The Transformed Life – a Call to Consecration

Acts 15:22-41 | Church Hurt

Connect With God Through Adoration | 7-Day Devotional

Bestseller

Thinking Christian: A Counter-Culture Worldview

Finding Hope While Navigating Depression: A 7-Day Devotional

Chasing False Needs Versus Resting in Reality

The Joy of Belonging

Am I in the Right Job? …Guidance From the Bible

Storm Watch

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch11" data-usfm="1KI.11">
 <div class="label">11</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Wives</div><div class="p"> 1King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh&#8217;s daughter&#8212;Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, &#8220;You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.&#8221; Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.</div><div class="p"> 7On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.</div><div class="p"> 9The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord&#8217;s command. 11So the Lord said to Solomon, &#8220;Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Adversaries</div><div class="p"> 14Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. 15Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom. 16Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom. 17But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. 18They set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking people from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food.</div><div class="p"> 19Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. 20The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh&#8217;s own children.</div><div class="p"> 21While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, &#8220;Let me go, that I may return to my own country.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22&#8220;What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?&#8221; Pharaoh asked.</div><div class="p">&#8220;Nothing,&#8221; Hadad replied, &#8220;but do let me go!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24When David destroyed Zobah&#8217;s army, Rezon gathered a band of men around him and became their leader; they went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. 25Rezon was Israel&#8217;s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile toward Israel.</div><div class="s1">Jeroboam Rebels Against Solomon</div><div class="p"> 26Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon&#8217;s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.</div><div class="p"> 27Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the terraces#11:27 Or the Millo and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. 28Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph.</div><div class="p"> 29About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, 30and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31Then he said to Jeroboam, &#8220;Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: &#8216;See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon&#8217;s hand and give you ten tribes. 32But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. 33I will do this because they have#11:33 Hebrew; Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac because he has forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon&#8217;s father, did.</div><div class="p"> 34&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon&#8217;s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. 35I will take the kingdom from his son&#8217;s hands and give you ten tribes. 36I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. 37However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. 38If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. 39I will humble David&#8217;s descendants because of this, but not forever.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 40Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon&#8217;s death.</div><div class="s1">Solomon&#8217;s Death</div><div class="p"> 41As for the other events of Solomon&#8217;s reign&#8212;all he did and the wisdom he displayed&#8212;are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon? 42Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 43Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="1KI.12">
 <div class="label">12</div><div class="s1">Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam</div><div class="p"> 1Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from#12:2 Or he remained in Egypt. 3So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4&#8220;Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5Rehoboam answered, &#8220;Go away for three days and then come back to me.&#8221; So the people went away.</div><div class="p"> 6Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. &#8220;How would you advise me to answer these people?&#8221; he asked.</div><div class="p"> 7They replied, &#8220;If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9He asked them, &#8220;What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, &#8216;Lighten the yoke your father put on us&#8217;?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10The young men who had grown up with him replied, &#8220;These people have said to you, &#8216;Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.&#8217; Now tell them, &#8216;My little finger is thicker than my father&#8217;s waist. 11My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, &#8220;Come back to me in three days.&#8221; 13The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, 14he followed the advice of the young men and said, &#8220;My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.&#8221; 15So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.</div><div class="p"> 16When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;What share do we have in David,</div><div class="q2">what part in Jesse&#8217;s son?</div><div class="q1">To your tents, Israel!</div><div class="q2">Look after your own house, David!&#8221;</div><div class="m">So the Israelites went home. 17But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.</div><div class="p"> 18King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram,#12:18 Some Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac (see also 4:6 and 5:14); Hebrew Adoram who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.</div><div class="p"> 20When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.</div><div class="p"> 21When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin&#8212;a hundred and eighty thousand able young men&#8212;to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.</div><div class="p"> 22But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: 23&#8220;Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 24&#8216;This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.</div><div class="s1">Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan</div><div class="p"> 25Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.#12:25 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel</div><div class="p"> 26Jeroboam thought to himself, &#8220;The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 28After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, &#8220;It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.&#8221; 29One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.#12:30 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text people went to the one as far as Dan</div><div class="p"> 31Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. 32He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. 33On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch13" data-usfm="1KI.13">
