The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday June 5, 2020 (NIV)

2 Samuel 23:24-24:25

24 One of the thirty was Joab’s brother Asahel. The thirty leading men were

Elhanan (son of Dodo) from Bethlehem,
25 Shammah from Harod,
Elika from Harod,
26 Helez the Paltite,
Ira (son of Ikkesh) from Tekoa,
27 Abiezer from Anathoth,
Mebunnai (son of Hushai),
28 Zalmon (descendant of Ahohi),
Maharai from Netophah,
29 Heleb (son of Baanah) from Netophah,
Ittai (son of Ribai) from Gibeah in Benjamin,
30 Benaiah from Pirathon,
Hiddai from the Gaash ravines,
31 Abi Albon from Beth Arabah,
Azmaveth from Bahurim,
32 Elihba from Shaalbon,
Bene Jashen,
33 Jonathan (son of Shammah the Hararite),
Ahiam (son of Sharar the Hararite),
34 Eliphelet (son of Ahasbai and grandson of a man from Maacah),
Eliam (son of Ahithophel) from Gilo,
35 Hezrai from Carmel,
Paarai from Arabah,
36 Igal (son of Nathan) from Zobah,
Bani from the tribe of Gad,
37 Zelek from Ammon,
Naharai from Beeroth, armorbearer for Zeruiah’s son Joab,
38 Ira (descendant of Ithra),
Gareb (descendant of Ithra),
39 Uriah the Hittite—
37 in all.

David’s Sin—He Takes a Census(A)

24 The Lord became angry with Israel again, so he provoked David to turn against Israel. He said, “Go, count Israel and Judah.”

King David said to Joab, the commander of the army who was with him, “Go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and count the people. That way I will know how many there are.”

Joab responded to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the people a hundred times over, and may Your Majesty live to see it. But why does Your Majesty wish to do this?”

However, the king overruled Joab and the commanders of the army. So they left the king in order to count the people of Israel. They crossed the Jordan River and camped at Aroer, south of the city in the middle of the valley. Then they went to Gad and to Jazer. They went to Gilead and to Tahtim Hodshi and then to Dan Jaan and around toward Sidon. They went to the fortified city of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah. When they had covered the whole country, they came to Jerusalem after 9 months and 20 days. Joab reported the census figures to the king: In Israel there were 800,000 able-bodied men who could serve in the army, and in Judah there were 500,000.

10 After David counted the people, his conscience troubled him. David said to the Lord, “I have committed a terrible sin by what I have done. Lord, please forgive me because I have acted very foolishly.”

11 When David got up in the morning, the Lord spoke his word to the prophet Gad, David’s seer. [a] 12 “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I’m offering you three choices. Choose the one you want me to do to you.’”

13 When Gad came to David, he told David this and asked, “Should seven years of famine come to you and your land, or three months during which you flee from your enemies as they pursue you, or should there be a three-day plague in your land? Think it over, and decide what answer I should give the one who sent me.”

14 “I’m in a desperate situation,” David told Gad. “Please let us fall into the Lord’s hands because he is very merciful. But don’t let me fall into human hands.”

15 So the Lord sent a plague among the Israelites from that morning until the time he had chosen. Of the people from Dan to Beersheba, 70,000 died. 16 But when the Messenger stretched out his arm to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about the disaster. “Enough!” he said to the Messenger who was destroying the people. “Put down your weapon.” The Messenger of the Lord was at the threshing floor[b] of Araunah the Jebusite.

17 When David saw the Messenger who had been killing the people, he said to the Lord, “I’ve sinned. I’ve done wrong. What have these sheep done? Please let your punishment be against me and against my father’s family.”

18 That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go, set up an altar for the Lord at Araunah the Jebusite’s threshing floor.”

19 David went as Gad had told him and as the Lord had commanded him. 20 When Araunah looked down and saw the king and his men coming toward him, he went out and bowed down with his face touching the ground in front of the king. 21 “Why has Your Majesty come to me?” Araunah asked.

David answered, “To buy the threshing floor from you and to build an altar for the Lord. Then the plague on the people will stop.”

