Day 97 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

2 Samuel 19

1 And the king was troubled, and went to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and thus he said as he went, My son Abessalom, my son, my son Abessalom; would God I had died for thee, [even] I [had died] for thee, Abessalom, my son, my son! 2 And they brought Joab word, saying, Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Abessalom. 3 And the victory was turned that day into mourning to all the people, for the people heard say that day, The king grieves after his son. 4 And the people stole away that day to go into the city, as people steal away when they are ashamed as they flee in the battle. 5 And the king hid his face: and the king cried with a loud voice, My son Abessalom! Abessalom my son! 6 And Joab went in to the king, into the house, and said, Thou hast this day shamed the faces of all thy servants that have delivered thee this day, and [have saved] the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and of thy concubines, 7 forasmuch as thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest them that love thee; and thou hast this day declared, that thy princes and thy servants are nothing [in thy sight]: for I know this day, that if Abessalom were alive, [and] all of us dead to-day, then it would have been right in thy sight. 8 And now arise, and go forth, and speak comfortably to thy servants; for I have sworn by the Lord, that unless thou wilt go forth to-day, there shall not a man remain with thee this night: and know for thyself, this thing [will] indeed [be] evil to thee beyond all the evil that has come upon thee from thy youth until now. 9 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate: and all the people reported, saying, Behold, the king sits in the gate. And all the people went in before the king to the gate; for Israel had fled every man to his tent. 10 And all the people disputed among all the tribes of Israel, saying, King David delivered us from all our enemies, and he rescued us from the hand of the Philistines: and now he has fled from the land, and from his kingdom, and from Abessalom. 11 And Abessalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle: and now why are ye silent about bringing back the king? And the word of all Israel came to the king. 12 And king David sent to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak to the elders of Israel, saying, Why are ye the last to bring back the king to his house? whereas the word of all Israel is come to the king to his house. 13 Ye [are] my brethren, ye [are] my bones and my flesh: why are ye the last to bring back the king to his house? 14 And ye shall say to Amessai, [Art] thou not my bone and my flesh? and now God do so to me, and more also, if thou shalt not be commander of the host before me continually in the room of Joab. 15 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Juda as that of one man; and they sent to the king, saying, Return thou, and all thy servants. 16 And the king returned, and came as far as Jordan. And the men of Juda came to Galgala on their way to meet the king, to cause the king to pass over Jordan. 17 And Semei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Baurim, hasted and went down with the men of Juda to meet king David. 18 And a thousand men of Benjamin [were] with him, and Siba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons with him, and his twenty servants with him: and they went directly down to Jordan before the king, 19 and they performed the service of bringing the king over; and there went over a ferry-boat to remove the household of the king, and to do that which was right in his eyes. And Semei the son of Gera fell on his face before the king, as he went over Jordan; 20 and said to the king, Let not my lord now impute iniquity, and remember not all the iniquity of thy servant in the day in which my lord went out from Jerusalem, so that the king should mind it. 21 For thy servant knows that I have sinned: and, behold, I am come to-day before all Israel and the house of Joseph, to go down and meet my lord the king. 22 And Abessai the son of Saruia answered and said, Shall not Semei therefore be put to death, because he cursed the Lord's anointed? 23 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Saruia, that ye as it were lie in wait against me this day? to-day no man in Israel shall be put to death, for I know not if I this day reign over Israel. 24 And the king said to Semei, Thou shalt not die: and the king swore to him. 25 And Memphibosthe the son of Saul's son went down to meet the king, and had not dressed his feet, nor pared his nails, nor shaved himself, neither had he washed his garments, from the day that the king departed, until the day when he arrived in peace. 26 And it came to pass when he went into Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, Why didst thou not go with me, Memphibosthe? 27 And Memphibosthe said to him, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me; for thy servant said to him, Saddle me the ass, and I will ride upon it, and go with the king; for thy servant [is] lame. 28 And he has dealt deceitfully with thy servant to my lord the king: but my lord the king [is] as an angel of God, and do thou that which is good in thine eyes. 29 For all the house of my father were but as dead men before my lord the king; yet thou hast set thy servant among them that eat at thy table: and what right have I any longer even to cry to the king? 30 And the king said to him, Why speakest thou any longer of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Siba shall divide the land. 31 And Memphibosthe said to the king, Yea, let him take all, since my lord the king has come in peace to his house. 32 And Berzelli the Galaadite came down from Rogellim, and crossed over Jordan with the king, that he might conduct the king over Jordan. 33 And Berzelli was a very old man, eighty years old; and he had maintained the king when he dwelt in Manaim; for he was a very great man. 34 And the king said to Berzelli, Thou shalt go over with me, and I will nourish thine old age with me in Jerusalem. 35 And Berzelli said to the king, How many [are] the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 36 I am this day eighty years old: can I then distinguish between good and evil? Can thy servant taste any longer what I eat or drink? can I any longer hear the voice of singing men or singing women? and wherefore shall thy servant any longer be a burden to my lord the king? 37 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why does the king return me this recompense? 38 Let, I pray thee, thy servant remain, and I will die in my city, by the tomb of my father and of my mother. And, behold, thy servant Chamaam shall go over with my lord the king; and do thou to him as it seems good in thine eyes. 39 And the king said, Let Chamaam go over with me, and I will do to him what is good in my sight; and whatsoever thou shalt choose at my hand, I will do for thee. 40 And all the people went over Jordan, and the king went over; and the king kissed Berzelli, and blessed him; and he returned to his place. 41 And the king went over to Galgala, and Chamaam went over with him: and all the men of Juda went over with the king, and also half the people of Israel. 42 And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, Why have our brethren the men of Juda stolen thee away, and caused the king and all his house to pass over Jordan, and all the men of David with him? 43 And all the men of Juda answered the men of Israel, and said, Because the king is near of kin to us: and why were you thus angry concerning this matter? have we indeed eaten of the king's food? or has he given us a gift, or has he sent us a portion? 44 And the men of Israel answered the men of Juda, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we are older than you, we have also an interest in David above you: and why have ye thus insulted us, and why was not our advice taken before that of Juda, to bring back our king? And the speech of the men of Juda was sharper than the speech of the men of Israel.

