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2 Samuel 16:1-23
When David was a little past the top of the mountain, there was Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth, who met him with a couple of saddled donkeys, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred summer fruits and a skin of wine. And the king said to Ziba, “What do you mean to do with these? So Ziba said “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for those who are faint in the wilderness to drink.”£
Then the king said, “And where is your master’s son”? And ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, Today the house of Israel will restore the kingdom of my father to me”. So the king said to Ziba “Here, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours, And Ziba said, “I humbly bow before you, that i may find favor in your sight, my lord, O king! Now when king David came to Bahurim, there was a man from the family of the house of saul, whose name was shimei the son of Gera, coming from there. He came out, cursing continously as he came.#
And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David. And all the people and all the mighty men were on hisleft. Also Shimel said thus when he cursed: Come out! You bloodthirsty man, you rogue! The LORD has brought upon you all the blood of the house of saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son, so now you are caught in your own evil, because you are a bloodthirsty man! Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head.
But the King said, “What have i to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse David, who then shall say, why have you done so? And David said to Abishai and all his servants, See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life.
How much more now may this Benjamite? Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the LORD has ordered him.
It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing this day.
And as David and his men went along the road, Shimei went along the hillside opposite him and chursed as he went, threw stones at him and kicked up dust. Now the King and all the people who were with him became weary; so they refreshed themselves there, Meanwhile Absolom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem and Ahithophel was with him.
And so it was, when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, came to Absolom, that Hushai said to Absolom. “Long live the king!
So Absolom said to Hushai “Is this your loyalty to your friend? why did you not go with your friend? And Hushai said to Absolom, “No but whom the LORD and this people and all the men of israel choose, his i will be, and with him, i will remain. Furthermore, whom should i serve? Should i not serve in the presence of his son? As i have served in your fathers presence, so will i be in your presence”. Then Absolom said to Ahithophel, “Give advice as to what we should do.
And Ahithophel said to Absolom, “Go in to your father’s concubines whom he has left to keep the house; and all israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong. So they pitched a tent for Absolom on the top of the house, and Absolom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all israel.
Now the advicer of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one had inquired at the oracle of God. So was all the advice of Ahithophel both with David and with Absolom.

May the Lord bless his word, Amen.

Joshua 18:1-28
Now the whole congregation of the children of israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them. But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance. The Joshua said to the children of Israel. How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you?
“Pick out from among you three men for each tribe, and i will send them, they shall rise and go through the land, survey it according to their inheritance, and come back to me,
And they shall divide it into seven parts. Judah shall remain in their territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their territory on the north.

You shall therefore survey the land in seven parts and bring the survey here to me, that i may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance, and Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them. Then the men arose to go away and joshua charged those who went to survey the land, saying. Go, walk through the land, survey it and come back to me, that i may cast lots of you before the Lord in Shiloh.

So the men went, passed through the land, and wrote the survey in a book in seven parts by cities, and they came to Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there Joshua divided the land to the children of israel according to their divisions. Now the lots of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot came out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.
Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north and went up through the mountain westwards, it ended at the widerness of Beth Aven. The border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz (which is Bethel) southward; and the border decended to Atarotth Addar, near the hill that lies on the south side of Lower Beth Horon.

Then the border extended around the west side to the south from the hill that lies before Beth Horon southward, and it ended at Kirjath Baal (which is Kirjath Jearim) a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side.
The south side began at the end of Kirjath, and the border extented on the west and went to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. Then the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before the valley of the Rephaim on the north, descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite city on the south, and descended to En Rogel.

And it went around from the north, went out to En Shemesh, and extended toward Geliloth, which is before the Ascent of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. Then it passed along, toward the north side of Arabah, and went down to Arabah. And the border passed along to the north side of Beth Hoglah, then the border ended at the north bay at the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern boudary. The Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to its boundaries all around, according to their families. Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to its boundaries all around, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, Avim, Parah, Ophrah, Chephar Haammoni, Ophni, and Gaba, twelve cities with their villages. Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, Mizpah, Chephirah, Mozah, Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, Zelah, Eleph, Jebus (which is Jerusalem) Gibeath and Kirjah: fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

May the Lord bless his word, Amen.

Deuteronomy 4:1-14
Now, O israel, listen to the statues and the judgements which i teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and posses the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you.
“You shall not add to the word which i command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which i command you.
“Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal Peor; for the Lord your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal od Peor.
Surely i have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess.

Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the people who will hear all these statutes, wise and understanding in the sight of the people who will hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us for whatever reason we may call upon him.
And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day.

Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, Especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, Gather the people to me, and I will let them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.
Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.

