July 2023 – Page 6 – A Walk Through The Word

July 6, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday July 6, 2023 (NIV)

1 Chronicles 2:18-4:4

¹⁸^(A)Caleb the son of Hezron fathered children by his wife Azubah, and by Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. ¹⁹When Azubah died, ^(B)Caleb married ^(C)Ephrath, who bore him ^(D)Hur. ²⁰Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered ^(E)Bezalel.

²¹Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of ^(F)Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old, and she bore him Segub. ²²And Segub fathered Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. ²³^(G)But Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-jair, Kenath, and its villages, sixty towns. All these were descendants of Machir, the father of Gilead. ²⁴After the death of Hezron, ^(H)Caleb went in to Ephrathah,^[a] the wife of Hezron his father, and she bore him ^(I)Ashhur, the father of Tekoa.

²⁵The sons of ^(J)Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron: Ram, his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. ²⁶Jerahmeel also had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. ²⁷The sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker. ²⁸The sons of Onam: Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur. ²⁹The name of Abishur's wife was Abihail, and she bore him Ahban and Molid. ³⁰The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim; and Seled died childless. ³¹The son^[b] of Appaim: Ishi. ^(K)The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai. ³²The sons of Jada, Shammai's brother: Jether and Jonathan; and Jether died childless. ³³The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel. ³⁴Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave whose name was Jarha. ³⁵So Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to Jarha his slave, and she bore him Attai. ³⁶Attai fathered Nathan, and Nathan fathered ^(L)Zabad. ³⁷^(M)Zabad fathered Ephlal, and Ephlal fathered ^(N)Obed. ³⁸Obed fathered Jehu, and Jehu fathered Azariah. ³⁹Azariah fathered Helez, and Helez fathered Eleasah. ⁴⁰Eleasah fathered Sismai, and Sismai fathered Shallum. ⁴¹Shallum fathered Jekamiah, and Jekamiah fathered ^(O)Elishama.

⁴²The sons of ^(P)Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel: Mareshah^[c] his firstborn, who fathered Ziph. The son^[d] of Mareshah: ^(Q)Hebron.^[e] ⁴³The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem and Shema. ⁴⁴Shema fathered Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem fathered Shammai. ⁴⁵The son of Shammai: Maon; and Maon fathered Beth-zur. ⁴⁶Ephah also, Caleb's concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran fathered Gazez. ⁴⁷The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph. ⁴⁸Maacah, Caleb's concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. ⁴⁹She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah and the father of Gibea; and the ^(R)daughter of Caleb was Achsah. ⁵⁰These were the descendants of Caleb.

The sons^[f] of Hur the firstborn of ^(S)Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim, ⁵¹^(T)Salma, the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader. ⁵²Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had other sons: ^(U)Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth. ⁵³And the clans of Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; from these came the ^(V)Zorathites and the Eshtaolites. ⁵⁴The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites. ⁵⁵The clans also of the scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites. These are the ^(W)Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of ^(X)the house of Rechab.

Descendants of David

3 ^(Y)These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second, ^(Z)Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite, ²the third, Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith; ³the fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah; ⁴six were born to him in Hebron, ^(AA)where he reigned for seven years and six months. ^(AB)And he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ⁵^(AC)These were born to him in Jerusalem: ^(AD)Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and ^(AE)Solomon, four by ^(AF)Bath-shua, the daughter of ^(AG)Ammiel; ⁶then Ibhar, ^(AH)Elishama, Eliphelet, ⁷Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁸Elishama, ^(AI)Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. ⁹All these were David's sons, besides the sons of the concubines, ^(AJ)and Tamar was their sister.

¹⁰The son of Solomon was ^(AK)Rehoboam, ^(AL)Abijah his son, ^(AM)Asa his son, ^(AN)Jehoshaphat his son, ¹¹^(AO)Joram his son, ^(AP)Ahaziah his son, ^(AQ)Joash his son, ¹²^(AR)Amaziah his son, ^(AS)Azariah his son, ^(AT)Jotham his son, ¹³^(AU)Ahaz his son, ^(AV)Hezekiah his son, ^(AW)Manasseh his son, ¹⁴^(AX)Amon his son, ^(AY)Josiah his son. ¹⁵The sons of Josiah: ^(AZ)Johanan the firstborn, the second ^(BA)Jehoiakim, the third ^(BB)Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. ¹⁶The descendants of ^(BC)Jehoiakim: ^(BD)Jeconiah his son, ^(BE)Zedekiah his son; ¹⁷and the sons of Jeconiah, the ^(BF)captive: ^(BG)Shealtiel his son, ¹⁸Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah; ¹⁹and the sons of Pedaiah: ^(BH)Zerubbabel and Shimei; and the sons of ^(BI)Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith was their sister; ²⁰and Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-hesed, five. ²¹The sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, his son^[g] Rephaiah, his son Arnan, his son Obadiah, his son Shecaniah. ²²The son^[h] of Shecaniah: ^(BJ)Shemaiah. And the sons of Shemaiah: ^(BK)Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat, six. ²³The sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam, three. ²⁴The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani, seven.

Descendants of Judah

4 ^(BL)The sons of Judah: ^(BM)Perez, Hezron, ^(BN)Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. ²^(BO)Reaiah the son of Shobal fathered Jahath, and Jahath fathered Ahumai and Lahad. These were the clans of the ^(BP)Zorathites. ³These were the sons^[i] of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazzelelponi, ⁴and ^(BQ)Penuel fathered ^(BR)Gedor, and Ezer fathered Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of ^(BS)Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem.

Footnotes:

1 Chronicles 2:24 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew in Caleb Ephrathah
1 Chronicles 2:31 Hebrew sons; three times in this verse
1 Chronicles 2:42 Septuagint; Hebrew Mesha
1 Chronicles 2:42 Hebrew sons
1 Chronicles 2:42 Hebrew the father of Hebron
1 Chronicles 2:50 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew son
1 Chronicles 3:21 Septuagint (compare Syriac, Vulgate); Hebrew sons of; four times in this verse
1 Chronicles 3:22 Hebrew sons
1 Chronicles 4:3 Septuagint (compare Vulgate); Hebrew father

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Acts 24

Paul Before Felix at Caesarea

24 And ^(A)after five days the high priest ^(B)Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before ^(C)the governor their case against Paul. ²And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying:

“Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, ^(D)most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, ³in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. ⁴But, to detain^[a] you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. ⁵For we have found this man a plague, ^(E)one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of ^(F)the sect of the Nazarenes. ⁶^(G)He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.^[b] ⁸By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.”

⁹The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.

¹⁰And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied:

“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. ¹¹You can verify that ^(H)it is not more than twelve days since I ^(I)went up ^(J)to worship in Jerusalem, ¹²and ^(K)they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city. ¹³^(L)Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me. ¹⁴But this I confess to you, that according to ^(M)the Way, which they call ^(N)a sect, ^(O)I worship ^(P)the God of our fathers, believing everything ^(Q)laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, ¹⁵^(R)having ^(S)a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be ^(T)a resurrection ^(U)of both the just and the unjust. ¹⁶So I always ^(V)take pains to have a ^(W)clear conscience toward both God and man. ¹⁷Now ^(X)after several years ^(Y)I came to bring alms to ^(Z)my nation and to present ^(AA)offerings. ¹⁸While I was doing this, they found me ^(AB)purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But ^(AC)some Jews from Asia— ¹⁹^(AD)they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me. ²⁰Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council, ²¹other than this one thing ^(AE)that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’”

Paul Kept in Custody

²²But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of ^(AF)the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.” ²³Then he gave orders to the centurion that he ^(AG)should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that ^(AH)none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

²⁴After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about ^(AI)faith ^(AJ)in Christ Jesus. ²⁵And as he reasoned ^(AK)about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. ^(AL)When I get an opportunity I will summon you.” ²⁶At the same time he hoped ^(AM)that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. ²⁷When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius ^(AN)Festus. And ^(AO)desiring to do the Jews a favor, ^(AP)Felix left Paul in prison.

Footnotes:

Acts 24:4 Or weary
Acts 24:6 Some manuscripts add and we would have judged him according to our law. ⁷But the chief captain Lysias came and with great violence took him out of our hands, ⁸commanding his accusers to come before you.

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Psalm 4

Answer Me When I Call

To the ^(A)choirmaster: with ^(B)stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

4 Answer me when I call, O God of my ^(C)righteousness!
You have ^(D)given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

²O men,^[a] how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
How long will you love vain words and seek after ^(E)lies? Selah
³But know that the Lord has ^(F)set apart ^(G)the godly for himself;
the Lord hears when I call to him.

⁴^(H)Be angry,^[b] and do not sin;
^(I)ponder in your own hearts ^(J)on your beds, and be silent. Selah
⁵Offer ^(K)right sacrifices,
and put your ^(L)trust in the Lord.

⁶There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
^(M)Lift up ^(N)the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
⁷You have put ^(O)more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.

⁸In peace I will both ^(P)lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O Lord, make me ^(Q)dwell in safety.

Footnotes:

Psalm 4:2 Or O men of rank
Psalm 4:4 Or Be agitated

English Standard Version (ESV)

Proverbs 18:16-18

¹⁶A man's ^(A)gift makes room for him
and brings him before the great.
¹⁷The one who states his case first seems right,
until the other comes and examines him.
¹⁸^(B)The lot puts an end to quarrels
and decides between powerful contenders.