 <div class="label">13</div><div class="s1">The Man of God From Judah</div><div class="p"> 1By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. 2By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: &#8220;Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: &#8216;A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; 3That same day the man of God gave a sign: &#8220;This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, &#8220;Seize him!&#8221; But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. 5Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 6Then the king said to the man of God, &#8220;Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.&#8221; So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king&#8217;s hand was restored and became as it was before.</div><div class="p"> 7The king said to the man of God, &#8220;Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8But the man of God answered the king, &#8220;Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. 9For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: &#8216;You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; 10So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.</div><div class="p"> 11Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. 12Their father asked them, &#8220;Which way did he go?&#8221; And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13So he said to his sons, &#8220;Saddle the donkey for me.&#8221; And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, &#8220;Are you the man of God who came from Judah?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;I am,&#8221; he replied.</div><div class="p"> 15So the prophet said to him, &#8220;Come home with me and eat.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16The man of God said, &#8220;I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17I have been told by the word of the Lord: &#8216;You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18The old prophet answered, &#8220;I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: &#8216;Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; (But he was lying to him.) 19So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.</div><div class="p"> 20While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, &#8220;This is what the Lord says: &#8216;You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. 22You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.</div><div class="p"> 26When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, &#8220;It is the man of God who defied the word of the Lord. The Lord has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the Lord had warned him.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27The prophet said to his sons, &#8220;Saddle the donkey for me,&#8221; and they did so. 28Then he went out and found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. 29So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. 30Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, &#8220;Alas, my brother!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 31After burying him, he said to his sons, &#8220;When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32For the message he declared by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 33Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. 34This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch14" data-usfm="1KI.14">
 <div class="label">14</div><div class="s1">Ahijah&#8217;s Prophecy Against Jeroboam</div><div class="p"> 1At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, 2and Jeroboam said to his wife, &#8220;Go, disguise yourself, so you won&#8217;t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there&#8212;the one who told me I would be king over this people. 3Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.&#8221; 4So Jeroboam&#8217;s wife did what he said and went to Ahijah&#8217;s house in Shiloh.</div><div class="p">Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age. 5But the Lord had told Ahijah, &#8220;Jeroboam&#8217;s wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, &#8220;Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense? I have been sent to you with bad news. 7Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: &#8216;I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 8I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. 9You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me.</div><div class="p"> 10&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel&#8212;slave or free.#14:10 Or Israel&#8212;every ruler or leader I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone. 11Dogs will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country. The Lord has spoken!&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die. 13All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the Lord, the God of Israel, has found anything good.</div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;The Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. Even now this is beginning to happen.#14:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain. 15And the Lord will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused the Lord&#8217;s anger by making Asherah poles.#14:15 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in 1 Kings 16And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Then Jeroboam&#8217;s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the Lord had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.</div><div class="p"> 19The other events of Jeroboam&#8217;s reign, his wars and how he ruled, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. 20He reigned for twenty-two years and then rested with his ancestors. And Nadab his son succeeded him as king.</div><div class="s1">Rehoboam King of Judah</div><div class="p"> 21Rehoboam son of Solomon was king in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother&#8217;s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.</div><div class="p"> 22Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than those who were before them had done. 23They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 24There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.</div><div class="p"> 25In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26He carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. 27So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. 28Whenever the king went to the Lord&#8217;s temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.</div><div class="p"> 29As for the other events of Rehoboam&#8217;s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 30There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 31And Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. His mother&#8217;s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. And Abijah#14:31 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (see also 2 Chron. 12:16); most Hebrew manuscripts Abijam his son succeeded him as king.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1KI">
 <div class="chapter ch15" data-usfm="1KI.15">
 <div class="label">15</div><div class="s1">Abijah King of Judah</div><div class="p"> 1In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah#15:1 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (see also 2 Chron. 12:16); most Hebrew manuscripts Abijam; also in verses 7 and 8 became king of Judah, 2and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother&#8217;s name was Maakah daughter of Abishalom.#15:2 A variant of Absalom; also in verse 10</div><div class="p"> 3He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. 4Nevertheless, for David&#8217;s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. 5For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord&#8217;s commands all the days of his life&#8212;except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.</div><div class="p"> 6There was war between Abijah#15:6 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac Abijam (that is, Abijah); most Hebrew manuscripts Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout Abijah&#8217;s lifetime. 7As for the other events of Abijah&#8217;s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 8And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Asa his son succeeded him as king.</div><div class="s1">Asa King of Judah</div><div class="p"> 9In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, 10and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother&#8217;s name was Maakah daughter of Abishalom.</div><div class="p"> 11Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done. 12He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made. 13He even deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14Although he did not remove the high places, Asa&#8217;s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 15He brought into the temple of the Lord the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.</div><div class="p"> 16There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns. 17Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.</div><div class="p"> 18Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord&#8217;s temple and of his own palace. He entrusted it to his officials and sent them to Ben-Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. 19&#8220;Let there be a treaty between me and you,&#8221; he said, &#8220;as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maakah and all Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali. 21When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. 22Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah&#8212;no one was exempt&#8212;and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using there. With them King Asa built up Geba in Benjamin, and also Mizpah.</div><div class="p"> 23As for all the other events of Asa&#8217;s reign, all his achievements, all he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? In his old age, however, his feet became diseased. 24Then Asa rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of his father David. And Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king.</div><div class="s1">Nadab King of Israel</div><div class="p"> 25Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. 26He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of his father and committing the same sin his father had caused Israel to commit.</div><div class="p"> 27Baasha son of Ahijah from the tribe of Issachar plotted against him, and he struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging it. 28Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah and succeeded him as king.</div><div class="p"> 29As soon as he began to reign, he killed Jeroboam&#8217;s whole family. He did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all, according to the word of the Lord given through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. 30This happened because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.</div><div class="p"> 31As for the other events of Nadab&#8217;s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 32There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns.</div><div class="s1">Baasha King of Israel</div><div class="p"> 33In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. 34He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkJER">
 <div class="chapter ch52" data-usfm="JER.52">
 <div class="label">52</div><div class="s1">The Fall of Jerusalem</div><div class="p"> 1Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother&#8217;s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 2He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3It was because of the Lord&#8217;s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.</div><div class="p">Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.</div><div class="p"> 4So in the ninth year of Zedekiah&#8217;s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 5The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.</div><div class="p"> 6By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. 7Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king&#8217;s garden, though the Babylonians#52:7 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 17 were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,#52:7 Or the Jordan Valley 8but the Babylonian#52:8 Or Chaldean; also in verse 14 army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, 9and he was captured.</div><div class="p">He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. 10There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. 11Then he put out Zedekiah&#8217;s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.</div><div class="p"> 12On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. 14The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen#52:15 Or the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. 16But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.</div><div class="p"> 17The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 19The commander of the imperial guard took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, dishes and bowls used for drink offerings&#8212;all that were made of pure gold or silver.</div><div class="p"> 20The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord, was more than could be weighed. 21Each pillar was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference#52:21 That is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference or about 8.1 meters high and 5.4 meters in circumference; each was four fingers thick, and hollow. 22The bronze capital on top of one pillar was five cubits#52:22 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. 23There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred.</div><div class="p"> 24The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers. 25Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land, sixty of whom were found in the city. 26Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.</div><div class="p">So Judah went into captivity, away from her land. 28This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="li1">in the seventh year,</div><div class="li2">3,023 Jews;</div><div class="li1"> 29in Nebuchadnezzar&#8217;s eighteenth year,</div><div class="li2">832 people from Jerusalem;</div><div class="li1"> 30in his twenty-third year,</div><div class="li2">745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard.</div><div class="li2">There were 4,600 people in all.</div><div class="s1">Jehoiachin Released</div><div class="p"> 31In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. 32He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 33So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king&#8217;s table. 34Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived, till the day of his death.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2TH">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="2TH.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1Paul, Silas#1:1 Greek Silvanus, a variant of Silas and Timothy,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 2Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.</div><div class="s1">Thanksgiving and Prayer</div><div class="p"> 3We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters,#1:3 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God&#8217;s family; also in 2:1, 13, 15; 3:1, 6, 13. and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4Therefore, among God&#8217;s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.</div><div class="p"> 5All this is evidence that God&#8217;s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.</div><div class="p"> 11With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. 12We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.#1:12 Or God and Lord, Jesus Christ</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2TH">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="2TH.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">The Man of Lawlessness</div><div class="p"> 1Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us&#8212;whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter&#8212;asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3Don&#8217;t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness#2:3 Some manuscripts sin is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God&#8217;s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.</div><div class="p"> 5Don&#8217;t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.</div><div class="s1">Stand Firm</div><div class="p"> 13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits#2:13 Some manuscripts because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.</div><div class="p"> 15So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings#2:15 Or traditions we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.</div><div class="p"> 16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2TH">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="2TH.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">Request for Prayer</div><div class="p"> 1As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. 2And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. 3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 4We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5May the Lord direct your hearts into God&#8217;s love and Christ&#8217;s perseverance.</div><div class="s1">Warning Against Idleness</div><div class="p"> 6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching#3:6 Or tradition you received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone&#8217;s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: &#8220;The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. 13And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.</div><div class="p"> 14Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. 15Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.</div><div class="s1">Final Greetings</div><div class="p"> 16Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.</div><div class="p"> 17I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.</div><div class="p"> 18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

The Bible in 90 DaysSample

Scripture

About this Plan

Related plans