Bible in a Year - Day 217 - Wednesday 5th August 2026

The Bible in a Year, bringing the Word to life. Father God, thank you that we can spend time listening to your Word. By your divine power, reveal to us from the Bible everything we need to lead a godly life. Amen. Psalm 91 verses 1 to 8

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God in whom I trust. Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers

And under his wings you will find refuge His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart You will not fear the terror of night Nor the arrow that flies by day

Nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness Nor the plague that destroys at midday A thousand may fall at your side Ten thousand at your right hand

but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18

to 1 Corinthians 2, verse 5 For the message 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 the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher 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 know him God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached

to save those who believe Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom but we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles

but to those who God has called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God for the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom

and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many were influential.

Not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things

and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God,

that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. And so it was with me, brothers and sisters,

When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you, except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

I came to you in weakness, with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom,

but on God's power. 1 Chronicles chapter 19 verse 1 to chapter 21 verse 30 In the course of time Nahash king of the Ammonites died, and his son succeeded him as king. David thought, I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.

so david sent a delegation to express his sympathy to hanan concerning his father when david's envoys came to hanan in the land of the ammonites to express sympathy to him the ammonite commander said to hanan do you think david is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy haven't his envoys come to you only to explore and spy out

the country and overthrow it? So Hanun seized David's envoys, shaved them, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away. When someone came and told David about the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.

When the Ammonites realised that they had become obnoxious to David, Hanan and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Aram Naharim, Aram Maaka and Zobah. They hired 32,000 chariots and charioteers,

as well as the king of Maaka with his troops, who came and camped near Medibah, while the Ammonites were mustered from their towns and moved out for battle. On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men.

The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance to their city, while the kings who had come were by themselves in the open country. Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him, so he selected some of the best troops in Israel

and deployed them against the Arameans. He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai, his brother, and they were deployed against the Ammonites. Joab said, If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to rescue me.

But if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will rescue you. Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. the Lord will do what is good in his sight. Then Joab and the troops with him

advanced to fight the Arameans and they fled before him. When the Ammonites realized that the Arameans were fleeing they too fled before his brother Abishai

and went inside the city. So Joab went back to Jerusalem. After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel they sent messengers and had Arameans brought from beyond the river Euphrates

with Shofak, the commander of Herodes's army, leading them. When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan. He advanced against them and formed his battle lines opposite them. David formed his lines to meet the Arameans in battle and they fought against him.

But they fled before Israel, and David killed 7,000 of their charioteers and 40,000 of their foot soldiers. He also killed Shophak, the commander of their army. When the vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him.