2 Samuel 20

1 And there was a transgressor [so] called there, and his name was Sabee, a Benjamite, the son of Bochori: and he blew the trumpet, and said, We have no portion in David, neither have we [any] inheritance in the son of Jessæ: to thy tents, O Israel, every one. 2 And all the men of Israel went up from following David after Sabee the son of Bochori: but the men of Juda adhered to their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. 3 And David went into his house at Jerusalem: and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and he put them in a place of custody, and maintained them, and went not in to them; and they were kept living as widows, till the day of their death. 4 And the king said to Amessai, Call to me the men of Juda for three days, and do thou be present here. 5 And Amessai went to call Juda, and delayed beyond the time which David appointed him. 6 And David said to Amessai, Now shall Sabee the son of Bochori do us more harm than Abessalom: now then take thou with thee the servants of thy lord, and follow after him, lest he find for himself strong cities, so will he blind our eyes. 7 And there went out after him Amessai and the men of Joab, and the Cherethites, and the Phelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sabee the son of Bochori. 8 And they [were] by the great stone that is in Gabaon: and Amessai went in before them: and Joab had upon him a military cloak over his apparel, and over it he was girded with a dagger fastened upon his loins in its scabbard: and the dagger came out, it even came out and fell. 9 And Joab said to Amessai, Art thou in health, [my] brother? and the right hand of Joab took hold of the beard of Amessai to kiss him. 10 And Amessai observed not the dagger that was in the hand of Joab: and Joab smote him with it on the loins, and his bowels were shed out upon the ground, and he did not repeat the blow, and he died: and Joab and Abessai his brother pursued after Sabee the son of Bochori. 11 And there stood over him one of the servants of Joab, and said, Who [is] he that is for Joab, and who [is] on the side of David following Joab? 12 And Amessai [was] weltering in blood in the midst of the way. And a man saw that all the people stood still; and he removed Amessai out of the path into a field, and he cast a garment upon him, because he saw every one that came to him standing still. 13 And when he was quickly removed from the road, every man of Israel passed after Joab to pursue after Sabee the son of Bochori. 14 And he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and to Bethmacha; and all in Charri too were assembled, and followed after him. 15 And they came and besieged him in Abel and Phermacha: and they raised a mound against the city and it stood close to the wall; and all the people with Joab proposed to throw down the wall. 16 And a wise woman cried from the wall, and said, Hear, hear; say, I pray ye, to Joab, Draw near hither, and I will speak to him. 17 And he drew nigh to her, and the woman said to him, Art thou Joab? and he said, I [am]. And she said to him, Hear the words of thy handmaid; and Joab said, I do hear. 18 And she spoke, saying, Of old time they said thus, Surely one was asked in Abel, and Dan, whether the faithful in Israel failed in what they purposed; they will surely ask in Abel, even in like manner, whether they have failed. 19 I am a peaceable one of the strong ones in Israel; but thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother-city in Israel: why dost thou seek to ruin the inheritance of the Lord? 20 And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should ruin or destroy. 21 Is not the case thus, that a man of mount Ephraim, Sabee son of Bochori by name, has even lifted up his hand against king David? Give him only to me, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said to Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall. 22 And the woman went in to all the people, and she spoke to all the city in her wisdom; and they took off the head of Sabee the son of Bochori; and took it away and threw it to Joab: and he blew the trumpet, and the people separated from the city away from him, every man to his tent: and Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king. 23 And Joab [was] over all the forces of Israel: and Banaias the son of Jodae [was] over the Cherethites and over the Phelethites. 24 And Adoniram [was] over the tribute: and Josaphath the son of Achiluth [was] recorder. 25 And Susa [was] scribe: and Sadoc and Abiathar [were] priests. 26 Moreover Iras the [son of] Iarin was priest to David.

