Day 128 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

2 Chronicles 12

1 And it came to pass when the kingdom of Roboam was established, and when he had grown strong, [that] he forsook the commandments of the Lord, and all Israel with him. 2 And it came to pass in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Susakim king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had sinned against the Lord, 3 with twelve hundred chariots, and sixty thousand horse: and there was no number of the multitude that came with him from Egypt; Libyans, Trogodytes, and Ethiopians. 4 And they obtained possession of the strong cities, which were in Juda, and came to Jerusalem. 5 And Samaias the prophet came to Roboam, and to the princes of Juda that were gathered to Jerusalem for fear of Susakim, and said to them, Thus said the Lord, Ye have left me, and I will leave you in the hand of Susakim. 6 And the elders of Israel and the king were ashamed, and said, The Lord [is] righteous. 7 And when the Lord saw that they repented, then came the word of the Lord to Samaias, saying, They have repented; I will not destroy them, but I will set them in safety for a little while, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem. 8 Nevertheless they shall be servants, and know my service, and the service of the kings of the earth. 9 So Susakim king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures that were in the house of the Lord, and the treasures that were in the king's house: he took all; and he took the golden shields which Solomon had made. 10 And king Roboam made brazen shields instead of them. And Susakim set over him captains of footmen, as keepers of the gate of the king. 11 And it came to pass, when the king went into the house of the Lord, the guards and the footmen went in, and they that returned to meet the footmen. 12 And when he repented, the anger of the Lord turned from him, and did not destroy him utterly; for there were good things in Juda. 13 So king Roboam strengthened [himself] in Jerusalem, and reigned: and Roboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, in the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of the children of Israel to call his name there: and his mother's name was Noomma the Ammanitess. 14 And he did evil, for he directed not his heart to seek the Lord. 15 And the acts of Roboam, the first and the last, behold, are they not written in the book of Samaia the prophet, and Addo the seer, with his achievements. 16 And Roboam made war with Jeroboam all [his] days. And Roboam died with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abia his son reigned in his stead.

2 Chronicles 13

1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam Abia began to reign over Juda. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name [was] Maacha, daughter of Uriel of Gabaon. And there was war between Abia and Jeroboam. 3 And Abia set the battle in array with an army, with mighty men of war, [even] four hundred thousand mighty men: and Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand, [they were] mighty warriors of the host. 4 And Abia rose up from the mount Somoron, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear ye, Jeroboam, and all Israel: 5 [Is it] not for you to know that the Lord God of Israel has given a king over Israel for ever to David, and to his sons, by a covenant of salt? 6 But Jeroboam the [son] of Nabat, the servant of Solomon [the son] of David, is risen up, and has revolted from his master: 7 and there are gathered to him pestilent men, transgressors, and he has risen up against Roboam the [son] of Solomon, while Roboam was young and fearful in heart, and he withstood him not. 8 And now ye profess to resist the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye [are] a great multitude, and with you are golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 Did ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make to yourselves priests of the people of any [other] land? whoever came to consecrate himself with a calf of the herd and seven rams, he forthwith became a priest to that which is no god. 10 But we have not forsaken the Lord our God, and his priests, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, minister to the Lord; and in their daily courses 11 they sacrifice to the Lord whole-burnt-offering, morning and evening, and compound incense, and [set] the shewbread on the pure table; and [there is] the golden candlestick, and the lamps for burning, to light in the evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord God of our fathers; but ye have forsaken him. 12 And, behold, the Lord and his priests are with us at our head, and the signal trumpets to sound an alarm over us. Children of Israel, fight not against the Lord God of our fathers; for ye shall not prosper. 13 Now Jeroboam had caused an ambush to come round upon him from behind: and he [himself] was before Juda, and the ambush behind. 14 And Juda looked back, and, behold, the battle [was] against them before and behind: and they cried to the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. 15 And the men of Juda shouted: and it came to pass, when the men of Juda shouted, that the Lord smote Jeroboam and Israel before Abia and Juda. 16 And the children of Israel fled from before Juda; and the Lord delivered them into their hands. 17 And Abia and his people smote them with a great slaughter: and there fell slain of Israel five hundred thousand mighty men. 18 So the children of Israel were brought low in that day, and the children of Juda prevailed, because they trusted on the Lord God of their fathers. 19 And Abia pursued after Jeroboam, and he took from him the cities, Bæthel and her towns, and Jesyna and her towns, and Ephron and her towns. 20 And Jeroboam did not recover strength again all the days of Abia: and the Lord smote him, and he died. 21 But Abia strengthened himself, and took to himself fourteen wives, and he begot twenty-two sons, and sixteen daughters. 22 And the rest of the acts of Abia, and his deeds, and his sayings, are written in the book of the prophet Addo. 23 And Abia died with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In the days of Asa the land of Juda had rest ten years.

2 Chronicles 14

1 And he did that which was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God. 2 And he removed the altars of the strange [gods], and the high places, and broke the pillars in pieces, and cut down the groves: 3 and he told Juda to seek earnestly the Lord God of their fathers, and to perform the law and the commandments. 4 And he removed from all the cities of Juda the altars and the idols, and established in quietness 5 fortified cities in the land of Juda; for the land was quiet, and he had no war in these years; for the Lord gave him rest. 6 And he said to Juda, Let us fortify these cities, and make walls, and towers, and gates, and bars: we shall prevail over the land, for as we have sought out the Lord our God, he has sought out us, and has given us rest round about, and prospered us. 7 And Asa had a force of armed men bearing shields and spears in the land of Juda, [even] three hundred thousand, and in the land of Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand targeteers and archers: all these were mighty warriors. 8 And Zare the Ethiopian went out against them, with a force of a million, and three hundred chariots; and came to Maresa. 9 And Asa went out to meet him, and set the battle in array in the valley north of Maresa. 10 And Asa cried to the Lord his God, and said, O Lord, it is not impossible with thee to save by many or by few: strengthen us, O Lord our God; for we trust in thee, and in thy name have we come against this great multitude. O Lord our God, let not man prevail against thee. 11 And the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Juda; and the Ethiopians fled. 12 And Asa and his people pursued them to Gedor; and the Ethiopians fell, so that they could not recover themselves; for they were crushed before the Lord, and before his host; and they took many spoils. 13 And they destroyed their towns round about Gedor; for a terror of the Lord was upon them: and they spoiled all their cities, for they had much spoil. 14 Also they destroyed the tents of cattle, and the Alimazons, and took many sheep and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.

Acts 3

1 Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 A certain man who was lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they laid daily at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask gifts for the needy of those who entered into the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive gifts for the needy. 4 Peter, fastening his eyes on him, with John, said, “Look at us.” 5 He listened to them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” 7 He took him by the right hand and raised him up. Immediately his feet and his ankle bones received strength. 8 Leaping up, he stood and began to walk. He entered with them into the temple, walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 All the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 They recognized him, that it was he who used to sit begging for gifts for the needy at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. They were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 As the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. 12 When Peter saw it, he responded to the people, “You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses. 16 By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 17 “Now, brothers, I know that you did this in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But the things which God announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that he may send Christ Jesus, who was ordained for you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets. 22 For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you. 23 It will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, also told of these days. 25 You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘All the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.”