The MD/Pastor's Wife Corner

Day 246, September 3: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:03:34 GMT

In our reading yesterday in Ezekiel, he told of the elders of Israel coming again to inquire of the LORD through him in the seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah. The LORD said again He would not be inquired of by them. He told Ezekiel to make known to them the abominations of their fathers. When He made Himself known to the descendants of Jacob in Egypt, saying, “I am the LORD your God,” He told them to cast away the idols of Egypt, but they did not. He was going to pour out His wrath upon them in the midst of the land of Egypt, but did not for the sake of His name. He brought them into the wilderness, and gave them His statutes and ordinances by which a man will live if He observes them. He also gave them the sabbath as a sign between Him and them. But they rebelled in the wilderness. He again was going to pour out His wrath and annihilate them, but did not for the sake of His name. That generation did not enter the Promised Land, but He told their children not to walk in the ways of their fathers, but they also rebelled. He resolved to pour out His wrath, but did not for the sake of His name. He did swear to them in the wilderness that He would scatter them among the nations. When they were brought into the land, they blasphemed Him by worshiping idols and sacrificing their children. He will not be inquired of by them. With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and wrath poured out, He shall be king over them. He will bring them into the wilderness of the peoples and enter into judgment with them. He will make them pass under the rod and bring them into the bond of the covenant. He will purge the rebels and those who transgress against Him. He will accept them when He gathers them from the lands where they are scattered. They will know He is the LORD when He brings them into the land of Israel. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done. They will know He is the LORD when He has dealt with them for His name’s sake and not according to their evil ways or corrupt deeds. He says He is about to kindle a fire in Israel that will not be quenched, and the elders think Ezekiel is just speaking in parables.

The LORD then told Ezekiel to set his face toward Jerusalem, speak against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel that He is against them and will draw His sword out of His sheath and cut off the righteous and the wicked. He told him to groan with breaking heart and bitter grief because the news that is coming will make every heart melt, spirit faint, and knees weak. He said He will appease His wrath. He has spoken. He spoke of the king of Babylon using divination to choose to come to Jerusalem to place it under siege. He spoke of the prince of Israel being conquered, and “This also will be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.”

Ezekiel the priest wrote as an exile in the land of the Chaldeans during the end of the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. The Lord gave Ezekiel vision of what Jeremiah experienced and spoke about, so Ezekiel fills in a lot of understanding for us.

Reminder that Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah), king of Judah, grandson of Josiah, surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon after only three months of reign after the death of his rebellious father Jehoiakim. He was taken to Babylon with ten thousand other captives. The LORD appeared to Ezekiel and appointed him to speak His word during the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile. Nebuchadnezzar had replaced Jehoiachin with his uncle Mattaniah, renaming him Zedekiah. Zedekiah eventually rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, like his brother Jehoiakim, had done. This led to the siege and fall of Jerusalem, about which Ezekiel prophesied.

I include housekeeping details daily for those who have newly joined this study. I usually try to schedule the timing of each day’s post so there is consistency, but sometimes I fail due to my own schedule. If you are looking for the day’s reading earlier than the post is available, you can always search for the same day’s reading from last year.

An overview of our yearly Bible reading plan, with all edited summaries so far, can be found here. My appeal for the resolution to read your Bibles is here. My challenge for us to read in wonder, recognizing the Bible is true and has consequence for our lives is here. My chronological study of the Gospels is here. Being assured that scripture is scripture is here.

I was counseled early in my Christian walk never to read more about the Bible than the Bible. All theories about the Bible must be tested against the Bible itself. Does scripture support their claims? Dr Michael Heiser’s book “Supernatural” has given me new insight, as I continue to read the Old Testament, regarding God choosing Israel and the continued consequence of their disobedience in still going after other gods, despite all the mighty power He had displayed on their behalf and His revealing His Law to them. Despite their unfaithfulness, He remains faithful.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

I do find typos in my writing after the fact. I schedule these posts early, but try to re-read and edit them on the morning they’re posted. So, if you notice a lot of typos in an email version, just check back on Substack for an edited version (you can tell the timing of my editing by when I post the day’s reading and prayer on X: @KDMilhoanMD. If you found this study this way, praise God, and…welcome!)

September 3 chronological reading: Ezekiel 22-23

Ezekiel 22

v1-5 “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations. You shall say, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘A city shedding blood in her midst, so that her time will come, and that makes idols, contrary to her interest, for defilement! You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands. Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you of ill repute, full of turmoil.

v6-12 ‘Behold, the rulers of Israel, each according to his power, have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood. They have treated father and mother lightly within you. The alien they have oppressed in your midst; the fatherless and the widow they have wronged in you. You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths. Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood, and in you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have committed acts of lewdness. In you they have uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; in you they have humbled her who was unclean in her menstrual impurity. One has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law. And another in you has humbled his sister, his father’s daughter. In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten Me,’ declares the Lord GOD.

v13-16 ‘Behold, then, I smite My hand at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you. Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken and will act. I will scatter you among the nations and I will disperse you through the lands, and I will consume your uncleanness from you. You will profane yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will know that I am the LORD.’”’

v17-22 “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are the dross of silver. Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Because all of you have become dross, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath and I will lay you there and melt you. I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath on you.”’

v23-31 “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, say to her, “You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.” There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her. Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain. Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, “Thus says the Lord GOD,” when the LORD has not spoken. The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice. I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,” declares the Lord GOD.’”

Ezekiel 23

v1-4 “The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, ‘Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother; and they played the harlot in Egypt. They played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and there their virgin bosom was handled. Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bores sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

v5-10 ‘Oholah played the harlot while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, her neighbors, who were clothed in purple, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. She bestowed her harlotries on them, all of whom were the choicest men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she defiled herself. She did not forsake her harlotries from the time in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her. Therefore, I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they slew her with the sword. Thus she became a byword among women, and they executed judgments on her.

v11-21 ‘Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her harlotries were more than the harlotries of her sister. She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, magnificently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took the same way. So she increased her harlotries. And she saw men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. When she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. The Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their harlotry. And when she had been defiled by them, she became disgusted with them. She uncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness; then I became disgusted with her, as I had become disgusted with her sister. Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt. She lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth.

v22-35 ‘Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated, and I will bring them against you from every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. I will set My jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your survivors will be consumed by the fire. They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. Thus I will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.” For thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom you were alienated. They will deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries. These things will be done to you because you have played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.” Thus says the Lord GOD,
“You will drink your sister’s cup,
Which is deep and wide.
You will be laughed at and held in derision;
It contains much.
You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
The cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
You will drink it and drain it.
Then you will gnaw its fragments
And tear your breasts;
for I have spoken,” declares the Lord GOD. Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.”’

v36-39 “Moreover, the LORD said to me, ‘Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. Thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to them as food. Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have profaned My sabbaths. For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and lo, thus they did within My house.

v40-42 ‘Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and lo, they came—for whom you bathed, painted your eyes and decorated yourselves with ornaments; and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged before it on which you had set My incense and My oil. The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort. And they put bracelets on the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.

v43-45 ‘Then I said concerning her who was worn out by adulteries, “Will they now commit adultery with her when she is thus?” But they went in to her as they would go in to a harlot. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. But they, righteous men, will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

v46-49 ‘For thus says the Lord GOD, “Bring up a company against them and give them over to terror and plunder. The company will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will slay their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire. Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be admonished and not commit lewdness as you have done. Your lewdness will be requited upon you, and you will bear the penalty of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’”

September 3 OT/NT readings: Proverbs 3-4, 1 Corinthians 13

We started Proverbs yesterday. The purpose of Proverbs is described at its outset:

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction,
To discern the sayings of understanding,
To receive instruction in wise behavior,
Righteousness, justice and equity;
To give prudence to the naive,
To the youth knowledge and discretion,
A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
To understand a proverb and a figure,
The words of the wise and their riddles (Proverbs 1:1-6).

So that your trust may be in the LORD,
I have taught you today, even you.
Have I not written to you excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
To make you know the certainty of the words of truth
That you may correctly answer him who sent you? (Proverbs 22:19-21).

Excerpts from Proverbs 1 (read yesterday):

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.

My son, do not walk in the way with them.
Keep your feet from their path

How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?
And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing
And fools hate knowledge?

For the waywardness of the naive will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
But he who listens to me shall live securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.

Excerpts from Proverbs 2 (read yesterday):

if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding

Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
And discover the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity and every good course.

We read Proverbs 3 on Day 154 and Proverbs 4 on Day 155.

We’re reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in the New Testament reading plan. Paul went to Corinth during his second missionary journey (see timeline of the book of Acts). It was the first place he remained for any length of time (18 months) until a disturbance was formed against him and he moved on. He had met Romans Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth, and he took them with him to Ephesus and left them there while he returned to Antioch. He returned to Ephesus at the beginning of his third missionary journey, staying over 2 years. He wrote what we know as the first letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus. 1 Corinthians 5:9 refers to a previous letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians and 1 Corinthians 7:1 refers to their writing a letter in return, containing questions he addresses in this letter.

Paul wrote the church in Corinth because he knew there was both division and immorality in the church. He addressed that in the first six chapters. In the seventh chapter, he turned to answering questions that they had written to him, first addressing marriage and then idol worship. He then went on to answer criticisms about himself. He made clear that he, like others, had freedom in Christ. He also explained he had the right, for instance, to be paid for his service as a minister of the gospel. He never exercised this right, however, because he was under compulsion to preach the gospel. He was willing to be all things to all men so that he might save some. He was willing to discipline himself for the sake of the gospel. Paul gave an example of the need for discipline by reminding the Corinthians of the Israelites who were led by Moses and saw amazing miracles and still sinned, warning “let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” and reminding that the Lord has provided a way of escape from all temptation. We flee idolatry in order not to provoke God to jealousy, to protect ourselves, and not to hurt the conscience of others. We seek the good of others, not pleasing ourselves, so that many may be saved. He turned from this discussion to a criticism of how the Corinthians came together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Just as we need to understand our place in the hierarchy and authority of God’s creation, we need to judge ourselves rightly that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

In chapter 12, yesterday, He turned to the consideration of spiritual gifts: there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Different manifestations of the spirit are: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, effecting of miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, various kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills….God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired….if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. God has appointed in the church: apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, gifts of healings, helps, administrations, tongues. All do not manifest the same gift, ministry, or effect.

1 Corinthians 13

v1-3 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

v4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

v8-13 “Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Dear Lord,

If I…do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Help us to truly understand that the greatest of these is love. We focus on so many things, but do we have love? Do we love You? Do we love one another? I have heard powerful testimonies of people coming to You because someone showed them the love that can only come from You. Help us to love like You love, being willing to lay down Your life for those who do not deserve it.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 245, September 2: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:03:26 GMT

In our reading yesterday in Ezekiel, the LORD corrected a proverb commonly used in Israel that implies that children are punished for the sins of their fathers. This actually implies a lack of responsibility for one’s own sin. The LORD says, “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the souls of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.” If a man practices righteousness, he will live. If a man practices wickedness, his blood will be on his own head and he will die. If a righteous man turns to wickedness, he will not live. If a wicked man turns to righteousness, he will live. The LORD takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that he turn from his wicked ways and live. Each will be judged according to his own conduct. “Cast away from you all your transgressions which have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!…repent and live.”

Then the LORD had Ezekiel take up a lamentation about the princes of Israel that explained the recent history both the exiles and those in Israel at the time of Ezekiel would recognize. The prince [King Jehoahaz, son of Josiah] was captured and brought with hooks to the land of Egypt. Another lion arose and was brought with hooks to the king of Babylon [Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, arose to power during the reign of Jehoahaz’s brother Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin was taken into exile in Babylon, with ten thousand other captives]. Israel “was plucked up in fury; It was cast down to the ground And now it is planted in the wilderness In a dry and thirsty land….there is not in it a strong branch, A scepter to rule.” [Zedekiah will be the last king to rule in Israel but will be defeated by and taken to Babylon.]

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

September 2 chronological reading: Ezekiel 20-21

Ezekiel 20

v1-8a “Now in the seventh year [of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah], in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me. And the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I will not be inquired of by you.’” Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Make them know the abominations of their fathers; and say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘On the day when I chose Israel and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your God, on that day I swore to them, to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had selected for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. I said to them, “Cast away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.” But they rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; they did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

v8b-17 ‘Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live. Also I gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they rejected My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; and My sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them. But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out. Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, because they rejected My ordinances, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My sabbaths, for their heart continually went after their idols. Yet My eye spared them rather than destroying them, and I did not cause their annihilation in the wilderness.

v18-26 ‘I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols. I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and observe them. Sanctify My sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.” But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; they profaned My sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness. But I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the lands, because they had not observed My ordinances, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My sabbaths, and their eyes were on the idols of their fathers. I also gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live; and I pronounced them unclean because of their gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might know that I am the LORD.’”

v27-32 ‘Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me by acting treacherously against Me. When I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their soothing aroma and there they poured out their drink offerings. Then I said to them, “What is the high place to which you go?” So its name is called Bamah to this day.’” Therefore, say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and play the harlot after their detestable things? When you offer your gifts, when you cause your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I will not be inquired of by you. What comes into your mind will not come about, when you say: “We will be like the nations, like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone.”

v33-38 ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.

v39-44 ‘As for you, O house of Israel,’ thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Go, serve everyone his idols; but later you will surely listen to Me, and My holy name you will profane no longer with your gifts and with your idols. For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land; there I will accept them and there I will seek your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy things. As a soothing aroma I will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered; and I will prove Myself holy among you in the sight of the nations. And you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the land which I swore to give to your forefathers. There you will remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evil things that you have done. Then you will know that I am the LORD when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel,’ declares the Lord GOD.”’

v45-49 “Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, set your face toward Teman, and speak out against the south and prophesy against the forest land of the Negev, and say to the forest of the Negev, “Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I am about to kindle a fire in you, and it will consume every green tree in you, as well as every dry tree; the blazing flame will not be quenched and the whole surface from south to north will be burned by it. All flesh will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.’”’ Then I said, ‘Ah Lord GOD! They are saying of me, “Is he not just speaking parables?”’”

Ezekiel 21

v1-7 “And the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and speak against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel; and say to the land of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I am against you; and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. Thus all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its sheath. It will not return to its sheath again.’” As for you, son of man, groan with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight. And when they say to you, “Why do you groan?” you shall say, “Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,” declares the Lord GOD.’

v8-13 “Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy and say, “Thus says the LORD.” Say,
“A sword, a sword sharpened
And also polished!
Sharpened to make a slaughter,
Polished to flash like lightning!”
Or shall we rejoice, the rod of My son despising every tree? It is given to be polished, that it may be handled; the sword is sharpened and polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer. Cry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people, it is against all the officials of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with My people, therefore strike your thigh. For there is a testing; and what if even the rod which despises will be no more?’ declares the Lord GOD.

v14-17 ‘You therefore, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them, that their hearts may melt, and many fall at all their gates. I have given the glittering sword. Ah! It is made for striking like lightning, it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter. Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is appointed. I will also clap My hands together, and I will appease My wrath; I, the LORD, have spoken.’

v18-23 “The word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘As for you, son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city. You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem. For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the household idols, he looks at the liver. Into his right hand came the divination, “Jerusalem,” to set battering rams, to open the mouth for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a siege wall. And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes; they have sworn solemn oaths. But he brings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be seized.

v24-27 ‘Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you will be seized with the hand. And you, O slain, wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the punishment of the end,” thus says the Lord GOD, “Remove the turban and take off the crown; this will no longer be the same. Exalt that which is low and abase that which is high. A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I will make it. This also will be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.”

v28-32 ‘And you, son of man, prophesy and say, “Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach,” and say: “A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it to consume, that it may be like lightning— while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, in the time of the punishment of the end. Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, skilled in destruction. You will be fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I, the LORD, have spoken.”’”

September 2 OT/NT readings: Proverbs 1-2, 1 Corinthians 12

We finished Psalms yesterday in the Old Testament reading plan. In the first half of my summary document, I list the Psalms in order of appearance, followed by author (if known), context of the Psalm’s writing (description of context that appear in the Biblical text before some Psalms are quoted), and the Old Testament reading it appears after. In the second half of the document, I added both a description and excerpts from each of the Psalms in their numerical order. It was fascinating to observe the Psalms do not appear according to their chronology, and to meditate on why the Psalms might have been placed in the order they were. Yesterday we finished with Psalms 148-150, which admonished us to praise the LORD!

let all creation praise the LORD, appears 137th, unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
1. “Let them praise the name of the LORD, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven.”
let His godly ones praise the LORD, unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
1. “He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation. Let the godly ones exult in glory; Let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand, To execute vengeance on the nations And punishment on the peoples, To bind their kings with chains And their nobles with fetters of iron, To execute on them the judgment written; This is an honor for all His godly ones. Praise the LORD!”
praise the LORD, appears 139th, unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
1. “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!”

We start Proverbs today in the Old Testament reading plan. The Proverbs were written during the reign of King Solomon. We read Proverbs 1 & 2 on Day 154.

In chapter 11, over the last two days, Paul asserted that we can be imitators of him because he was an imitator of Christ. He then addressed a topic that is culturally confusing to us, that of requiring women to cover their heads while praying. The important context for Paul’s admonition is the understanding of order and authority in God’s creation. He turned from this discussion, in our reading yesterday, to a criticism of how the Corinthians came together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. There was division among them and it sounds like they were using these gatherings for eating and drinking, and even drunkenness, rather for the celebration of the new covenant in Christ’s blood. Just as we need to understand our place in the hierarchy and authority of God’s creation, we need to judge ourselves rightly that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

1 Corinthians 12

v1-3 “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is accursed’; and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.

v4-11 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

v12-13 “For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

v14-26 “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; or again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

v27-31 “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? But earnestly desire the greater gifts.
And I show you a still more excellent way.”

Dear Lord,

there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

the body is not one member, but many.

If they were all one member, where would the body be?

Help us not to make the mistake that the way You work in and through us is the way that You work in and through others.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 244, September 1: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 11:43:14 GMT

Yesterday in our chronological reading, the LORD used a long metaphor for Ezekiel to “make known to Jerusalem her abominations.” He described her as abhorred from birth, from the land of the Canaanite. He saved her and made her numerous, and then entered into a covenant with her so that she became His. Then her fame went forth among the nations because of His splendor that He bestowed on her. But she trusted in her beauty and played the harlot because of her fame, worshiping other gods and sacrificing her children to idols. She went after other nations for help (the Philistines, Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea), trusting them instead of Him, and giving them money and treasures (which, He pointed out, is ironic for a harlot because a harlot usually gets paid rather than pays for her harlotries). Because she has enraged Him by not remembering what He has done for her and by committing all these abominations, He will bring these nations against her. He said her older sister is Samaria and her younger sister is Sodom, but she has acted more corruptly than they, making them appear righteous by comparison. He will do with them as they have done, despising the oath by breaking the covenant. But then He will restore the captivity of all three sisters. He will remember the covenant from the days of her youth and establish an everlasting covenant. The she will remember her ways and be ashamed, and know He is the Lord, when He has forgiven all she has done.

The LORD then used a riddle, to explain the establishment of Babylon and its interaction with Jerusalem, that can be used to trace what is actually occurring at the time Ezekiel is speaking. “The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king [Jehoiachin] and princes and brought them to him in Babylon. He took one of the royal family [Zedekiah] and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, that the kingdom might be in subjection, not exalting itself, but keeping his covenant that it might continue. But he [Zedekiah] rebelled against him [the king of Babylon] by sending his envoys to Egypt that they might give him horses and many troops. Will he succeed?…Can he indeed break the covenant and escape?…Surely in the country of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon he shall die….My oath which he despised and My covenant which he broke, I will inflict on his head….I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act which he has committed against Me. All the choice men in all his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, the LORD have spoken….All the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken and I will perform it.”

The LORD despises the breaking of covenant, yet He is merciful. Though we break covenant with Him, He never breaks covenant with us.

Ezekiel the priest wrote as an exile in the land of the Chaldeans during the end of the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah), king of Judah, grandson of Josiah, actually surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon after only three months of reign after the death of his rebellious father Jehoiakim. He was taken to Babylon with ten thousand other captives. The LORD appeared to Ezekiel and appointed him to speak His word during the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile. Nebuchadnezzar had replaced Jehoiachin with his uncle Mattaniah, renaming him Zedekiah. Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, like his brother Jehoiakim, had done. This led to the siege and fall of Jerusalem, about which Ezekiel prophesied.

The Lord gave Ezekiel vision of what Jeremiah experienced and spoke about, so Ezekiel fills in a lot of understanding for us. The LORD consistently repeats that even in His wrath and punishment, He will leave a remnant as witness that His word stands, who will then know that He is the LORD.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

September 1 chronological reading: Ezekiel 18-19

Ezekiel 18

v1-2 “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying,
“The fathers eat the sour grapes,
But the children’s teeth are set on edge”?

v3-4 ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

v5-9 ‘But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness, and does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period— if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, if he does not lend money on interest or take increase, if he keeps his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between man and man, if he walks in My statutes and My ordinances so as to deal faithfully—he is righteous and will surely live,’ declares the Lord GOD.

v10-13 ‘Then he may have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother (though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines, and defiles his neighbor’s wife, oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and commits abomination, he lends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has committed all these abominations, he will surely be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.

v14-18 ‘Now behold, he has a son who has observed all his father’s sins which he committed, and observing does not do likewise. He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife, or oppress anyone, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery, but he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, he keeps his hand from the poor, does not take interest or increase, but executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes; he will not die for his father’s iniquity, he will surely live. As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.

v19-20 ‘Yet you say, “Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity?” When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live. The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

v21-23 ‘But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?

v24-29 ‘But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die. Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not right.” Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die. Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. But the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is not right.” Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?

v30-32 ‘Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘Therefore, repent and live.’”

Ezekiel 19

v1-14 “‘As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel and say,
“What was your mother?
A lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions,
She reared her cubs.
When she brought up one of her cubs,
He became a lion,
And he learned to tear his prey;
He devoured men.
Then nations heard about him;
He was captured in their pit,
And they brought him with hooks
To the land of Egypt.
When she saw, as she waited,
That her hope was lost,
She took another of her cubs
And made him a young lion.
And he walked about among the lions;
He became a young lion,
He learned to tear his prey;
He devoured men.
He destroyed their fortified towers
And laid waste their cities;
And the land and its fullness were appalled
Because of the sound of his roaring.
Then nations set against him
On every side from their provinces,
And they spread their net over him;
He was captured in their pit.
They put him in a cage with hooks
And brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in hunting nets
So that his voice would be heard no more
On the mountains of Israel.
Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
Planted by the waters;
It was fruitful and full of branches
Because of abundant waters.
And it had strong branches fit for scepters of rulers,
And its height was raised above the clouds
So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
But it was plucked up in fury;
It was cast down to the ground;
And the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branch was torn off
So that it withered;
The fire consumed it.
And now it is planted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land.
And fire has gone out from its branch;
It has consumed its shoots and fruit,
So that there is not in it a strong branch,
A scepter to rule.”’
This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.”

September 1 OT/NT readings: Psalms 148-150, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

After 52 days, we are finishing the Psalms today in the Old Testament reading plan. In this document, I list the Psalms in order of appearance, followed by author (if known), context of the Psalm’s writing (description of context that appear in the Biblical text before some Psalms are quoted), and the Old Testament reading it appears after. Here is that information for today’s Psalms:

Psalm 148, appears as 137th/150 Psalms, author unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
Psalm 149, appears as 138th/150 Psalms, author unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
Psalm 150, appears as 139th/150 Psalms, author unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166

Yesterday we read Psalms 145-147:

one generation will praise the LORD’s works to another, appears 118th, David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146
1. “A Psalm of Praise, of David”: “Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts….The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works….The LORD sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down….The LORD is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds. The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. The LORD keeps all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy.”
trust only in God, appears 135th, unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
1. “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation….How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever; Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free. The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous; The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked.”
praise for the works of God, appears 136th, unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
1. “Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant and praise is becoming….The LORD favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His lovingkindness.”

