The One Year Bible for Men - Flipbook - Page 98
July 30
Ephraim, killed Maaseiah, the king’s son; Az
rikam, the king’s palace commander; and El
kanah, the king’s second-in-command. 8 The
armies of Israel captured 200,000 women and
children from Judah and seized tremendous
amounts of plunder, which they took back to
Samaria.
9 But a prophet of the Lord named Oded was
there in Samaria when the army of Israel re
turned home. He went out to meet them and
said, “The Lord, the God of your ancestors,
was angry with Judah and let you defeat them.
But you have gone too far, killing them with
out mercy, and all heaven is disturbed. 10 And
now you are planning to make slaves of these
people from Judah and Jerusalem. What about
your own sins against the Lord your God?
11 Listen to me and return these prisoners you
have taken, for they are your own relatives.
Watch out, because now the Lord’s fierce
anger has been turned against you!”
12 Then some of the leaders of Is
rael*—
Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of
Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and
Amasa son of Hadlai—agreed with this and
confronted the men returning from battle.
13 “You must not bring the prisoners here!”
they declared. “We cannot afford to add to
our sins and guilt. Our guilt is already great,
and the Lord’s fierce anger is already turned
against Israel.”
14 So the warriors released the prisoners
and handed over the plunder in the sight
of the leaders and all the people. 15 Then the
four men just mentioned by name came for
ward and distributed clothes from the plun
der to the prisoners who were naked. They
provided clothing and sandals to wear, gave
them enough food and drink, and dressed
their wounds with olive oil. They put those
who were weak on donkeys and took all the
prisoners back to their own people in Jeri
cho, the city of palms. Then they returned to
Samaria.
16 At that time King Ahaz of Judah asked
the king of Assyria for help. 17 The armies of
Edom had again invaded Judah and taken
captives. 18 And the Philistines had raided
towns located in the foothills of Judah* and
in the Negev of Judah. They had already cap
tured and occupied Beth-shemesh, Aijalon,
Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with
its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. 19 The
Lord was humbling Judah because of King
Ahaz of Judah,* for he had encouraged his
people to sin and had been utterly unfaithful
to the Lord.
20 So when King Tiglath-pileser* of Assyria
07_Jul_OY_Men.indd 676
676
arrived, he attacked Ahaz instead of helping
him. 21 Ahaz took valuable items from the
Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, and from
the homes of his officials and gave them to
the king of Assyria as tribute. But this did not
help him.
22 Even during this time of trouble, King
Ahaz continued to reject the Lord. 23 He of
fered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus who
had defeated him, for he said, “Since these
gods helped the kings of Aram, they will help
me, too, if I sacrifice to them.” But instead, they
led to his ruin and the ruin of all Judah.
24 The king took the various articles from
the Temple of God and broke them into pieces.
He shut the doors of the Lord’s Temple so that
no one could worship there, and he set up al
tars to pagan gods in e very corner of Jerusa
lem. 25 He made pagan shrines in all the towns
of Judah for offering sacrifices to other gods.
In this way, he aroused the anger of the Lord,
the God of his ancestors.
26 The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign and
everything he did, from beginning to end, are
recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and
Israel. 27 When Ahaz died, he was buried in Je
rusalem but not in the royal cemetery of the
kings of Judah. Then his son Hezekiah became
the next king.
26:2 As in Greek version (see also 2 Kgs 14:22; 16:6); Hebrew
reads Eloth, a variant spelling of Elath. 26:5 As in S yriac and
Greek versions; Hebrew reads who instructed him in divine
visions.
26:7 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads Gur-baal.
26:8 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads Ammonites. Compare
26:7.
26:10 Hebrew the Shephelah.
26:15 Or to shoot arrows
and hurl large stones.
26:19 Or a contagious skin disease.
The Hebrew word used here and throughout this passage can
describe various skin diseases. 27:5a Hebrew 100 talents
[3,400 kilograms]. 27:5b Hebrew 10,000 cors [2,200 kiloliters]
of wheat, and 10,000 cors of barley.
28:3 Or even making his
sons pass through the fire.
28:12 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to
the northern kingdom of I srael. 28:18 Hebrew the Shephelah.
28:19 Masoretic Text reads of Israel; also in 28:23, 27. The
author of Chronicles sees Judah as representative of the true
Israel. (Some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek version read of
Judah.)
28:20 Hebrew Tilgath-pilneser, a variant spelling of
Tiglath-pileser.
ROMANS 13:1‑14
Everyone must submit to governing authori
ties. For all authority comes from God, and
those in positions of authority have been
placed there by God. 2 So anyone who rebels
against authority is rebelling against what
God has instituted, and they will be pun
ished. 3 For the authorities do not strike fear
in people who are doing right, but in those
who are doing wrong. Would you like to live
without fear of the authorities? Do what is
right, and they will honor you. 4 The authori
ties are God’s servants, sent for your good. But
if you are doing wrong, of course you should
be afraid, for they have the power to punish
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