Luke 12:49-59
[49]
“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already
kindled! [50] I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my
distress until it is accomplished! [51] Do you think that I have come to
give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. [52] For from
now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and
two against three. [53] They will be divided, father against son and son
against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against
mother-in-law.”
[54]
He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west,
you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. [55] And when
you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’
and it happens. [56] You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the
appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret
the present time?
[57]
“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? [58] As you go
with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with
him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you
over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. [59] I tell you,
you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”
2 Thessalonians 3:14-18
[14]
If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that
person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. [15] Do
not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
[16] Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.
[17]
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of
genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. [18] The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Psalm 150
[1] Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
[2] Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
[3] Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
[4] Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
[5] Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
[6] Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
2 Chronicles 34
[1]
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
thirty-one years in Jerusalem. [2] And he did what was right in the eyes
of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not
turn aside to the right hand or to the left. [3] For in the eighth year
of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David
his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and
Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal
images. [4] And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his
presence, and he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. And
he broke in pieces the Asherim and the carved and the metal images, and
he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had
sacrificed to them. [5] He also burned the bones of the priests on their
altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. [6] And in the cities of
Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins
all around, [7] he broke down the altars and beat the Asherim and the
images into powder and cut down all the incense altars throughout all
the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
[8]
Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land
and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the
governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to
repair the house of the LORD his God. [9] They came to Hilkiah the high
priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of
God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from
Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all
Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [10] And they
gave it to the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD. And
the workmen who were working in the house of the LORD gave it for
repairing and restoring the house. [11] They gave it to the carpenters
and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders and beams
for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin. [12] And
the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadiah
the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the
sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. The Levites, all who were
skillful with instruments of music, [13] were over the burden-bearers
and directed all who did work in every kind of service, and some of the
Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.
[14]
While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the
house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the
LORD given through Moses. [15] Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan
the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the
LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. [16] Shaphan brought the
book to the king, and further reported to the king, “All that was
committed to your servants they are doing. [17] They have emptied out
the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have given it into
the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” [18] Then Shaphan the
secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And
Shaphan read from it before the king.
[19]
And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes. [20]
And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the
son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant,
saying, [21] “Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left
in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been
found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us,
because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according
to all that is written in this book.”
[22]
So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to Huldah the
prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah,
keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second
Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. [23] And she said to them,
“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to
me, [24] Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this
place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the
book that was read before the king of Judah. [25] Because they have
forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might
provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my
wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. [26]
But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus
shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding
the words that you have heard, [27] because your heart was tender and
you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this
place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and
have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you,
declares the LORD. [28] Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and
you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not
see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its
inhabitants.’” And they brought back word to the king.
[29]
Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and
Jerusalem. [30] And the king went up to the house of the LORD, with all
the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and
the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their
hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in
the house of the LORD. [31] And the king stood in his place and made a
covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his
commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart
and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written
in this book. [32] Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and
in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according
to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. [33] And Josiah took
away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the
people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the LORD
their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the LORD,
the God of their fathers.
2 Chronicles 35
[1]
Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered
the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. [2] He
appointed the priests to their offices and encouraged them in the
service of the house of the LORD. [3] And he said to the Levites who
taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, “Put the holy ark in
the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need
not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his
people Israel. [4] Prepare yourselves according to your fathers’ houses
by your divisions, as prescribed in the writing of David king of Israel
and the document of Solomon his son. [5] And stand in the Holy Place
according to the groupings of the fathers’ houses of your brothers the
lay people, and according to the division of the Levites by fathers’
household. [6] And slaughter the Passover lamb, and consecrate
yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to the word
of the LORD by Moses.”
[7]
Then Josiah contributed to the lay people, as Passover offerings for
all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number
of 30,000, and 3,000 bulls; these were from the king’s possessions. [8]
And his officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests,
and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers
of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings
2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls. [9] Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and
Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs
of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000
lambs and young goats and 500 bulls.
[10]
When the service had been prepared for, the priests stood in their
place, and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s
command. [11] And they slaughtered the Passover lamb, and the priests
threw the blood that they received from them while the Levites flayed
the sacrifices. [12] And they set aside the burnt offerings that they
might distribute them according to the groupings of the fathers’ houses
of the lay people, to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the Book of
Moses. And so they did with the bulls. [13] And they roasted the
Passover lamb with fire according to the rule; and they boiled the holy
offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly
to all the lay people. [14] And afterward they prepared for themselves
and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were
offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night; so the
Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.
[15] The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place according to
the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s
seer; and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart
from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.
[16]
So all the service of the LORD was prepared that day, to keep the
Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD,
according to the command of King Josiah. [17] And the people of Israel
who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread seven days. [18] No Passover like it had been kept in
Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel
had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the
Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem. [19] In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this
Passover was kept.
[20]
After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt
went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to
meet him. [21] But he sent envoys to him, saying, “What have we to do
with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day,
but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me
to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you.” [22]
Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself
in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from
the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo. [23] And
the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, “Take
me away, for I am badly wounded.” [24] So his servants took him out of
the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to
Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All
Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. [25] Jeremiah also uttered a
lament for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women have spoken
of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in
Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments. [26] Now the rest of
the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds according to what is written in
the Law of the LORD, [27] and his acts, first and last, behold, they are
written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
2 Chronicles 36
[1]
The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him
king in his father’s place in Jerusalem. [2] Jehoahaz was twenty-three
years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in
Jerusalem. [3] Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and laid
on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of
gold. [4] And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah
and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took
Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt.
[5]
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of
the LORD his God. [6] Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. [7] Nebuchadnezzar also
carried part of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put
them in his palace in Babylon. [8] Now the rest of the acts of
Jehoiakim, and the abominations that 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 reigned in his place.
[9]
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned
three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the
sight of the LORD. [10] In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar
sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house
of the LORD, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and
Jerusalem.
[11]
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. [12] He did what was evil in the
sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the
prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. [13] He also rebelled
against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened
his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of
Israel. [14] All the officers of the priests and the people likewise
were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the
nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy
in Jerusalem.
[15]
The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his
messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling
place. [16] But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his
words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose
against his people, until there was no remedy.
[17]
Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who
killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary
and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave
them all into his hand. [18] And all the vessels 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 princes, all these he brought to
Babylon. [19] And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall
of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its
precious vessels. [20] He took into exile in Babylon those who had
escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons
until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, [21] to fulfill the
word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed
its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to
fulfill seventy years.
[22]
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the
LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up
the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation
throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: [23] “Thus says
Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the
kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at
Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people,
may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.’”
