Day 121 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

1 Chronicles 20

1 And it came to pass at the return of the year, at the [time of the] going forth of kings [to war], that Joab gathered the whole force of the army, and they ravaged the land of the children of Ammon; and he came and besieged Rabba. But David abode in Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabba and destroyed it. 2 And David took the crown of Molchom their king off his head, and the weight of it was found [to be] a talent of gold, and on it were precious stones; and it was [placed] on the head of David: and he brought out the spoils of the city [which were] very great. 3 And he brought out the people that were in it, and sawed them asunder with saws, and [cut them] with iron axes, and with harrows: and thus David did to all the children of Ammon. And David and all his people returned to Jerusalem. 4 And it came to pass afterward that there was again war with the Philistines in Gazer: then Sobochai the Sosathite smote Saphut of the sons of the giants, and laid him low. 5 And there [was] war again with the Philistines; and Eleanan the son of Jair smote Lachmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, and the wood of his spear [was] as a weavers' beam. 6 And there was again war in Geth, and there was a man of extraordinary size, and his fingers [and toes were] six on each hand and foot, four and twenty; and he was descended from the giants. 7 And he defied Israel, and Jonathan the son of Samaa the brother of David slew him. 8 These were born to Rapha in Geth; all four were giants, and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

1 Chronicles 21

1 And the devil stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. 2 And king David said to Joab and to the captains of the forces, Go, number Israel from Bersabee even to Dan, and bring me [the account], and I shall know their number. 3 And Joab said, May the Lord add to his people, a hundred-fold as many as they [are], and [let] the eyes of my lord the king see [it]: all [are] the servants of my lord. Why does my lord seek this thing? [do it not], lest it become a sin to Israel. 4 Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab; and Joab went out and passed through all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. 5 And Joab gave the number of the mustering of the people to David: and all Israel was a million and a hundred thousand men that drew sword: and the sons of Juda [were] four hundred and seventy thousand men that drew sword. 6 But he numbered not Levi and Benjamin among them; for the word of the king was painful to Joab. 7 And [there was] evil in the sight of the Lord respecting this thing; and he smote Israel. 8 And David said to God, I have sinned exceedingly, in that I have done this thing: and now, I pray thee, remove the sin of thy servant; for I have been exceedingly foolish. 9 And the Lord spoke to Gad the seer, saying, 10 Go and speak to David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I bring three things upon thee: choose one of them for thyself, and I will do it to thee. 11 And Gad came to David, and said to him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose for thyself, 12 either three years of famine, or that thou shouldest flee three months from the face of thine enemies, and the sword of thine enemies [shall be employed] to destroy thee, or that the sword of the Lord and pestilence [should be] three days in the land, and the angel of the Lord [shall be] destroying in all the inheritance of Israel. And now consider what I shall answer to him that sent the message. 13 And David said to Gad, They are very hard for me, even [all] the three: let me fall now into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies [are] very abundant, and let me not fall by any means into the hands of man. 14 So the Lord brought pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord saw, and repented for the evil, and said to the angel that was destroying, Let it suffice thee; withhold thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing-floor of Orna the Jebusite. 16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord, standing between the earth and the heaven, and his sword drawn in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem: and David and the elders clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17 And David said to God, [Was it] not I [that] gave orders to number the people? and I am the guilty one; I have greatly sinned: but these sheep, what have they done? O Lord God, let thy hand be upon me, and upon my father's house, and not on thy people for destruction, O Lord! 18 And the angel of the Lord told Gad to tell David, that he should go up to erect an altar to the Lord, in the threshing-floor of Orna the Jebusite. 19 And David went up according to the word of Gad, which he spoke in the name of the Lord. 20 And Orna turned and saw the king; and he hid himself and his four sons with him. Now Orna was threshing wheat. 21 And David came to Orna; and Orna came forth from the threshing-floor, and did obeisance to David with his face to the ground. 22 And David said to Orna, Give me thy place of the threshing-floor, and I will build upon it an altar to the Lord: give it me for its worth in money, and the plague shall cease from [among] the people. 23 And Orna said to David, Take it to thyself, and let my lord the king do what is right in his eyes: see, I have given the calves for a whole-burnt-offering, and the plough for wood, and the corn for a meat-offering; I have given all. 24 And king David said to Orna, Nay; for I will surely buy it for its worth in money: for I will not take thy property for the Lord, to offer a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord without cost [to myself]. 25 And David gave to Orna for his place six hundred shekels of gold [by] weight. 26 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered up whole-burnt-offerings and peace-offerings: and he cried to the Lord, and he answered him by fire out of heaven on the altar of whole-burnt-offerings, and [it] consumed the whole-burnt-offering. 27 And the Lord spoke to the angel; and he put up the sword into its sheath. 28 At that time when David saw that the Lord answered him in the threshing-floor of Orna the Jebusite, he also sacrificed there. 29 And the tabernacle of the Lord which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of whole-burnt-offerings, [were] at that time in the high place at Gabaon. 30 And David could not go before it to enquire of God; for he hasted not because of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

