June 22, 2018

Pray, wait, trust by Gary Rose


Cute picture, nice mouse! Even better thought! That thought is more than just a process, it is an attitude expressing a submissive relationship to one who has the power and the wisdom to weave whatever request or prayer we might make into the great scheme of  his  formation of the unforeseeable future.

God's will, God's desire, God's way. A perfection of perfections resulting in the best possible outcome for the entire human race and for each one of us individually. 

As I thought of these things, I was reminded of Daniel, God's beloved prophet. A man whose prayers reflected  his knowledge of the Almighty  coupled  with his own understanding of man's sin and the reasons for  the deplorable  state of the nation Israel in exile.

The following chapter is a long one, but worth the read, as its hard not to be humbled by the attitude of this man.

So, read on....


Daniel,  Chapter 9 (World English Bible)
  1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,  2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years about which Yahweh’s word  came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.  3 I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.  4 I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments,  5 we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances;  6 neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.  7 Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.  8 Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.  9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him;  10 neither have we obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.  11 Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, turning aside, that they should not obey your voice: therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against him.  12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the whole sky, such has not been done as has been done to Jerusalem.  13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come on us: yet have we not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth.  14 Therefore has Yahweh watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.  15 Now, Lord our God, who has brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten yourself renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.  16 Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.  17 Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.  18 My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake.  19 Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, listen and do; don’t defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.  20 While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God for the holy mountain of my God;  21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.  22 He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, I have now come to give you wisdom and understanding.  23 At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.  24 Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.  25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going out of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times. 26 After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.  27 He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out on the desolate.  


I wonder, do I really spend enough time, humbly confessing my sin and interceding for The United States of America? Do I ask for wisdom and insight to even really know what to pray for? Even more fundamental than this,  have I spent enough time in the Scriptures to  know what God wants. Do I  thank him enough for the things he has done in my life and his history of blessing this great nation?

To me, all of these things are worthy of consideration and reflection. 

Will I?  Will you?

Hopefully God will answer our prayers and give us wisdom and insight into the world around us, as he did for Daniel!  

Remember-  Pray, wait, trust!!!

Bible Reading June 22-24 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading June 22-24
World English Bible

June 22
2 Samuel 7-9

2Sa 7:1 It happened, when the king lived in his house, and Yahweh had given him rest from all his enemies all around,
2Sa 7:2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains.
2Sa 7:3 Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your heart; for Yahweh is with you.
2Sa 7:4 It happened the same night, that the word of Yahweh came to Nathan, saying,
2Sa 7:5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus says Yahweh, Shall you build me a house for me to dwell in?
2Sa 7:6 for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have moved around in a tent and in a tabernacle.
2Sa 7:7 In all places in which I have walked with all the children of Israel, spoke I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people Israel, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar?
2Sa 7:8 Now therefore thus you shall tell my servant David, Thus says Yahweh of Armies, I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people, over Israel;
2Sa 7:9 and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.
2Sa 7:10 I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the first,
2Sa 7:11 and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel; and I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover Yahweh tells you that Yahweh will make you a house.
2Sa 7:12 When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who shall proceed out of your bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sa 7:13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2Sa 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;
2Sa 7:15 but my loving kindness shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you.
2Sa 7:16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before you: your throne shall be established forever.
2Sa 7:17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.
2Sa 7:18 Then David the king went in, and sat before Yahweh; and he said, Who am I, Lord Yahweh, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?
2Sa 7:19 This was yet a small thing in your eyes, Lord Yahweh; but you have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come; and this too after the manner of men, Lord Yahweh!
2Sa 7:20 What can David say more to you? for you know your servant, Lord Yahweh.
2Sa 7:21 For your word's sake, and according to your own heart, have you worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
2Sa 7:22 Therefore you are great, Yahweh God: for there is none like you, neither is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
2Sa 7:23 What one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, and to make him a name, and to do great things for you, and awesome things for your land, before your people, whom you redeem to you out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods?
2Sa 7:24 You established for yourself your people Israel to be a people to you forever; and you, Yahweh, became their God.
2Sa 7:25 Now, Yahweh God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, confirm it forever, and do as you have spoken.
2Sa 7:26 Let your name be magnified forever, saying, Yahweh of Armies is God over Israel; and the house of your servant David shall be established before you.
2Sa 7:27 For you, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed to your servant, saying, I will build you a house: therefore has your servant found in his heart to pray this prayer to you.
2Sa 7:28 Now, O Lord Yahweh, you are God, and your words are truth, and you have promised this good thing to your servant:
2Sa 7:29 now therefore let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you; for you, Lord Yahweh, have spoken it: and with your blessing let the house of your servant be blessed forever.

