Church: +64 (09) 235 2238 Op Shop: +64 (09) 235 7914
Reading Plan
Day 172 Day 173Day 174

2 Kings chapter 8

1
Now Elisha had told the woman who lived in Shunem, whose son he had brought back to life, that the LORD was sending a famine on the land, which would last for seven years, and that she should leave with her family and go and live somewhere else.
2
She had followed his instructions and had gone with her family to live in Philistia for the seven years.
3
At the end of the seven years she returned to Israel and went to the king to ask that her house and her land be restored to her.
4
She found the king talking with Gehazi, Elisha's servant; the king wanted to know about Elisha's miracles.
5
While Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had brought a dead person back to life, the woman made her appeal to the king. Gehazi said to him, "Your Majesty, here is the woman and here is her son whom Elisha brought back to life!"
6
In answer to the king's question, she confirmed Gehazi's story, and so the king called an official and told him to give back to her everything that was hers, including the value of all the crops that her fields had produced during the seven years she had been away.
7
Elisha went to Damascus at a time when King Benhadad of Syria was sick. When the king was told that Elisha was there,
8
he said to Hazael, one of his officials, "Take a gift to the prophet and ask him to consult the LORD to find out whether or not I am going to get well."
9
So Hazael loaded forty camels with all kinds of the finest products of Damascus and went to Elisha. When Hazael met him, he said, "Your servant King Benhadad has sent me to ask you whether or not he will recover from his sickness."
10
Elisha answered, "The LORD has revealed to me that he will die; but go to him and tell him that he will recover."
11
Then Elisha stared at him with a horrified look on his face until Hazael became ill at ease. Suddenly Elisha burst into tears.
12
"Why are you crying, sir?" Hazael asked. "Because I know the horrible things you will do against the people of Israel," Elisha answered. "You will set their fortresses on fire, slaughter their finest young men, batter their children to death, and rip open their pregnant women."
13
"How could I ever be that powerful?" Hazael asked. "I'm a nobody!" "The LORD has shown me that you will be king of Syria," Elisha replied.
14
Hazael went back to Benhadad, who asked him, "What did Elisha say?" "He told me that you would certainly get well," Hazael answered.
15
But on the following day Hazael took a blanket, soaked it in water, and smothered the king. And Hazael succeeded Benhadad as king of Syria.
16
In the fifth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab as king of Israel, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah
17
at the age of thirty-two, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years.
18
His wife was Ahab's daughter, and like the family of Ahab he followed the evil ways of the kings of Israel. He sinned against the LORD,
19
but the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah, because he had promised his servant David that his descendants would always continue to rule.
20
During Jehoram's reign Edom revolted against Judah and became an independent kingdom.
21
So Jehoram set out with all his chariots to Zair, where the Edomite army surrounded them. During the night he and his chariot commanders managed to break out and escape, and his soldiers scattered to their homes.
22
Edom has been independent of Judah ever since. During this same period the city of Libnah also revolted.
23
Everything else that Jehoram did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.
24
Jehoram died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Ahaziah succeeded him as king.
25
In the twelfth year of the reign of Joram son of Ahab as king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah
26
at the age of twenty-two, and he ruled in Jerusalem for one year. His mother was Athaliah, the daughter of King Ahab and granddaughter of King Omri of Israel.
27
Since Ahaziah was related to King Ahab by marriage, he sinned against the LORD, just as Ahab's family did.
28
King Ahaziah joined King Joram of Israel in a war against King Hazael of Syria. The armies clashed at Ramoth in Gilead, and Joram was wounded in battle.
29
He returned to the city of Jezreel to recover from his wounds, and Ahaziah went there to visit him.

