1 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became king over Judah. 2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 3 He walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father David. 4 But for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem, 5 because David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and did not deviate from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. 6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
7 Now as for the 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? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
8 And Abijam lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and his son Asa became king in his place.
9 So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king of Judah. 10 He reigned for forty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. 11 Now Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord, like his father David. 12 He also removed the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols which his fathers had made. 13 And even his mother Maacah, he also removed her from the position of queen mother, because she had made an abominable image as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her abominable image and burned it at the brook Kidron. 14 But the high places were not eliminated; nevertheless Asa’s heart was wholly devoted to the Lord all his days. 15 And he brought into the house of the Lord the holy gifts of his father and his own holy gifts: silver, gold, and valuable utensils.
16 Now there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. 17 Baasha king of Israel marched against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. 18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the treasuries of the king’s house, and handed it over to his servants. And King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, 19 “Let’s make a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” 20 So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali. 21 When Baasha heard about it, he stopped fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah. 22 Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had built fortifications. And King Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.
23 Now as for the rest of all the acts of Asa and all his might, and all that he did and the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. 24 And Asa lay down with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David; and his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.
25 Now Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years. 26 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and in his sin into which he misled Israel. 27 Then Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck and killed him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, while 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 struck and killed all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave Jeroboam any persons alive, but kept killing until he had eliminated them, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30 and because of the sins of Jeroboam which he committed, and into which he misled Israel, because of his provocation with which he provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger.
31 Now as for 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 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned for twenty-four years. 34 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin into which he misled Israel.
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have in your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and that they would attain to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. 5 For even though I am absent in body, I am nevertheless with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your orderly manner and the stability of your faith in Christ.
6 Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
8 See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority; 11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, 14 having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
16 Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day— 17 things which are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Take care that no one keeps defrauding you of your prize by delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding firmly to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.
20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of man? 23 These are matters which do have the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and humility and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
1 “Now when you divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall offer an allotment to the Lord, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be a length of twenty-five thousand cubits, and the width shall be twenty thousand. It shall be holy within its entire surrounding boundary. 2 Out of this there shall be for the sanctuary a square encompassing five hundred by five hundred cubits, and fifty cubits for its open space round about. 3 From this area you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand cubits and a width of ten thousand cubits; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4 It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to serve the Lord, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5 An area twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession cities in which to live.
6 “And you shall give the city possession of an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long, alongside the allotment of the holy portion; it shall be for the entire house of Israel.
7 “And the prince shall have land on either side of the holy allotment and the property of the city, adjacent to the holy allotment and the property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border. 8 This shall be his land as a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”
9 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Enough, you princes of Israel; get rid of violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Revoke your evictions of My people,” declares the Lord God.
10 “You shall have accurate balances, an accurate ephah, and an accurate bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity, so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer, and the ephah a tenth of a homer; their standard shall be according to the homer. 12 And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.
13 “This is the offering that you shall offer: a sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley; 14 and the prescribed portion of oil (namely, the bath of oil), a tenth of a bath from each kor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths are a homer); 15 and one sheep from each flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israel—for a grain offering, for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them,” declares the Lord God. 16 “All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel. 17 And it shall be the prince’s part to provide the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings, at the feasts, on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel; he shall provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”
18 ‘This is what the Lord God says: “In the first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary from sin. 19 And the priest shall take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner courtyard. 20 And you shall do this on the seventh day of the month for everyone who does wrong inadvertently or is naive; so you shall make atonement for the house.
21 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a bull as a sin offering. 23 And during the seven days of the feast he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day of the seven days, and a male goat daily as a sin offering. 24 And he shall provide as a grain offering an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and a hin of oil with an ephah. 25 In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall provide like these, seven days for the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil.”
1 The Lord reigns, the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned above the cherubim, the earth quakes!
2 The Lord is great in Zion,
And He is exalted above all the peoples.
3 May they praise Your great and awesome name;
Holy is He.
4 The strength of the King loves justice;
You have established order;
You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God
And worship at His footstool;
Holy is He.
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who called on His name;
They called upon the Lord and He answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
They kept His testimonies
And the statute that He gave them.
8 Lord our God, You answered them;
You were a forgiving God to them,
And yet an avenger of their evil deeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God
And worship at His holy hill,
For the Lord our God is holy.
1 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with jubilation;
Come before Him with rejoicing.
3 Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
And His courtyards with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting
And His faithfulness is to all generations.
1 I will sing of mercy and justice;
To You, Lord, I will sing praises.
2 I will carefully attend to the blameless way.
When will You come to me?
I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.
3 I will set no worthless thing before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart shall leave me;
I will know no evil.
5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy;
I will not endure one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart.
6 My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me;
One who walks in a blameless way is one who will serve me.
7 One who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house;
One who speaks lies shall not maintain his position before me.
8 Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land,
So as to eliminate from the city of the Lord all those who do injustice.