2Sa 8:1 After this it happened that David struck the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines.
2Sa 8:2 He struck Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. The Moabites became servants to David, and brought tribute.
2Sa 8:3 David struck also Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his dominion at the River.
2Sa 8:4 David took from him one thousand seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for one hundred chariots.
2Sa 8:5 When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
2Sa 8:6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went.
2Sa 8:7 David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
2Sa 8:8 From Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass.
2Sa 8:9 When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had struck all the army of Hadadezer,
2Sa 8:10 then Toi sent Joram his son to king David, to Greet him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. Joram brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass:
2Sa 8:11 These also did king David dedicate to Yahweh, with the silver and gold that he dedicated of all the nations which he subdued;
2Sa 8:12 of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
2Sa 8:13 David got him a name when he returned from smiting the Syrians in the Valley of Salt, even eighteen thousand men.
2Sa 8:14 He put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went.
2Sa 8:15 David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness to all his people.
2Sa 8:16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;
2Sa 8:17 and Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were priests; and Seraiah was scribe;
2Sa 8:18 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were chief ministers.

2Sa 9:1 David said, Is there yet any who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?
2Sa 9:2 There was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, Are you Ziba? He said, Your servant is he.
2Sa 9:3 The king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him? Ziba said to the king, Jonathan has yet a son, who is lame of his feet.
2Sa 9:4 The king said to him, Where is he? Ziba said to the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.
2Sa 9:5 Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.
2Sa 9:6 Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, and fell on his face, and did obeisance. David said, Mephibosheth. He answered, Behold, your servant!
2Sa 9:7 David said to him, "Don't be afraid of him; for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore you all the land of Saul your father; and you shall eat bread at my table continually."
2Sa 9:8 He did obeisance, and said, "What is your servant, that you should look on such a dead dog as I am?"
2Sa 9:9 Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, "All that pertained to Saul and to all his house have I given to your master's son.
2Sa 9:10 You shall till the land for him, you, and your sons, and your servants; and you shall bring in the fruits, that your master's son may have bread to eat: but Mephibosheth your master's son shall eat bread always at my table." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
2Sa 9:11 Then said Ziba to the king, According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so your shall servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.
2Sa 9:12 Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. All that lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth.
2Sa 9:13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem; for he ate continually at the king's table. He was lame in both his feet.


June 23
2 Samuel 10-12

2Sa 10:1 It happened after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place.
2Sa 10:2 David said, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me. So David sent by his servants to comfort him concerning his father. David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 10:3 But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Do you think that David honors your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Hasn't David sent his servants to you to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?
2Sa 10:4 So Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.
2Sa 10:5 When they told it to David, he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. The king said, Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.
2Sa 10:6 When the children of Ammon saw that they were become odious to David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with one thousand men, and the men of Tob twelve thousand men.
2Sa 10:7 When David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the army of the mighty men.
2Sa 10:8 The children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entrance of the gate: and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob, and the men of Tob and Maacah, were by themselves in the field.
2Sa 10:9 Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians:
2Sa 10:10 The rest of the people he committed into the hand of Abishai his brother; and he put them in array against the children of Ammon.
2Sa 10:11 He said, If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you.
2Sa 10:12 Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people, and for the cities of our God: and Yahweh do that which seems him good.
2Sa 10:13 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him.
2Sa 10:14 When the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians had fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
2Sa 10:15 When the Syrians saw that they were defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together.
2Sa 10:16 Hadadezer sent, and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the River: and they came to Helam, with Shobach the captain of the army of Hadadezer at their head.
2Sa 10:17 It was told David; and he gathered all Israel together, and passed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. The Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him.
2Sa 10:18 The Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed of the Syriansthe men of seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the captain of their army, so that he died there.
2Sa 10:19 When all the kings who were servants to Hadadezer saw that they were defeated before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more.

