the Fifth Week after Easter
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
July 20 - Old & New Testament
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2 Kings 24,25
1 During Jehoiakim's reign, Nebuchadnezzar(a) king of Babylon invaded(b) the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled.(c) 2 The Lord sent Babylonian,[a](d) Aramean,(e) Moabite and Ammonite raiders(f) against him to destroy(g) Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets.(h) 3 Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord 's command,(i) in order to remove them from his presence(j) because of the sins of Manasseh(k) and all he had done, 4 including the shedding of innocent blood.(l) For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.(m)
5 As for the other events of Jehoiakim's reign,(n) and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 6 Jehoiakim rested(o) with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin(p) his son succeeded him as king.
7 The king of Egypt(q) did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon(r) had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
Jehoiachin King of Judah(s)
8 Jehoiachin(t) was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother's name was Nehushta(u) daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem. 9 He did evil(v) in the eyes of the Lord , just as his father had done.
10 At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar(w) king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, 11 and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it. 12 Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered(x) to him.
In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 As the Lord had declared,(y) Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures(z) from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles(aa) that Solomon(ab) king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord . 14 He carried all Jerusalem into exile:(ac) all the officers and fighting men,(ad) and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest(ae) people of the land were left.
15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin(af) captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king's mother,(ag) his wives, his officials and the prominent people(ah) of the land. 16 The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans.(ai) 17 He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.(aj)
Zedekiah King of Judah(ak)
18 Zedekiah(al) was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal(am) daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 19 He did evil(an) in the eyes of the Lord , just as Jehoiakim had done. 20 It was because of the Lord 's anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust(ao) them from his presence.(ap)
The Fall of Jerusalem(aq)(ar)(as)
Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
1 So in the ninth(a) year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar(b) king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works(c) all around it. 2 The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3 By the ninth day of the fourth[a] month the famine(d) in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. 4 Then the city wall was broken through,(e) and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Babylonians[b] were surrounding(f) the city. They fled toward the Arabah,[c] 5 but the Babylonian[d] army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered,(g) 6 and he was captured.(h)
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah,(i) where sentence was pronounced on him. 7 They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.(j)
8 On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He set fire(k) to the temple of the Lord , the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.(l) 10 The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down the walls(m) around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile(n) the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon.(o) 12 But the commander left behind some of the poorest people(p) of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
13 The Babylonians broke(q) up the bronze pillars, the movable stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the Lord and they carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes(r) and all the bronze articles(s) used in the temple service. 15 The commander of the imperial guard took away the censers and sprinkling bowls—all that were made of pure gold or silver.(t)
16 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the movable stands, which Solomon had made for the temple of the Lord , was more than could be weighed. 17 Each pillar(u) was eighteen cubits[e] high. The bronze capital on top of one pillar was three cubits[f] high and was decorated with a network and pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its network, was similar.
18 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah(v) the chief priest, Zephaniah(w) the priest next in rank and the three doorkeepers.(x) 19 Of those still in the city, he took the officer in charge of the fighting men, and five royal advisers. He also took the secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the land and sixty of the conscripts who were found in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan the commander took them all and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 There at Riblah,(y) in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed.(z)
So Judah went into captivity,(aa) away from her land.(ab)
22 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah(ac) son of Ahikam,(ad) the son of Shaphan, to be over the people he had left behind in Judah. 23 When all the army officers and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. 24 Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. "Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials," he said. "Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you."
25 In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood, came with ten men and assassinated(ae) Gedaliah and also the men of Judah and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah.(af) 26 At this, all the people from the least to the greatest, together with the army officers, fled to Egypt(ag) for fear of the Babylonians.
Jehoiachin Released(ah)
27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin(ai) king of Judah from prison. He did this on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. 28 He spoke kindly(aj) to him and gave him a seat of honor(ak) higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king's table.(al) 30 Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.(am)
Acts 16:1-21
Chapter 16
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
1 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra,(a) where a disciple named Timothy(b) lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer(c) but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers(d) at Lystra and Iconium(e) spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.(f) 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders(g) in Jerusalem(h) for the people to obey.(i) 5 So the churches were strengthened(j) in the faith and grew daily in numbers.(k)
Paul's Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia(l) and Galatia,(m) having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.(n) 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus(o) would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.(p) 9 During the night Paul had a vision(q) of a man of Macedonia(r) standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we(s) got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel(t) to them.
Lydia's Conversion in Philippi
11 From Troas(u) we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi,(v) a Roman colony and the leading city of that district[a] of Macedonia.(w) And we stayed there several days.
13 On the Sabbath(x) we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira(y) named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart(z) to respond to Paul's message. 15 When she and the members of her household(aa) were baptized,(ab) she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer,(ac) we were met by a female slave who had a spirit(ad) by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God,(ae) who are telling you the way to be saved." 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.(af)
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money(ag) was gone, they seized Paul and Silas(ah) and dragged(ai) them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar(aj) 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans(ak) to accept or practice."(al)
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