epL;An]yUic];Aan];Am],nn]tUc].nuic]yU,n}.cw]:puic];mn];Et,tI:TL,wrL.JPL;mL;
38kgp]:n}El:'kQw],lgc]:An]pQn]yU,mUiw]:lQw]n}.kw]KL:pn]tac];wUn].K}:sG]tI:SUnc],n}eAL:"yL,epkw];kUn];sa};sUiw];n}.&'pg}Kw]kGL,eSKL:El:&"pUiw]:wL:Sc]sUiw].An]Kw]yUic];Aan];Am],nn]ekL:tUc].nuic]yU,n}.'cw]:puic];mn];pQn]An]Et,tI:kUn];mL;epL;n}suic]'nn].ettUk];Sum];kGL,eAL:"39kUv];kL:epL;mn];pQn]An]luk].tI:JPL;sw]:mL;n}Et.'SUsw]:etAm],sac]:Eh.kUn];sa};sUiw];n}.kuit];pqt]:l}:lL;lL;"SUetTUp];hn]An]tUw]sw]:kw],SUl}:tuik];kn]tc];JPL;sw]:w}.yU,nn].kUv];eAL:"(tman],sw]:5;38-39)
38Therefore, in the present
case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or
activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39But if it is from God, you will
not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against
God.”(Acts 5:38-39)
31nac];ehLKm];mUic];pgt];san];Kw]n}.etluk].Kiun]:mL;tI:Tt];Sin]tqp];tt];pn]kUn];mUic];pan]n}.n}.eSES.Sgm];En;SG],Kw]'pUiw]:wL:mn];nac];luk].tI:lqn]lin]mUic];Sut];tUik]:nn].eS'mL;Tgm],Aw]lUv]:van],lqc];Kun]ehLKm];eSL;lmun],nn].yw].'eSEl:mUiw]:lQw]n}.ekL.An]yG],lUc]eSeSL;lmun],nn].mL;mI;w}.yU,tI:n}:yw]."(luk].kL,11;31)
31The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this
generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen
to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here.(Luke
11:31)
2
Chronicles 9:1-8
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
1When
the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great
caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious
stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind. 2Solomon
answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. 3When
the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had
built, 4the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending
servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings
he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.
5She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own
country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 6But I did not believe
what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the
greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard.
7How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand
before you and hear your wisdom! 8Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed
you on his throne as king to rule for the Lord your God. Because of the love of
your God for Israel and his desire to uphold them forever, he has made you king
over them, to maintain justice and righteousness.”
2
Chronicles 12:12-13 &16
12Because
Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned from him, and he was not
totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah.
13King Rehoboam established himself firmly
in Jerusalem and continued as king. He was forty-one years old when he became
king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen
out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name.
16Rehoboam rested with his ancestors
and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.
2
Chronicles 13:1-5,10-12&18
Abijah King of Judah
1In the eighteenth year of the reign
of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah, 2and he reigned in Jerusalem three
years. His mother’s name was Maakah, a daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.
There was war between Abijah and
Jeroboam. 3Abijah went into battle with an army of four hundred thousand able
fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred
thousand able troops.
4Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in
the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! 5Don’t you know that the Lord,
the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his
descendants forever by a covenant of salt?
10“As
for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the
Levites assist them. 11Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings
and fragrant incense to the Lord. They set out the bread on the ceremonially
clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are
observing the requirements of the Lord our God. But you have forsaken him. 12God is with us; he is our leader. His priests
with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, do
not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not
succeed.”
18The Israelites were subdued on
that occasion, and the
people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of
their ancestors.
2
Chronicles 14:1-11
1And Abijah rested with his
ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as
king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.
Asa King of Judah
2Asa did what was good and right in
the eyes of the Lord his God. 3He removed the foreign altars and the high
places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. 4He commanded
Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands.
5He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the
kingdom was at peace under him. 6He built up the fortified cities of Judah,
since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for
the Lord gave him rest.
7“Let us build up these towns,” he
said to Judah, “and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because
we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on
every side.” So they built and prospered.
8Asa had an army of three hundred
thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two
hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with
bows. All these were brave fighting men.
9Zerah the Cushite marched out
against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred
chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10Asa went out to meet him, and they
took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.
11Then
Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one like you to
help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on
you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our
God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.”
2 Chronicles 15:1-19
Asa’s Reform
1The Spirit of God came on Azariah
son of Oded. 2He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and
all Judah and Benjamin. The
Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by
you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3For a long time
Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law.
4But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought
him, and he was found by them. 5In those days it was not safe to travel about,
for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6One nation was
being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling
them with every kind of distress. 7But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be
rewarded.”
8When Asa heard these words and the
prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the
detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns
he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that
was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.
9Then he assembled all Judah and
Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among
them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the
Lord his God was with him.
10They assembled at Jerusalem in the
third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11At that time they
sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep
and goats from the plunder they had brought back. 12They entered into a
covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and
soul. 13All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to
death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation,
with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15All Judah rejoiced about the oath
because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was
found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.
16King Asa also deposed his
grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a
repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and
burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17Although he did not remove the high places
from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 18He
brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and
his father had dedicated.
19There was no more war until the
thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.