2Sa 11:1 It happened, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.
2Sa 11:2 It happened at evening, that David arose from off his bed, and walked on the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look on.
2Sa 11:3 David send and inquired after the woman. One said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
2Sa 11:4 David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house.
2Sa 11:5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
2Sa 11:6 David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. Joab sent Uriah to David.
2Sa 11:7 When Uriah was come to him, David asked of him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered.
2Sa 11:8 David said to Uriah, Go down to your house, and wash your feet. Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of food from the king.
2Sa 11:9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and didn't go down to his house.
2Sa 11:10 When they had told David, saying, Uriah didn't go down to his house, David said to Uriah, Haven't you come from a journey? why did you not go down to your house?
2Sa 11:11 Uriah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field; shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.
2Sa 11:12 David said to Uriah, Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the next day.
2Sa 11:13 When David had called him, he ate and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but didn't go down to his house.
2Sa 11:14 It happened in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
2Sa 11:15 He wrote in the letter, saying, Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck, and die.
2Sa 11:16 It happened, when Joab kept watch on the city, that he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew that valiant men were.
2Sa 11:17 The men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people, even of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
2Sa 11:18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;
2Sa 11:19 and he commanded the messenger, saying, "When you have finished telling all the things concerning the war to the king,
2Sa 11:20 it shall be that, if the king's wrath arise, and he asks you, 'Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn't you know that they would shoot from the wall?
2Sa 11:21 who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Didn't a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?' then you shall say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.' "
2Sa 11:22 So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for.
2Sa 11:23 The messenger said to David, The men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field, and we were on them even to the entrance of the gate.
2Sa 11:24 The shooters shot at your servants from off the wall; and some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
2Sa 11:25 Then David said to the messenger, Thus you shall tell Joab, Don't let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage him.
2Sa 11:26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband.
2Sa 11:27 When the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased Yahweh.

2Sa 12:1 Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, "There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2Sa 12:2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds,
2Sa 12:3 but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him, and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him like a daughter.
2Sa 12:4 A traveler came to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man who had come to him."
2Sa 12:5 David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this is worthy to die!
2Sa 12:6 He shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity!"
2Sa 12:7 Nathan said to David, "You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.
2Sa 12:8 I gave you your master's house, and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things.
2Sa 12:9 Why have you despised the word of Yahweh, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'
2Sa 12:11 This is what Yahweh says: 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
2Sa 12:12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.' "
2Sa 12:13 David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against Yahweh." Nathan said to David, "Yahweh also has put away your sin. You will not die.
2Sa 12:14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to Yahweh's enemies to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die."
2Sa 12:15 Nathan departed to his house. Yahweh struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it was very sick.
2Sa 12:16 David therefore begged God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the earth.
2Sa 12:17 The elders of his house arose, and stood beside him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.
2Sa 12:18 It happened on the seventh day, that the child died. The servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he didn't listen to our voice: how will he then harm himself, if we tell him that the child is dead!
2Sa 12:19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, Is the child dead? They said, He is dead.
2Sa 12:20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing; and he came into the house of Yahweh, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he ate.
2Sa 12:21 Then said his servants to him, What thing is this that you have done? you fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child was dead, you rose up and ate bread.
2Sa 12:22 He said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who knows whether Yahweh will not be gracious to me, that the child may live?
2Sa 12:23 But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.
2Sa 12:24 David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her: and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Yahweh loved him;
2Sa 12:25 and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he named him Jedidiah, for Yahweh's sake.
2Sa 12:26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
2Sa 12:27 Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah; yes, I have taken the city of waters.
2Sa 12:28 Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it; lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.
2Sa 12:29 David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.
2Sa 12:30 He took the crown of their king from off his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on David's head. He brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.
2Sa 12:31 He brought forth the people who were therein, and put them under saws, and under iron picks, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick kiln: and he did so to all the cities of the children of Ammon. David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.


