Bible Reading Plan

2 Chronicles 22

Chapter 22

Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram in Judah

^1 (C1)Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made ^(F1)Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men who came with ^(C2)the Arabs to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign.² Ahaziah was ^(F1)twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the ^(F2)granddaughter of Omri.³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to act wickedly.⁴ So he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to ^(C1)his own destruction.

Ahaziah Allies with Jehoram of Israel

⁷ Now ^(C1)the destruction of Ahaziah was from God, in that ^(F1)he went to Joram. For when he arrived, ^(C2)he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(C3)whom the LORD had anointed to eliminate the house of Ahab.

Jehu Murders Princes of Judah

^10 (C1)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and eliminated all the royal ^(F1)children of the house of Judah.¹¹ But Jehoshabeath the king's daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she would not put him to death.¹² He kept himself hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Joel 1

Chapter 1

The Devastation by Locusts

¹ The ^(C1)word of the LORD that came to ^(C2)Joel, the son of Pethuel:

^2 (C1)Hear this, you ^(C2)elders,
And listen, all inhabitants of the land.
^(C3)Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or in your fathers' days?

^3 (C1)Tell your sons about it,
And have your sons tell their sons,
And their sons the next generation.

⁴ What the ^(C1)gnawing locust has left, the ^(F1)swarming locust has eaten;
And what the ^(C2)swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the ^(C3)stripping locust has eaten.

⁵ Awake, ^(C1)you heavy drinkers, and weep;
And wail, all you wine drinkers,
Because of the sweet wine,
For it has been ^(C2)eliminated from your mouth.

⁶ For a ^(C1)nation has ^(F1)invaded my land,
Mighty and without number;
^(C2)Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the jaws of a lioness.

⁷ It has ^(C1)made my vine a waste
And my fig tree a stump.
It has stripped them bare and hurled them away;
Their branches have become white.

^8 (C1)Wail like a virgin ^(C2)clothed with sackcloth
For the groom of her youth.

⁹ The ^(C1)grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off
From the house of the LORD.
The ^(C2)priests mourn,
The ministers of the LORD.

¹⁰ The field is ^(C1)ruined,
^(C2)The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine has dried up,
Fresh oil has ^(F1)failed.

^11 (C1)Be ashamed, you farm workers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the ^(C2)harvest of the field is destroyed.

¹² The ^(C1)vine has dried up
And the fig tree has withered;
The ^(C2)pomegranate, the ^(C3)palm also, and the ^(C4)apple tree,
All the trees of the field have dried up.
Indeed, ^(C5)joy has dried up
From the sons of mankind.

^13 (C1)Put on sackcloth
And mourn, you priests;
^(C2)Wail, you ministers of the altar!
Come, ^(C3)spend the night in sackcloth,
You ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Have been withheld from the house of your God.

Starvation and Drought

^14 (C1)Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a ^(C2)solemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the LORD your God,
And ^(C3)cry out to the LORD.

^15 (C1)Woe for the day!
For the ^(C2)day of the LORD is near,
And it will come as ^(C3)destruction from the ^(F1)Almighty.

¹⁶ Has ^(C1)food not been cut off before our eyes, and
Joy and ^(C2)rejoicing from the house of our God?

¹⁷ The ^(F1)(C1)seeds have dried up under their shovels;
The storehouses have become desolate,
The grain silos are ruined,
Because the grain has dried up.

¹⁸ How ^(C1)the animals have groaned!
The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly
Because there is no pasture for them;
Even the flocks of sheep have ^(F1)suffered.

^19 (C1)To You, LORD, I cry out;
For ^(C2)fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

²⁰ Even the animals of the field ^(F1)(C1)pant for You;
For the ^(C2)stream beds of water are dried up,
And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

2 Corinthians 9

Chapter 9

God Gives Most

¹ For ^(C1)it is superfluous for me to write to you about this ^(C2)ministry to the ^(F1)saints;² for I know your willingness, of which I ^(C1)boast about you to the ^(C2)Macedonians, namely, that ^(C3)Achaia has been prepared since ^(C4)last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.³ But I have sent the brothers, in order that our ^(C1)boasting about you may not prove empty in this case, so that, ^(C2)as I was saying, you will be prepared;⁴ otherwise, if any ^(C1)Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to mention you—would be put to shame by this confidence.⁵ So I considered it necessary to urge the ^(C1)brothers that they go on ahead to you and arrange in advance your previously promised ^(F1)(C2)generous gift, that the same would be ready as a ^(F1)(C3)generous gift, and not as one grudgingly given due to greediness.

⁶ Now I say this: ^(C1)the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows ^(F1)generously will also reap ^(F1)generously.⁷ Each one must do just as he has decided in his heart, not ^(C1)reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^(C2)God loves a cheerful giver.⁸ And ^(C1)God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that, always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;⁹ as it is written:

"^(C1)HE SCATTERED ABROAD, HE GAVE TO THE POOR,
HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ^(F1)ENDURES FOREVER."