July 17

Luke 11:1-13

The Lord’s Prayer

[1] Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” [2] And he said to them, “When you pray, say: 

    “Father, hallowed be your name.

    Your kingdom come. 

    [3] Give us each day our daily bread, 

    [4] and forgive us our sins,

        for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

    And lead us not into temptation.”

    [5] And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, [6] for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; [7] and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? [8] I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. [9] And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [10] For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. [11] What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; [12] or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? [13] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

The Day of the Lord

[1] Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. [2] For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. [3] While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. [4] But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. [5] For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. [6] So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. [7] For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. [8] But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. [9] For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, [10] who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. [11] Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Psalm 142

You Are My Refuge

A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.

    [1] With my voice I cry out to the LORD;

        with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD. 

    [2] I pour out my complaint before him;

        I tell my trouble before him.

    [3] When my spirit faints within me,

        you know my way!

    In the path where I walk

        they have hidden a trap for me. 

    [4] Look to the right and see:

        there is none who takes notice of me;

    no refuge remains to me;

        no one cares for my soul.

    [5] I cry to you, O LORD;

        I say, “You are my refuge,

        my portion in the land of the living.” 

    [6] Attend to my cry,

        for I am brought very low!

    Deliver me from my persecutors,

        for they are too strong for me! 

    [7] Bring me out of prison,

        that I may give thanks to your name!

    The righteous will surround me,

        for you will deal bountifully with me.

2 Chronicles 10

The Revolt Against Rehoboam

[1] Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. [2] And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. [3] And they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and said to Rehoboam, [4] “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” [5] He said to them, “Come to me again in three days.” So the people went away.

[6] Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” [7] And they said to him, “If you will be good to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” [8] But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. [9] And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” [10] And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us’; thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. [11] And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

[12] So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” [13] And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, [14] King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” [15] So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the LORD might fulfill his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

[16] And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Each of you to your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So all Israel went to their tents. [17] But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. [18] Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. [19] So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

2 Chronicles 11

Rehoboam Secures His Kingdom

[1] When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. [2] But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God: [3] “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, [4] ‘Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.

[5] Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. [6] He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, [7] Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, [8] Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, [9] Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, [10] Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. [11] He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. [12] And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem

[13] And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. [14] For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the LORD, [15] and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. [16] And those who had set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. [17] They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.

Rehoboam’s Family

[18] Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse, [19] and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. [20] After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. [21] Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). [22] And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. [23] And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them.

2 Chronicles 12

Egypt Plunders Jerusalem

[1] When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. [2] In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem [3] with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. [4] And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. [5] Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” [6] Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.” [7] When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. [8] Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

[9] So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made, [10] and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. [11] And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. [12] And when he humbled himself the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, conditions were good in Judah.

[13] So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. [14] And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.

[15] Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer? There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. [16] And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and Abijah his son reigned in his place.