2 KINGS 21

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Manasseh Reigns in Judah  21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7 And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 8 And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel. Manasseh’s Idolatry Denounced10 And the Lord said by his servants the prophets, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, 12 therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”
    16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
    17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place. Amon Reigns in Judah19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. 21 He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them. 22 He abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. 23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house. 24 But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

2 KINGS 22

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Josiah Reigns in Judah  22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. Josiah Repairs the Temple3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. 5 And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house 6 (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7 But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.” Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
    11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
    14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.

PROVERBS 17

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17:1

Better is a dry morsel with quiet

than a house full of feasting with strife. 2

A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully

and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers. 3

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

and the Lord tests hearts. 4

An evildoer listens to wicked lips,

and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue. 5

Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker;

he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. 6

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,

and the glory of children is their fathers. 7

Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;

still less is false speech to a prince. 8

A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;

wherever he turns he prospers. 9

Whoever covers an offense seeks love,

but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. 10

A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding

than a hundred blows into a fool. 11

An evil man seeks only rebellion,

and a cruel messenger will be sent against him. 12

Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs

rather than a fool in his folly. 13

If anyone returns evil for good,

evil will not depart from his house. 14

The beginning of strife is like letting out water,

so quit before the quarrel breaks out. 15

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous

are both alike an abomination to the Lord. 16

Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom

when he has no sense? 17

A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity. 18

One who lacks sense gives a pledge

and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor. 19

Whoever loves transgression loves strife;

he who makes his door high seeks destruction. 20

A man of crooked heart does not discover good,

and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity. 21

He who sires a fool gets himself sorrow,

and the father of a fool has no joy. 22

A joyful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. 23

The wicked accepts a bribe in secret

to pervert the ways of justice. 24

The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,

but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. 25

A foolish son is a grief to his father

and bitterness to her who bore him. 26

To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,

nor to strike the noble for their uprightness. 27

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,

and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. 28

Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;

when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

PSALM 71

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Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent71:1

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame! 2

In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;

incline your ear to me, and save me! 3

Be to me a rock of refuge,

to which I may continually come;

you have given the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.
4

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. 5

For you, O Lord, are my hope,

my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 6

Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;

you are he who took me from my mother’s womb.

My praise is continually of you.
7

I have been as a portent to many,

but you are my strong refuge. 8

My mouth is filled with your praise,

and with your glory all the day. 9

Do not cast me off in the time of old age;

forsake me not when my strength is spent. 10

For my enemies speak concerning me;

those who watch for my life consult together 11

and say, “God has forsaken him;

pursue and seize him,

for there is none to deliver him.”
12

O God, be not far from me;

O my God, make haste to help me! 13

May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;

with scorn and disgrace may they be covered

who seek my hurt. 14

But I will hope continually

and will praise you yet more and more. 15

My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,

of your deeds of salvation all the day,

for their number is past my knowledge. 16

With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;

I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
17

O God, from my youth you have taught me,

and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 18

So even to old age and gray hairs,

O God, do not forsake me,

until I proclaim your might to another generation,

your power to all those to come. 19

Your righteousness, O God,

reaches the high heavens.

You who have done great things,

O God, who is like you? 20

You who have made me see many troubles and calamities

will revive me again;

from the depths of the earth

you will bring me up again. 21

You will increase my greatness

and comfort me again.
22

I will also praise you with the harp

for your faithfulness, O my God;

I will sing praises to you with the lyre,

O Holy One of Israel. 23

My lips will shout for joy,

when I sing praises to you;

my soul also, which you have redeemed. 24

And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,

for they have been put to shame and disappointed

who sought to do me hurt.