The Daily Audio Bible
Jehoahaz Son of Josiah, King of Judah
31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 32 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, like all that his fathers had done.
33 Pharoah Neco imprisoned him in Riblah, in the land of Hamath, so that he could not rule as king in Jerusalem. Neco levied tribute on the land of one hundred talents[a] of silver and one talent[b] of gold. 34 Then Pharaoh Neco set up Eliakim son of Josiah as king in place of his father Josiah. But he changed his name to Jehoiakim. Then he took Jehoahaz to Egypt, and Jehoahaz died there.
Jehoiakim Son of Josiah, King of Judah
35 Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to provide the money, as demanded by Pharaoh. From each man according to his worth, he exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land to give it to Pharaoh Neco.
36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah from Ramah. 37 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just like everything that his fathers had done.
Judgment for Judah
24 In the days of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years, but he then rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar again.
2 Then the Lord sent bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim. He sent them into Judah to destroy them according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through his servants the prophets. 3 Surely this happened at the Lord’s command to remove them from his presence because of all the sins Manasseh had committed, 4 as well as the innocent blood he had shed. He filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.
5 As for the rest of Jehoiakim’s deeds and everything he did, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? 6 Jehoiakim rested with his fathers. Then his son Jehoiachin became king in his place.
7 The king of Egypt did not march out from his land again because the king of Babylon had seized everything that had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the Stream of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
Jehoiachin Son of Jehoiakim, King of Judah
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he ruled for three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem.
9 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just like everything that his father had done. 10 At that time, the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem and put the city under siege. 11 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his officers were besieging it.
12 Then Jehoiachin king of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon—he and his mother, his officials, his officers, and his eunuchs.[c] In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, he took Jehoiachin prisoner. 13 He brought out all the treasures of the House of the Lord and the treasures of the palace of the king. He cut up all the gold articles in the House of the Lord, which Solomon king of Israel had made, just as the Lord had said. 14 He exiled all Jerusalem and all the officers and all the warriors—ten thousand men went into exile—as well as all the craftsmen and metal workers. No one was left except the poorest people of the land. 15 He exiled Jehoiachin to Babylon. He also took the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his eunuchs, and the leading citizens of the land into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 The king of Babylon also took into exile all the soldiers—seven thousand men—and the craftsmen and metal workers—a thousand men, all strong and trained for war.[d] 17 Then the king of Babylon made Jehoiachin’s uncle Mattaniah king in his place, but he changed his name to Zedekiah.
Zedekiah Son of Josiah, the Last King of Judah
18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 19 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just like everything that Jehoiakim had done. 20 Surely it was because of the Lord’s wrath that all this fell upon Jerusalem and Judah, until he cast them from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
The Final Siege of Jerusalem
25 In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came up against Jerusalem. He laid siege to it and built a rampart around it. 2 The city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 By the ninth day of the fourth month,[e] famine gripped the city, and the people of the land had no bread.
4 Then the city wall was breached, and all the soldiers fled toward the Arabah through the gate that was between the two walls near the king’s garden, while the Chaldeans[f] were surrounding the city. 5 But the Chaldean army pursued the king. They caught him in the Arabah near Jericho. His whole army was scattered away from him. 6 So they seized the king. They brought him to the king of Babylon in Riblah, and a sentence was pronounced on him. 7 They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and then Zedekiah was blinded. They bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
Jerusalem Destroyed and the People Deported
8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard,[g] an officer of the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem. 9 He burned the Lord’s house and the king’s palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. He burned down every large building. 10 The whole Chaldean army, which was under the captain of the guard, tore down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, exiled the rest of the people who remained in the city along with those who had previously surrendered to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the crowds.[h] 12 But the captain of the guard left the poorest people of the land to tend the vineyards and farms.
13 The Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars which were in the House of the Lord and the carts and the bronze sea which was in the House of the Lord, and they took the bronze to Babylon. 14 They took the pots, shovels, snuffers,[i] and bowls and all the bronze utensils with which they served. 15 The captain of the guard took the fire pans and the bowls—whatever was made of pure gold and pure silver. 16 The bronze from all these articles—the two pillars, the sea, and the carts which Solomon had made for the House of the Lord—could not be weighed. 17 The height of one pillar was twenty-seven feet, and the capital on it was bronze. The height of the capital was four and a half feet. Latticework and pomegranates went all around the capital. All this was bronze, and the other pillar with its latticework was the same.
