Today’s
Reading : 2Chronicles 32 – 34 and Ephesians 3 (KJV)
2Chronicles 32
2Ch
32:1 After these things, and the establishment
thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped
against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself.
2Ch 32:2 And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was
come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,
2Ch 32:3 He took counsel with his princes and his
mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him.
2Ch 32:4 So there was gathered much people together,
who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the
land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?
2Ch 32:5 Also he strengthened himself, and built up
all the wall that was broken, and raised it
up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo
in the city of David, and made darts and
shields in abundance.
2Ch 32:6 And he set captains of war over the people,
and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and
spoke comfortably to them, saying,
2Ch 32:7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor
dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there
be more with us than with him:
2Ch 32:8 With him is
an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD
our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves
upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
2Ch 32:9 After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria
send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself
laid siege
against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and
unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem,
saying,
2Ch 32:10 Thus saith
Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in
Jerusalem?
2Ch 32:11 Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over
yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall
deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
2Ch 32:12 Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his
high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall
worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?
2Ch 32:13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done
unto all the people of other lands? were
the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out
of mine hand?
2Ch 32:14 Who was
there among all the gods of those
nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of
mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?
2Ch 32:15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you,
nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any
nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of
the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine
hand?
2Ch 32:16 And his servants spoke yet more against the LORD God, and against his
servant Hezekiah.
2Ch 32:17 He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God
of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out
of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine
hand.
2Ch 32:18 Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews'
speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were
on the wall, to frighten them, and to trouble them; that they might take the
city.
2Ch 32:19 And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem,
as against the gods of the people of the earth, which
were the work of the hands of man.
2Ch 32:20 And for this cause
Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz,
prayed and cried to heaven.
2Ch 32:21 And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all
the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king
of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was
come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him
there with the sword.
2Ch 32:22 Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the
hand of all other, and guided them on
every side.
2Ch 32:23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to
Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in
the sight of all nations from thenceforth.
2Ch 32:24 In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death,
and prayed unto the LORD: and he spoke unto him, and he gave him a sign.
2Ch 32:25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to
the benefit done unto him; for his heart
was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and
Jerusalem.
2Ch 32:26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for
the pride of his heart, both he and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in
the days of Hezekiah.
2Ch 32:27 And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour:
and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious
stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;
2Ch 32:28 Storehouses also for the increase of corn,
and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.
2Ch 32:29 Moreover he provided him cities, and
possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance
very much.
2Ch 32:30 This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper
watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to
the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
2Ch 32:31 Howbeit in the
business of
the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the
wonder that was done in the land, God
left him, to try him, that he might know all that
was in his heart.
2Ch 32:32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his
goodness, behold, they are written in
the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
2Ch 32:33 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they
buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the
sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at
his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
2Chronicles 33
2Ch
33:1 Manasseh was
twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in
Jerusalem:
2Ch 33:2 But did that
which was
evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom
the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
2Ch 33:3 For he built again the high places which
Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshiped all the host of
heaven, and served them.
2Ch 33:4 Also he built altars in the house of the
LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.
2Ch 33:5 And he built altars for all the host of
heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
2Ch 33:6 And he caused his children to pass through
the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he
observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a
familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the
LORD, to provoke him to anger.
2Ch 33:7 And he set a carved image, the idol which he
had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon
his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the
tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:
2Ch 33:8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of
Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that
they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the
whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.
2Ch 33:9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than
the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.
2Ch 33:10 And the LORD spoke to Manasseh, and to his
people: but they would not hearken.
2Ch 33:11 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the
captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the
thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
2Ch 33:12 And when he was in affliction, he besought
the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
2Ch 33:13 And prayed unto him: and he was entreated of
him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his
kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was
God.
2Ch 33:14 Now after this he built a wall without the
city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the
valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put
captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.
2Ch 33:15 And he took away the strange gods, and the
idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the
mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
2Ch 33:16 And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and
sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to
serve the LORD God of Israel.
2Ch 33:17 Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still
in the high places, yet unto the LORD
their God only.
2Ch 33:18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his
prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name
of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are
written in the book of the kings of
Israel.