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

July 6, 2023

7/4/2023 DAB Transcript

2 Kings 23:31-25:30, Acts 22:17-23:10, Psalm 2:1-12, Proverbs 18:13

Today is the 4th day of July, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it is wonderful to be here with you today. It’s a special day. It’s July 4th for those of us who live in the United States, this is Independence Day. So, it’s like a very major national holiday for us. Those of you who are in other parts of the world may not be observing Independence Day for the United States but freedom, especially freedom in Christ is something to celebrate every day. But it’s not just a national holiday here in the United States, it’s a special day here around the Global Campfire, as well. Today is my wife Jill’s birthday. She was born on the 4th July, and that is something certainly to celebrate. I certainly rejoice. But since this nation is celebrating its birthday, that’s kind of usually got a lot of font fanfare, celebration, feasting, fireworks all that kind of stuff. So, Jill, she just has to sit back and enjoy it all. And so, happy birthday to Jill. Thrilled that we can be together here around the Global Campfire today, as we gather for the purpose of taking the next step forward together. A step forward in the Scriptures and a step forward in our lives and a step forward in this year. And so, let’s dive in. We have been navigating our way through the book of Second Kings for a little while. Today, we will finish that journey and conclude the book of Second Kings by reading the last part of second Kings, which happens to be chapter 23 verse 31 through 25 verse 30 today.

Commentary:

Okay so, as we conclude Second Kings, which is what we just did, we need, we need to take a step back and just stand here for second. This is a bit of a sobering moment. We read of the Babylonians coming into the land, we read of people being deported, we read of the rebellion of some of the kings that were put in place, and then we saw the Babylonians come and utterly destroy Jerusalem, including the palace of the king, including the temple of the Most High God. So, it was back in the book of Genesis, in the 11th chapter of Genesis, that we met a man named Abram. And we’ve been following his family story ever since. It was his family that was to have descendants as numerous as the sand on the seashore, according to God’s promise. And we watched them grow and become a nation, they became the children of Israel. We watched them come together as a cohesive people under the leadership of Moses, we watched Joshua lead the people into the Promised Land and conquer it. We went through the times of the judges, where everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes, which led them to the monarchy when they set a king above them. And we went through Saul’s life and David’s life and Solomon’s life. And now we’ve gone through the king’s right, so we’ve gone through all of them. We watched the people, who were family, divide themselves into two nations, and we watched them be at war with each other. Then we saw the Assyrian Empire invade the northern kingdom of Israel and conquer and defeat it and carry the 10 tribes away were they, were they disappeared into history. So, for these last few days, that we’ve been reading in the books of Kings, we haven’t had any kings of Israel. There weren’t any. We’ve just been dealing with the final kings of Judah. And today that comes to an end. The Israel that we began in Genesis 11 with Abram moving toward a promised land, that’s over now. The northern tribes have been assimilated into the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonians have conquered Judah and are carrying its people into exile. And obviously, we are not done what the Bible and we are not done with the story of the Hebrew people in the Bible, but this brings to a conclusion in era. Although, a day will come where they are able to return to the land and we will move through some of those stories, they will never be powerful like this again. They will never be in control of it again. So, as we continue forward in the Bible, we will be revisiting pieces all of these time periods, the prophets that were prophesying during these time periods. But from this point forward, the Babylonian exile and the Assyrian exile, nothing will ever be the same again.

Then we flip over to the Book of Acts and come up alongside the Apostle Paul and we see that his reception in Jerusalem has been less than hospitable. There’s already a mob that’s intent on killing Paul. He had to be rescued by the Roman soldiers. He had the opportunity to speak to the mob, finally quieting them down and starting to speak to them in their native tongue, Hebrew. So, there listening to him, and he begins to share his conversion story, how it is that he came to meet Jesus. Paul is known in Jerusalem and he was known as a devout servant of the Lord trying to stamp out this teaching of ‘The Way,’ people who were following Jesus and then he turns up one of them. And so, he’s explaining how it is that he met Jesus and what had happened and what transpired, and that Jesus was commissioning him to go to the Gentiles. Once he said that, it was the end of his ability to communicate with the crowd. They were very aggressively, intent on getting Paul and killing him. So once again, the…the Roman soldiers, have to protect Paul. Which is really, really interesting because this very Empire that killed Jesus, is now protecting Paul as he shares, about Jesus. It’s Paul coming into Jerusalem and his own people wanting to do away with him, the same as Jesus. And now he’s got armed guards protecting him, as he continues to speak the name of Jesus and the message of the good news of the Gospel. So, the soldiers were going to beat, basically beat the truth out of Paul, until they realize that they had tied up a Roman citizen, which is against the law for them. So, it was discovered that Paul is a true Roman citizen. And then he is brought before the Sanhedrin, the high Council of the Jewish people, where Paul begins to share the message. And he knows who’s in that room, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, and he knows their disputes. He’s been a part of them his whole life and he claims that he is being treated the way that he’s being treated because he believes in the resurrection, because that’s absolutely the truth. That was the thing for Paul, Jesus rising from the dead. Was not only proof that Jesus is the son of God, it was also proof in Paul’s beliefs as a Pharisee, believing that there is resurrection from the dead and now having seen it happened, he knows it’s the truth, which causes an internal debate among the Hebrew Sanhedrin. And all the sudden we have the Pharisees now defending Paul. It’s a very, very tumultuous time. And we will continue forward in that story tomorrow.

And then lastly, we come to the book of Proverbs, which gives us another small little sentence, a little nugget of words that say so much and could have such an impact on our day. If a person answers before he listens, that is foolishness that brings disgrace. It’s actually simple enough, we all comprehend it. We all find ourselves not adhering to it often. We’re basically being told, listen, listen, slowdown, listen closely before you open your mouth to speak. If you’re already formulating the words that you’re going to say, then you’re not listening. And we have probably all been in those kinds of conversations, probably both on the receiving end and on the giving end. And we could go into a, you know, a discussion about how that makes us feel. Right, when we feel like we’re not, when a person isn’t offering their presence, they’re only partially there. They’re like buried in their phone while they’re trying to have a conversation with you and you’re distracted and there, uhu, uhu, yeah. And you know that they’re not paying attention to you, even though you may be pouring out your heart. We know what this feels like. Proverbs advises us against that kind of behavior. It calls it foolish. There’s only so many ways we can divide our attention and if we’re gonna be with somebody and listen to somebody, than lets offer our presence and be present. Let’s not be offering advice or words that are spoken prematurely because we haven’t listened. It’s wisdom for our day. If a person answers before he listens, that is foolishness that brings disgrace.

Prayer:

So, Father, we invite You into that. Holy Spirit, come, our words, the things that we say, they shape our lives, they form our relationships, they affect the way that we have our existence in a more powerful way than just about anything else does, and it is true. We are not always paying attention to what we are saying. And the Scriptures are telling us that this is foolishness and that is not a word we want to be associated with. So, Holy Spirit, come, help us to slow down and offer our presence and listen before we speak. We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and that’s where you find what’s going on around here and there is plenty going on around here. So, today is the 4th of July, which is Jill’s birthday and we’re celebrating that. It’s also a national holiday here in the United States, Independence Day. And so, it’s a national holiday today and then a few days from now, the 7th of July, this Friday, is our own Global Campfire holiday. The Daily Audio Bible Long Walk, which we have been talking about now for well over a week. And so, we’re making preparations for that to take that day, to go be with God, to go enjoy the rhythms of his creation, spend time together, to waste time together. That’s what we do when we’re in love. And so, that’s what this day is about. There are a couple of resources here in the community that work so, that are just paired so well with the Long Walk, and they are musical resources which you can download or stream. The first one would be the Heart album, a contemplative journey into the different emotions that we feel, guided prayers into those emotions and then musical accompaniment to just kind of allow us to just let our minds go free and wander in those emotions, inviting the Holy Spirit. That is available. If you want the guided prayers and the whole thing you need to go to like the iTunes store and download the record, if you just want the music, you can stream it from wherever, wherever, anywhere you stream. The second project, it is just really contemplative, really good atmosphere setting, would be the Sleep album: Sleep, A Contemplative Journey. Which is also like Heart and also available with guided prayers and Scriptures, kind of interspersed we you can just stream the music. So, look for my name Brian Hardin or just Heart or Sleep, A Contemplative Journey and you should be able to find those projects and have them available for your Long Walk.