And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice.
So he declared to you his covenant which he commanded you to perform, the Ten commandments; and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.
Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire.

Lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female.
The likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air.
The likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth .
And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the people under the whole heaven as a heritage.
But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be his people, an inheritance, as you are this day.
Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I would not cross over the Jordan and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

But I must die in this land, I must not cross over to Jordan; but you shall cross over and possess that good land.
Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you.
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
When you get children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke him to anger.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess, you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.
And the Lord will scatter you among the people, and you will be left few in the number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.
And there you will serve God’s, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
When all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey his voice.
For the Lord your God is a merciful God, He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your father’s which he swore to them.

For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard.
Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live. Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation by trials, by signs , by wonders, by war, by mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. His voice, that he might instruct you; on earth He showed you His you his great fire and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.
And because He loved your father’s, therefore He chose their descendants after them, and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence with His mighty power,

On the side of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated after they came out of Egypt.
And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan, towards the rising of the sun, From Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, even to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), And all the plain on the east side of the east side of the Jordan as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.

May the Lord bless his word, Amen

Mark 11:1-11

As they approached Jerusalem near the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, they came to the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead with these instructions “Go to the village there ahead with these instructions: “Go to the village there ahead of you. As soon as you get there, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. And if someone asks you why you are doing that, tell him that the Master needs it and will send it back at once.”
So they went and found a colt out in the street, tied it to the door of a house. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders asked them, what are dong untying that colt?
They answered just as Jesus had told them, and the bystanders let them go. They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the animal, and Jesus got on. Many people spread their cloaks on the road. The people who were in front and those who followed behind began to shout, “Praise God! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord. God bless the coming kingdom of King David, our father! Praise God!
Jesus entered Jerusalem, went into the Temple, and looked round at every thing, But since it was already late in the day, he went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples.

May the Lord bless his word, Amen.

Mark 10:46-52

They came to Jericho, and as Jesus was leaving with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timacus was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus! Son of David! Take pity on me! Many of the people scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly., “Son of David, take pity on me!
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him up” they said “Get up, he is calling you”. He threw off his cloak, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. “I want to see again”. Go, Jesus told him, “Go your faith has made you well”. At once he was able to see and followed Jesus on the road.

May the Lord bless his word, Amen.

Mark 13:3-13

Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, across from the Temple, when Peter, James, John and Andrew came to him in private. “Tell us when this will be” they said, “and tell us what will happen to show that the time has come for all these things to take place”,
Jesus said to them, “Be on guard and don’t let anyone decieve you. Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, ‘I am he’ and they will decieve many people. And don’t be troubled when you hear this noise of battles close by and news of battles far away. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come. Countries will fight each other, kingdom will attack one another. There will be earthquakes everywhere, and there will be famines.

These things are like the first pains of childbirth. You yourselves must be on guard. You will be arrested and taken to court. You will be beaten in the synagogues; you will stand before rulers and kings for my sake to tell them the Good News. But before the end comes, the gospel must be preached to all people, and when you are arrested and taken to court, do not worry before and about what you are going to say, when the time comes, say whatever is given to you. For the words you speak will not be yours; they will come from the Holy Spirit. Men will hand over their own brothers to be put to death, and fathers will do the same to their children, Children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved.

May the Lord bless his word, Amen.

jeremiah 26:1-24

Soon after Jehoiakim son of Josiah became king of Judah, the LORD said to me, “Stand in the court of the Temple and proclaim all i have commanded you to say to the people who come from the towns of Judah to worship there. Do not leave out anything. Perhaps the people will listen and give up their evil ways.
If they do, then i will change my mind about the destruction i plan to bring on them for all their wicked deeds”.

The LORD told me to say to the people, “I the LORD, have said that you must obey me by following the teaching that i gave you, and by paying attention to the words of my servants, the prophets, whom i have kept on sending to you. You have never obeyed what they said. If you continue to disobey, then i will do this Temple what i did to Shiloh, and all the nations of the world will use the name of this city as a curse.

The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard me saying these things in the Temple, and as soon as i had finished all that the LORD had commanded me to speak, they seized me and shouted , “You ought to be killed for this! Why have you said in the LORD’S name that this Temple will become like shiloh and that this city will become like stroyed and no one will live in it? “Then the people crowded round me.

When the leaders of Judah heard what had happened, they huried from the royal palace to the Temple and took their places at the New Gate. Then the priest and the prophets said to the leaders and to the people, “This man deserves to be sentenced to death because he has spoken against our city. You heard him with your own ears”.
The i said, “The LORD sent me to proclaim everything that you heard me say against this Temple and against this city. You must change the way you are living and the things you are doing, and must obey the LORD your God. If you do, he will change his mind about the destruction that he said he would bring on you. As for me, i am in your power! Do with me whatever you think is fair and right. But be sure of this. if you kill me, you and the people of this city will be guilty of killing an innocent man, because it is the LORD who sent me to give you this warning”.

