2 Samuel 11, 2 Corinthians 4, Ezekiel 18, Psalm 62, 63

2 Samuel 11,

1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
 
2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,
 
3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
 
4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home.
 
5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant."
 
6 So David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent him to David.
 
7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going.
 
8 Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him.
 
9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house.
 
10 When David was told, "Uriah did not go home," he asked him, "Haven't you just come from a distance? Why didn't you go home?"
 
11 Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!"
 
12 Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.
 
13 At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home.
 
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
 
15 In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die."
 
16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were.
 
17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David's army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.
 
18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle.
 
19 He instructed the messenger: "When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle,
 
20 the king's anger may flare up, and he may ask you, 'Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the wall?
 
21 Who killed Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn't a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?' If he asks you this, then say to him, 'Also, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.' "
 
22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say.
 
23 The messenger said to David, "The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance to the city gate.
 
24 Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king's men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead."
 
25 David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: 'Don't let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.' Say this to encourage Joab."
 
26 When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.
 
27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.
 

2 Corinthians 4,

1 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
 
2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
 
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
 
4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
 
5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
 
6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
 
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
 
8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
 
9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
 
10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
 
11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
 
12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
 
13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,
 
14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.
 
15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
 
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
 
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
 
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
 

Ezekiel 18,

1 The word of the LORD came to me:
 
2 "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: " 'The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'?
 
3 "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.
 
4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son-both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
 
5 "Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and right.
 
6 He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor's wife or lie with a woman during her period.
 
7 He does not oppress anyone, but returns what he took in pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked.
 
8 He does not lend at usury or take excessive interest. He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between man and man.
 
9 He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws. That man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign LORD.
 
10 "Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these other things
 
11 (though the father has done none of them): "He eats at the mountain shrines. He defiles his neighbor's wife.
 
12 He oppresses the poor and needy. He commits robbery. He does not return what he took in pledge. He looks to the idols. He does detestable things.
 
13 He lends at usury and takes excessive interest. Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he will surely be put to death and his blood will be on his own head.
 
14 "But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things:
 
15 "He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor's wife.
 
16 He does not oppress anyone or require a pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked.
 
17 He withholds his hand from sin and takes no usury or excessive interest. He keeps my laws and follows my decrees. He will not die for his father's sin; he will surely live.
 
18 But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.
 
19 "Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live.
 
20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.
 
21 "But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.
 
22 None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live.
 
23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?
 
24 "But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.
 
25 "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
 
26 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die.
 
27 But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.
 
28 Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die.
 
29 Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
 
30 "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.
 
31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel?
 
32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!
 

Psalm 62, 63

1 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.
 
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
 
3 How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down-this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
 
4 They fully intend to topple him from his lofty place; they take delight in lies. With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse. Selah
 
5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
 
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
 
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
 
8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah
 
9 Lowborn men are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath.
 
10 Do not trust in extortion or take pride in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.
 
11 One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong,
 
12 and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.
 

    
1 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
 
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
 
3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
 
4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
 
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
 
6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
 
7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
 
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
 
9 They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth.
 
10 They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals.
 
11 But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God's name will praise him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.