Through the Bible – Day 139

Bible text(s)

2 Kings 23

Josiah and the people of Judah celebrate Passover

21Josiah told the people of Judah, “Celebrate Passover in honour of the LORD your God, just as it says in The Book of God's Law.”

22This festival had not been celebrated in this way since kings ruled Israel and Judah. 23But in Josiah's eighteenth year as king of Judah, everyone came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

The LORD is still angry with the people of Judah

24Josiah got rid of every disgusting person and thing in Judah and Jerusalem—including magicians, fortune-tellers, and idols. He did his best to obey every law written in the book that the priest Hilkiah found in the LORD's temple. 25No other king before or after Josiah tried as hard as he did to obey the Law of Moses.

26But the LORD was still furious with the people of Judah because Manasseh had done so many things to make him angry. 27The LORD said, “I will desert the people of Judah, just as I deserted the people of Israel. I will reject Jerusalem, even though I chose it to be mine. And I will abandon this temple built to honour me.”

Josiah dies in battle

28Everything else Josiah did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 29During Josiah's rule, King Neco of Egypt led his army north to the River Euphrates to help the king of Assyria. Josiah led his troops north to fight Neco, but when they met in battle at Megiddo, Josiah was killed. 30A few of Josiah's servants put his body in a chariot and took it back to Jerusalem, where they buried it in his own tomb. Then the people of Judah found his son Jehoahaz and poured olive oil on his head to show that he was their new king.

King Jehoahaz of Judah

31Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem only three months. His mother Hamutal was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 32Jehoahaz disobeyed the LORD, just as some of his ancestors had done.

33King Neco of Egypt had Jehoahaz arrested and put in prison at Riblah near Hamath. Then he forced the people of Judah to pay him three thousand four hundred kilogrammes of silver and thirty-four kilogrammes of gold as taxes. 34Neco appointed Josiah's son Eliakim king of Judah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz as a prisoner to Egypt, where he died.

35Jehoiakim forced the people of Judah to pay higher taxes, so he could give Neco the silver and gold he demanded.

King Jehoiakim of Judah

36Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he was appointed king, and he ruled eleven years from Jerusalem. His mother Zebidah was the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. 37Jehoiakim disobeyed the LORD by following the example of his ancestors.

2 Kings 24

1During Jehoiakim's rule, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded and took control of Judah. Jehoiakim obeyed Nebuchadnezzar for three years, but then he rebelled.

2At that time, the LORD started sending troops to rob and destroy towns in Judah. Some of these troops were from Babylonia, and others were from Syria, Moab, and Ammon. The LORD had sent his servants the prophets to warn Judah about this, 3and now he was making it happen. The country of Judah was going to be wiped out, because Manasseh had sinned 4and caused many innocent people to die. The LORD would not forgive this.

5Everything else Jehoiakim did while he was king is written in The History of the Kings of Judah. 6Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin became king.

7King Nebuchadnezzar defeated King Neco of Egypt and took control of his land from the Egyptian Gorge all the way north to the River Euphrates. So Neco never invaded Judah again.

King Jehoiachin of Judah is taken to Babylon

(2 Chronicles 36.9,10)

8Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled only three months from Jerusalem. His mother Nehushta was the daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. 9Jehoiachin disobeyed the LORD, just as his father Jehoiakim had done.

10King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia sent troops to attack Jerusalem soon after Jehoiachin became king. 11During the attack, Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived at the city. 12Jehoiachin immediately surrendered, together with his mother and his servants, as well as his army officers and officials. Then Nebuchadnezzar had Jehoiachin arrested. These things took place in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's rule in Babylonia.

13The LORD had warned that some day the treasures would be taken from the royal palace and from the temple, including the gold objects that Solomon had made for the temple. And that's exactly what Nebuchadnezzar ordered his soldiers to do. 14He also led away as prisoners the Jerusalem officials, the military leaders, and the skilled workers—ten thousand in all. Only the very poorest people were left in Judah.

15Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon, along with his mother, his wives, his officials, and the most important leaders of Judah. 16He also led away seven thousand soldiers, one thousand skilled workers, and anyone who would be useful in battle.

17Then Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah king of Judah and changed his name to Zedekiah.

King Zedekiah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 36.11-16; Jeremiah 52.1-3)

18Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he was appointed king of Judah, and he ruled from Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother Hamutal was the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 19Zedekiah disobeyed the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. 20It was Zedekiah who finally rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

The people of Judah and Jerusalem had made the LORD so angry that he finally turned his back on them. That's why these horrible things were happening.

2 Kings 25

Jerusalem is captured and destroyed

1In Zedekiah's ninth year as king, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia led his entire army to attack Jerusalem. The troops set up camp outside the city and built ramps up to the city walls.

2-3After a year and a half, all the food in Jerusalem was gone. Then on the ninth day of the fourth month, 4the Babylonian troops broke through the city wall. That same night, Zedekiah and his soldiers tried to escape through the gate near the royal garden, even though they knew the enemy had the city surrounded. They headed towards the desert, 5but the Babylonian troops caught up with them near Jericho. They arrested Zedekiah, but his soldiers scattered in every direction.

