the Fourth Week after Easter
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
August 31 - Old & New Testament
niv
2 Chronicles 15,16
Asa's Reform(a)
1 The Spirit of God came on(b) 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(c) when you are with him.(d) If you seek(e) him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.(f) 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach(g) and without the law.(h) 4 But in their distress they turned to the Lord , the God of Israel, and sought him,(i) and he was found by them. 5 In those days it was not safe to travel about,(j) for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another,(k) because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. 7 But as for you, be strong(l) and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."(m)
8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of[a] Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols(n) from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured(o) in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar(p) 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(q) 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(r) 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(s) they had brought back. 12 They entered into a covenant(t) to seek the Lord ,(u) the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 13 All who would not seek the Lord , the God of Israel, were to be put to death,(v) 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(w) eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest(x) on every side.
16 King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah(y) from her position as queen mother,(z) because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah.(aa) Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley.(ab) 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.(ac)
19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.
Asa's Last Years(a)(b)
1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign Baasha(c) king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.
2 Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord 's temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus.(d) 3 "Let there be a treaty(e) between me and you," he said, "as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me."
4 Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim[a] and all the store cities of Naphtali.(f) 5 When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. 6 Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.(g)
7 At that time Hanani(h) the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: "Because you relied(i) on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8 Were not the Cushites[b](j) and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers(k) of chariots and horsemen[c]? Yet when you relied on the Lord , he delivered(l) them into your hand. 9 For the eyes(m) of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish(n) thing, and from now on you will be at war.(o)"
10 Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison.(p) At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.
11 The events of Asa's reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted(q) with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek(r) help from the Lord ,(s) but only from the physicians. 13 Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors. 14 They buried him in the tomb that he had cut out for himself(t) in the City of David. They laid him on a bier covered with spices and various blended perfumes,(u) and they made a huge fire(v) in his honor.
2 Corinthians 5
Chapter 5
Awaiting the New Body
1 For we know that if the earthly(a) tent(b) we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan,(c) longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,(d) 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan(e) and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,(f) so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.(g)
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight.(h) 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.(i) 9 So we make it our goal to please him,(j) whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us(k) for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
The Ministry of Reconciliation
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord,(l) we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.(m) 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,(n) but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,(o) so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are "out of our mind,"(p) as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.(q) 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves(r) but for him who died for them(s) and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly(t) point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,(u) the new creation(v) has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!(w) 18 All this is from God,(x) who reconciled us to himself through Christ(y) and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them.(z) And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors,(aa) as though God were making his appeal through us.(ab) We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.(ac) 21 God made him who had no sin(ad) to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.(ae)
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