Today's Readings: July 12

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

[1] We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.


[2] “At the set time that I appoint
I will judge with equity.
[3] When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,
it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah
[4] I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;
[5] do not lift up your horn on high,
or speak with haughty neck.’”


[6] For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
[7] but it is God who executes judgment,
putting down one and lifting up another.
[8] For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup
with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
and all the wicked of the earth
shall drain it down to the dregs.


[9] But I will declare it forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
[10] All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.


To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

[1] In Judah God is known;
his name is great in Israel.
[2] His abode has been established in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.
[3] There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah


[4] Glorious are you, more majestic
than the mountains full of prey.
[5] The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
were unable to use their hands.
[6] At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both rider and horse lay stunned.


[7] But you, you are to be feared!
Who can stand before you
when once your anger is roused?
[8] From the heavens you uttered judgment;
the earth feared and was still,
[9] when God arose to establish judgment,
to save all the humble of the earth. Selah


[10] Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;
the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.
[11] Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them;
let all around him bring gifts
to him who is to be feared,
[12] who cuts off the spirit of princes,
who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

[1] Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. [2] And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. [3] For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.

And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. [4] And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. [5] So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. [6] On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. [7] Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled and went out from the city by night by the way of a gate between the two walls, by the king’s garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. [8] But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. [9] Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. [10] The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. [11] He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in chains, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

[12] In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. [13] And he burned the house of the LORD, and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. [14] And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. [15] And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans. [16] But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

[17] And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all the bronze to Babylon. [18] And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the basins and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service; [19] also the small bowls and the fire pans and the basins and the pots and the lampstands and the dishes for incense and the bowls for drink offerings. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. [20] As for the two pillars, the one sea, the twelve bronze bulls that were under the sea, and the stands, which Solomon the king had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these things was beyond weight. [21] As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, its circumference was twelve cubits, and its thickness was four fingers, and it was hollow. [22] On it was a capital of bronze. The height of the one capital was five cubits. A network and pomegranates, all of bronze, were around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with pomegranates. [23] There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were a hundred upon the network all around.

[24] And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; [25] and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and seven men of the king’s council, who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city. [26] And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. [27] And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

[28] This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans; [29] in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons; [30] in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Judeans 745 persons; all the persons were 4,600.

[31] And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. [32] And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. [33] So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table, [34] and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, until the day of his death, as long as he lived.

[1] My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
incline your ear to my understanding,
[2] that you may keep discretion,
and your lips may guard knowledge.
[3] For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,
[4] but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
[5] Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path to Sheol;
[6] she does not ponder the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.


[7] And now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
[8] Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house,
[9] lest you give your honor to others
and your years to the merciless,
[10] lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
[11] and at the end of your life you groan,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
[12] and you say, “How I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!
[13] I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
[14] I am at the brink of utter ruin
in the assembled congregation.”


[15] Drink water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
[16] Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?
[17] Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
[18] Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
[19] a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
be intoxicated always in her love.
[20] Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
[21] For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD,
and he ponders all his paths.
[22] The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
[23] He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.

[1] There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. [3] For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [5] For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. [6] For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. [7] For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. [8] Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

[9] You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. [10] But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. [11] If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

[12] So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. [13] For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. [14] For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. [15] For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” [16] The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [17] and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

[18] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. [19] For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. [20] For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope [21] that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. [22] For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. [23] And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. [24] For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? [25] But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

[26] Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. [27] And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. [28] And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [29] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. [30] And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

[31] What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? [33] Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. [34] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. [35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? [36] As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”


[37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.