2 Chronicles 14

• 1. When Abijah died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Asa became the next king. There was peace in the land for ten years,
• 2. for Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the LORD his God.
• 3. He removed the pagan altars and the shrines. He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles.
• 4. He commanded the people of Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his law and his commands.
• 5. Asa also removed the pagan shrines, as well as the incense altars from every one of Judah's towns. So Asa's kingdom enjoyed a period of peace.
• 6. During those peaceful years, he was able to build up the fortified cities throughout Judah. No one tried to make war against him at this time, for the LORD was giving him rest from his enemies.
• 7. Asa told the people of Judah, "Let us build towns and fortify them with walls, towers, gates, and bars. The land is ours because we sought the LORD our God, and he has given us rest from our enemies." So they went ahead with these projects and brought them to completion.
• 8. King Asa had an army of 300,000 warriors from the tribe of Judah, armed with large shields and spears. He also had an army of 280,000 warriors from the tribe of Benjamin, armed with small shields and bows. Both armies were composed of courageous fighting men.
• 9. Once an Ethiopian named Zerah attacked Judah with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots. They advanced to the city of Mareshah,
• 10. so Asa deployed his armies for battle in the valley north of Mareshah.
• 11. Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, "O LORD, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O LORD, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!"
• 12. So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians in the presence of Asa and the army of Judah, and the enemy fled.
• 13. Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar, and so many Ethiopians fell that they were unable to rally. They were destroyed by the LORD and his army, and the army of Judah carried off vast quantities of plunder.
• 14. While they were at Gerar, they attacked all the towns in that area, and terror from the LORD came upon the people there. As a result, vast quantities of plunder were taken from these towns, too.
• 15. They also attacked the camps of herdsmen and captured many sheep and camels before finally returning to Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 15

• 1. Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded,
• 2. and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. "Listen to me, Asa!" he shouted. "Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The LORD will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.
• 3. For a long time, Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without God's law.
• 4. But whenever you were in distress and turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him out, you found him.
• 5. During those dark times, it was not safe to travel. Problems troubled the nation on every hand.
• 6. Nation fought against nation, and city against city, for God was troubling you with every kind of problem.
• 7. And now, you men of Judah, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded."
• 8. When Asa heard this message from Azariah the prophet, he took courage and removed all the idols in the land of Judah and Benjamin and in the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. And he repaired the altar of the LORD, which stood in front of the foyer of the LORD's Temple.
• 9. Then Asa called together all the people of Judah and Benjamin, along with the people of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them. Many had moved to Judah during Asa's reign when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
• 10. The people gathered at Jerusalem in late spring, during the fifteenth year of Asa's reign.
• 11. On that day they sacrificed to the LORD some of the animals they had taken as plunder in the battle--seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep and goats.
• 12. Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.
• 13. They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the LORD, the God of Israel, would be put to death--whether young or old, man or woman.
• 14. They shouted out their oath of loyalty to the LORD with trumpets blaring and horns sounding.
• 15. All were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their hearts. Eagerly they sought after God, and they found him. And the LORD gave them rest from their enemies on every side.
• 16. King Asa even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down the pole, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
• 17. Although the pagan shrines were not completely removed from Israel, Asa remained fully committed to the LORD throughout his life.
• 18. He brought into the Temple of God the silver and gold and the utensils that he and his father had dedicated.
• 19. So there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.

Revelation 4

• 1. Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast. The voice said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things."
• 2. And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it!
• 3. The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones--jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.
• 4. Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads.
• 5. And from the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven lampstands with burning flames. They are the seven spirits of God.
• 6. In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back.
• 7. The first of these living beings had the form of a lion; the second looked like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth had the form of an eagle with wings spread out as though in flight.
• 8. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty--the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come."
• 9. Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever,
• 10. the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one who lives forever and ever. And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,
• 11. "You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created."

Haggai 2

• 1. Then on October 17 of that same year, the LORD sent another message through the prophet Haggai.
• 2. "Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God's people there in the land:
• 3. Is there anyone who can remember this house--the Temple--as it was before? In comparison, how does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all!
• 4. But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD. Take courage, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Take courage, all you people still left in the land, says the LORD. Take courage and work, for I am with you, says the LORD Almighty.
• 5. My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.
• 6. "For this is what the LORD Almighty says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth. I will shake the oceans and the dry land, too.
• 7. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the LORD Almighty.
• 8. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD Almighty.
• 9. The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD Almighty. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!"
• 10. On December 18 of the second year of King Darius's reign, the LORD sent this message to the prophet Haggai:
• 11. "This is what the LORD Almighty says! Ask the priests this question about the law:
• 12. If one of you is carrying a holy sacrifice in his robes and happens to brush against some bread or stew, wine or oil, or any other kind of food, will it also become holy?" The priests replied, "No."
• 13. Then Haggai asked, "But if someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then brushes against any of the things mentioned, will it be defiled?" And the priests answered, "Yes."
• 14. Then Haggai said, "That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the LORD. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled.
• 15. So think about this from now on--consider how things were going for you before you began to lay the foundation of the LORD's Temple.
• 16. When you hoped for a twenty-bushel crop, you harvested only ten. When you expected to draw fifty gallons from the winepress, you found only twenty.
• 17. I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy all the produce of your labor. Yet, even so, you refused to return to me, says the LORD.
• 18. "On this eighteenth day of December--the day when the foundation of the LORD's Temple was laid--carefully consider this:
• 19. I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn, before you have harvested your grain and before the grapevine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have produced their crops. From this day onward I will bless you."
• 20. The LORD sent this second message to Haggai on December 18:
• 21. "Tell Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, that I am about to shake the heavens and the earth.
• 22. I will overthrow royal thrones, destroying the power of foreign kingdoms. I will overturn their chariots and charioteers. The horses will fall, and their riders will kill each other.
• 23. But when this happens, says the LORD Almighty, I will honor you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant. I will treat you like a signet ring on my finger, says the LORD, for I have specially chosen you. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken!"

New Living Translation: 347 of 365 days.