We’re reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Paul went to Corinth during his second missionary journey (see timeline of the book of Acts). It was the first place he remained for any length of time (18 months) until a disturbance was formed against him and he moved on. He had met Romans Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth, and he took them with him to Ephesus and left them there while he returned to Antioch. He returned to Ephesus at the beginning of his third missionary journey, staying over 2 years. He wrote what we know as the first letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus. 1 Corinthians 5:9 refers to a previous letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians and 1 Corinthians 7:1 refers to their writing a letter in return, containing questions he addresses in this letter.

At the beginning of chapter 11, which we read yesterday, Paul asserted that we can be imitators of him as he is an imitator of Christ. He then addressed a topic that is culturally confusing to us, that of requiring women to cover their heads while praying. He ends this topic with: “Judge for yourselves…if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.” The important context for Paul’s admonition is the understanding of order and authority in God’s creation: “Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ….For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but the woman for the man’s sake…..However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God.”

1 Corinthians 11

v17-22 “But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.

v23-26 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

v27-32 “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

v33-34 “So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come.”

Dear Lord,

if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.

We realize we are sinners in need of a Savior when we judge ourselves rightly, and His righteousness frees us from eternal judgment. Thank You, Jesus.

In His name, Amen.

Day 243, August 31: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 10:06:33 GMT

In our reading yesterday in Ezekiel, the LORD told Ezekiel to prophesy to the false prophets, saying He is against them. He also told him to set his face against the daughters of his people who are prophesying from their own inspiration. He then reprimanded the elders of Israel who have not repented of their idolatry, but still seek to consult Him through Ezekiel. He said only the righteous will be saved in Jerusalem. Survivors will come in exile and the LORD said Ezekiel will be comforted by their conduct and actions, and know that the LORD did not act in vain against Jerusalem. He said He had given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem and set His face against them. He will make the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully. Ezekiel will know He is the LORD when He sets His face against them.

Ezekiel the priest wrote as an exile in the land of the Chaldeans during the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah), grandson of Josiah, actually surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon after only three months of reign after the death of his rebellious father Jehoiakim. He was taken to Babylon with ten thousand other captives. The LORD appeared to Ezekiel and appointed him to speak His word during the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile. Nebuchadnezzar had replaced Jehoiachin with his uncle Mattaniah, renaming him Zedekiah. Zedekiah eventually rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, like his brother Jehoiakim, had done. This led to the siege and fall of Jerusalem, about which Ezekiel prophesied. The false prophets in exile, however, tried to reassure the exiles that this events would not occur and they failed to call the people to turn from their sin of idol worship.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 31 chronological reading: Ezekiel 16-17

Ezekiel 16

v1-5 “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations and say, ‘“Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem, ‘Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite, your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.

v6-7 ‘When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, “Live!” Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, “Live!” I made you numerous like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.

v8-14 ‘Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,’ declares the Lord GOD.

v15-22 ‘But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing. You took some of your clothes, made for yourself high places of various colors and played the harlot on them, which should never come about nor happen. You also took your beautiful jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images that you might play the harlot with them. Then you took your embroidered cloth and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them. Also My bread which I gave you, fine flour, oil and honey with which I fed you, you would offer before them for a soothing aroma; so it happened,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘Moreover, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your harlotries so small a matter? You slaughtered My children and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire. Besides all your abominations and harlotries you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare and squirming in your blood.

v23-29 ‘Then it came about after all your wickedness (“Woe, woe to you!” declares the Lord GOD), that you built yourself a shrine and made yourself a high place in every square. You built yourself a high place at the top of every street and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passer-by to multiply your harlotry. You also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and multiplied your harlotry to make Me angry. Behold now, I have stretched out My hand against you and diminished your rations. And I delivered you up to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd conduct. Moreover, you played the harlot with the Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied. You also multiplied your harlotry with the land of merchants, Chaldea, yet even with this you were not satisfied.’”’

v30-34 ‘How languishing is your heart,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘while you do all these things, the actions of a bold-faced harlot. When you built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every square, in disdaining money, you were not like a harlot. You adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband! Men give gifts to all harlots, but you give your gifts to all your lovers to bribe them to come to you from every direction for your harlotries. Thus you are different from those women in your harlotries, in that no one plays the harlot as you do, because you give money and no money is given you; thus you are different.’

v35-43 “Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your harlotries with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your sons which you gave to idols, therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, even all those whom you loved and all those whom you hated. So I will gather them against you from every direction and expose your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness. Thus I will judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy. I will also give you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and will leave you naked and bare. They will incite a crowd against you and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. They will burn your houses with fire and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women. Then I will stop you from playing the harlot, and you will also no longer pay your lovers. So I will calm My fury against you and My jealousy will depart from you, and I will be pacified and angry no more. Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have enraged Me by all these things, behold, I in turn will bring your conduct down on your own head,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘so that you will not commit this lewdness on top of all your other abominations.

v44-52 ‘Behold, everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb concerning you, saying, “Like mother, like daughter.” You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You are also the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. Now your older sister is Samaria, who lives north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lives south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. Yet you have not merely walked in their ways or done according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you acted more corruptly in all your conduct than they. As I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘Sodom, your sister and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it. Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half of your sins, for you have multiplied your abominations more than they. Thus you have made your sisters appear righteous by all your abominations which you have committed. Also bear your disgrace in that you have made judgment favorable for your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. Yes, be also ashamed and bear your disgrace, in that you made your sisters appear righteous.

v53-59 ‘Nevertheless, I will restore their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and along with them your own captivity, in order that you may bear your humiliation and feel ashamed for all that you have done when you become a consolation to them. Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state, and you with your daughters will also return to your former state. As the name of your sister Sodom was not heard from your lips in your day of pride, before your wickedness was uncovered, so now you have become the reproach of the daughters of Edom and of all who are around her, of the daughters of the Philistines—those surrounding you who despise you. You have borne the penalty of your lewdness and abominations,’ the LORD declares. For thus says the Lord GOD, ‘I will also do with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.

v60-63 ‘Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both your older and your younger; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant. Thus I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, so that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,’ the Lord GOD declares.”

Ezekiel 17

v1-6 “Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel, saying, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘A great eagle with great wings, long pinions and a full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar. He plucked off the topmost of its young twigs and brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a city of traders. He also took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside abundant waters; he set it like a willow. Then it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine with its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and yielded shoots and sent out branches.

v7-10 ‘But there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was planted, that he might water it. It was planted in good soil beside abundant waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine.’” Say, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers—so that all its sprouting leaves wither? And neither by great strength nor by many people can it be raised from its roots again. Behold, though it is planted, will it thrive? Will it not completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it—wither on the beds where it grew?’”’

v11-21 “Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Say now to the rebellious house, “Do you not know what these things mean?” Say, “Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and princes and brought them to him in Babylon. He took one of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, that the kingdom might be in subjection, not exalting itself, but keeping his covenant that it might continue. But he rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt that they might give him horses and many troops. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Can he indeed break the covenant and escape? As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “Surely in the country of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon he shall die. Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in the war, when they cast up ramps and build siege walls to cut off many lives. Now he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he pledged his allegiance, yet did all these things; he shall not escape.”’ Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘As I live, surely My oath which he despised and My covenant which he broke, I will inflict on his head. I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. Then I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act which he has committed against Me. All the choice men in all his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.’

v22-24 “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘I will also take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and set it out; I will pluck from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit and become a stately cedar. And birds of every kind will nest under it; they will nest in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will perform it.’”

August 31 OT/NT readings: Psalms 145-147, 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

Psalm 145, appears as 118th/150 Psalms, authored by David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146
Psalm 146, appears as 135th/150 Psalms, author unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
Psalm 147, appears as 136th/150 Psalms, author unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166

Yesterday we read Psalms 142-144:

a cry to the LORD, appears 14th, David, “when he was in the cave” (1 Samuel 21-24), Day 106
1. “Maskil of David, when he was [fn]in the cave. A Prayer.”: “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path….I cried out to You, O LORD.”
humble appeal to God, appears 116th, David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146
1. “A Psalm of David”: “in Your sight no man living is righteous….Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul. Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; I take refuge in You. Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”
how blessed are the people whose God is the LORD, appears 117th, David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146
1. “A Psalm of David”: “Blessed be the LORD, my rock…My lovingkindness and my fortress, My stronghold and my deliverer, My shield and He in whom I take refuge….How blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!”

In chapter 10, over the last two days, Paul gave an example of the need for discipline by reminding the Corinthians of the Israelites who were led by Moses and saw amazing miracles and still sinned, warning “let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” and reminding that the Lord has provided a way of escape from all temptation. In our reading yesterday, he taught that we flee idolatry in order not to provoke God to jealousy, to protect ourselves, and not to hurt the conscience of others. We seek the good of others, not pleasing ourselves, so that many may be saved.

1 Corinthians 11

v1 “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

v2-16 “Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering. But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.”

Dear Lord,

Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.

Oh, we don’t like this! But You have set up an authority structure. We are all in submission, ultimately to You. Even Your Son was in submission to You and He is our example. Help us to be humble and help us not to despise authority.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 242, August 30: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 10:03:18 GMT

In our reading two days ago, the LORD appeared again to Ezekiel in the sixth year of Jehoiachin’s exile. The Spirit brought him in visions of God to Jerusalem, where He showed him the people of Israel participating in abominations of idol worship in and around the temple. In yesterday’s reading, the Lord GOD commanded marks to be placed on the foreheads of those in Jerusalem who “sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” Then He told six executioners to go through the city without pity, starting from His sanctuary, but to spare “any man on who is the mark.” When Ezekiel asked if He was destroying the whole remnant of Israel, He answered that the “iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood and the city is full of perversion.” Ezekiel then saw a vision of the glory of the LORD departing from the temple, over the same cherubim he saw in his first vision, and hovering over them at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD’s house. The LORD had Ezekiel prophesy over 25 men at the east gate who “devise iniquity and give evil advice to this city,” and one dies. When Ezekiel asks if He would bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end, He explained He was a sanctuary for those who had been scattered, and that they would be gathered and given the land of Israel. They will remove its detestable things and abominations. “‘And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads,’ declares the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel was then returned by the Spirit to the exiles in Chaldea, and he told them what the LORD had shown him. Next, the LORD told Ezekiel to enact exactly what King Zedekiah would go through when he attempted to escape Jerusalem and was captured. We know from our recent reading in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Jeremiah about the end of the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel that this vision was fulfilled. The LORD told Ezekiel His word would no longer be delayed, but performed.

Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah), grandson of Josiah, king of Judah, surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon after only three months of reign after the death of his rebellious father Jehoiakim. He was taken to Babylon with ten thousand other captives. The LORD appeared to Ezekiel the priest, one of the exiles in the land of the Chaldeans, and appointed him to speak His word during the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile. The exiles did not believe the LORD would do as He said to Judah as a consequence for their sin of idol worship, and their false prophets were reassuring them that their exile would not be long. The LORD showed Ezekiel the upcoming siege of Jerusalem that occurred in the ninth year after Jehoiachin’s exile, under the reign of Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 30 chronological reading: Ezekiel 13-15

Ezekiel 13

v1-7 “Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, “Listen to the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing. O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins. You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the LORD. They see falsehood and lying divination who are saying, “The LORD declares,” when the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope for the fulfillment of their word. Did you not see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, “The LORD declares,” but it is not I who have spoken?’”’

v8-16 “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Because you have spoken falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold, I am against you,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, that you may know that I am the Lord GOD. It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, “Peace!” when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash; so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will break out. Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, “Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?”’ Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath. So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be consumed in its midst. And you will know that I am the LORD. Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, “The wall is gone and its plasterers are gone, along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,” declares the Lord GOD.

v17-19 ‘Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying from their own inspiration. Prophesy against them and say, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Woe to the women who sew magic bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature to hunt down lives! Will you hunt down the lives of My people, but preserve the lives of others for yourselves? For handfuls of barley and fragments of bread, you have profaned Me to My people to put to death some who should not die and to keep others alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.’”’

v20-23 “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt lives there as birds and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let them go, even those lives whom you hunt as birds. I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands to be hunted; and you will know that I am the LORD. Because you disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way and preserve his life, therefore, you women will no longer see false visions or practice divination, and I will deliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.’”

Ezekiel 14

v1-5 “Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by them at all? Therefore speak to them and tell them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will be brought to give him an answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols, in order to lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from Me through all their idols.’”

v6-8 ‘Therefore say to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations. For anyone of the house of Israel or of the immigrants who stay in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, I the LORD will be brought to answer him in My own person. I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am the LORD.

v9-11 ‘But if the prophet is prevailed upon to speak a word, it is I, the LORD, who have prevailed upon that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. They will bear the punishment of their iniquity; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be, in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be My people, and I shall be their God,’” declares the Lord GOD.’

v12-20 “Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts, though these three men were in its midst, as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate. Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, “Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,” even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered. Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it, even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.’

v21-23 “For thus says the Lord GOD, ‘How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it! Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come forth to you and you will see their conduct and actions; then you will be comforted for the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done in vain whatever I did to it,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

Ezekiel 15

v1-8 “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel? If it has been put into the fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred, is it then useful for anything? Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything! Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I set My face against them. Though they have come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them. Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,”’ declares the Lord GOD.”

August 30 OT/NT readings: Psalms 142-144, 1 Corinthians 10:14-33

Psalm 142, appears as 14th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after he spared Saul's life in the cave (1 Samuel 21-24), Day 106
Psalm 143, appears as 116th/150 Psalms, authored by David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146
Psalm 144, appears as 117th/150 Psalms, authored by David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146

Yesterday we read Psalms 139-141:

the intimacy of God, appears 115th, David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146
1. “For the choir director. A Psalm of David”: “O LORD, You have searched me and known me….Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?…Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You….You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well….Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them….When I awake, I am still with You. O that You would slay the wicked, O God….Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”
prayer for protection, appears 12th, David, after he spared Saul's life in the cave (1 Samuel 21-24), Day 106
1. “I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted And justice for the poor. Surely the righteous will give thanks to Your name; The upright will dwell in Your presence.”
prayer against temptation, appears 13th, David, after he spared Saul's life in the cave (1 Samuel 21-24), Day 106
1. “May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering….Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; It is oil upon the head; Do not let my head refuse it.”

In chapter 10 yesterday, Paul gave an example of the need for discipline by reminding the Corinthians of the Israelites who were led by Moses and saw amazing miracles and still sinned, warning “let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” and reminding that the Lord has provided a way of escape from all temptation.

1 Corinthians 10

v14-22 “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say. Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?

v23-30 “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S, AND ALL IT CONTAINS. If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake. But if anyone says to you, ‘This is meat sacrificed to idols,’ do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake; I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?

v31-33 “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.”

Dear Lord,

There is so much here!

flee from idolatry.

Help us to understand and heed this warning, especially as we are reading about Israel and Your punishment of them for their idolatry.

All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.

You have given us freedom in Your grace, but we can take part in things that are not profitable and not edifying for us. Give us discernment.

Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.

How we fail on this one in our culture! We are told to love ourselves, when You tell us to love others.

for conscience’ sake; I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s….I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.

Help us not to participate in things that harm the conscience and stumble the faith of others, while we justify our freedom to do so.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 241, August 29: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 10:02:48 GMT

Ezekiel the priest wrote as an exile in the land of the Chaldeans during the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah), grandson of Josiah, surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon after only three months of reign after the death of his rebellious father Jehoiakim. He was taken to Babylon with ten thousand other captives. Ezekiel began to speak the word of the LORD during the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile. Nebuchadnezzar had replaced Jehoiachin with his uncle Mattaniah, renaming him Zedekiah. Zedekiah eventually rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, like his brother Jehoiakim, had done. This led to the siege and fall of Jerusalem, about which Ezekiel prophesied. The siege of Jerusalem began in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s. reign, so Ezekiel started prophesying about this event (see Ezekiel 4, Day 239) four years before it occurred. Remember that after Jehoiachin was exiled, the LORD told Jeremiah to write the exiles a letter, telling them to build houses, plant gardens, and have families, seeking the welfare of the city where they had been sent, and that He would bring them back in seventy years (see Jeremiah 29, Day 226—this occurred and we read Psalm 137, written after the return from exile, yesterday in the Old Testament plan).

Yesterday, the Lord told Ezekiel to cut his hair and beard with a sharp sword and divide the hair into thirds by weight, and demonstrate with actions with his hair that one third in Jerusalem will die by plague or famine, one third will fall by the sword, and one third will be scattered, with the Lord unsheathing a sword behind them. The Lord then told Ezekiel to prophesy against Israel that He is going to destroy her high places, altars, idols, and incense altars, laying the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols. He declared an end to the land of Israel. His ornaments will be given into the hands of foreigners and they will profane it. Robbers will enter His secret place and profane it. They “will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders. The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror.”

In the sixth year of Jehoiachin’s exile, as Ezekiel was sitting in his house with the elders of Judah, the hand of the Lord GOD fell on him and he saw His appearance. He stretched out a hand and caught him by a lock of his head, and the Spirit lifted him up between earth and heaven and brought him in the visions of God to Jerusalem, where He showed him the people participating in abominations of idol worship in and around the temple, justifying His distance from His sanctuary and His dealing with them in wrath with no pity.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 29 chronological reading: Ezekiel 9-12

Ezekiel 9

v1-2 “Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, ‘Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.’ Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was a certain man clothed in linen with a writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

v3-8 “Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. The LORD said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.’ But to the others He said in my hearing, ‘Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary.’ So they started with the elders who were before the temple. And He said to them, ‘Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!’ Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city. As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I fell on my face and cried out saying, ‘Alas, Lord GOD! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?’

v9-10 “Then He said to me, ‘The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood and the city is full of perversion; for they say, “The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!” But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I will bring their conduct upon their heads.’

v11 “Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case reported, saying, ‘I have done just as You have commanded me.’”

Ezekiel 10

v1-2 “Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them. And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, ‘Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.’ And he entered in my sight.

v3-5 “Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD. Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.

v6-8 “It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, ‘Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,’ he entered and stood beside a wheel. Then the cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out. The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

v9-14 “Then I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a Tarshish stone. As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel. When they moved, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which they faced, without turning as they went. Their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them. The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. And each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

v15-17 “Then the cherubim rose up. They are the living beings that I saw by the river Chebar. Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them. When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.

v18-19 “Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD’S house, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.

v20-22 “These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim. Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands. As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.”

Ezekiel 11

v1-4 “Moreover, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the LORD’S house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. He said to me, ‘Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give evil advice in this city, who say, “The time is not near to build houses. This city is the pot and we are the flesh.” Therefore, prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!’

v5-12 “Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and He said to me, ‘Say, “Thus says the LORD, ‘So you think, house of Israel, for I know your thoughts. You have multiplied your slain in this city, filling its streets with them.’ Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of the city are the flesh and this city is the pot; but I will bring you out of it. You have feared a sword; so I will bring a sword upon you,’ the Lord GOD declares. ‘And I will bring you out of the midst of the city and deliver you into the hands of strangers and execute judgments against you. You will fall by the sword. I will judge you to the border of Israel; so you shall know that I am the LORD. This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be flesh in the midst of it, but I will judge you to the border of Israel. Thus you will know that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you executed My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.’”’

v13 “Now it came about as I prophesied, that Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Alas, Lord GOD! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?’

v14-21 “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, your fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, “Go far from the LORD; this land has been given us as a possession.” Therefore say, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Though I had removed them far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.’” Therefore say, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’” When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it. And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads,’ declares the Lord GOD.

v22-25 “Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen left me. Then I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.”

Ezekiel 12

v1-6 “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go into exile by day in their sight; even go into exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand though they are a rebellious house. Bring your baggage out by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. Then you will go out at evening in their sight, as those going into exile. Dig a hole through the wall in their sight and go out through it. Load the baggage on your shoulder in their sight and carry it out in the dark. You shall cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have set you as a sign to the house of Israel.’

v7 “I did so, as I had been commanded. By day I brought out my baggage like the baggage of an exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands; I went out in the dark and carried the baggage on my shoulder in their sight.

v8-16 “In the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, “What are you doing?” Say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are in it.’” Say, “I am a sign to you. As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.” The prince who is among them will load his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out. He will cover his face so that he can not see the land with his eyes. I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, though he will die there. I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will draw out a sword after them. So they will know that I am the LORD when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries. But I will spare a few of them from the sword, the famine and the pestilence that they may tell all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the LORD.’

v17-20 “Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, eat your bread with trembling and drink your water with quivering and anxiety. Then say to the people of the land, “Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, ‘They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because their land will be stripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who live in it. The inhabited cities will be laid waste and the land will be a desolation. So you will know that I am the LORD.’”’

v21-25 “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, what is this proverb you people have concerning the land of Israel, saying, “The days are long and every vision fails”? Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘I will make this proverb cease so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But tell them, ‘The days draw near as well as the fulfillment of every vision. For there will no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I the LORD will speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,’ declares the Lord GOD.”’

v26-28 “Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, “The vision that he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies of times far off.” Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘None of My words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be performed,’”’ declares the Lord GOD.”

August 29 OT/NT readings: Psalms 139-141, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Psalm 139, appears as 115th/150 Psalms, authored by David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146
Psalm 140, appears as 12th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after he spared Saul's life in the cave (1 Samuel 21-24), Day 106
Psalm 141, appears as 13th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after he spared Saul's life in the cave (1 Samuel 21-24), Day 106

Yesterday we read Psalms 136-138:

give thanks to the LORD, appears 133rd, unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon (2 Chronicles 6-7), Day 165
1. “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For His lovingkindness is everlasting….Give thanks to the God of heaven, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
memories of exile and desire for justice upon enemies, appears 149th, returned exile, after the return from the exile to Babylon (Ezra 4-6), Day 262
1. “By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion.”
the LORD will deliver, appears 114th, David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146
1. “A Psalm of David”: “On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul….though the LORD is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. The LORD will accomplish what concerns me”

In chapter 9 yesterday, it seemed as though Paul was answering criticisms about himself. He made clear that he, like others, had freedom in Christ. He also explained he had the right, for instance, to be paid for his service as a minister of the gospel. He never exercised this right, however, because he was under compulsion to preach the gospel. He was willing to be all things to all men so that he might save some. He was willing to discipline himself for the sake of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 10

v1-5 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.

v6-13 “Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, ‘THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.’ Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

Dear Lord,

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

I believe this is the teaching we distort to claim You won’t give us anything more than we can handle. You will not give us a temptation that is beyond our ability to handle without the way of escape that You provide. I think You give us lots of things we couldn’t handle without You, and these often motivate us to cry out to You. Thank You that we can trust that we are empowered by Your Holy Spirit to endure all circumstances.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Levels of Bible Reading”

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 20:35:16 GMT

I love King Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes: “"The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd” (Ecclesiastes 12:11). All of Scripture is held together by the one voice of our Shepherd. We hear Him from beginning to end. The beginning predicts the end, and the end calls to mind the beginning. Scripture links with Scripture. Scripture interprets Scripture.

I have been reflecting on this as I have been reflecting on a 24 minute video on “seven levels of Bible reading” that a friend sent me (I previously summarized concepts in the video here). I found the idea of them thought-provoking, convicting, inspiring, and obviously worthy of sharing (and writing about again). I was personally convicted by the possible pitfalls inherent in most levels, especially if we are not inspired to deeper study. But as I’ve thought about them, I’ve realized all are likely necessary as we aspire to deeper study of the Word and, most importantly, deeper intimacy with its Author, our Savior and Shepherd.

