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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Emily: Welcome To Immerse: The
Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 300 and 45
Jotham was 25 years old
when he became King, and he
reigned in Jerusalem 16 years.
His mother was Jerusalem.
The daughter of Zadak Jotham did what
was pleasing in the Lord's sight.
He did everything his father Isaiah
had done except that Jotham did not
sin by entering the temple of the Lord.
But the people continued
in their corrupt ways.
Jotham rebuilt the upper gate
of the temple of the Lord.
He also did extensive rebuilding
on the wall at the hill of Al.
He built towns in the hill country
of Judah and constructed fortresses
and towers in the wooded areas.
Jotham went to war against the
Ammonites and conquered them
a over the next three years.
He received from them an annual tribute
of 7,500 pounds of silver, 50,000 bushels
of wheat, and 50,000 bushels of barley.
King Jotham became powerful
because he was careful to live
in obedience to the Lord his God.
The rest of the events of Johan's
reign, including all his wars and
other activities, are recorded in the
Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
He was 25 years old when he became King,
and he reigned in Jerusalem 16 years.
When Jotham died, he was
buried in the city of David.
And his son, Ahaz, became the next king.
Ahaz was 20 years old when he became King,
and he reigned in Jerusalem 16 years.
He did not do what was pleasing
in the sight of the Lord as
his ancestor David had done.
Instead, he followed the
example of the Kings of Israel.
He cast metal images
for the worship of Baal.
He offered sacrifices in the
valley of Ben Ham even sacrificing
his own sons in the fire.
In this way, he followed the detestable
practices of the pagan nations.
The Lord had driven from the
land ahead of the Israelites.
He offered sacrifices and burned
incense at the pagan shrines and on
the hills and under every green tree.
Because of all this, the Lord,
his God allowed the king of Aram
to defeat ahaz and to exile large
numbers of his people to Damascus.
The armies of the King of Israel
also defeated Ahaz and inflicted
many casualties on his army.
In a single day, pka son of Aya Israel's
king killed 120,000 of Judah's troops.
All of them experienced warriors
because they had abandoned the
Lord, the God of their ancestors.
Then Zaria, a warrior from Raam
killed Meia, the king's son, ASAM,
the king's palace commander, and
Elena, the King's second in command.
The armies of Israel captured 200,000
women and children from Judah and
seized tremendous amounts of plunder.
Which they took back to Samaria.
But a prophet of the Lord named
ODed was there in Samaria when
the army of Israel returned home.
He went out to meet them and said,
the Lord, the God of your ancestors
was angry with Judah and let you
defeat them, but you have gone too
far, killing them without mercy,
and all heaven is disturbed.
And now you are planning to make slaves
of these people from Judah and Jerusalem.
What about your own sins
against the Lord your God?
Listen to me and return these
prisoners you have taken for
they are your own relatives.
Watch out because now the Lord's fierce
anger has been turned against you.
Then some of the leaders of
Israel Asiah, son of GI Johannan
Bara, son of Michelle Lath.
Gee, his Kaia son of Shalom and a Mesa
son of Hadley agreed with this and
confronted the men returning from battle,
you must not bring the prisoners here.
They declared.
We cannot afford to add
to our sins and guilt.
Our guilt is already great,
and the Lord's fierce anger is
already turned against Israel.
So the Warriors released the prisoners
and handed over the plunder in the
sight of the leaders and all the people.
Then the four men just mentioned by
name came forward and distributed
clothes from the plunder to
the prisoners who were naked.
They provided clothing and sandals to
wear, gave them enough food and drink,
and dressed their wounds with olive oil.
They put those who were weak on donkeys
and took all the prisoners back to their
own people in Jericho, the city of Palms.
Then they returned to Samaria.
At that time, king aas of Judah
asked the king of Assyria for help.
The armies of Edam had again invaded
Judah and taken captives, and
the Philistines had raided towns
located in the foothills of Judah.
And in the Negev of Judah, they had
already captured and occupied Beth Lon
Ro Soko with its villages, Timnah with
its villages and gizo with its villages.
The Lord was humbling Judah because
of King Ahaz of Judah, for he had
encouraged his people to sin and had
been utterly unfaithful to the Lord.
So when King Tig Lath Pizzer of
Assyria arrived, he attacked Ahaz.
Instead of helping him, aas took
valuable items from the Lord's temple,
the Royal Palace, and from the homes
of his officials, and gave them
to the King of Assyria as tribute.
But this did not help him.
Even during this time of trouble, king
A has continued to reject the Lord.
He offered sacrifices to the gods
of Damascus who had defeated him
for, he said, since these Gods
helped the kings of Aram, they will
help me too if I sacrifice to them.
But instead, they led to His
ruin and the ruin of all Judah.
The king took the various
articles from the Temple of
God and broke them into pieces.
He shut the doors of the Lord's
temple so that no one could worship
there, and he set up altars to pagan
gods in every corner of Jerusalem.
He made pagan shrines in all
the towns of Judah for offering
sacrifices to other gods.
In this way, he aroused the anger of
the Lord, the God of his ancestors, the
rest of the events of Ajas reign and
everything he did from beginning to end.
Are recorded in the book of
the Kings of Judah and Israel.
When Ahaz died, he was buried in
Jerusalem, but not in the royal
cemetery of the kings of Judah.
Then his son, Hezekiah,
became the next king.
