Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - July 18 One Year Bible

AM Devotion

Prayer / Reading (July 18 One Year Bible)
1 Chronicles 26:12-27:34; Romans 4:13-5:5; Psalm 14:1-7; Proverbs 19:17

1 Chronicles 26:12-27:34

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹² These divisions of the gatekeepers were named for their family leaders, and like the other Levites, they served at the house of the Lord. ¹³ They were assigned by families for guard duty at the various gates, without regard to age or training, for it was all decided by means of sacred lots.

¹⁴ The responsibility for the east gate went to Meshelemiah^[a] and his group. The north gate was assigned to his son Zechariah, a man of unusual wisdom. ¹⁵ The south gate went to Obed-edom, and his sons were put in charge of the storehouse. ¹⁶ Shuppim and Hosah were assigned the west gate and the gateway leading up to the Temple.^[b] Guard duties were divided evenly. ¹⁷ Six Levites were assigned each day to the east gate, four to the north gate, four to the south gate, and two pairs at the storehouse. ¹⁸ Six were assigned each day to the west gate, four to the gateway leading up to the Temple, and two to the courtyard.^[c]
19 These were the divisions of the gatekeepers from the clans of Korah and Merari.

Treasurers and Other Officials

²⁰ Other Levites, led by Ahijah, were in charge of the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries of the gifts dedicated to the Lord. ²¹ From the family of Libni^[d] in the clan of Gershon, Jehiel^[e] was the leader. ²² The sons of Jehiel, Zetham and his brother Joel, were in charge of the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

²³ These are the leaders that descended from Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel:

²⁴ From the clan of Amram, Shebuel was a descendant of Gershom son of Moses. He was the chief officer of the treasuries. ²⁵ His relatives through Eliezer were Rehabiah, Jeshaiah, Joram, Zicri, and Shelomoth.

²⁶ Shelomoth and his relatives were in charge of the treasuries containing the gifts that King David, the family leaders, and the generals and captains^[f] and other officers of the army had dedicated to the Lord. ²⁷ These men dedicated some of the plunder they had gained in battle to maintain the house of the Lord. ²⁸ Shelomoth^[g] and his relatives also cared for the gifts dedicated to the Lord by Samuel the seer, Saul son of Kish, Abner son of Ner, and Joab son of Zeruiah. All the other dedicated gifts were in their care, too.

²⁹ From the clan of Izhar came Kenaniah. He and his sons were given administrative responsibilities^[h] over Israel as officials and judges.

³⁰ From the clan of Hebron came Hashabiah. He and his relatives—1,700 capable men—were put in charge of the Israelite lands west of the Jordan River. They were responsible for all matters related to the things of the Lord and the service of the king in that area.

³¹ Also from the clan of Hebron came Jeriah,^[i] who was the leader of the Hebronites according to the genealogical records. (In the fortieth year of David’s reign, a search was made in the records, and capable men from the clan of Hebron were found at Jazer in the land of Gilead.) ³² There were 2,700 capable men among the relatives of Jeriah. King David sent them to the east side of the Jordan River and put them in charge of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. They were responsible for all matters related to God and to the king.

Military Commanders and Divisions

27 This is the list of Israelite generals and captains,^[j] and their officers, who served the king by supervising the army divisions that were on duty each month of the year. Each division served for one month and had 24,000 troops.

² Jashobeam son of Zabdiel was commander of the first division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the first month. ³ He was a descendant of Perez and was in charge of all the army officers for the first month.

⁴ Dodai, a descendant of Ahoah, was commander of the second division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the second month. Mikloth was his chief officer.

⁵ Benaiah son of Jehoiada the priest was commander of the third division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the third month. ⁶ This was the Benaiah who commanded David’s elite military group known as the Thirty. His son Ammizabad was his chief officer.

⁷ Asahel, the brother of Joab, was commander of the fourth division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the fourth month. Asahel was succeeded by his son Zebadiah.

⁸ Shammah^[k] the Izrahite was commander of the fifth division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the fifth month.

⁹ Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa was commander of the sixth division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the sixth month.