As the creator of the video says, each level “requires a decision to move….a quiet daily ordinary decision to go deeper than is comfortable, to slow down when speed is easier, to obey when conviction is enough, to stay when distance would be simpler….Not a technique, not a reading method, not a better plan, an honest cry from someone who knows the words and is asking the God who wrote them to open what they cannot open themselves.” The Bible is “not just a book you read. It’s a Person you meet….The question isn’t which level you’re at. The question is whether you’re willing to go deeper than where you are.”

The Crisis Reader: The crisis reader opens the Bible “when life breaks.” The necessity of this level, to me, is that we open the Bible at all. But may this level inspire us to deeper study, to become acquainted with Him and His Word “before the desperation arrives.”
The Devotional Reader: The crisis reader is hopefully eventually inspired to become the habitual reader. I obviously absolutely advocate for the necessity of daily Bible reading. But what are we reading? If we are reading devotionals, are we reading more about Scripture than Scripture? And are replacing someone else’s encounter with the Lord with our own? It’s possible, at this level, to have “perfect attendance and walk away from the text every single morning almost entirely unchanged.”
The Formational Reader: The formational reader has “been through Bible studies, read the commentaries, listened to the podcasts, watched the deep dive videos.” As I consider the Bible our “text book,” it’s necessary that we know it well. The pitfall at this level is that it can become academic and fail to convict. If the Word calls us not to gossip, do we still gossip? If it calls us to forgive, and to love God and others (and not just ourselves), do we do it? If it says we can be new creatures in Him and we can do all things through His strength, do we believe it? The pitfall at this level is often socially reinforced: “when everyone around you lives in the same distance between knowledge and practice, the gap stops registering as a problem.”
The Observational Reader: “The devotional reading culture gave you someone else’s conclusion. The formational reading culture gave you context and background.” Observational reading means we slow down, observe, and reflect, verse by verse, on what the text actually says, rather than what we expect it to say. The Holy Spirit can teach and convict at any level, but this level seems to consciously invite Him to do so.
The Interpretive Reader: Interpretive reading looks for context. “Who wrote this? To whom? In what situation? What problem were they addressing? What did these words mean in the world where they were first spoken or written?…A text without a context is a pretext, meaning, a text lifted out of its original setting and dropped into your personal situation can be made to say almost anything.” When you understand context, the text “stops being a collection of inspiring quotes.” It allows you to “see the principle underneath the instruction” and “the principle properly understood lands in your life with a precision that a misread verse never could.”
The Applicational Reader: This “is the level where the Bible stops being a purely intellectual exercise and starts being a personal confrontation….You open the Bible knowing…that it might ask something of you before you close it, and you open it anyway, not because you always want to, but because you’ve decided that what the text requires matters more than your comfort in any given moment….The verse that used to be interesting becomes unavoidable, not because the text changed, but because you stopped negotiating with it.”
The Transformational Reader: For the person at this level, the “word is no longer something they go to. It’s something they think from, something they grieve from and hope from and make decisions from, not because they’re consciously referencing a verse, but because the text has become the air they breathe.” Colossians 3:16 starts, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.” In John 15:4, Jesus tells us to abide in Him, and in John 15:7, He talks about His word abiding in us. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). “You don’t have to remind a branch to stay connected to the vine. It’s what the branch is. And the fruit is not produced by the branch trying harder. It’s produced by the life flowing through the connection.” A person at this level “has been so shaped by sustained costly surrendered engagement with the text that the fruit appears without being manufactured….You stop reading for what you can get from the text, and the text starts producing things in you that you couldn’t have manufactured by trying.” This level is “the ongoing invitation…for the word to take up residence in your life, not to be consulted from the outside, to dwell on the inside, to become the lens through which everything else is seen. This isn’t mastery. No one masters this. The level seven reader is not the person who finally figured out the Bible. They’re the person who finally stopped trying to stay in control of what the Bible does to them. They surrendered the reading. And in surrendering, they found it.”

As I reflect I these levels, I realize I’ve utilized all of them, and still need to. I once only reached the for the Word in crisis, but still need to. I finally once started to read it daily, but still need to. I finally once resolved to read it in its entirety, but still need to, yearly. I finally once resolved to not just read it as an informational or academic exercise, but observe what it was saying, looking for what I had never seen or heard before. I still need to. I finally once resolved to put it all into context. Reading it chronologically helped immensely. Studying context and how it all fits together has become a delight. This exercise will never end as I seek to mine its treasures. But I finally once decided to go deeper in study, and I still need to. I finally once asked what all this reading meant to me and how I lived my life. I still need to. And, I finally once realized I wanted to know Who wrote this love letter to me. I still need to.

As a simple summary, as I study and teach the Bible, it’s worth reflecting:

Do I know I can go to the Word in crisis?
Do I go to it daily?
Do I have a plan to read it all?
Am I willing to observe what the text says, despite what I think it says?
Have I examined and sought to understand context?
Have I sought to apply its principles to my life?
Have I invited the Word of God to transform me?

Day 240, August 28: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:04:14 GMT

We started Ezekiel yesterday. Ezekiel the priest actually wrote as an exile in the land of the Chaldeans during the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah), grandson of Josiah, had surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon after only three months of reign after the death of his rebellious father Jehoiakim. He was taken to Babylon with ten thousand other captives. Ezekiel began to speak the word of the LORD during the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile.

Yesterday we read about Ezekiel first seeing the glory of the Lord, and falling on his face. The Lord told him He was sending him to speak His word to the rebellious sons of Israel. He had him eat a scroll that was sweet as honey. The Spirit then took him to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar, where he sat for seven days, causing consternation, until the the word of the LORD came to him that he had been appointed a watchman to the house of Israel. He was to speak the word of the LORD whether they listened or not, but would not be accountable for the outcome if he was faithful. He was then told to go out to the plain, where he again saw the glory of the LORD, and fell on his face. The Spirit entered him, made him stand on his feet, and told him to shut himself up in his house. He was to build a model of the upcoming siege of Jerusalem. The Lord told him to lie down in his house on his left side, bearing the iniquity of Israel for the number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, 390 days. Then he told him to lie on his right side, bearing the iniquity of Judah for the number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, 40 days.

Remember that the first king of Israel, Jeroboam, established idol worship in Bethel and Dan, and none of the kings of Israel ever departed from that sin, and Israel was exiled to Assyria during the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah. But Jeremiah shared the word of the LORD during the reign of Hezekiah’s great-grandson Josiah that Israel’s “treacherous sister Judah saw” all of Israel’s sin of idol worship and that “‘for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also….Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,’ declares the LORD. And the LORD said to me, ‘Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah” (see Jeremiah 3, Day 219).

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 28 chronological reading: Ezekiel 5-8

Ezekiel 5

v1-4 “‘As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword; take and use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take scales for weighing and divide the hair. One third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take one third and strike it with the sword all around the city, and one third you shall scatter to the wind; and I will unsheathe a sword behind them. Take also a few in number from them and bind them in the edges of your robes. Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.

v5-12 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her. But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations and against My statutes more than the lands which surround her; for they have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.” Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor observed My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’” therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations, I will do among you what I have not done, and the like of which I will never do again. Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind. So as I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also withdraw, and My eye will have no pity and I will not spare. One third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them.

v13-17 “Thus My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be appeased; then they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them. Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations which surround you, in the sight of all who pass by. So it will be a reproach, a reviling, a warning and an object of horror to the nations who surround you when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath and raging rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken. When I send against them the deadly arrows of famine which were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break the staff of bread. Moreover, I will send on you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the LORD, have spoken.”’”

Ezekiel 6

v1-7 “And the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them and say, “Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: ‘Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. So your altars will become desolate and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars. In all your dwellings, cities will become waste and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and desolate, your idols may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out. The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

v8-10 ‘However, I will leave a remnant, for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. Then they will know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.’

v11-14 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Clap your hand, stamp your foot and say, ‘Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by sword, famine and plague! He who is far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I spend My wrath on them. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the places where they offered soothing aroma to all their idols. So throughout all their habitations I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; thus they will know that I am the LORD.’”’”

Ezekiel 7

v1-4 “Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘And you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel, “An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know that I am the LORD!”

v5-9 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “A disaster, unique disaster, behold it is coming! An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it has come! Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come, the day is near—tumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. Now I will shortly pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you; judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. My eye will show no pity nor will I spare. I will repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the LORD, do the smiting.

v10-13 “Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed. Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their people, none of their wealth, nor anything eminent among them. The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for wrath is against all their multitude. Indeed, the seller will not regain what he sold as long as they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his iniquity.

v14-19 “They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude. The sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city. Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity. All hands will hang limp and all knees will become like water. They will gird themselves with sackcloth and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads. They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.

v20-22 “They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. I will give it into the hands of the foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it. I will also turn My face from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it.

v23-27 “Make the chain, for the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. Therefore, I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will possess their houses. I will also make the pride of the strong ones cease, and their holy places will be profaned. When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none. Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders. The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the LORD.”’”

Ezekiel 8

v1-4 “It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell on me there. Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a man; from His loins and downward there was the appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal. He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.

v5-6 “Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, raise your eyes now toward the north.’ So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance. And He said to me, ‘Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.’

v7-13 “Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. He said to me, ‘Son of man, now dig through the wall.’ So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. And He said to me, ‘Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.’ So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, “The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.”’ And He said to me, ‘Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.’

v14-15 “Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. He said to me, ‘Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.’

v16-18 “Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. He said to me, ‘Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.’”

August 28 OT/NT readings: Psalms 136-138, 1 Corinthians 9

We are reading Psalms in the Old Testament reading plan. In this document, I list the Psalms in order of appearance, followed by author (if known), context of the Psalm’s writing (description of context that appear in the Biblical text before some Psalms are quoted), and the Old Testament reading it appears after. Here is that information for today’s Psalms (one of the Psalms we read today we have not read yet in the Chronological Plan because it was written after the return from exile—interesting timing while we’re reading about Ezekiel’s speaking the word of the LORD to the exiles in Babylon):

Psalm 136, appears as 133rd/150 Psalms, author unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon (2 Chronicles 6-7), Day 165
Psalm 137, appears as 149th/150 Psalms, authored by returned exile, after the return from the exile to Babylon (Ezra 4-6), Day 262
Psalm 138, appears as 114th/150 Psalms, authored by David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146

Yesterday we read Psalms 132-135, finishing the “Songs of Ascent” (Psalms 120-134):

covenant, appears 68th, David, after David brought the ark to Jerusalem; “A Song of Ascents” (2 Samuel 5:11-6, 1 Chronicles 13-16), Day 125
1. “A Song of Ascents”: “Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your godly ones sing for joy. For the sake of David Your servant, Do not turn away the face of Your anointed. The LORD has sworn to David A truth from which He will not turn back: ‘Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne. If your sons will keep My covenant And My testimony which I will teach them, Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forever.’ For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. ‘This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her needy with bread. Her priests also I will clothe with salvation, And her godly ones will sing aloud for joy. There I will cause the horn of David to spring forth; I have prepared a lamp for Mine anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame, But upon himself his crown shall shine.’”
unity, appears 52nd, David, after he was made king over all Israel; "A Song of Ascents" (2 Samuel 5:1-10, 1 Chronicles 11-12), Day 122
1. “A Song of Ascents, of David”: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
  For brothers to dwell together in unity!”
bless the LORD, appears 134th, unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
1. “A Song of Ascents”: “bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD”
the greatness of God, appears 146th, sons of Korah, after Israel was exiled to Assyria but God saved Hezekiah and the kingdom of Judah from Assyria (2 Kings 18-19), Day 209
1. “Whatever the LORD pleases, He does….the LORD will judge His people And will have compassion on His servants. The idols of the nations are but silver and gold, The work of man’s hands….Those who make them will be like them, Yes, everyone who trusts in them.”

In chapter 7, Paul addressed questions about marriage. Paul preferred that followers of Christ remain unmarried so they can focus on devotion to Him, but says it is better to marry than to burn with immorality. He clarified his opinions versus the Lord’s command. The Lord’s command is that “the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.” A spouse being an unbeliever is not a reason to leave them, but one can allow a unbelieving spouse to leave if they wish. Staying with an unbelieving spouse may be the means by which they are saved. Paul went on to broaden the idea that everyone should remain in the manner in which they were called to faith: circumcised, uncircumcised, married, single, slave, free. He said we are slaves of Christ, bought with a price by Him, and we should not become enslaved to men. He cautioned that we should all live as if our time is short. Being unmarried allows one to have undistracted devotion to the Lord, but both the single and the widowed are free to marry in the Lord.

In chapter 8, yesterday, Paul addressed idol worship, which was very relevant to the culture of the Corinthians. He acknowledged there is no God but one. Therefore, idols are not really gods. He cautioned that we handle this knowledge in love. Not all men have this knowledge. Some could have their conscience hurt if they saw Christians eating food sacrificed to idols. Our freedom can hurt the conscience of others. We can more broadly apply this by being careful not to encourage others to participate in something that to their conscience is a sin.

1 Corinthians 9

v1-2 “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

v3-7 “My defense to those who examine me is this: Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?

v8-14 “I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things? For it is written in the Law of Moses, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING.’ God is not concerned about oxen, is He? Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.

v15-18 “But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

v19-23 “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

v24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

Dear Lord,

though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.

I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

We are free in Your grace, but help us to answer Your call to love You and love others. Help us to embrace spiritual discipline and give us the desire to win souls for eternity.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 239, August 27: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 10:03:31 GMT

I keep saying that we have finished the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel, having finished 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah, and Jeremiah’s Lamentations. Today we start Ezekiel, however. Ezekiel the priest actually wrote as an exile in the land of the Chaldeans during the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. I would characterize Ezekiel as writing during the period of the exile, but the exile began while kings still reigned in Judah.

Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah), grandson of Josiah, actually surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon after only three months of reign after the death of his rebellious father Jehoiakim. He was taken to Babylon with ten thousand other captives. Ezekiel began to speak the word of the LORD during the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile. Nebuchadnezzar replaced Jehoiachin with his uncle Mattaniah, renaming him Zedekiah. Zedekiah eventually rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, like his brother Jehoiakim, had done. This led to the siege and fall of Jerusalem, about which Ezekiel prophesied, and the end of the reign of the kings of Judah, about which we just read about in the end of 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Jeremiah.

Jeremiah recorded his Lamentations after the devastation of Jerusalem and the exile of Judah, and his own experience of these events. They have specific relevance to these events and the LORD’s people Israel, but they are also helpful for all of us in understanding the sovereignty of God over both good and evil, the holiness of God that must punish sin, and the mercy of God to punish us on earth so that we might repent and return to Him rather than be separated from Him for eternity.

Jeremiah acknowledged the LORD caused these events because of the sin of Judah. The LORD warned, but prophets shared false visions, not exposing iniquity, so the LORD acted according to His word. Jeremiah lamented that Israel’s enemies rejoiced over her fall. He lamented his own affliction. He awaited the day when enemies will face justice as well. He remembered the compassion and lovingkindness of the LORD for those who fear Him, and said it was good to consider His reproach and wait for His salvation.

In our reading in Lamentations yesterday, Jeremiah acknowledged the LORD’s sovereignty over all events, both good and ill, and that no mortal should complain in light of their sin. He called for us to examine our ways and return to the LORD. He is faithful to redeem our lives when we draw near. He warned that Israel’s enemies will face the same just fate. He acknowledged the sins of the fathers of Israel and the sins of the people of Israel. He begged for the restoration of Israel, unless the LORD had utterly rejected and was exceedingly angry, demonstrating his submission to the will and sovereignty of the LORD. There is always hope for redemption for those who repent, whether the LORD restores fortune or not.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 27 chronological reading: Ezekiel 1-4

Ezekiel 1

v1-3 “Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. (On the fifth of the month in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there the hand of the LORD came upon him.)

v4-14 “As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire. Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form. Each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward. As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies. And each went straightforward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went. In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches darting back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing from the fire. And the living beings ran to and fro like bolts of lightning.

v15-21 “Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings, for each of the four of them. The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like sparkling beryl, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if one wheel were within another. Whenever they moved, they moved in any of their four directions without turning as they moved. As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes round about. Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

v22-25 “Now over the heads of the living beings there was something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads. Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other. I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of abundant waters as they went, like the voice of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. And there came a voice from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.

v26-28 “Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.”

Ezekiel 2

v1-7 “Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!’ As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD.” As for them, whether they listen or not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.

v8-10 ‘Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.’ Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it. When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe.”

Ezekiel 3

v1-3 “Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.’ So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. He said to me, ‘Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.’ Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.

v4-11 “Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language, but to the house of Israel, nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate. Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.’ Moreover, He said to me, ‘Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely. Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not, “Thus says the Lord GOD.”’

v12-15 “Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, ‘Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place.’ And I heard the sound of the wings of the living beings touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, even a great rumbling sound. So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong on me. Then I came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.

v16-21 “At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. When I say to the wicked, “You will surely die,” and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.’

v22-27 “The hand of the LORD was on me there, and He said to me, ‘Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.’ So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. The Spirit then entered me and made me stand on my feet, and He spoke with me and said to me, ‘Go, shut yourself up in your house. As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. Moreover, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be mute and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you will say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD.” He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.’”

Ezekiel 4

v1-3 “‘Now you son of man, get yourself a brick, place it before you and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem. Then lay siege against it, build a siege wall, raise up a ramp, pitch camps and place battering rams against it all around. Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a sign to the house of Israel.

v4-8 ‘As for you, lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; you shall bear their iniquity for the number of days that you lie on it. For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, three hundred and ninety days; thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year. Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. Now behold, I will put ropes on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.

v9-17 ‘But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt, put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; you shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days. Your food which you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; you shall eat it from time to time. The water you drink shall be the sixth part of a hin by measure; you shall drink it from time to time. You shall eat it as a barley cake, having baked it in their sight over human dung.’ Then the LORD said, ‘Thus will the sons of Israel eat their bread unclean among the nations where I will banish them.’ But I said, ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth.’ Then He said to me, ‘See, I will give you cow’s dung in place of human dung over which you will prepare your bread.’ Moreover, He said to me, ‘Son of man, behold, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and in horror, because bread and water will be scarce; and they will be appalled with one another and waste away in their iniquity.’”

August 27 OT/NT readings: Psalms 132-135, 1 Corinthians 8

Psalm 132, appears as 68th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after David brought the ark to Jerusalem; "A Song of Ascents" (2 Samuel 5:11-6, 1 Chronicles 13-16), Day 125
Psalm 133, appears as 52nd/150 Psalms, authored by David, after he was made king over all Israel; "A Song of Ascents" (2 Samuel 5:1-10, 1 Chronicles 11-12), Day 122
Psalm 134, appears as 134th/150 Psalms, author unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
Psalm 135, appears as 146th/150 Psalms, authored by sons of Korah, after Israel was exiled to Assyria but God saved Hezekiah and the kingdom of Judah from Assyria (2 Kings 18-19), Day 209

Yesterday we read Psalms 128-131, more of the “Songs of Ascent”:

those who fear the LORD are blessed, appears 24th, David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
1. “A Song of Ascents.”: “How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways.”
persecutors do not prevail against the LORD, appears 25th, David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
1. “A Song of Ascents.”: “‘Many times they have persecuted me from my youth up;
  Yet they have not prevailed against me’….The LORD is righteous.”
the LORD forgives those who hope in Him, appears 26th, David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
1. “A Song of Ascents.”: “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.”
childlike trust in the LORD, appears 113th, David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign; "A Song of Ascents" (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146
1. “A Song of Ascents, of David”: “O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul….hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever.”

Paul wrote the church in Corinth because he knew there was both division and immorality in the church. He addressed that in the first six chapters, appealing both to humility and the primacy of Jesus Christ. The Corinthians were divided in allegiances to either Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Christ. Paul implied that these allegiances were because the Corinthians perceived they would make them look wise to the world. Paul clarified, however, that our faith is foolishness to the world. We will never appear wise to the world while still followers of a faith that is foolish to them. Paul admonished, “If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.” Allegiances to men turn our focus from Jesus Christ: “no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Paul explained further, “neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth….we are God’s fellow workers.” In comparing or criticizing servants of the LORD, Paul warned, “do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.” After this, Paul disclosed that he knew there was immorality in the church. In putting their focus on men and their appearance to the world, Paul noted, “You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.” God judges those outside the church, but we are to judge the sinful behavior of those within the church who claim to follow Christ. Such individuals who are arrogant and do not repent should be removed from fellowship. Paul shared his willingness to turn such people over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh so their souls can be saved for eternity. Finally, Paul addressed the fact that the Corinthians had lawsuits against one another. He accused these men who thought they were wise, saying, “Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?…it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.” He concluded his commentary on the immorality in the church saying, “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

In the seventh chapter, he turned to answering questions that the Corinthians had written to him. Over the last two days, we’ve read his thoughts in this chapter on marriage. Paul preferred that followers of Christ remain unmarried so they can focus on devotion to Him, but also said it is better to marry than to burn with immorality. He clarified his opinions versus the Lord’s command. The Lord’s command is that “the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.” A spouse being an unbeliever is not a reason to leave them, but one can allow a unbelieving spouse to leave if they wish. Staying with an unbelieving spouse may be the means by which they are saved. Paul went on to broaden the idea that everyone should remain in the manner in which they were called to faith: circumcised, uncircumcised, married, single, slave, free. He said we are slaves of Christ, bought with a price by Him, and we should not become enslaved to men. In our reading yesterday, he cautioned that we should all live as if our time is short. Being unmarried allows one to have undistracted devotion to the Lord, but both the single and the widowed are free to marry in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 8

v1-3 “Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

v4-6 “Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

v7-13 “However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.”

Dear Lord,

if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

Oh, how we long to be known, and how easily we can be. Teach us to love You.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 238, August 26: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 10:03:20 GMT

The era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel in our chronological reading plan started on Day 174, with 1 Kings 12-14, and Day 175, with 2 Chronicles 10-12. It continued through to the end of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and included the prophecies of Obadiah, Jonah, Isaiah (who spoke during the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah), Amos, Micah, Hosea, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Jeremiah (who spoke starting during the reign of Josiah until after Judah was exiled to Babylon, Jerusalem was destroyed, and a disobedient remnant went to Egypt), and Habakkuk. The book of Jeremiah contains both prophecy and narrative, so we learned about a lot of the events of this era from this book. After the conclusion of these events, we started reading Jeremiah’s Lamentations yesterday, and we finish them today.

Jeremiah laments after the devastation of Jerusalem and the exile of Judah, and his own experience of these events. His lamentations have specific relevance to these events and the LORD’s people Israel, but they are also helpful for all of us in understanding the sovereignty of God over both good and evil, the holiness of God that must punish sin, and the mercy of God to punish us on earth so that we might repent and return to Him rather than be separated from Him for eternity.

Yesterday, Jeremiah acknowledged the LORD caused these events because of the sin of Judah. The LORD warned, but false prophets shared false visions, not exposing iniquity, so the LORD acted according to His word. Jeremiah lamented that Israel’s enemies rejoiced over her fall. He lamented his own affliction. He awaited the day when enemies will face justice as well. He remembered the compassion and lovingkindness of the LORD for those who fear Him. He said it is good to consider His reproach and wait for His salvation.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 26 chronological reading: Lamentations 3:37-5:22

v37-51 “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both good and ill go forth?
Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?
Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD.
We lift up our heart and hands
Toward God in heaven;
We have transgressed and rebelled,
You have not pardoned.
You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and have not spared.
You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.
You have made us mere offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
My eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
My eyes pour down unceasingly,
Without stopping,
Until the LORD looks down
And sees from heaven.
My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.

v52-66 “My enemies without cause
Hunted me down like a bird;
They have silenced me in the pit
And have placed a stone on me.
Waters flowed over my head;
I said, ‘I am cut off!’
I called on Your name, O LORD,
Out of the lowest pit.
You have heard my voice,
‘Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help.’
You drew near when I called on You;
You said, ‘Do not fear!’
O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause;
You have redeemed my life.
O LORD, You have seen my oppression;
Judge my case.
You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me.
You have heard their reproach, O LORD,
All their schemes against me.
The lips of my assailants and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
Look on their sitting and their rising;
I am their mocking song.
You will recompense them, O LORD,
According to the work of their hands.
You will give them hardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the heavens of the LORD!”