18 The captain of the guard took Seriah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second-ranking priest and three doorkeepers. 19 From the city, he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers and five of the king’s close advisors, who were found in the city, as well as the secretary, the army commander who drafted the people of the land, and sixty men from the people of the land, who were found in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them with him to the king of Babylon in Riblah. 21 The king of Babylon struck them down and killed them in Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from her country.
The People Left in the Land
22 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, over the people who remained in the land, because he had left some people behind. 23 All the commanders of the army and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, so they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seriah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, Ja’azaniah son of the Ma’akathite, and their men.
24 Then Gedaliah swore an oath to them and to their men and said, “Don’t be afraid of the officials of the Chaldeans. Return to the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”
25 But in the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal descent, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and killed him along with the men of Judah and the Chaldeans who were with him in Mizpah. 26 Then all the people from the least to the greatest and the commanders of the army set out and went to Egypt because they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
Jehoiachin Released
27 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, Evil Merodach[j] king of Babylon, in the year he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he ate bread continually in the king’s presence all the days of his life. 30 A regular allowance was given to him from the king, for his daily needs, all the days of his life.
17 “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance. 18 I saw the Lord telling me: ‘Hurry, get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’
19 “I said, ‘Lord, these people know that I went from one synagogue to another imprisoning and beating those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I stood by, giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were putting him to death.’
21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22 They were listening to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices, shouting, “Rid the earth of this fellow, for he is not fit to live!”
23 When they started shouting and throwing off their cloaks and throwing dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be interrogated by whipping, in order to learn why the people were shouting at him like this. 25 As they stretched him for the whipping, Paul asked the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to whip a man who is a Roman citizen and who has not been found guilty by a proper trial?”
26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and said, “What are you about to do?[a] This man is a Roman citizen!”
27 The commander came and asked him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
He answered, “Yes.”
28 Then the commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.”
Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”
29 Immediately, those who were about to interrogate him moved away from him. The commander was also alarmed when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen, because he had tied him up.
Paul on Trial Before the Sanhedrin
30 The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he untied him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to meet. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.
23 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “Gentlemen,[b] brothers, I have lived my life before God with a completely clear conscience to this very day.”
2 But the high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there judging me according to the law, and then you order them to strike me contrary to the law!”
4 Those who were standing nearby said, “Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?”
5 Paul replied, “I did not know, brothers, that he is the high priest. Indeed, it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil about a ruler of your people.’”[c]
6 When Paul realized that some of them were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, he shouted out in the Sanhedrin, “Gentlemen, brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope for the resurrection of the dead!”
7 When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in them all.) 9 Then there was a great uproar, and some of the experts in the law who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly: “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?”[d]
10 The uproar became so great that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He commanded the soldiers to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.
Psalm 2
The Nations Conspire, But God’s King Rules Securely
The Futile Rebellion of the Nations
1 Why do the nations rage?
Why do the peoples grumble in vain?
2 The kings of the earth take a stand,
and the rulers join together
against the Lord
and against his Anointed One.[a]
3 “Let us tear off their chains
and throw off their ropes from us.”
The Reaction of the Lord
4 The one who is seated in heaven laughs.
The Lord scoffs at them.
5 Then he speaks to them in his anger,
and in his wrath he terrifies them.
6 “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy mountain.”
The Powerful Rule of God’s King
7 I will proclaim the decree of the Lord.
He said to me:
“You are my Son.
Today I have begotten you.[b]
8 Ask me,
and I will give you the nations as your inheritance
and the ends of the earth as your possession.
9 You will smash them with an iron rod.
You will break them to pieces like pottery.”
The Lesson to Be Learned
10 So now, you kings, do what is wise.
Accept discipline,[c] you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
or he will be angry,
and you will be destroyed in your way,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
How blessed are all who take refuge in him.
13 If a person answers before he listens,
that is foolishness that brings disgrace.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.