Thursday, 03 October

41.   Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? 42.   And the period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43.   Then Solomon rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

1.   And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. 2.   So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was still in Egypt, for he had fled from the presence of King Solomon and had been dwelling in Egypt), 3.   that they sent and called him. Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4.   "Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you." 5.   So he said to them, "Depart for three days, then come back to me." And the people departed. 6.   Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, "How do you advise me to answer these people?" 7.   And they spoke to him, saying, "If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever." 8.   But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. 9.   And he said to them, "What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?" 10.   Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’ ––thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! 11.   ‘And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!’" 12.   So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had directed, saying, "Come back to me the third day." 13.   Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him; 14.   and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!" 15.   So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from the LORD, that He might fulfill His word, which the LORD had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 16.   Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying: "What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David!" So Israel departed to their tents. 17.   But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah. 18.   Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. 19.   So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. 20.   Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. 21.   And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. 22.   But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23.   "Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, 24.   ‘Thus says the LORD: "You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me."’" Therefore they obeyed the word of the LORD, and turned back, according to the word of the LORD. 25.   Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. 26.   And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: 27.   "If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah." 28.   Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" 29.   And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30.   Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31.   He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi. 32.   Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. 33.   So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.

1.   Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, "Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand." 2.   And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle–ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar. 3.   Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; 4.   and the LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it." 5.   To the others He said in my hearing, "Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. 6.   "Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were before the temple. 7.   Then He said to them, "Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!" And they went out and killed in the city. 8.   So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone ; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?" 9.   Then He said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!’ 10.   "And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head." 11.   Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, "I have done as You commanded me."

1.   And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne. 2.   Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, "Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city." And he went in as I watched. 3.   Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court. 4.   Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’S glory. 5.   And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks. 6.   Then it happened, when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, "Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim," that he went in and stood beside the wheels. 7.   And the cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim to the fire that was among the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed with linen, who took it and went out. 8.   The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings. 9.   And when I looked, there were four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub and another wheel by each other cherub; the wheels appeared to have the color of a beryl stone. 10.   As for their appearance, all four looked alike––as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 11.   When they went, they went toward any of their four directions; they did not turn aside when they went, but followed in the direction the head was facing. They did not turn aside when they went. 12.   And their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels that the four had, were full of eyes all around. 13.   As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, "Wheel." 14.   Each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15.   And the cherubim were lifted up. This was the living creature I saw by the River Chebar. 16.   When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside them. 17.   When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when one was lifted up, the other lifted itself up, for the spirit of the living creature was in them. 18.   Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. 19.   And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’S house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. 20.   This is the living creature I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar, and I knew they were cherubim. 21.   Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 22.   And the likeness of their faces was the same as the faces which I had seen by the River Chebar, their appearance and their persons. They each went straight forward.

1.   For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2.   He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 3.   Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. 4.   And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was . 5.   So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You." 6.   As He also says in another place : "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek"; 7.   who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8.   though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9.   And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10.   called by God as High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek," 11.   of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12.   For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13.   For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14.   But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is , those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.