Bible Reading
July 12
The World English Bible
July
12
2
Kings 22-25
2Ki
22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he
reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was
Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.
2Ki
22:2 He did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, and walked
in all the way of David his father, and didn't turn aside to the
right hand or to the left.
2Ki
22:3 It happened in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the
king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam, the
scribe, to the house of Yahweh, saying,
2Ki
22:4 Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the money
which is brought into the house of Yahweh, which the keepers of the
threshold have gathered of the people:
2Ki
22:5 and let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen who have
the oversight of the house of Yahweh; and let them give it to the
workmen who are in the house of Yahweh, to repair the breaches of the
house,
2Ki
22:6 to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons, and
for buying timber and cut stone to repair the house.
2Ki
22:7 However there was no reckoning made with them of the money that
was delivered into their hand; for they dealt faithfully.
2Ki
22:8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have
found the book of the law in the house of Yahweh. Hilkiah delivered
the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
2Ki
22:9 Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word
again, and said, Your servants have emptied out the money that was
found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the
workmen who have the oversight of the house of Yahweh.
2Ki
22:10 Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest
has delivered me a book. Shaphan read it before the king.
2Ki
22:11 It happened, when the king had heard the words of the book of
the law, that he tore his clothes.
2Ki
22:12 The king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of
Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and
Asaiah the king's servant, saying,
2Ki
22:13 Go inquire of Yahweh for me, and for the people, and for all
Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is
the wrath of Yahweh that is kindled against us, because our fathers
have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all
that which is written concerning us.
2Ki
22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan,
and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the
son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she
lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter); and they talked with her.
2Ki
22:15 She said to them, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: Tell
the man who sent you to me,
2Ki
22:16 Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will bring evil on this place, and
on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of
Judah has read.
2Ki
22:17 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to
other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of
their hands, therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place,
and it shall not be quenched.
2Ki
22:18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Yahweh,
thus you shall tell him, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: As
touching the words which you have heard,
2Ki
22:19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before
Yahweh, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against
its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse,
and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard
you, says Yahweh.
2Ki
22:20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you
shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eyes see
all the evil which I will bring on this place. They brought the king
word again.
2Ki
23:1 The king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah
and of Jerusalem.
2Ki
23:2 The king went up to the house of Yahweh, and all the men of
Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests,
and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he
read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which
was found in the house of Yahweh.
2Ki
23:3 The king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before
Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, and to keep his commandments, and his
testimonies, and his statutes, with all his
heart, and all his
soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this
book: and all the people stood to the covenant.
2Ki
23:4 The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of
the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring forth
out of the temple of Yahweh all the vessels that were made for Baal,
and for the Asherah, and for all the army of the sky, and he burned
them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried
the ashes of them to Bethel.
2Ki
23:5 He put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had
ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah,
and in the places around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to
Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the
army of the sky.
2Ki
23:6 He brought out the Asherah from the house of Yahweh, outside of
Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron,
and beat it to dust, and cast its dust on the graves of the common
people.
2Ki
23:7 He broke down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the
house of Yahweh, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
2Ki
23:8 He brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and
defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from
Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates
that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the
city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
2Ki
23:9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places didn't come up to
the altar of Yahweh in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among
their brothers.
2Ki
23:10 He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of
Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass
through the fire to Molech.
2Ki
23:11 He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to
the sun, at the entrance of the house of Yahweh, by the chamber of
Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court; and he burned the
chariots of the sun with fire.
2Ki
23:12 The altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz,
which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had
made in the two courts of the house of Yahweh, did the king break
down, and beat them
down from there, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
2Ki
23:13 The high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the
right hand of the mountain of corruption, which Solomon the king of
Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and
for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination
of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
2Ki
23:14 He broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and
filled their places with the bones of men.
2Ki
23:15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place
which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made,
even that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the
high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah.
2Ki
23:16 As Josiah turned himself, he spied the tombs that were there
in the mountain; and he sent, and took the bones out of the tombs,
and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, according to the word
of Yahweh which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these
things.
2Ki
23:17 Then he said, What monument is that which I see? The men of
the city told him, It is the tomb of the man of God, who came from
Judah, and proclaimed these things that you have done against the
altar of Bethel.
2Ki
23:18 He said, Let him be; let no man move his bones. So they let
his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of
Samaria.
2Ki
23:19 All the houses also of the high places that were in the cities
of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke Yahweh
to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts
that he had done in Bethel.
2Ki
23:20 He killed all the priests of the high places that were there,
on the altars, and burned men's bones on them; and he returned to
Jerusalem.
2Ki
23:21 The king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the Passover
to Yahweh your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.
