2 Kings 25

• 1. So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls.
• 2. Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah's reign.
• 3. By July 18 of Zedekiah's eleventh year, the famine in the city had become very severe, with the last of the food entirely gone.
• 4. Then a section of the city wall was broken down, and all the soldiers made plans to escape from the city. But since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, they waited for nightfall and fled through the gate between the two walls behind the king's gardens. They made a dash across the fields, in the direction of the Jordan Valley.
• 5. But the Babylonians chased after them and caught the king on the plains of Jericho, for by then his men had all abandoned him.
• 6. They brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was passed against him.
• 7. The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as all his sons were killed. Then they gouged out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.
• 8. On August 14 of that year, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem.
• 9. He burned down the Temple of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city.
• 10. Then the captain of the guard supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem.
• 11. Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, then took as exiles those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the people and the troops who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon.
• 12. But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind in Judah to care for the vineyards and fields.
• 13. The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze water carts, and the bronze Sea that were at the LORD's Temple, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon.
• 14. They also took all the pots, shovels, lamp snuffers, dishes, and all the other bronze utensils used for making sacrifices at the Temple.
• 15. Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, also took the firepans and basins, and all the other utensils made of pure gold or silver.
• 16. The bronze from the two pillars, the water carts, and the Sea was too great to be weighed. These things had been made for the LORD's Temple in the days of King Solomon.
• 17. Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall. The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7 1/2 feet high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around.
• 18. The captain of the guard took with him as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, his assistant Zephaniah, and the three chief gatekeepers.
• 19. And of the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer of the Judean army, five of the king's personal advisers, the army commander's chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment, and sixty other citizens.
• 20. Nebuzaradan the commander took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
• 21. And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land.
• 22. Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan as governor over the people left in Judah.
• 23. When all the army commanders and their men learned that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they joined him at Mizpah. These included Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite, and all their men.
• 24. Gedaliah vowed to them that the Babylonian officials meant them no harm. "Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well for you," he promised.
• 25. But in midautumn of that year, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, who was of the royal family, went to Mizpah with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah and everyone with him, both Judeans and Babylonians.
• 26. Then all the people of Judah, from the least to the greatest, as well as the army commanders, fled in panic to Egypt, for they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them.
• 27. In the thirty-seventh year of King Jehoiachin's exile in Babylon, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to Jehoiachin and released him from prison on April 2 of that year.
• 28. He spoke pleasantly to Jehoiachin and gave him preferential treatment over all the other exiled kings in Babylon.
• 29. He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine at the king's table for the rest of his life.
• 30. The Babylonian king also gave him a regular allowance to cover his living expenses until the day of his death.

Hebrews 7

• 1. This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against many kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him.
• 2. Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had won in the battle and gave it to Melchizedek. His name means "king of justice." He is also "king of peace" because Salem means "peace."
• 3. There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors--no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
• 4. Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized how great Melchizedek was by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle.
• 5. Now the priests, who are descendants of Levi, are commanded in the law of Moses to collect a tithe from all the people, even though they are their own relatives.
• 6. But Melchizedek, who was not even related to Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God.
• 7. And without question, the person who has the power to bless is always greater than the person who is blessed.
• 8. In the case of Jewish priests, tithes are paid to men who will die. But Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on.
• 9. In addition, we might even say that Levi's descendants, the ones who collect the tithe, paid a tithe to Melchizedek through their ancestor Abraham.
• 10. For although Levi wasn't born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham's loins when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.
• 11. And finally, if the priesthood of Levi could have achieved God's purposes--and it was that priesthood on which the law was based--why did God need to send a different priest from the line of Melchizedek, instead of from the line of Levi and Aaron?
• 12. And when the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it.
• 13. For the one we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members do not serve at the altar.
• 14. What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned Judah in connection with the priesthood.
• 15. The change in God's law is even more evident from the fact that a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has now come.
• 16. He became a priest, not by meeting the old requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
• 17. And the psalmist pointed this out when he said of Christ, "You are a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek."
• 18. Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless.
• 19. For the law made nothing perfect, and now a better hope has taken its place. And that is how we draw near to God.
• 20. God took an oath that Christ would always be a priest, but he never did this for any other priest.
• 21. Only to Jesus did he say, "The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: 'You are a priest forever.'"
• 22. Because of God's oath, it is Jesus who guarantees the effectiveness of this better covenant.
• 23. Another difference is that there were many priests under the old system. When one priest died, another had to take his place.
• 24. But Jesus remains a priest forever; his priesthood will never end.
• 25. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save everyone who comes to God through him. He lives forever to plead with God on their behalf.
• 26. He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has now been set apart from sinners, and he has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.
• 27. He does not need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he sacrificed himself on the cross.
• 28. Those who were high priests under the law of Moses were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made perfect forever.

Amos 1

• 1. This message was given to Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa in Judah. He received this message in visions two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash, was king of Israel.
• 2. This is his report of what he saw and heard: "The LORD's voice roars from his Temple on Mount Zion; he thunders from Jerusalem! Suddenly, the lush pastures of the shepherds dry up. All the grass on Mount Carmel withers and dies."
• 3. This is what the LORD says: "The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They beat down my people in Gilead as grain is threshed with threshing sledges of iron.
• 4. So I will send down fire on King Hazael's palace, and the fortresses of King Ben-hadad will be destroyed.
• 5. I will break down the gates of Damascus and slaughter its people all the way to the valley of Aven. I will destroy the ruler in Beth-eden, and the people of Aram will return to Kir as slaves. I, the LORD, have spoken!"
• 6. This is what the LORD says: "The people of Gaza have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They sent my people into exile, selling them as slaves in Edom.
• 7. So I will send down fire on the walls of Gaza, and all its fortresses will be destroyed.
• 8. I will slaughter the people of Ashdod and destroy the king of Ashkelon. Then I will turn to attack Ekron, and the few Philistines still left will be killed. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!"
• 9. This is what the LORD says: "The people of Tyre have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They broke their treaty of brotherhood with Israel, selling whole villages as slaves to Edom.
• 10. So I will send down fire on the walls of Tyre, and all its fortresses will be destroyed."
• 11. This is what the LORD says: "The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They chased down their relatives, the Israelites, with swords. They showed them no mercy and were unrelenting in their anger.
• 12. So I will send down fire on Teman, and the fortresses of Bozrah will be destroyed."
• 13. This is what the LORD says: "The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! When they attacked Gilead to extend their borders, they committed cruel crimes, ripping open pregnant women with their swords.
• 14. So I will send down fire on the walls of Rabbah, and all its fortresses will be destroyed. There will be wild shouts during the battle, swirling like a whirlwind in a mighty storm.
• 15. And their king and his princes will go into exile together. I, the LORD, have spoken!"

New Living Translation: 316 of 365 days.