2 Kings 21

• 1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah.
• 2. He did what was evil in the LORD's sight, imitating the detestable practices of the pagan nations whom the LORD had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.
• 3. He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had destroyed. He constructed altars for Baal and set up an Asherah pole, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He also bowed before all the forces of heaven and worshiped them.
• 4. He even built pagan altars in the Temple of the LORD, the place where the LORD had said his name should be honored.
• 5. He built these altars for all the forces of heaven in both courtyards of the LORD's Temple.
• 6. Manasseh even sacrificed his own son in the fire. He practiced sorcery and divination, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the LORD's sight, arousing his anger.
• 7. Manasseh even took an Asherah pole he had made and set it up in the Temple, the very place where the LORD had told David and his son Solomon: "My name will be honored here forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem--the city I have chosen from among all the other tribes of Israel.
• 8. If the Israelites will obey my commands--the whole law that was given through my servant Moses--I will not send them into exile from this land that I gave their ancestors."
• 9. But the people refused to listen, and Manasseh led them to do even more evil than the pagan nations whom the LORD had destroyed when the Israelites entered the land.
• 10. Then the LORD said through his servants the prophets:
• 11. "King Manasseh of Judah has done many detestable things. He is even more wicked than the Amorites, who lived in this land before Israel. He has led the people of Judah into idolatry.
• 12. So this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I will bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of those who hear about it will tingle with horror.
• 13. I will judge Jerusalem by the same standard I used for Samaria and by the same measure I used for the family of Ahab. I will wipe away the people of Jerusalem as one wipes a dish and turns it upside down.
• 14. Then I will reject even those few of my people who are left, and I will hand them over as plunder for their enemies.
• 15. For they have done great evil in my sight and have angered me ever since their ancestors came out of Egypt."
• 16. Manasseh also murdered many innocent people until Jerusalem was filled from one end to the other with innocent blood. This was in addition to the sin that he caused the people of Judah to commit, leading them to do evil in the LORD's sight.
• 17. The rest of the events in Manasseh's reign and all his deeds, including the sins he committed, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.
• 18. When Manasseh died, he was buried in the palace garden, the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon became the next king.
• 19. Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz from Jotbah.
• 20. He did what was evil in the LORD's sight, just as his father, Manasseh, had done.
• 21. He followed the example of his father, worshiping the same idols that his father had worshiped.
• 22. He abandoned the LORD, the God of his ancestors, and he refused to follow the LORD's ways.
• 23. Then Amon's own servants plotted against him and assassinated him in his palace.
• 24. But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king.
• 25. The rest of the events in Amon's reign and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.
• 26. He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Josiah became the next king.

Hebrews 3

• 1. And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are bound for heaven, think about this Jesus whom we declare to be God's Messenger and High Priest.
• 2. For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully and was entrusted with God's entire house.
• 3. But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a fine house deserves more praise than the house itself.
• 4. For every house has a builder, but God is the one who made everything.
• 5. Moses was certainly faithful in God's house, but only as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later.
• 6. But Christ, the faithful Son, was in charge of the entire household. And we are God's household, if we keep up our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.
• 7. That is why the Holy Spirit says, "Today you must listen to his voice.
• 8. Don't harden your hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested God's patience in the wilderness.
• 9. There your ancestors tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years.
• 10. So I was angry with them, and I said, 'Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.'
• 11. So in my anger I made a vow: 'They will never enter my place of rest.'"
• 12. Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.
• 13. You must warn each other every day, as long as it is called "today," so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.
• 14. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.
• 15. But never forget the warning: "Today you must listen to his voice. Don't harden your hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled."
• 16. And who were those people who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Weren't they the ones Moses led out of Egypt?
• 17. And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn't it the people who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
• 18. And to whom was God speaking when he vowed that they would never enter his place of rest? He was speaking to those who disobeyed him.
• 19. So we see that they were not allowed to enter his rest because of their unbelief.

Hosea 14

• 1. Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for your sins have brought you down.
• 2. Bring your petitions, and return to the LORD. Say to him, "Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you the sacrifice of praise.
• 3. Assyria cannot save us, nor can our strength in battle. Never again will we call the idols we have made `our gods.' No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy."
• 4. The LORD says, "Then I will heal you of your idolatry and faithlessness, and my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever!
• 5. I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. It will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon.
• 6. Its branches will spread out like those of beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedar forests of Lebanon.
• 7. My people will return again to the safety of their land. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.
• 8. "O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the one who looks after you and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green, giving my fruit to you all through the year."
• 9. Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those who are discerning listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But sinners stumble and fall along the way.

New Living Translation: 312 of 365 days.