June 24
2 Samuel 13-15

2Sa 13:1 It happened after this, that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.
2Sa 13:2 Amnon was so troubled that he fell sick because of his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her.
2Sa 13:3 But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very subtle man.
2Sa 13:4 He said to him, Why, son of the king, are you so sad from day to day? Won't you tell me? Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.
2Sa 13:5 Jonadab said to him, Lay down on your bed, and pretend to be sick: and when your father comes to see you, tell him, Please let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and dress the food in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it from her hand.
2Sa 13:6 So Amnon lay down, and feigned himself sick: and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said to the king, Please let her sister Tamar come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.
2Sa 13:7 Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to your brother Amnon's house, and dress him food.
2Sa 13:8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was laid down. She took dough, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes.
2Sa 13:9 She took the pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat. Amnon said, Have out all men from me. They went out every man from him.
2Sa 13:10 Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the food into the chamber, that I may eat from your hand. Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.
2Sa 13:11 When she had brought them near to him to eat, he took hold of her, and said to her, Come, lie with me, my sister.
2Sa 13:12 She answered him, No, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel. Don't you do this folly.
2Sa 13:13 I, where shall I carry my shame? and as for you, you will be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you.
2Sa 13:14 However he would not listen to her voice; but being stronger than she, he forced her, and lay with her.
2Sa 13:15 Then Amnon hated her with exceeding great hatred; for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. Amnon said to her, Arise, be gone.
2Sa 13:16 She said to him, Not so, because this great wrong in putting me forth is worse than the other that you did to me. But he would not listen to her.
2Sa 13:17 Then he called his servant who ministered to him, and said, Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.
2Sa 13:18 She had a garment of various colors on her; for with such robes were the king's daughters who were virgins dressed. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.
2Sa 13:19 Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head, and went her way, crying aloud as she went.
2Sa 13:20 Absalom her brother said to her, Has Amnon your brother been with you? but now hold your peace, my sister: he is your brother; don't take this thing to heart. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house.
2Sa 13:21 But when king David heard of all these things, he was very angry.
2Sa 13:22 Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.
2Sa 13:23 It happened after two full years, that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal Hazor, which is beside Ephraim: and Absalom invited all the king's sons.
2Sa 13:24 Absalom came to the king, and said, See now, your servant has sheepshearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant.
2Sa 13:25 The king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you. He pressed him: however he would not go, but blessed him.
2Sa 13:26 Then said Absalom, If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us. The king said to him, Why should he go with you?
2Sa 13:27 But Absalom pressed him, and he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him.
2Sa 13:28 Absalom commanded his servants, saying, Mark now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine; and when I tell you, Smite Amnon, then kill him; don't be afraid; haven't I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.
2Sa 13:29 The servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and every man got him up on his mule, and fled.
2Sa 13:30 It happened, while they were in the way, that the news came to David, saying, Absalom has slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of them left.
2Sa 13:31 Then the king arose, and tore his garments, and lay on the earth; and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.
2Sa 13:32 Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother, answered, Don't let my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead; for by the appointment of Absalom this has been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar.
2Sa 13:33 Now therefore don't let my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead; for Amnon only is dead.
2Sa 13:34 But Absalom fled. The young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, many people were coming by way of the hillside behind him.
2Sa 13:35 Jonadab said to the king, Behold, the king's sons are come: as your servant said, so it is.
2Sa 13:36 It happened, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that behold, the king's sons came, and lifted up their voice, and wept: and the king also and all his servants wept very sore.
2Sa 13:37 But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai the son of Ammihur, king of Geshur. David mourned for his son every day.
2Sa 13:38 So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.
2Sa 13:39 the soul of king David longed to go forth to Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.

