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2 CHRONICLES 11

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Rehoboam Secures His Kingdom
  11:1 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 2 But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God: 3 “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and returned and did not go against Jeroboam.
    
5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. 6 He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. 11 He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. 12 And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin. Priests and Levites Come to Jerusalem
13 And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. 14 For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, 15 and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. 16 And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. 17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon. Rehoboam’s Family
18 Rehoboam took as wife Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse, 19 and she bore him sons, Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters). 22 And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as chief prince among his brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23 And he dealt wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the districts of Judah and Benjamin, in all the fortified cities, and he gave them abundant provisions and procured wives for them.



2 CHRONICLES 12

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Egypt Plunders Jerusalem
  12:1 When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. 2 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem 3 with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. 4 And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. 5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” 6 Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.” 7 When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”
    
9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made, 10 and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. 11 And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. 12 And when he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, conditions were good in Judah.
    
13 So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. 14 And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.
    
15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer? There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 16 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and Abijah his son reigned in his place.



PROVERBS 4

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A Father’s Wise Instruction
4:1
Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction,
and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
2
for I give you good precepts;
do not forsake my teaching.
3
When I was a son with my father,
tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
4
he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
keep my commandments, and live.
5
Get wisdom; get insight;
do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6
Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
love her, and she will guard you.
7
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get insight.
8
Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
9
She will place on your head a graceful garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

10
Hear, my son, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many.
11
I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
12
When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.
13
Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your life.
14
Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15
Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16
For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17
For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
19
The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know over what they stumble.

20
My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21
Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22
For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
23
Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24
Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25
Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26
Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27
Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.



PSALM 77

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In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord
To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
77:1
I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
3
When I remember God, I moan;
when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

4
You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5
I consider the days of old,
the years long ago.
6
I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
let me meditate in my heart.”
Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7
“Will the Lord spurn forever,
and never again be favorable?
8
Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
9
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

10
Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

11
I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
14
You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
15
You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16
When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
17
The clouds poured out water;
the skies gave forth thunder;
your arrows flashed on every side.
18
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
19
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
20
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.



PSALM 78

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Tell the Coming Generation
A Maskil of Asaph.
78:1
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
4
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.

5
He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6
that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7
so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
8
and that they should not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9
The Ephraimites, armed with the bow,
turned back on the day of battle.
10
They did not keep God’s covenant,
but refused to walk according to his law.
11
They forgot his works
and the wonders that he had shown them.
12
In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13
He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
14
In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a fiery light.
15
He split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16
He made streams come out of the rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

17
Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18
They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
19
They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20
He struck the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
or provide meat for his people?”

21
Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
a fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
22
because they did not believe in God
and did not trust his saving power.
23
Yet he commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven,
24
and he rained down on them manna to eat
and gave them the grain of heaven.
25
Man ate of the bread of the angels;
he sent them food in abundance.
26
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
27
he rained meat on them like dust,
winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28
he let them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29
And they ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they craved.
30
But before they had satisfied their craving,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31
the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed the strongest of them
and laid low the young men of Israel.

32
In spite of all this, they still sinned;
despite his wonders, they did not believe.
33
So he made their days vanish like a breath,
and their years in terror.
34
When he killed them, they sought him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
35
They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God their redeemer.
36
But they flattered him with their mouths;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37
Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38
Yet he, being compassionate,
atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39
He remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that passes and comes not again.
40
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the desert!
41
They tested God again and again
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42
They did not remember his power
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43
when he performed his signs in Egypt
and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.
44
He turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45
He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
and frogs, which destroyed them.
46
He gave their crops to the destroying locust
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47
He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamores with frost.
48
He gave over their cattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49
He let loose on them his burning anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of destroying angels.
50
He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51
He struck down every firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52
Then he led out his people like sheep
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53
He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54
And he brought them to his holy land,
to the mountain which his right hand had won.
55
He drove out nations before them;
he apportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

56
Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God
and did not keep his testimonies,
57
but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
they twisted like a deceitful bow.
58
For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
59
When God heard, he was full of wrath,
and he utterly rejected Israel.
60
He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,
the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
61
and delivered his power to captivity,
his glory to the hand of the foe.
62
He gave his people over to the sword
and vented his wrath on his heritage.
63
Fire devoured their young men,
and their young women had no marriage song.
64
Their priests fell by the sword,
and their widows made no lamentation.
65
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
like a strong man shouting because of wine.
66
And he put his adversaries to rout;
he put them to everlasting shame.

67
He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68
but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loves.
69
He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70
He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
71
from following the nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his inheritance.
72
With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with his skillful hand.

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