2 Kings 18, Philemon 1, Hosea 11, Psalm 132, 133, 134

2 Kings 18,

1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
 
2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.
 
3 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.
 
4 He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)
 
5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.
 
6 He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses.
 
7 And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
 
8 From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
 
9 In King Hezekiah's fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it.
 
10 At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah's sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel.
 
11 The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.
 
12 This happened because they had not obeyed the LORD their God, but had violated his covenant-all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.
 
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
 
14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me." The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
 
15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
 
16 At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
 
17 The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman's Field.
 
18 They called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.
 
19 The field commander said to them, "Tell Hezekiah: " 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours?
 
20 You say you have strategy and military strength-but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me?
 
21 Look now, you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces a man's hand and wounds him if he leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him.
 
22 And if you say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God"-isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem"?
 
23 " 'Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses-if you can put riders on them!
 
24 How can you repulse one officer of the least of my master's officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
 
25 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the LORD? The LORD himself toldme to march against this country and destroy it.' "
 
26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall."
 
27 But the commander replied, "Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the men sitting on the wall-who, like you, will have to eat their own filth and drink their own urine?"
 
28 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew: "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!
 
29 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand.
 
30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, 'The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'
 
31 "Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,
 
32 until I come and take you to a land like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death! "Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, 'The LORD will deliver us.'
 
33 Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
 
34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand?
 
35 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?"
 
36 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, "Do not answer him."
 
37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.
 

Philemon 1,

1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker,
 
2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home:
 
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,
 
5 because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.
 
6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
 
7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
 
8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do,
 
9 yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul-an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus-
 
10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains.
 
11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
 
12 I am sending him-who is my very heart-back to you.
 
13 I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel.
 
14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced.
 
15 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good-
 
16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.
 
17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.
 
18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.
 
19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back-not to mention that you owe me your very self.
 
20 I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.
 
21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
 
22 And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.
 
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings.
 
24 And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.
 
25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
 

Hosea 11,

1 "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
 
2 But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images.
 
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them.
 
4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.
 
5 "Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?
 
6 Swords will flash in their cities, will destroy the bars of their gates and put an end to their plans.
 
7 My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them.
 
8 "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.
 
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man-the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.
 
10 They will follow the LORD; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west.
 
11 They will come trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. I will settle them in their homes," declares the LORD.
 
12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One.
 

Psalm 132, 133, 134

1 O LORD, remember David and all the hardships he endured.
 
2 He swore an oath to the LORD and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
 
3 "I will not enter my house or go to my bed-
 
4 I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids,
 
5 till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob."
 
6 We heard it in Ephrathah, we came upon it in the fields of Jaar:
 
7 "Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool-
 
8 arise, O LORD, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.
 
9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your saints sing for joy."
 
10 For the sake of David your servant, do not reject your anointed one.
 
11 The LORD swore an oath to David, a sure oath that he will not revoke: "One of your own descendants I will place on your throne-
 
12 if your sons keep my covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever."
 
13 For the LORD has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling:
 
14 "his is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it-
 
15 I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food.
 
16 I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will ever sing for joy.
 
17 "Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one.
 
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown on his head will be resplendent."
 

    
1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
 
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.
 
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
 

    
1 Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD.
 
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD.
 
3 May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.