Lamentations 4

v1-22 “How dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are poured out
At the corner of every street.
The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against fine gold,
How they are regarded as earthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
Even jackals offer the breast,
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become cruel
Like ostriches in the wilderness.
The tongue of the infant cleaves
To the roof of its mouth because of thirst;
The little ones ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
Those who ate delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those reared in purple
Embrace ash pits.
For the iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the sin of Sodom,
Which was overthrown as in a moment,
And no hands were turned toward her.
Her consecrated ones were purer than snow,
They were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in body than corals,
Their polishing was like lapis lazuli.
Their appearance is blacker than soot,
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their skin is shriveled on their bones,
It is withered, it has become like wood.
Better are those slain with the sword
Than those slain with hunger;
For they pine away, being stricken
For lack of the fruits of the field.
The hands of compassionate women
Boiled their own children;
They became food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The LORD has accomplished His wrath,
He has poured out His fierce anger;
And He has kindled a fire in Zion
Which has consumed its foundations.
The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
Because of the sins of her prophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The blood of the righteous;
They wandered, blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with blood
So that no one could touch their garments.
‘Depart! Unclean!’ they cried of themselves.
‘Depart, depart, do not touch!’
So they fled and wandered;
Men among the nations said,
‘They shall not continue to dwell with us.’
The presence of the LORD has scattered them,
He will not continue to regard them;
They did not honor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
Yet our eyes failed,
Looking for help was useless;
In our watching we have watched
For a nation that could not save.
They hunted our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets;
Our end drew near,
Our days were finished
For our end had come.
Our pursuers were swifter
Than the eagles of the sky;
They chased us on the mountains,
They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
The breath of our nostrils, the LORD’S anointed,
Was captured in their pits,
Of whom we had said, ‘Under his shadow
We shall live among the nations.’
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
Who dwells in the land of Uz;
But the cup will come around to you as well,
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.
The punishment of your iniquity has been completed, O daughter of Zion;
He will exile you no longer.
But He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom;
He will expose your sins!”

Lamentations 5

v1-22 “Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us;
Look, and see our reproach!
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
Our houses to aliens.
We have become orphans without a father,
Our mothers are like widows.
We have to pay for our drinking water,
Our wood comes to us at a price.
Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out, there is no rest for us.
We have submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
It is we who have borne their iniquities.
Slaves rule over us;
There is no one to deliver us from their hand.
We get our bread at the risk of our lives
Because of the sword in the wilderness.
Our skin has become as hot as an oven,
Because of the burning heat of famine.
They ravished the women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
Princes were hung by their hands;
Elders were not respected.
Young men worked at the grinding mill,
And youths stumbled under loads of wood.
Elders are gone from the gate,
Young men from their music.
The joy of our hearts has ceased;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.
The crown has fallen from our head;
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
Because of this our heart is faint,
Because of these things our eyes are dim;
Because of Mount Zion which lies desolate,
Foxes prowl in it.
You, O LORD, rule forever;
Your throne is from generation to generation.
Why do You forget us forever?
Why do You forsake us so long?
Restore us to You, O LORD, that we may be restored;
Renew our days as of old,
Unless You have utterly rejected us
And are exceedingly angry with us.”

August 26 OT/NT readings: Psalms 128-131, 1 Corinthians 7:25-40

Psalm 128, appears as 24th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
Psalm 129, appears as 25th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
Psalm 130, appears as 26th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
Psalm 131, appears as 113th/150 Psalms, authored by David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign; "A Song of Ascents" (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146

I am editing this document as we go along, noting excerpts for each of the Psalms in numerical order in the second half of the document. Yesterday we read Psalms 124-127, more of the “Songs of Ascent”:

our help is in the name of the LORD, appears 22nd, David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
1. “A Song of Ascents, of David.”: “Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.”
the LORD surrounds His people, appears 23rd, David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
1. “A Song of Ascents.”: “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.”
tears turned to rejoicing, appears 150th, unknown author, after rebuilding of walls of Jerusalem after exile; "A Song of Ascents" (Nehemiah 11-13), Day 272
1. “A Song of Ascents.”: “The LORD has done great things for us; We are glad….Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”
all is vanity without the LORD in it, appears 119th, Solomon, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 147
1. “A Song of Ascents, of Solomon”: “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep. Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.”

Paul opened his letter, in 1 Corinthians 1, addressing divisions in the church of Corinth, because different people were claiming allegiances to Paul or Apollos or Cephas or Christ. He exhorted them against division, asking, “Has Christ been divided?” He reminded them of the message of the cross, which is foolishness to the world, but the power of God for those being saved. In chapter 2, Paul shared his determination to share nothing with the Corinthians but “Jesus Christ and Him crucified,” so their belief would not be based on his persuasive words but on the Holy Spirit and His power. Though the message is simple, it speaks wisdom to the mature, as revealed by the Spirit of God, which knows the thoughts of God. The natural man does not accept and cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually appraised, but “we have the mind of Christ.” In chapter 3, Paul asked the believers in Corinth to consider whether the divisions and strife in the church of Corinth demonstrated they were still fleshly and not mature in Christ. We are all laborers but Christ is, and must be, the foundation. We do not boast in, or have special allegiances to, men. In chapter 4, Paul taught each is a servant of Christ and will be examined by Him, so we should cease judging each other and stop being arrogant on behalf of different servants. Paul explains his love for the Corinthians as their father in Jesus Christ and explains that he didn’t write to shame them but admonish them as children. He says they can imitate his behavior, that he is sending Timothy to teach them about his behavior, and that he himself will visit if the Lord wills. Paul asks, “Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?” In chapter 5, we learned that there was great immoral sin in the Corinthian church, which is why Paul was challenging their arrogance. While he admonished not to judge “the motives of men’s hearts,” he does admonish to judge the sinful behavior of those within the church who claim to follow Christ. Such individuals who are arrogant and do not repent should be removed from fellowship. He is willing to turn such people over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh so their souls can be saved for eternity. In Chapter 6, Paul instructed that believers should not take their disputes for judgment outside the church. Even more, he admonished that believers should be willing to be wronged or defrauded instead of having lawsuits against other believers. He cautioned that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. He explained that immorality is a sin against the body, which is one with Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. We were bought with the price of the blood of Jesus, so we should glorify God with our bodies.

In Chapter 7, yesterday, Paul turned to addressing questions of marriage that the Corinthians evidently wrote to him about. Paul would prefer that followers of Christ remain unmarried so they can focus on devotion to Him, but says it is better to marry than to burn with immorality. He clarifies in this chapter what is his opinion versus what is the Lord’s command. The Lord’s command is that, “the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.” A spouse being an unbeliever is not a reason to leave them, but one can allow a unbelieving spouse to leave if they wish. Staying with an unbelieving spouse may be the means by which they are saved. Paul goes on to broaden the idea that everyone should remain in the manner in which they were called to faith: circumcised, uncircumcised, married, single, slave, free. He does say we are slaves of Christ, bought with a price by Him, and we should not become enslaved to men.

1 Corinthians 7

v25-31 “Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.

v32-35 “But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.

v36-38 “But if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin daughter, if she is past her youth, and if it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin; let her marry. But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint, but has authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin daughter, he will do well. So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.

v39-40 “A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.”

Dear Lord,

he who stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint, but has authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart…

There are issues about which Your word is clear. We know what is sin and what is not sin. Then there are issues about which Your word is not explicit. We just read a whole chapter in which Paul mostly expresses his own opinion, influenced by “the Spirit of God.” Thank You that, inspired by Your Spirit, he included this criteria in our verse above. Constraint is applied by Your word and by Your Spirit. After that, You give us freedom, and we are not under condemnation from You. Teach us to reject the voices that inappropriately condemn us. Teach us also to restrain from inappropriately condemning others.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 237, August 25: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 10:02:33 GMT

Yesterday we finished the book of Jeremiah. Today and tomorrow, we’ll finish this era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel by reading Jeremiah’s Lamentations.

Our reading in Jeremiah yesterday went back in time again when, during the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah, Jeremiah wrote on a scroll all the calamity the LORD had promised against Babylon and sent it with Seraiah, the quartermaster, when he had gone with Zedekiah on a visit to Babylon. He was told to read the words of the scroll, and then tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, symbolizing how Babylon would fall and not rise. The LORD pronounced that He was going to arouse the Medes from the north against Babylon to destroy it as vengeance for His temple and all the evil of the Chaldeans in Zion. He explained that, though He used the Chaldeans to punish them, Israel and Judah had not been forsaken and there would be a time for them to remember Jerusalem and flee the devastation of Babylon. Note that all of this has been fulfilled, as we’ll read in Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. As I repeat regularly, all the prophecies that have been fulfilled give us confidence for prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled.

The last chapter of Jeremiah is similar to the end of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles (Day 231), although a few more details are added. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, so in the ninth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar and his army placed Jerusalem under siege for two years, until there was no food left and the city was broken into. Zedekiah and his army fled, but the army of the Chaldeans captured Zedekiah, taking him to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Zedekiah’s sons and all the princes of Judah were slaughtered. Zedekiah’s eyes were put out, he was taken bound to Babylon, and he was imprisoned until he died. Nebuzaradan, captain of the bodyguard, burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. They carried the treasures of the temple off to Babylon. They took Seriah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, three officers of the temple, seven of the king’s advisers, the scribe of the commander of the army, and sixty men found in the city to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he put them to death. 4,600 Jewish people were carried away into exile in Babylon. Thirty-seven years after he had been taken into exile, Jehoiachin king of Judah, grandson of Josiah, was brought out of prison by Evil-merodach king of Babylon. His throne was set above the other kings of Babylon, he was given an allowance, and he dined with the king regularly all the rest of the days of his life.

Continued reminder of the historical background that led to this era of the kings of Judah and Israel: as a consequence for Solomon’s disobedience, ten tribes were torn from the Kingdom of Judah, under Solomon’s son Rehoboam, and given to Jeroboam, to form the Kingdom of Israel. Judah’s kings, influenced by the legacy of faithful David, vary between good and evil, until Judah falls and Jerusalem is burned, under the reign of Zedekiah, for the idolatrous sin of Manasseh. Israel’s kings, influenced by the legacy of rebellious Jeroboam, go from bad to worse, and, during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah, the kingdom of Israel was exiled to Assyria as a consequence for their idolatrous sin under the reign of their last King Hoshea. The books of the Kings cover both kingdoms, while the Chronicles tend to focus on the kingdom of Judah. I’ve attempted to summarize relevant details in the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel, and in my summary of Jeremiah.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 25 chronological reading: Lamentations 1:1-3:36

Lamentations 1

v1-11 “How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
She has become like a widow
Who was once great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
Has become a forced laborer!
She weeps bitterly in the night
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has none to comfort her
Among all her lovers.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
Judah has gone into exile under affliction
And under harsh servitude;
She dwells among the nations,
But she has found no rest;
All her pursuers have overtaken her
In the midst of distress.
The roads of Zion are in mourning
Because no one comes to the appointed feasts.
All her gates are desolate;
Her priests are groaning,
Her virgins are afflicted,
And she herself is bitter.
Her adversaries have become her masters,
Her enemies prosper;
For the LORD has caused her grief
Because of the multitude of her transgressions;
Her little ones have gone away
As captives before the adversary.
All her majesty
Has departed from the daughter of Zion;
Her princes have become like deer
That have found no pasture;
And they have fled without strength
Before the pursuer.
In the days of her affliction and homelessness
Jerusalem remembers all her precious things
That were from the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary
And no one helped her.
The adversaries saw her,
They mocked at her ruin.
Jerusalem sinned greatly,
Therefore she has become an unclean thing.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Even she herself groans and turns away.
Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
She did not consider her future.
Therefore she has fallen astonishingly;
She has no comforter.
‘See, O LORD, my affliction,
For the enemy has magnified himself!’
The adversary has stretched out his hand
Over all her precious things,
For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary,
The ones whom You commanded
That they should not enter into Your congregation.
All her people groan seeking bread;
They have given their precious things for food
To restore their lives themselves.
‘See, O LORD, and look,
For I am despised.’

v12-16 ‘Is it nothing to all you who pass this way?
Look and see if there is any pain like my pain
Which was severely dealt out to me,
Which the LORD inflicted on the day of His fierce anger.
From on high He sent fire into my bones,
And it prevailed over them.
He has spread a net for my feet;
He has turned me back;
He has made me desolate,
Faint all day long.
The yoke of my transgressions is bound;
By His hand they are knit together.
They have come upon my neck;
He has made my strength fail.
The Lord has given me into the hands
Of those against whom I am not able to stand.
The Lord has rejected all my strong men
In my midst;
He has called an appointed time against me
To crush my young men;
The Lord has trodden as in a wine press
The virgin daughter of Judah.
For these things I weep;
My eyes run down with water;
Because far from me is a comforter,
One who restores my soul.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy has prevailed.’

v17 “Zion stretches out her hands;
There is no one to comfort her;
The LORD has commanded concerning Jacob
That the ones round about him should be his adversaries;
Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

v18-22 ‘The LORD is righteous;
For I have rebelled against His command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And behold my pain;
My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
I called to my lovers, but they deceived me;
My priests and my elders perished in the city
While they sought food to restore their strength themselves.
See, O LORD, for I am in distress;
My spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword slays;
In the house it is like death.
They have heard that I groan;
There is no one to comfort me;
All my enemies have heard of my calamity;
They are glad that You have done it.
Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,
That they may become like me.
Let all their wickedness come before You;
And deal with them as You have dealt with me
For all my transgressions;
For my groans are many and my heart is faint.’”

Lamentations 2

v1-22 “How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion
With a cloud in His anger!
He has cast from heaven to earth
The glory of Israel,
And has not remembered His footstool
In the day of His anger.
The Lord has swallowed up; He has not spared
All the habitations of Jacob.
In His wrath He has thrown down
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
He has brought them down to the ground;
He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
In fierce anger He has cut off
All the strength of Israel;
He has drawn back His right hand
From before the enemy.
And He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
Consuming round about.
He has bent His bow like an enemy;
He has set His right hand like an adversary
And slain all that were pleasant to the eye;
In the tent of the daughter of Zion
He has poured out His wrath like fire.
The Lord has become like an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel;
He has swallowed up all its palaces,
He has destroyed its strongholds
And multiplied in the daughter of Judah
Mourning and moaning.
And He has violently treated His tabernacle like a garden booth;
He has destroyed His appointed meeting place.
The LORD has caused to be forgotten
The appointed feast and sabbath in Zion,
And He has despised king and priest
In the indignation of His anger.
The Lord has rejected His altar,
He has abandoned His sanctuary;
He has delivered into the hand of the enemy
The walls of her palaces.
They have made a noise in the house of the LORD
As in the day of an appointed feast.
The LORD determined to destroy
The wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has stretched out a line,
He has not restrained His hand from destroying,
And He has caused rampart and wall to lament;
They have languished together.
Her gates have sunk into the ground,
He has destroyed and broken her bars.
Her king and her princes are among the nations;
The law is no more.
Also, her prophets find
No vision from the LORD.
The elders of the daughter of Zion
Sit on the ground, they are silent.
They have thrown dust on their heads;
They have girded themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Have bowed their heads to the ground.
My eyes fail because of tears,
My spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is poured out on the earth
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
When little ones and infants faint
In the streets of the city.
They say to their mothers,
‘Where is grain and wine?’
As they faint like a wounded man
In the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
On their mothers’ bosom.
How shall I admonish you?
To what shall I compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
To what shall I liken you as I comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is as vast as the sea;
Who can heal you?
Your prophets have seen for you
False and foolish visions;
And they have not exposed your iniquity
So as to restore you from captivity,
But they have seen for you false and misleading oracles.
All who pass along the way
Clap their hands in derision at you;
They hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem,
‘Is this the city of which they said,
“The perfection of beauty,
A joy to all the earth”?’
All your enemies
Have opened their mouths wide against you;
They hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, ‘We have swallowed her up!
Surely this is the day for which we waited;
We have reached it, we have seen it.’
The LORD has done what He purposed;
He has accomplished His word
Which He commanded from days of old.
He has thrown down without sparing,
And He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you;
He has exalted the might of your adversaries.
Their heart cried out to the Lord,
‘O wall of the daughter of Zion,
Let your tears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief,
Let your eyes have no rest.
Arise, cry aloud in the night
At the beginning of the night watches;
Pour out your heart like water
Before the presence of the Lord;
Lift up your hands to Him
For the life of your little ones
Who are faint because of hunger
At the head of every street.’
See, O LORD, and look!
With whom have You dealt thus?
Should women eat their offspring,
The little ones who were born healthy?
Should priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?
On the ground in the streets
Lie young and old;
My virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the sword.
You have slain them in the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered, not sparing.
You called as in the day of an appointed feast
My terrors on every side;
And there was no one who escaped or survived
In the day of the LORD’S anger.
Those whom I bore and reared,
My enemy annihilated them.”

Lamentations 3

v1-18 “I am the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
He has driven me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
Surely against me He has turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away,
He has broken my bones.
He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.
In dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.
He has walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my chain heavy.
Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
He bent His bow
And set me as a target for the arrow.
He made the arrows of His quiver
To enter into my inward parts.
I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking song all the day.
He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.
He has broken my teeth with gravel;
He has made me cower in the dust.
My soul has been rejected from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.
So I say, ‘My strength has perished,
And so has my hope from the LORD.’

v19-36 “Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.
Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me.
This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul,
‘Therefore I have hope in Him.’
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
Let him sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
Let him put his mouth in the dust,
Perhaps there is hope.
Let him give his cheek to the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
For the Lord will not reject forever,
For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the land,
To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,
To defraud a man in his lawsuit—
Of these things the Lord does not approve.”

August 25 OT/NT readings: Psalms 124-127, 1 Corinthians 7:1-24

We are reading Psalms in the Old Testament reading plan. In this document, I list the Psalms in order of appearance, followed by author (if known), context of the Psalm’s writing (description of context that appear in the Biblical text before some Psalms are quoted), and the Old Testament reading it appears after. Here is that information for today’s Psalms ( (we’ll read the last Psalm written, after the rebuilding of the temple after exile, which we haven’t read in the Chronological Plan yet):

Psalm 124, appears as 22nd/150 Psalms, authored by David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
Psalm 125, appears as 23rd/150 Psalms, authored by David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
Psalm 126, appears as 150th/150 Psalms, author unknown, after rebuilding of temple after exile; "A Song of Ascents" (Nehemiah 11-13)—we haven’t read this Psalm yet
Psalm 127, appears as 119th/150 Psalms, authored by Solomon, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 147

Yesterday we read Psalms 120-123. Psalm 120 is a favorite of many of the women I have ministered to and with who were once sexually trafficked, because this is their testimony: “In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And He answered me.” Psalm 120 begins the series of Psalms called, “A Song of Ascents,” which continues through Psalm 134.

testimony, appears 11th, David, after he spared Saul's life in the cave, “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 21-24), Day 106
1. “A Song of Ascents.”: “In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And He answered me.”
the LORD is our keeper, appears 20th, David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents.” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
1. “A Song of Ascents.”: “My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth….He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep….The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.”
pray for the peace of Jerusalem, appears 87th, David, after his great sin with Bathsheba, “A Song of Ascents” (2 Samuel 11-12, 1 Chronicles 20), Day 134
1. “A Song of Ascents, of David”: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you. May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces.’ For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, ‘May peace be within you.’ For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.”
our eyes look to God, appears 21st, David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
1. A Song of Ascents.”: “our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He is gracious to us.”

Paul opened his letter, in 1 Corinthians 1, addressing divisions in the church of Corinth, because different people were claiming allegiances to Paul or Apollos or Cephas or Christ. He exhorted them against division, asking, “Has Christ been divided?” He reminded them of the message of the cross, which is foolishness to the world, but the power of God for those being saved. In chapter 2, Paul shared his determination to share nothing with the Corinthians but “Jesus Christ and Him crucified,” so their belief would not be based on his persuasive words but on the Holy Spirit and His power. Though the message is simple, it speaks wisdom to the mature, as revealed by the Spirit of God, which knows the thoughts of God. The natural man does not accept and cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually appraised, but “we have the mind of Christ.” In chapter 3, Paul asked the believers in Corinth to consider whether the divisions and strife in the church of Corinth demonstrated they were still fleshly and not mature in Christ. We are all laborers but Christ is, and must be, the foundation. We do not boast in, or have special allegiances to, men. In chapter 4, Paul taught each is a servant of Christ and will be examined by Him, so we should cease judging each other and stop being arrogant on behalf of different servants. Paul explains his love for the Corinthians as their father in Jesus Christ and explains that he didn’t write to shame them but admonish them as children. He says they can imitate his behavior, that he is sending Timothy to teach them about his behavior, and that he himself will visit if the Lord wills. Paul asks, “Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?” In chapter 5, we learned that there was great immoral sin in the Corinthian church, which is why Paul was challenging their arrogance. While he has admonished not to judge “the motives of men’s hearts,” he does admonish to judge the sinful behavior of those within the church who claim to follow Christ. Such individuals who are arrogant and do not repent should be removed from fellowship. He is willing to turn such people over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh so their souls can be saved for eternity.

In Chapter 6, yesterday, Paul instructed that believers should not take their disputes for judgment outside the church. Even more, he admonished that believers should be willing to be wronged or defrauded instead of having lawsuits against other believers. He cautioned that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. He explained that immorality is a sin against the body, which is one with Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. We were bought with the price of the blood of Jesus, so we should glorify God with our bodies.

1 Corinthians 7

v1-7 “Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. But this I say by way of concession, not of command. Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that.

v8-9 “But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I. But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

v10-11 “But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.

v12-16 “But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?

v17-20 “Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches. Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? He is not to be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God. Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called.

v21-24 “Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that. For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freed man; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.”

Dear Lord,

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.

We are under Your grace. We are still called to be pleasing to You. Help us do so, by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 236, August 24: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 10:03:35 GMT

Today we finish the book of Jeremiah in the chronological reading plan. Over the next two days we’ll read Jeremiah’s Lamentations.

Jeremiah experienced that about which he prophesied: the exile of Judah to Babylon and the burning of Jerusalem, including the temple. He went to Egypt with the remnant of Judah who defied the Lord’s will by going there, so he spoke the word of the LORD regarding Egypt’s defeat by Babylon and death of this remnant, except for a few survivors who would serve as witness that His word would stand. The LORD explained through Jeremiah that He was punishing His people for their sin of idol worship. He also promised, however, that He would make a full end of the nations where He had driven them (see Jeremiah 46:28), and that has been the theme of our last couple days of readings.

Two days ago (Day 234), Jeremiah shared the word of the Lord about the destruction of the Philistines, and Tyre and Sidon, by Pharaoh. He also shared that Moab [descendant of Lot] would be destroyed as a people, but their fortunes would be restored in the latter days.

Yesterday (Day 235), Jeremiah shared the word of the LORD concerning Ammon, Esau, Damascus, Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, and Elam. Ammon [descendants of Lot] will be devastated, but restored in the latter days. Edom [Esau] will be brought down because of their arrogance. Damascus [Aram, Abraham’s brother and his descendants] will be burned. Kedar [Ishmael] and the kingdoms of Hazor [Arabia] will be defeated by Nebuchadnezzar. Elam [descendant of Shem] will be shattered, but like Moab and Ammon, their fortunes will be restored in the latter days.