Then the leaders and the people said to the priest and the prophets, “This man spoke to us in the name of the LORD our God; he should not be put to death”.
After that, some of the elders stood up and said to the people who had assembled, “When Hezekiah was king of Judah, the prophet Micah of Moreshheth told all the people that the LORD Almighty had said,
“Zion will be ploughed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of ruins, and the Temple hill will bbecome a forest.
King Hezekkiah and the people of Judah did not put Micah to death, instead, Hezekiah honoured the LORD and tried to win his favour. And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he said he would bring on them. Now we are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourslves”.
There was another man, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim, who spoke in the name of the LORD against this city and nation just as Jeremiah did.
When King Jehoiakim and his soldiers and officials heard what Uriah had said, the king tried to have him killed.
But Uriah heard about it; so he fled in terror and escaped to Egypt. King Jehoiakim, however, sent Elnathan son of Achbor and some other men to Egypt to get Uriah.
They brought him back to King Jehoiakim, who had him killed and his body thrown into the public burial ground .
But because i had the support of Ahikam son of Shaphan, I was not handed over to the people and killed.

May the Lord bless his word, Amen

Hebrews 5:11-12, 6:1-12

There is much we have to say about this matter, but it is hard to explain to you, because you are so slow to understand. There has been enough time for you to be teachers, yet you still need someone to teach you the first lessons of God’s message. Instead of eating solid food, you still have to drink milk. Anyone who has to drink milk is till a child, without any experience in the matter of right and wrong. Solid food, on the other hand, is for adults, who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil.

Let us go forward, then, to mature teaching and leave behind us the first lessons of the Christian message. We should not lay again the foundation of turning away from useless works and believing in God; of the teaching about baptism and the laying of hands; of the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgement. Let us go forward! And this is what we will do, if God allows.
For how can those who abandon their faith be brought back to repent again? They were once in God’s light; they tasted heaven’s gift and recieve their share of the Holy Spirit; they knew from experience that God’s word is good, and they had felt the powers of the coming age. And then they abandoned their faith! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame.

God blesses the soil which drinks in the rain that often falls on it and which grows plants that are useful to those for whom it is cultivated. But if it grows thorns and weeds, it is worth nothing; it is in danger of being cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire.
But even if we speak like this, dear friends, we feel sure about you. We know that you have the better blessings that belongs to your salvation. God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to your fellow Christians. Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true. We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient and so recieve what God has promised.

May the Lord bless his word, Amen.

2 Peter 1:16-21

We have not depended on made-up stories in making known to you the mighty coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
With our own eyes, we saw hus greatness. We were there when he was given honour and glory by God the Father, when the voice came to him from the supreme Glory, saying, “This is my own dear son, with whom i am pleased1” We ourselves heard this voice coming from heaven, when we were with him on the holy mountain.

So we are even more confident of the message proclaimed by the prophets. You will do well to pay attention to it, because it is like a lamp shining in a dark place until the Day dawns and the light of the morning star shines in your hearts. Above all else, however, remember that no one can explain by himself or herself a prophecy in the scriptures. For no prophetic message ever came just from human will, but people were under the control of the Holy Spirit as they spoke the message that came from God.

May the Lord bless his word, Amen.

God’s Call and Choice
2 Peter 1:1-14

God’s devine power has given us everything we need to live a truly religious life through our knowledge of the one who called us to share in his own glory and goodness. In this way he has given us the very great and precious gifts he promised, so that by means of these gifts you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world, and may come to share the divine nature. For this very reason do your best to add goodness to your faith; to your goodness add knowledge, to your knowledge add s elf-control, to your self control add endurance, to your endurance add godliness, to your godliness add Christian affection, and to your christian affection add love.

These are the qualities you need, and if you have them in abundance, they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who do not have them are so shortsighted that they cannot see and have forgotten that they have been purified from their past sins.
So then, my brothers and sisters, try even harder to make God’s call and his choice of you a permanent experience; If you do so, you will never abandon your faith. In this way you will be given the full right to enter the Eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

And so i will always remind you of these matters, even though you already know them and are firmly grounded in the truth you have recieved.
I think it only right for me to stir up your memory of these matters as long as i am still alive. I know that i shall soon put off this mortal body, as our Lord Jesus Christ plainly told me. I will do my best, then, to provide a way for you to remember these matters at all times after my death.

May the Lord bless his word, Amen.