Read the Bible with Me!

Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! I'm reading the Bible clear through this year, and I invite you to read along with me. But first, let us pray: 

My God, I adore and thank your loving and wise Providence, manifested on every page of Sacred Scripture. You have always been close to sinful and erring humanity, and have indicated the way and given hope. Amid the shadows of error and corruption, you kindled the light of your truth; amid universal corruption, you are the Just One; amid so much idolatry, humanity in every corner of the earth has cultivated a sincere worship of you.
Let my reading today increase my trust in your goodness, your mercy, and your unfailing faithfulness.

Today's chapters are 1 Kings 13-15 and Psalm 49.

Politics and religion. Yesterday, the Northern king decided to create his own shrine and priesthood, to keep people from pining after the glorious Temple and the Davidic kingdom associated with it. That is the background for today's dire warning to the king. Sadly, neither king seems to take wisdom to heart.

Kings ascend to the throne, "do evil in the sight of the Lord" and are buried with their ancestors. It almost seems rote. And then, unexpectedly, a good king rises up! "Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord like David his father." 

Start reading 1 Kings here and Psalm 49 here.

If you are looking for a solid but approachable companion to the Bible, I can wholeheartedly recommend A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament by John Bergsma and Brant Pitre. Although the authors are top-level Scripture scholars, they write for "real" readers. Notes include recent findings from archaeology and ancient manuscripts, and how each book of the Bible has been understood by the Church Fathers and used in Liturgy.