Finally, yesterday, Jeremiah spoke the word of the LORD concerning the punishment of Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, as well as the redemption of His people Israel. The LORD explained that His people had become lost sheep because their shepherds had led them astray, but their sin had allowed their enemies to justify their actions against them, and they become arrogant against the LORD and jubilant in their pillaging of His heritage. The LORD used Assyria to punish Israel and then He used Babylon to punish Judah, but He said He would punish Babylon just as He punished Assyria [they were defeated by the Chaldeans]. He will have vengeance for His temple. The sons of Israel and Judah will desire to return to Zion. They will seek the LORD. He will bring them back, enter into an everlasting covenant with them, and forgive the sins of those whom He leaves as a remnant.

Today, the words of Jeremiah end with the final word of the LORD against Babylon, which were actually spoken before Judah and Jerusalem fell. We also read another account of the fall of Judah and Jerusalem similar to the ones we read as we finished 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles on Day 231.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 24 chronological reading: Jeremiah 51-52

Jeremiah 51

v1-4 “Thus says the LORD:
‘Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon
And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai
The spirit of a destroyer.
I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her
And may devastate her land;
For on every side they will be opposed to her
In the day of her calamity.
Let not him who bends his bow bend it,
Nor let him rise up in his scale-armor;
So do not spare her young men;
Devote all her army to destruction.
They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
And pierced through in their streets.’

v5-10 “For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken
By his God, the LORD of hosts,
Although their land is full of guilt
Before the Holy One of Israel.
Flee from the midst of Babylon,
And each of you save his life!
Do not be destroyed in her punishment,
For this is the LORD’S time of vengeance;
He is going to render recompense to her.
Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the LORD,
Intoxicating all the earth.
The nations have drunk of her wine;
Therefore the nations are going mad.
Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
Wail over her!
Bring balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.
We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;
Forsake her and let us each go to his own country,
For her judgment has reached to heaven
And towers up to the very skies.
The LORD has brought about our vindication;
Come and let us recount in Zion
The work of the LORD our God!

v11-13 “Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it;
For it is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His temple.
Lift up a signal against the walls of Babylon;
Post a strong guard,
Station sentries,
Place men in ambush!
For the LORD has both purposed and performed
What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
O you who dwell by many waters,
Abundant in treasures,
Your end has come,
The measure of your end.

v14 “The LORD of hosts has sworn by Himself:
‘Surely I will fill you with a population like locusts,
And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you.’

v15-23 “It is He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom,
And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens.
When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain
And brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
All mankind is stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
For his molten images are deceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
They are worthless, a work of mockery;
In the time of their punishment they will perish.
The portion of Jacob is not like these;
For the Maker of all is He,
And of the tribe of His inheritance;
The LORD of hosts is His name.
He says, ‘You are My war-club, My weapon of war;
And with you I shatter nations,
And with you I destroy kingdoms.
With you I shatter the horse and his rider,
And with you I shatter the chariot and its rider,
And with you I shatter man and woman,
And with you I shatter old man and youth,
And with you I shatter young man and virgin,
And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock,
And with you I shatter the farmer and his team,
And with you I shatter governors and prefects.

v24 ‘But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,’ declares the LORD.

v25-26 'Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,
Who destroys the whole earth,’ declares the LORD,
‘And I will stretch out My hand against you,
And roll you down from the crags,
And I will make you a burnt out mountain.
They will not take from you even a stone for a corner
Nor a stone for foundations,
But you will be desolate forever,’ declares the LORD.

v27-32 “Lift up a signal in the land,
Blow a trumpet among the nations!
Consecrate the nations against her,
Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz;
Appoint a marshal against her,
Bring up the horses like bristly locusts.
Consecrate the nations against her,
The kings of the Medes,
Their governors and all their prefects,
And every land of their dominion.
So the land quakes and writhes,
For the purposes of the LORD against Babylon stand,
To make the land of Babylon
A desolation without inhabitants.
The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,
They stay in the strongholds;
Their strength is exhausted,
They are becoming like women;
Their dwelling places are set on fire,
The bars of her gates are broken.
One courier runs to meet another,
And one messenger to meet another,
To tell the king of Babylon
That his city has been captured from end to end;
The fords also have been seized,
And they have burned the marshes with fire,
And the men of war are terrified.

v33 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
‘The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
At the time it is stamped firm;
Yet in a little while the time of harvest will come for her.'

v34-35 ‘Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me and crushed me,
He has set me down like an empty vessel;
He has swallowed me like a monster,
He has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
He has washed me away.
May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,’
The inhabitant of Zion will say;
And, ‘May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,’
Jerusalem will say.

v36-40 “Therefore thus says the LORD,
‘Behold, I am going to plead your case
And exact full vengeance for you;
And I will dry up her sea
And make her fountain dry.
Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals,
An object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.
They will roar together like young lions,
They will growl like lions’ cubs.
When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet
And make them drunk, that they may become jubilant
And may sleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up,’ declares the LORD.
‘I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
Like rams together with male goats.

v41-44 ‘How Sheshak has been captured,
And the praise of the whole earth been seized!
How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!
The sea has come up over Babylon;
She has been engulfed with its tumultuous waves.
Her cities have become an object of horror,
A parched land and a desert,
A land in which no man lives
And through which no son of man passes.
I will punish Bel in Babylon,
And I will make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth;
And the nations will no longer stream to him.
Even the wall of Babylon has fallen down!

v45-48 ‘Come forth from her midst, My people,
And each of you save yourselves
From the fierce anger of the LORD.
Now so that your heart does not grow faint,
And you are not afraid at the report that will be heard in the land—
For the report will come one year,
And after that another report in another year,
And violence will be in the land
With ruler against ruler—
Therefore behold, days are coming
When I will punish the idols of Babylon;
And her whole land will be put to shame
And all her slain will fall in her midst.
Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
Will shout for joy over Babylon,
For the destroyers will come to her from the north,’
Declares the LORD.

v49-51 “Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel,
As also for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen.
You who have escaped the sword,
Depart! Do not stay!
Remember the LORD from afar,
And let Jerusalem come to your mind.
We are ashamed because we have heard reproach;
Disgrace has covered our faces,
For aliens have entered
The holy places of the LORD’S house.

v52-53 ‘Therefore behold, the days are coming,’ declares the LORD,
‘When I will punish her idols,
And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.
Though Babylon should ascend to the heavens,
And though she should fortify her lofty stronghold,
From Me destroyers will come to her,’ declares the LORD.

v54-56 “The sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
For the LORD is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud noise vanish from her.
And their waves will roar like many waters;
The tumult of their voices sounds forth.
For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her mighty men will be captured,
Their bows are shattered;
For the LORD is a God of recompense,
He will fully repay.

v57 ‘I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her prefects and her mighty men,
That they may sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,’
Declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

v58 “Thus says the LORD of hosts,
‘The broad wall of Babylon will be completely razed
And her high gates will be set on fire;
So the peoples will toil for nothing,
And the nations become exhausted only for fire.’

v59-64 “The message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.) So Jeremiah wrote in a single scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, ‘As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud, and say, “You, O LORD, have promised concerning this place to cut it off, so that there will be nothing dwelling in it, whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.” And as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you will tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, and say, “Just so shall Babylon sink down and not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become exhausted.”’ Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.”

Jeremiah 52

v1-11 “Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He did evil in the sight of the LORD like all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of the LORD this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 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. Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 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. 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. The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.

v12-16 “Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who was in the service of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire. So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the artisans. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vine dressers and plowmen.

v17-23 “Now the bronze pillars which belonged to the house of the LORD and the stands and the bronze sea, which were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried all their bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the pans and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. The captain of the guard also took away the bowls, the firepans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the pans and the drink offering bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD—the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. As for the pillars, the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, and it was twelve cubits in circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. Now a capital of bronze was on it; and the height of each capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates. There were ninety-six exposed pomegranates; all the pomegranates numbered a hundred on the network all around.

v24-27 “Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three officers of the temple. He also took from the city one official who was overseer of the men of war, and seven of the king’s advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe 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. Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led away into exile from its land.

v28-30 “These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away into exile: in the seventh year 3,023 Jews; in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem; in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 persons in all.

v31-33 “Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, showed favor to Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. Then he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life. For his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion all the days of his life until the day of his death.”

August 24 OT/NT readings: Psalms 120-123, 1 Corinthians 6

Psalm 120, appears as 11th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after he spared Saul's life in the cave (1 Samuel 21-24), Day 106
Psalm 121, appears as 20th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110
Psalm 122, appears as 87th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after his great sin with Bathsheba, “A Song of Ascents” (2 Samuel 11-12, 1 Chronicles 20), Day 134
Psalm 123, appears as 21st/150 Psalms, authored by David, after Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Samuel 28-31), Day 110

Yesterday we finished reading Psalm 119, the longest psalm, which communicates love for the word of God:

appears as 131st/150 Psalms, unknown author, after David's death (1 Kings 1-2), Day 150 & Day 152—excerpts from yesterday, from verses 105-176, the third day of our reading: “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path….I am exceedingly afflicted; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word….You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word….It is time for the LORD to act, For they have broken Your law….I hate every false way….The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple….Turn to me and be gracious to me, After Your manner with those who love Your name. Establish my footsteps in Your word, And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts. Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And teach me Your statutes….Your word is very pure, Therefore Your servant loves it….Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth….My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word….You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments are truth….Salvation is far from the wicked, For they do not seek Your statutes. Great are Your mercies, O LORD; Revive me according to Your ordinances….The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting….I rejoice at Your word, As one who finds great spoil….I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.”

In chapter 5, yesterday, we learned that Paul knows there is great immoral sin in the church. That is why he is challenging their arrogance. While he has admonished not to judge “the motives of men’s hearts,” he does admonish to judge the sinful behavior of those within the church who claim to follow Christ. Such individuals who are arrogant and do not repent should be removed from fellowship. He is willing to turn such people over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh so their souls can be saved for eternity.

It’s interesting to me how long Paul waited in his letter to address this sexual immorality. Might we address it first? Yet Paul was concerned about attitude’s of the heart before he addressed external actions. This is convicting to meditate on.

1 Corinthians 6

v1-6 “Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?

v7-8 “Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.

v9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

v12-20 “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, ‘THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.’ But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

Dear Lord,

Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?

Oh, this challenges us so. Grant us humility, by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 235, August 23: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 10:03:12 GMT

We’ve finished 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, at the end of the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel, and are finishing Jeremiah, who fills in more details about what occurred in Judah after most, including King Zedekiah, were exiled to Babylon and Jerusalem was burned.

Two days ago, we read that the surviving remnant of Judah, left after the exile to Babylon, including Jeremiah and Baruch, had gone to Egypt. Jeremiah had warned them with the word of the LORD prior to their leaving Judah that He would have compassion on them if they stayed, but they would not survive if they went to Egypt. They accused Jeremiah of lying to them under the influence of Baruch (who had written the scrolls when Jeremiah dictated the word of the LORD and to whom the LORD had promised his life in return). When they got to Egypt, the surviving remnant of Judah worshiped other gods though Jeremiah shared the word of the LORD that idol worship had led to the punishment of Judah and, once again, they would not survive because of their sin and disobedience. He also warned that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon would conquer Egypt.

Yesterday in Jeremiah, we read more of the word of the LORD regarding Egypt, but also the Philistines and Moab. Egypt would be smited and given over to Nebuchadnezzar, but afterward be inhabited as in the days of old. The Philistines, and Tyre and Sidon, would be destroyed by Pharaoh. Every city in Moab would be destroyed and they would be destroyed as a people, but He will restore their fortunes in the latter days.

The LORD promised Israel, in our reading yesterday, “I will make a full end of all the nations Where I have driven you” (see Jeremiah 46:28). Today we read more of the word of the LORD regarding these nations.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 23 chronological reading: Jeremiah 49-50

Jeremiah 49

v1-2 “Concerning the sons of Ammon [descendants of Lot]. Thus says the LORD:
‘Does Israel have no sons?
Or has he no heirs?
Why then has Malcam taken possession of Gad
And his people settled in its cities?
Therefore behold, the days are coming,’ declares the LORD,
‘That I will cause a trumpet blast of war to be heard
Against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon;
And it will become a desolate heap,
And her towns will be set on fire.
Then Israel will take possession of his possessors,’
Says the LORD.

v3-6 ‘Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed!
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah,
Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament,
And rush back and forth inside the walls;
For Malcam will go into exile
Together with his priests and his princes.
How boastful you are about the valleys!
Your valley is flowing away,
O backsliding daughter
Who trusts in her treasures, saying,
“Who will come against me?”
Behold, I am going to bring terror upon you,’
Declares the Lord GOD of hosts,
‘From all directions around you;
And each of you will be driven out headlong,
With no one to gather the fugitives together.
But afterward I will restore
The fortunes of the sons of Ammon,’
Declares the LORD.

v7-11 “Concerning Edom [Esau].
Thus says the LORD of hosts,
‘Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?
Has good counsel been lost to the prudent?
Has their wisdom decayed?
Flee away, turn back, dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of Dedan,
For I will bring the disaster of Esau upon him
At the time I punish him.
If grape gatherers came to you,
Would they not leave gleanings?
If thieves came by night,
They would destroy only until they had enough.
But I have stripped Esau bare,
I have uncovered his hiding places
So that he will not be able to conceal himself;
His offspring has been destroyed along with his relatives
And his neighbors, and he is no more.
Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive;
And let your widows trust in Me.’

v12-13 “For thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, those who were not sentenced to drink the cup will certainly drink it, and are you the one who will be completely acquitted? You will not be acquitted, but you will certainly drink it. For I have sworn by Myself,’ declares the LORD, ‘that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.’

v14-16 “I have heard a message from the LORD,
And an envoy is sent among the nations, saying,
‘Gather yourselves together and come against her,
And rise up for battle!’
For behold, I have made you small among the nations,
Despised among men.
As for the terror of you,
The arrogance of your heart has deceived you,
O you who live in the clefts of the rock,
Who occupy the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest as high as an eagle’s,
I will bring you down from there,’ declares the LORD.

v17-19 'Edom will become an object of horror; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss at all its wounds. Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with its neighbors,’ says the LORD, ‘no one will live there, nor will a son of man reside in it. Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make him run away from it, and whoever is chosen I shall appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand against Me?’

v20-22 “Therefore hear the plan of the LORD which He has planned against Edom, and His purposes which He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them. The earth has quaked at the noise of their downfall. There is an outcry! The noise of it has been heard at the Red Sea. Behold, He will mount up and swoop like an eagle and spread out His wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the mighty men of Edom in that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

v23-27 “Concerning Damascus [Aram, Isaac wife’s Rebekah’s father and brother were Arameans].
‘Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,
For they have heard bad news;
They are disheartened.
There is anxiety by the sea,
It cannot be calmed.
Damascus has become helpless;
She has turned away to flee,
And panic has gripped her;
Distress and pangs have taken hold of her
Like a woman in childbirth.
How the city of praise has not been deserted,
The town of My joy!
Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets,
And all the men of war will be silenced in that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts.
‘I will set fire to the wall of Damascus,
And it will devour the fortified towers of Ben-hadad.’

v28-33 “Concerning Kedar [Ishmael] and the kingdoms of Hazor [Arabia], which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the LORD,
‘Arise, go up to Kedar
And devastate the men of the east.
They will take away their tents and their flocks;
They will carry off for themselves
Their tent curtains, all their goods and their camels,
And they will call out to one another, “Terror on every side!”
Run away, flee! Dwell in the depths,
O inhabitants of Hazor,’ declares the LORD;
‘For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has formed a plan against you
And devised a scheme against you.
Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease,
Which lives securely,’ declares the LORD.
‘It has no gates or bars;
They dwell alone.
Their camels will become plunder,
And their many cattle for booty,
And I will scatter to all the winds those who cut the corners of their hair;
And I will bring their disaster from every side,’ declares the LORD.
‘Hazor will become a haunt of jackals,
A desolation forever;
No one will live there,
Nor will a son of man reside in it.’

v34-39 “That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam [descendant of Shem], at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
‘Thus says the LORD of hosts,
“Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
The finest of their might.
I will bring upon Elam the four winds
From the four ends of heaven,
And will scatter them to all these winds;
And there will be no nation
To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.
So I will shatter Elam before their enemies
And before those who seek their lives;
And I will bring calamity upon them,
Even My fierce anger,” declares the LORD,
“And I will send out the sword after them
Until I have consumed them.
Then I will set My throne in Elam
And destroy out of it king and princes,”
Declares the LORD.
“But it will come about in the last days
That I will restore the fortunes of Elam,”’
Declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah 50

v1 “The word which the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:

v2 ‘Declare and proclaim among the nations.
Proclaim it and lift up a standard.
Do not conceal it but say,
“Babylon has been captured,
Bel has been put to shame, Marduk has been shattered;
Her images have been put to shame, her idols have been shattered.”

v3 “For a nation has come up against her out of the north; it will make her land an object of horror, and there will be no inhabitant in it. Both man and beast have wandered off, they have gone away!

v4-5 ‘In those days and at that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be the LORD their God they will seek. They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction; they will come that they may join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.

v6-7 ‘My people have become lost sheep;
Their shepherds have led them astray.
They have made them turn aside on the mountains;
They have gone along from mountain to hill
And have forgotten their resting place.
All who came upon them have devoured them;
And their adversaries have said, “We are not guilty,
Inasmuch as they have sinned against the LORD who is the habitation of righteousness,
Even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.”

v8-10 ‘Wander away from the midst of Babylon
And go forth from the land of the Chaldeans;
Be also like male goats at the head of the flock.
For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon
A horde of great nations from the land of the north,
And they will draw up their battle lines against her;
From there she will be taken captive.
Their arrows will be like an expert warrior
Who does not return empty-handed.
Chaldea will become plunder;
All who plunder her will have enough,’ declares the LORD.

v11-16 'Because you are glad, because you are jubilant,
O you who pillage My heritage,
Because you skip about like a threshing heifer
And neigh like stallions,
Your mother will be greatly ashamed,
She who gave you birth will be humiliated.
Behold, she will be the least of the nations,
A wilderness, a parched land and a desert.
Because of the indignation of the LORD she will not be inhabited,
But she will be completely desolate;
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified
And will hiss because of all her wounds.
Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side,
All you who bend the bow;
Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows,
For she has sinned against the LORD.
Raise your battle cry against her on every side!
She has given herself up, her pillars have fallen,
Her walls have been torn down.
For this is the vengeance of the LORD:
Take vengeance on her;
As she has done to others, so do to her.
Cut off the sower from Babylon
And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest;
From before the sword of the oppressor
They will each turn back to his own people
And they will each flee to his own land.

v17-20 ‘Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the king of Assyria, and this last one who has broken his bones is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria. And I will bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. In those days and at that time,” declares the LORD, “search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.”

v21-24 ‘Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it,
And against the inhabitants of Pekod.
Slay and utterly destroy them,’ declares the LORD,
‘And do according to all that I have commanded you.
The noise of battle is in the land,
And great destruction.
How the hammer of the whole earth
Has been cut off and broken!
How Babylon has become
An object of horror among the nations!
I set a snare for you and you were also caught, O Babylon,
While you yourself were not aware;
You have been found and also seized
Because you have engaged in conflict with the LORD.’

v25-27 “The LORD has opened His armory
And has brought forth the weapons of His indignation,
For it is a work of the Lord GOD of hosts
In the land of the Chaldeans.
Come to her from the farthest border;
Open up her barns,
Pile her up like heaps
And utterly destroy her,
Let nothing be left to her.
Put all her young bulls to the sword;
Let them go down to the slaughter!
Woe be upon them, for their day has come,
The time of their punishment.

v28 “There is a sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon,
To declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God,
Vengeance for His temple.

v29-32 ‘Summon many against Babylon,
All those who bend the bow:
Encamp against her on every side,
Let there be no escape.
Repay her according to her work;
According to all that she has done, so do to her;
For she has become arrogant against the LORD,
Against the Holy One of Israel.
Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,
And all her men of war will be silenced in that day,’ declares the LORD.
‘Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,’
Declares the Lord GOD of hosts,
‘For your day has come,
The time when I will punish you.
The arrogant one will stumble and fall
With no one to raise him up;
And I will set fire to his cities
And it will devour all his environs.’

v33-38 “Thus says the LORD of hosts,
‘The sons of Israel are oppressed,
And the sons of Judah as well;
And all who took them captive have held them fast,
They have refused to let them go.
Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of hosts is His name;
He will vigorously plead their case
So that He may bring rest to the earth,
But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
A sword against the Chaldeans,’ declares the LORD,
‘And against the inhabitants of Babylon
And against her officials and her wise men!
A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools!
A sword against her mighty men, and they will be shattered!
A sword against their horses and against their chariots
And against all the foreigners who are in the midst of her,
And they will become women!
A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered!
A drought on her waters, and they will be dried up!
For it is a land of idols,
And they are mad over fearsome idols.

v39-40 ‘Therefore the desert creatures will live there along with the jackals;
The ostriches also will live in it,
And it will never again be inhabited
Or dwelt in from generation to generation.
As when God overthrew Sodom
And Gomorrah with its neighbors,’ declares the LORD,
‘No man will live there,
Nor will any son of man reside in it.

v41-43 ‘Behold, a people is coming from the north,
And a great nation and many kings
Will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.
They seize their bow and javelin;
They are cruel and have no mercy.
Their voice roars like the sea;
And they ride on horses,
Marshalled like a man for the battle
Against you, O daughter of Babylon.
The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,
And his hands hang limp;
Distress has gripped him,
Agony like a woman in childbirth.

v44-46 ‘Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen I will appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand before Me?’ Therefore hear the plan of the LORD which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them. At the shout, ‘Babylon has been seized!’ the earth is shaken, and an outcry is heard among the nations.”

August 23 OT/NT readings: Psalm 119:105-176, 1 Corinthians 5

appears as 131st/150 Psalms, unknown author, after David's death (1 Kings 1-2), Day 150 & Day 152—excerpts from yesterday, from verses 49-104, the second day of our reading: “This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me…..I sought Your favor with all my heart; Be gracious to me according to Your word….I am a companion of all those who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts. The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, O LORD; Teach me Your statutes….Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments….You are good and do good; Teach me Your statutes….It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes….Your hands made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments….I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me….When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?…But as for me, I did not forsake Your precepts. Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven….If Your law had not been my delight, Then I would have perished in my affliction….How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”

In chapter 4 yesterday, Paul taught each is a servant of Christ and will be examined by Him, so we should cease judging each other and stop being arrogant on behalf of different servants. Paul explains his love for the Corinthians as their father in Jesus Christ and explains that he doesn’t write to shame them but admonish them as children. He says they can imitate his behavior, that he is sending Timothy to teach them about his behavior, and that he himself will visit if the Lord wills. Paul asks, “Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?”

1 Corinthians 5

v1-2 “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

v3-5 “For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

v6-8 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

v9-13 “I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.”

Dear Lord,

It is actually reported that there is immorality among you….You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst….Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.

