1 Kings 12

• 1. Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had gathered to make him king.
• 2. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of Solomon's death, he returned from Egypt, for he had fled to Egypt to escape from King Solomon.
• 3. The leaders of Israel sent for Jeroboam, and the whole assembly of Israel went to speak with Rehoboam.
• 4. "Your father was a hard master," they said. "Lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us. Then we will be your loyal subjects."
• 5. Rehoboam replied, "Give me three days to think this over. Then come back for my answer." So the people went away.
• 6. Then King Rehoboam went to discuss the matter with the older men who had counseled his father, Solomon. "What is your advice?" he asked. "How should I answer these people?"
• 7. The older counselors replied, "If you are willing to serve the people today and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects."
• 8. But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him and who were now his advisers.
• 9. "What is your advice?" he asked them. "How should I answer these people who want me to lighten the burdens imposed by my father?"
• 10. The young men replied, "This is what you should tell those complainers: `My little finger is thicker than my father's waist--if you think he was hard on you, just wait and see what I'll be like!
• 11. Yes, my father was harsh on you, but I'll be even harsher! My father used whips on you, but I'll use scorpions!'"
• 12. Three days later, Jeroboam and all the people returned to hear Rehoboam's decision, just as the king had requested.
• 13. But Rehoboam spoke harshly to them, for he rejected the advice of the older counselors
• 14. and followed the counsel of his younger advisers. He told the people, "My father was harsh on you, but I'll be even harsher! My father used whips on you, but I'll use scorpions!"
• 15. So the king paid no attention to the people's demands. This turn of events was the will of the LORD, for it fulfilled the LORD's message to Jeroboam son of Nebat through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh.
• 16. When all Israel realized that the king had rejected their request, they shouted, "Down with David and his dynasty! We have no share in Jesse's son! Let's go home, Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!" So the people of Israel returned home.
• 17. But Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.
• 18. King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of the labor force, to restore order, but all Israel stoned him to death. When this news reached King Rehoboam, he quickly jumped into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.
• 19. The northern tribes of Israel have refused to be ruled by a descendant of David to this day.
• 20. When the people of Israel learned of Jeroboam's return from Egypt, they called an assembly and made him king over all Israel. So only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the family of David.
• 21. When Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he mobilized the armies of Judah and Benjamin--180,000 select troops--to fight against the army of Israel and to restore the kingdom to himself.
• 22. But God said to Shemaiah, the man of God,
• 23. "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the people of Judah and Benjamin,
• 24. `This is what the LORD says: Do not fight against your relatives, the Israelites. Go back home, for what has happened is my doing!'" So they obeyed the message of the LORD and went home, as the LORD had commanded.
• 25. Jeroboam then built up the city of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and it became his capital. Later he went and built up the town of Peniel.
• 26. Jeroboam thought to himself, "Unless I am careful, the kingdom will return to the dynasty of David.
• 27. When they go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple of the LORD, they will again give their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and make him their king instead."
• 28. So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to the people, "It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!"
• 29. He placed these calf idols at the southern and northern ends of Israel--in Bethel and in Dan.
• 30. This became a great sin, for the people worshiped them, traveling even as far as Dan.
• 31. Jeroboam built shrines at the pagan high places and ordained priests from the rank and file of the people--those who were not from the priestly tribe of Levi.
• 32. Jeroboam also instituted a religious festival in Bethel, held on a day in midautumn, similar to the annual Festival of Shelters in Judah. There at Bethel he himself offered sacrifices to the calves he had made. And it was at Bethel that he appointed priests for the pagan shrines he had made.
• 33. So on the appointed day in midautumn, a day that he himself had designated, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar at Bethel. He instituted a religious festival for Israel, and he went up to the altar to burn incense.

Philippians 3

• 1. Whatever happens, dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord give you joy. I never get tired of telling you this. I am doing this for your own good.
• 2. Watch out for those dogs, those wicked men and their evil deeds, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.
• 3. For we who worship God in the Spirit are the only ones who are truly circumcised. We put no confidence in human effort. Instead, we boast about what Christ Jesus has done for us.
• 4. Yet I could have confidence in myself if anyone could. If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
• 5. For I was circumcised when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish family that is a branch of the tribe of Benjamin. So I am a real Jew if there ever was one! What's more, I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.
• 6. And zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church. And I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault.
• 7. I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.
• 8. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ
• 9. and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
• 10. As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death,
• 11. so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!
• 12. I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.
• 13. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
• 14. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.
• 15. I hope all of you who are mature Christians will agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you.
• 16. But we must be sure to obey the truth we have learned already.
• 17. Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.
• 18. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.
• 19. Their future is eternal destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and all they think about is this life here on earth.
• 20. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
• 21. He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer everything, everywhere.

Ezekiel 42

• 1. Then the man led me out of the Temple courtyard by way of the north gateway. We entered the outer courtyard and came to a group of rooms against the north wall of the inner courtyard.
• 2. This group of structures, whose entrance opened toward the north, was 175 feet long and 87 1/2 feet wide.
• 3. One block of rooms overlooked the 35-foot width of the inner courtyard. Another block of rooms looked out onto the pavement of the outer courtyard. The two blocks were built three levels high and stood across from each other.
• 4. Between the two blocks of rooms ran a walkway 17 1/2 feet wide. It extended the entire 175 feet of the complex, and all the doors faced toward the north.
• 5. Each of the two upper levels of rooms was narrower than the one beneath it because the upper levels had to allow space for walkways in front of them.
• 6. Since there were three levels and they did not have supporting columns as in the courtyards, each of the upper levels was set back from the level beneath it.
• 7. There was an outer wall that separated the rooms from the outer courtyard; it was 87 1/2 feet long.
• 8. This wall added length to the outer block of rooms, which extended for only 87 1/2 feet, while the inner block--the rooms toward the Temple--extended for 175 feet.
• 9. There was an entrance from the outer courtyard to these rooms from the east.
• 10. On the south side of the Temple there were two blocks of rooms just south of the inner courtyard between the Temple and the outer courtyard. These rooms were arranged just like the rooms on the north.
• 11. There was a walkway between the two blocks of rooms just like the complex on the north side of the Temple. This complex of rooms was the same length and width as the other one, and it had the same entrances and doors. The dimensions of each were identical.
• 12. So there was an entrance in the wall facing the doors of the inner block of rooms, and another on the east at the end of the interior walkway.
• 13. Then the man told me, "These rooms that overlook the Temple from the north and south are holy. It is there that the priests who offer sacrifices to the LORD will eat the most holy offerings. And they will use these rooms to store the grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings because these rooms are holy.
• 14. When the priests leave the Holy Place, they must not go directly to the outer courtyard. They must first take off the clothes they wore while ministering because these clothes are holy. They must put on other clothes before entering the parts of the building complex open to the public."
• 15. When the man had finished taking these measurements, he led me out through the east gateway to measure the entire Temple area.
• 16. He measured the east side; it was 875 feet long.
• 17. He also measured the north side and got the same measurement.
• 18. The south side was the same length,
• 19. and so was the west side.
• 20. So the area was 875 feet on each side with a wall all around it to separate the holy places from the common.

New Living Translation: 282 of 365 days.