Hezekiah was 25 years old when
he became the king of Judah, and
he reigned in Jerusalem 29 years.
His mother was a Baja,
the daughter of Zechariah.
He did what was pleasing in the
Lord's sight just as his ancestor
David had done in the very first
month of the first year of his reign,
Hezekiah reopened the doors of the
temple of the Lord and repaired them.
He summoned the priests and levies to meet
him at the courtyard east of the temple.
He said to them, listen to me, you levies
purify yourselves and purify the temple
of the Lord, the God of your ancestors.
Remove all the defiled
things from the sanctuary.
Our ancestors were unfaithful and did what
was evil in the sight of the Lord our God.
They abandoned the Lord
and his dwelling place.
They turned their backs on him.
They also shut the doors to
the temple's entry room, and
they snuffed out the lamps.
They stopped burning incense and
presenting burnt offerings at the
sanctuary of the God of Israel.
That is why the Lord's anger has
fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem.
He has made them an object of
dread, horror, and ridicule as
you can see with your own eyes.
Because of this, our fathers have been
killed in battle, and our sons and
daughters and wives have been captured.
But now I will make a covenant with the
Lord, the God of Israel, so that his
fierce anger will turn away from us.
My sons do not neglect
your duties any longer.
The Lord has chosen you to stand in
his presence, to minister to him,
and to lead the people in worship
and present offerings to him.
Then these Levites got right to
work from the Klan of Coha May
hath son of Amasai and Joel's son
of Azariah from the clan of Marai.
Kish, son of Abdi and Azariah, son
of Jaha from the clan of Gershen.
Joah, son of Zimmer and Eden, son of Joah
from the family of Eliza fan Shiri and
Ja from the family of ASAP Zechariah and
Maiah from the family of Heman, Jeha,
and Shiai from the family of Judean.
Shama and Zeel.
These men called together their fellow
Levites, and they all purified themselves.
Then they began to cleanse the temple of
the Lord just as the king had commanded.
They were careful to follow all the
lord's in instructions in their work.
The priests went into the sanctuary of
the temple of the Lord to cleanse it, and
they took out to the temple courtyard,
all the defiled things they found.
From there, the Levites carted
it all out to the Kidron Valley.
They began the work in early spring,
on the first day of the new year,
and in eight days they had reached
the entry room of the Lord's temple.
Then they purified the temple of the Lord,
it itself, which took another eight days.
So the entire task was
completed in 16 days.
Then the Levites went to King
Hezekiah and gave him this report.
We have cleansed the entire temple of the
Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all
its utensils and the table of the bread
of the presence with all its utensils.
We have also recovered all the items
discarded by King aas when he was
unfaithful and closed the temple.
They are now in front of the altar
of the Lord, purified and ready
for use early the next morning.
King Hezekiah gathered the city officials
and went to the temple of the Lord.
They brought seven bowls, seven
rams, and seven male lambs as a burnt
offering together with seven male goats
as a sin offering for the kingdom,
for the temple, and for Judah, the
king commanded the priests who were
descendants of Aaron to sacrifice
the animals on the altar of the Lord.
So they killed the bulls and
the priest took the blood and
sprinkled it on the altar.
Next, they killed the rams and sprinkled
their blood on the altar, and finally
they did the same with the male lambs.
The male goats for the sin offering
were then brought before the
king and the assembly of people
who laid their hands on them.
The priests then killed the goats
as a sin offering and sprinkled
their blood on the altar to make
atonement for the sins of all Israel.
The king had specifically commanded
that this burned offering and
sin offering should be made
for all Israel King has aah.
Then stationed the Levites at
the temple of the Lord with
symbols, liars, and harps.
He obeyed all the commands that the Lord
had given to King David through Gad,
the king's seer, and the prophet Nathan.
The Levites then took their positions
around the temple with the instruments
of David and the priests took
their positions with the trumpets.
Then Hezekiah ordered that the burnt
offering be placed on the altar as
the burnt offering was presented.
Songs of praise to the Lord were
begun, accompanied by the trumpets and
other instruments of David, the former
King of Israel, the entire assembly
worshiped the Lord as the singers
sang and the trumpets blew until all
the burnt offerings were finished.
Then the king and everyone with him
bowed down in worship, king Hezekiah
and the officials ordered the Levites
to praise the Lord with the Psalms
written by David and by Asaf, the Sr.
So they offered joyous praise
and bowed down in worship.
Then Hezekiah declared, now that you
have consecrated yourselves to the Lord,
bring your sacrifices and thanksgiving
offerings to the temple of the Lord.
So the people brought their sacrifices
and Thanksgiving offerings and
all whose hearts were willing,
brought burnt offerings to.
The people brought to the Lord
70 bowls, 100 rams and 200
male lambs for burnt offerings.
They also brought 600 cattle and 3000
sheep and goats as sacred offerings,
but there were two few priests to
prepare all the burnt offerings, so
their relatives, the Levites helped
them until the work was finished
and more priests had been purified.
For the Levites had been more
conscientious about purifying
themselves than the priests had been.
There was an abundance of burnt
offerings along with the usual
liquid offerings and a great deal of
fat from the many peace offerings.
So the temple of the Lord was restored
to service, and Hezekiah and all the
people rejoiced because of what God
had done for the people, for everything
had been accomplished so quickly.