2 Samuel 21

1 And there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, [There is] guilt upon Saul and his house because of his bloody murder, whereby he slew the Gabaonites. 2 And king David called the Gabaonites, and said to them;—(now the Gabaonites are not the children of Israel, but [are] of the remnant of the Amorite, and the children of Israel had sworn to them: but Saul sought to smite them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Juda.) 3 And David said to the Gabaonites, What shall I do to you? and wherewithal shall I make atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord? 4 And the Gabaonites said to him, We have no [question about] silver or gold with Saul and with his house; and there is no man for us to put to death in Israel. 5 And he said, What say ye? speak, and I will do it for you. And they said to the king, The man who would have made an end of us, and persecuted us, who plotted against us to destroy us, let us utterly destroy him, so that he shall have no standing in all the coasts of Israel. 6 Let one give us seven men of his sons, and let us hang them up in the sun to the Lord in Gabaon of Saul, as chosen out for the Lord. And the king said, I will give [them]. 7 But the king spared Memphibosthe son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, even between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8 And the king took the two sons of Respha the daughter of Aia, whom she bore to Saul, Hermonoi and Memphibosthe, and the five sons of Michol daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Esdriel son of Berzelli the Moülathite. 9 And he gave them into the hand of the Gabaonites, and they hanged them up to the sun in the mountain before the Lord: and they fell, even the seven together: moreover they were put to death in the days of harvest at the commencement, in the beginning of barley-harvest. 10 And Respha the daughter of Aia took sackcloth, and fixed it for herself on the rock in the beginning of barley harvest, until water dropped upon them out of heaven: and she did not suffer the birds of the air to rest upon them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. 11 And it was told David what Respha the daughter of Aia the concubine of Saul had done, [and they were faint, and Dan the son of Joa of the offspring of the giants overtook them.] 12 And David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the men of the sons of Jabis Galaad, who stole them from the street of Bæthsan; for the Philistines set them there in the day in which the Philistines smote Saul in Gelbue. 13 And he carried up thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son, and gathered the bones of them that had been hanged. 14 And they buried the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son, and the bones of them that had been hanged, in the land of Benjamin in the hill, in the sepulchre of Cis his father; and they did all things that the king commanded: and after this God hearkened to [the prayers of] the land. 15 And there was yet war between the Philistines and Israel: and David went down and his servants with him, and they fought with the Philistines, and David went. 16 And Jesbi, who was of the progeny of Rapha, and the head of whose spear [was] three hundred shekels of brass in weight, who also was girt with a club, even he thought to smite David. 17 And Abessa the son of Saruia helped him and smote the Philistine, and slew him. Then the men of David swore, saying, Thou shalt not any longer go out with us to battle, and thou shalt not quench the lamp of Israel. 18 And after this there was a battle again with the Philistines in Geth: then Sebocha the Astatothite slew Seph of the progeny of Rapha. 19 And there was a battle in Rom with the Philistines; and Eleanan son of Ariorgim the Bethleemite slew Goliath the Gittite; and the staff of his spear [was] as a weaver's beam. 20 And there was yet a battle in Geth: and there was a man of stature, and the fingers of his hands and the toes of his feet [were] six on each, four and twenty in number: and he also was born to Rapha. 21 And he defied Israel, and Jonathan son of Semei brother of David, smote him. 22 These four were born descendants of the giants in Geth, the family of Rapha; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

John 2

1 The third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. 2 Jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.” 6 Now there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews’ way of purifying, containing two or three metretes apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn’t know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this, he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they stayed there a few days. 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. 15 He made a whip of cords and drove all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money and overthrew their tables. 16 To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will eat me up.” 18 The Jews therefore answered him, “What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple! Will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he spoke of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he did. 24 But Jesus didn’t entrust himself to them, because he knew everyone, 25 and because he didn’t need for anyone to testify concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man.