6Zedekiah was taken to Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar put him on trial and found him guilty. 7Zedekiah's sons were killed right in front of him. His eyes were then put out, and he was put in chains and dragged off to Babylon.

8About a month later, in Nebuchadnezzar's nineteenth year as king, Nebuzaradan, who was his official in charge of the guards, arrived in Jerusalem. 9Nebuzaradan burnt down the LORD's temple, the king's palace, and every important building in the city, as well as all the houses. 10Then he ordered the Babylonian soldiers to break down the walls around Jerusalem. 11He led away as prisoners the people left in the city, including those who had become loyal to Nebuchadnezzar. 12Only some of the poorest people were left behind to work the vineyards and the fields.

13The Babylonian soldiers took the two bronze columns that stood in front of the temple, the ten moveable bronze stands, and the large bronze bowl called the Sea. They broke them into pieces so they could take the bronze to Babylonia. 14They carried off the bronze things used for worship at the temple, including the pans for hot ashes, and the shovels, snuffers, and also the dishes for incense, 15as well as the fire pans and the sprinkling bowls. Nebuzaradan ordered his soldiers to take everything made of gold or silver.

16The pile of bronze from the columns, the stands, and the large bowl that Solomon had made for the temple was too large to be weighed. 17Each column had been eight metres tall with a bronze cap over one metre high. These caps were decorated with bronze designs—some of them like chains and others like pomegranates.

18Next, Nebuzaradan arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah his assistant, and three temple officials. 19Then he arrested one of the army commanders, the king's five personal advisers, and the officer in charge of gathering the troops for battle. He also found sixty more soldiers who were still in Jerusalem. 20Nebuzaradan led them all to Riblah 21near Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar had them killed.

The people of Judah no longer lived in their own country.

Gedaliah is made ruler of the people left in Judah

22King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam to rule the few people still living in Judah. 23When the army officers and troops heard that Gedaliah was their ruler, the officers met with him at Mizpah. These men were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth from Netophah, and Jaazaniah from Maacah.

24Gedaliah said to them, “Everything will be fine, I promise. We don't need to be afraid of the Babylonian rulers, if we live here peacefully and do what Nebuchadnezzar says.”

25Ishmael was from the royal family. And about two months after Gedaliah began his rule, Ishmael and ten other men went to Mizpah. They killed Gedaliah and his officials, including those from Judah and those from Babylonia. 26After that, the army officers and all the people in Mizpah, whether important or not, were afraid of what the Babylonians might do. So they left Judah and went to Egypt.

Jehoiachin is set free

27Jehoiachin was a prisoner in Babylon for thirty-seven years. Then Evil-Merodach became king of Babylonia, and in the first year of his rule, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, he let Jehoiachin out of prison. 28Evil-Merodach was kind to Jehoiachin and honoured him more than any of the other kings held prisoner there. 29Jehoiachin was even allowed to wear his own clothes, and he ate at the king's table every day. 30As long as Jehoiachin lived, he was paid a daily allowance to buy whatever he needed.

2 Kings 23:21-25:30CEVOpen in Bible reader

John 6

Feeding five thousand

1Jesus crossed Lake Galilee, which was also known as Lake Tiberias. 2A large crowd had seen him perform miracles to heal the sick, and those people went with him. 3-4It was almost time for the Jewish festival of Passover, and Jesus went up on a mountain with his disciples and sat down.

5When Jesus saw the large crowd coming towards him, he asked Philip, “Where will we get enough food to feed all these people?” 6He said this to test Philip, since he already knew what he was going to do.

7Philip answered, “Don't you know that it would take almost a year's wages just to buy only a little bread for each of these people?”

8Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the disciples. He spoke up and said, 9“There is a boy here who has five small loaves of barley bread and two fish. But what good is that with all these people?”

10The ground was covered with grass, and Jesus told his disciples to make everyone sit down. About five thousand men were in the crowd. 11Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he passed the bread to the people, and he did the same with the fish, until everyone had plenty to eat.

12The people ate all they wanted, and Jesus told his disciples to gather up the leftovers, so that nothing would be wasted. 13The disciples gathered them up and filled twelve large baskets with what was left over from the five barley loaves.

14After the people had seen Jesus perform this miracle, they began saying, “This must be the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15Jesus realized that they would try to force him to be their king. So he went up on a mountain, where he could be alone.

Jesus walks on the water

16That evening, Jesus' disciples went down to the lake. 17They got into a boat and set off for Capernaum. Later that evening Jesus had still not come to them, 18and a strong wind was making the water rough.

19When the disciples had rowed for five or six kilometres, they saw Jesus walking on the water. He kept coming closer to the boat, and they were terrified. 20But he said, “I am Jesus! Don't be afraid!” 21The disciples wanted to take him into the boat, but suddenly the boat reached the shore where they were headed.

John 6:1-21CEVOpen in Bible reader
Canadian Bible Societyv.4.24.4
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