¹⁰ Helez, a descendant of Ephraim from Pelon, was commander of the seventh division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the seventh month.

¹¹ Sibbecai, a descendant of Zerah from Hushah, was commander of the eighth division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the eighth month.

¹² Abiezer from Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin was commander of the ninth division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the ninth month.

¹³ Maharai, a descendant of Zerah from Netophah, was commander of the tenth division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the tenth month.

¹⁴ Benaiah from Pirathon in Ephraim was commander of the eleventh division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the eleventh month.

¹⁵ Heled,^[l] a descendant of Othniel from Netophah, was commander of the twelfth division of 24,000 troops, which was on duty during the twelfth month.

Leaders of the Tribes

¹⁶ The following were the tribes of Israel and their leaders:

Tribe	Leader
Reuben	Eliezer son of Zicri
Simeon	Shephatiah son of Maacah
17 Levi	Hashabiah son of Kemuel
Aaron (the priests)	Zadok
18 Judah	Elihu (a brother of David)
Issachar	Omri son of Michael
19 Zebulun	Ishmaiah son of Obadiah
Naphtali	Jeremoth son of Azriel
20 Ephraim	Hoshea son of Azaziah
Manasseh (west)	Joel son of Pedaiah
21 Manasseh in Gilead (east)	Iddo son of Zechariah
Benjamin	Jaasiel son of Abner
22 Dan	Azarel son of Jeroham

These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel.

²³ When David took his census, he did not count those who were younger than twenty years of age, because the Lord had promised to make the Israelites as numerous as the stars in heaven. ²⁴ Joab son of Zeruiah began the census but never finished it because^[m] the anger of God fell on Israel. The total number was never recorded in King David’s official records.

Officials of David’s Kingdom

²⁵ Azmaveth son of Adiel was in charge of the palace treasuries.

Jonathan son of Uzziah was in charge of the regional treasuries throughout the towns, villages, and fortresses of Israel.

²⁶ Ezri son of Kelub was in charge of the field workers who farmed the king’s lands.

²⁷ Shimei from Ramah was in charge of the king’s vineyards.

Zabdi from Shepham was responsible for the grapes and the supplies of wine.

²⁸ Baal-hanan from Geder was in charge of the king’s olive groves and sycamore-fig trees in the foothills of Judah.^[n]

Joash was responsible for the supplies of olive oil.

²⁹ Shitrai from Sharon was in charge of the cattle on the Sharon Plain.

Shaphat son of Adlai was responsible for the cattle in the valleys.

³⁰ Obil the Ishmaelite was in charge of the camels.

Jehdeiah from Meronoth was in charge of the donkeys.

³¹ Jaziz the Hagrite was in charge of the king’s flocks of sheep and goats.

All these officials were overseers of King David’s property.

³² Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a wise counselor to the king, a man of great insight, and a scribe. Jehiel the Hacmonite was responsible for teaching the king’s sons. ³³ Ahithophel was the royal adviser. Hushai the Arkite was the king’s friend. ³⁴ Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada son of Benaiah and by Abiathar. Joab was commander of the king’s army.

Romans 4:13-5:5

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹³ Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. ¹⁴ If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. ¹⁵ For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)
¹⁶ So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. ¹⁷ That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.”^[a] This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.
¹⁸ Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!”^{[b] 19} And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.
²⁰ Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. ²¹ He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. ²² And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. ²³ And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded ²⁴ for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.

Faith Brings Joy

5 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. ² Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Psalm 14:1-7

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 14

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

¹ Only fools say in their hearts,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
    not one of them does good!

² The Lord looks down from heaven
    on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
    if anyone seeks God.
³ But no, all have turned away;
    all have become corrupt.^[a]
No one does good,
    not a single one!

⁴ Will those who do evil never learn?
    They eat up my people like bread
    and wouldn’t think of praying to the Lord.
⁵ Terror will grip them,
    for God is with those who obey him.
⁶ The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed,
    but the Lord will protect his people.

⁷ Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel?
    When the Lord restores his people,
    Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice.

Proverbs 19:17

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁷ If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—
    and he will repay you!