1 KINGS 14:1-15:24
ACTS 10:1-23
PSALM 133:1-3
PROVERBS 17:7-8
1 KINGS 14:1-15:24
At that time Jeroboam's son Abijah became very sick. 2 So Jeroboam told his wife, " Disguise yourself so that no one will recognize you as the queen. Then go to the prophet Ahijah at Shiloh--the man who told me I would become king. 3 Take him a gift of ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and ask him what will happen to the boy." 4 So Jeroboam's wife went to Ahijah's home at Shiloh. He was an old man now and could no longer see. 5 But the LORD had told Ahijah, " Jeroboam's wife will come here, pretending to be someone else. She will ask you about her son, for he is very sick. You must give her the answer that I give you." 6 So when Ahijah heard her footsteps at the door, he called out, " Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else?" Then he told her, " I have bad news for you. 7 Give your husband, Jeroboam, this message from the LORD, the God of Israel: ` I promoted you from the ranks of the common people and made you ruler over my people Israel. 8 I ripped the kingdom away from the family of David and gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David, who obeyed my commands and followed me with all his heart and always did whatever I wanted him to do. 9 You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made other gods and have made me furious with your gold calves. And since you have turned your back on me, 10 I will bring disaster on your dynasty and kill all your sons, slave or free alike. I will burn up your royal dynasty as one burns up trash until it is all gone. 11 I, the LORD, vow that the members of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the field will be eaten by vultures.' " 12 Then Ahijah said to Jeroboam's wife, " Go on home, and when you enter the city, the child will die. 13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only member of your family who will have a proper burial, for this child is the only good thing that the LORD, the God of Israel, sees in the entire family of Jeroboam. 14 And the LORD will raise up a king over Israel who will destroy the family of Jeroboam. This will happen today, even now! 15 Then the LORD will shake Israel like a reed whipped about in a stream. He will uproot the people of Israel from this good land that he gave their ancestors and will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, for they have angered the LORD by worshiping Asherah poles. 16 He will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and made all of Israel sin along with him." 17 So Jeroboam's wife returned to Tirzah, and the child died just as she walked through the door of her home. 18 When the people of Israel buried him, they mourned for him, as the LORD had promised through the prophet Ahijah. 19 The rest of the events of Jeroboam's reign, all his wars and how he ruled, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel. 20 Jeroboam reigned in Israel twenty-two years. When Jeroboam died, his son Nadab became the next king. 21 Meanwhile, Rehoboam 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 from among all the tribes of Israel as the place to honor his name. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah, an Ammonite woman. 22 During Rehoboam's reign, the people of Judah did what was evil in the LORD's sight, arousing his anger with their sin, for it was even worse than that of their ancestors. 23 They built pagan shrines and set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 24 There were even shrine prostitutes throughout the land. The people imitated the detestable practices of the pagan nations the LORD had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. 25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam's reign, King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem. 26 He ransacked the Temple of the LORD and the royal palace and stole everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. 27 Afterward Rehoboam made bronze shields as substitutes, and he entrusted them to the care of the palace guard officers. 28 Whenever the king went to the Temple of the LORD, the guards would carry them along and then return them to the guardroom. 29 The rest of the events in Rehoboam's reign and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. 30 There was constant war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 31 When Rehoboam died, he was buried among his ancestors in the City of David. His mother was Naamah, an Ammonite woman. Then his son Abijam became the next king.15:1 ABIJAM began to rule over Judah in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam's reign in Israel. 2 He reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. 3 He committed the same sins as his father before him, and his heart was not right with the LORD his God, as the heart of his ancestor David had been. 4 But for David's sake, the LORD his God allowed his dynasty to continue, and he gave Abijam a son to rule after him in Jerusalem. 5 For David had done what was pleasing in the LORD's sight and had obeyed the LORD's commands throughout his life, except in the affair concerning Uriah the Hittite. 6 There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam throughout Abijam's reign. 7 The rest of the events in Abijam's reign and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. There was constant war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 When Abijam died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Asa became the next king. 9 Asa began to rule over Judah in the twentieth year of Jeroboam's reign in Israel. 10 He reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother was Maacah, the daughter of Absalom. 11 Asa did what was pleasing in the LORD's sight, as his ancestor David had done. 12 He banished the shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols his ancestors had made. 13 He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down the pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 Although the pagan shrines were not completely removed, Asa remained faithful to the LORD throughout his life. 15 He brought into the Temple of the LORD the silver and gold and the utensils that he and his father had dedicated. 16 There was constant war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel. 17 King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa's territory in Judah. 18 Asa responded by taking all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the LORD's Temple and the royal palace. He sent it with some of his officials to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message: 19 " Let us renew the treaty that existed between your father and my father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone."20 Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa's request and sent his armies to attack Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Kinnereth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21 As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa sent an order throughout Judah, requiring that everyone, without exception, help to carry away the building stones and timbers that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah. Asa used these materials to fortify the town of Geba in Benjamin and the town of Mizpah. 23 The rest of the events in Asa's reign, the extent of his power, and the names of the cities he built are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah. In his old age his feet became diseased. 24 When Asa died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Jehoshaphat became the next king.
ACTS 10:1-23
In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment. 2 He was a devout man who feared the God of Israel, as did his entire household. He gave generously to charity and was a man who regularly prayed to God. 3 One afternoon about three o'clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. " Cornelius!" the angel said. 4 Cornelius stared at him in terror. " What is it, sir?" he asked the angel. And the angel replied, " Your prayers and gifts to the poor have not gone unnoticed by God! 5 Now send some men down to Joppa to find a man named Simon Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon, a leatherworker who lives near the shore. Ask him to come and visit you." 7 As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, one of his personal attendants. 8 He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa. 9 The next day as Cornelius's messengers were nearing the city, Peter went up to the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, 10 and he was hungry. But while lunch was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. 12 In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. 13 Then a voice said to him, " Get up, Peter; kill and eat them." 14 " Never, Lord," Peter declared. " I have never in all my life eaten anything forbidden by our Jewish laws." 15 The voice spoke again, " If God says something is acceptable, don't say it isn't." 16 The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was pulled up again to heaven.17 Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found the house and stood outside at the gate. 18 They asked if this was the place where Simon Peter was staying. 19 Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, " Three men have come looking for you. 20 Go down and go with them without hesitation. All is well, for I have sent them." 21 So Peter went down and said, " I'm the man you are looking for. Why have you come?" 22 They said, " We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout man who fears the God of Israel and is well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to send for you so you can go to his house and give him a message." 23 So Peter invited the men to be his guests for the night. The next day he went with them, accompanied by some other believers from Joppa.
PSALM 133:1-3
A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.
1 How wonderful it is, how pleasant,
when brothers live together in harmony!
2 For harmony is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil
that was poured over Aaron's head,
that ran down his beard
and onto the border of his robe.
3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon
that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And the LORD has pronounced his blessing,
even life forevermore.
PROVERBS 17:7-8
Eloquent speech is not fitting for a fool; even less are lies fitting for a ruler. A bribe seems to work like magic for those who give it; they succeed in all they do.
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