2Ch 33:19 His prayer also, and how God
was entreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein
he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was
humbled: behold, they are written among
the sayings of the seers.
2Ch 33:20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they
buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned
in his stead.
2Ch 33:21 Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to
reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem.
2Ch 33:22 But he did that
which was
evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh
his father had made, and served them;
2Ch 33:23 And humbled not himself before the LORD, as
Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon
trespassed more and more.
2Ch 33:24 And his servants conspired against him, and
slew him in his own house.
2Ch 33:25 But the people of the land slew all them that
had conspired against king Amon; and the people of
the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.
2Chronicles 34
2Ch
34:1 Josiah was
eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and
thirty years.
2Ch 34:2 And he did that
which was
right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and
declined neither to the right hand, nor
to the left.
2Ch 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he
was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the
twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and
the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.
2Ch 34:4 And they broke down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the
groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he broke in pieces, and
made dust of them,
and strewed it upon the graves of them
that had sacrificed unto them.
2Ch 34:5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon
their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
2Ch 34:6 And so
did he
in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with
their mattocks round about.
2Ch 34:7 And when he had broken down the altars and
the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the
idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
2Ch 34:8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when
he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan
the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah
the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his
God.
2Ch 34:9 And when they came to Hilkiah
the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God,
which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and
Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and
they returned to Jerusalem.
2Ch 34:10 And they put it
in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and
they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the LORD, to repair
and amend the house:
2Ch 34:11 Even to the artificers and builders gave they
it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for
couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.
2Ch 34:12 And the men did the work faithfully: and the
overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam,
of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other
of the Levites, all that could skill of
instruments of music.
2Ch 34:13 Also they
were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in
any manner of service: and of the Levites there
were scribes, and officers, and porters.
2Ch 34:14 And when they brought out the money that was
brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the
priest found a book of the law of the LORD given
by Moses.
2Ch 34:15 And Hilkiah
answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found
the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah
delivered the book to Shaphan.
2Ch 34:16 And Shaphan carried
the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that
was committed to thy servants, they do it.
2Ch 34:17 And they have gathered together the money
that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of
the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.
2Ch 34:18 Then Shaphan the
scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath
given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
2Ch 34:19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard
the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.
2Ch 34:20 And the king commanded Hilkiah,
and Ahikam the son of Shaphan,
and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan
the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's,
saying,
2Ch 34:21 Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for them
that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is
found: for great is the wrath of the
LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of
the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.
2Ch 34:22 And Hilkiah, and they that the king had
appointed, went to Huldah
the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah,
keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they
spoke to her to that effect.
2Ch 34:23 And she answered them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you
to me,
2Ch 34:24 Thus saith the
LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants
thereof, even all the curses that are
written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:
2Ch 34:25 Because they have forsaken me, and have
burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all
the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this
place, and shall not be quenched.
2Ch 34:26 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to
inquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith
the LORD God of Israel concerning the
words which thou hast heard;
2Ch 34:27 Because thine heart
was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the
inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me,
and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the
LORD.
2Ch 34:28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers,
and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace,
neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will
bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought
the king word again.
2Ch 34:29 Then the king sent and gathered together all
the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
2Ch 34:30 And the king went up into the house of the
LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the
priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in
their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the
house of the LORD.
2Ch 34:31 And the king stood in his place, and made a
covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments,
and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his
soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.
2Ch 34:32 And he caused all that were present in
Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did
according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
2Ch 34:33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out
of all the countries that pertained to
the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following
the LORD, the God of their fathers.
Ephesians 3
Eph
3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus
Christ for you Gentiles,
Eph 3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the
grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
Eph 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me
the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Eph 3:4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my
knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Eph 3:5 Which in other ages was not made known unto
the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by
the Spirit;
Eph 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and
of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Eph 3:7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to
the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his
power.
Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all
saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ;
Eph 3:9 And to make all men
see what is the fellowship of the
mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who
created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he
purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
Eph 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with
confidence by the faith of him.
Eph 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my
tribulations for you, which is your glory.
Eph 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 3:15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth
is named,
Eph 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the
riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner
man;
Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by
faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height;
Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God.
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21 Unto him be
glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
Amen.