And then, we are in a brand-new month and that has brought us into a brand-new quarter and so, we have some brand-new snapback hats in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, limited-edition navy addition, Daily Audio Bible hats. It’s ballcap wearing season and it’s ballcap wearing season every day for me but it’s ballcap wearing season here in the summer and these navy and white ones with the leather imprint on the front are beautiful. They are a limited edition, they are in limited supply, when they’re gone, they’re gone. And we’ve brought them out for quarter number three and you can find those in the Daily Audio Bible Shop in the Lifestyle Section. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. Thank you, humbly. We couldn’t do this, we couldn’t be here, there wouldn’t be a Global Campfire. If we weren’t here feeding the flames together, showing up for each other every day, praying for one another and if this has been life-giving to you then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

July 5, 2023

7/2/2023 DAB Transcript

2 Kings 20:1-22:2, Acts 21:18-36, Psalm 150:1-6, Proverbs 18:9-10

Today is the 2nd day of July, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is wonderful to be here with you. Now we’ve crossed the threshold into a new month. And here we are crossing the threshold into a brand-new week. So, welcome to all things new here. Our first full week of this 7th month of the year and we will do what we always do, gather together around the Global Campfire, find a place, get comfy, release the cares of this life, allow them to go away for this moment in time, where we allow God to speak directly to us through His word. So, let’s launch into our new week by doing what we also do, picking up where we left off, and that happens to be the book of Second Kings. And today we will read chapter 20 verse 1 through 22 verse 2, and we will read from the Evangelical Heritage Version the EHV this week.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You that Your name is a strong tower and we run to it and are protected. We thank You for that as we get ourselves moved into this new month and begin launching this brand-new week out in front of us. Those are words that we will take with us. Your name is a strong tower, the righteous person runs inside and is protected. Holy Spirit come as we continue this journey forward into month number seven, day-by-day, step-by-step, we invite Your Holy Spirit, here in the second half of the year, that You would lead us into all truth, that You would show us the narrow path that leads to life, that You would lead us on the pathways of peace and that the fruit of Your spirit might be bountiful in our hearts, spilling out into the world. As we get the grand adventure of collaborating with You and revealing You to the world. Come, Holy Spirit, we pray, in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Prayer and Encouragements:

What’s up, DAB family, this is TAC from Atlanta, son of Pray Without Ceasing. And you know, I heard some interesting calls today on June 27th podcast. But that kind of led me to tell a story. The second time that I met my father-in-law, he, I’m in the car with him alone and he slams on the breaks. And I’m like, on my phone as I look up. And I look in the rearview, you know the passenger rearview mirror to see what happened behind us and I saw nothing. So, now I turn to the left and I see my father-in-law, he was not my father-in-law at the time, but father-in-law staring at me. Right, and then he proceeds to cuss me out. This is the second time I met him. I’m on a family vacation with him and his family. He’s going in. This was the first incident of many for six years and counting of disrespectful interactions between me and my father-in-law. But I heard, I heard, I believe her name was Without a Dove [Eyes of a Dove], and I know her name, I hear her all the time, so forgive me for, forgive me for forgetting right now. But you know, she said you know, she was just livid and you would have never thought it was her, how upset she was at her son. That’s how you would have thought of me, if you would have saw how I interacted the last time I interacted with my father-in-law. But, but as far as me and my spirit, I’m cool, I’m okay. But I wanted to call because I wanted to pray for him. You know, you know, sometimes when stuff happens, and when people lash out at you constantly and pick at you constantly, yeah, it could be of the enemy but at the same time it could not be about you. And it could be a bigger picture. And I would just ask you guys for your prayers and encouragement for my father-in-law to get better.

Hello, my DAB family, this is Mark Street from Sydney, Australia. Today, is Tuesday, the 27th of June. And I am just calling in to ask for prayer for me. I’m about to put my resignation in for my job that I’ve been there for 10 years. I have had prophetic word, saying God will look after me. What I’m doing is probably not, may not make any human sense to me to do but I’m gonna be starting my own business and I think that is what God is calling me to do. But I also know that it may be my own human thinking. So, I’m asking you to pray for me to God that if that’s not His will for me that He will reveal to me what He wants me to do. And that I will be sensitive to His calling and change directions without feeling anxiety and there is definitely fear there. So, please pray for the fear I have of what I’m doing. But I feel, definitely compelled to leave cause of issues as well. I love you all family. Mark Street from Sydney, Australia. Bye.

Hello Daily Audio Bible Family, it’s Jay from Clarkesville, Tennessee. Just calling in for prayer today. You know, the Lord’s been good, he’s really blessed me. He’s given me my degree, He’s given me my job, He’s given me my home. These are all things that I prayed for. And now, I’m faced with having all of these things and being single. And it’s been a challenge because you know, years and years ago, there was no such thing as dating apps. So, you, you, you had to physically talk to somebody, get to know them, meet them in person. You know, today it’s, you know, it’s all digital, so you’re spending all of your time on these apps with people who present themselves in a way that’s not necessarily what they are. So, I’m praying for myself and I’m praying for any brother or sister out there that is single and that has dedicated themselves to the Lord, mind, body and spirit. And I just wanna, I want to thank the Lord for the time that He is blessed me through the power of the Holy Spirit to truly find with Him, with my body, because that has been the struggle of my life. And so, for me to stand here today and not be giving myself to other people physically, it’s a miracle. So, I thank the Lord for that. And so, let’s pray. Father, in the precious name of Jesus Christ, we are so grateful for Your strength and Your will and the power that comes in the name of Jesus Christ. So, we call upon You know oh God, to hear our hearts, hear our desires for a good wife, a good husband, a God-fearing wife, a God-fearing husband. Lord, and just continue to strengthen us to resist temptation during this time as we are prepared for our future spouse. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

This is Candace from Oregon. This call is about my grandson, my daughter’s teenage son. He started having a lot of problems and he’s only had mild problems, ADHD and such. But a month ago, it got, it started getting really strange, intermittently. By the time we got, as I speak to you, it’s Tuesday, 10pm. By the time it got to last Saturday, I, she needed help. I came over to stay overnight with them. He, he’s just not making any sense at all. Long story short, we tried to get him into a hospital, actually earlier on Saturday. I must have come over there early Saturday. And anyway, it was an arduous thing. Because he turned 18 Sunday night, I think was part of the problem. One hospital couldn’t keep him because he wasn’t 18 yet and the next hospital that they referred us to wouldn’t keep him for no discernable reason. He got worse. Then we realized we would have to get help that we couldn’t safely transport him ourselves because he was getting worse. He got to where he didn’t recognize his mom anymore, did not know who she was. Please pray. Please pray. He’s in the hospital, he’s not getting better yet. Thank you.

July 5, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday July 5, 2023 (NIV)

1 Chronicles 1:1-2:17

From Adam to Abraham

1 ^[a] ^(A)Adam, Seth, Enosh; ²^(B)Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; ³Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; ⁴Noah, ^(C)Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

⁵^(D)The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ⁶The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath,^[b] and Togarmah. ⁷The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.

⁸^(E)The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. ⁹The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. ¹⁰Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty man.^[c]

¹¹^(F)Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹²Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.

¹³Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, ¹⁴and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, ¹⁵the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, ¹⁶the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.

¹⁷^(G)The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. And the sons of Aram:^[d] Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. ¹⁸Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. ¹⁹To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg^[e] (for in his days the earth was divided), and his brother's name was Joktan. ²⁰Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²¹Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²²Obal,^[f] Abimael, Sheba, ²³Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.

²⁴^(H)Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah; ²⁵Eber, Peleg, Reu; ²⁶Serug, Nahor, Terah; ²⁷Abram, that is, Abraham.

From Abraham to Jacob

²⁸The sons of Abraham: ^(I)Isaac and ^(J)Ishmael. ²⁹^(K)These are their genealogies: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ³⁰Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, ³¹Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael. ³²^(L)The sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. ³³The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the descendants of Keturah.

³⁴Abraham fathered ^(M)Isaac. The sons of Isaac: ^(N)Esau and ^(O)Israel. ³⁵^(P)The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. ³⁶The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz, and of Timna,^[g] Amalek. ³⁷The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.

³⁸^(Q)The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. ³⁹The sons of Lotan: Hori and Hemam;^[h] and Lotan's sister was Timna. ⁴⁰The sons of Shobal: Alvan,^[i] Manahath, Ebal, Shepho,^[j] and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. ⁴¹The son^[k] of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hemdan,^[l] Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ⁴²The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.^[m] The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

⁴³^(R)These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the people of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, the name of his city being Dinhabah. ⁴⁴Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of ^(S)Bozrah reigned in his place. ⁴⁵Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the ^(T)Temanites reigned in his place. ⁴⁶Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. ⁴⁷Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. ⁴⁸Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates^[n] reigned in his place. ⁴⁹Shaul died, and Baal-hanan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his place. ⁵⁰Baal-hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pai; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. ⁵¹And Hadad died.

The chiefs of Edom were: chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁵²Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁵³Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁵⁴Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom.

A Genealogy of David

2 These are the sons of ^(U)Israel: ^(V)Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, ^(W)Issachar, Zebulun, ²^(X)Dan, ^(Y)Joseph, ^(Z)Benjamin, ^(AA)Naphtali, ^(AB)Gad, and Asher. ³^(AC)The sons of Judah: ^(AD)Er, Onan and Shelah; these three Bath-shua the Canaanite bore to him. Now Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death. ⁴His daughter-in-law ^(AE)Tamar also bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.

⁵The ^(AF)sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. ⁶The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, five in all. ⁷The son^[o] of Carmi: Achan, the troubler of Israel, who ^(AG)broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing; ⁸and Ethan's son was Azariah.

⁹The sons of Hezron that were born to him: Jerahmeel, ^(AH)Ram, and ^(AI)Chelubai. ¹⁰^(AJ)Ram fathered Amminadab, and ^(AK)Amminadab fathered ^(AL)Nahshon, prince of the sons of Judah. ¹¹Nahshon fathered ^(AM)Salmon,^[p] Salmon fathered ^(AN)Boaz, ¹²Boaz fathered Obed, ^(AO)Obed fathered Jesse. ¹³^(AP)Jesse fathered Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab the second, ^(AQ)Shimea the third, ¹⁴Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, ¹⁵Ozem the sixth, ^(AR)David the seventh. ¹⁶And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. ^(AS)The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three. ¹⁷^(AT)Abigail bore Amasa, and the father of Amasa was ^(AU)Jether the Ishmaelite.

Footnotes:

1 Chronicles 1:1 Many names in these genealogies are spelled differently in other biblical books
1 Chronicles 1:6 Septuagint; Hebrew Diphath
1 Chronicles 1:10 Or He began to be a mighty man on the earth
1 Chronicles 1:17 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks And the sons of Aram
1 Chronicles 1:19 Peleg means division
1 Chronicles 1:22 Septuagint, Syriac (compare Genesis 10:28); Hebrew Ebal
1 Chronicles 1:36 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:12); Hebrew lacks and of
1 Chronicles 1:39 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:22); Hebrew Homam
1 Chronicles 1:40 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:23); Hebrew Alian
1 Chronicles 1:40 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:23); Hebrew Shephi
1 Chronicles 1:41 Hebrew sons
1 Chronicles 1:41 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:26); Hebrew Hamran
1 Chronicles 1:42 Septuagint (compare Genesis 36:27); Hebrew Jaakan
1 Chronicles 1:48 Hebrew the River
1 Chronicles 2:7 Hebrew sons
1 Chronicles 2:11 Septuagint (compare Ruth 4:21); Hebrew Salma

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Acts 23:11-35

¹¹^(A)The following night ^(B)the Lord stood by him and said, ^(C)“Take courage, for ^(D)as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must ^(E)testify also in Rome.”

A Plot to Kill Paul

¹²When it was day, ^(F)the Jews made a plot and ^(G)bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. ¹³There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. ¹⁴They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. ¹⁵Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

¹⁶Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered ^(H)the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul ^(I)the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” ¹⁹The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” ²⁰And he said, ^(J)“The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. ²¹But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who ^(K)have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” ²²So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”

Paul Sent to Felix the Governor

²³Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.^[a] ²⁴Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to ^(L)Felix ^(M)the governor.” ²⁵And he wrote a letter to this effect:

²⁶“Claudius Lysias, to ^(N)his Excellency the governor Felix, ^(O)greetings. ²⁷^(P)This man was seized by the Jews and ^(Q)was about to be killed by them ^(R)when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, ^(S)having learned that he was a Roman citizen. ²⁸And ^(T)desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. ²⁹I found that he was being accused ^(U)about questions of their law, but ^(V)charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. ³⁰^(W)And when it was disclosed to me ^(X)that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, ^(Y)ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”

³¹So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³²And on the next day they returned to ^(Z)the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. ³³When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. ³⁴On reading the letter, he asked what ^(AA)province he was from. And when he learned ^(AB)that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing ^(AC)when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's ^(AD)praetorium.

Footnotes:

Acts 23:23 That is, 9 p.m.

Cross references:

Acts 23:11 : ch. 18:9; 27:23
Acts 23:11 : 1 Sam. 3:10
Acts 23:11 : [2 Tim. 4:17]
Acts 23:11 : [ch. 19:21]
Acts 23:11 : ch. 22:15
Acts 23:12 : ver. 30
Acts 23:12 : ver. 14, 21
Acts 23:16 : ver. 10, 32
Acts 23:18 : See Eph. 3:1
Acts 23:20 : ver. 14, 15
Acts 23:21 : ver. 12, 14
Acts 23:24 : ver. 26; ch. 24:2; 25:14
Acts 23:24 : ver. 33; ch. 24:1, 10; 26:30; See Luke 20:20
Acts 23:26 : ch. 24:1
Acts 23:26 : See ch. 15:23
Acts 23:27 : ch. 21:27
Acts 23:27 : [ch. 21:32, 33]
Acts 23:27 : [ch. 21:32, 33]
Acts 23:27 : [ch. 22:25-29]
Acts 23:28 : ch. 22:30
Acts 23:29 : ch. 18:15; 25:19
Acts 23:29 : ch. 25:25; 26:31; 28:18; [ver. 9]
Acts 23:30 : ver. 20
Acts 23:30 : ver. 12; See ch. 9:24
Acts 23:30 : ver. 35; [ch. 24:19; 25:16]
Acts 23:32 : ver. 10, 16
Acts 23:34 : ch. 25:1
Acts 23:34 : ch. 21:39
Acts 23:35 : ver. 30
Acts 23:35 : See Matt. 27:27

English Standard Version (ESV)

Psalm 3

Save Me, O My God

A Psalm of David, ^(A)when he fled from Absalom his son.

3 O Lord, ^(B)how many are my foes!
Many are ^(C)rising against me;
²many are saying of my soul,
^(D)“There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah^[a]

³But you, O Lord, are ^(E)a shield ^(F)about me,
my glory, and ^(G)the lifter of my head.
⁴I ^(H)cried aloud to the Lord,
and he ^(I)answered me from his ^(J)holy hill. Selah

⁵I ^(K)lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
⁶I ^(L)will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have ^(M)set themselves against me all around.

⁷^(N)Arise, O Lord!
Save me, O my God!
For you ^(O)strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you ^(P)break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸^(Q)Salvation belongs to the Lord;
your blessing be on your people! Selah

Footnotes:

Psalm 3:2 The meaning of the Hebrew word Selah, used frequently in the Psalms, is uncertain. It may be a musical or liturgical direction

English Standard Version (ESV)

Proverbs 18:14-15

¹⁴A man's spirit will endure sickness,
but ^(A)a crushed spirit who can bear?
¹⁵An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

Cross references:

Proverbs 18:14 : ch. 15:13

English Standard Version (ESV)

July 5, 2023

07/05/2023 DAB Transcript

1 Chronicles 1:1-2:17, Acts 23:11-35, Psalms 3:1-8, Proverbs 18:14-15

Today is the 5^th day of July welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we continue our journey forward. And, so, yesterday we concluded the book of second Kings. And, so, we had moved through the books of Samuel and the books of Kings ending up with no kingdom left. The northern kingdom of Israel had been carried away into exile by the Assyrian Empire and then the kingdom of Judah in the south was carried away into exile by the Babylonian Empire, resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem, including the destruction of the…of the temple of the most high God. Now we are about to turn the page and open the book of first Chronicles

Introduction to first Chronicles:

Obviously, there is a second Chronicles following that and we’ll…we’ll be covering a lot of the same…same territory. So it’s almost like, didn’t we already…haven’t we already heard this story? Didn’t we already go through this territory? And the answer would be yes. We’re going back through this territory from a different perspective and time. Chronicles looks at the same history through the eyes of the priests. So, as we just said, we finished the books of Kings yesterday and Judah was exiled to Babylon. And first and second Chronicles were written from this exile. And we’re not sure who was the author or who collected the Chronicles together. There is…there is Jewish tradition that suggests that the scribe and priest Ezra was involved. And even though there isn’t total consensus among biblical scholars, which is not a surprise, the books were written about for centuries before the time of Jesus, which would make them contemporary with Ezra. And as we begin, we have the first nine chapters that will cover a lot of genealogy. It’s that part of the Bible where we have all these hard to pronounce names and…and there long lists and we’re like what is going on and I don’t even know how to pronounce these names and why are these people’s names in the Bible and what is the purpose of this? But once we understand the purpose of this, we find a pretty moving story. We just have to think about exile, just the concept in and of itself. Imagine you…well…let’s just use Jerusalem. Imagine you lived in Jerusalem and you were there under the siege, and you saw the slow erosion and you saw eventually that a tipping point had been reached and the city would eventually be conquered and…and then it was and lots of people were killed, people that you knew, maybe family members that you knew. And there are some people that maybe are in your family or are in your friend group that you can’t find. You don’t know what happened to them. And then all of a sudden you’re starting to be rounded up like cattle and shipped off to some other place where you have to march to another land and you have to go somewhere else and people are just being arbitrarily divided up into groups. And, so, families are being split up and going in different directions, and never will see each other again. Imagine that if you’re a parent, watching a child disappear or a sibling disappear or even your spouse going somewhere else being carried away into an unknown land where unknown things are going to happen. These names, these genealogies that we wrestle with they were knit together so that the people would remember where they came from and who they were and every one of those names has a story of life and loss in it. The books of Chronicles were written to remind the children of Israel who they were and where they came from and who God is. And I often tell this story when we reach this point in the Bible because it's…it’s a story that kind of snapped this into place for me. And we know about World War II and we know that the Jewish people faced more displacement. And we can visit Holocaust Museum’s throughout the world where some of the atrocities took place. I personally several years ago was in Africa, was in the country of Rwanda. And Rwanda had experienced a genocide back in the 90s, a pretty brutal genocide where a million people died over tribal warfare over the course of the summer. And, so, they too have museums and memorials throughout their country in some very, very remote places. It’s really sad how all of that happened. But they also have a national…national Memorial in Kigali in the…in the nation…nation’s capital, and I visited that. Jill and I visited that one year and went through the site. It's…it…it’s really hard. I mean so many of the skeletons…so many of the bones of the people that were killed are preserved and displayed and can be seen and the clothing that they were wearing and maybe what they were carrying when they died. And then you go into a very, very quiet, round room. Many places are like this. A very reverent room. It’s darkly lit. And from the floor to the ceiling, and it’s probably 25 feet tall, are pictures hung from floor-to-ceiling of people who had died. And you can sort of sit in that room and just be surrounded by all of these faces, all of these lives, all of these people who had relationships and loved others and had a life that was taken from them. And you sit in there and it’s quiet and there’s a soft voice, a female voice, and she’s saying the names. And it doesn’t stop. She’s just saying the names of the people that were lost. You might think of it as if she were reciting the genealogies that were lost. We can’t understate the impact of the exiles and the destruction of ancient Israel, biblical Israel as we knew it, and the book the books of Chronicles open by giving us the chance to say the names. And, so, with that we begin first Chronicles chapter 1 verse 1 through 2 verse 17.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for this new territory that we are moving into as we move into the books of Chronicles. And as we read the names and as we re-familiar…refamiliarize ourselves with the story we see a story of back-and-forth of ebb and flow of returning to You and watch You shower graciousness and protection on Your people only for them to abandon You again and walk away, which ultimately leads to destruction. May we see this pattern in the Scriptures and may we see this pattern as it materializes in our lives and learn the lesson. The safest place we can possibly be is in Your presence and You have not withdrawn from us. We are in Your presence. Make us aware we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that’s home base, it is where you find out what is going on around here. We have plenty of things going on around here right now.