Help us to discern wickedness in our midst, amongst those who call themselves Yours. We need Your wisdom, so the judgment is not ours but Yours, according to Your word. Help us never to make peace with sin. Help us to execute discipline in the church with a heart of compassion for the sinner, desiring that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 234, August 22: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 10:02:39 GMT

After finishing 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles (on Day 231) and reading Habakkuk’s vision of the invasion of Judah by the Chaldeans of Babylon, we returned to the book of Jeremiah yesterday. Jeremiah began prophesying in the thirteenth year of Josiah, king of Judah. We read about Josiah’s reaction to reading the words of the book of the Law in the eighteenth year of his reign on Day 217. Because of his humility and repentance, the LORD granted that he would be spared exile to Babylon with Judah. We started reading the book of Jeremiah, after reading the word of the LORD to Zephaniah, on Day 219. Because he lived the events he prophesied about, Jeremiah fills in additional details not recorded in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles regarding the exile of Judah to Babylon, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the remnant of Judah not taken into exile. But, like Isaiah, he did not necessarily record events chronologically, so it can be difficult to tease out the timeline of the exile. Our return to Jeremiah yesterday inspired my review of this timeline. It is recorded in my summary of the kings of Judah and Israel, at the end of a section called, “Events in the era of the kings of Judah and Israel”:

“after Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt came up to make war at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to engage him….Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to make war with him; nor did he listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to make war on the plain of Megiddo. The archers shot King Josiah….So his servants…brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Then Jeremiah chanted a lament for Josiah.” (Day 217)
“the people of the land took Jehoahaz (also called Shallum or Joahaz) the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father….he reigned three months in Jerusalem….He did evil in the sight of the LORD….Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah” (Day 217, Day 231)
“Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim” (Day 217, Day 231)
Jehoiakim served Pharoah Neco until King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to power in the fourth year of his reign, defeating Egypt (Day 217, Day 231)
Jeremiah declared that he had spoken the word of the LORD since the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, a total of 23 years, and the people had not listened, so Judah would fall to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, serving him in exile for 70 years (Day 225)
Jehoiakim served Nebuchadnezzar three years and then rebelled against him (Day 217, Day 231)
After Jehoiakim’s death, his son Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah) succeeded him for 3 months, but then surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar and was taken, with ten thousand captives, to Babylon (Day 231, Day 236)
Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah) was replaced by his uncle Mattaniah renamed Zedekiah (Day 231, Day 236)
The LORD showed Jeremiah two basket of figs set before the temple of the LORD, one with ripe figs and one with rotten figs, symbolic for two populations in the LORD’s eyes. He regarded as good the captives of Judah He had sent to Chaldea, setting His eyes on them for good and giving them a heart to know Him, saying they would return to Him with their whole heart. But He said He would abandon Zedekiah, his officials, and the remnant who remained in the land and in the land of Egypt (Day 225). The LORD had Jeremiah write a letter to those in exile, telling them to build houses, plant gardens, and have families, seeking the welfare of the city where they had been sent, and that He would bring them back in seventy years (Day 226).
Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, so in the ninth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar and his army placed Jerusalem under siege for two years, until there was no food left and the city was broken into. Zedekiah fled, but was captured, his sons were killed, his eyes were put out, he was taken bound to Babylon, and he was imprisoned until he died (Day 231, Day 236).
Nebuzaradan, captain of the bodyguard, burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. They carried off to Babylon the treasures of the temple. They took Seriah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, three officers of the temple, seven of the king’s advisers, the scribe of the commander of the army, and sixty men found in the city to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he put them to death. 4,600 Jewish people were carried away into exile in Babylon (Day 231, Day 236).

The remnant of Judah, the poorest of the land, who had not been exiled to Babylon had been appointed by Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s captain of the guard, to be under the care of Gedaliah. In our reading on Day 230, Johanan, one of the Jewish commanders, had warned Gedaliah that Baalis the king of the sons of Ammon had sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to kill him, but Gedaliah did not believe him. In our reading yesterday, Ishmael did kill Gedaliah, and all the Jews and Chaldeans who were with him. Ishmael was proceeding to the sons of Ammon with a remnant of survivors, including the king’s daughters, when Johanan, and the commanders of the forces with him, fought with him at Gibeon, recovering the captives, though Ishmael escaped to the sons of Ammon. Johanan and the remnant with him prepared to go to Egypt because of their fear of the Chaldeans. They asked Jeremiah to seek the LORD for them for His will, saying they would obey whatever He said, but when Jeremiah told them the LORD would have compassion on them if they stayed in the land, but they would die if they went to Egypt, they accused him of lying, saying Baruch was inciting him against them to turn them over to the Chaldeans. They disobeyed the word of the LORD and went to Egypt, and Jeremiah and Baruch did go with them. The LORD told Jeremiah to hide large stones in the mortar of the brick terrace of Pharaoh’s palace and share His word that he would set Nebuchadnezzar’s throne over those stones and that, in conquering Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar would kill and take captive, burn the temples of the gods of Egypt, and shatter the obelisks of Heliopolis.

Jeremiah then shared the word of the LORD with all the Jews living in Egypt that they were continuing to provoke Him to anger by burning sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt, not learning the lesson that was the reason He brought calamity on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah, and that the remnant of the Jews that had entered Egypt would die, except for a few refugees who would return to the land of Judah. The Jews responded that they believed calamity had come upon them in Judah after they had stopped worshiping the queen of heaven, so they resolved to continue their burning of sacrifices to other gods. Jeremiah clarified that calamity had come upon them because the LORD had no longer been able to endure their evil deeds of idol worship and disobedience to His Law. He shared the word of the LORD that the remnant in Egypt would die by sword and famine, with a few escaping to the land of Judah, so they would know whose word would stand, His or theirs. He gave as a sign of His word that Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt would be given over into the hand of his enemies.

Our reading then went back in time to when Jeremiah shared the word of the LORD with Baruch the son of Neriah, who had written down His words in a book at Jeremiah’s dictation in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in answer to Baruch’s lament, that He would give his life to him as a booty in all the places he went.

I’ve attempted to summarize relevant details in the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel, and in my summary of Jeremiah.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 22 chronological reading: Jeremiah 46-48

Jeremiah 46

v1 “That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

v2 “To Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

v3-5 ‘Line up the shield and buckler,
And draw near for the battle!
Harness the horses,
And mount the steeds,
And take your stand with helmets on!
Polish the spears,
Put on the scale-armor!
Why have I seen it?
They are terrified,
They are drawing back,
And their mighty men are defeated
And have taken refuge in flight,
Without facing back;
Terror is on every side!’
Declares the LORD.

v6-8 “Let not the swift man flee,
Nor the mighty man escape;
In the north beside the river Euphrates
They have stumbled and fallen.
Who is this that rises like the Nile,
Like the rivers whose waters surge about?
Egypt rises like the Nile,
Even like the rivers whose waters surge about;
And He has said, ‘I will rise and cover that land;
I will surely destroy the city and its inhabitants.’

v9-12 “Go up, you horses, and drive madly, you chariots,
That the mighty men may march forward:
Ethiopia and Put, that handle the shield,
And the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of hosts,
A day of vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes;
And the sword will devour and be satiated
And drink its fill of their blood;
For there will be a slaughter for the Lord GOD of hosts,
In the land of the north by the river Euphrates.
Go up to Gilead and obtain balm,
O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain have you multiplied remedies;
There is no healing for you.
The nations have heard of your shame,
And the earth is full of your cry of distress;
For one warrior has stumbled over another,
And both of them have fallen down together.

v13 “This is the message which the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to smite the land of Egypt:

v14-24 ‘Declare in Egypt and proclaim in Migdol,
Proclaim also in Memphis and Tahpanhes;
Say, “Take your stand and get yourself ready,
For the sword has devoured those around you.”
Why have your mighty ones become prostrate?
They do not stand because the LORD has thrust them down.
They have repeatedly stumbled;
Indeed, they have fallen one against another.
Then they said, “Get up! And let us go back
To our own people and our native land
Away from the sword of the oppressor.”
They cried there, “Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a big noise;
He has let the appointed time pass by!”
As I live,’ declares the King
Whose name is the LORD of hosts,
‘Surely one shall come who looms up like Tabor among the mountains,
Or like Carmel by the sea.
Make your baggage ready for exile,
O daughter dwelling in Egypt,
For Memphis will become a desolation;
It will even be burned down and bereft of inhabitants.
Egypt is a pretty heifer,
But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!
Also her mercenaries in her midst
Are like fattened calves,
For even they too have turned back and have fled away together;
They did not stand their ground.
For the day of their calamity has come upon them,
The time of their punishment.
Its sound moves along like a serpent;
For they move on like an army
And come to her as woodcutters with axes.
They have cut down her forest,’ declares the LORD;
‘Surely it will no more be found,
Even though they are now more numerous than locusts
And are without number.
The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame,
Given over to the power of the people of the north.’

v25-26 “The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says, ‘Behold, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him. I shall give them over to the power of those who are seeking their lives, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his officers. Afterwards, however, it will be inhabited as in the days of old,’ declares the LORD.

v27-28 ‘But as for you, O Jacob My servant, do not fear,
Nor be dismayed, O Israel!
For, see, I am going to save you from afar,
And your descendants from the land of their captivity;
And Jacob will return and be undisturbed
And secure, with no one making him tremble.
O Jacob My servant, do not fear,’ declares the LORD,
‘For I am with you.
For I will make a full end of all the nations
Where I have driven you,
Yet I will not make a full end of you;
But I will correct you properly
And by no means leave you unpunished.’”

Jeremiah 47

v1 “That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza.

v2-7 “Thus says the LORD:
‘Behold, waters are going to rise from the north
And become an overflowing torrent,
And overflow the land and all its fullness,
The city and those who live in it;
And the men will cry out,
And every inhabitant of the land will wail.
Because of the noise of the galloping hoofs of his stallions,
The tumult of his chariots, and the rumbling of his wheels,
The fathers have not turned back for their children,
Because of the limpness of their hands,
On account of the day that is coming
To destroy all the Philistines,
To cut off from Tyre and Sidon
Every ally that is left;
For the LORD is going to destroy the Philistines,
The remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.
Baldness has come upon Gaza;
Ashkelon has been ruined.
O remnant of their valley,
How long will you gash yourself?
Ah, sword of the LORD,
How long will you not be quiet?
Withdraw into your sheath;
Be at rest and stay still.
How can it be quiet,
When the LORD has given it an order?
Against Ashkelon and against the seacoast—
There He has assigned it.’”

Jeremiah 48

v1-10 “Concerning Moab [descendant of Lot]. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
‘Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed;
Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured;
The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and shattered.
There is praise for Moab no longer;
In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her:
“Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!”
You too, Madmen, will be silenced;
The sword will follow after you.
The sound of an outcry from Horonaim,
“Devastation and great destruction!”
Moab is broken,
Her little ones have sounded out a cry of distress.
For by the ascent of Luhith
They will ascend with continual weeping;
For at the descent of Horonaim
They have heard the anguished cry of destruction.
Flee, save your lives,
That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.
For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures,
Even you yourself will be captured;
And Chemosh will go off into exile
Together with his priests and his princes.
A destroyer will come to every city,
So that no city will escape;
The valley also will be ruined
And the plateau will be destroyed,
As the LORD has said.
Give wings to Moab,
For she will flee away;
And her cities will become a desolation,
Without inhabitants in them.
Cursed be the one who does the LORD’S work negligently,
And cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood.

v11 ‘Moab has been at ease since his youth;
He has also been undisturbed, like wine on its dregs,
And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
Nor has he gone into exile.
Therefore he retains his flavor,
And his aroma has not changed.

v12-13 ‘Therefore behold, the days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars. And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

v14-15 ‘How can you say, “We are mighty warriors,
And men valiant for battle”?
Moab has been destroyed and men have gone up to his cities;
His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter,’
Declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

v16-20 ‘The disaster of Moab will soon come,
And his calamity has swiftly hastened.
Mourn for him, all you who live around him,
Even all of you who know his name;
Say, “How has the mighty scepter been broken,
A staff of splendor!”
Come down from your glory
And sit on the parched ground,
O daughter dwelling in Dibon,
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,
He has ruined your strongholds.
Stand by the road and keep watch,
O inhabitant of Aroer;
Ask him who flees and her who escapes
And say, “What has happened?”
Moab has been put to shame, for it has been shattered.
Wail and cry out;
Declare by the Arnon
That Moab has been destroyed.

v21-27 ‘Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, Jahzah and against Mephaath, against Dibon, Nebo and Beth-diblathaim, against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul and Beth-meon, against Kerioth, Bozrah and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. The horn of Moab has been cut off and his arm broken,’ declares the LORD. ‘Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant toward the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock. Now was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Or was he caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you shake your head in scorn.

v28-33 ‘Leave the cities and dwell among the crags,
O inhabitants of Moab,
And be like a dove that nests
Beyond the mouth of the chasm.
We have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud—
Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance and his self-exaltation.
I know his fury,’ declares the LORD,
‘But it is futile;
His idle boasts have accomplished nothing.
Therefore I will wail for Moab,
Even for all Moab will I cry out;
I will moan for the men of Kir-heres.
More than the weeping for Jazer
I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah!
Your tendrils stretched across the sea,
They reached to the sea of Jazer;
Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest
The destroyer has fallen.
So gladness and joy are taken away
From the fruitful field, even from the land of Moab.
And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses;
No one will tread them with shouting,
The shouting will not be shouts of joy.

v34-35 ‘From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have raised their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate. I will make an end of Moab,’ declares the LORD, “the one who offers sacrifice on the high place and the one who burns incense to his gods.

v36-39 ‘Therefore My heart wails for Moab like flutes; My heart also wails like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced. For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins. On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel,’ declares the LORD. ‘How shattered it is! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back—he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an object of terror to all around him.’

v40-44 “For thus says the LORD:
‘Behold, one will fly swiftly like an eagle
And spread out his wings against Moab.
Kerioth has been captured
And the strongholds have been seized,
So the hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day
Will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
Moab will be destroyed from being a people
Because he has become arrogant toward the LORD.
Terror, pit and snare are coming upon you,
O inhabitant of Moab,’ declares the LORD.
‘The one who flees from the terror
Will fall into the pit,
And the one who climbs up out of the pit
Will be caught in the snare;
For I shall bring upon her, even upon Moab,
The year of their punishment,’ declares the LORD.

v45-47 ‘In the shadow of Heshbon
The fugitives stand without strength;
For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon
And a flame from the midst of Sihon,
And it has devoured the forehead of Moab
And the scalps of the riotous revelers.
Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished;
For your sons have been taken away captive
And your daughters into captivity.
Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
In the latter days,’ declares the LORD.
Thus far the judgment on Moab.”

August 22 OT/NT readings: Psalms 119:49-104, 1 Corinthians 4

appears as 131st/150 Psalms, unknown author, after David's death (1 Kings 1-2), Day 150 & Day 152—yesterday’s excerpts, from verses 1-48: “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart….How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word….Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You….Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law…..My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word….Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You….I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts. I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be ashamed”

In the second chapter, Paul told the Corinthians, “I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom….For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified…..and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” Though the message is foolishness to those who don’t believe, Paul asserts that it is full of God’s wisdom: “we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”

In the third chapter, yesterday, Paul told the Corinthians that he “could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly”? This is quite a brutal takedown of these men who thought they were wise. Paul reminded them “neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.” Their focus should not be on men, but God: “we are God’s fellow workers.” And the message of God’s workers should focus on Christ: “no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” He appealed to humility: “If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise….let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.”

1 Corinthians 4

v1-5 “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.

v6-7 “Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

v8-13 “You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.

v14-21 “I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power. What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?”

Dear Lord,

do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.

We are quick to judge the motives of men’s hearts, when You know and You will judge. Let us each individually desire to please You and earn Your praise.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 233, August 21: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:19:14 GMT

Yesterday we heard from the prophet Habakkuk. He saw the terrifying vision of the punishing invasion of Judah by the mighty Chaldeans of Babylon. We read about those events at the end of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles two days ago (Day 231). Habakkuk also saw God’s subsequent punishment of all enemies of God and His people for the sake of His anointed, and he resolved to rejoice and trust in God, knowing he was secure in Him.

Many of the words of the prophets, like Habakkuk, were obviously relevant for the time in which they were spoken. They also have meaning in our day: “Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted….You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct. Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they?…‘the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay….as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith….the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea….the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.’…LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear….In wrath remember mercy….In indignation You marched through the earth; In anger You trampled the nations. You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For the salvation of Your anointed….Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.”

We are finishing the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. Today, we return to Jeremiah. Although we’ve finished 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah actually fills in more details about what occurred in Judah after most, including King Zedekiah, were exiled to Babylon and Jerusalem was burned.

I keep going back to this because I think it’s important to understand the whole context. Jeremiah prophesied starting in the thirteenth year of Josiah, king of Judah, through the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, sons of Josiah, until the exile of Jerusalem and Judah to Babylon. At the time of Jeremiah, the kingdom of Israel had already been exiled to Assyria (2 Kings 18:9-12, Day 209) and the kingdom of Judah had already been prophesied, during the reign of Hezekiah, great-grandfather of Josiah, to be exiled to Babylon (Isaiah 39:6-7, Day 206 & 2 Kings 20:17-18, Day 214). Because of the humility of Josiah, the Lord told him he was still going to bring evil on Jerusalem and Judah for their sin of idol worship, especially under the reign of Manasseh, but that He would let Josiah die in peace beforehand (2 Kings 22-23, 2 Chronicles 34-35, Day 217).

Between Jeremiah, 2 Kings, and 2 Chronicles, we can put together the events leading to exile of Judah to Babylon, and the destruction of Jerusalem, according to the word of the Lord. Manasseh had an evil son Amon, but a righteous grandson Josiah. Josiah had no righteous sons. Josiah was killed by Pharaoh Neco. His son Joahaz succeeded him, but was taken by Pharaoh Neco to Egypt after only three months of reign. Pharaoh Neco made his brother Eliakim king in his place, changing his name to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim served Pharaoh, which is the likely reason he put him in place, but then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to power, defeating Pharaoh (see 2 Kings 24:7 and Jeremiah 46:2), and Jehoiakim served Nebuchadnezzar, until he rebelled. When Jehoiakim died (possibly in Babylon, see 2 Chronicles 36:6), his son Jehoiachin succeeded him. Unlike his rebellious father, he submitted to Nebuchadnezzar when Jerusalem came under siege three months into his reign and he was taken captive to Babylon with ten thousand others. Jeremiah had spoken the word of the LORD that He would be merciful to those who went to Babylon, which may explain Jehoiachin’s later release from imprisonment, decades later, under King Evil-merodach. We know from Matthew 1 that it was Jehoiachin’s (Jeconiah’s) line that was preserved through Joseph, husband of Mary, mother of Jesus the Christ. In place of Jehoiachin, Nebuchadnezzar put his uncle Mattaniah (the third son of Josiah to serve) in place as king, changing his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah also rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, like his brother Jehoiakim. He failed to heed the word of the LORD through Jeremiah to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, so he was eventually captured and taken to Babylon, and Jerusalem was subsequently burned.

Don’t miss the interesting perspective that Jehoiachin, and the ten thousand who went with him to Babylon, were actually obedient to the LORD’s will. Jeremiah had prophesied to Zedekiah that Jerusalem would not be burned if Zedekiah would surrender to Nebuchadnezzar.

After most who were left in the land were exiled with Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar’s captain of the guard, Nebuzaradan, put those remaining under the care of Gedaliah. Nebuchadnezzar ordered that Jeremiah be taken care of, so Nebuzaradan gave him freedom to stay among the people entrusted to Gedaliah. At the end of our last reading in Jeremiah (Day 230), the commanders of the Jewish forces had warned Gedaliah that Baalis the king of the sons of Ammon had sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to kill him, but Gedaliah did not believe them.

All of these details I’ve just summarized can be found in my summaries of Jeremiah and the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel (I note the kings of Judah in bold and the kings of Israel in bold italics).

Reminder of the historical background that led to this era of the kings of Judah and Israel: as a consequence for King David’s son Solomon’s disobedience in worshiping other gods, ten tribes were torn from the Kingdom of Judah, under Solomon’s son Rehoboam, and given to Jeroboam, to form the Kingdom of Israel. Judah’s kings, who followed the genealogical line and were influenced by the legacy of faithful David, vary between good and evil, until Judah falls and Jerusalem is burned, under the reign of Zedekiah, for the idolatrous sin of Manasseh. Israel’s kings, who do not follow a genealogical line and are influenced by the legacy of rebellious Jeroboam, who set up idol worship in Bethel and Dan, go from bad to worse, and, during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah, the kingdom of Israel was exiled to Assyria as a consequence for their idolatrous sin, under the reign of their last king Hoshea. The books of the Kings cover both kingdoms, while the Chronicles tend to focus on the kingdom of Judah.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 21 chronological reading: Jeremiah 41-45

Jeremiah 41

v1-3 “In the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they were eating bread together there in Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and put to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

v4-8 “Now it happened on the next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it, that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and their bodies gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the house of the LORD. Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, ‘Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!’ Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men that were with him slaughtered them and cast them into the cistern. But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, ‘Do not put us to death; for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil and honey hidden in the field.’ So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.

v9-10 “Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down because of Gedaliah, it was the one that King Asa had made on account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of Ammon.

v11-18 “But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. So they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the great pool that is in Gibeon. Now as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were glad. So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the sons of Ammon. Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were soldiers, the women, the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. And they went and stayed in Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to proceed into Egypt because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.”

Jeremiah 42

v1-6 “Then all the commanders of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people both small and great approached and said to Jeremiah the prophet, ‘Please let our petition come before you, and pray for us to the LORD your God, that is for all this remnant; because we are left but a few out of many, as your own eyes now see us, that the LORD your God may tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.’ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, ‘I have heard you. Behold, I am going to pray to the LORD your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole message which the LORD will answer you. I will not keep back a word from you.’ Then they said to Jeremiah, ‘May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the LORD your God will send you to us. Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the LORD our God.’

v7-17 “Now at the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and for all the people both small and great, and said to them, ‘Thus says the LORD the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: “If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,” declares the LORD, “for I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand. I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil. But if you are going to say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ so as not to listen to the voice of the LORD your God, saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there’; then in that case listen to the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If you really set your mind to enter Egypt and go in to reside there, then the sword, which you are afraid of, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there. So all the men who set their mind to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence; and they will have no survivors or refugees from the calamity that I am going to bring on them.’”’

v18-22 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘As My anger and wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.’ The LORD has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go into Egypt!’ You should clearly understand that today I have testified against you. For you have only deceived yourselves; for it is you who sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God; and whatever the LORD our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.’ So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the LORD your God, even in whatever He has sent me to tell you. Therefore you should now clearly understand that you will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence, in the place where you wish to go to reside.”

Jeremiah 43

v1-7 “But as soon as Jeremiah, whom the LORD their God had sent, had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God—that is, all these words— Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, ‘You are telling a lie! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, “You are not to enter Egypt to reside there”; but Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon.’ So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces, and all the people, did not obey the voice of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah. But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been driven away, in order to reside in the land of Judah— the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, together with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah— and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not obey the voice of the LORD) and went in as far as Tahpanhes.

v8-13 “Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ‘Take some large stones in your hands and hide them in the mortar in the brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of some of the Jews; and say to them, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to send and get Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and I am going to set his throne right over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his canopy over them. He will also come and strike the land of Egypt; those who are meant for death will be given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and those for the sword to the sword. And I shall set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely. He will also shatter the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.’”’”

Jeremiah 44

v1-10 “The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and the land of Pathros, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “You yourselves have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in ruins and no one lives in them, because of their wickedness which they committed so as to provoke Me to anger by continuing to burn sacrifices and to serve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.’ But they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn sacrifices to other gods. Therefore My wrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a ruin and a desolation as it is this day. Now then thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Why are you doing great harm to yourselves, so as to cut off from you man and woman, child and infant, from among Judah, leaving yourselves without remnant, provoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, burning sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are entering to reside, so that you might be cut off and become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? But they have not become contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor walked in My law or My statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers.’”

v11-14 ‘Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am going to set My face against you for woe, even to cut off all Judah. And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have set their mind on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all meet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and meet their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach. And I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine and with pestilence. So there will be no refugees or survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are longing to return and live; for none will return except a few refugees.”’

v15-19 “Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying, ‘As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you! But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune. But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine.’ ‘And,’ said the women, ‘when we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?’

v20-23 “Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were giving him such an answer—saying, ‘As for the smoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them and did not all this come into His mind? So the LORD was no longer able to endure it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; thus your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. Because you have burned sacrifices and have sinned against the LORD and not obeyed the voice of the LORD or walked in His law, His statutes or His testimonies, therefore this calamity has befallen you, as it has this day.’

v24-30 “Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, as follows: “As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.’ Go ahead and confirm your vows, and certainly perform your vows!” Nevertheless hear the word of the LORD, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, “Behold, I have sworn by My great name,” says the LORD, “never shall My name be invoked again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord GOD lives.’ Behold, I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will meet their end by the sword and by famine until they are completely gone. Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs. This will be the sign to you,” declares the LORD, “that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely stand against you for harm.” Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am going to give over Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to the hand of his enemies, to the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave over Zedekiah king of Judah to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.”’”

