Wednesday

July 23


Section 1 of 4

2 Chronicles 8:11-10:19

About 7 Minutes

11 Then Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house which he had built for her, for he said, “My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, because the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”

12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the porch; 13 and he did so according to the daily rule, offering them up according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths.

14 Now according to the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering before the priests according to the daily rule, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for this is what David, the man of God, had commanded. 15 And they did not deviate from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any matter or regarding the storehouses.

16 So all the work of Solomon was carried out from the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was completed.

17 Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the seashore in the land of Edom. 18 And by his servants Huram sent him ships and servants who knew the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir and took from there 450 talents of gold, and brought it to King Solomon.

Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with riddles. She had a very large entourage, with camels carrying balsam oil and a large amount of gold and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything that was on her heart. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from Solomon which he did not explain to her. When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, she was breathless. Then she said to the king, “It was a true story that I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. But I did not believe their stories until I came and my own eyes saw it all. And behold, not even half of the greatness of your wisdom was reported to me. You have surpassed the report that I heard. How blessed are your men, how blessed are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the Lord your God; because your God loved Israel, establishing them forever, He made you king over them, to carry out justice and righteousness.” Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold and a very great amount of balsam oil and precious stones; there had never been balsam oil like that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

10 The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones. 11 From the algum trees the king made steps to the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and lyres and harps for the singers; and nothing like them was seen before in the land of Judah.

12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba her every desire, whatever she requested, besides gifts equal to what she had brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her own land with her servants.

13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 14 besides what the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, using six hundred shekels of beaten gold on each large shield. 16 He made three hundred shields of beaten gold, using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

17 Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 There were six steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and arms on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms. 19 Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. 20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

22 So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. 24 They were bringing, each of them his gift: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, balsam oil, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

25 Now Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 He was ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. 27 And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the lowland. 28 And they were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from the first to the last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years.

31 And Solomon lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.

Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, because all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard about it (he was in Egypt where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt. So they sent word and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, “Your father made our yoke hard; but now, lighten the hard labor imposed by your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” He said to them, “Return to me again in three days.” So the people departed.

And then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” They spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to this people and please them and speak pleasant words to them, then they will be your servants always.” But he ignored the advice of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and served him. He said to them, “What advice do you give, so that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” 10 The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “This is what you should say to the people who spoke to you, saying: ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us!’ You should speak this way to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! 11 Now then, my father loaded you with a heavy yoke; yet I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions!’”

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, just as the king had directed, saying, “Return to me on the third day.” 13 The king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam ignored the advice of the elders. 14 He spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, because it was a turn of events from God so that the Lord might establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

16 When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people replied to the king, saying,

“What share do we have in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Everyone to your tents, Israel!
Now look after your own house, David!”

So all Israel went away to their tents. 17 But as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 18 Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.


Section 2 of 4

Romans 8:9-25

About 1.8 Minutes

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it.


Section 3 of 4

Psalm 18:16-36

About 2.3 Minutes

16 He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He saved me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
But the Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me out into an open place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

20 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not acted wickedly against my God.
22 For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless with Him,
And I kept myself from my wrongdoing.
24 Therefore the Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

25 With the faithful You show Yourself faithful;
With the blameless You prove Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
27 For You save an afflicted people,
But You humiliate haughty eyes.
28 For You light my lamp;
The Lord my God illumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can run at a troop of warriors;
And by my God I can leap over a wall.

30 As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of the Lord is refined;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God,
32 The God who encircles me with strength,
And makes my way blameless?
33 He makes my feet like deer’s feet,
And sets me up on my high places.
34 He trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your gentleness makes me great.
36 You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.


Section 4 of 4

Proverbs 19:26

About 0.2 Minutes

26 He who assaults his father and drives his mother away
Is a shameful and disgraceful son.

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