So, we celebrated Jill’s birthday on the 4^th of July yesterday and now we are looking forward to this Friday which is our Daily Audio Bible community holiday that we call the Daily Audio Bible long walk. And that…that’s self-explanatory enough. That’s what it is. This is the day that we…we recognize that we’re in the center of the year. We recognize that it has taken a significant amount of energy and effort and discernment to get here to the center of the year. We realize that we have at our victories in our defeats, our mountain heights, and our deep valleys and how we are here. And, so, we are looking at the second half of the year. And this is the time to regroup and go for a long walk and say everything that needs to be said and listen, listen to anything that God might be whispering back about what the second half of this year is to look like so that we get re-oriented as we are on this journey. And, so, go somewhere beautiful. Go somewhere and enjoy a day in creation with the slow rhythms of love, the slow rhythms of just being, being with God. There’s no objective. There aren’t a certain amount of minutes of intercession that are necessary. Just be. And if you think you’re not talking enough, maybe you’re talking the right amount. Maybe more listening. Maybe more silence. Maybe more listening to all the life that is happening all around us and the rhythms of nature. And, so, yeah, that’s Friday. I can’t hardly wait. I’m looking forward to that.

There are a couple of resources that…that pair so well with the long walk. They’re musical resources that you can download or stream. The first one is Heart, a contemplative journey and the second one is Sleep, a contemplative journey. And these projects create atmosphere, just a nonintrusive kind of atmosphere out in nature to focus 0our emotions and our intentions and our prayers. And, so, certainly look for those wherever it is that you get your music like the iTunes store.

And then also we have just released our snapback hats for the third quarter this year. Daily Audio Bible leather patched baseball caps. These are navy and white in the back - beautiful, classy, perfect for summertime. You can check those out in the Daily Audio Bible Shop in the Lifestyle section. Those are in limited quantities and so get those while you can. But they’re in the Lifestyle section. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and offered freely to anybody anywhere anytime and to build community around showing up for each other every day, if that is life giving then thank you humbly for your partnership as we navigate through these summer months. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, of course, if you have a prayer request or encouragement you can hit the Hotline button in the app. That’s the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s all for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Coming soon…

July 4, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday July 4, 2023 (NIV)

2 Kings 23:31-25:30

Jehoahaz's Reign and Captivity

³¹^(A)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was ^(B)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³²And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(C)according to all that his fathers had done. ³³And ^(D)Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at ^(E)Riblah in the land of ^(F)Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents^[a] of silver and a talent of gold. ³⁴And ^(G)Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and ^(H)changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, ^(I)and he came to Egypt and died there. ³⁵And Jehoiakim ^(J)gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

³⁶^(K)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(L)according to all that his fathers had done.

24 ^(M)In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. ²And the Lord sent against him bands of the ^(N)Chaldeans and ^(O)bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, ^(P)according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets. ³Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, ^(Q)for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, ⁴and also ^(R)for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon. ⁵^(S)Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁶So Jehoiakim ^(T)slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. ⁷^(U)And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, ^(V)for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt ^(W)from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah

⁸^(X)Jehoiachin was ^(Y)eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(Z)according to all that his father had done.

Jerusalem Captured

¹⁰At that time the servants of ^(AA)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. ¹¹And ^(AB)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, ¹²^(AC)and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. ^(AD)The king of Babylon took him prisoner ^(AE)in the eighth year of his reign ¹³and carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord ^(AF)and the treasures of the king's house, ^(AG)and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, ^(AH)which Solomon king of Israel had made, ^(AI)as the Lord had foretold. ¹⁴^(AJ)He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, ^(AK)10,000 captives, ^(AL)and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, ^(AM)except the poorest people of the land. ¹⁵^(AN)And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, ^(AO)7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. ¹⁷^(AP)And the king of Babylon ^(AQ)made Mattaniah, ^(AR)Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, ^(AS)and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah

¹⁸^(AT)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was ^(AU)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AV)according to all that Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.

^(AW)And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Fall and Captivity of Judah

25 ^(AX)And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, ^(AY)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ^(AZ)And they built siegeworks all around it. ²So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³On the ninth day of the fourth month ^(BA)the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁴Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by ^(BB)the king's garden, and ^(BC)the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the ^(BD)Arabah. ⁵But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. ⁶Then they captured the king ^(BE)and brought him up to the king of Babylon at ^(BF)Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. ⁷They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, ^(BG)and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

⁸^(BH)In the fifth month, on ^(BI)the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ⁹^(BJ)And he burned the house of the Lord ^(BK)and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. ¹⁰And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, ^(BL)broke down the walls around Jerusalem. ¹¹^(BM)And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. ¹²But the captain of the guard left ^(BN)some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

¹³^(BO)And the pillars ^(BP)of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and ^(BQ)the stands and ^(BR)the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁴^(BS)And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, ¹⁵the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. ¹⁶As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, ^(BT)the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. ¹⁷^(BU)The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,^[b] and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

¹⁸^(BV)And the captain of the guard took ^(BW)Seraiah the chief priest and ^(BX)Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; ¹⁹and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and ^(BY)five men of the king's council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city. ²⁰And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at ^(BZ)Riblah. ²¹And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at ^(CA)Riblah in the land of Hamath. ^(CB)So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

²²And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed ^(CC)Gedaliah the son of ^(CD)Ahikam, son of Shaphan, governor. ²³^(CE)Now when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at ^(CF)Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite. ²⁴And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” ²⁵^(CG)But in the seventh month, ^(CH)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶^(CI)Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

²⁷^(CJ)And in the thirty-seventh year of ^(CK)the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously ^(CL)freed^[c] Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. ²⁸And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life ^(CM)he dined regularly at the king's table, ³⁰and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.

Footnotes:

2 Kings 23:33 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
2 Kings 25:17 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
2 Kings 25:27 Hebrew reign, lifted up the head of

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Acts 22:17-23:10

¹⁷^(A)“When I had returned to Jerusalem and ^(B)was praying in the temple, I fell into ^(C)a trance ¹⁸and saw him saying to me, ^(D)‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another ^(E)I imprisoned and ^(F)beat those who believed in you. ²⁰And when the blood of Stephen ^(G)your witness was being shed, ^(H)I myself was standing by and ^(I)approving and ^(J)watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ ²¹And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you ^(K)far away to the Gentiles.’”

Paul and the Roman Tribune

²²Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, ^(L)“Away with such a fellow from the earth! For ^(M)he should not be allowed to live.” ²³And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴the tribune ordered him to be brought into ^(N)the barracks, saying that he should be ^(O)examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. ²⁵But when they had stretched him out for the whips,^[a] Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog ^(P)a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” ²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” ²⁹So those who were about ^(Q)to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also ^(R)was afraid, ^(S)for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that ^(T)he had bound him.

Paul Before the Council

³⁰But on the next day, ^(U)desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.

23 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, ^(V)I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” ²And the high priest ^(W)Ananias commanded those who stood by him ^(X)to strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you ^(Y)whitewashed ^(Z)wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet ^(AA)contrary to the law you ^(AB)order me to be struck?” ⁴Those who stood by said, “Would you revile ^(AC)God's high priest?” ⁵And Paul said, ^(AD)“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ^(AE)‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶Now when Paul perceived that one part were ^(AF)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, ^(AG)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is ^(AH)with respect to the ^(AI)hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” ⁷And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸For the Sadducees ^(AJ)say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹Then a great clamor arose, and some of ^(AK)the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply, ^(AL)“We find nothing wrong in this man. What ^(AM)if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” ¹⁰And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into ^(AN)the barracks.

Footnotes:

Acts 22:25 Or when they had tied him up with leather strips

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Psalm 2

The Reign of the Lord's Anointed

2 ^(A)Why do ^(B)the nations rage^[a]
and the peoples plot in vain?
²The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his ^(C)Anointed, saying,
³“Let us ^(D)burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

⁴He who ^(E)sits in the heavens ^(F)laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
⁵Then he will speak to them in his ^(G)wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶“As for me, I have ^(H)set my King
on ^(I)Zion, my ^(J)holy hill.”

⁷I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, ^(K)“You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
⁸Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and ^(L)the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹You shall ^(M)break^[b] them with ^(N)a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like ^(O)a potter's vessel.”

¹⁰Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
¹¹^(P)Serve the Lord with ^(Q)fear,
and ^(R)rejoice with ^(S)trembling.
¹²^(T)Kiss ^(U)the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his ^(V)wrath is quickly kindled.
^(W)Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Footnotes:

Psalm 2:1 Or nations noisily assemble
Psalm 2:9 Revocalization yields (compare Septuagint) You shall rule

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Proverbs 18:13

¹³If one gives an answer ^(A)before he hears,
it is his folly and shame.

Cross references:

Proverbs 18:13 : [John 7:51]

English Standard Version (ESV)

July 3, 2023

6/30/2023 DAB Transcript

2 Kings 17:1-18:12, Acts 20:1-38, Psalm 148:1-14, Proverbs 18:6-7

Today is the 30th day of June, which makes it the last day of the month of June, which means that as we take our next step forward together today, we are…we are reaching the halfway point. I can hardly believe that’s true, but here we are again in the dead center of the year. And so, it is great to be here with you in the middle and grateful for every day that we’ve been able to gather together and take another step forward. And so, we end months, and we begin months, and we end months, and we begin months, and they all add up to a year and we do that by keeping going day-by-day, step-by-step. And so, let’s finish this month well, so that tomorrow we can begin a new month anew. So, we will go back to where we left off and that leads us, at this point, back into the book of Second Kings, and today we will read Second Kings chapter 17 verse 1 through 18 verse 12 today.

Commentary:

Okay, so, as we end this 30th day of the sixth month of the year and find ourselves basically at halftime, here we are in the middle of it all. The Bible brings us to a point of melancholy. It’s a somber reading in both the Old and New Testaments today. And as we go forward from here into the second half of the year, starting tomorrow, we’re kind of changing again the complexion. In the Old Testament true to, true to the Bible’s kind of understated way, when these massive, massive things happen. We were, we were told of the Assyrian invasion of Samaria. The northern kingdom of Israel. Now, let’s remember without going back through exhaustive review, let’s remember that after Solomon’s reign, the nation, the kingdom of Israel split into two, and so we’ve been moving along with the northern and the southern kingdoms. So, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdoms capital city was the city of Samaria. The Assyrians attacked the northern kingdom, the 10 tribes of the north. And in today’s reading they besieged Samaria for three years and Samaria fell. What that means is that 10 of the tribes of Israel were defeated and conquered and according to the Scriptures the people were deported, they were carried away into exile by the Assyrian Empire. And we’ve talked about some of the strategies of Empire building at this time and we see it on, in plain display today in our reading. The peoples that were conquered in the northern tribes of Israel were deported to a different land; they were carried away to a different part of the Assyrian Empire. Another part of the Empire that had been conquered. They were resettled in a new land. Meanwhile, other conquered peoples were moved into the land of Samaria. These new peoples who had been settled in the new land, who were also facing exile. They didn’t want to be there any more than the Israelites wanted to be in a different land. They were being mixed into the Empire; conquered peoples were relocated to other parts of the Empire. This is empire building because over the generations, as the Empire brings prosperity to all the people, people stop, start to forget about their history or their homeland. They start thinking, hey, things are pretty good here. Like, this is a good life, we have a good life, and you start to forget where you came from. So, you become a product of the Empire. That’s what you know. That’s the only thing you know that’s how you were born into it. This is what you know. And so, over time conquered peoples over the generations become assimilated and don’t know anything different. That’s not a good plan though for the children of Israel, because God had a different plan and that was to reveal himself through this people. But rather than revealing God to the nations, they did everything that they could to assimilate themselves into being like the other nations, including worshiping the gods of the other nations, not revealing the one true God to all the nations. And they eroded, and we watched all this, we read all this. Like we got here somehow. We started in Genesis and went through the whole story that led us here. The back-and-forth of idolatry. The back-and-forth of looking around for something to give us life and then offering our hearts in worship to that thing. So, we end the first half of our year in a very, very different place than how we started it. We followed this story all the way to the formation of the children of Israel, and now we step through the threshold, tomorrow, into the second half of the year, and 10 of the tribes of Israel are missing. And here’s the thing, they never materialize again. What we read today, was the end of the chapter or an era, of the 10 tribes of Israel were assimilated and disappeared, never to be cohesive tribes again, until today. So, as we step forward, Israel is gone. The kingdom of Israel is gone and all that remains is the smaller kingdom of Judah in the south, but it does contain the holy city of Jerusalem. So, as we go forward now in Kings, we don’t have kings of Israel to learn about anymore. We’ve reached the end of that story. There are no more kings of Israel. We’ll continue our story forward with the kings of Judah and find out what happens to them.

We also have a somber scene in the Book of Acts, the apostle Paul was on his third missionary journey. The Holy Spirit has instructed Paul to return to Jerusalem, and Paul has a pretty strong sense of what that will mean and that, that imprisonments and persecution are probably in front of him, as he makes his way back to this holy city, after the same fashion of Jesus who knew, he was going to Jerusalem and knew how he would be received there. So, we are watching Paul’s final days of what he believes to be his freedom. So, as he’s passing by, he sends messengers to take to get the elders from the church at Ephesus to come, basically, meet him by the ship. He can’t take the time stay in Ephesus because he is trying to get to Jerusalem by Pentecost. But he has a very weighty meeting with the leaders of Ephesus because this is the last meeting that they will ever have. And he makes a declaration like, I have withheld nothing from you. I’ve given you the gospel I did everything that I could to share Jesus with you. I am clean. And we’ve seen that pattern before, we saw Moses doing that when he’s standing befor the children of Israel, saying, like I have led you, I have been faithful to you, I haven’t stolen anything from you. Like, if there’s something against me, say it now, so that everything can be made right. We saw Samuel do the same kind of thing. So, we’re seeing Paul do something similar, which is to say, if you have anything against me, then speak it to me now, and I’m letting you know I know anything against you, and I have done what I came to do, I’ve given everything that I had that God gave me to give you, I’ve given to you. But in this life we will never see each other again. If anything needs to be addressed, let’s do that. And so, we’re left with a bit of melancholy scene of people who love each other very, very much. Who are very, very much following the leading of the Holy Spirit and the roads are going in different directions. And so, they will never see each other again and that is how we land at the halfway point of our journey through the Scriptures this year.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You, we thank You for bringing us here, halfway through the year. It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long since New Year’s Day, but here we are and that’s just the nature of our experience of time. Sometimes it feels like it’s taking 100 years to go five minutes and sometimes it feels like a year goes by in a breath, but we are marking the time, we are marking the fact that we have come halfway through our journey together. So, at this halfway point, we lift our hands in worship, we throw open the doors of our hearts and say come, Holy Spirit. Nothing is off limits to You, lead us in the second half of the year to everything that we need for the journey that we are on, and may we become more and more aware not only of your presence, but of your activity and that we are part of Your story, and You are not a part of ours. You have invited us into the dance of life in the journey that we get to experience together, not the other way around. So, we love You, we humble ourselves before You, and we ask that You lead us into all truth, as we prepare for the second half of the year. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements and Prayers will be posted later.

July 3, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday July 3, 2023 (NIV)

2 Kings 22:3-23:30

³In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan^(A) son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the Lord. He said: ⁴“Go up to Hilkiah^(B) the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected^(C) from the people. ⁵Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair^(D) the temple of the Lord— ⁶the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple.^(E) ⁷But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”^(F)

⁸Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law^(G) in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. ⁹Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” ¹⁰Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.^(H)

¹¹When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law,^(I) he tore his robes. ¹²He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam^(J) son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant:^(K) ¹³“Go and inquire^(L) of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger^(M) that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”

¹⁴Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet^(N) Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.

¹⁵She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ¹⁶‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster^(O) on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book^(P) the king of Judah has read. ¹⁷Because they have forsaken^(Q) me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made,^[a] my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ ¹⁸Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire^(R) of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: ¹⁹Because your heart was responsive and you humbled^(S) yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse^[b]^(T) and be laid waste^(U)—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. ²⁰Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace.^(V) Your eyes^(W) will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”

So they took her answer back to the king.

Josiah Renews the Covenant^(X)^(Y)^(Z)^(AA)

23 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ²He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read^(AB) in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant,^(AC) which had been found in the temple of the Lord. ³The king stood by the pillar^(AD) and renewed the covenant^(AE) in the presence of the Lord—to follow^(AF) the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

⁴The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers^(AG) to remove^(AH) from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. ⁵He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense^(AI) to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.^(AJ) ⁶He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley^(AK) outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder^(AL) and scattered the dust over the graves^(AM) of the common people.^(AN) ⁷He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes^(AO) that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.

