Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 3

^2 (C1)Sons were born to David in Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, by ^(C2)Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;³ and his second, Chileab, by Abigail the ^(F1)widow of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of ^(C1)Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of ^(C2)Geshur;⁴ and the fourth, ^(C1)Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;⁵ and the sixth, Ithream, by David's wife Eglah. These sons were born to David in Hebron.

Abner Joins David

⁶ Now it happened that while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, ^(C1)Abner was ^(F1)strengthening himself in the house of Saul.⁷ And Saul had a concubine whose name was ^(C1)Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and ^(F1)Ish-bosheth said to Abner, "Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?"⁸ Then Abner became very angry over Ish-bosheth's ^(F1)question and said, "^(C1)Am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not let you fall into the hands of David; yet today you call me to account for wrongdoing with ^(F2)that woman?⁹ "^(C1)May God do so to ^(F1)me, and more so, if ^(C2)as the LORD has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him:^10 (C1)to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, ^(C2)from Dan even to Beersheba!"¹¹ And Ish-bosheth could no longer say a word in response to Abner, because he was afraid of him.

¹² Then Abner sent messengers to David at his place, saying, "Whose is the land? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you."¹³ And he said, "Good! I will make a covenant with you, only I require one thing of you, ^(F1)namely, that ^(C1)you shall not see my face unless you ^(C2)first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see ^(F2)me."¹⁴ So David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, "Give me my wife Michal, to whom I was betrothed ^(C1)for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines."¹⁵ Ish-bosheth sent men and ^(F1)had her taken from her husband, from ^(F2)Paltiel the son of Laish.¹⁶ And her husband went with her, weeping as he went, ^(F1)following her as far as ^(C1)Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go, return." So he returned.

¹⁷ Now Abner had a ^(F1)consultation with ^(C1)the elders of Israel, saying, "In times past you were seeking for David to be king over you.¹⁸ "Now then, do it! For the LORD has spoken regarding David, saying, '^(C1)By the hand of My servant David ^(F1)I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from the hands of all their enemies.'"¹⁹ Abner also spoke ^(F1)to Benjamin; and in addition Abner went to speak ^(F1)to David in Hebron everything that seemed good to Israel and to ^(C1)the entire house of Benjamin.

²⁰ Then Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David held a feast for Abner and the men who were with him.²¹ Abner said to David, "Let me set out and go and ^(C1)gather all Israel to my lord the king, so that they may make a covenant with you, and that ^(C2)you may be king over all that your soul desires." So David let Abner go, and he went in peace.

²² And behold, ^(C1)the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought a large amount of plunder with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron, since he had let him go, and he had gone in peace.²³ When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, they informed Joab, saying, "Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has let him go on his way, and he has gone in peace."²⁴ Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why then have you let him go, so that he is already gone?²⁵ "You know Abner the son of Ner, that he came to gain your confidence, and to learn of ^(C1)your ^(F1)going out and coming in and to find out everything that you are doing."

Joab Murders Abner

²⁶ When Joab left David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David did not know about it.²⁷ So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there ^(C1)he struck him in the belly, so that he died on account of the blood of his brother Asahel.²⁸ Afterward, when David heard about this, he said, "I and my kingdom are innocent before the LORD forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner.²⁹ "^(C1)May it turn upon the head of Joab and on all his father's house; and may there not be eliminated from the house of Joab ^(C2)someone who suffers a discharge, or has leprosy, or ^(F1)holds the spindle, or falls by the sword, or lacks bread."³⁰ So Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner ^(C1)because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.

David Mourns Abner

³¹ Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "^(C1)Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner." And King David walked behind the bier.³² And they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king raised his voice and wept at ^(C1)the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.³³ And ^(C1)the king sang a song of mourning for Abner and said,

"Should Abner die as a fool dies?

³⁴ "Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put in bronze shackles;
As one falls before the ^(F1)wicked, you have fallen."
And all the people wept over him again.