2 Kings chapter 9

1
Meanwhile the prophet Elisha called one of the young prophets and said to him, "Get ready and go to Ramoth in Gilead. Take this jar of olive oil with you,
2
and when you get there look for Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Take him to a private room away from his companions,
3
pour this olive oil on his head, and say, 'The LORD proclaims that he anoints you king of Israel.' Then leave there as fast as you can."
4
So the young prophet went to Ramoth,
5
where he found the army officers in a conference. He said, "Sir, I have a message for you." Jehu asked, "Which one of us are you speaking to?" "To you, sir," he replied.
6
Then the two of them went indoors, and the young prophet poured the olive oil on Jehu's head and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, proclaims: 'I anoint you king of my people Israel.
7
You are to kill your master the king, that son of Ahab, so that I may punish Jezebel for murdering my prophets and my other servants.
8
All of Ahab's family and descendants are to die; I will get rid of every male in his family, young and old alike.
9
I will treat his family as I did the families of King Jeroboam of Israel and of King Baasha of Israel.
10
Jezebel will not be buried; her body will be eaten by dogs in the territory of Jezreel.' " After saying this, the young prophet left the room and fled.
11
Jehu went back to his fellow officers, who asked him, "Is everything all right? What did that crazy fellow want with you?" "You know what he wanted," Jehu answered.
12
"No we don't!" they replied. "Tell us what he said!" "He told me that the LORD proclaims: 'I anoint you king of Israel.' "
13
At once Jehu's fellow officers spread their cloaks at the top of the steps for Jehu to stand on, blew trumpets, and shouted, "Jehu is king!"
14
Then Jehu plotted against King Joram, who was in Jezreel, where he had gone to recover from the wounds which he had received in the battle at Ramoth against King Hazael of Syria. So Jehu said to his fellow officers, "If you are with me, make sure that no one slips out of Ramoth to go and warn the people in Jezreel."
15
(SEE 9:14)
16
Then he got into his chariot and set off for Jezreel. Joram had still not recovered, and King Ahaziah of Judah was there, visiting him.
17
A guard on duty in the watchtower at Jezreel saw Jehu and his men approaching. "I see some men riding up!" he called out. Joram replied, "Send a rider to find out if they are friends or enemies."
18
The messenger rode out to Jehu and said to him, "The king wants to know if you come as a friend." "That's none of your business!" Jehu answered. "Fall in behind me." The guard on the watchtower reported that the messenger had reached the group but was not returning.
19
Another messenger was sent out, who asked Jehu the same question. Again Jehu answered, "That's none of your business! Fall in behind me."
20
Once more the guard reported that the messenger had reached the group but was not returning. And he added, "The leader of the group is driving his chariot like a madman, just like Jehu!"
21
"Get my chariot ready," King Joram ordered. It was done, and he and King Ahaziah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the field which had belonged to Naboth.
22
"Are you coming in peace?" Joram asked him. "How can there be peace," Jehu answered, "when we still have all the witchcraft and idolatry that your mother Jezebel started?"
23
"It's treason, Ahaziah!" Joram cried out, as he turned his chariot around and fled.
24
Jehu drew his bow, and with all his strength shot an arrow that struck Joram in the back and pierced his heart. Joram fell dead in his chariot,
25
and Jehu said to his aide Bidkar, "Get his body and throw it in the field that belonged to Naboth. Remember that when you and I were riding together behind King Joram's father Ahab, the LORD spoke these words against Ahab:
26
'I saw the murder of Naboth and his sons yesterday. And I promise that I will punish you here in this same field.' So take Joram's body," Jehu ordered his aide, "and throw it in the field that belonged to Naboth, so as to fulfill the LORD's promise."
27
King Ahaziah saw what happened, so he fled in his chariot toward the town of Beth Haggan, pursued by Jehu. "Kill him too!" Jehu ordered his men, and they wounded him as he drove his chariot on the road up to Gur, near the town of Ibleam. But he managed to keep on going until he reached the city of Megiddo, where he died.
28
His officials took his body back to Jerusalem in a chariot and buried him in the royal tombs in David's City.
29
Ahaziah had become king of Judah in the eleventh year that Joram son of Ahab was king of Israel.
30
Jehu arrived in Jezreel. Jezebel, having heard what had happened, put on eye shadow, arranged her hair, and stood looking down at the street from a window in the palace.
31
As Jehu came through the gate, she called out, "You Zimri! You assassin! Why are you here?"
32
Jehu looked up and shouted, "Who is on my side?" Two or three palace officials looked down at him from a window,
33
and Jehu said to them, "Throw her down!" They threw her down, and her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses. Jehu drove his horses and chariot over her body,
34
entered the palace, and had a meal. Only then did he say, "Take that cursed woman and bury her; after all, she is a king's daughter."
35
But the men who went out to bury her found nothing except her skull and the bones of her hands and feet.
36
When they reported this to Jehu, he said, "This is what the LORD said would happen, when he spoke through his servant Elijah: 'Dogs will eat Jezebel's body in the territory of Jezreel.
37
Her remains will be scattered there like dung, so that no one will be able to identify them.' "

