Daily Bible GNT June 12 Scroll

Personal Greetings

Romans 16 I recommend to you our sister Phoebe, who serves the church at Cenchreae. ²Receive her in the Lord's name, as God's people should, and give her any help she may need from you; for she herself has been a good friend to many people and also to me.

³I send greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in the service of Christ Jesus; ⁴they risked their lives for me. I am grateful to them--not only I, but all the Gentile churches as well. ⁵Greetings also to the church that meets in their house.

Greetings to my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first in the province of Asia to believe in Christ. ⁶Greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for you. ⁷Greetings also to Andronicus and Junia, fellow Jews who were in prison with me; they are well known among the apostles, and they became Christians before I did.

⁸My greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in the fellowship of the Lord. ⁹Greetings also to Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ's service, and to Stachys, my dear friend. ¹⁰Greetings to Apelles, whose loyalty to Christ has been proved. Greetings to those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. ¹¹Greetings to Herodion, a fellow Jew, and to the Christians in the family of Narcissus.

¹²My greetings to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work in the Lord's service, and to my dear friend Persis, who has done so much work for the Lord. ¹³I send greetings to Rufus, that outstanding worker in the Lord's service, and to his mother, who has always treated me like a son. ¹⁴My greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and all the other Christians with them. ¹⁵Greetings to Philologus and Julia, to Nereus and his sister, to Olympas and to all of God's people who are with them.

¹⁶Greet one another with the kiss of peace. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings.

Final Instructions

¹⁷I urge you, my friends: watch out for those who cause divisions and upset people's faith and go against the teaching which you have received. Keep away from them! ¹⁸For those who do such things are not serving Christ our Lord, but their own appetites. By their fine words and flattering speech they deceive innocent people. ¹⁹Everyone has heard of your loyalty to the gospel, and for this reason I am happy about you. I want you to be wise about what is good, but innocent in what is evil. ²⁰And God, our source of peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

²¹Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you his greetings; and so do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, fellow Jews.

²²I, Tertius, the writer of this letter, send you Christian greetings.

²³My host Gaius, in whose house the church meets, sends you his greetings; Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.

Concluding Prayer of Praise

²⁵Let us give glory to God! He is able to make you stand firm in your faith, according to the Good News I preach about Jesus Christ and according to the revelation of the secret truth which was hidden for long ages in the past. ²⁶Now, however, that truth has been brought out into the open through the writings of the prophets; and by the command of the eternal God it is made known to all nations, so that all may believe and obey.

²⁷To the only God, who alone is all-wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever! Amen.

David Learns of Saul's Death

2 Samuel 1 After Saul's death David came back from his victory over the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag for two days. ²The next day a young man arrived from Saul's camp. To show his grief, he had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head. He went to David and bowed to the ground in respect. ³David asked him, "Where have you come from?"

"I have escaped from the Israelite camp," he answered.

⁴"Tell me what happened," David said.

"Our army ran away from the battle," he replied, "and many of our men were killed. Saul and his son Jonathan were also killed."

⁵"How do you know that Saul and Jonathan are dead?" David asked him.

⁶He answered, "I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and I saw that Saul was leaning on his spear and that the chariots and cavalry of the enemy were closing in on him. ⁷Then he turned around, saw me, and called to me. I answered, 'Yes, sir!' ⁸He asked who I was, and I told him that I was an Amalekite. ⁹Then he said, 'Come here and kill me! I have been badly wounded, and I'm about to die.' ¹⁰So I went up to him and killed him, because I knew that he would die anyway as soon as he fell. Then I took the crown from his head and the bracelet from his arm, and I have brought them to you, sir."

¹¹David tore his clothes in sorrow, and all his men did the same. ¹²They grieved and mourned and fasted until evening for Saul and Jonathan and for Israel, the people of the LORD, because so many had been killed in battle.

¹³David asked the young man who had brought him the news, "Where are you from?"

He answered, "I'm an Amalekite, but I live in your country."

¹⁴David asked him, "How is it that you dared kill the LORD's chosen king?" ¹⁵Then David called one of his men and said, "Kill him!" The man struck the Amalekite and mortally wounded him, ¹⁶and David said to the Amalekite, "You brought this on yourself. You condemned yourself when you confessed that you killed the one whom the LORD chose to be king."

David's Lament for Saul and Jonathan

¹⁷David sang this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan, ¹⁸and ordered it to be taught to the people of Judah. (It is recorded in The Book of Jashar.)

¹⁹"On the hills of Israel our leaders are dead!

The bravest of our soldiers have fallen!

²⁰Do not announce it in Gath

or in the streets of Ashkelon.

Do not make the women of Philistia glad;

do not let the daughters of pagans rejoice.

²¹"May no rain or dew fall on Gilboa's hills;

may its fields be always barren!

For the shields of the brave lie there in disgrace;

the shield of Saul is no longer polished with oil.

²²Jonathan's bow was deadly,

the sword of Saul was merciless,

striking down the mighty, killing the enemy.

²³"Saul and Jonathan, so wonderful and dear;

together in life, together in death;

swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

²⁴"Women of Israel, mourn for Saul!

He clothed you in rich scarlet dresses

and adorned you with jewels and gold.

²⁵"The brave soldiers have fallen,

they were killed in battle.

Jonathan lies dead in the hills.

²⁶"I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan;

how dear you were to me!

How wonderful was your love for me,

better even than the love of women.

²⁷"The brave soldiers have fallen,

their weapons abandoned and useless."

A Prayer for the King

Psalm 72 Teach the king to judge with your righteousness, O God;

share with him your own justice,

²so that he will rule over your people with justice

and govern the oppressed with righteousness.

³May the land enjoy prosperity;

may it experience righteousness.

⁴May the king judge the poor fairly;

may he help the needy

and defeat their oppressors.

⁵May your people worship you as long as the sun shines,

as long as the moon gives light, for ages to come.

⁶May the king be like rain on the fields,

like showers falling on the land.

⁷May righteousness flourish in his lifetime,

and may prosperity last as long as the moon gives light.

⁸His kingdom will reach from sea to sea,

from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

⁹The peoples of the desert will bow down before him;

his enemies will throw themselves to the ground.

¹⁰The kings of Spain and of the islands will offer him gifts;

the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him offerings.

¹¹All kings will bow down before him;

all nations will serve him.

¹²He rescues the poor who call to him,

and those who are needy and neglected.

¹³He has pity on the weak and poor;

he saves the lives of those in need.

¹⁴He rescues them from oppression and violence;

their lives are precious to him.

¹⁵Long live the king!

May he be given gold from Sheba;

may prayers be said for him at all times;

may God's blessings be on him always!

¹⁶May there be plenty of grain in the land;

may the hills be covered with crops,

as fruitful as those of Lebanon.

May the cities be filled with people,

like fields full of grass.

¹⁷May the king's name never be forgotten;

may his fame last as long as the sun.

May all nations ask God to bless them

as he has blessed the king.

¹⁸Praise the LORD, the God of Israel!

He alone does these wonderful things.

¹⁹Praise his glorious name forever!

May his glory fill the whole world.

Amen! Amen!

²⁰This is the end of the prayers of David son of Jesse.

This reading is from The Holy Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition copyright © American Bible Society, 1992;
Old Testament copyright © American Bible Society, 1976, 1992; New Testament © American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.

These daily Bible readings from the Good News Translation (GNT), formerly the Today's English Version (TEV), are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. All BibleCard® images are copyrighted by iCreative. All rights reserved.