2Ki
23:22 Surely there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the
judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel,
nor of the kings of Judah;
2Ki
23:23 but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this Passover
kept to Yahweh in Jerusalem.
2Ki
23:24 Moreover those who had familiar spirits, and the wizards, and
the teraphim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen
in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he
might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book
that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Yahweh.
2Ki
23:25 Like him was there no king before him, who turned to Yahweh
with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might,
according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any
like him.
2Ki
23:26 Notwithstanding, Yahweh didn't turn from the fierceness of his
great wrath, with which his anger was kindled against Judah, because
of all the provocation with which Manasseh had provoked him.
2Ki
23:27 Yahweh said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I
have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city which I have
chosen, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall
be there.
2Ki
23:28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did,
aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Judah?
2Ki
23:29 In his days Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt went up against the
king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against
him; and Pharaoh Necoh
killed him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.
2Ki
23:30 His servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and
brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people
of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and
made him king in his father's place.
2Ki
23:31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign;
and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was
Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
2Ki
23:32 He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according
to all that his fathers had done.
2Ki
23:33 Pharaoh Necoh put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of
Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a
tribute of one hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
2Ki
23:34 Pharaoh Necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room
of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim: but he took
Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, and died there.
2Ki
23:35 Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he
taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of
Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the
land, of everyone according to his taxation, to give it to Pharaoh
Necoh.
2Ki
23:36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign;
and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was
Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
2Ki
23:37 He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according
to all that his fathers had done.
2Ki
24:1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and
Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled
against him.
2Ki
24:2 Yahweh sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of
the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of
Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the
word of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servants the prophets.
2Ki
24:3 Surely at the commandment of Yahweh came this on Judah, to
remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to
all that he did,
2Ki
24:4 and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled
Jerusalem with innocent blood: and Yahweh would not pardon.
2Ki
24:5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did,
aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Judah?
2Ki
24:6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers; and Jehoiachin his son
reigned in his place.
2Ki
24:7 The king of Egypt didn't come again out of his land any more;
for the king of Babylon had taken, from the brook of Egypt to the
river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt.
2Ki
24:8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; and
he reigned in Jerusalem three months: and his mother's name was
Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
2Ki
24:9 He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to
all that his father had done.
2Ki
24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
2Ki
24:11 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city, while his
servants were besieging it;
2Ki
24:12 and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of
Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and
his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of
his reign.
2Ki
24:13 He carried out there all the treasures of the house of Yahweh,
and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the
vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple
of Yahweh, as Yahweh had said.
2Ki
24:14 He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all
the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the
craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, save the poorest sort of the
people of the land.
2Ki
24:15 He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king's mother,
and the king's wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the
land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
2Ki
24:16 All the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen
and the smiths one thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even
them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
2Ki
24:17 The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's
father's brother, king is his place, and changed his name to
Zedekiah.
2Ki
24:18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; and
he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was
Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
2Ki
24:19 He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according
to all that Jehoiakim had done.
2Ki
24:20 For through the anger of Yahweh did it happen in Jerusalem and
Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Zedekiah
rebelled against the king of Babylon.
2Ki
25:1 It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month,
in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against
it; and they built forts against it around it.
2Ki
25:2 So the city was besieged to the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
2Ki
25:3 On the ninth day of the fourth
month the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for
the people of the land.
2Ki
25:4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled
by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by
the king's garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city around
it); and the king
went by the way of the Arabah.
2Ki
25:5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and
overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered
from him.
2Ki
25:6 Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of
Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment on him.
2Ki
25:7 They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out
the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to
Babylon.
2Ki
25:8 Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which
was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of
Babylon, to Jerusalem.
2Ki
25:9 He burnt the house of Yahweh, and the king's house; and all the
houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burnt he with fire.
2Ki
25:10 All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with
the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
2Ki
25:11 The residue of the people who were left in the city, and those
who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of
the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away
captive.
2Ki
25:12 But the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land
to work the vineyards and fields.
2Ki
25:13 The pillars of brass that were in the house of Yahweh, and the
bases and the bronze sea that were in the house of Yahweh, did the
Chaldeans break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
2Ki
25:14 The pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons,
and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered, took they
away.
2Ki
25:15 The fire pans, and the basins, that which was of gold, in
gold, and that which was of silver, in silver, the captain of the
guard took away.
2Ki
25:16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had
made for the house of Yahweh, the brass of all these vessels was
without weight.
2Ki
25:17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a
capital of brass was on it; and the height of the capital was three
cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital around it, all
of brass: and like to these had the second pillar with network.
2Ki
25:18 The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and
Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold:
2Ki
25:19 and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the
men of war; and five men of those who saw the king's face, who were
found in the city; and the scribe, the captain of the army, who
mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the
land, who were found in the city.
