Immerse: Chronicles Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 144
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IMMERSE
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CHRONICLES
9:24-36
“They went in and took possession of the land. You subdued
whole nations before them. Even the Canaanites, who inhabited the
land, were powerless! Your people could deal with these nations and
their kings as they pleased. Our ancestors captured fortified cities
and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things, with
cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in
abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed
themselves in all your blessings.
“But despite all this, they were disobedient and rebelled against
you. They turned their backs on your Law, they killed your prophets
who warned them to return to you, and they committed terrible
blasphemies. So you handed them over to their enemies, who made
them suffer. But in their time of trouble they cried to you, and you
heard them from heaven. In your great mercy, you sent them liberators
who rescued them from their enemies.
“But as soon as they were at peace, your people again committed
evil in your sight, and once more you let their enemies conquer them.
Yet whenever your people turned and cried to you again for help,
you listened once more from heaven. In your wonderful mercy, you
rescued them many times!
“You warned them to return to your Law, but they became proud
and obstinate and disobeyed your commands. They did not follow
your regulations, by which people will find life if only they obey. They
stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to listen. In your
love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit,
who warned them through the prophets. But still they wouldn’t listen!
So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them.
But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or
abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!
“And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who
keeps his covenant of unfailing love, do not let all the hardships we
have suffered seem insignificant to you. Great trouble has come
upon us and upon our kings and leaders and priests and prophets
and a ncestors—all of your people—from the days when the kings of
Assyria first triumphed over us until now. Every time you punished us
you were being just. We have sinned greatly, and you gave us only what
we deserved. Our kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors did not obey
your Law or listen to the warnings in your commands and laws. Even
while they had their own kingdom, they did not serve you, though you
showered your goodness on them. You gave them a large, fertile land,
but they refused to turn from their wickedness.
“So now today we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our
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