the Week of Proper 19 / Ordinary 24
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Daily Bible Reading
May 14 - Straight Thru the Bible
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2 Chronicles 35:20-36:23
Chapter 35
20 After all this(s) that Josiah had prepared for the temple, Neco king of Egypt(t) marched up to fight at Carchemish(u) by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him. 21 But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, "What is the issue between you and me, king of Judah?(v) I have not come against you today[g] but I am fighting another dynasty.[h] God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God who is with me; don't make Him destroy you!"
22 But Josiah did not turn away from him; instead, in order to fight with him he disguised himself.[i](w) He did not listen to Neco's words from the mouth of God, but went to the Valley of Megiddo(x) to fight. 23 The archers shot King Josiah, and he said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am severely wounded!"(y) 24 So his servants took him out of the war chariot, carried him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem. Then he died, and they buried him in the tomb of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned(z) for Josiah. 25 Jeremiah chanted a dirge(aa) over Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women still speak of Josiah in their dirges to this very day. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Dirges.
26 The rest of the events(ab) of Josiah's reign, along with his deeds of faithful love according to what is written in the law of the Lord , 27 and his words, from beginning to end, are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
Chapter 36
Judah's King Jehoahaz
1 Then(a) the common people[a] took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
2 Jehoahaz[b] was 23 years old when he became king and reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3 The king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and fined the land 7,500 pounds[c] of silver and 75 pounds[d] of gold.
Judah's King Jehoiakim
4 Then Neco king of Egypt made Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim's name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took his brother Jehoahaz[e] and brought him to Egypt.(b)
5 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.(c) 6 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him(d) and bound him in bronze(e) shackles to take him to Babylon.(f) 7 Also Nebuchadnezzar took some of the utensils of the Lord 's temple to Babylon and put them in his temple in Babylon.(g)
8 The rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim,(h) the detestable things he did, and what was found against him, are written in the Book of Israel's Kings. His son Jehoiachin became king in his place.
Judah's King Jehoiachin
9 Jehoiachin was 18[f] years old(i) when he became king and reigned three months and 10 days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the Lord 's sight. 10 In the spring[g](j) Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon along with the valuable utensils of the Lord 's temple. Then he made Jehoiachin's brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.(k)
Judah's King Zedekiah
11 Zedekiah was 21 years old(l) when he became king and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himself(m) before Jeremiah the prophet at the Lord 's command.(n) 13 He also rebelled against(o) King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. He became obstinate[h](p) and hardened his heart against returning to Yahweh, the God of Israel. 14 All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the Lord 's temple that He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
The Destruction of Jerusalem
15 But Yahweh, the God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of His messengers, sending them time and time again,(q) for He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 16 But they kept ridiculing God's messengers,(r) despising His words,(s) and scoffing at His prophets, until the Lord 's wrath was so stirred up against His people that there was no remedy.(t) 17 So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans,(u) who killed their choice young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young men or young women, elderly or aged; He handed them all over to him. 18 He took everything to Babylon—all the articles of God's temple, large and small, the treasures of the Lord 's temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 Then the Chaldeans burned God's temple.(v) They tore down Jerusalem's wall, burned down all its palaces, and destroyed all its valuable articles.
20 He deported those who escaped from the sword to Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the rise of the Persian[i] kingdom.(w) 21 This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Jeremiah(x) and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation(y) until 70 years were fulfilled.
The Decree of Cyrus
22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,(z) the word of the Lord spoken through[j] Jeremiah(aa) was fulfilled. The Lord put it into the mind of King Cyrus(ab) of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and also to put it in writing:
23 This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The Lord , the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build Him a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you of His people may go up, and may the Lord his God be with him.
Ezra 1-3
Chapter 1
The Decree of Cyrus
1 In(a) the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,[a] the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled.(b) The Lord put it into the mind(c) of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and to put it in writing:
2 This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: "The Lord , the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build Him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.(d) 3 Whoever is among His people, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the Lord , the God of Israel,(e) the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 Let every survivor,(f) wherever he lives, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem."
Return from Exile
5 So the family leaders of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone God had motivated[b](g)—prepared to go up and rebuild the Lord 's house in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors supported them[c](h) with silver articles, gold, goods, livestock, and valuables, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the Lord 's house that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and had placed in the house of his gods.(i) 8 King Cyrus of Persia had them brought out under the supervision of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.(j) 9 This was the inventory:
30 gold basins, 1,000 silver basins,
29 silver knives,
10 30 gold bowls,
410 various[d] silver bowls, and 1,000 other articles.
11 The gold and silver articles totaled 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all of them when the exiles went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Chapter 2
lass="passage-text">Chapter 3
Sacrifice Restored
1 By the seventh month,(a) the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people gathered together in Jerusalem.(b) 2 Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel(c) and his brothers began to build the altar of Israel's God in order to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.(d) 3 They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the Lord even though they feared the surrounding peoples.(e) 4 They celebrated the Festival of Booths as prescribed, and offered burnt offerings each day, based on the number specified by ordinance for each festival day.(f) 5 After that, they offered the regular burnt offering and the offerings for the beginning of each month[a](g) and for all the Lord 's appointed holy occasions, as well as the freewill offerings brought to[b] the Lord .
6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord ,(h) even though the foundation of the Lord 's temple had not yet been laid. 7 They gave money to the stonecutters and artisans, and gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so they could bring cedar wood from Lebanon to Joppa by sea,(i) according to the authorization given them by King Cyrus of Persia.(j)
Rebuilding the Temple
8 In the second month of the second year after they arrived at God's house in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak,(k) and the rest of their brothers, including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began to build. They appointed the Levites who were 20 years old or more to supervise the work on the Lord 's house.(l) 9 Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah[c] and of Henadad, with their sons and brothers, the Levites,(m) joined together to supervise those working on the house of God.
Temple Foundation Completed
10 When the builders had laid the foundation of the Lord 's temple, the priests, dressed in their robes and holding trumpets, and the Levites descended from Asaph,(n) holding cymbals, took their positions to praise the Lord , as King David of Israel had instructed.(o) 11 They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord : "For He is good; His faithful love to Israel endures forever."(p) Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord 's house had been laid.(q)
12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and family leaders, who had seen the first temple, wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this house,(r) but many others shouted joyfully. 13 The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the[d] weeping,(s) because the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.
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