Day 179 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 104:16–24

¹⁶The trees of the LORD have their fill, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted, ¹⁷where the birds build their nests; the stork makes her home in the cypresses. ¹⁸The high mountains are for the wild goats, the cliffs a refuge for the rock badgers. ¹⁹He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set. ²⁰You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the beasts of the forest prowl. ²¹The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. ²²The sun rises, and they withdraw; they lie down in their dens. ²³Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening. ²⁴How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.

New Testament·Acts 4

¹While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, ²greatly disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in custody until the next day. ⁴But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand. ⁵The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, ⁶along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and many others from the high priest’s family. ⁷They had Peter and John brought in and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” ⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹If we are being examined today about a kind service to a man who was lame, to determine how he was healed, ¹⁰then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ ¹²Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” ¹³When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus. ¹⁴And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in response. ¹⁵So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. ¹⁶“What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.” ¹⁸Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God. ²⁰For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” ²¹After further threats they let them go. They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were glorifying God for what had happened. ²²For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old. ²³On their release, Peter and John returned to their own people and reported everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them. ²⁴When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. ²⁵You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? ²⁶The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’ ²⁷In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. ²⁸They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen. ²⁹And now, Lord, consider their threats, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with complete boldness, ³⁰as You stretch out Your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” ³¹After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. ³²The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned. ³³With great power the apostles continued to give their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And abundant grace was upon them all. ³⁴There were no needy ones among them, because those who owned lands or houses would sell their property, bring the proceeds from the sales, ³⁵and lay them at the apostles’ feet for distribution to anyone as he had need. ³⁶Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (meaning Son of Encouragement), ³⁷sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Old Testament·2 Kings 5–6

¹Now Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded, for through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. And he was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. ²At this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken a young girl from the land of Israel, and she was serving Naaman’s wife. ³She said to her mistress, “If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.” ⁴And Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. ⁵“Go now,” said the king of Aram, “and I will send you with a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman departed, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing. ⁶And the letter that he took to the king of Israel stated: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman, so that you may cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!” ⁸Now when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let the man come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.” ¹¹But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out, stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the spot to cure my leprosy. ¹²Are not the Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not have washed in them and been cleansed?” So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?” ¹⁴So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored and became like that of a little child, and he was clean. ¹⁵Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “Now I know for sure that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.” ¹⁶But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will not accept it.” And although Naaman urged him to accept it, he refused. ¹⁷“If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much soil as a pair of mules can carry. For your servant will never again make a burnt offering or a sacrifice to any other god but the LORD. ¹⁸Yet may the LORD forgive your servant this one thing: When my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my arm, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant in this matter.” ¹⁹“Go in peace,” said Elisha. But after Naaman had traveled a short distance, ²⁰Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared this Aramean, Naaman, while not accepting what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” ²¹So Gehazi pursued Naaman. And when Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?” ²²“Everything is all right,” Gehazi replied. “My master has sent me to say, ‘I have just now discovered that two young men from the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’” ²³But Naaman insisted, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged Gehazi to accept them. Then he tied up two talents of silver in two bags along with two sets of clothing and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them ahead of Gehazi. ²⁴When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the gifts from the servants and stored them in the house. Then he dismissed the men, and they departed. ²⁵When Gehazi went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Gehazi, where have you been?” “Your servant did not go anywhere,” he replied. ²⁶But Elisha questioned him, “Did not my spirit go with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, menservants and maidservants? ²⁷Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.

6Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please take note that the place where we meet with you is too small for us. ²Please let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a log so we can build ourselves a place to live there.” “Go,” said Elisha. ³Then one of them said, “Please come with your servants.” “I will come,” he replied. ⁴So Elisha went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they began to cut down some trees. ⁵As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axe head fell into the water. “Oh, my master,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!” ⁶“Where did it fall?” asked the man of God. And when he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float. ⁷“Lift it out,” he said, and the man reached out his hand and took it. ⁸Now the king of Aram was at war against Israel. After consulting with his servants, he said, “My camp will be in such and such a place.” ⁹Then the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful passing by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.” ¹⁰So the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had pointed out. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. ¹¹For this reason the king of Aram became enraged and called his servants to demand of them, “Tell me, which one of us is on the side of the king of Israel?” ¹²But one of his servants replied, “No one, my lord the king. For Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.” ¹³So the king said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send men to capture him.” On receiving the report, “Elisha is in Dothan,” ¹⁴the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a great army. They went there by night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?” ¹⁶“Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha. ¹⁹And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria. ²⁰When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men that they may see.” Then the LORD opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria. ²¹And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” ²²“Do not kill them,” he replied. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and then return to their master.” ²³So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean raiders did not come into the land of Israel again. ²⁴Some time later, Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army and marched up to besiege Samaria. ²⁵So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver. ²⁶As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!” ²⁷He answered, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?” ²⁸Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’ ²⁹So we boiled my son and ate him, and the next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him.’ But she had hidden her son.” ³⁰When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin. ³¹He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!” ³²Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?” ³³While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”