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together.
4To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5For there the thrones for judgement were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.


6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May they prosper who love you.
7Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers.’
8For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’
9For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.


PROVERBS 16:19-20

19It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor
than to divide the spoil with the proud.
20Those who are attentive to a matter will prosper,
and happy are those who trust in the Lord.