2 Kings 15, Titus 1, Hosea 8, Psalm 123, 124, 125

2 Kings 15,

1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign.
 
2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother's name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem.
 
3 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done.
 
4 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
 
5 The LORD afflicted the king with leprosy until the day he died, and he lived in a separate house. Jotham the king's son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
 
6 As for the other events of Azariah"s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
 
7 Azariah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in the City of David. And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.
 
8 In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months.
 
9 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
 
10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people, assassinated him and succeeded him as king.
 
11 The other events of Zechariah's reign are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.
 
12 So the word of the LORD spoken to Jehu was fulfilled: "Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation."
 
13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned in Samaria one month.
 
14 Then Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria, assassinated him and succeeded him as king.
 
15 The other events of Shallum's reign, and the conspiracy he led, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.
 
16 At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.
 
17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria ten years.
 
18 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. During his entire reign he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
 
19 Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents of silver to gain his support and strengthen his own hold on the kingdom.
 
20 Menahem exacted this money from Israel. Every wealthy man had to contribute fifty shekels of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and stayed in the land no longer.
 
21 As for the other events of Menahem's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
 
22 Menahem rested with his fathers. And Pekahiah his son succeeded him as king.
 
23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years.
 
24 Pekahiah did evil in the eyes of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
 
25 One of his chief officers, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him. Taking fifty men of Gilead with him, he assassinated Pekahiah, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king.
 
26 The other events of Pekahiah's reign, and all he did, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.
 
27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years.
 
28 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.
 
29 In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria.
 
30 Then Hoshea son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked and assassinated him, and then succeeded him as king in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.
 
31 As for the other events of Pekah's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
 
32 In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign.
 
33 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother's name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok.
 
34 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done.
 
35 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the LORD.
 
36 As for the other events of Jotham's reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
 
37 (In those days the LORD began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.)
 
38 Jotham rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David, the city of his father. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.
 

Titus 1,

1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness-
 
2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,
 
3 and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
 
4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
 
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
 
6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
 
7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless-not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
 
8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
 
9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
 
10 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group.
 
11 They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach-and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
 
12 Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons."
 
13 This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith
 
14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.
 
15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
 
16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
 

Hosea 8,

1 "Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the LORD because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law.
 
2 Israel cries out to me, 'O our God, we acknowledge you!'
 
3 But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him.
 
4 They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.
 
5 Throw out your calf-idol, O Samaria! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity?
 
6 They are from Israel! This calf-a craftsman has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria.
 
7 "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.
 
8 Israel is swallowed up; now she is among the nations like a worthless thing.
 
9 For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has sold herself to lovers.
 
10 Although they have sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them together. They will begin to waste away under the oppression of the mighty king.
 
11 "Though Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning.
 
12 I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as something alien.
 
13 They offer sacrifices given to me and they eat the meat, but the LORD is not pleased with them. Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.
 
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has fortified many towns. But I will send fire upon their cities that will consume their fortresses."
 

Psalm 123, 124, 125

1 I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven.
 
2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.
 
3 Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt.
 
4 We have endured much ridicule from the proud, much contempt from the arrogant.
 

    
1 If the LORD had not been on our side-let Israel say-
 
2 if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us,
 
3 when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive;
 
4 the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us,
 
5 the raging waters would have swept us away.
 
6 Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
 
7 We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.
 
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
 

    
1 Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
 
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.
 
3 The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil.
 
4 Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart.
 
5 But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.