⁸Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba^(AP) to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. ⁹Although the priests of the high places did not serve^(AQ) at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

¹⁰He desecrated Topheth,^(AR) which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom,^(AS) so no one could use it to sacrifice their son^(AT) or daughter in the fire to Molek. ¹¹He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah^(AU) had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court^[c] near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.^(AV)

¹²He pulled down^(AW) the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof^(AX) near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts^(AY) of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley.^(AZ) ¹³The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon^(BA) king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable^(BB) god of the people of Ammon.^(BC) ¹⁴Josiah smashed^(BD) the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.^(BE)

¹⁵Even the altar^(BF) at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam^(BG) son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. ¹⁶Then Josiah^(BH) looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance^(BI) with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.

¹⁷The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”

The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”

¹⁸“Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones^(BJ).” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet^(BK) who had come from Samaria.

¹⁹Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. ²⁰Josiah slaughtered^(BL) all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones^(BM) on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

²¹The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover^(BN) to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”^(BO) ²²Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. ²³But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.^(BP)

²⁴Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists,^(BQ) the household gods,^(BR) the idols and all the other detestable^(BS) things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. ²⁵Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned^(BT) to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.^(BU)

²⁶Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger,^(BV) which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh^(BW) had done to arouse his anger. ²⁷So the Lord said, “I will remove^(BX) Judah also from my presence^(BY) as I removed Israel, and I will reject^(BZ) Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’^[d]”

²⁸As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

²⁹While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho^(CA) king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo.^(CB) ³⁰Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot^(CC) from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

Footnotes:

2 Kings 22:17 Or by everything they have done
2 Kings 22:19 That is, their names would be used in cursing (see Jer. 29:22); or, others would see that they are cursed.
2 Kings 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
2 Kings 23:27 1 Kings 8:29

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)

Acts 21:37-22:16

Paul Speaks to the Crowd^(A)

³⁷As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks,^(B) he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”

“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. ³⁸“Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness^(C) some time ago?”^(D)

³⁹Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus^(E) in Cilicia,^(F) a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned^(G) to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic^[a]:^(H) 22 ¹“Brothers and fathers,^(I) listen now to my defense.”

²When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic,^(J) they became very quiet.

Then Paul said: ³“I am a Jew,^(K) born in Tarsus^(L) of Cilicia,^(M) but brought up in this city. I studied under^(N) Gamaliel^(O) and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.^(P) I was just as zealous^(Q) for God as any of you are today. ⁴I persecuted^(R) the followers of this Way^(S) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,^(T) ⁵as the high priest and all the Council^(U) can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates^(V) in Damascus,^(W) and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶“About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.^(X) ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

⁸“‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,^(Y) whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ⁹My companions saw the light,^(Z) but they did not understand the voice^(AA) of him who was speaking to me.

¹⁰“‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’^(AB) ¹¹My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.^(AC)

¹²“A man named Ananias came to see me.^(AD) He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.^(AE) ¹³He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴“Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors^(AF) has chosen you to know his will and to see^(AG) the Righteous One^(AH) and to hear words from his mouth. ¹⁵You will be his witness^(AI) to all people of what you have seen^(AJ) and heard. ¹⁶And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized^(AK) and wash your sins away,^(AL) calling on his name.’^(AM)

Footnotes:

Acts 21:40 Or possibly Hebrew; also in 22:2

Cross references:

Acts 21:37 : 22:3-16pp — Ac 9:1-22; 26:9-18
Acts 21:37 : S ver 34
Acts 21:38 : Mt 24:26
Acts 21:38 : Ac 5:36
Acts 21:39 : S Ac 9:11
Acts 21:39 : S Ac 6:9
Acts 21:40 : S Ac 12:17
Acts 21:40 : S Jn 5:2
Acts 22:1 : Ac 7:2
Acts 22:2 : Ac 21:40; S Jn 5:2
Acts 22:3 : Ac 21:39
Acts 22:3 : S Ac 9:11
Acts 22:3 : S Ac 6:9
Acts 22:3 : Lk 10:39
Acts 22:3 : Ac 5:34
Acts 22:3 : Ac 26:5
Acts 22:3 : 1Ki 19:10; S Ac 21:20
Acts 22:4 : S Ac 8:3
Acts 22:4 : S Ac 9:2
Acts 22:4 : ver 19, 20
Acts 22:5 : Lk 22:66
Acts 22:5 : S Ac 1:16; 2:29; 13:26; 23:1; 28:17, 21; S Ro 7:1; 9:3
Acts 22:5 : Ac 9:2
Acts 22:6 : Ac 9:3
Acts 22:8 : S Mk 1:24
Acts 22:9 : Ac 26:13
Acts 22:9 : Ac 9:7
Acts 22:10 : Ac 16:30
Acts 22:11 : Ac 9:8
Acts 22:12 : Ac 9:17
Acts 22:12 : Ac 10:22
Acts 22:14 : S Ac 3:13
Acts 22:14 : S 1Co 15:8
Acts 22:14 : Ac 7:52
Acts 22:15 : Ac 23:11; 26:16
Acts 22:15 : ver 14
Acts 22:16 : S Ac 2:38
Acts 22:16 : Lev 8:6; Ps 51:2; Eze 36:25; Jn 3:5; 1Co 6:11; Eph 5:26; Tit 3:5; Heb 10:22; 1Pe 3:21
Acts 22:16 : Ro 10:13

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 1

BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

¹Blessed is the one^(A)
who does not walk^(B) in step with the wicked^(C)
or stand in the way^(D) that sinners take^(E)
or sit^(F) in the company of mockers,^(G)
²but whose delight^(H) is in the law of the Lord,^(I)
and who meditates^(J) on his law day and night.
³That person is like a tree^(K) planted by streams^(L) of water,^(M)
which yields its fruit^(N) in season
and whose leaf^(O) does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.^(P)

⁴Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff^(Q)
that the wind blows away.
⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand^(R) in the judgment,^(S)
nor sinners in the assembly^(T) of the righteous.

⁶For the Lord watches over^(U) the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.^(V)

New International Version (NIV)

Proverbs 18:11-12

¹¹The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;^(A)
they imagine it a wall too high to scale.

¹²Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
but humility comes before honor.^(B)

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)

July 3, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday July 3, 2023 (NIV)

2 Kings 22:3-23:30

So they took her answer back to the king.

Josiah Renews the Covenant^(X)^(Y)^(Z)^(AA)

¹⁷The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”

The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”

¹⁸“Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones^(BJ).” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet^(BK) who had come from Samaria.

²⁸As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

Footnotes:

2 Kings 22:17 Or by everything they have done
2 Kings 22:19 That is, their names would be used in cursing (see Jer. 29:22); or, others would see that they are cursed.
2 Kings 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
2 Kings 23:27 1 Kings 8:29

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)

Acts 21:37-22:16

Paul Speaks to the Crowd^(A)

³⁷As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks,^(B) he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”

“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. ³⁸“Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness^(C) some time ago?”^(D)

³⁹Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus^(E) in Cilicia,^(F) a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”

²When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic,^(J) they became very quiet.

⁶“About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.^(X) ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

⁸“‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,^(Y) whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ⁹My companions saw the light,^(Z) but they did not understand the voice^(AA) of him who was speaking to me.

¹⁰“‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.

Footnotes:

Acts 21:40 Or possibly Hebrew; also in 22:2

Cross references:

Acts 21:37 : 22:3-16pp — Ac 9:1-22; 26:9-18
Acts 21:37 : S ver 34
Acts 21:38 : Mt 24:26
Acts 21:38 : Ac 5:36
Acts 21:39 : S Ac 9:11
Acts 21:39 : S Ac 6:9
Acts 21:40 : S Ac 12:17
Acts 21:40 : S Jn 5:2
Acts 22:1 : Ac 7:2
Acts 22:2 : Ac 21:40; S Jn 5:2
Acts 22:3 : Ac 21:39
Acts 22:3 : S Ac 9:11
Acts 22:3 : S Ac 6:9
Acts 22:3 : Lk 10:39
Acts 22:3 : Ac 5:34
Acts 22:3 : Ac 26:5
Acts 22:3 : 1Ki 19:10; S Ac 21:20
Acts 22:4 : S Ac 8:3
Acts 22:4 : S Ac 9:2
Acts 22:4 : ver 19, 20
Acts 22:5 : Lk 22:66
Acts 22:5 : S Ac 1:16; 2:29; 13:26; 23:1; 28:17, 21; S Ro 7:1; 9:3
Acts 22:5 : Ac 9:2
Acts 22:6 : Ac 9:3
Acts 22:8 : S Mk 1:24
Acts 22:9 : Ac 26:13
Acts 22:9 : Ac 9:7
Acts 22:10 : Ac 16:30
Acts 22:11 : Ac 9:8
Acts 22:12 : Ac 9:17
Acts 22:12 : Ac 10:22
Acts 22:14 : S Ac 3:13
Acts 22:14 : S 1Co 15:8
Acts 22:14 : Ac 7:52
Acts 22:15 : Ac 23:11; 26:16
Acts 22:15 : ver 14
Acts 22:16 : S Ac 2:38
Acts 22:16 : Lev 8:6; Ps 51:2; Eze 36:25; Jn 3:5; 1Co 6:11; Eph 5:26; Tit 3:5; Heb 10:22; 1Pe 3:21
Acts 22:16 : Ro 10:13

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 1

BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

⁴Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff^(Q)
that the wind blows away.
⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand^(R) in the judgment,^(S)
nor sinners in the assembly^(T) of the righteous.

