Day 221 of 365

2 Chr 11:1–12:16

11:1 When Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

11:2 But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

11:3 "Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,

11:4 'Thus says the Lord, "You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers! Return every man to his house; for this thing is of me."'" So they listened to the words of the Lord, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

11:5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and built cities for defense in Judah.

11:6 He built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

11:7 Beth Zur, and Soco, and Adullam,

11:8 and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

11:9 and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

11:10 and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities.

11:11 He fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, and oil and wine.

11:12 He put shields and spears in every city, and made them exceeding strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

11:13 The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their border.

11:14 For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest's office to the Lord;

11:15 and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the male goats, and for the calves which he had made.

11:16 After them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

11:17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years; for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.

11:18 Rehoboam took him a wife, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;

11:19 and she bore him sons: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham.

11:20 After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith.

11:21 Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and sixty concubines, and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.)

11:22 Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, the prince among his brothers; for he intended to make him king.

11:23 He dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to every fortified city: and he gave them food in abundance. He sought for them many wives.

12:1 It happened, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.

12:2 It happened in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against the Lord,

12:3 with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horsemen. The people were without number who came with him out of Egypt: the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians.

12:4 He took the fortified cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.

12:5 Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, who were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, "Thus says the Lord, 'You have forsaken me, therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.'"

12:6 Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, "The Lord is righteous."

12:7 When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, "They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them; but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

12:8 Nevertheless they shall be his servants, that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries."

12:9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house. He took it all away. He also took away the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

12:10 King Rehoboam made in their place shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house.

12:11 It was so, that as often as the king entered into the house of the Lord, the guard came and bore them, and brought them back into the guard room.

12:12 When he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to destroy him altogether: and moreover in Judah there were good things found.

12:13 So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother's name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

12:14 He did that which was evil, because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

12:15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, aren't they written in the histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, after the way of genealogies? There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

12:16 Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his place.

1 Pet 1:1–13

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Diaspora in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy became our father again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that does not fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,

5 who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials,

7 that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ-

8 whom not having seen you love; in whom, though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory-

9 receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,

11 searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them.

12 To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, be sober and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ-

Job 2:11–3:6

2:11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.

2:12 When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and did not recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky.

2:13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.

3:1 After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.

3:2 Job answered:

3:3 "Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, 'There is a boy conceived.'

3:4 Let that day be darkness. Do not let God from above seek for it, neither let the light shine on it.

3:5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it.

3:6 As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months.