1 Chronicles 22

1 And David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this [is] the altar for whole-burnt-offering for Israel. 2 And David gave orders to gather all the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he appointed stone-hewers to hew polished stones to build the house to God. 3 And David prepared much iron for the nails of the doors and the gates; the hinges also and brass in abundance, there was no weighing [of it]. 4 And cedar trees without number: for the Sidonians and the Tyrians brought cedar trees in abundance to David. 5 And David said, My son Solomon [is] a tender child, and the house [for me] to build to the Lord [is] for superior magnificence for a name and for a glory through all the earth: I will make preparation for it. And David prepared abundantly before his death. 6 And he called Solomon his son, and commanded him to build the house for the Lord God of Israel. 7 And David said to Solomon, [My] child, it was in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord God. 8 But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast carried on great wars: thou shalt not build a house to my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth before me. 9 Behold, a son shall be born to thee, he shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name [shall be] Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house to my name; and he shall be a son to me, and I will be a father to him; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom in Israel for ever. 11 And now, my son, the Lord shall be with thee, and prosper [thee]; and thou shalt build a house to the Lord thy God, as he spoke concerning thee. 12 Only may the Lord give thee wisdom and prudence, and strengthen thee over Israel, both to keep and to do the law of the Lord thy God. 13 Then will he prosper [thee], if thou take heed to do the commandments and judgments which the Lord commanded Moses for Israel: be courageous and strong; fear not, nor be terrified. 14 And, behold, I according to my poverty have prepared for the house of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a million talents of silver, and brass and iron without measure; for it is abundant; and I have prepared timber and stones; and do thou add to these. 15 And [of them that are] with thee do thou add to the multitude of workmen; [let there be] artificers and masons, and carpenters, and every skilful [workman] in every work; 16 in gold and silver, brass and iron, [of which] there is no number. Arise and do, and the Lord [be] with thee. 17 And David charged all the chief men of Israel to help Solomon his son, [saying], 18 [Is] not the Lord with you? and he has given you rest round about, for he has given into your hands the inhabitants of the land; and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people. 19 Now set your hearts and souls to seek after the Lord your God: and rise, and build a sanctuary to your God to carry in the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.

John 19

1 So Pilate then took Jesus and flogged him. 2 The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple garment. 3 They kept saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and they kept slapping him. 4 Then Pilate went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!” 6 When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” 8 When therefore Pilate heard this saying, he was more afraid. 9 He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Pilate therefore said to him, “Aren’t you speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have power to release you and have power to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin.” 12 At this, Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you release this man, you aren’t Caesar’s friend! Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar!” 13 When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called “The Pavement”, but in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.” 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” 16 So then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away. 17 He went out, bearing his cross, to the place called “The Place of a Skull”, which is called in Hebrew, “Golgotha”, 18 where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 20 Therefore many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘he said, “I am King of the Jews.”’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” 23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24 Then they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to decide whose it will be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which says, “They parted my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.” Therefore the soldiers did these things. 25 But standing by Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. 28 After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty!” 29 Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 31 Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn’t remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 Therefore the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with him; 33 but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. 34 However, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe. 36 For these things happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “A bone of him will not be broken.” 37 Again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they pierced.” 38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked of Pilate that he might take away Jesus’ body. Pilate gave him permission. He came therefore and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred Roman pounds. 40 So they took Jesus’ body, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb in which no man had ever yet been laid. 42 Then, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day (for the tomb was near at hand), they laid Jesus there.