Day 218 of 365

¹Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jehoaddan, of Jerusalem.

²He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart.

³Now it happened, when the kingdom was established to him, that he killed his servants who had killed the king his father.

⁴But he did not put their children to death, but did according to that which is written in the law in the book of Moses, as the Lord commanded, saying, "The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin."

⁵Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and ordered them according to their fathers' houses, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, even all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and upward, and found them three hundred thousand chosen men, able to go forth to war, who could handle spear and shield.

⁶He hired also one hundred thousand mighty men of valor out of Israel for one hundred talents of silver.

⁷A man of God came to him, saying, "O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you; for the Lord is not with Israel, with all the children of Ephraim.

⁸But if you will go, take action, be strong for the battle. God will overthrow you before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to overthrow."

⁹Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?" The man of God answered, "The Lord is able to give you much more than this."

¹⁰Then Amaziah separated them, the army that had come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: therefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in fierce anger.

¹¹Amaziah took courage, and led forth his people, and went to the Valley of Salt, and struck ten thousand of the children of Seir.

¹²The children of Judah carry away ten thousand alive, and brought them to the top of the rock, and threw them down from the top of the rock, so that they all were broken in pieces.

¹³But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell on the cities of Judah, from Samaria even to Beth Horon, and struck of them three thousand, and took much spoil.

¹⁴Now it happened, after that Amaziah had come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense to them.

¹⁵Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent to him a prophet, who said to him, "Why have you sought after the gods of the people, which have not delivered their own people out of your hand?"

¹⁶It happened, as he talked with him, that the king said to him, "Have we made you one of the king's counselors? Stop! Why should you be struck down?" Then the prophet stopped, and said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel."

¹⁷Then Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us look one another in the face."

¹⁸Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, "The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son as his wife; then a wild animal that was in Lebanon passed by, and trampled down the thistle.

¹⁹You say to yourself that you have struck Edom; and your heart lifts you up to boast. Now stay at home. Why should you meddle with trouble, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?'"

²⁰But Amaziah would not listen; for it was of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought after the gods of Edom.

²¹So Joash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah.

²²Judah was defeated by Israel; and they fled every man to his tent.

²³Joash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.

²⁴He took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in God's house with Obed-Edom, and the treasures of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

²⁵Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.

²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, aren't they written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?

²⁷Now from the time that Amaziah turned away from following the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. He fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there.

²⁸They brought him on horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah.

¹All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.

²He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

³Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jechiliah, of Jerusalem.

⁴He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.

⁵He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.

⁶He went forth and warred against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the country of Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

⁷God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and the Meunim.

⁸The Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt; for he grew exceeding strong.

⁹Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.

¹⁰He built towers in the wilderness, and dug out many cisterns, for he had much livestock; in the lowland also, and in the plain: and he had farmers and vineyard keepers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields; for he loved farming.

¹¹Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men, who went out to war by bands, according to the number of their reckoning made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.

¹²The whole number of the heads of fathers' households, even the mighty men of valor, was two thousand and six hundred.

¹³Under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, who made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.

¹⁴Uzziah prepared for them, even for all the army, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and stones for slinging.

¹⁵He made in Jerusalem engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and on the battlements, with which to shoot arrows and great stones. His name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, until he was strong.

¹⁶But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up, so that he did corruptly, and he trespassed against the Lord his God; for he went into the Lord's temple to burn incense on the altar of incense.

¹⁷Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, who were valiant men:

¹⁸and they resisted Uzziah the king, and said to him, "It isn't for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honor from the Lord God."

¹⁹Then Uzziah was angry; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy broke forth in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the altar of incense.

²⁰Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked on him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out quickly from there; yes, himself hurried also to go out, because the Lord had struck him.

²¹Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and lived in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote.

²³So Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, "He is a leper." Jotham his son reigned in his place.

¹Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.

²He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah had done: however he did not enter into the Lord's temple. The people still did corruptly.

³He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much.

⁴Moreover he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers.

⁵He fought also with the king of the children of Ammon, and prevailed against them. The children of Ammon gave him the same year one hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. The children of Ammon gave that much to him in the second year also, and in the third.

⁶So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.

⁷Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

⁸He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

⁹Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

¹Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! Let them who hate him also flee before him.

²As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

³But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God. Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.

⁴Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Extol him who rides on the clouds: to Yah, his name! Rejoice before him!

⁵A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

⁶God sets the lonely in families. He brings out the prisoners with singing, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.

⁷God, when you went forth before your people, when you marched through the wilderness... Selah.

⁸The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai- at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

⁹You, God, sent a plentiful rain. You confirmed your inheritance, when it was weary.

¹⁰Your congregation lived therein. You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.

¹¹The Lord announced the word. The ones who proclaim it are a great company.

¹²"Kings of armies flee! They flee!" She who waits at home divides the spoil,

¹³while you sleep among the campfires, the wings of a dove sheathed with silver, her feathers with shining gold.

¹⁴When the Almighty scattered kings in her, it snowed on Zalmon.

¹⁵The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains. The mountains of Bashan are rugged.

¹⁶Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, the Lord will dwell there forever.

¹⁷The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands. The Lord is among them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary.

¹⁸You have ascended on high. You have led away captives. You have received gifts among men, yes, among the rebellious also, that Yah, God, might dwell there.

¹⁹Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens, even the God who is our salvation. Selah.

²⁰God is to us a God of deliverance. To the Lord, the Lord, belongs escape from death.

²¹But God will strike through the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness.

²²The Lord said, "I will bring you again from Bashan, I will bring you again from the depths of the sea;

²³That you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies."

²⁴They have seen your processions, God, even the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.

²⁵The singers went before, the minstrels followed after, in the midst of the ladies playing with tambourines,

²⁶"Bless God in the congregations, even the Lord in the assembly of Israel!"

²⁷There is little Benjamin, their ruler, the princes of Judah, their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

²⁸Your God has commanded your strength. Strengthen, God, that which you have done for us.

²⁹Because of your temple at Jerusalem, kings shall bring presents to you.

³⁰Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples. Being humbled, may it bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations that delight in war.

³¹Princes shall come out of Egypt. Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God.

³²Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth! Sing praises to the Lord! Selah.

³³To him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old; behold, he utters his voice, a mighty voice.

³⁴Ascribe strength to God! His excellency is over Israel, his strength is in the skies.

³⁵You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries. The God of Israel gives strength and power to his people. Praise be to God!

¹The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:

²to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

³to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man:

⁵that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:

⁶to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, listen to your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching:

⁹for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

¹¹If they say, "Come with us, Let's lie in wait for blood; let's lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

¹²let's swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit.

¹³We'll find all valuable wealth. We'll fill our houses with spoil.

¹⁴You shall cast your lot among us. We'll all have one purse."

¹⁵My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path,

¹⁶for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:

¹⁸but these lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.

²¹She calls at the head of noisy places. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words:

²²"How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?

²³Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you.

²⁴Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;

²⁵but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof;

²⁶I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you;

²⁷when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come on you.

²⁸Then will they call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me;

²⁹because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.

³⁰They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.

³¹Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.

³²For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm."