2 Chronicles 14

• 1. And Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.
• 2. Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.
• 3. He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles.
• 4. He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey his laws and commands.
• 5. He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him.
• 6. He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the LORD gave him rest.
• 7. "Let us build up these towns," he said to Judah, "and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered.
• 8. Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.
• 9. Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah.
• 10. Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.
• 11. Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you."
• 12. The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled,
• 13. and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the LORD and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder.
• 14. They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the LORD had fallen upon them. They plundered all these villages, since there was much booty there.
• 15. They also attacked the camps of the herdsmen and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 15

• 1. The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded.
• 2. He went out to meet Asa and said to him, "Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
• 3. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law.
• 4. But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them.
• 5. In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil.
• 6. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress.
• 7. But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."
• 8. When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD's temple.
• 9. Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
• 10. They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's reign.
• 11. At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back.
• 12. They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul.
• 13. All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.
• 14. They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns.
• 15. All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.
• 16. King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
• 17. Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa's heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life.
• 18. He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.
• 19. There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.

Revelation 4

• 1. After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."
• 2. At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.
• 3. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.
• 4. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
• 5. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.
• 6. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
• 7. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.
• 8. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
• 9. Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever,
• 10. the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
• 11. "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

Haggai 2

• 1. On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:
• 2. "Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them,
• 3. 'Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?
• 4. But now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD. 'Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,' declares the LORD, 'and work. For I am with you,' declares the LORD Almighty.
• 5. 'This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.'
• 6. "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
• 7. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty.
• 8. 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the LORD Almighty.
• 9. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."
• 10. On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Haggai:
• 11. "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Ask the priests what the law says:
• 12. If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become consecrated?'" The priests answered, "No."
• 13. Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?Yes," the priests replied, "it becomes defiled."
• 14. Then Haggai said, "'So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,' declares the LORD. 'Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.
• 15. "'Now give careful thought to this from this day on -consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the LORD's temple.
• 16. When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty.
• 17. I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to me,' declares the LORD.
• 18. 'From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid. Give careful thought:
• 19. Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. "'From this day on I will bless you.'"
• 20. The word of the LORD came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month:
• 21. "Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I will shake the heavens and the earth.
• 22. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.
• 23. "'On that day,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,' declares the LORD, 'and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,' declares the LORD Almighty."

New International Version

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