⁶For the Lord watches over^(U) the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.^(V)

New International Version (NIV)

Proverbs 18:11-12

¹¹The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;^(A)
they imagine it a wall too high to scale.

¹²Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
but humility comes before honor.^(B)

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)

July 2, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday July 2, 2023 (NIV)

2 Kings 20:1-22:2

Hezekiah’s Illness^(A)

20 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

²Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³“Remember,^(B) Lord, how I have walked^(C) before you faithfully^(D) and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: ⁵“Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard^(E) your prayer and seen your tears;^(F) I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. ⁶I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend^(G) this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”

⁷Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil,^(H) and he recovered.

⁸Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”

⁹Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign^(I) to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”

¹⁰“It is a simple^(J) matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.”

¹¹Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back^(K) the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

Envoys From Babylon^(L)^(M)

¹²At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. ¹³Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”

“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”

¹⁵The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

¹⁶Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon.^(N) Nothing will be left, says the Lord. ¹⁸And some of your descendants,^(O) your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”^(P)

¹⁹“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”

²⁰As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool^(Q) and the tunnel^(R) by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²¹Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.

Manasseh King of Judah^(S)^(T)

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.^(U) ²He did evil^(V) in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices^(W) of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. ³He rebuilt the high places^(X) his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal^(Y) and made an Asherah pole,^(Z) as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts^(AA) and worshiped them. ⁴He built altars^(AB) in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.”^(AC) ⁵In the two courts^(AD) of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. ⁶He sacrificed his own son^(AE) in the fire, practiced divination,^(AF) sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists.^(AG) He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing^(AH) his anger.

⁷He took the carved Asherah pole^(AI) he had made and put it in the temple,^(AJ) of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name^(AK) forever. ⁸I will not again^(AL) make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses^(AM) gave them.” ⁹But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil^(AN) than the nations^(AO) the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.

¹⁰The Lord said through his servants the prophets: ¹¹“Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil^(AP) than the Amorites^(AQ) who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols.^(AR) ¹²Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster^(AS) on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.^(AT) ¹³I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line^(AU) used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe^(AV) out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴I will forsake^(AW) the remnant^(AX) of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; ¹⁵they have done evil^(AY) in my eyes and have aroused^(AZ) my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”

¹⁶Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood^(BA) that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah^(BB) to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

¹⁷As for the other events of Manasseh’s reign, and all he did, including the sin he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ¹⁸Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace garden,^(BC) the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.

Amon King of Judah^(BD)

¹⁹Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. ²⁰He did evil^(BE) in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹He followed completely the ways of his father, worshiping the idols his father had worshiped, and bowing down to them. ²²He forsook^(BF) the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk^(BG) in obedience to him.

²³Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated^(BH) the king in his palace. ²⁴Then the people of the land killed^(BI) all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah^(BJ) his son king in his place.

²⁵As for the other events of Amon’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²⁶He was buried in his tomb in the garden^(BK) of Uzza. And Josiah his son succeeded him as king.

The Book of the Law Found^(BL)

22 Josiah^(BM) was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.^(BN) ²He did what was right^(BO) in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right^(BP) or to the left.

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)

Acts 21:18-36

¹⁸The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James,^(A) and all the elders^(B) were present. ¹⁹Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles^(C) through his ministry.^(D)

²⁰When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous^(E) for the law.^(F) ²¹They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses,^(G) telling them not to circumcise their children^(H) or live according to our customs.^(I) ²²What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, ²³so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow.^(J) ²⁴Take these men, join in their purification rites^(K) and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved.^(L) Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. ²⁵As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”^(M)

²⁶The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.^(N)

Paul Arrested

²⁷When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,^(O) ²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.”^(P) ²⁹(They had previously seen Trophimus^(Q) the Ephesian^(R) in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)

³⁰The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul,^(S) they dragged him^(T) from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. ³¹While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³²He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.^(U)

³³The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound^(V) with two^(W) chains.^(X) Then he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another,^(Y) and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.^(Z) ³⁵When Paul reached the steps,^(AA) the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. ³⁶The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”^(AB)

Cross references:

Acts 21:18 : S Ac 15:13
Acts 21:18 : S Ac 11:30
Acts 21:19 : Ac 14:27; 15:4, 12
Acts 21:19 : Ac 1:17
Acts 21:20 : Ac 22:3; Ro 10:2; Gal 1:14; Php 3:6
Acts 21:20 : Ac 15:1, 5
Acts 21:21 : ver 28
Acts 21:21 : Ac 15:19-21; 1Co 7:18, 19
Acts 21:21 : S Ac 6:14
Acts 21:23 : Nu 6:2, 5, 18; Ac 18:18
Acts 21:24 : ver 26; Ac 24:18
Acts 21:24 : Ac 18:18
Acts 21:25 : Ac 15:20, 29
Acts 21:26 : Nu 6:13-20; Ac 24:18
Acts 21:27 : Jer 26:8; Ac 24:18; 26:21; S 1Th 2:16
Acts 21:28 : Mt 24:15; Ac 6:13; 24:5, 6
Acts 21:29 : Ac 20:4; 2Ti 4:20
Acts 21:29 : S Ac 18:19
Acts 21:30 : Ac 26:21
Acts 21:30 : S Ac 16:19
Acts 21:32 : Ac 23:27
Acts 21:33 : ver 11
Acts 21:33 : Ac 12:6
Acts 21:33 : Ac 20:23; 22:29; Eph 6:20; 2Ti 2:9
Acts 21:34 : Ac 19:32
Acts 21:34 : ver 37; Ac 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32
Acts 21:35 : ver 40
Acts 21:36 : Lk 23:18; Jn 19:15; Ac 22:22

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 150

¹Praise the Lord.^[a]^(A)

Praise God in his sanctuary;^(B)
praise him in his mighty heavens.^(C)
²Praise him for his acts of power;^(D)
praise him for his surpassing greatness.^(E)
³Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,^(F)
praise him with the harp and lyre,^(G)
⁴praise him with timbrel and dancing,^(H)
praise him with the strings^(I) and pipe,^(J)
⁵praise him with the clash of cymbals,^(K)
praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶Let everything^(L) that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

Footnotes:

Psalm 150:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 6

Cross references:

Psalm 150:1 : S Ps 112:1
Psalm 150:1 : Ps 68:24-26; 73:17; 102:19
Psalm 150:1 : S Ps 148:1
Psalm 150:2 : S Dt 3:24
Psalm 150:2 : S Ex 15:7
Psalm 150:3 : S Nu 10:2
Psalm 150:3 : S Ps 57:8
Psalm 150:4 : S Ex 15:20
Psalm 150:4 : S Ps 45:8
Psalm 150:4 : S Ge 4:21
Psalm 150:5 : S 2Sa 6:5
Psalm 150:6 : S Ps 103:22

New International Version (NIV)

Proverbs 18:9-10

⁹One who is slack in his work
is brother to one who destroys.^(A)

¹⁰The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;^(B)
the righteous run to it and are safe.^(C)

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)

1 Chronicles 2:18-4:4

Descendants of David

Descendants of Judah

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Acts 24

Paul Before Felix at Caesarea

Paul Kept in Custody

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Psalm 4

Answer Me When I Call

To the (A)choirmaster: with (B)stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Proverbs 18:16-18

Cross references:

1 Chronicles 1:1-2:17

From Adam to Abraham

From Abraham to Jacob

A Genealogy of David

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Acts 23:11-35

A Plot to Kill Paul

Paul Sent to Felix the Governor

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Psalm 3

Save Me, O My God

A Psalm of David, (A)when he fled from Absalom his son.

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Proverbs 18:14-15

Cross references:

2 Kings 23:31-25:30

Jehoahaz's Reign and Captivity

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah

Jerusalem Captured

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah

Fall and Captivity of Judah

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Acts 22:17-23:10

Paul and the Roman Tribune

Paul Before the Council

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Psalm 2

The Reign of the Lord's Anointed

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Proverbs 18:13

Cross references:

2 Kings 22:3-23:30

Josiah Renews the Covenant(X)(Y)(Z)(AA)

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Acts 21:37-22:16

Paul Speaks to the Crowd(A)

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Psalm 1

BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

Cross references:

Proverbs 18:11-12

Cross references:

2 Kings 22:3-23:30

Josiah Renews the Covenant(X)(Y)(Z)(AA)

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Acts 21:37-22:16

Paul Speaks to the Crowd(A)

Footnotes:

Cross references:

To the ^(A)choirmaster: with ^(B)stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

A Psalm of David, ^(A)when he fled from Absalom his son.

Josiah Renews the Covenant^(X)^(Y)^(Z)^(AA)

Paul Speaks to the Crowd^(A)

Josiah Renews the Covenant^(X)^(Y)^(Z)^(AA)

Paul Speaks to the Crowd^(A)

Hezekiah’s Illness^(A)

Envoys From Babylon^(L)^(M)

Manasseh King of Judah^(S)^(T)

Amon King of Judah^(BD)

The Book of the Law Found^(BL)