July 6th

And Yahweh sent against him marauding bands of Chaldeans, marauding bands of Arameans, marauding bands of Moabites, and marauding bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Yahweh which He had spoken by the hand of His slaves the prophets.

Surely at the command of Yahweh it came upon Judah, to remove them from His presence because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done,

and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and Yahweh was not willing to pardon.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place.

And the king of Egypt did not go out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that his father had done.

At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege.

And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it.

Then Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his commanders and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign.

And he brought out from there all the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had spoken.

Then he took away into exile all Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None was left except the poorest people of the land.

So he took Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Now all the valiant men, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand, all mighty men who could wage war, and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

Then the king of Babylon made his uncle Mattaniah king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

For through the anger of Yahweh this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his military force, against Jerusalem, and he camped against it and built a siege wall all around it.

So the city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so strong in the city that there was no food for the people of the land.

Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.

But the military force of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his military force was scattered from him.

Then they seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they spoke their judgment on him.

And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.

And he burned the house of Yahweh, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire.

So all the military force of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard tore down the walls around Jerusalem.

Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the defectors who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took away into exile.

But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

Now the bronze pillars which were in the house of Yahweh, and the stands and the bronze sea which were in the house of Yahweh, the Chaldeans shattered and carried the bronze to Babylon.

They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the bronze vessels which were used to minister.

The captain of the guard also took away the firepans and the bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver.

The two pillars, the one sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh—the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight.

The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was three cubits, with a network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these with network.

Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three doorkeepers of the temple.

And from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and five of the king’s advisers who were found in the city; and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city.

And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and led them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.

Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them.

Then all the commanders of the military forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor. So they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.

Then Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”

But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died, along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

Then all the people, both small and great, and the commanders of the military forces arose and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Now it happened in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison;

and he spoke to him good words, and he set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king’s presence continually all the days of his life;

and for his allowance, a continual allowance was given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.

Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort,

a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the people and prayed to God continually.

About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had come in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

And looking intently on him and becoming afraid, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.

Now send some men to Joppa and summon a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;

he is lodging with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.”

And when the angel who was speaking to him had left, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants,

and after he explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

And on the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.

But he became hungry and was desiring to eat. And while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance

and *saw heaven opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,

and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky.

And a voice came to him, “Rise up, Peter, slaughter and eat!”

But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.”

Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.”

And this happened three times and immediately the object was taken up into heaven.

Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate;

and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was lodging there.

And while Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

But rise up, go down and accompany them without taking issue at all, for I have sent them Myself.”

And Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”

And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and hear a message from you.”

So he invited them in and gave them lodging.