Jeremiah 45

v1-5 “This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written down these words in a book at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying: ‘Thus says the LORD the God of Israel to you, O Baruch: “You said, ‘Ah, woe is me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and have found no rest.’” Thus you are to say to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, what I have built I am about to tear down, and what I have planted I am about to uproot, that is, the whole land.’ But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,” declares the LORD, “but I will give your life to you as booty in all the places where you may go.”’”

August 21 OT/NT readings: Psalms 119:1-48, 1 Corinthians 3

Psalm 119, appears as 131st/150 Psalms, unknown, after David's death (1 Kings 1-2), Day 150 & Day 152

Yesterday we read Psalms 116-118:

thanksgiving for the LORD’s deliverance, appears 125th, unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
1. “I love the LORD, because He hears My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me….Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling….What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me? I shall lift up the cup of salvation And call upon the name of the LORD….Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.”
simple declaration of praise, unknown, appears 126th, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
1. “Praise the LORD, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples! For His lovingkindness is great toward us, And the truth of the LORD is everlasting. Praise the LORD!”
testimony of the LORD’s goodness, appears 127th, unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
1. “From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place. The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?…It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man….The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation….The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. This is the LORD’S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

We are reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Paul went to Corinth during his second missionary journey (see timeline of the book of Acts). It was the first place he remained for any length of time (18 months) until a disturbance was formed against him and he moved on. He had met Romans Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth, and he took them with him to Ephesus and left them there while he returned to Antioch. He returned to Ephesus at the beginning of his third missionary journey, staying over 2 years. He wrote what we know as the first letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus. 1 Corinthians 5:9 refers to a previous letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians and 1 Corinthians 7:1 refers to their writing a letter in return, containing questions he addresses in this letter.

Note Paul’s continual call to humility. Allegiances to different men were likely based on pride. In 1 Corinthians 1:26, Paul reminded the Corinthians to “consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.” Once they were in Christ, these men who should have remembered their previously humble state took pride in different associations, likely because of how they perceived they reflected on their appearance of “wisdom.” When we care what others think of us, especially those of the world, we are taking our focus off Christ.

1 Corinthians 3

v1-4 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not mere men?

v5-9 “What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

v10-15 “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

v16-17 “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

v18-23 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, ‘He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS’; and again, ‘THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.’ So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.”

Dear Lord,

neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

May You and You alone receive all the glory, in everything.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 232, August 20: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 10:02:13 GMT

We are finishing the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel in the chronological plan. Yesterday, we finished 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Today we hear from the prophet Habakkuk. Tomorrow, we’ll return to Jeremiah, and eventually we’ll finish this era with Jeremiah’s Lamentations.

Yesterday’s reading gave details on how Judah’s exile to Babylon, and the destruction of Jerusalem, according to the word of the LORD, came to pass. Habakkuk, who spoke during the time of Jeremiah, saw the terrifying vision of this punishing invasion of Israel by the mighty Chaldeans of Babylon (who had also conquered Assyria, as prophesied by Nahum), but he also saw God’s subsequent punishment of them (and all enemies of God and His people) for the sake of His anointed. He resolved to rejoice and trust in God, knowing he was secure in Him.

The era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel is recounted in 1 & 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles (I note the kings of Judah in bold and the kings of Israel in bold italics). The books of the Kings cover both kingdoms, while the Chronicles tend to focus on the kingdom of Judah.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 20 chronological reading: Habakkuk 1-3

Habakkuk 1

v1 “The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

v2-4 “How long, O LORD, will I call for help,
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, ‘Violence!’
Yet You do not save.
Why do You make me see iniquity,
And cause me to look on wickedness?
Yes, destruction and violence are before me;
Strife exists and contention arises.
Therefore the law is ignored
And justice is never upheld.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out perverted.

v5-11 ‘Look among the nations! Observe!
Be astonished! Wonder!
Because I am doing something in your days—
You would not believe if you were told.
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
That fierce and impetuous people
Who march throughout the earth
To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.
They are dreaded and feared;
Their justice and authority originate with themselves.
Their horses are swifter than leopards
And keener than wolves in the evening.
Their horsemen come galloping,
Their horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.
All of them come for violence.
Their horde of faces moves forward.
They collect captives like sand.
They mock at kings
And rulers are a laughing matter to them.
They laugh at every fortress
And heap up rubble to capture it.
Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on.
But they will be held guilty,
They whose strength is their god.’

v12-17 “Are You not from everlasting,
O LORD, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge;
And You, O Rock, have established them to correct.
Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,
And You can not look on wickedness with favor.
Why do You look with favor
On those who deal treacherously?
Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up
Those more righteous than they?
Why have You made men like the fish of the sea,
Like creeping things without a ruler over them?
The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook,
Drag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And burn incense to their fishing net;
Because through these things their catch is large,
And their food is plentiful.
Will they therefore empty their net
And continually slay nations without sparing?”

Habakkuk 2

v1 “I will stand on my guard post
And station myself on the rampart;
And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,
And how I may reply when I am reproved.

v2-3 “Then the LORD answered me and said,
‘Record the vision
And inscribe it on tablets,
That the one who reads it may run.
For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay.

v4-5 ‘Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live by his faith.
Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man,
So that he does not stay at home.
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
And he is like death, never satisfied.
He also gathers to himself all nations
And collects to himself all peoples.

v6-8 ‘Will not all of these take up a taunt-song against him,
Even mockery and insinuations against him
And say, “Woe to him who increases what is not his—
For how long—
And makes himself rich with loans?”
Will not your creditors rise up suddenly,
And those who collect from you awaken?
Indeed, you will become plunder for them.
Because you have looted many nations,
All the remainder of the peoples will loot you—
Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.

v9-11 ‘Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house
To put his nest on high,
To be delivered from the hand of calamity!
You have devised a shameful thing for your house
By cutting off many peoples;
So you are sinning against yourself.
Surely the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the rafter will answer it from the framework.

v12-13 ‘Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
And founds a town with violence!
Is it not indeed from the LORD of hosts
That peoples toil for fire,
And nations grow weary for nothing?

v14 ‘For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
As the waters cover the sea.

v15-16 ‘Woe to you who make your neighbors drink,
Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk
So as to look on their nakedness!
You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.
Now you yourself drink and expose your own nakedness.
The cup in the LORD’S right hand will come around to you,
And utter disgrace will come upon your glory.

v17 ‘For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
And the devastation of its beasts by which you terrified them,
Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,
To the town and all its inhabitants.

v18-20 ‘What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it,
Or an image, a teacher of falsehood?
For its maker trusts in his own handiwork
When he fashions speechless idols.
Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, “Awake!”
To a mute stone, “Arise!”
And that is your teacher?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
And there is no breath at all inside it.
But the LORD is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before Him.’”

Habakkuk 3

v1 “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.

v2 “LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear.
O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.

v3-7 “God comes from Teman,
And the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah.
His splendor covers the heavens,
And the earth is full of His praise.
His radiance is like the sunlight;
He has rays flashing from His hand,
And there is the hiding of His power.
Before Him goes pestilence,
And plague comes after Him.
He stood and surveyed the earth;
He looked and startled the nations.
Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered,
The ancient hills collapsed.
His ways are everlasting.
I saw the tents of Cushan under distress,
The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.

v8-14 “Did the LORD rage against the rivers,
Or was Your anger against the rivers,
Or was Your wrath against the sea,
That You rode on Your horses,
On Your chariots of salvation?
Your bow was made bare,
The rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah.
You cleaved the earth with rivers.
The mountains saw You and quaked;
The downpour of waters swept by.
The deep uttered forth its voice,
It lifted high its hands.
Sun and moon stood in their places;
They went away at the light of Your arrows,
At the radiance of Your gleaming spear.
In indignation You marched through the earth;
In anger You trampled the nations.
You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For the salvation of Your anointed.
You struck the head of the house of the evil
To lay him open from thigh to neck. Selah.
You pierced with his own spears
The head of his throngs.
They stormed in to scatter us;
Their exultation was like those
Who devour the oppressed in secret.

v15 '“You trampled on the sea with Your horses,
On the surge of many waters.

v16 “I heard and my inward parts trembled,
At the sound my lips quivered.
Decay enters my bones,
And in my place I tremble.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade us.

v17-19 “Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.
For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.”

August 20 OT/NT readings: Psalms 116-118, 1 Corinthians 2

Psalm 116, appears as 125th/150 Psalms, author unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
Psalm 117, appears as 126th/150 Psalms, authored by unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
Psalm 118, appears as 127th/150 Psalms, authored by David, establishment of Solomon's kingdom at the end of David's reign (1 Chronicles 23-25), Day 146

Yesterday we read Psalms 112-115:

the man who fears the LORD is blessed, appears 121st, unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
1. “How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who greatly delights in His commandments….He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment. For he will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered forever. He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries….The desire of the wicked will perish.”
praise the name of the LORD, appears 122nd, unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
1. “From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the LORD is to be praised….Who is like the LORD our God, Who is enthroned on high, Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth? He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the needy from the ash heap, To make them sit with princes, With the princes of His people. He makes the barren woman abide in the house As a joyful mother of children.”
remembrance of delivery from Egypt, appears 123rd, unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
1. “Tremble, O earth, before the Lord, Before the God of Jacob, Who turned the rock into a pool of water, The flint into a fountain of water.”
trust in the LORD, appears 124th, unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
1. “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth….You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. The LORD has been mindful of us; He will bless us….He will bless those who fear the LORD….The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, But the earth He has given to the sons of men….as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time forth and forever. Praise the LORD!”

We started Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians yesterday. Paul went to Corinth during his second missionary journey (see timeline of the book of Acts). It was the first place he remained for any length of time (18 months) until a disturbance was formed against him and he moved on. He had met Romans Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth, and he took them with him to Ephesus and left them there while he returned to Antioch. He returned to Ephesus at the beginning of his third missionary journey, staying over 2 years. He wrote what we know as the first letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus.

In 1 Corinthians 1, yesterday, Paul wrote that he had heard there were divisions in the church of Corinth, because different people were claiming allegiances to Paul or Apollos or Cephas or Christ. He exhorted them against division, asking, “Has Christ been divided?” He reminded them of the message of the cross, which is foolishness to the world, but the power of God for those being saved. The message of the crucified Christ is “to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.” Since “in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” Men, therefore, have no reason to boast before God. “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

1 Corinthians 2

v1-5 “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

v6-9 “Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written,
‘THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,
ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.’

v10-13 “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

v14-16 “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”

Dear Lord,

we have the mind of Christ.

This statement amazes me. Your Holy Spirit is amazing. Thank You that through Him we may know the things freely given to us by God. Thank You for Your wisdom. May we accept it with humility, never preferring the wisdom of this world.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 231, August 19: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:03:28 GMT

We are finishing the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel in the chronological reading plan. We have been reading the book of Jeremiah, but today we finish 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Tomorrow we’ll hear from the prophet Habbakuk, and then we’ll return to Jeremiah, finishing this era with Jeremiah’s Lamentations about a week from now.

Jeremiah prophesied starting in the thirteenth year of Josiah, king of Judah, through the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, sons of Josiah, until the exile of Jerusalem and Judah to Babylon. At the time of Jeremiah, the kingdom of Israel had already been exiled to Assyria (2 Kings 18:9-12, Day 209) and the kingdom of Judah had already been prophesied, during the reign of Hezekiah, great-grandfather of Josiah, to be exiled to Babylon (Isaiah 39:6-7, Day 206 & 2 Kings 20:17-18, Day 214). Because of the humility of Josiah, the Lord told him he was still going to bring evil on Jerusalem and Judah for their sin of idol worship, especially under the reign of Manasseh, but that He would let Josiah die in peace beforehand (2 Kings 22-23, 2 Chronicles 34-35, Day 217).

Our reading today ties up all this history. We read some of the details relevant to our reading today in Jeremiah yesterday. We read about King Zedekiah putting Jeremiah into the hands of his officials who complained about his prophecies. They let him down into a cistern full of mud in the court of the guardhouse, but the Ethiopian eunuch Ebed-melech pleaded with the king on Jeremiah’s behalf and he let him rescue him. Zedekiah summoned Jeremiah secretly and Jeremiah told him that if he would surrender to the king of Babylon, it would go well with him and the city would not be burned with fire. But Zedekiah said he feared the Jews who had gone over to the Chaldeans, and he swore Jeremiah to secrecy.

Nebuchadnezzar and his army captured Jerusalem in the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah and laid siege to it until the eleventh year, when they breached the city wall. Zedekiah and his men of war fled, but Zedekiah was captured, his sons were killed, his eyes were put out, and he was taken to Babylon. Jerusalem was burned and all but the poorest of the land were taken into exile in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar ordered that Jeremiah be taken care of, so he stayed among the people who were entrusted to Gedaliah by Nebuzaradan, captain of the Babylonian bodyguard. The LORD had Jeremiah tell Ebed-melech, who had saved Jeremiah, that he would have his life as booty because he had trusted in Him.

All the commanders of the forces in the field, as well as the Jews in Moab, among the sons of Ammon, in Edom, and all the other countries heard that Gedaliah had been put in charge of all who had not been exiled to Babylon, so they came to him at Mizpah. The commanders of the forces warned Gedaliah that Baalis the king of the sons of Ammon had sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to kill him, but Gedaliah did not believe them.

Today’s readings offer additional perspective on the exile to Babylon and the destruction of Jerusalem. To help with context, 2 Chronicles 36 begins with the succession of Joahaz to his father Josiah. Despite the fact that “there was no king like [Josiah] who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses,” Josiah’s descendants all “did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Joahaz only reigned three months until Pharoah Neco, who had killed Josiah, took him to Egypt and made his brother Eliakim king in his place, changing his name to Jehoiakim. 2 Kings 24 begins during Jehoiakim’s reign. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to power in the fourth year of his reign, and Jehoiakim served him for three years, until he rebelled. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him in Jerusalem for only three months, but when Jerusalem came under siege, he went out to Nebuchadnezzar, who took him, and ten thousand captives, to Babylon, making his uncle Mattaniah king in Jerusalem and changing his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah also eventually rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, so Jerusalem came under siege again for some two years, until the city was broken into and Zedekiah fled. We read about that outcome in Jeremiah yesterday.

We also read two Psalms from this era yesterday as well. We’ve read them in the Old Testament plan, below, but this is the first time we’ve read them chronologically (notice we have now read 148 out of the 150 Psalms chronologically and only two Psalms remain. Psalm 137 was written after the return from the exile to Babylon, recorded in Ezra, and Psalm 126 was written after the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, recorded in Nehemiah):

Psalm 74, remembering God in the midst of persecution, appears 147th, Asaph, before the exile to Babylon (Jeremiah 38-40), Day 230: “A Maskil of Asaph.”: “How long, O God, will the adversary revile, And the enemy spurn Your name forever?…Yet God is my king from of old, Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth….Remember this, O LORD, that the enemy has reviled, And a foolish people has spurned Your name….Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause; Remember how the foolish man reproaches You all day long.”

Psalm 79, an appeal to God for the glory of His name, appears 148th, Asaph, before the exile to Babylon (Jeremiah 38-40), Day 230: “A Psalm of Asaph”: “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name’s sake. Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’…So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture Will give thanks to You forever; To all generations we will tell of Your praise.”

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 19 chronological reading: 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36

2 Kings 24

v1-5 “In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. The LORD sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken through His servants the prophets. Surely at the command of the LORD it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not forgive. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

v6-7 “So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place. The king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

v8-9 “Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.

v10-14 “At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. He carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, just as the LORD had said. Then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.

v15-16 “So he led Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. All the men of valor, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand, all strong and fit for war, and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

v17 “Then the king of Babylon made his uncle Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

v18-20 “Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of the LORD this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.”

2 Kings 25

v1-7 “Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 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. Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

v8-12 “Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile. But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

v13-17 “Now the bronze pillars which were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea which were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. The captain of the guard also took away the firepans and the basins, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. The two pillars, the one sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD—the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was three cubits, with a network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these with network.

v18-21 “Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three officers of the temple. From the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and five of the king’s advisers who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led away into exile from its land.

v22-24 “Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them. When all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, ‘Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.’

v25-26 “But it came about in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

v27-30 “Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life; and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.”

2 Chronicles 36

v1-4 “Then the people of the land took Joahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in place of his father in Jerusalem. Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. Then the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold. The king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Joahaz his brother and brought him to Egypt.

v5-8 “Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and the abominations which he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son became king in his place.

v9 “Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

v10 “At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon with the valuable articles of the house of the LORD, and he made his kinsman Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

v11-14 “Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven year sin Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God; he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the LORD. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel. Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the LORD which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.

v15-21 “The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy. Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon. Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.

v22-23 “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah—the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, ‘Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!”’”

August 19 OT/NT readings: Psalms 112-115, 1 Corinthians 1

Psalm 112, appears as 121st/150 Psalms, author unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
Psalm 113, appears as 122nd/150 Psalms, author unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
Psalm 114, appears as 123rd/150 Psalms, author unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
Psalm 115, appears as 124th/150 Psalms, author unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148

Yesterday we read Psalms 109-111:

a plea in the midst of betrayal, appears 111th, David, after the census, when David builds an altar where the temple will be (2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 21-22), Day 144
1. “For the choir director. A Psalm of David”: “O God of my praise, Do not be silent!…In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer….Help me, O LORD my God; Save me according to Your lovingkindness. And let them know that this is Your hand….With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD; And in the midst of many I will praise Him. For He stands at the right hand of the needy, To save him from those who judge his soul.”
Messianic psalm, David, appears 112th, after the census, when David builds an altar where the temple will be (2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 21-22), Day 144
1. “A Psalm of David”: “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’ The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of Your enemies.’ Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your Power….The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.’”
the LORD is trustworthy, appears 120th, unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148
1. “I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart….Great are the works of the LORD; They are studied by all who delight in them….The LORD is gracious and compassionate….He will remember His covenant forever….The works of His hands are truth and justice; All His precepts are sure….He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments”

Yesterday in the New Testament plan, we finished the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, which he wrote at the end of his third missionary journey, when he was traveling to Jerusalem, before he was arrested there. In the closing of his letter, he greeted many individuals in the church in Rome, likely informed by his friendship and considerable time spent with Priscilla and Aquila, who were originally from Rome and with whom he ministered in Corinth and later Ephesus. He admonished the reception of a sister “in a manner worthy of the saints,” meeting her needs. He also admonished keeping an “eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to [scriptural] teaching” as they can “deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.” “[B]e wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil,” knowing the “God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”

We start Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians today. This letter was also written during his third missionary journey, but earlier than his letter to the Romans. Paul went to Corinth during his second missionary journey (see timeline of the book of Acts). It was the first place he remained for any length of time (18 months) until a disturbance was formed against him and he moved on. He had met Romans Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth, and he took them with him to Ephesus and left them there while he returned to Antioch. He returned to Ephesus at the beginning of his third missionary journey, staying over 2 years. He wrote what we know as the first letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus.

In this first letter, he addressed sin that he was aware of in the Corinthian church. The opening of this letter names Sosthenes as obviously with him. Sosthenes had been the leader of the synagogue in Corinth and he had gotten beaten in front of the judgment seat in Corinth when the Jews rose up against Paul (Acts 8:17).

1 Corinthians 1

v1 “Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

v2 “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

v3 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

v4-9 “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

v10-17 “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, ‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I of Apollos,’ and ‘I of Cephas,’ and ‘I of Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.

v18-19 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
‘I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,
AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.’

v20-25 “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

v26-31 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.’”

Dear Lord,

since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

You care that we believe You. To the lost, this is foolishness. Our pride in our intellect, wisdom, and common sense can prevent us from coming to You. May we humble ourselves and acknowledge You. Thank You that once we believe, You satisfy us with Your Holy Spirit, and with a faith that is historically, archeologically, scientifically, intellectually, spiritually, and, in all ways, satisfying. You are found by those who seek You.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 230, August 18: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 10:03:26 GMT

Our reading yesterday in the book of Jeremiah demonstrated again that, like the book of Isaiah, the book of Jeremiah is not written chronologically. The reign of the sons of Josiah is confusing. This is relevant for yesterday’s reading, and a lot of the reading in Jeremiah for that matter, so here is the review: Three of Josiah’s sons (Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah) ended up reigning, with a short intervening reign by his grandson Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz only reigned 3 months before he was taken by Pharoach Neco to Egypt, where he eventually died. Pharoah Neco replaced Jehoahaz with his brother Eliakim, but he renamed him Jehoiakim. He was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin (grandson of Josiah), who also only reigned 3 months before he was taken by King Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar made Josiah’s third son Mattaniah king in his place, but changed his name to Zedekiah.

We’ve been reading about events under the reign of Zedekiah, but our reading yesterday went back in time to Jehoiakim, when the LORD told Jeremiah to bring the Rechabites into the house of the LORD and give them wine to drink, but they refused the wine because of the command of Rechab, their father. The LORD used this family, who had obeyed their father in all he commanded, as an example against Judah who had failed to listen to Him. As a reward to this family, He told them they would have a man to stand before Him always.

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the LORD told Jeremiah to write all the words he told him on a scroll, so Baruch the son of Neriah wrote all the words Jeremiah dictated. Since Jeremiah was restricted from going into the house of the LORD, he had Baruch read the words to the people on a fast day in the fifth year of Jehoiakim. When Micaiah heard the words, he went to king’s house, where all the officials were and told them the words he had heard. They sent for Baruch to come read the scroll. They were frightened, told Baruch and Jeremiah to hide themselves, and kept the scroll to read to the king. While it was being read, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it in the fire. He commanded that Jeremiah and Baruch be seized, but the LORD hid them. The LORD pronounced that Jehoiakim would have no one to sit on the throne of David and that He would punish Jehoiakim and his descendants and servants for their iniquity.

Then we went back to the days of Zedekiah, when the army of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem. Pharaoh’s army set out from Egypt and the Chaldeans lifted the siege. Jeremiah was able to leave Jerusalem to go to Benjamin to take possession of some property there, but he got accused of being a spy for the Chaldeans, and was arrested and imprisoned in the dungeon of the house of Jonathan the scribe. Zedekiah, who had previously asked Jeremiah to pray to the LORD on their behalf, brought him to his palace to see if he had a word from the LORD. The LORD had said Pharaoh’s army would return to their land and the Chaldeans would return, capture Jerusalem, and burn it with fire. Jeremiah begged not to be sent back to the dungeon prison, so Zedekiah put him in the court of the guardhouse, giving him a loaf of bread daily until all the bread in the city was gone.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 18 chronological reading: Jeremiah 38-40, Psalms 74 & 79

Jeremiah 38

v1-13 “Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.” Thus says the LORD, ‘This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’” Then the officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.’ So King Zedekiah said, ‘Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you.’ Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin; and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, ‘My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.’ Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.’ So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, ‘Now put these worn-outclothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes’; and Jeremiah did so. So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse.

v14-16 “Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the LORD; and the king said to Jeremiah, ‘I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.’ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, ‘If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.’ But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret saying, ‘As the LORD lives, who made this life for us, surely I will not put you to death nor will I give you over to the hand of these men who are seeking your life.’

v17-22 “Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you will indeed go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will survive. But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hand.”’ Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, ‘I dread the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will abuse me.’ But Jeremiah said, ‘They will not give you over. Please obey the LORD in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live. But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which the LORD has shown me: “Then behold, all of the women who have been left in the palace of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and those women will say,
‘Your close friends
Have misled and overpowered you;
While your feet were sunk in the mire,
They turned back.’

v23 “They will also bring out all your wives and your sons to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.”’

v24-28 “Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, ‘Let no man know about these words and you will not die. But if the officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, “Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death,” then you are to say to them, “I was presenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.”’ Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he reported to them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him, since the conversation had not been overheard. So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse until the day that Jerusalem was captured.”