2Sa 14:1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom.
2Sa 14:2 Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched there a wise woman, and said to her, please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, Please, and don't anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has a long time mourned for the dead:
2Sa 14:3 and go in to the king, and speak on this manner to him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.
2Sa 14:4 When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.
2Sa 14:5 The king said to her, What ails you? She answered, Of a truth I am a widow, and my husband is dead.
2Sa 14:6 Your handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one struck the other, and killed him.
2Sa 14:7 Behold, the whole family has risen against your handmaid, and they say, Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed, and so destroy the heir also. Thus will they quench my coal which is left, and will leave to my husband neither name nor remainder on the surface of the earth.
2Sa 14:8 The king said to the woman, Go to your house, and I will give a command concerning you.
2Sa 14:9 The woman of Tekoa said to the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house; and the king and his throne be guiltless.
2Sa 14:10 The king said, Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you any more.
2Sa 14:11 Then said she, Please let the king remember Yahweh your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son. He said, As Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth.
2Sa 14:12 Then the woman said, Please let your handmaid speak a word to my lord the king. He said, Say on.
2Sa 14:13 The woman said, Why then have you devised such a thing against the people of God? for in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished one.
2Sa 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water split on the ground, which can't be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises means, that he who is banished not be an outcast from him.
2Sa 14:15 Now therefore seeing that I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and your handmaid said, I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.
2Sa 14:16 For the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.
2Sa 14:17 Then your handmaid said, Please let the word of my lord the king be comfortable; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: and Yahweh your God be with you.
2Sa 14:18 Then the king answered the woman, Please don't hide anything from me that I shall ask you. The woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.
2Sa 14:19 The king said, Is the hand of Joab with you in all this? The woman answered, As your soul lives, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your handmaid;
2Sa 14:20 to change the face of the matter has your servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.
2Sa 14:21 The king said to Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom back.
2Sa 14:22 Joab fell to the ground on his face, and did obeisance, and blessed the king: and Joab said, Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, king, in that the king has performed the request of his servant.
2Sa 14:23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
2Sa 14:24 The king said, Let him turn to his own house, but let him not see my face. So Absalom turned to his own house, and didn't see the king's face.
2Sa 14:25 Now in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
2Sa 14:26 When he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end that he cut it; because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it); he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.
2Sa 14:27 To Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a beautiful face.
2Sa 14:28 Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem; and he didn't see the king's face.
2Sa 14:29 Then Absalom sent for Joab, to send him to the king; but he would not come to him: and he sent again a second time, but he would not come.
2Sa 14:30 Therefore he said to his servants, Behold, Joab's field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire. Absalom's servants set the field on fire.
2Sa 14:31 Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom to his house, and said to him, Why have your servants set my field on fire?
2Sa 14:32 Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent to you, saying, Come here, that I may send you to the king, to say, Why am I come from Geshur? it were better for me to be there still. Now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him kill me.
2Sa 14:33 So Joab came to the king, and told him; and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.

2Sa 15:1 It happened after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
2Sa 15:2 Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, What city are you from? He said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
2Sa 15:3 Absalom said to him, Behold, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized of the king to hear you.
2Sa 15:4 Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!
2Sa 15:5 It was so, that when any man came near to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him.
2Sa 15:6 In this manner Absalom did to all Israel who came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
2Sa 15:7 It happened at the end of forty years, that Absalom said to the king, please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to Yahweh, in Hebron.
2Sa 15:8 For your servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If Yahweh shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh.
2Sa 15:9 The king said to him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron.
2Sa 15:10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, Absalom is king in Hebron.
2Sa 15:11 With Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, who were invited, and went in their simplicity; and they didn't know anything.
2Sa 15:12 Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
2Sa 15:13 There came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.
2Sa 15:14 David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for else none of us shall escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.
2Sa 15:15 The king's servants said to the king, Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king shall choose.
2Sa 15:16 The king went forth, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house.
2Sa 15:17 The king went forth, and all the people after him; and they stayed in Beth Merhak.
2Sa 15:18 All his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.
2Sa 15:19 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Why do you also go with us? return, and stay with the king: for you are a foreigner, and also an exile; return to your own place.
2Sa 15:20 Whereas you came but yesterday, should I this day make you go up and down with us, seeing I go where I may? return, and take back your brothers; mercy and truth be with you.
2Sa 15:21 Ittai answered the king, and said, As Yahweh lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, even there also will your servant be.
2Sa 15:22 David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones who were with him.
2Sa 15:23 All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
2Sa 15:24 Behold, Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city.
2Sa 15:25 The king said to Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favor in the eyes of Yahweh, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation:
2Sa 15:26 but if he say thus, I have no delight in you; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seems good to him.
2Sa 15:27 The king said also to Zadok the priest, "Aren't you a seer? Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
2Sa 15:28 Behold, I will stay at the fords of the wilderness, until word comes from you to inform me."
2Sa 15:29 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they abode there.
2Sa 15:30 David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot: and all the people who were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.
2Sa 15:31 One told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. David said, Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
2Sa 15:32 It happened that when David had come to the top of the ascent, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn, and earth on his head.
2Sa 15:33 David said to him, If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me:
2Sa 15:34 but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so will I now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.
2Sa 15:35 Don't you have Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you? therefore it shall be, that whatever thing you shall hear out of the king's house, you shall tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
2Sa 15:36 Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son; and by them you shall send to me everything that you shall hear.
2Sa 15:37 So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city; and Absalom came into Jerusalem.