Chapter 2

The King's Dream

¹ Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar ^(F1)(C1)had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his ^(C2)sleep ^(F2)left him.² Then the king ^(F1)gave orders to call in the ^(C1)soothsayer priests, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the ^(F2)Chaldeans, to ^(F3)tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.³ The king said to them, "I ^(F1)(C1)had a dream, and my spirit ^(F2)is anxious to ^(F3)understand the dream."

⁴ Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in ^(F1)(C1)Aramaic: "^(C2)O king, live forever! ^(C3)Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation."⁵ The king replied to the Chaldeans, "The command ^(F1)from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be ^(F2)(C1)torn limb from limb and your houses will be turned into a rubbish heap.⁶ "But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me ^(C1)gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation."⁷ They answered a second time and said, "Let the king ^(C1)tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation."⁸ The king replied, "I know for certain that you are trying to buy time, because you have perceived that the command ^(F1)from me is firm,⁹ that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only ^(C1)one ^(F1)decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt ^(F2)words before me until the ^(F3)situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, so that I may ^(C2)know that you can declare to me its interpretation."¹⁰ The Chaldeans answered ^(F1)the king and said, "There is no person on earth who could declare the matter ^(F2)to the king, because no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any ^(C1)soothsayer priest, sorcerer, or Chaldean.¹¹ "Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it ^(F1)to the king except ^(C1)gods, whose ^(C2)dwelling place is not with mortal flesh."

¹² Because of this, the king became ^(C1)angry and extremely furious, and he gave orders to kill all the wise men of Babylon.¹³ So the ^(F1)decree was issued that the wise men be killed; and they looked for ^(C1)Daniel and his friends, to ^(F2)kill them.

¹⁴ Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to ^(C1)Arioch, the captain of the king's ^(F1)bodyguard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon;¹⁵ he said to Arioch, the king's officer, "For what reason is the decree from the king so harsh?" Then Arioch informed Daniel of the matter.¹⁶ So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would give him a grace period, so that he might declare the interpretation to the king.

¹⁷ Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends, ^(C1)Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, about the matter,¹⁸ so that they might ^(C1)request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his friends would not be ^(C2)killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

The Secret Is Revealed to Daniel

Chapter 1

^21 (C1)They ^(*)went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath Jesus ^(C2)entered the synagogue and began to teach.²² And ^(C1)they were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.²³ Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,²⁴ saying, "^(C1)What ^(F1)business do You have with us, Jesus ^(F2)of ^(C2)Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are: ^(C3)the Holy One of God!"²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"²⁶ After throwing him into convulsions and crying out with a loud voice, the unclean spirit came out of him.²⁷ And they were all ^(C1)amazed, so they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."²⁸ Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Crowds Healed

^29 (C1)And immediately after they left ^(C2)the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with ^(F1)James and John.³⁰ Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and they immediately ^(*)spoke to ^(F1)Jesus about her.³¹ And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she served them.

³² Now ^(C1)when evening came, ^(C2)after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were ^(C3)demon-possessed.³³ And the whole ^(C1)city had gathered at the door.³⁴ And He ^(C1)healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew ^(F1)who He was.

^35 (C1)And in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and ^(C2)prayed there for a time.³⁶ Simon and his companions eagerly searched for Him;³⁷ and they found Him and ^(*)said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You."³⁸ He ^(*)said to them, "Let's go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may also ^(F1)preach there; for this is why I came."^39 (C1)And He went into their synagogues ^(F1)preaching throughout Galilee, and casting out the demons.

^40 (C1)And a man with ^(F1)leprosy ^(*)came to ^(F2)Jesus, imploring Him and ^(C2)kneeling down, and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, and ^(*)said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.⁴³ And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away,⁴⁴ and He ^(*)said to him, "^(C1)See that you say nothing to anyone; but ^(C1)go, show yourself to the priest and ^(C2)offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."⁴⁵ But he went out and began to ^(C1)proclaim it ^(F1)freely and to ^(C1)spread the news around, to such an extent that ^(F2)Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but ^(F3)stayed out in unpopulated areas; and ^(C2)they were coming to Him from everywhere.