Jeremiah 39

v1-10 “Now when Jerusalem was captured in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it; in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city wall was breached. Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezerthe Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon. When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled and went out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slew all the nobles of Judah. He then blinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in fetters of bronze to bring him to Babylon. The Chaldeans also burned with fire the king’s palace and the houses of the people, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem. As for the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had gone over to him and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard carried them into exile in Babylon. But some of the poorest people who had nothing, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard left behind in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at that time.

v11-14 “Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, ‘Take him and look after him, and do nothing harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he tells you.’ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the Rab-saris, and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; they even sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guardhouse and entrusted him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people.

v15-18 “Now the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guardhouse, saying, ‘Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day,’ declares the LORD, ‘and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread. For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me,’ declares the LORD.”’”

Jeremiah 40

v1-6 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, ‘The LORD your God promised this calamity against this place; and the LORD has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people sinned against the LORD and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you. But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will look after you; but if you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, never mind. Look, the whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right for you to go.’ As Jeremiah was still not going back, he said, ‘Go on back then to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere it seems right for you to go.’ So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ration and a gift and let him go. Then Jeremiah went to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

v7-12 “Now all the commanders of the forces that were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, both they and their men. Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying, ‘Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you. Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay at Mizpah to stand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, gather in wine and summer fruit and oil and put them in your storage vessels, and live in your cities that you have taken over.’ Likewise, also all the Jews who were in Moab and among the sons of Ammon and in Edom and who were in all the other countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah, and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. Then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been driven away and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered in wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

v13-16 “Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and said to him, ‘Are you well aware that Baalis the king of the sons of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?’ But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, ‘Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he take your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?’ But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, ‘Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.’”

Psalm 74

A Maskil of Asaph.

v1-23 “O God, why have You rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.
Turn Your footsteps toward the perpetual ruins;
The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their own standards for signs.
It seems as if one had lifted up
His axe in a forest of trees.
And now all its carved work
They smash with hatchet and hammers.
They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground;
They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
They said in their heart, ‘Let us completely subdue them.’
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
We do not see our signs;
There is no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows how long.
How long, O God, will the adversary revile,
And the enemy spurn Your name forever?
Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, destroy them!
Yet God is my king from of old,
Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth.
You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
You broke open springs and torrents;
You dried up ever-flowing streams.
Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
You have prepared the light and the sun.
You have established all the boundaries of the earth;
You have made summer and winter.
Remember this, O LORD, that the enemy has reviled,
And a foolish people has spurned Your name.
Do not deliver the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beast;
Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
Consider the covenant;
For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
Let not the oppressed return dishonored;
Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.
Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause;
Remember how the foolish man reproaches You all day long.
Do not forget the voice of Your adversaries,
The uproar of those who rise against You which ascends continually.”

Psalm 79

A Psalm of Asaph.

v1-13 “O God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance;
They have defiled Your holy temple;
They have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
They have given the dead bodies of Your servants for food to the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your godly ones to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem;
And there was no one to bury them.
We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and derision to those around us.
How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not know You,
And upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Your name.
For they have devoured Jacob
And laid waste his habitation.
Do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us;
Let Your compassion come quickly to meet us,
For we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name;
And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name’s sake.
Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’
Let there be known among the nations in our sight,
Vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been shed.
Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You;
According to the greatness of Your power preserve those who are doomed to die.
And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom
The reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.
So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture
Will give thanks to You forever;
To all generations we will tell of Your praise.”

August 18 OT/NT readings: Psalms 109-111, Romans 16

Psalm 109, appears as 111th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after the census, when David builds an altar where the temple will be (2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 21-22), Day 144
Psalm 110, appears as 112th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after the census, when David builds an altar where the temple will be (2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 21-22), Day 144
Psalm 111, appears as 120th/150 Psalms, author unknown, at the end of David's reign, when Solomon is anointed king for the second time (1 Chronicles 26-29), Day 148

Yesterday we read Psalms 107-108:

let the redeemed praise the LORD, appears 54th, unknown, after David was made king over all Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-10, 1 Chronicles 11-12), Day 123
1. “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary….they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses. He led them also by a straight way….Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!…There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains, Because they had rebelled against the words of God And spurned the counsel of the Most High. Therefore He humbled their heart….Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses….Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!…Fools, because of their rebellious way, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted….Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!…He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction, And makes his families like a flock. The upright see it and are glad; But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth. Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things, And consider the lovingkindnesses of the LORD.”
steadfast resolve to trust the LORD, appears 110th, David, after the census, when David builds an altar where the temple will be (2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 21-22), Day 144
1. “A Song, a Psalm of David”: “My heart is steadfast, O God….I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the peoples, And I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the skies….Oh give us help against the adversary, For deliverance by man is in vain. Through God we will do valiantly, And it is He who shall tread down our adversaries.”

Today we finish Paul’s letter to the Romans, which he wrote at the end of his third missionary journey, when he was traveling to Jerusalem, before he was arrested. Yesterday, we read about his hopes that were dashed in his plans go to Rome. “I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while.” As he took a contribution to the saints in Jerusalem, he asked the Romans to “strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company.” We know he was not rescued in Judea and eventually went to Rome as a prisoner, but that the LORD used his circumstances for the hearing of those “WHO HA[D] NOT HEARD.”

I keep adding to this summary of the theology that Paul teaches in Romans because it is so important and foundational. In the first chapter, he asserted that creation declares God, and God gives people over to their desires if they choose not to worship Him. In the second chapter, he explained how actions matter to God, even declaring, “he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.” In the third chapter, he answered the question, then, “what advantage has the Jew?….they were entrusted with the oracles of God,” following with, “both Jews and Greeks are all under sin”, and the explanation that, “through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” He shared the good news for all of us that though “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” In the fourth chapter, he quoted the Old Testament, saying, “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and explained, “not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.” It is our believing Him that God cares about. In the fifth chapter, Paul explained the good news that, “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.” This peace with God enables us to even “exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

In the sixth chapter, he addressed why we should avoid sin though we are not under the Law but under grace. We “have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life….our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin….consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members a instruments of righteousness to God….present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification….now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Once again, in the seventh chapter, Paul gave us insight into the purpose of the Law: “I would not have come to know sin except through the Law,” declaring it “holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” He talked about the struggle between the desire of the mind to obey the Law and the desire of the flesh to sin, giving thanks “to God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” who can set us free from this struggle.

Paul taught such an important concept to grasp in the beginning of the eighth chapter: “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” God revealed His expectations in the Law and we learned that we are sinners, incapable of righteousness. But, “what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” When we believe, we are given His Holy Spirit: “you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” and, “if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” We may still sin, but God does not condemn us when we are in Him. He forgives us and beckons us to return to Him. We have freedom to make mistakes, and, by His Spirit He gives us the will and the ability to die to our flesh.

Then Paul addressed, in the second half of chapter eight, our condition on earth as we wait for eternity in heaven: “the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” He then gave us insight into the plan of God, after the rebellion of both angels and men: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” We “hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” In the meantime, “the Spirit also helps our weakness” and “He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” We can take hold of this promise: “we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose….If God is for us, who is against us?…I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In chapter nine, Paul shared his love and his burden for the Israelites: “I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever.” He then explained, “they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants.” He explained a difficult concept: “He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” He reflected common questions against God and His ways: “There is no injustice with God, is there?…‘Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?’” Then he gave a stern answer and gave us something to ponder: “who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.” He ended up supporting the concept that righteousness comes through faith in Him: “Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.”

In chapter ten, Paul wrote about his brethren, the Israelites: “my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.” He then testified about them what could be testified about many of us: “they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” All my reflection in Romans so far inspired me to write about the plan of God. God is, “I AM.” But this “I AM” is good and desires for us to find Him. He sent His Son so that believing in Him we might be saved. Paul’s brethren stumbled over the requirement of faith in Jesus. God is the “I AM” and His Son Jesus is the only “name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12): “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” He explained, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” To the questions, “surely they have never heard, have they?,” he reassured, “Indeed they have.”

In chapter eleven, Paul reassured, “God has not rejected His people [Israel] whom He foreknew.” Though many have stumbled over faith in Jesus, “there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.” He explained, “by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!” In the meantime, he warned, “they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either, further warning, “Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness.” He explained a mystery that, “a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved….From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

In chapter twelve, Paul transitioned to an explanation of how we should live given all this theology: ”present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect….I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think….Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly….Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge….Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

In the thirteenth chapter, Paul taught we should be in subjection to authorities, as they are established by God. We should love, and not do wrong to, our neighbor, since this fulfills the Law. Our behavior should be proper as in the day, including putting aside strife and jealousy (see my perspective here). In the fourteenth chapter, Paul taught that we should resolve not to judge one another’s differing opinions, not put stumbling blocks in front of each other, and to pursue the things that make for peace, walking in love, knowing each one of us is individually accountable to God (see my perspective here).

In the first half of the fifteenth chapter, Paul summed up the theology in Romans with, “Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy.” He reiterated the importance of Scripture: “whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope,” pronouncing, “may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The outcome of our growth and peace through the power of the Holy Spirit is that, “we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself.” This is utterly counter-cultural, but what are we called to? Love God and love others.

Paul transitioned in the second half of the fifteenth chapter to a discussion of his ministry: “I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation.” He revealed he was inspired by the word of the LORD through Isaiah that, “THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.” He was inspired to take the gospel to those who had not heard.

We don’t read the letters of the apostles in chronological order in the New Testament plan, but my summary of the book of Acts is really a summary of the New Testament starting in Acts, including when all the letters of the apostles were written. My reflections on Romans inspired my writing about the plan of God and Jesus, the stumbling block.

Romans 16

v1-2 “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well.

v3-16 “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; also greet the church that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys my beloved. Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brethren with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

v17-20 “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

v21 “Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

v22 “I, Tertius, who write this letter, greet you in the Lord.

v23-24 “Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother. [The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.]

v25-27 “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.”

Dear Lord,

keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them….they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

Please give us wisdom in such admonishment. Help us to know Your word so that we can recognize what is contrary to it.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 229, August 17: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:04:02 GMT

In our reading in the book of Jeremiah yesterday, Zedekiah king of Judah shut Jeremiah up in the court of the guard, in the house of the king, during the tenth year of his reign and the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, when the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, because Jeremiah was prophesying the word of the LORD that the city wold be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon. The LORD sent Jeremiah’s cousin to him to buy a field that Jeremiah had right of redemption to, as symbolism for His word that houses, fields, and vineyards would again be bought in the land.

The LORD explained that He was punishing Israel and Judah for their sins of idol worship, but that He will gather them back out of the lands where He has driven them, make an everlasting covenant with them, and restore their fortunes. He will forgive their sins, and nations will fear and tremble because of the good He does for them. He will cause a righteous Branch of David to execute justice and righteousness on the earth. Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety, David will not lack a man to sit on his throne, and the Levitical priests will never lack a man to make offerings before Him. He knows people believe He has rejected His people, but He says, “If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”

Zedekiah made a covenant with the people of Jerusalem to release their servants. They obeyed, but afterward took them back as servants, so the LORD proclaimed, through Jeremiah, a release to them, to sword, pestilence, and famine. The LORD repeated through Jeremiah that Jerusalem would fall to Babylon and Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon, but die in peace.

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 17 chronological reading: Jeremiah 35-37

Jeremiah 35

v1-11 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ‘Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.’ Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites, and I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. Then I set before the men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups; and I said to them, ‘Drink wine!’ But they said, ‘We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, “You shall not drink wine, you or your sons, forever. You shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one; but in tents you shall dwell all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.” We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons or our daughters, nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; and we do not have vineyard or field or seed. We have only dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and have done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, “Come and let us go to Jerusalem before the army of the Chaldeans and before the army of the Arameans.” So we have dwelt in Jerusalem.’

v12-17 “Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ‘Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words?’ declares the LORD. ‘The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are observed. So they do not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again; yet you have not listened to Me. Also I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them again and again, saying: “Turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me. Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have observed the command of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.”’” Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them; because I spoke to them but they did not listen, and I have called them but they did not answer.”’

v18-19 “Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands and done according to all that he commanded you; therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me always.’”’”

Jeremiah 36

v1-3 “In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, ‘Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.’

v4-8 “Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD which He had spoken to him. Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, ‘I am restricted; I cannot go into the house of the LORD. So you go and read from the scroll which you have written at my dictation the words of the LORD to the people in the LORD’S house on a fast day. And also you shall read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities. Perhaps their supplication will come before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people.’ Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the LORD in the LORD’S house.

v9-10 “Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD. Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD’S house, to all the people.

v11-19 “Now when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the LORD from the book, he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people. Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, ‘Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.’ So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them. They said to him, ‘Sit down, please, and read it to us.’ So Baruch read it to them. When they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another and said to Baruch, ‘We will surely report all these words to the king.’ And they asked Baruch, saying, ‘Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?’ Then Baruch said to them, ‘He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.’ Then the officials said to Baruch, ‘Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.’

v20-26 “So they went to the king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they reported all the words to the king. Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments. Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them.

v27-31 “Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying, ‘Take again another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, “Thus says the LORD, ‘You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make man and beast to cease from it?”’ Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. I will also punish him and his descendants and his servants for their iniquity, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the calamity that I have declared to them—but they did not listen.’”’

v32 “Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.”

Jeremiah 37

v1-2 “Now Zedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of Coniah [AKA Jehoiachin or Jeconiah, who reigned in Jerusalem for 3 months before he was taken by King Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon] the son of Jehoiakim. But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

v3-5 “Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ‘Please pray to the LORD our God on our behalf.’ Now Jeremiah was still coming in and going out among the people, for they had not yet put him in the prison. Meanwhile, Pharaoh’s army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they lifted the siege from Jerusalem.

v6-10 “Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “Thus you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: ‘Behold, Pharaoh’s army which has come out for your assistance is going to return to its own land of Egypt. The Chaldeans will also return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.’” Thus says the LORD, “Do not deceive yourselves, saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,’ for they will not go. For even if you had defeated the entire army of Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.”’

v11-16 “Now it happened when the army of the Chaldeans had lifted the siege from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, that Jeremiah went out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to take possession of some property there among the people. While he was at the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he arrested Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ‘You are going over to the Chaldeans!’ But Jeremiah said, ‘A lie! I am not going over to the Chaldeans’; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. Then the officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him, and they put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which they had made into the prison. For Jeremiah had come into the dungeon, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days.

v17-21 “Now King Zedekiah sent and took him out; and in his palace the king secretly asked him and said, ‘Is there a word from the LORD?’ And Jeremiah said, ‘There is!’ Then he said, ‘You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon!’ Moreover Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, ‘In what way have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? Where then are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, “The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land”? But now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my petition come before you and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I may not die there.’ Then King Zedekiah gave commandment, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guardhouse and gave him a loaf of bread daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guardhouse.”

August 17 OT/NT readings: Psalms 107-108, Romans 15:21-33

Psalm 107, appears as 54th/150 Psalms, author unknown, after David was made king over all Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-10, 1 Chronicles 11-12), Day 123
Psalm 108, appears as 110th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after the census, when David builds an altar where the temple will be (2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 21-22), Day 144

Yesterday we read Psalms 105-106:

the LORD is faithful to His word, appears 67th, unknown, after David brought the ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:11-6, 1 Chronicles 13-16), Day 125
1. “Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad. Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually. Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth….He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan As the portion of your inheritance,’…He permitted no man to oppress them, And He reproved kings for their sakes: ‘Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.’…He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons; Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him….Israel also came into Egypt; Thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And He caused His people to be very fruitful, And made them stronger than their adversaries. He turned their heart to hate His people, To deal craftily with His servants. He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron, whom He had chosen. They performed His wondrous acts among them….Then He brought them out with silver and gold, And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled….For He remembered His holy word With Abraham His servant; And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout. He gave them also the lands of the nations, That they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor, So that they might keep His statutes And observe His laws, Praise the LORD!”
remembering the LORD’s mercies, appears 53rd, unknown, after David was made king over all Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-10, 1 Chronicles 11-12), Day 123
1. “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting….How blessed are those who keep justice, Who practice righteousness at all times!…We have sinned like our fathers, We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly….He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them….Then they believed His words; They sang His praise. They quickly forgot His works….They made a calf in Horeb And worshiped a molten image. Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass….Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him….Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe in His word….Therefore He swore to them That He would cast them down in the wilderness, And that He would cast their seed among the nations And scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds….Phinehas stood up and interposed, And so the plague was stayed. And it was reckoned to him for righteousness, To all generations forever. They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, So that it went hard with Moses on their account; Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips. They did not destroy the peoples, As the LORD commanded them, But they mingled with the nations And learned their practices, And served their idols, Which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan….He gave them into the hand of the nations, And those who hated them ruled over them….Many times He would deliver them; They, however, were rebellious in their counsel, And so sank down in their iniquity. Nevertheless He looked upon their distress When He heard their cry; And He remembered His covenant for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His lovingkindness….Save us, O LORD our God, And gather us from among the nations, To give thanks to Your holy name And glory in Your praise. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, ‘Amen.’ Praise the LORD!”

We are reading Paul’s letter to the Romans, which he wrote at the end of his third missionary journey, when he was traveling to Jerusalem, before he was arrested. He had hoped to go from Jerusalem to Rome on his way to preach the gospel in Spain, not likely imagining he would go there as a prisoner.

In the first half of the fifteenth chapter, yesterday, Paul summed up the theology in Romans with, “Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy.” He reiterated the importance of Scripture: “whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope,” pronouncing, “may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The outcome of our growth and peace through the power of the Holy Spirit is that, “we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself.” This is utterly counter-cultural, but what are we called to? Love God and love others.

Romans 15

v21 “but as it is written,
‘THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE,
AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.’

v22-29 “For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you; but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while— but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

v30-33 “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”

Dear Lord,

if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.

This is a convicting passage. May we be willing to have Your Word have Your way in our hearts.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Day 228, August 16: Bible reading & prayer

Kimberly Milhoan, MD — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 10:02:49 GMT

Our reading yesterday in the book of Jeremiah, was very significant for the future of Israel. The LORD told Jeremiah to write all the words He had spoken to Him in a book, promising to restore the fortunes of His people Israel and Judah. He explained that He will punish their iniquity and sin, but He will bring them back to the land, and they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom He will raise up. He said, “In the latter days you will understand this.”

The LORD also revealed His New Covenant that He will make with the house of Israel and the house of Judah: “‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more’” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.

August 16 chronological reading: Jeremiah 32-34

Jeremiah 32

v1-5 “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, because Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, ‘Why do you prophesy, saying, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; and he will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,’ declares the LORD. ‘If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.’”

v6-8 “And Jeremiah said, ‘The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, ‘Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.’” Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the LORD and said to me, “Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

v9-15 ‘I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy; and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time.’ For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’”

v16-25 ‘After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I prayed to the LORD, saying, “Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, who shows lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The LORD of hosts is His name; great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; who has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day. You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror; and gave them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made all this calamity come upon them. Behold, the siege ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine and the pestilence; and what You have spoken has come to pass; and behold, You see it. You have said to me, O Lord GOD, ‘Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses’—although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”’

v26-35 “Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, ‘Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” Therefore thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it. The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses where people have offered incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger. Indeed the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only evil in My sight from their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands,’ declares the LORD. ‘Indeed this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be removed from before My face, because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, teaching again and again, they would not listen and receive instruction. But they put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

v36-44 ‘Now therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, ”It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine and by pestilence.” Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul. For thus says the LORD, “Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them. Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes,” declares the LORD.’”

Jeremiah 33

v1-9 “Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it, the LORD is His name, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” For thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which are broken down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword, “While they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness: Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.”

v10-11 ‘Thus says the LORD, “Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, ‘It is a waste, without man and without beast,’ that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say,
‘Give thanks to the LORD of hosts,
For the LORD is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting’;
and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,” says the LORD.

v12-13 ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “There will again be in this place which is waste, without man or beast, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds who rest their flocks. In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,” says the LORD.

v14-18 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.” For thus says the LORD, “David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.”’

v19-22 “The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.”’

v23-26 “And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, ‘Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, “The two families which the LORD chose, He has rejected them”? Thus they despise My people, no longer are they as a nation in their sight. Thus says the LORD, “If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”’”

Jeremiah 34

v1-5 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him: ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. You will not escape from his hand, for you will surely be captured and delivered into his hand; and you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face, and you will go to Babylon.”’” Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the LORD concerning you, “You will not die by the sword. You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will burn spices for you; and they will lament for you, ‘Alas, lord!’” For I have spoken the word,’ declares the LORD.

v6-7 “Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, Lachish and Azekah, for they alone remained as fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

v8-11 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them: that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman; so that no one should keep them, a Jew his brother, in bondage. And all the officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, so that no one should keep them any longer in bondage; they obeyed, and set them free. But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection for male servants and for female servants.

v12-16 “Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “I made a covenant with your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying, ‘At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you and has served you six years, you shall send him out free from you; but your forefathers did not obey Me or incline their ear to Me. Although recently you had turned and done what is right in My sight, each man proclaiming release to his neighbor, and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. Yet you turned and profaned My name, and each man took back his male servant and each man his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male servants and female servants.’”

v17-22 ‘Therefore thus says the LORD, “You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,” declares the LORD, “to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts— the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has gone away from you. Behold, I am going to command,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.”’”

August 16 OT/NT readings: Psalms 105-106, Romans 15:1-20

Psalm 105, appears as 67th/150 Psalms, author unknown, after David brought the ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:11-6, 1 Chronicles 13-16), Day 125
Psalm 106, appears as 53rd/150 Psalms, author unknown, after David was made king over all Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-10, 1 Chronicles 11-12), Day 123

Yesterday we read Psalms 103-104:

bless the LORD and forget none of His benefits, appears 50th, David, after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, and establishment of David's kingdom (1 Chronicles 7-10), Day 120
1. “A Psalm of David”: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name….And forget none of His benefits Who pardons all your iniquities….The LORD performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him….the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them. The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. Bless the LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!”
the Creator rules over creation, appears 51st, unknown, after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, and establishment of David's kingdom (1 Chronicles 7-10), Day 120
1. “Bless the LORD, O my soul! He established the earth….The waters were standing above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled….You set a boundary that they may not pass over, So that they will not return to cover the earth….The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth….He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting….O LORD, how many are Your works In wisdom You have made them all….You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground. Let the glory of the LORD endure forever; Let the LORD be glad in His works….I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD. Let sinners be consumed from the earth And let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!”

In the thirteenth chapter, Paul taught we should be in subjection to authorities, as they are established by God. We should love, and not do wrong to, our neighbor, since this fulfills the Law. Our behavior should be proper as in the day, including putting aside strife and jealousy (see my perspective here). In the fourteenth chapter, yesterday, Paul taught that we should resolve not to judge one another’s differing opinions, not put stumbling blocks in front of each other, and to pursue the things that make for peace, walking in love, knowing each one of us is individually accountable to God (see my perspective here).

Romans 15

v1-6 “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME.’ For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

v7-12 “Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written,
‘THEREFORE I WILL GIVE PRAISE TO YOU AMONG THE GENTILES,
AND I WILL SING TO YOUR NAME.’
Again he says,
‘REJOICE, O GENTILES, WITH HIS PEOPLE.’
And again,
‘PRAISE THE LORD ALL YOU GENTILES,
AND LET ALL THE PEOPLES PRAISE HIM.’
Again Isaiah says,
‘THERE SHALL COME THE ROOT OF JESSE,
AND HE WHO ARISES TO RULE OVER THE GENTILES,
IN HIM SHALL THE GENTILES HOPE.’

v13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

v14-20 “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation.”

Dear Lord,

whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

We do have hope. May we persevere, and be encouraged by Your Word.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.