2Ki
25:20 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought
them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
2Ki
25:21 The king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death at
Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out
of his land.
2Ki
25:22 As for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made
Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor.
2Ki
25:23 Now when all the captains of the forces, they and their men,
heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came
to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan
the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite,
and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.
2Ki
25:24 Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them,
Don't be afraid because of the servants of the Chaldeans: dwell in
the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with
you.
2Ki
25:25 But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed came, and ten men
with him, and struck Gedaliah, so that he died, and the Jews and the
Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah.
2Ki
25:26 All the people, both small and great, and the captains of the
forces, arose, and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the
Chaldeans.
2Ki
25:27 It happened in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity
of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and
twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the
year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king
of Judah out of prison;
2Ki
25:28 and he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the
throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon,
2Ki
25:29 and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin
ate bread before him continually all the days of his life:
2Ki
25:30 and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given
him of the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.
Jul.
12, 13
Acts
9
Act
9:1 But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the
disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,
Act
9:2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus,
that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he
might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Act
9:3 As he traveled, it happened that he got close to Damascus, and
suddenly a light from the sky shone around him.
Act
9:4 He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me?"
Act
9:5 He said, "Who are you, Lord?" The Lord said, "I
am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Act
9:6 But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what
you must do."
Act
9:7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the
sound, but seeing no one.
Act
9:8 Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he
saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
Act
9:9 He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank.
Act
9:10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The
Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" He said, "Behold,
it's me, Lord."
Act
9:11 The Lord said to him, "Arise, and go to the street which
is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named
Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying,
Act
9:12 and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in, and
laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight."
Act
9:13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about
this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem.
Act
9:14 Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who
call on your name."
Act
9:15 But the Lord said to him, "Go your way, for he is my
chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the
children of Israel.
Act
9:16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my
name's sake."
Act
9:17 Ananias departed, and entered into the house. Laying his hands
on him, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord, who appeared to you on
the road by which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your
sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Act
9:18 Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he
received his sight. He arose and was baptized.
Act
9:19 He took food and was strengthened. Saul stayed several days
with the disciples who were at Damascus.
Act
9:20 Immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed the Christ, that he
is the Son of God.
Act
9:21 All who heard him were amazed, and said, "Isn't this he
who in Jerusalem made havoc of those who called on this name? And he
had come here intending to bring them bound before the chief
priests!"
Act
9:22 But Saul increased more in strength, and confounded the Jews
who lived at Damascus, proving that this is the Christ.
Act
9:23 When many days were fulfilled, the Jews conspired together to
kill him,
Act
9:24 but their plot became known to Saul. They watched the gates
both day and night that they might kill him,
Act
9:25 but his disciples took him by night, and let him down through
the wall, lowering him in a basket.
Act
9:26 When Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join himself to
the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he
was a disciple.
Act
9:27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and
declared to them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had
spoken to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name
of Jesus.
Act
9:28 He was with them entering into Jerusalem,
Act
9:29 preaching boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. He spoke and
disputed against the Hellenists, but they were seeking to kill him.
Act
9:30 When the brothers knew it, they brought him down to Caesarea,
and sent him off to Tarsus.
Act
9:31 So the assemblies throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria
had peace, and were built up. They were multiplied, walking in the
fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
Act
9:32 It happened, as Peter went throughout all those parts, he came
down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.
Act
9:33 There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been
bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed.
Act
9:34 Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up
and make your bed!" Immediately he arose.
Act
9:35 All who lived at Lydda and in Sharon saw him, and they turned
to the Lord.
Act
9:36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which
when translated, means Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and
acts of mercy which she did.
Act
9:37 It happened in those days that she fell sick, and died. When
they had washed her, they laid her in an upper chamber.
Act
9:38 As Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was
there, sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to
them.
Act
9:39 Peter got up and went with them. When he had come, they brought
him into the upper chamber. All the widows stood by him weeping, and
showing the coats and garments which Dorcas had made while she was
with them.
Act
9:40 Peter put them all out, and kneeled down and prayed. Turning to
the body, he said, "Tabitha, get up!" She opened her eyes,
and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
Act
9:41 He gave her his hand, and raised her up. Calling the saints and
widows, he presented her alive.
Act
9:42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in
the Lord.
Act
9:43 It happened, that he stayed many days in Joppa with one Simon,
a tanner.
My
dad was born in 1935 on a farm in southwest Missouri. My mother was
born in 1940 in southern Alabama. Neither has any recollection of ever
having conversations with atheists or agnostics. Practically all their
acquaintances were theists who considered themselves Christians.