Jun. 21, 22
John 19

Joh 19:1 So Pilate then took Jesus, and flogged him.
Joh 19:2 The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown, and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple garment.
Joh 19:3 They kept saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and they kept slapping him.
Joh 19:4 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."
Joh 19:5 Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. Pilate said to them, "Behold, the man!"
Joh 19:6 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."
Joh 19:7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God."
Joh 19:8 When therefore Pilate heard this saying, he was more afraid.
Joh 19:9 He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.
Joh 19:10 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?"
Joh 19:11 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."
Joh 19:12 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!"
Joh 19:13 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."
Joh 19:14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!"
Joh 19:15 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!"
Joh 19:16 So then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away.
Joh 19:17 He went out, bearing his cross, to the place called "The Place of a Skull," which is called in Hebrew, "Golgotha,"
Joh 19:18 where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the middle.
Joh 19:19 Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS."
Joh 19:20 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.
Joh 19:21 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.' "
Joh 19:22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."
Joh 19:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
Joh 19:24 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. For my cloak they cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things.
Joh 19:25 But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Joh 19:26 Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold your son!"
Joh 19:27 Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.
Joh 19:28 After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I am thirsty."
Joh 19:29 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.
Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished." He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.
Joh 19:31 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.
Joh 19:32 Therefore the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with him;
Joh 19:33 but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was already dead, they didn't break his legs.
Joh 19:34 However one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
Joh 19:35 He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe.
Joh 19:36 For these things happened, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "A bone of him will not be broken."
Joh 19:37 Again another Scripture says, "They will look on him whom they pierced."
Joh 19:38 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.
Joh 19:39 Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred Roman pounds.
Joh 19:40 So they took Jesus' body, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
Joh 19:41 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.
Joh 19:42 Then because of the Jews' Preparation Day (for the tomb was near at hand) they laid Jesus there.

Jun. 23, 24
John 20

Joh 20:1 Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.
Joh 20:2 Therefore she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have laid him!"
Joh 20:3 Therefore Peter and the other disciple went out, and they went toward the tomb.
Joh 20:4 They both ran together. The other disciple outran Peter, and came to the tomb first.
Joh 20:5 Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying, yet he didn't enter in.
Joh 20:6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying,
Joh 20:7 and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself.
Joh 20:8 So then the other disciple who came first to the tomb also entered in, and he saw and believed.
Joh 20:9 For as yet they didn't know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
Joh 20:10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
Joh 20:11 But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb,
Joh 20:12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
Joh 20:13 They told her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they have laid him."
Joh 20:14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn't know that it was Jesus.
Joh 20:15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?" She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."
Joh 20:16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him, "Rhabbouni!" which is to say, "Teacher!"
Joh 20:17 Jesus said to her, "Don't touch me, for I haven't yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
Joh 20:18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.
Joh 20:19 When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be to you."
Joh 20:20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord.
Joh 20:21 Jesus therefore said to them again, "Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."
Joh 20:22 When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit!
Joh 20:23 Whoever's sins you forgive, they are forgiven them. Whoever's sins you retain, they have been retained."
Joh 20:24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, wasn't with them when Jesus came.
Joh 20:25 The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."
Joh 20:26 After eight days again his disciples were inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace be to you."
Joh 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, "Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don't be unbelieving, but believing."
Joh 20:28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"
Joh 20:29 Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed."
Joh 20:30 Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book;
Joh 20:31 but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.