1 Kings 1, Galatians 5, Ezekiel 32, Psalm 80

1 Kings 1,

1 When King David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him.
 
2 So his servants said to him, "Let us look for a young virgin to attend the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm."
 
3 Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
 
4 The girl was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no intimate relations with her.
 
5 Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, "I will be king." So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him.
 
6 (His father had never interfered with him by asking, "Why do you behave as you do?" He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.)
 
7 Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they gave him their support.
 
8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei and David's special guard did not join Adonijah.
 
9 Adonijah then sacrificed sheep, cattle and fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah who were royal officials,
 
10 but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the special guard or his brother Solomon.
 
11 Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, "Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king without our lord David's knowing it?
 
12 Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.
 
13 Go in to King David and say to him, 'My lord the king, did you not swear to me your servant: "Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne"? Why then has Adonijah become king?'
 
14 While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and confirm what you have said."
 
15 So Bathsheba went to see the aged king in his room, where Abishag the Shunammite was attending him.
 
16 Bathsheba bowed low and knelt before the king. "What is it you want?" the king asked.
 
17 She said to him, "My lord, you yourself swore to me your servant by the LORD your God: 'Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.'
 
18 But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not know about it.
 
19 He has sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the king's sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant.
 
20 My lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
 
21 Otherwise, as soon as my lord the king is laid to rest with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals."
 
22 While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet arrived.
 
23 And they told the king, "Nathan the prophet is here." So he went before the king and bowed with his face to the ground.
 
24 Nathan said, "Have you, my lord the king, declared that Adonijah shall be king after you, and that he will sit on your throne?
 
25 Today he has gone down and sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep. He has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest. Right now they are eating and drinking with him and saying, 'Long live King Adonijah!'
 
26 But me your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he did not invite.
 
27 Is this something my lord the king has done without letting his servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?"
 
28 Then King David said, "Call in Bathsheba." So she came into the king's presence and stood before him.
 
29 The king then took an oath: "As surely as the LORD lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble,
 
30 I will surely carry out today what I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place."
 
31 Then Bathsheba bowed low with her face to the ground and, kneeling before the king, said, "May my lord King David live forever!"
 
32 King David said, "Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada." When they came before the king,
 
33 he said to them: "Take your lord's servants with you and set Solomon my son on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.
 
34 There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, 'Long live King Solomon!'
 
35 Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah."
 
36 Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, "Amen! May the LORD, the God of my lord the king, so declare it.
 
37 As the LORD was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!"
 
38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and put Solomon on King David's mule and escorted him to Gihon.
 
39 Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, "Long live King Solomon!"
 
40 And all the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.
 
41 Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they were finishing their feast. On hearing the sound of the trumpet, Joab asked, "What's the meaning of all the noise in the city?"
 
42 Even as he was speaking, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, "Come in. A worthy man like you must be bringing good news."
 
43 "Not at all!" Jonathan answered. "Our lord King David has made Solomon king.
 
44 The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and they have put him on the king's mule,
 
45 and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon. From there they have gone up cheering, and the city resounds with it. That's the noise you hear.
 
46 Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne.
 
47 Also, the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King David, saying, 'May your God make Solomon's name more famous than yours and his throne greater than yours!' And the king bowed in worship on his bed
 
48 and said, 'Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has allowed my eyes to see a successor on my throne today.' "
 
49 At this, all Adonijah's guests rose in alarm and dispersed.
 
50 But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the horns of the altar.
 
51 Then Solomon was told, "Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon and is clinging to the horns of the altar. He says, 'Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.' "
 
52 Solomon replied, "If he shows himself to be a worthy man, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die."
 
53 Then King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, "Go to your home."

Galatians 5,

1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
 
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
 
3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
 
4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
 
5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.
 
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
 
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?
 
8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.
 
9 "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough."
 
10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.
 
11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
 
12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
 
13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
 
14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
 
15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
 
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
 
17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
 
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
 
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
 
20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
 
21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
 
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
 
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
 
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
 
25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
 
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Ezekiel 32,

1 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month on the first day, the word of the LORD came to me:
 
2 "Son of man, take up a lament concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: " 'You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas thrashing about in your streams, churning the water with your feet and muddying the streams.
 
3 " 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: " 'With a great throng of people I will cast my net over you, and they will haul you up in my net.
 
4 I will throw you on the land and hurl you on the open field. I will let all the birds of the air settle on you and all the beasts of the earth gorge themselves on you.
 
5 I will spread your flesh on the mountains and fill the valleys with your remains.
 
6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood all the way to the mountains, and the ravines will be filled with your flesh.
 
7 When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.
 
8 All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you; I will bring darkness over your land, declares the Sovereign LORD.
 
9 I will trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring about your destruction among the nations, among lands you have not known.
 
10 I will cause many peoples to be appalled at you, and their kings will shudder with horror because of you when I brandish my sword before them. On the day of your downfall each of them will tremble every moment for his life.
 
11 " 'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: " 'The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you.
 
12 I will cause your hordes to fall by the swords of mighty men-the most ruthless of all nations. They will shatter the pride of Egypt, and all her hordes will be overthrown.
 
13 I will destroy all her cattle from beside abundant waters no longer to be stirred by the foot of man or muddied by the hoofs of cattle.
 
14 Then I will let her waters settle and make her streams flow like oil, declares the Sovereign LORD.
 
15 When I make Egypt desolate and strip the land of everything in it, when I strike down all who live there, then they will know that I am the LORD.'
 
16 "This is the lament they will chant for her. The daughters of the nations will chant it; for Egypt and all her hordes they will chant it, declares the Sovereign LORD."
 
17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
 
18 "Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, with those who go down to the pit.
 
19 Say to them, 'Are you more favored than others? Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised.'
 
20 They will fall among those killed by the sword. The sword is drawn; let her be dragged off with all her hordes.
 
21 From within the grave the mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies, 'They have come down and they lie with the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.'
 
22 "Assyria is there with her whole army; she is surrounded by the graves of all her slain, all who have fallen by the sword.
 
23 Their graves are in the depths of the pit and her army lies around her grave. All who had spread terror in the land of the living are slain, fallen by the sword.
 
24 "Elam is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword. All who had spread terror in the land of the living went down uncircumcised to the earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
 
25 A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain.
 
26 "Meshech and Tubal are there, with all their hordes around their graves. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword because they spread their terror in the land of the living.
 
27 Do they not lie with the other uncircumcised warriors who have fallen, who went down to the grave with their weapons of war, whose swords were placed under their heads? The punishment for their sins rested on their bones, though the terror of these warriors had stalked through the land of the living.
 
28 "You too, O Pharaoh, will be broken and will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword.
 
29 "Edom is there, her kings and all her princes; despite their power, they are laid with those killed by the sword. They lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.
 
30 "All the princes of the north and all the Sidonians are there; they went down with the slain in disgrace despite the terror caused by their power. They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
 
31 "Pharaoh-he and all his army-will see them and he will be consoled for all his hordes that were killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign LORD.
 
32 Although I had him spread terror in the land of the living, Pharaoh and all his hordes will be laid among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, declares the Sovereign LORD."

Psalm 80

1 Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
 
2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us.
 
3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.
 
4 O LORD God Almighty, how long will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people?
 
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
 
6 You have made us a source of contention to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us.
 
7 Restore us, O God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.
 
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
 
9 You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.
 
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches.
 
11 It sent out its boughs to the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.
 
12 Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
 
13 Boars from the forest ravage it and the creatures of the field feed on it.
 
14 Return to us, O God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine,
 
15 the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself.
 
16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish.
 
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
 
18 Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name.
 
19 Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.