Tuesday, May 30, 2023
1 Kings 2:26–46
26To
Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go back to your fields in Anathoth.
You deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now, because you carried
the ark of the Sovereign LORD before my father David and shared all my father's
hardships." 27So Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood
of the LORD, fulfilling the word the LORD had spoken at Shiloh about the house
of Eli.
28When the
news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom, he
fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29King
Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the LORD and was beside the
altar. Then Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, "Go, strike him
down!"
30So Benaiah
entered the tent of the LORD and said to Joab, "The king says, 'Come out!'
"
But he answered, "No, I will die
here."
Benaiah reported to the king, "This is
how Joab answered me."
31Then the
king commanded Benaiah, "Do as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and
so clear me and my father's house of the guilt of the innocent blood that Joab
shed. 32The LORD will repay him for the blood he shed, because
without the knowledge of my father David he attacked two men and killed them
with the sword. Both of them--Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and
Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army--were better men and more
upright than he. 33May the guilt of their blood rest on the head of
Joab and his descendants forever. But on David and his descendants, his house
and his throne, may there be the LORD's peace forever."
34So Benaiah
son of Jehoiada went up and struck down Joab and killed him, and he was buried
on his own land in the desert. 35The king put Benaiah son of
Jehoiada over the army in Joab's position and replaced Abiathar with Zadok the
priest.
36Then the
king sent for Shimei and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem
and live there, but do not go anywhere else. 37The day you leave and
cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure you will die; your blood will be on
your own head."
38Shimei
answered the king, "What you say is good. Your servant will do as my lord
the king has said." And Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.
39But three
years later, two of Shimei's slaves ran off to Achish son of Maacah, king of
Gath, and Shimei was told, "Your slaves are in Gath." 40At
this, he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves.
So Shimei went away and brought the slaves back from Gath.
41When
Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, 42the
king summoned Shimei and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by the
LORD and warn you, 'On the day you leave to go anywhere else, you can be sure
you will die'? At that time you said to me, 'What you say is good. I will
obey.' 43Why then did you not keep your oath to the LORD and obey
the command I gave you?"
44The king
also said to Shimei, "You know in your heart all the wrong you did to my
father David. Now the LORD will repay you for your wrongdoing. 45But
King Solomon will be blessed, and David's throne will remain secure before the
LORD forever."
46Then the
king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck
Shimei down and killed him.
The kingdom was now firmly established in
Solomon's hands.
Psalm
119:145–152
145I
call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD, and I will obey your decrees. 146I
call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes. 147I rise
before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. 148My
eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your
promises. 149Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my
life, O LORD, according to your laws. 150Those who devise wicked
schemes are near, but they are far from your law. 151Yet you are
near, O LORD, and all your commands are true. 152Long ago I learned
from your statutes that you established them to last forever.
1
John 2:1–14
1My dear
children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does
sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the
Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not
only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
3We know
that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who
says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and
the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love
is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever
claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
7Dear
friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had
since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8Yet
I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the
darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9Anyone who
claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever
loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him
stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and
walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the
darkness has blinded him.
12I write to
you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his
name. 13I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is
from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the
evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. 14I
write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I
write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in
you, and you have overcome the evil one.
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