22 Araunah said to David, “Take it, Your Majesty, and offer whatever you think is right. There are oxen for the burnt offering, and there are threshers and oxen yokes[c] for firewood.” 23 All this Araunah gave to the king and said, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

24 “No!” the king said to Araunah. “I must buy it from you at a fair price. I won’t offer the Lord my God burnt sacrifices that cost me nothing.”

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 1¼ pounds of silver. 25 David built an altar for the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. So the Lord heard the prayers for the country, and the plague on Israel stopped.

Footnotes:

  1. 2 Samuel 24:12 A seer is a prophet.
  2. 2 Samuel 24:16 A threshing floor is an outdoor area where grain is separated from its husks.
  3. 2 Samuel 24:22 A thresher is a device used to separate grain from its husks. A yoke is a wooden bar placed over the necks of work animals so that they can pull plows or carts.
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God's Word Mission Society.

Acts 3

A Lame Man Is Healed

Peter and John were going to the temple courtyard for the three o’clock prayer. At the same time, a man who had been lame from birth was being carried by some men. Every day these men would put the lame man at a gate in the temple courtyard. The gate was called Beautiful Gate. There he would beg for handouts from people going into the courtyard. When the man saw that Peter and John were about to go into the courtyard, he asked them for a handout.

Peter and John stared at him. “Look at us!” Peter said. So the man watched them closely. He expected to receive something from them. However, Peter said to him, “I don’t have any money, but I’ll give you what I do have. Through the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, walk!” Peter took hold of the man’s right hand and began to help him up. Immediately, the man’s feet and ankles became strong. Springing to his feet, he stood up and started to walk. He went with Peter and John into the temple courtyard. The man was walking, jumping, and praising God.

All the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 They knew that he was the man who used to sit and beg at the temple’s Beautiful Gate. The people were amazed and stunned to see what had happened to him. 11 They were excited, and everyone ran to see them at the place called Solomon’s Porch. The man wouldn’t let go of Peter and John.

12 When Peter saw this, he said to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed about this man? Why are you staring at us as though we have made him walk by our own power or godly life? 13 The God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed Jesus over to Pilate. You rejected him in Pilate’s presence, even though Pilate had decided to let him go free. 14 You rejected the man who was holy and innocent. You asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the source of life. But God brought him back to life, and we are witnesses to that. 16 We believe in the one named Jesus. Through his power alone this man, whom you know, was healed, as all of you saw.

17 “And now, brothers, I know that like your rulers you didn’t know what you were doing. 18 But in this way God made the sufferings of his Messiah come true. God had predicted these sufferings through all the prophets. 19 So change the way you think and act, and turn to God to have your sins removed. 20 Then times will come when the Lord will refresh you. He will send you Jesus, whom he has appointed to be the Christ. 21 Heaven must receive Jesus until the time when everything will be restored as God promised through his holy prophets long ago.

22 “Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me. Listen to everything he tells you. 23 Those who won’t listen to that prophet will be excluded from the people.’ 24 Samuel and all the prophets who followed him spoke about these days. 25 You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the promise[a] that God made to our ancestors when he said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendant all people on earth will be blessed.’ 26 God has brought his servant back to life and has sent him to you first. God did this to bless you by turning every one of you from your evil ways.”

Footnotes:

  1. Acts 3:25 Or “covenant.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God's Word Mission Society.

Psalm 123

I look up to you,
to the one who sits enthroned in heaven.
As servants depend on their masters,
as a maid depends on her mistress,
so we depend on the Lord our God
until he has pity on us.
Have pity on us, O Lord.
Have pity on us
because we have suffered more than our share of contempt.
We have suffered more than our share of ridicule
from those who are carefree.
We have suffered more than our share of contempt
from those who are arrogant.

Psalm 124

A song by David for going up to worship.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God's Word Mission Society.

Proverbs 16:21-23

21 The person who is truly wise is called understanding,
and speaking sweetly helps others learn.
22 Understanding is a fountain of life to the one who has it,
but stubborn fools punish themselves with their stupidity.
23 A wise person’s heart controls his speech,
and what he says helps others learn.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God's Word Mission Society.