2 Chronicles chapter 21

1
Jehoshaphat died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City and his son Jehoram succeeded him as king.
2
Jehoram son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah had six brothers: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah.
3
Their father gave them large amounts of gold, silver, and other valuable possessions, and placed each one in charge of one of the fortified cities of Judah. But because Jehoram was the oldest, Jehoshaphat made him his successor.
4
When Jehoram was in firm control of the kingdom, he had all his brothers killed, and also some Israelite officials.
5
Jehoram became king at the age of thirty-two, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eight years.
6
He followed the wicked example of King Ahab and the other kings of Israel, because he had married one of Ahab's daughters. He sinned against the LORD,
7
but the LORD was not willing to destroy the dynasty of David, because he had made a covenant with David and promised that his descendants would always continue to rule.
8
During Jehoram's reign Edom revolted against Judah and became an independent kingdom.
9
So Jehoram and his officers set out with chariots and invaded Edom. There the Edomite army surrounded them, but during the night they managed to break out and escape.
10
Edom has been independent of Judah ever since. During this same period the city of Libnah also revolted, because Jehoram had abandoned the LORD, the God of his ancestors.
11
He even built pagan places of worship in the Judean highlands and led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to sin against the LORD.
12
The prophet Elijah sent Jehoram a letter, which read as follows: "The LORD, the God of your ancestor David, condemns you, because you did not follow the example of your father, King Jehoshaphat, or that of your grandfather, King Asa.
13
Instead, you have followed the example of the kings of Israel and have led the people of Judah and Jerusalem into being unfaithful to God, just as Ahab and his successors led Israel into unfaithfulness. You even murdered your brothers, who were better men than you are.
14
As a result, the LORD will severely punish your people, your children, and your wives, and will destroy your possessions.
15
You yourself will suffer a painful intestinal disease that will grow worse day by day."
16
Some Philistines and Arabs lived near where some Ethiopians had settled along the coast. The LORD caused them to go to war against Jehoram.
17
They invaded Judah, looted the royal palace, and carried off as prisoners all the king's wives and sons except Ahaziah, his youngest son.
18
Then after all this, the LORD brought on the king a painful disease of the intestines.
19
For almost two years it grew steadily worse until finally the king died in agony. His subjects did not light a bonfire in mourning for him as had been done for his ancestors.
20
Jehoram had become king at the age of thirty-two and had ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. Nobody was sorry when he died. They buried him in David's City, but not in the royal tombs.

1 Timothy chapter 4

1
The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons.
2
Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars, whose consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron.
3
Such people teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten, after a prayer of thanks, by those who are believers and have come to know the truth.
4
Everything that God has created is good; nothing is to be rejected, but everything is to be received with a prayer of thanks,
5
because the word of God and the prayer make it acceptable to God.
6
If you give these instructions to the believers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, as you feed yourself spiritually on the words of faith and of the true teaching which you have followed.
7
But keep away from those godless legends, which are not worth telling. Keep yourself in training for a godly life.
8
Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is valuable in every way, because it promises life both for the present and for the future.
9
This is a true saying, to be completely accepted and believed.
10
We struggle and work hard, because we have placed our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all and especially of those who believe.
11
Give them these instructions and these teachings.
12
Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example for the believers in your speech, your conduct, your love, faith, and purity.
13
Until I come, give your time and effort to the public reading of the Scriptures and to preaching and teaching.
14
Do not neglect the spiritual gift that is in you, which was given to you when the prophets spoke and the elders laid their hands on you.
15
Practice these things and devote yourself to them, in order that your progress may be seen by all.
16
Watch yourself and watch your teaching. Keep on doing these things, because if you do, you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

Translate

enzh-CNnlfrdeitjakoptrues

Subscribe To Our Newsletter