2 Chronicles 33
JUDAH’S KING MANASSEH
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down and reestablished the altars for the Baals. He made Asherah poles, and he bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and served them. 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, where the Lord had said, “Jerusalem is where my name will remain forever.” 5 He built altars to all the stars in the sky in both courtyards of the Lord’s temple. 6 He passed his sons through the fire in Ben Hinnom Valley. He practiced witchcraft, divination, and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did a huge amount of evil in the Lord’s sight, angering him.
7 Manasseh set up a carved image of the idol, which he had made, in God’s temple that God had spoken about to David and his son Solomon: “I will establish my name forever in this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 8 I will never again remove the feet of the Israelites from the land where I stationed your ancestors, if only they will be careful to do all I have commanded them through Moses — all the law, statutes, and judgments.” 9 So Manasseh caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.
MANASSEH’S REPENTANCE
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they didn’t listen. 11 So he brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria. They captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. 12 When he was in distress, he sought the favor of the Lord his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. 13 He prayed to him, and the Lord was receptive to his prayer. He granted his request and brought him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom. So Manasseh came to know that the Lord is God.
14 After this, he built the outer wall of the city of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate; he brought it around Ophel, and he heightened it considerably. He also placed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
15 He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the Lord’s temple, along with all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the Lord’s temple and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. 16 He built the altar of the Lord and offered fellowship and thanksgiving sacrifices on it. Then he told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 17 However, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
MANASSEH’S DEATH
18 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, along with his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are written in the Events of Israel’s Kings. 19 His prayer and how God was receptive to his prayer, and all his sin and unfaithfulness and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and carved images before he humbled himself, they are written in the Events of Hozai. 20 Manasseh rested with his ancestors, and he was buried in his own house. His son Amon became king in his place.
JUDAH’S KING AMON
21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the carved images that his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. 23 But he did not humble himself before the Lord like his father Manasseh humbled himself; instead, Amon increased his guilt.
24 So his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house. 25 The common people killed all who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.
Revelation 19
CELEBRATION IN HEAVEN
After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven, saying,
Hallelujah!
Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,
2 because his judgments are true and righteous,
because he has judged the notorious prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality;
and he has avenged the blood of his servants
that was on her hands.
3 A second time they said,
Hallelujah!
Her smoke ascends forever and ever!
4 Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who is seated on the throne, saying,
Amen! Hallelujah!
5 A voice came from the throne, saying,
Praise our God,
all his servants, and the ones who fear him,
both small and great!
6 Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying,
Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty,
reigns!
7 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory,
because the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has prepared herself.
8 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure.
For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.
9 Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb! ” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.” 10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold firmly to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
THE RIDER ON A WHITE HORSE
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. 15 A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. 16 And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of K ings and Lord of Lords.
THE BEAST AND ITS ARMIES DEFEATED
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he called out in a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying high overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of military commanders, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and of their riders, and the flesh of everyone, both free and slave, small and great.”
19 Then I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against his army. 20 But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with it the false prophet, who had performed the signs in its presence. He deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image with these signs. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds ate their fill of their flesh.
Malachi 1
THE LORD’S LOVE FOR ISRAEL
Apronouncement:
The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.
2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord.
Yet you ask, “How have you loved us? ”
“Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother? ” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob, 3 but I hated Esau. I turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
4 Though Edom says, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of Armies says this: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called a wicked country and the people the Lord has cursed forever. 5 Your own eyes will see this, and you yourselves will say, ‘The Lord is great, even beyond the borders of Israel.’
DISOBEDIENCE OF THE PRIESTS
6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of me? says the Lord of Armies to you priests, who despise my name.”
Yet you ask, “How have we despised your name? ”
7 “By presenting defiled food on my altar.”
“How have we defiled you? ” you ask.
When you say, “The Lord’s table is contemptible.”
8 “When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong? Bring it to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor? ” asks the Lord of Armies. 9 “And now plead for God’s favor. Will he be gracious to us? Since this has come from your hands, will he show any of you favor? ” asks the Lord of Armies. 10 “I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle a useless fire on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Armies, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.
11 “My name will be great among the nations, from the rising of the sun to its setting. Incense and pure offerings will be presented in my name in every place because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of Armies.
12 “But you are profaning it when you say, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled, and its product, its food, is contemptible.’ 13 You also say, ‘Look, what a nuisance! ’ And you scorn it,” says the Lord of Armies. “You bring stolen, lame, or sick animals. You bring this as an offering! Am I to accept that from your hands? ” asks the Lord.
14 “The deceiver is cursed who has an acceptable male in his flock and makes a vow but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the Lord of Armies, “and my name will be feared among the nations.
Psalm 146
THE GOD OF COMPASSION
Hallelujah!
My soul, praise the Lord.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not trust in nobles,
in a son of man, who cannot save.
4 When his breath leaves him,
he returns to the ground;
on that day his plans die.
5 Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in them.
He remains faithful forever,
7 executing justice for the exploited
and giving food to the hungry.
The Lord frees prisoners.
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord raises up those who are oppressed.
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord protects resident aliens
and helps the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10 The Lord reigns forever;
Zion, your God reigns for all generations.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 147
GOD RESTORES JERUSALEM
Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing to our God,
for praise is pleasant and lovely.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;
he gathers Israel’s exiled people.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he gives names to all of them.
5 Our Lord is great, vast in power;
his understanding is infinite.
6 The Lord helps the oppressed
but brings the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
play the lyre to our God,
8 who covers the sky with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
and causes grass to grow on the hills.
9 He provides the animals with their food,
and the young ravens what they cry for.
10 He is not impressed by the strength of a horse;
he does not value the power of a warrior.
11 The Lord values those who fear him,
those who put their hope in his faithful love.
12 Exalt the Lord, Jerusalem;
praise your God, Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your city gates
and blesses your children within you.
14 He endows your territory with prosperity;
he satisfies you with the finest wheat.
15 He sends his command throughout the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He spreads snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes;
17 he throws his hailstones like crumbs.
Who can withstand his cold?
18 He sends his word and melts them;
he unleashes his winds, and the water flows.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and judgments to Israel.
20 He has not done this for every nation;
they do not know his judgments.
Hallelujah!
— 2 Chronicles 33, Revelation 19, Malachi 1, Psalm 146-147 (CSB)