Abijam Reigns in Judah

1 ^wNow in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 3 And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and ^xhis heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. 4 Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him ^ya lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, 5 because ^zDavid did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, ^aexcept in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 6 ^bNow there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 7 ^cThe rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^dAnd there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. 8 ^eAnd Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place.

Asa Reigns in Judah

9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, 10 and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 11 ^fAnd Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done. 12 He put away the ^gmale cult prostitutes out of the land and removed ^hall the idols that his fathers had made. 13 ⁱHe also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and ^jburned it at the brook Kidron. 14 ^kBut the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, ^lthe heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days. 15 And ^mhe brought into the house of the Lord the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels.

16 ⁿAnd there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 17 ^oBaasha king of Israel went up against Judah and ^pbuilt Ramah, ^qthat he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold ^rthat were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house and gave them into the hands of his servants. ^sAnd King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ^twho lived in Damascus, saying, 19 “Let there be ^ua covenant¹ between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” 20 And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel and conquered ^vIjon, ^wDan, ^xAbel-beth-maacah, and all ^yChinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. 21 And when Baasha heard of it, ^zhe stopped building Ramah, and he lived in ^aTirzah. 22 Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them King Asa built ^bGeba of Benjamin and ^cMizpah. 23 ^dNow the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet. 24 And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and ^eJehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Nadab Reigns in Israel

25 ^fNadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. 26 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^gand walked in the way of his father, and in his sin ^hwhich he made Israel to sin.

27 ⁱBaasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him. And Baasha struck him down at ^jGibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. 28 So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place. 29 And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, ^kaccording to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. 30 It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and ^hthat he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.

31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 32 ^lAnd there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Baasha Reigns in Israel

33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. 34 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord ^mand walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

1 For I want you to know ^yhow great a ^wstruggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that ^ztheir hearts may be encouraged, being ^aknit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of ^bGod’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 ^cin whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order ^dthat no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For ^ethough I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your ^fgood order and ^gthe firmness of your faith in Christ.

Alive in Christ

6 ^hTherefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 ⁱrooted and ^jbuilt up in him and ^kestablished in the faith, just ^las you were taught, abounding ^min thanksgiving.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by ⁿphilosophy and ^oempty deceit, according to ^phuman tradition, according to the ^qelemental spirits¹ of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For ^rin him the whole fullness of deity dwells ^sbodily, 10 and ^tyou have been filled in him, who is ^uthe head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also ^vyou were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by ^wputting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 ^xhaving been buried with him in baptism, in which ^yyou were also raised with him through faith in ^zthe powerful working of God, ^zwho raised him from the dead. 13 ^aAnd you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God ^bmade alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by ^ccanceling ^dthe record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 ^wHe disarmed the rulers and authorities² and ^eput them to open shame, by ^ftriumphing over them in him.³

Let No One Disqualify You

16 Therefore let no one ^gpass judgment on you ^hin questions of food and drink, or with regard to ⁱa festival or ^ja new moon or a Sabbath. 17 ^kThese are a shadow of the things to come, but ^lthe substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one ^mdisqualify you, ⁿinsisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^ogoing on in detail about visions,^{4 p}puffed up without reason by ^qhis sensuous mind, 19 and ^rnot ^sholding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ ^tyou died to the ^uelemental spirits of the world, ^vwhy, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 ^w“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (^xreferring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^yhuman precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^zpromoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^aof no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

The Holy District

1 “When ^eyou allot the land as an inheritance, ^fyou shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits¹ long and 20,000² cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. 2 ^gOf this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for ^han open space around it. 3 And ⁱfrom this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, ^jin which shall be the sanctuary, ^kthe Most Holy Place. 4 ^lIt shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5 ^mAnother section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.³

6 “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district ⁿyou shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. ^oIt shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Portion for the Prince

7 ^p“And to ^qthe prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary 8 of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And ^rmy princes shall no more oppress my people, but ^sthey shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

9 “Thus says the Lord God: ^tEnough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease ^uyour evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.

10 ^v“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.⁴ 11 The ephah and the bath shall be ^wof the same measure, ^xthe bath containing one tenth of a homer,⁵ and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. 12 ^yThe shekel shall be twenty gerahs;⁶ twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.⁷

13 ^z“This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, 14 and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor⁸ (the cor, like the homer, contains ^aten baths).⁹ 15 And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, ^bto make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. 16 All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. 17 ^cIt shall be the prince’s duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

18 “Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, ^don the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and ^epurify the sanctuary. 19 ^fThe priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it ^gon the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20 You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.

21 ^h“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 On that day the prince ⁱshall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. 23 And on ^jthe seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and ^ka male goat daily for a sin offering. 24 And ^lhe shall provide as ^ma grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin¹⁰ of oil to each ephah. 25 ⁿIn the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, ^ohe shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.

The Lord Our God Is Holy

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

A Psalm for ^ogiving thanks.

I Will Walk with Integrity

A Psalm of David.