July 30th

and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Yahweh is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will be found; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

Now for many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law.

But in their distress they turned to Yahweh, the God of Israel, and they searched for Him, and He was found by them.

Now in those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for much confusion was upon all the inhabitants of the lands.

And nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God threw them into confusion with every kind of distress.

But you, be strong and do not let your hands fall limp, for there is reward for your work.”

Now when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he strengthened himself and took away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then renewed the altar of Yahweh which was in front of the porch of Yahweh.

And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who sojourned with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.

So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.

And they sacrificed to Yahweh that day 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep from the spoil they had brought.

They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul;

and whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.

Moreover, they swore an oath to Yahweh with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets and with horns.

All Judah was glad concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had searched for Him with all their desire, and He was found by them. So Yahweh gave them rest on every side.

He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image, crushed it and burned it at the brook Kidron.

But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was wholly devoted all his days.

And he brought into the house of God the holy things of his father and his own holy things: silver and gold and utensils.

And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built up Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.

Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of Yahweh and the king’s house, and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying,

“Let there be a covenant between you and me, as between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.”

So Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his military forces against the cities of Israel, and they struck down Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali.

Now it happened that when Baasha heard of it, he ceased building up Ramah and stopped his work.

Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.

Now at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you have leaned on the king of Aram and have not leaned on Yahweh your God, therefore the military force of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand.

Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim a vast military force with an exceedingly vast number of chariots and horsemen? Yet because you leaned on Yahweh, He gave them into your hand.

For the eyes of Yahweh move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is wholly devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.”

Then Asa was vexed with the seer and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

Now behold, the acts of Asa from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

And Asa became diseased in his feet in the thirty-ninth year of his reign. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek Yahweh, but the physicians.

So Asa slept with his fathers. And he died in the forty-first year of his reign.

And they buried him in his own tomb which he had cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled with spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers’ art; and they made a very great fire for him.

Jehoshaphat his son then became king in his place, and strengthened himself over Israel.

And he put military forces in all the fortified cities of Judah, and put garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim which Asa his father had captured.

And Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the ways of his father David’s earlier days and did not seek the Baals,

but sought the God of his father, walked in His commandments, and did not act as Israel did.

So Yahweh established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought presents to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor.

And his heart took great pride in the ways of Yahweh, and again he took away the high places and the Asherim from Judah.

Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah;

and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests.

And they taught in Judah, having the book of the law of Yahweh with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

Now the dread of Yahweh was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.

Indeed, some of the Philistines brought presents and silver as their tax burden to Jehoshaphat; the Arabians also brought him flocks, 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats.

So Jehoshaphat grew greater and greater, and he built fortresses and store cities in Judah.

And he had large supplies in the cities of Judah, and men of war, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem.

This was their muster according to their fathers’ households:

of Judah, commanders of thousands, Adnah was the commander, and with him 300,000 mighty men of valor;

and next to him was Johanan the commander, and with him 280,000;

and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, who volunteered for Yahweh, and with him 200,000 mighty men of valor;

and of Benjamin, Eliada a mighty man of valor, and with him 200,000 equipped with bow and shield;

and next to him Jehozabad, and with him 180,000 armed for military duty.

These are they who attended on the king, apart from those whom the king put in the fortified cities through all Judah.

Now after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders, with an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges to the governor against Paul.

And after Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying,

“As we have attained much peace through you—and because by your provision reforms are being carried out for this nation—

we welcome this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness.

But, that I may not weary you any further, I plead with you by your forbearance to hear us briefly.

For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

And he even tried to desecrate the temple; and then we arrested him. [We wanted to judge him according to our own Law.

But Lysias the commander came along, and with much violence took him out of our hands,

ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him.”

And the Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.

And when the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul answered:

“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,

since you are able to ascertain the fact that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

And neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor across the city did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot.

Nor are they able to prove to you of what they are now accusing me.

But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets;

having a hope in God, for which these men are waiting, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a conscience without fault both before God and before men.

Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings;

in which they found me, having been purified in the temple, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia—

who ought to have been present before you and to make accusation, if they should have anything against me.

Or else let these men themselves tell what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the Sanhedrin,

other than for this one statement which I shouted out while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.’ ”

But Felix, having a more accurate knowledge about the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.”

Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be kept in custody and yet have some rest, and not to prevent any of his friends from ministering to him.

But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife who was a Jewess, and summoned Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and answered, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will call for you.”

At the same time, he was also hoping that money would be given him by Paul; therefore he also used to summon for him quite often and converse with him.

But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned.