Summary of the kings of Judah and Israel

Division as a conseqence of the sin of Solomon

Jun 30, 2023

Note for this document: the kings of Judah are in bold, and the kings of Israel are in bold italics.

The divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel, as recounted in 1 & 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, were the consequence of the sin of King Solomon, son of King David. Solomon “loved many foreign women” and “when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods….Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD had commanded.” Among three adversaries the Lord raised up against Solomon for his sin was Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite and Solomon’s servant. Ahijah the prophet spoke the word of the LORD to Jeroboam, “Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes (but he will have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel)….Thus I will afflict the descendants of David for this, but not always.”

Israel is divided, as promised by God as a consequence for the sins of Solomon, under the rule of King Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. Judah, Benjamin, and the Levites (and all those faithful to the God of Jerusalem) form the kingdom of Judah, seated in Jerusalem. The other ten tribes form the northern kingdom of Israel, initially under King Jeroboam, who establishes worship to golden calves in Bethel and Dan, so that the people of this kingdom are dissuaded from worship in Jerusalem and a potential return to the kingdom of Judah. Judah’s kings, influenced by the legacy of faithful David, vary between good and evil, until Judah is exiled to Babylon and Jerusalem is burned, under the reign of Zedekiah, for the idolatrous sin of Manasseh. Israel’s kings, influenced by the legacy of rebellious Jeroboam, go from bad to worse, until the kingdom of Israel is exiled to Assyria as a consequence for their idolatrous sin, under the reign of their last King Hoshea and during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah.

The books of the Kings covers both kingdoms, while the Chronicles tend to focus on the kingdom of Judah.

The events of this era end up covering 1 Kings 12 through the end of 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles 10 through the end of 2 Chronicles, and Obadiah, Jonah, Isaiah (who spoke during the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah), Amos, Micah, Hosea, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Jeremiah (who spoke starting during the reign of Josiah until after Judah was exiled to Babylon, Jerusalem was destroyed, and a disobedient remnant went to Egypt), Habakkuk, and Lamentations.

Summary of the kings of Judah and Israel:

Judah, including Benjamin and the Levites (and all those faithful to the God of Jerusalem):

Rehoboam, son of Solomon, 41 y.o., 17 years (Day 174 & Day 175): divided kingdom, forsook the law of the Lord and lost all the kingdom treasure to Egypt
Abijam (aka Abijah), 3 years (Day 176): walked in the sins of his father, but came to trust God who allowed him to conquer, and weaken, Israel in war with Jeroboam
Asa, 41 years (Day 176): did what was right in the sight of the Lord, like David, but failed at the end of his life, making a treaty with Ben-hadad, king of Aram, in Damascus (Ben-hadad was the son of Hadad, one of the enemies of Solomon)
Jehoshaphat, 35 y.o., 25 years (Day 177, Day 180, Day 181, Day 183): followed the example of David’s earlier days, but then aligned himself by marriage with the house of Ahab; went into battle with Ahab against the Arameans (Ahab died); sent priests, Levities, and officials to teach the law of the Lord in the cities of Judah, bringing them back to the Lord; showed great faith, calling all Judah to seek the Lord, when Moab and Ammon made war with him, with the Lord rewarding him with peace; but then did wickedly by aligning himself with Ahaziah, son of Ahab; shared end of his rule with his son Jehoram
Jehoram, 32 y.o., 8 years (Day 181, Day 183, Day 184): married Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, walked in the evil ways of the kings of Israel, killed all his brothers; Edom, Libnah, the Philistines, and the Arabs all rebelled against him, and his sons and his wives were carried off; died due to a bowel disease as prophesied by Elijah
Ahaziah, 22 y.o., 1 year (Day 181, Day 184, Day 185): killed with Jehoram (Joram) king of Israel by Jehu, a captain of the army of Israel anointed as king by Elisha
Athaliah, mother of Ahaziah, daughter of Ahab, 6 years, (Day 181, Day 185): when Ahaziah was killed, she killed all of Ahaziah’s offspring, but her daughter Jehoshabeath (Jehosheba), sister of Ahaziah, who was married to Jehoiada the priest, saved her nephew Joash; killed when Jehoida the priest entered into a covenant with the captains of hundreds, the Levites, and the heads of fathers’ households to restore a son of David as king, as the Lord had spoken
Joash (Jehoash), 7 y.o., 40 years, (Day 181, Day 185, Day 186): restored as king after the reign of his grandmother Athaliah by Jehoiada the priest when he was seven years old; Athaliah was the last of the house of Ahab to die, the rest having been killed by Jehu, who was anointed by Elisha to fulfill the word of the Lord through the prophet Elijah regarding the destruction of the house of Ahab; did right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoida the priest, restoring the house of the Lord that had been destroyed by the sons of Athalia for the worship of Baal; abandoned the Lord after Jehoida died, even killing Jehoida’s son Zechariah, who prophesied against him and the officials of Judah, in the house of the Lord; sent tribute of the treasury of the house of the Lord to Hazael, king of Aram; was conspired against and killed by his servants
Amaziah, 25 y.o., 29 years (Day 186, Day 187): killed the servants who had conspired against and killed his father; did right in the sight of the Lord, “yet not with a whole heart”; the Lord helped him defeat the Edomites but then he brought back their gods to worship, so the Lord incited him to challenge and be defeated by Jehoash, king of Israel; was later conspired against and killed in Lachish
Azariah (Uzziah), 16 y.o., 52 years (Day 187, Day 189): sought the Lord and the Lord prospered him; he had great military might and widespread fame, but then became proud and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense; Azariah the priest, and 80 other priests opposed him, but he was enraged and leprosy broke out on his forehead; he lived separately as a leper until the day of his death and his son Jotham judged the people while he was still alive
Jotham, 25 y.o., 16 years (Day 189, Day 194): “became mighty because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God”; conquered the Ammonites
Ahaz, 20 y.o., 16 years (Day 189, Day 194, Day 196): walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, worshiped Baal, burned his sons in the fire, and sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, even putting a copy of their altar in the house of the Lord; delivered into the hand of the king of Aram and Pekah the king of Israel; also suffered defeats from Edom and the Philistines
Hezekiah, 25 y.o., 29 years (Day 196, Day 200, Day 205, Day 206, Day 209, Day 214, Day 215): unique among the kings of Judah in that he followed the Lord and kept the commandments He had given through Moses; cleansed the temple and re-established worship in the first month of his reign; called the nation, including Israel, to celebrate Passover in the second month of his reign; demonstrated great courage and faith when Judah came under the siege of the king of Assyria; defeated the Philistines; became ill at the end of his life but prayed and the Lord spared him 15 years; he was foolish and prideful in showing all his treasure to messengers sent by the king of Babylon, so Isaiah revealed that Judah would be exiled to Babylon, but Hezekiah was selfishly pleased it would not happen in his day
Manasseh, 12 y.o., 55 years (Day 214, Day 215): “seduced [His people] to do evil more than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel”: rebuilt high places, erected altars for Baal, made a carved image of Asherah and put it in the house of the Lord, made his sons pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft, used divination, dealt with mediums and spiritists, shed innocent blood; the Lord sent the prophets to warn that He was bringing calamity on Jerusalem and Judah as a result, but they were ignored so the Lord sent the army of the king of Assyria to capture Manasseh and take him to Babylon; he humbled himself before God, who then allowed him to return to Jerusalem; he then abolished idol worship and restored worship of the Lord in Jerusalem
Amon, 22 y.o., 2 years, (Day 214, Day 215): did evil in the sight of the LORD just as his father had done; his servants conspired against him and killed him
Josiah, 8 y.o., 31 years (Day 214, Day 215, Day 217): made king in place of his father when the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against his father; did right in the sight of the Lord; humbled himself and received mercy before the Lord when he tore his clothes in response to hearing the word of the Lord and recognizing the disobedience of God’s people; he fulfilled the word of the Lord (1 Kings 13, Day 174) by tearing down the altar that Jeroboam the son of Nebat had established in Bethel; “Before him there was no king like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him”; killed by Pharoah Neco
Jehoahaz (Shallum), 23 y.o., 3 months (Day 217, Day 231): son of Josiah; did evil in the sight of the Lord; taken by Pharoah Neco to Eygypt where he died; replaced by brother Eliakim renamed Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim, 25 y.o., 11 years (Day 217, Day 231): son of Josiah; did evil in the sight of the Lord; served Pharoah Neco until King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to power in the fourth year of his reign, defeating Egypt; Jehoiakim served Nebuchadnezzar three years and then rebelled against him
Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah), 18 y.o., 3 months (Day 231, Day 236): grandson of Josiah, son of Jehoiakim; surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar and was taken, with ten thousand captives, to Babylon; replaced by his uncle Mattaniah renamed Zedekiah; released in the 37th year of his exile by King Evil-merodach; fathered Shealtiel who fathered Zerubbabel, to preserve the line of the king of David through to Jesus the Messiah (Matthew 1:12)
Zedekiah (Mattaniah), 21 y.o., 11 years (Day 231, Day 236): third son of Josiah who reigned; placed in power by Nebuchadnezzar but eventually rebelled against him, resulting in siege of Jerusalem; escaped to be captured, have his sons killed, have his eyes put out, and be taken to Babylon, with all but the poorest of the land, where he died as a prisoner; after his capture, Jerusalem, the temple, and the king’s house were burned with fire

Israel, remainder of ten tribes:

Jeroboam, son of Nebat of the house of Ephraim, 22 years (Day 174, Day 175, & Day 176): erected golden calves for worship in Bethel and Dan
Nadab, son of Jeroboam, 2 years (Day 177): killed with the entire household of Jeroboam, as prophesied by Ahijah, by Baasha
Baasha, son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar, 24 years (Day 177): killed Nadab and the house of Jeroboam, but walked in the sin of Jeroboam
Elah, son of Baasha, 2 years (Day 177): killed with the entire household of Baasha, as prophesied by Jehu, by his chariot commander Zimri
Zimri, 7 days (Day 177): killed Elah and the house of Baasha, but killed himself after Israel made Omri, commander of the army, king
Omri, 12 years (Day 177): built the city of Samaria
Ahab, son of Omri, 22 years (Day 177, Day 178, Day 179, & Day 180): married Jezebel, and established the worship of Baal in Samaria; challenged by the prophet Elijah; defeated Aram twice by the Lord’s hand but sinned by sparing King Ben-hadad; stole Nabaoth’s vineyard after killing him; Elijah prophesied his household would be like that of Jeroboam and Baasha, but he humbled himself so the Lord proclaimed the consequence would come upon his son’s house; died in battle with Aram, defying his covenant with Ben-hadad
Ahaziah, son of Ahab, 2 years (Day 180, Day 183): walked in the sin of Jeroboam, Ahab, and Jezebel, worshipping Baal; died after a fall, according the word of the Lord through Elijah
Jehoram (aka Joram), also a son of Ahab, reigned when Ahaziah died because Ahaziah had no sons, 12 years (Day 181, Day 183, Day 184, Day 185): he did put away the sacred pillar of Baal Ahab had made, but he was killed with the whole house of Ahab by Jehu
Jehu, a captain of the army of Israel, anointed as king by Elisha, 28 years (Day 185, Day 186): fulfilled the word of the Lord through Elijah regarding the destruction of the entire household of Ahab, and eradicated Baal out of Israel
Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, 17 years (Day 185, Day 186): continued to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, with worship of the golden calves in Bethel and Dan, but entreated the Lord for His favor because of the oppression of Hazael, king of Aram, and the Lord gave Israel a deliverer
Jehoash (Joash), 16 years (Day 186, Day 187): also walked in the sins of Jeroboam, even naming his son Jeroboam; he defeated Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, when he was incited to fight against him; struck Aram, under King Ben-hadad, the son of Hazael, three times according to the word of Elisha
Jeroboam, 41 years (Day 186, Day 187): continued to walk in the sins of the first Jeroboam, son of Nebat; restored the border of Israel according to the word of the Lord through the prophet Jonah
Zechariah, 6 months (Day 187, Day 189): did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam; killed by Shallum: “This is the word of the LORD which He spoke to Jehu, saying, ‘Your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.’ And so it was.”
Shallum, 1 month (Day 189): fulfilled the word of the Lord spoken to Jehu by killing Zechariah, but then was killed by Menaham
Menaham, 10 years (Day 189): did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam; Pul, king of Assyria, came against him during his rule but he exacted silver tribute from Israel so that Pul returned to his land
Pekahiah, son of Menaham, 2 years (Day 189): did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam; conspired against and killed by his officer Pekah
Pekah, son of Remaliah, 22 years (Day 189): did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam ; under his rule, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured all the land of Naphtali and carried them captive to Assyria; came against Judah with Rezin king of Aram; conspired against and killed by Hoshea
Hoshea, 9 years (Day 189, Day 196, Day 200, Day 209): Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him and he paid him tribute until he conspired against him, seeking help from So king of Egypt; the king of Assyria then besieged Samaria for 3 years before carrying Israel into exile
exile to Assyria (Day 209)

Contemporaneous reign of each kingdom:

Rehoboam (Judah), lost ten tribes to Jeroboam (Israel) & was survived by Abijam (aka Abijah) in 18th year of Jeroboam and then by Asa in the 20th year of Jeroboam (Day 174, Day 175, Day 176)
in the 2nd year of Asa, king of Judah, Nadab, son of Jeroboam, became king of Israel for 2 years when he was killed by Baasha, who reigned 24 years before his death, being succeeded by his son Elah, who reigned for 2 years before being killed by Zimri, who reigned for 7 days before killing himself when Israel made Omri king, who was succeeded by his son Ahab (Day 177, Day 178, Day 179)
Jehoshaphat became king of Judah in the 4th year of Ahab, king of Israel [Jehoshaphat made peace with Ahab: his son Jehoram married Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, who killed Jehoram’s offspring, her own grandchildren, and stole rule over the kingdom of Judah until she was killed], who was succeeded by his son Ahaziah in the 17th year of Jehoshaphat and then by his other son Jehoram (Joram) in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat, which were the 1st and 2nd years of the reign of Jehoram because they reigned jointly (Day 177, Day 180, Day 181, Day 183, Day 184)
Ahaziah, son of Jehoram and Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, became king during the 12th year of the reign of Jehoram (Joram); they went to battle together against Hazael, king of Aram, and they were killed together by Jehu (Day 181, Day 184, Day 185)
Athaliah killed Ahaziah’s offspring when he was killed by Jehu and then ruled over Judah until she was killed when Jehoida the priest made a covenant with Judah to restore Joash, a son of David, as king, in the 7th year of the reign of Jehu (Day 181, Day 185, Day 186)
Joash became king in the 7th year of the reign of Jehu, who was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz in the 23rd year of the reign of Joash, who was then succeeded by his son Jehoash (also Joash) in the 37th year of the reign of Joash (Day 186)
Amaziah became king in the 2nd year of the reign of Jehoash (also Joash), who was succeeded by his son Jeroboam in the 15th year of the reign of Amaziah (Day 187)
Azariah (Uzziah) became king in the 27th year of the reign of Jeroboam, who was succeeded by his son Zechariah, in the 37th year of Azariah (Uzziah), who was then killed 6 months later by Shallum, who was killed 1 month later by Menahem, who was succeeded by his son Pekahiah, in the 50th year of Azariah, who was killed by Pekah son of Remaliah (Day 189)
Jotham began reigning when his father Uzziah became a leper but he became king in the 2nd year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah (Day 189, Day 194)
Ahaz became king in the 17th year of Pekah son of Remaliah, who was killed and succeeded by Hoshea in the 12th year of the reign of Ahaz (Day 194, Day 196)
Hezekiah became king in the 3rd year of Hoshea, the last king of Israel, under whom the nation was exiled to Assyria (Day 200, Day 209)

Events in the era of the kings of Judah and Israel (because our chronological reading timeline has us going back and forth between Kings and Chronicles, the actual timeline of events can be quite confusing to tease out):

Solomon’s son Rehoboam fails to listen to the advice of the elders, but listens to the advice of the young men he grew up with to answer the people harshly regarding his rule, so Israel makes Jeroboam son of Nebat king over the ten tribes of Israel, fulfilling the word of the Lord to Ahijah the prophet (Day 174)
Jeroboam sets up two golden calves, one in Bethel and one in Dan, to be worshiped, to prevent Israel from going to worship in Jerusalem and potentially returning their loyalty to Judah, causing the Lord to declare by Ahijah the prophet that He would cut off every male from the house of Jeroboam (Day 174)
the priests, the Levites, and those “from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD God of Israel followed [Rehoboam] to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers,” and “they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years” and then forsook the law of the Lord, so He sent Shemaiah the prophet to declare that He had forsaken them to Shishak king of Egypt, but Rehoboam and the princes of Judah humbled themselves, so He granted them some measure of deliverance, instead making them slaves to Shishak so they would learn the difference between serving God and serving other countries (Day 175)
Rehoboam’s son Abijam walked in the sins of his father, but He did seek and trust in the Lord when Jeroboam and all Israel came against him, prevailing against and weakening Israel and Jeroboam (Day 176)
Abijam’s son Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord, even showing great faith when under attack by a foreign enemy and great courage in abolishing idol worship in Judah, but failed at the end of his life when he made a treaty with Ben-hadad, king of Aram, son of Hadad, an enemy of Solomon (Day 176)
Jeroboam’s son Nadab walked in the sins of his father, but he and the entire household of Jeroboam were killed by Baasha, as prophesied by Ahijah for the sins of Jeroboam (Day 177)
Baasha walked in the sins of Jeroboam, so Jehu prophesied that his entire household would be killed just as the household of Jeroboam (Day 177)
Baasha’s son Elah was killed with the entire household of Baasha, as prophesied by Jehu, by his chariot commander Zimri (Day 177)
Zimri only reigned 7 days and killed himself when Israel chose Omri, commander of the army, as king (Day 177)
Omri built the city of Samaria (Day 177)
Ahab, son of Omri, established the worship of Baal in Samaria (Day 177)
In the days of Ahab, “Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun” (Day 177)
Elijah prophesied to Ahab rain in Israel only by his word and was provided for by the Lord, first by ravens and then by a widow whose son he raised from the dead, during 3 years of drought, when he finally appeared to Ahab and challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel; the drought ended after the prophets of Baal were killed, but Ahab’s wife Jezebel threatened Elijah, so he ran in fear of his life, with the Lord ultimately telling him, “you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him” (Day 178)
The Lord delivered the Arameans into the hand of Ahab twice so that he would know that He was the Lord, but Ahab sinned by making a covenant with King Ben-hadad, allowing him to go free; Jezebel then sinned by falsely accusing Naboth the Jezreelite, having him stoned so Ahab could take possession of his vineyard; the Lord pronounced through Elijah the death of Jezebel and that Ahab’s house would be destroyed just like the houses of Jeroboam and Baasha; Ahab did humble himself so the Lord pronounced the evil would happen in his son’s day (Day 179)
Jehoshaphat aligned himself with the house of Ahab through a marriage alliance; he visited Ahab, who convinced him to join him in battle against the Arameans; the Lord put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of Ahab’s prophets so that he would be encouraged to go into battle for his destruction; though he disguised himself, Ahab was hit by an arrow in battle and died, “and the dogs licked up his blood…according to the word of the LORD which He spoke” (Day 180)
Jehoshaphat showed great faith when Moab and Ammon came against him in war, calling Judah to fast, seek the Lord, and pray; the Lord granted him victory and peace on all sides, but then he acted wickedly by aligning himself with Ahab’s son Ahaziah [Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram was married to Ahab’s daughter Athaliah; Jehoshaphat and Jehoram co-reigned for a period of time before Jehoshaphat died] (Day 181)
Ahaziah “ fell through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill.” He sent messengers to “Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron” about whether he would recover, but the Lord sent word by Elijah that he would die because he had not sought Him, and he did. Since he had not son, his brother Jehoram (Joram) because king in his place (Day 183)
Elijah was taken up by the Lord to heaven in a whirlwind, and his spirit rested on Elisha, as spoken by the Lord in 1 Kings 19:15-18 (Day 178); proof of this was his ability to divide the waters of the Jordan, purify a source of drinking water, and have 42 lads who mocked him killed by two bears when he cursed them in the name of the Lord (Day 183)
after Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against the kingdom of Israel, so Jehoram king of Israel went to war against Moab with Jehoshaphat king of Judah and with the king of Moab; when they went a seven days’ journey and there was no water for the army or cattle, they went to see Elisha, who only spoke to them because Jehoshaphat was present; he told them to make the valley full of trenches and that they would prevail against Moab; the Lord filled the trenches with water, but the Moabites believed it was blood from the three kings fighting, so they advanced to take spoil and were slaughtered (Day 183)
Elisha displayed more miracles: a prophet’s widow appealed to him because of creditors who threatened to take her sons, and he told her to fill vessels with seemingly limitless oil that she was able to sell to pay her date; she ensured that a childless Shunammite woman who had blessed him with lodging and food had a son, but that son died and he was able to bring him back to life; he was able to “un-poison” a poisonous stew; and he was able to multiply food so that over 100 could eat, with food left over (Day 183)
Naaman, captain of the army of Ben-hadad, king of Aram, was a leper and his captured servant girl from Israel suggested to his wife that Elisha could cure his leprosy, so Ben-hadad sent him with letters to Jehoram, king of Israel; the king despaired but Elisha heard of it and sent word to the king that Naaman should come to him; he told him to wash in the Jordan seven times; Naaman initially scoffed, but his servants convinced him to try it; when he was healed, he pronounced, “Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel….your servant will no longer offer burnt offering nor will he sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD”; when Elisha refused a gift, his servant Gehazi ran after him, lying both to Naaman and Elisha in order to obtain this gift, resulting in Elisha declaring, “the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever” (Day 184)
Elisha moved with the sons of the prophets near the Jordan; one of them was building with a borrowed axe and its head fell into the Jordan; Elisha recovered it by making it float (Day 184)
Elisha knew the troop movements of Ben-hadad, king of Aram, so he informed Jehoram, king of Israel; an enraged Ben-hadad surrounded with horses and chariots the city of Dothan, where Elisha stayed; Elisha told his servant, “‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’…And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” Elisha prayed the attackers would be struck with blindness and then led them to Jehoram, who he counseled to feed them and send them away, so they did not come back (Day 184)
Ben-hadad, king of Aram, beseiged Samaria after this, so Jehoram, king of Israel, wanted to kill Elisha; those with Elisha held the door against the king’s messenger while Elisha pronounced that the famine in Samaria would end the next day; the Lord caused the army of the Arameans to hear a sound of chariots and horses, so they fled in fear; four leprous men found their abandoned camp, shared the good news in Samaria, and the people of Samaria were able to plunder the camp of the Arameans; the messenger of the king who had not believed Elisha was trampled at the gate and died, according to the word of Elisha (Day 184)
Elisha had told the Shunammite woman whose son he had raised from the dead to sojourn in the land of the Philistines for seven years due to the famine; she returned to appeal to Jehoram, king of Israel, just when he was asking Elisha’s servant Gehazi to recount all his miracles, so when she confirmed her story the king ordered her house, field, and all the produce it had produced in her absence returned to her (Day 184)
Elisha went to Damascus; Ben-hadad, king of Aram, was sick and sent Hazael to inquire of Elisha whether he would live; Elisha wept when he saw a vision of all the evil Hazael would do to Israel when the Lord showed him Hazael would be king over Aram, as He told Elijah in 1 Kings 19:15-18 (Day 178); Hazael went back and suffocated Ben-haded, and became king of Aram in his place (Day 184)
when Jehoshaphat died, his son Jehoram, who was married to Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, killed all his brothers; he also restored the high places and led Judah astray; he went out with his brother-in-law Jehoram (Joram), king of Israel, and the king of Edom, against Moab, and God miraculously intervened; Edom and Libnah eventually revolted against him, and the Philistines and the Arabs came against him, carrying off his wives and sons; he died of a bowel disease, according to the word of the Lord through the prophet Elijah, and no one mourned his death (Day 181, Day 183, Day 184)
Obadiah pronounced the Lord’s judgment on Edom, descendants of Esau, for their revolt against the rule of Judah, during the reign of Jehoram, which was basically a revolt against Him, who had given them (and all peoples related to Abraham) protection when His people traveled from Egypt and settled in the Promised Land of Israel; Edom had also witnessed the Lord’s miracles when they fought with the kings of Judah and Israel, against Moab (Day 182, Day 183, Day 184)
when Jehoram died, his youngest and only surviving son Ahaziah, son of Ahab’s daughter Athaliah, became king in his place; he went with Ahab’s son Jehoram (Joram), his uncle, to war against King Hazael and the Arameans; Joram was wounded and became ill (Day 181, Day 184, Day 185)
Elisha sent a “son of the prophets” to Ramoth-Gilead, where the army of Israel was engaged in battle with the Arameans, and anointed Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi as king of Israel, telling him he would fulfill the word of the Lord regarding the destruction of the house of Ahab, like the houses of Jeroboam and Baasha, and Jezebel (Day 185)
Jehu went to Jezreel where Joram was because he was ill and Ahaziah was visiting him; the kings rode out to meet him in their chariots and both were shot by arrows and subsequently died (Day 185)
Jehu went to the property that Jezebel had Naboth killed to acquire and some of her officials supported him in throwing her out the window and he trampled her under his horse’s feet, ultimately fulfilling the “word of the LORD, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘In the property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the corpse of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, “This is Jezebel”’” (Day 185)
Jehu wrote letters to the guardians of the 70 sons of Ahab in Samaria and they killed them and Jehu displayed their heads in baskets, declaring, “Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the LORD has done what He spoke through His servant Elijah” (Day 185)
on his way to Samaria, Jehu killed 42 relatives of Ahaziah who were on their way to greet him, and then, “When he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke to Elijah” (Day 185)
Jehu summoned by cunning all the worshipers of Baal to the house of Baal, killing them and destroying the house of Baal. “Thus Jehu eradicated Baal out of Israel. However, as for the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin, from these Jehu did not depart, even the golden calves that were at Bethel and that were at Dan. The LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin. In those days the LORD began to cut off portions from Israel; and Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel” (Day 185)
when Ahaziah died, his mother Athaliah killed his sons and reigned over the kingdom for six years; his sister Jehoshabeath (Jehosheba), who was married to Jehoiada the priest had hid Ahaziah’s son Joash when his siblings were killed by Athaliah (Day 181, Day 185)
Jehoiada the priest made a covenant with Judah to restore Joash, a son of David, as king and they killed Athaliah; Jehoiada then “made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they would be the LORD’S people. And all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down, and they broke in pieces his altars and his images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. Moreover, Jehoiada placed the offices of the house of the LORD under the authority of the Levitical priests, whom David had assigned over the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses” (Day 181, Day 185)
Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest; he restored the house of the Lord which the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into for worship of Baal (Day 186)
Jehoahaz succeeded his father Jehu, and did not abandon the sins of Jeroboam, who had established worship of golden calves in Bethel and Dan, so the Lord gave Israel continually into the hand of Hazael, king of Aram, and Ben-hadad his son; Jehoahaz entreated the Lord and the Lord gave him favor, allowing Israel to escape from under the hand of the Arameans (Day 186)
Jehoash (Joash) succeeded Jehoahaz, also walking in the sins of Jeroboam, but he appealed to Elisha the prophet when Elisha was dying and, according to his word, defeated Ben-hadad three times, recovering cities of Israel (Day 186)
after Jehoiada the priest died, Joash came under the influence of the officials of Judah and abandoned the house of the Lord, turning to idol worship; though the Lord sent prophets to turn them back to Him, they would not listen; when the Spirit of the Lord came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, Joash commanded he be stoned in the house of the Lord; as judgment, the Lord allowed a small number of men to prevail over the army of Judah; Joash sent treasures from the house of the Lord and the king’s house to Hazael, king of Aram; “his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and murdered him on his bed” (Day 186) [note on Day 186 that God was granting mercy to the kingdom of Israel in their battles with Aram, while using Aram in judgment over the kingdom of Judah]
Amaziah succeeded Joash, and “did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.” After a military victory over Edom, “he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, set them up as his gods, bowed down before them and burned incense to them.” God provoked him to challenge Joash, grandson of Jehu, and Judah was defeated by Israel. (Day 187) [It’s interesting to note these change of fortunes in the relationships of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with their enemies. Aram is still a factor, but more so with Judah than Israel. Edom has been rebellious with Israel, but now Judah had defeated Edom. A completely new development is Israel’s defeat of Judah.]
Joash’s son Jeroboam succeeded him and it would make sense by his name that he walked in all the sins of the original Jeroboam, who established idol worship of golden calves in Bethel and Dan. But the second Jeroboam “restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher. For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; for there was neither bond nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel. The LORD did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.” (Day 187) [continued mercy to Israel]
Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who spoke during the Jeroboam, is sent by the Lord to the Assyrians in Nineveh to call them to repentance (Day 188) [more evidence of God’s mercy]
Uzziah begain to reign during the reign of Jeroboam; he reigned 52 years, while the kingship of Israel changed five times (Day 189)
Jeroboam’s son Zechariah only reigned for 6 months until the word of the Lord to Jehu that, despite his and his sons’ evil in following in the idol worship of the first Jeroboam, son of Nebat, “Your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel,” and Zechariah was killed by Shallum (Day 189)
Shallum only reigned one month and Menahem killed him; he reigned ten years, but Pul, king of Assyria, came against him during his reign and Menahem exacted money from the wealthy men of Israel to pay him tribute; his son Pekahiah reigned for two years, but then his officer, Pekah son of Remaliah, conspired against him and killed him (Day 189)
Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria captured Naphtali and carried them captive to Assyria under the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah (Day 189)
Uzziah “continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God prospered him…But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense”; when he became enraged with Azariah the priest, and the other 80 priests who joined against him, he became a leper until the day of his death, with his son Jotham judging in his place and then succeeding him when he died (Day 189)
Isaiah the prophet began to speak during the reign of Uzziah (Day 190) in the recent context of Joash turning to idol worship, Amaziah worshiping the gods of Edom, and prideful Uzziah trying to burn incense in the temple
“the LORD began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah” during the reign of Uzziah’s son Jotham [Isaiah spoke of this in Isaiah 7] (Day 189, Day 191)
Jotham “became mighty because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God”; he prevailed against the Ammonites and they gave him tribute (Day 194)
Jotham’s son Ahaz walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, worshiped Baal, and burned his sons in the fire, so the Lord delivered him into the hands of Rezin king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah; Pekah slew 120,000 of Judah in one day and carried 200,000 captive, but the prophet Oded called them to return the captives, which some of the heads of the sons of Ephraim did (Day 196)
Judah was attacked both by Edom and the Philistines, so Ahaz appealed to Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria for help, sending him treasure from the house of the Lord; “the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death”; but the king of Assyria also came against and afflicted Ahaz; when Ahaz went up to Damascus, he saw the altar for sacrifice to the gods of Damascus and had Urijah the priest copy it and place it in the house of the Lord, displacing the bronze altar, which Ahaz then used to inquire by; so “the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had brought about a lack of restraint in Judah and was very unfaithful to the LORD” (Day 196)
Hoshea conspired against Pekah in the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz, killing him and becoming king; “Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute” (Day 196)
Hezekiah became king in the third year of Hoshea; in first month of his reign, he had the temple cleansed and re-established sacrifice there. The next month, the sons of Israel celebrated Passover like it had not been celebrated since the days of Solomon, who was the last king to rule over an undivided kingdom (Day 200)
Hoshea conspired against the king of Assyria, seeking help from So king of Egypt and ceasing to pay tribute, so in the seventh year of his reign, “Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it”; after three years Israel was carried away to exile in Assyria, as punishment for the sin of idol worship that Jeroboam, their first king, had led them into and from which they never departed (Day 196, Day 209)
the king of Assyria sent his own exiles to live in Samaria, but since they did not fear the Lord, “the LORD sent lions among them which killed some of them”; so the king sent a priest from exile in Samaria to Bethel to teach them how they should fear the Lord; but “every nation still made gods of its own” and they “feared the LORD and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile” (Day 196)
“in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army.” Rabshakeh tried to intimidate the inhabitants of Jerusalem with a blasphemous message from Sennacherib: “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD….Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the LORD would deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” (Day 205, Day 209)
“when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the LORD.” The king sent his servants to Isaiah, asking him to pray for the remnant left in Israel. “Isaiah said to them, ‘Thus you shall say to your master, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”’” (Day 206, Day 209)
when Rabshakeh sent a letter to Hezekiah saying, “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria,’” Hezekiah took the letter to the house of the Lord and prayed, and then the Lord assured him through Isaiah about the fate of king of Assyria and the sparing of Jerusalem. “Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians”….Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh….Adrammelech and Sharezerhis sons killed him….And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.” (Day 206, Day 209)
“Hezekiah became mortally ill.” When Isaiah the prophet told him he would die, he prayed, and the Lord added 15 years to his life, making the sun go backwards 10 steps as a sign. . Then “Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah.””Hezekiah was pleased” and showed them everything in his kingdom. “Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the word of the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,” says the LORD. “And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘For there will be peace and truth in my days.’” (Day 206, Day 214, Day 215)
Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, “was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem….He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them…..He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists…..he set the carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of…the LORD….Manasseh seduced [His people] to do evil more than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel….Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood” (Day 214, Day 215)
“the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, ‘Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols; therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies; because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.”’” (Day 214, Day 215)
Amon, the son of Manasseh, was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem….He did evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done….The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. Then the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.” (Day 214, Day 215)
Josiah was eight years old when he became king; “in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images” (Day 217)
Jeremiah started speaking in the thirteenth year of Josiah (Day 219)
“in the eighteenth year of King Josiah…Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, ‘I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD.’ And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it….And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes…..‘Go, inquire of the LORD for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.’” (Day 217)
“Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her. She said to them, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “Tell the man who sent you to me, thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched.”’ But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD thus shall you say to him, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.’”’ So they brought back word to the king.” (Day 217)
“The king went up to the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people…and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. The king…made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.” (Day 217)
“the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah….he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed (1 Kings 13, Day 174)” (Day 217)
“in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the LORD in Jerusalem.” (Day 217)
“However, the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. The LORD said, ‘I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, “My name shall be there.”’” (Day 217)
“After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt came up to make war at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to engage him….Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to make war with him; nor did he listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to make war on the plain of Megiddo. The archers shot King Josiah….So his servants…brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Then Jeremiah chanted a lament for Josiah.” (Day 217)
“the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father….he reigned three months in Jerusalem….He did evil in the sight of the LORD….Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah” (Day 217, Day 231)
“Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim” (Day 217, Day 231)
Jehoiakim served Pharoah Neco until King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to power in the fourth year of his reign, defeating Egypt (Day 217, Day 231)
Jeremiah declared that he had spoken the word of the LORD since the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, a total of 23 years, and the people had not listened, so Judah would fall to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, serving him in exile for 70 years (Day 225)
Jehoiakim served Nebuchadnezzar three years and then rebelled against him (Day 217, Day 231)
After Jehoiakim’s death, his son Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah) succeeded him for 3 months, but then surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar and was taken, with ten thousand captives, to Babylon (Day 231, Day 236)
Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah) was replaced by his uncle Mattaniah renamed Zedekiah (Day 231, Day 236)
The LORD showed Jeremiah two basket of figs set before the temple of the LORD, one with ripe figs and one with rotten figs, symbolic for two populations in the LORD’s eyes. He regarded as good the captives of Judah He had sent to Chaldea, setting His eyes on them for good and giving them a heart to know Him, saying they would return to Him with their whole heart. But He said He would abandon Zedekiah, his officials, and the remnant who remained in the land and in the land of Egypt (Day 225). The LORD had Jeremiah write a letter to those in exile, telling them to build houses, plant gardens, and have families, seeking the welfare of the city where they had been sent, and that He would bring them back in seventy years (Day 226).
Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, so in the ninth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar and his army placed Jerusalem under siege for two years, until there was no food left and the city was broken into. Zedekiah fled, but was captured, his sons were killed, his eyes were put out, he was taken bound to Babylon, and he was imprisoned until he died (Day 231, Day 236).
Nebuzaradan, captain of the bodyguard, burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. They carried off to Babylon the treasures of the temple. They took Seriah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, three officers of the temple, seven of the king’s advisers, the scribe of the commander of the army, and sixty men found in the city to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he put them to death. 4,600 Jewish people were carried away into exile in Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (Day 231, Day 236).
Nebuzaradan placed the people left in the land of Judah under the care of Gedaliah. Jeremiah was shown mercy and was allowed to go where he pleased, so he joined the people. Ishmael killed Gedaliah, so the remnant of Judah disobediently went to Egypt after asking Jeremiah to seek the Lord for His will. Jeremiah went with them and spoke the word of the LORD that Egypt would be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and most of this remnant would die, except for a few that would serve as witness of His word (Day 230, Day 233, Day 234)
Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah) was released in the 37th year of his exile by King Evil-merodach; fathered Shealtiel who fathered Zerubbabel, to preserve the line of the king of David through to Jesus the Messiah (Matthew 1:12) (Day 236)

Summary of each daily reading in the era of the kings of Judah and Israel:

Day 174 (1 Kings 12-14): the division of the kingdom, and the forsaking of the law of the Lord, with loss of peace and prosperity in Judah and idol worship in Israel
Day 175 (2 Chronicles 10-12): mercy on Judah for their trust in the Lord in war against Israel
Day 176 (1 Kings 15:1-24, 2 Chronicles 13-16): the mixed legacies of Abijam and Asa
Day 177 (1 Kings 15:25-16:34, 2 Chronicles 17): progressive evil in the line of the kings of Israel, ending in the building of Samaria by Omri and the worship of Baal by Ahab
Day 178 (1 Kings 17-19): Elijah the prophet challenges the worship of Baal
Day 179 (1 Kings 20-21): the mercy of God on Ahab
Day 180 (1 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 18): the alliance of Judah with the house of Ahab, and the fall of Ahab
Day 181 (2 Chronicles 19-23): the inconsistency of Jehoshaphat and consequences of Judah’s alliance with the house of Ahab
Day 182 (Obadiah): vision regarding the fate of Edom (Esau) for their unfaithfulness; Psalms 82 & 83
Day 183 (2 Kings 1-4): death of Ahaziah, taking up of Elijah with his spirit resting on Elisha, rebellion of Moab with the Lord’s miraculous intervention, and miracles of Elisha
Day 184 (2 Kings 5-8): more miracles of Elisha, plunder of the Aramians after they beseiged Samaria causing famine, death of King Ben-hadad of Aram at the hand of Hazael who succeeded him
Day 185 (2 Kings 9-11): final fall of the house of Ahab at the hand of Jehu and Jehoiada the priest
Day 186 (2 Kings 12-13, 2 Chronicles 24): Joash’s faithfulness, God’s mercy to Israel, Elisha’s death, Joash’s betrayal
Day 187 (2 Kings 14, 2 Chronicles 25): Amaziah’s sin and God’s judgment
Day 188 (Jonah 1-4): Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who spoke about Jeroboam, goes to the Assyrians in Nineveh to call them to repentance
Day 189 (2 Kings 15, 2 Chronicles 26): Uzziah’s long reign ending in pride and leprosy while the king of Israel changes five times, ending with Pekah son of Remaliah who came against Judah with Rezin king of Aram in the days of Uzziah’s son Jotham
Day 190 (Isaiah 1-4): prophecy spoken during the reign of Uzziah
Day 191 (Isaiah 5-8): prophecy spoken during the reign of Uzziah, in the year of Uzziah’s death, and during the reign of Ahaz, grandson of Uzziah
Day 192 (Amos 1-5): visions of judgment against Damascus (Aram), Gaza (Philistines), Tyre, Edom (Esau), Ammon and Moab (sons of Lot), Judah, and Israel
Day 193 (Amos 6-9): judgment on Israel
Day 194 (2 Chronicles 27 & Isaiah 9-12): reign of Jotham, and prophecy spoken during the reign of Jotham
Day 195 (Micah 1-7): judgment, but promises of redemption
Day 196 (2 Chronicles 28, 2 Kings 16-17): the evil and disastrous reign of Ahaz and the exile of Israel to Assyria
Day 197 (Isaiah 13-17): prophecy concerning Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Israel
Day 198 (Isaiah 18-22): prophecy concerning Cush (Ethiopia), Egypt, Babylon, Arabia, and Judah
Day 199 (Isaiah 23-27): prophecy concerning Tyre, and the whole earth
Day 200 (2 Kings 18:1-8, 2 Chronicles 29, Psalm 48): Hezekiah cleanses the temple and re-establishes worship, including the celebration of Passover
Day 201 (Hosea 1-7): judgment on Israel and Judah for their infidelity of idol worship
Day 202 (Hosea 8-14): Israel’s impending exile to Assyria, but promise of eventual redemption
Day 203 (Isaiah 28-30): prophecy regarding Israel, Jerusalem, Assyria
Day 204 (Isaiah 31-34): prophecy regarding Egypt, Jerusalem, Assyria, all the nations
Day 205 (Isaiah 35-36): both prophecy, regarding Israel, and narrative regarding the blasphemous words of Sennacherib king of Assyria against King Hezekiah (similar content in 2 Kings on Day 209)
Day 206 (Isaiah 37-39, Psalm 76): narrative similar that in in 2 Kings on Day 209 & Day 214 regarding Hezekiah’s faith and subsequent failure
Day 207 (Isaiah 40-43): prophecy regarding the sending of the Lord’s Servant, and the redemption of Israel
Day 208 (Isaiah 44-48): prophecy regarding the redemption of Israel, Cyrus, Babylon, the Messiah
Day 209 (2 Kings 18:19-19:37, Psalms 46, 80, 135): exile of Israel to Assyria, and narrative similar to Isaiah 36-39 (Day 205 and Day 206), when, “in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them”
Day 210 (Isaiah 49-53): acknowledgement of temporary suffering but hope for a Messiah and redemption for God’s people, and all who trust in the Lord
Day 211 (Isaiah 54-58): the Lord will have compassion on those who call on Him and desire to please Him
Day 212 (Isaiah 59-63): prophecy regarding redemption of Zion and the sending of a Savior, after affliction for sin
Day 213 (Isaiah 64-66): the Lord will preserve a remnant of Israel, the Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth, and all nations and tongues will be gathered before the Lord; the faithful will be rewarded and the unfaithful punished, but all mankind will bow before God
Day 214 (2 Kings 20-21): similar content to Isaiah 38 & 39 from Day 206 regarding the last days of Hezekiah, and the reigns of Manasseh and Amon
Day 215 (2 Chronicles 32-33): third iteration of this story (similar content to Day 205, Day 206, Day 209 & Day 214, recorded in Isaiah 36-39 and 2 Kings 18-20) of Hezekiah, and the reigns of Manasseh and Amon
Day 216 (Nahum 1-3): oracle against Nineveh
Day 217 (2 Kings 22-23, 2 Chronicles 34-35): righteous Josiah, followed by his unrighteous descendants and the beginning of the fall of Judah
Day 218 (Zephaniah 1-3): call to seek the Lord before the “day of the Lord,” when He punishes those who have sinned against Him, but restores the fortunes of those faithful to Him, including the faithful remnant of His people Israel
Day 219 (Jeremiah 1-3): the LORD appoints Jeremiah as prophet to the nations during the reign of Josiah
Day 220 (Jeremiah 4-6): Jeremiah calls the people to repent and put away their idols, but they refuse to hear his warnings
Day 221 (Jeremiah 7-9): Jeremiah stands in the gate of the temple, calling the people to repentance
Day 222 (Jeremiah 10-13): continued calls for repentance
Day 223 (Jeremiah 14-17): Jeremiah prophesies during a drought, when the LORD says He is calling the people’s sins to account and will make them an object of horror because of what Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah did in Jerusalem
Day 224 (Jeremiah 18-22): Jeremiah prophesies regarding Shallum the son of Josiah [first son who succeeded Josiah, who was taken to Egypt], king of Judah, that he will die in the place he was taken captive. He prophesies regarding Jehoiakim the son of Josiah [took the place of Shallum, died while ruling, and was succeeded by his son], king of Judah, that he will not be lamented when he dies in Jerusalem. He prophesies regarding Coniah the son of Jehoiakim [renamed Jehoiachin and taken to Babylon, and succeeded by his uncle who was named Zedekiah] king of Judah that he will be taken to Babylon and die there, and that none of his descendants will rule again in Judah.
Day 225: (Jeremiah 23-25): Jeremiah speaks the word of the LORD in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), saying that he had spoken since the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, a total of 23 years, and the people have not listened. He will send Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, His “servant”, and “This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation.” When Jeconiah [Jehoiachin] the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, was carried off to Babylon, the Lord said He would regard as good the captives of Judah He had sent to Chaldea, setting His eys on them for good and giving them a heart to know Him, saying they would return to Him with their whole heart. But He said He would abandon Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant who remained in the land and in the land of Egypt.
Day 226 (Jeremiah 26-29): The LORD has Jeremiah write a letter to those taken into exile, telling them to build houses, plant gardens, and have families, seeking the welfare of the city where they had been sent, and that He will bring them back in seventy years.
Day 227 (Jeremiah 30-31): The LORD tells Jeremiah to write all the words He had spoken to Him in a book, and The LORD explains His new covenant with Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Day 228 (Jeremiah 32-34): Zedekiah king of Judah shuts Jeremiah up in the court of the guard, in the house of the king, during the tenth year of his reign and the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, when the army of the king of Babylon ws besieging Jerusalem, because Jeremiah was prophesying the word of the LORD that the city wold be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon. The LORD sends Jeremiah’s cousin to him to buy a field that Jeremiah has right of redemption to, as symbolism for His word that houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in the land.
Day 229 (Jeremiah 35-37): In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the LORD told Jeremiah to write all the words he told him on a scroll. Baruch the son of Neriah wrote all the words Jeremiah dictated. When it was being read to the king, he cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it in the fire. The LORD pronounced that Jehoiakim would have no one to sit on the throne of David and that He would punish Jehoiakim and his descendants and servants for their iniquity.
Day 230 (Jeremiah 38-40, Psalms 74, 79): The fall of Jerusalem and the capture of Zedekiah. Remaining people in Judah entrusted to Gedaliah by Nebuzaradan, captain of the Babylonian bodyguard, and Jeremiah is among them. Commanders warn Gedaliah that Baalis the king of the sons of Ammon had sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to kill him, but Gedaliah does not believe them.
Day 231 (2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36): Josiah’s descendants, exile to Babylon, fall of Judah and destruction of Jerusalem
Day 232 (Habakkuk 1-3): saw the terrifying vision of the punishing invasion of Israel by the mighty Chaldeans (of Babylon, who also conquered Assyria, as prophesied by Nahum), but also God’s subsequent punishment of them (and all enemies of God and His people) for the sake of His anointed, and resolved to rejoice and trust in God, knowing he was secure in Him
Day 233 (Jeremiah 41-45): Ishmael kills Gedaliah; remnant of Judah disobeys the LORD and flees to Egypt; Jeremiah prophesies their destruction and the conquering of Egypt by Babylon
Day 234 (Jeremiah 46-48): prophecy regarding Egypt, Philistines, Tyre and Sidon, Moab
(Day 235 (Jeremiah 49-50): prophecy regarding Ammon, Esau, Damascus, Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, Elam, Babylon, and return of Israel to Zion
Day 236 (Jeremiah 51-52): prophecy regarding Babylon; end of reign of Zedekiah and destructon of Jerusalem; mercy on Jehoiachin king of Judah
Day 237 (Lamentations 1-3:36): Jeremiah laments the devastation of Jerusalem and the exile of Judah, acknowledging the LORD caused this grief because of the sin of Judah and that it is good to consider His reproach and wait for His salvation
Day 238 (Lamentations 3:27-5:22): Jeremiah acknowledges the LORD’s sovereignty over all events, both good and ill, and calls for repentance and return to the LORD. He begs for restoration of Israel, unless the LORD has utterly rejected and is exceedingly angry, demonstrating his submission to the LORD’s just sovereignty.

Summary of the daily readings during the era of the kings of Judah and Israel:

1 Kings 12-14 (Day 174): the division of the kingdom, and the forsaking of the law of the Lord, with loss of peace and prosperity in Judah and idol worship in Israel

King David has died and his son Rehoboam is king
Solomon’s servant Jeroboam son of Nebat, of the tribe of Ephraim, returns from Egypt and he and the assembly of Israel request that Rehoboam lighten the way in which he rules, in comparison to his father, and in return they will serve him; the elders that had served with Solomon counseled that Rehoboam honor their request, but he seeks the counsel of the young men who grew up with him and they suggest he answer harshly; Israel rebelled; King Rehoboam sent Adoram and they killed him
the tribes of Israel, excluding Judah, made Jeroboam king over them
Rehoboam tried to assemble Judah and Benjamin to fight against the house of Israel, but Shemiah the man of God give the word of the Lord that they must not fight because this division had come from Him
to prevent Israel from going to worship in Jerusalem and potentially returning their loyalty to Judah, Jeroboam set up two golden calves, one in Bethel and one in Dan, to be worshipped
“there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. He cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, ‘O altar, altar, thus says the LORD, “Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.”’ Then he gave a sign the same day, saying, ‘This is the sign which the LORD has spoken, “Behold, the altar shall be split apart and the ashes which are on it shall be poured out.”’ Now when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, ‘Seize him.’ But his hand which he stretched out against him dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. The altar also was split apart and the ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD”
the prophet had been “commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came’”; an old prophet enticed him to come to his house; for his disobedience, he was killed by a lion
“After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but again he made priests of the high places from among all the people; any who would, he ordained, to be priests of the high places. This event became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of the earth”
when Jeroboam’s son became sick, he sent his disguised wife to inquire of the prophet Ahijah, who prophesied concerning Jeroboam becoming king, in Shiloh; he told her, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you—yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only that which was right in My sight; you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back— therefore behold, I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male person, both bond and free in Israel, and I will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat; for the LORD has spoken it.’” Now you, arise, go to your house. When your feet enter the city the child will die. All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him something good was found toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. Moreover, the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this day and from now on. For the LORD will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the LORD to anger. He will give up Israel on account of the sins of Jeroboam, which he committed and with which he made Israel to sin’”; when his wife returned, Jeroboam’s son died
Jeroboam reigned 22 years and his son Nadab succeeded him
“Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with the sins which they committed. For they also built for themselves high places and sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and beneath every luxuriant tree. There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel. Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house, and he took everything, even taking all the shields of gold which Solomon had made….There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and….Abijam his son became king in his place.”

2 Chronicles 10-12 (Day 175): mercy on Judah for their trust in the Lord in war against Israel

Chronicles focuses the kingdom of Judah (and not the northern kingdom of Israel)
although the content of 2 Chronicles 10-12 is similar to 1 Kings 12-14 regarding King Rehoboam, in these chapters in 2 Chronicles, we learn a little more about Rehoboam and his kingdom
“the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him from all their districts. For the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the LORD. …Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years”
“When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him forsook the law of the LORD. And it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen….He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.”
“Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “You have forsaken Me, so I also have forsaken you to Shishak.”’ So the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ‘The LORD is righteous.’ When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, ‘They have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of deliverance, and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak. But they will become his slaves so that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.’”

1 Kings 15:1-24, 2 Chronicles 13-16 (Day 176): the mixed legacies of Abijam and Asa

“in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam [son of Rehoboam, son of Solomon] became king over Judah. He reigned three years in Jerusalem”
Abijam “walked in all the sins of his father which he had committed before him; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, like the heart of his father David. But for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem; because David did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite”
“there was war between Abijah [Abijam’s name in 2 Kings] and Jeroboam”
- “God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah….so that 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain….the sons of Judah conquered because they trusted in the LORD, the God of their fathers….Jeroboam did not again recover strength in the days of Abijah”
“Abijam slept with his fathers and they buried him in the city of David”
“in the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa began to reign as king of Judah. He reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem”
“Asa did what was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father. He also put away the male cult prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols which his fathers had made. He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah; and Asa cut down her horrid image and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken away; nevertheless the heart of Asa was wholly devoted to the LORD all his days”
“Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and he came to Mareshah….Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, ‘LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.’ So the LORD routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled”
“Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, ‘Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law. But in their distress they turned to the LORD God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him. In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for many disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.’”
“when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD. He gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. So they assembled at Jerusalem….They sacrificed to the LORD that day….They entered into the covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and soul….they made an oath to the LORD….All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with their whole heart and had sought Him earnestly, and He let them find Him. So the LORD gave them rest on every side”
“there was no more war until….In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah…and Asa made a covenant with Ben-hadad [king of Aram, son of Hadad who was of the royal line of the Edom, who became an enemy of Solomon after Solomon’s wives led him astray]……..Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, ‘Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.’ Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time”
“there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days…And Asa slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place”

1 Kings 15:25-16:34, 2 Chronicles 17 (Day 177): progressive evil in the line of the kings of Israel, ending in the building of Samaria by Omri and the worship of Baal by Ahab

“Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father and in his sin which he made Israel sin.
- “Baasha the son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down….It came about as soon as he was king, he struck down all the household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam any persons alive, until he had destroyed them, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, and because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger”
“In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years”
- “He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel sin. Now the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, ‘Inasmuch as I exalted you from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made My people Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins, behold, I will consume Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Anyone of Baasha who dies in the city the dogs will eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat’”
- “Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place. Moreover, the word of the LORD through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani also came against Baasha and his household, both because of all the evil which he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he struck it”
“In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel at Tirzah, and reigned two years.”
- “His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him….and put him to death in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place. It came about when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave a single male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends….according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols….In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days at Tirzah….all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel….[Zimri] went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire, and died, because of his sins which he sinned, doing evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, making Israel sin”
“In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned twelve years….He bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill. Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, and acted more wickedly than all who were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sins which he made Israel sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel with their idols”
“Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son became king in his place….in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD more than all who were before him….he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him. So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria….Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.”
“The LORD was with Jehoshaphat [son of Asa, who became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab] because he followed the example of his father David’s earlier days and did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father, followed His commandments, and did not act as Israel did…in the third year of his reign he sent his officials…and with them the Levites…and with them…the priests. They taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the LORD with them; and they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.”

1 Kings 17-19 (Day 178): Elijah the prophet challenges the worship of Baal

Elijah the Tishbite was one of the settlers of Gilead; he told Ahab, king of Israel, that there would be a drought, and there would only be rain by his word
the Lord told Elijah to go hide by the brook Cherith, so he could drink from the brook and that the Lord would command ravens to provide food for him there
once the brook dried up, the Lord sent him to Zarephath in Sidon to a widow’s house; she was about to use her last oil and flour to make a last cake before she and her son died; Elijah told her to make him a cake and then one for her and her son, saying, according to the word of the Lord, “The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth”; she obeyed and the Lord kept His word
the widow’s son died, so Elijah carried him up to his upper room and prayed and stretched himself out upon him three times, “and called to the LORD and said, ‘O LORD my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return to him.’ The LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived; the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth”
after three years of no rain, God then sent Elijah to Ahab in Samaria; Ahab and Obadiah, who was over his household, were searching for springs of water, hoping to find grass to feed and not have to kill their livestock; “Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly; for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water”; Elijah met Obadiah and told him to tell Ahab he was there; Obadiah feared that Elijah would disappear and Ahab would kill him, but Elijah reassured him
“When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, ‘Is this you, you troubler of Israel?’ He said, ‘I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and you have followed the Baals. Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table’”;
“Elijah came near to all the people and said, ‘How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ But the people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, ‘I alone am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.’ And all the people said, ‘That is a good idea’”; “At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.’ Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God.’ Then Elijah said to them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape. So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there”
“In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. Then the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel”; Ahab told his wife Jezebel all Elijah had done; when Jezebel threatened Elijah, “he was afraid and arose and ran for his life”
“Elijah came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.’ He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, ‘Arise, eat.’ Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, ‘Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.’”
“So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He said, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.’ So He said, ‘Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD.’ And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ Then he said, ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.’”
“The LORD said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.’”

1 Kings 20-21 (Day 179): the mercy of God on Ahab

“Ben-hadad king of Aram [son of Hadad, enemy of Solomon, with whom Asa made a treaty; also interesting to note that Nahor, Abraham’s brother, and Bethuel, his nephew, and Laban, brother of Rebekah, who married Isaac, were all Aramean (Genesis 25:20)] gathered all his army, and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria and fought against it”
Ahab king of Israel resisted the demands of Ben-hadad
“a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver them into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the LORD”’; “So these went out from the city, the young men of the rulers of the provinces, and the army which followed them. They killed each his man; and the Arameans fled and Israel pursued them, and Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with horsemen. The king of Israel went out and struck the horses and chariots, and killed the Arameans with a great slaughter”
“At the turn of the year, Ben-hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. The sons of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went to meet them; and the sons of Israel camped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Arameans filled the country. Then a man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Because the Arameans have said, ‘The LORD is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys,’ therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD”’; “the sons of Israel killed of the Arameans 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek into the city, and the wall fell on 27,000 men who were left”
“Ben-hadad fled”…”they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, ‘Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live.”’ And he said, ‘Is he still alive? He is my brother’; a prophet then told Ahab, “Thus says the LORD, “Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.”’”
Ahab tried to pay Naboth for his vineyard in Jezreel because it was beside his palace but Naboth refused to give away the inheritance of his fathers; Ahab pouted, but his wife Jezebel conspired against Naboth to have witnesses give false testimony against his that he had cursed God and king, so he was stoned to death and Ahab took possession of his vineyard
“Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth where he has gone down to take possession of it. You shall speak to him, saying, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Have you murdered and also taken possession?’” And you shall speak to him, saying, “Thus says the LORD, ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours.’”’ Ahab said to Elijah, ‘Have you found me, O my enemy?’ And he answered, ‘I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free in Israel; and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and because you have made Israel sin. Of Jezebelalso has the LORD spoken, saying, “The dogs will eat Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.” The one belonging to Ahab, who dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and the one who dies in the field the birds of heaven will eat.’”
“Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife incited him. He acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the sons of Israel.”
“It came about when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently. Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s days.’”

1 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 18 (Day 180): the alliance of Judah with the house of Ahab, and the fall of Ahab

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, has aligned himself by marriage with Ahab, king of Israel
Jehoshaphat goes to visit Ahab in Samaria; it has been three years without war between Aram and Israel, but Ahab wants to retake Ramoth-Gilead from Aram; Ahab asks Jehoshaphat to go into battle with him, but wants Ahab to inquire of the word of the Lord first
Ahab has about 400 prophets who speak favorably, but Jehoshaphat discerns they are not prophets of the Lord; Ahab tells him, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah”; Micaiah first speaks favorably too, until Ahab discerns he is not speaking the words of the Lord; then he reveals the vision the Lord has given him that Israel will be defeated; “Micaiah said, ‘Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. The LORD said, “Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” And one said this while another said that. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, “I will entice him.” The LORD said to him, “How?” And he said, “I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” Then He said, “You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.” Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you’; Then the king of Israel said, ‘Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; and say, “Thus says the king, ‘Put this man in prison and feed him sparingly with bread and water until I return safely.’”’ Micaiah said, ‘If you indeed return safely the LORD has not spoken by me’”
Jehoshaphat goes into battles in his royal robes, but Ahab is disguised; Ahab is still struck by a bow in the joint of his armor, and dies; “So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots bathed themselves there), according to the word of the LORD which He spoke….So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.”
“Now Jehoshaphat the son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. He walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the sight of the LORD. However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places. Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel….And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and Jehoram his son became king in his place.”
“Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. He did evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. So he served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done.”

2 Chronicles 19-23 (Day 181): the inconsistency of Jehoshaphat and consequences of Judah’s alliance with the house of Ahab

after Ahab died in the battle against Aram, “Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, ‘Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD and so bring wrath on yourself from the LORD? But there is some good in you, for you have removed the Asheroth from the land and you have set your heart to seek God.’”
“Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem and went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers”
“the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat….Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to seek help from the LORD; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the LORD. Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD before the new court, and he said, ‘O LORD, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You. Did You not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? They have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying, “Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.” Now behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (they turned aside from them and did not destroy them), see how they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out from Your possession which You have given us as an inheritance. O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You’”
“Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph; and he said, ‘Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the LORD to you, “Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.” Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the LORD is with you’”
“They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, ‘Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the LORD your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.’ When he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who sang to the LORD and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, ‘Give thanks to the LORD, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.’ When they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed. For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another”
“the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God gave him rest on all sides”
“After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel. He acted wickedly in so doing”
“Then Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son became king in his place”
“when Jehoram had taken over the kingdom of his father and made himself secure, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and some of the rulers of Israel also. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab did (for Ahab’s daughter was his wife), and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.”
“In his days Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and set up a king over themselves. Then Jehoram crossed over with his commanders and all his chariots with him. And he arose by night and struck down the Edomites who were surrounding him and the commanders of the chariots. So Edom revolted against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time against his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers. Moreover, he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot and led Judah astray.”
“a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet saying, ‘Thus says the LORD God of your father David, “Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father and the ways of Asa king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot as the house of Ahab played the harlot, and you have also killed your brothers, your own family, who were better than you, behold, the LORD is going to strike your people, your sons, your wives and all your possessions with a great calamity; and you will suffer severe sickness, a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the sickness, day by day.’”
“the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians; and they came against Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions found in the king’s house together with his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.”
“after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable sickness. Now it came about in the course of time, at the end of two years, that his bowels came out because of his sickness and he died in great pain. And his people made no fire for him like the fire for his fathers. He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years; and he departed with no one’s regret, and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.”
“the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men who came with the Arabs to the camp had slain all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. He did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to his destruction.”
“He also walked according to their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the Arameans wounded Joram. So he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.”
“the destruction of Ahaziah was from God, in that he went to Joram. For when he came, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab. It came about when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers ministering to Ahaziah, and slew them. He also sought Ahaziah, and they caught him while he was hiding in Samaria; they brought him to Jehu, put him to death and buried him. For they said, ‘He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.’”
“there was no one of the house of Ahaziah to retain the power of the kingdom. Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring of the house of Judah. But Jehoshabeath the king’s daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she would not put him to death. He was hidden with them in the house of God six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.”
“in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took captains of hundreds…and they entered into a covenant with him. They went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the fathers’ households of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoiada said to them, ‘Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the LORD has spoken concerning the sons of David.’”
“the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded….they brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and said, ‘Long live the king!’”
“When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came into the house of the LORD to the people….Athaliah tore her clothes and said, ‘Treason! Treason!’….they seized her, and when she arrived at the entrance of the Horse Gate of the king’s house, they put her to death there.”
“Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king, that they would be the LORD’S people. And all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down, and they broke in pieces his altars and his images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. Moreover, Jehoiada placed the offices of the house of the LORD under the authority of the Levitical priests, whom David had assigned over the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses—with rejoicing and singing according to the order of David….And they placed the king upon the royal throne. So all of the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword.”

Obadiah 1 (Day 182): vision regarding the fate of Edom (Esau) for their unfaithfulness

Psalms 82, 83 (Day 182)

2 Kings 1-4 (Day 183): death of Ahaziah, taking up of Elijah with his spirit resting on Elisha, rebellion of Moab with the Lord’s miraculous intervention, and miracles of Elisha

“Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became ill….he sent messengers…‘Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this sickness.’ But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, ‘Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?” Now therefore thus says the LORD, “You shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’
- “Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty…‘O man of God, the king says, “Come down.”’ Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.’ Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. So he again sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he said to him, ‘O man of God, thus says the king, “Come down quickly.”’ Elijah replied to them, ‘If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.’ Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. So he again sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. When the third captain of fifty went up, he came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and begged him and said to him,… ‘O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.’…The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, ‘Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.’ So he arose and went down with him to the king. Then he said to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Because you have sent messengersto inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.”’
“Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And because he had no son, Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.”
”it came about when the LORD was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha.” Every time Elisha told Elijah to stay, for the Lord had sent him on, Elisha said, “‘As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’…Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed overon dry ground….Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.’ And Elisha said, ‘Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.’ He said, ‘You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.’ As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, ‘My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’…He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, ‘Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?’ And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.”
the men of the city [Jericho] said to Elisha, ‘Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.’ He said, ‘Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.’ So they brought it to him. He went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, ‘Thus says the LORD, “I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.”’ So the waters have been purified to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.”
“he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, ‘Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!’ [a slur that likely implied he had leprosy]. When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number.”
“Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah [we learned above that this was also the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, so they reigned simultaneouly], and reigned twelve years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, though not like his father and his mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal which his father had made. Nevertheless, he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin; he did not depart from them.”
“Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and used to pay the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. And King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, ‘The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?’ And he said, ‘I will go up; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.’ He said, ‘Which way shall we go up?’ And he answered, ‘The way of the wilderness of Edom.’”
- “the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey, and there was no water for the army or for the cattle that followed them….Jehoshaphat said, ‘Is there not a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?’ And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, ‘Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.’ Jehoshaphat said, ‘The word of the LORD is with him.’ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.”
  - “Elisha said to the king of Israel, ‘What do I have to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.’ And the king of Israel said to him, ‘No, for the LORD has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.’ Elisha said, ‘As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. But now bring me a minstrel.’ And it came about, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. He said, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Make this valley full of trenches.” For thus says the LORD, “You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts. This is but a slight thing in the sight of the LORD; He will also give the Moabites into your hand. Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.”’ It happened in the morning about the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.”
    - “the Moabites…rose early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. Then they said, ‘This is blood; the kings have surely fought together, and they have slain one another. Now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!’ But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites arose and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land, slaughtering the Moabites. Thus they destroyed the cities; and each one threw a stone on every piece of good land and filled it. So they stopped all the springs of water and felled all the good trees, until in Kir-hareseth only they left its stones; however, the slingers went about it and struck it. When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him 700 men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel, and they departed from him and returned to their own land.”
“a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.’ Elisha said to her, ‘What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?’ And she said, ‘Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.’ Then he said, ‘Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full.’ So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, ‘Bring me another vessel.’ And he said to her, ‘There is not one vessel more.’ And the oil stopped. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, ‘Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.’”
“Elisha passed over to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman….as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat food. She said to her husband, ‘Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it shall be, when he comes to us, that he can turn in there.’ One day he came there and turned in to the upper chamber and rested. Then he said to Gehazi his servant, ‘Call this Shunammite.’ And when he had called her, she stood before him. He said to him, ‘Say now to her, “Behold, you have been careful for us with all this care; what can I do for you?’…And Gehazi answered, ‘Truly she has no son and her husband is old.’ He said, ‘Call her.’ When he had called her, she stood in the doorway. Then he said, ‘At this season next year you will embrace a son.’ And she said, ‘No, my lord, O man of God, do not lie to your maidservant.’
The woman conceived and bore a son at that season the next year, as Elisha had said to her.”
- “When the child was grown, the day came that he went out to his father to the reapers. He said to his father, ‘My head, my head.’ And he said to his servant, ‘Carry him to his mother.’ When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her lap until noon, and then died. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God…Then she saddled a donkey and said to her servant, ‘Drive and go forward; do not slow down the pace for me unless I tell you.’ So she went and came to the man of God to Mount Carmel.”
- “When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came near to push her away; but the man of God said, ‘Let her alone, for her soul is troubled within her; and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.’ Then she said, ‘Did I ask for a son from my lord? Did I not say, “Do not deceive me”?’
- “he said to Gehazi, ‘Gird up your loins and take my staff in your hand, and go your way; if you meet any man, do not salute him, and if anyone salutes you, do not answer him; and lay my staff on the lad’s face.’…Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff on the lad’s face, but there was no sound or response.”
- “When Elisha came into the house, behold the lad was dead and laid on his bed. So he entered and shut the door behind them both and prayed to the LORD. And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth and his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands, and he stretched himself on him; and the flesh of the child became warm. Then he returned and walked in the house once back and forth, and went up and stretched himself on him; and the lad sneezed seven times and the lad opened his eyes. He called Gehazi and said, ‘Call this Shunammite.’ So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, ‘Take up your son.’ Then she went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground, and she took up her son and went out.”
“When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, ‘Put on the large pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.’ Then one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, for they did not know what they were. So they poured it out for the men to eat. And as they were eating of the stew, they cried out and said, ‘O man of God, there is death in the pot.’ And they were unable to eat. But he said, ‘Now bring meal.’ He threw it into the pot and said, ‘Pour it out for the people that they may eat.’ Then there was no harm in the pot.”
“a man came from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, ‘Give them to the people that they may eat.’ His attendant said, ‘What, will I set this before a hundred men?’ But he said, ‘Give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says the LORD, “They shall eat and have some left over.”’ So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.”

2 Kings 5-8 (Day 184): more miracles of Elisha, plunder of the Aramians after they beseiged Samaria causing famine, death of King Ben-hadad of Aram at the hand of Hazael who succeeded him

“Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram…was a leper….the Arameans had…taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.’…the king of Aram said, ‘Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.’…When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me.’…when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word…’let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.’…Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.’ But Naaman…went away in a rage. Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, ‘My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, “Wash, and be clean”?’ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean….‘Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israe…your servant will no longer offer burnt offering nor will he sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD.’”
- “But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, ‘Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, by not receiving from his hands what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.’ So Gehazi pursued Naaman.’” He lied and took two talents of silver and two changes of clothes, and deposited them in his house….”Elisha said to him, ‘Where have you been, Gehazi?’ And he said, ‘Your servant went nowhere.’ ‘Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants? Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.’ So he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.”
“the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, ‘Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.’…as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water….the man of God said, ‘Where did it fall?’ And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. He said, ‘Take it up for yourself.’”
“the king of Aram was warring against Israel; and he counseled with his servants saying, ‘In such and such a place shall be my camp.’ The man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, ‘Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there.’….the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing….One of his servants said, ‘Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.’…And it was told him, saying, ‘Behold, he is in Dothan.’ He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city….his servant said to him, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ So he answered, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, ‘Strike this people with blindness, I pray.’ So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha….And he brought them to Samaria….the LORD opened their eyes and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, ‘My father, shall I kill them?’…He answered, ‘You shall not kill them….Set bread and water beforethem, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.’ So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.”
“Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army and went up and besieged Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver….the king of Israel….said, ‘May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today.’…the king sent a man from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, ‘Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door shut against him.’….the messenger came down to him and he said, ‘Behold, this evil is from the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer?’ Then Elisha said, ‘Listen to the word of the LORD; thus says the LORD, “Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.”’ The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, ‘Behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?’ Then he said, ‘Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat of it.’
- “there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, ‘let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, we will but die.’…the Lord had caused the army of the Arameans to hear a sound of chariots and a sound of horses, even the sound of a great army….Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys, even the camp just as it was, and fled for their life….’Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king’s household….They took therefore two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the army of the Arameans, saying, ‘Go and see.’ They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste….So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. Now the king appointed the royal officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died just as the man of God had said.”
“Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, ‘Arise and go with your household, and sojourn wherever you can sojourn; for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will even come on the land for seven years.’ So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God, and she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years….the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went out to appeal to the king for her house and for her field. Now the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, ‘Please relate to me all the great things that Elisha has done.’ As he was relating to the king how he had restored to life the one who was dead, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and for her field. And Gehazi said, ‘My lord, O king, this is the woman and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.’ When the king asked the woman, she related it to him. So the king appointed for her a certain officer, saying, ‘Restore all that was hers and all the produce of the field from the day that she left the land even until now.’”
“Elisha came to Damascus. Now Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and it was told him, saying, ‘The man of God has come here.’ The king said to Hazael, ‘Take a gift in your hand and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD by him, saying, “Will I recover from this sickness?”’…Then Elisha said to him, ‘Go, say to him, “You will surely recover,” but the LORD has shown me that he will certainly die.’ He fixed his gaze steadily on him until he was ashamed, and the man of God wept….’I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you will dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up…..The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.’ So he departed from Elisha and returned to his master….he took the cover and dipped it in water and spread it on his face, so that he died. And Hazael became king in his place” as spoken by the Lord in 1 Kings 19:15-18 (Day 178)
“in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then the king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah became king. He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab became his wife; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. However, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David His servant, since He had promised him to give a lamp to him through his sons always. In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves [inspiring the vision of Obadiah on Day 182]….So Edom revolted against Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time….So Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.”
“In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. He walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD, like the house of Ahab had done, because he was a son-in-law of the house of Ahab. Then he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and the Arameans wounded Joram. So King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Then Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was sick.”

2 Kings 9-11 (Day 185): final fall of the house of Ahab at the hand of Jehu and Jehoiada the priest

“Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets” to go to Ramoth-Gilead to anoint Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi as king over Israel… “He arose and went into the house, and he poured the oil on his head and said to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel. You shall strike the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male person both bond and free in Israel. I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her.”’ Then he opened the door and fled.”
“Jehu came out to the servants of his master…And he said, ‘Thus and thus he said to me, “Thus says the LORD, ‘I have anointed you king over Israel.’”’ Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it under him on the bare steps, and blew the trumpet, saying, ‘Jehu is king!’”
“King Joram had returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought with Hazael king of Aram….Then Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel….Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.”
“Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu and found him in the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. When Joram saw Jehu, he said, ‘Is it peace, Jehu?’ And he answered, ‘What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?’ So Joram reined about and fled and said to Ahaziah, ‘There is treachery, O Ahaziah!’ And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and shot Joram between his arms; and the arrow went through his heart and he sank in his chariot. Then Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, ‘Take him up and cast him into the property of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite, for I remember when you and I were riding together after Ahab his father, that the LORD laid this oracle against him: ‘Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,” says the LORD, “and I will repay you in this property,” says the LORD. Now then, take and cast him into the property, according to the word of the LORD.’”
“When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled….And Jehu pursued him and said, ‘Shoot him too, in the chariot.’ So they shot him at the ascent of Gur, which is at Ibleam. But he fled to Megiddo and died there.”
“When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window. As Jehu entered the gate, she said, ‘Is it well, Zimri, your master’s murderer?’ Then he lifted up his face to the window and said, ‘Who is on my side? Who?’ And two or three officials looked down at him. He said, ‘Throw her down.’ So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her under foot….They went to bury her, but they found nothing more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands….And he said, ‘This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “In the property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the corpse of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, ‘This is Jezebel.’”’”
“Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of the children of Ahab, saying, ‘…fight for your master’s house.’ But they feared greatly and said, ‘Behold, the two kings did not stand before him; how then can we stand?’….sent word to Jehu, saying, ‘We are your servants, all that you say to us we will do, we will not make any man king; do what is good in your sight.’ Then he wrote a letter to them a second time saying, ‘If you are on my side, and you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.’…they took the king’s sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel….‘Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.’ Now in the morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, ‘You are innocent; behold, I conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the LORD has done what He spoke through His servant Elijah.’ So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his acquaintances and his priests, until he left him without a survivor.”
On his way to Samaria, “Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and said, ‘Who are you?’ And they answered, ‘We are the relatives of Ahaziah; and we have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.’ He said, ‘Take them alive.’ So they took them alive and killed them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two men; and he left none of them.”
“when he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, ‘Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?’ And Jehonadab answered, ‘It is.’ Jehu said, ‘If it is, give me your hand.’ And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. He said, ‘Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD.’ So he made him ride in his chariot. When he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke to Elijah.”
“Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, ‘Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. Now, summon all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests; let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal; whoever is missing shall not live.’ But Jehu did it in cunning, so that he might destroy the worshipers of Baal. And Jehu said, ‘Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.’ And they proclaimed it. Then Jehu sent throughout Israel and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And when they went into the house of Baal, the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other….Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab; and he said to the worshipers of Baal, ‘Search and see that there is here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but only the worshipers of Baal.’ Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed for himself eighty men outside, and he had said, ‘The one who permits any of the men whom I bring into your hands to escape shall give up his life in exchange.’…they killed them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the royal officers threw them out, and went to the inner room of the house of Baal. They brought out the sacred pillars of the house of Baal and burned them. They also broke down the sacred pillar of Baal and brokedown the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day.”
“Thus Jehu eradicated Baal out of Israel. However, as for the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin, from these Jehu did not depart, even the golden calves that were at Bethel and that were at Dan. The LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin.”
“In those days the LORD began to cut off portions from Israel; and Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.”
“Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son became king in his place. Now the time which Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.”
“When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death. So he was hidden with her in the house of the LORD six years, while Athaliah was reigning over the land.”
“in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him in the house of the LORD. Then he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the LORD, and showed them the king’s son….The priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the LORD. The guards stood each with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, by the altar and by the house, around the king. Then he brought the king’s son out and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony; and they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, ‘Long live the king!’”
“When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people in the house of the LORD. She looked and behold, the king was standing by the pillar, according to the custom, with the captains and the trumpeters beside the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, ‘Treason! Treason!’…the priest said, ‘Let her not be put to death in the house of the LORD.’ So they seized her, and when she arrived at the horses’ entrance of the king’s house, she was put to death there.”
“Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they would be the LORD’S people, also between the king and the people. All the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal”

2 Kings 12-13, 2 Chronicles 24 (Day 186): Joash’s faithfulness, God’s mercy to Israel, Elisha’s death, Joash’s betrayal

“In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. Jehoash did right in the sight of the LORD all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.”
“Joash was seven years old when he became king….Joash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.”
“Joash decided to restore the house of the LORD….For the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God and even used the holy things of the house of the LORD for the Baals. So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside by the gate of the house of the LORD. They made a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the LORD the levy fixed by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness…..When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and it was made into utensils for the house of the LORD, utensils for the service and the burnt offering, and pans and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.”
“when Jehoiada reached a ripe old age he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old at his death. They buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done well in Israel and to God and His house.”
“But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them. They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. Yet He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the LORD; though they testified against them, they would not listen.”
“Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, ‘Thus God has said, “Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has also forsaken you.”’ So they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the LORD. Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which his father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as he died he said, ‘May the LORD see and avenge!’”
“at the turn of the year that the army of the Arameans came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed all the officials of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. Indeed the army of the Arameans came with a small number of men; yet the LORD delivered a very great army into their hands, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash.”
“Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things and all the gold that was found among the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then he went away from Jerusalem.”
“When they had departed from him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and murdered him on his bed…..Then Amaziah his son became king in his place.”
“In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel at Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel sin; he did not turn from them. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Aram, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael. Then Jehoahaz entreated the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them. The LORD gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as formerly. Nevertheless they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained standing in Samaria.”
“When Elisha became sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, ‘My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ Elisha said to him, ‘Take a bow and arrows.’ So he took a bow and arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, ‘Put your hand on the bow.’ And he put his hand on it, then Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. He said, ‘Open the window toward the east,’ and he opened it. Then Elisha said, ‘Shoot!’ And he shot. And he said, ‘The LORD’S arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them.’ Then he said, ‘Take the arrows,’ and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground,’ and he struck it three times and stopped. So the man of God was angry with him and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times.’”
“Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the spring of the year. As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a marauding band; and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the bones of Elisha he revived and stood up on his feet.”
“Hazael king of Aram had oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them or cast them from His presence until now. When Hazael king of Aram died, Ben-hadad his son became king in his place. Then Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken in war from the hand of Jehoahaz his father. Three times Joash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.”
“In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not turn away from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel sin, but he walked in them….Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne”

2 Kings 14, 2 Chronicles 25 (Day 187): Amaziah’s sin and God’s judgment

“In the second year of Joash son of Joahaz king of Israel, Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah became king. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem….He did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father; he did according to all that Joash his father had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. Now it came about, as soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hand, that he killed his servants who had slain the king his father. But the sons of the slayers he did not put to death, according to what is written in the book of the Law of Moses,as the LORD commanded, saying, ‘The fathers shall not be put to death for the sons, nor the sons be put to death for the fathers; but each shall be put to death for his own sin.’”
“Amaziah….did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.”
“Amaziah assembled Judah and appointed them according to their fathers’ households under commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds throughout Judah and Benjamin; and he took a census of those from twenty years old and upward and found them to be 300,000 choice men, able to go to war and handle spear and shield. He hired also 100,000 valiant warriors out of Israel for one hundred talents of silver. But a man of God came to him saying, ‘O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel nor with any of the sons of Ephraim. But if you do go, do it, be strong for the battle; yet God will bring you down before the enemy, for God has power to help and to bring down.’ Amaziah said to the man of God, ‘But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?’ And the man of God answered, ‘The LORD has much more to give you than this.’ Then Amaziah dismissed them, the troops which came to him from Ephraim, to go home; so their anger burned against Judah and they returned home in fierce anger.”
“Amaziah strengthened himself and led his people forth, and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 of the sons of Seir. The sons of Judah also captured 10,000 alive and brought them to the top of the cliff and threw them down from the top of the cliff, so that they were all dashed to pieces. But the troops whom Amaziah sent back from going with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 of them and plundered much spoil.”
“after Amaziah came from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, set them up as his gods, bowed down before them and burned incense to them. Then the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, ‘Why have you sought the gods of the people who have not delivered their own people from your hand?’ As he was talking with him, the king said to him, ‘Have we appointed you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?’ Then the prophet stopped and said, ‘I know that God has planned to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.’”
“Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, the king of Israel, saying, ‘Come, let us face each other.’ Joash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying,… ‘You said, “Behold, you have defeated Edom.” And your heart has become proud in boasting. Now stay at home; for why should you provoke trouble so that you, even you, would fall and Judah with you?’”
“Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, that He might deliver them into the hand of Joash because they had sought the gods of Edom…..Judah was defeated by Israel, and they fled each to his tent. Then Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and tore down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, 400 cubits. He took all the gold and silver and all the utensils which were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.”
“Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son became king in his place.”
“In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher. For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, which was very bitter; for there was neither bond nor free, nor was there any helper for Israel. The LORD did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.”
“Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel.” ““From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD they conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.” “All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.”

Jonah 1-4 (Day 188): Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who spoke about Jeroboam, goes to the Assyrians in Nineveh to call them to repentance

2 Kings 15, 2 Chronicles 26 (Day 189): Uzziah’s long reign ending in pride and leprosy while the king of Israel changes five times, ending with Pekah son of Remaliah who came against Judah with Rezin king of Aram in the days of Uzziah’s son Jotham

“In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah (Uzziah) son of Amaziah king of Judah became king. He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem…He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places”.
“all the people of Judah took Uzziah (Azariah), who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah….He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God prospered him”
“he went out and warred against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the area of Ashdod and among the Philistines. God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites. The Ammonites also gave tribute to Uzziah, and his fame extended to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong”
“Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the corner buttress and fortified them. He built towers in the wilderness and hewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowland and in the plain. He also had plowmen and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields, for he loved the soil”
“Uzziah had an army ready for battle,…The total number of the heads of the households, of valiant warriors, was 2,600. Under their direction was an elite army of 307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against the enemy. Moreover, Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows and sling stones. In Jerusalem he made engines of war invented by skillful men to be on the towers and on the corners for the purpose of shooting arrows and great stones. Hence his fame spread afar, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.”
“But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Then Azariah the priest entered after him and with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant men. They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, ‘It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God.’ But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense…because the LORD had smitten him”
“King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king’s house judging the people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first to last, the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, has written….Jotham his son became king in his place.”
“In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in Samaria for six months. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. Then Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and struck him before the people and killed him, and reigned in his place….This is the word of the LORD which He spoke to Jehu, saying, ‘Your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.’ And so it was.”
“Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned one month in Samaria. Then Menahem son of Gadi went up from Tirzah and came to Samaria, and struck Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria, and killed him and became king in his place”
“In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel and reigned ten years in Samaria. He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin.” “Menahem struck Tiphsah and all who were in it and its borders from Tirzah, because they did not open to him; therefore he struck it and ripped up all its women who were with child.” “Pul, king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his rule. Then Menahem exacted the money from Israel, even from all the mighty men of wealth, from each man fifty shekels of silver to pay the king of Assyria.”
“In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. Then Pekah son of Remaliah, his officer, conspired against him and struck him in Samaria, in the castle of the king’s house with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of the Gileadites, and he killed him and became king in his place.”
“In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured…all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria. And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and struck him and put him to death and became king in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.”
“In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah became king. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem…He did what was right in the sight of the LORD; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD….In those days the LORD began to send Rezin king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah [Isaiah speaks of this in Chapter 7 on Day 191]. And Jotham slept with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Ahaz his son became king in his place.”

Isaiah 1-4 (Day 190): spoken during the reign of Uzziah

the Lord spoke through Isaiah that the participation of His sinful people in the rituals and sacrifices established under the Mosaic Law brought Him no joy
He called His people to repentance, with warnings if they failed to repent
He spoke of “the last days”
He predicted destruction for Jerusalem, but then a restored future of Jerusalem, intoducing “the Branch of the Lord”

Isaiah 5-8 (Day 191)

spoken during the reign of Uzziah:
- God describes the house of Israel as His beloved vineyard that He has done everything for but that has failed to produce good grapes, warning that it will be consumed
- God pronounces woe on those engaged in varieties of sin
- He predicts conquering by a distant nation
in the year of Uzziah’s death, he sees the Lord in his temple and answers the call to speak on His behalf, until the Land is devastated, but with a one-tenth remnant in it
spoken during the reign of Ahaz, grandson of Uzziah:
- Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel had gone up against Jerusalem but could not conquer it [this started under Jotham in 2 Kings 15:37, on Day 189]
- the Lord tells Ahaz not to fear these men or these two kingdoms, telling him, “within another 65 years Ephraim [another name for the kingdom of Israel since Jeroboam son of Nebat was of the tribe of Ephraim] will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people”; the Lord prophesies the conquering of the kingdom of Israel by Assyria
- He gives Ahaz a sign: “the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”
- the Lord says He will take to Himself two faithful witness for testimony: Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah
- the Lord admonishes fear of Him alone and consulting Him alone: “To the law and to the testimony!”

Amos 1-5 (Day 192): visions of judgment against Damascus (Aram), Gaza (Philistines), Tyre, Edom (Esau), Ammon and Moab (sons of Lot), Judah, and Israel

Amos 6-9 (Day 193): judgment on Israel

2 Chronicles 27 (Day 194): reign of Jotham

“Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem….He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done; however he did not enter the temple of the LORD. But the people continued acting corruptly.”
“He fought also with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed over them”
“Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.”
“Ahaz his son became king in his place.”

Isaiah 9-12 (Day 194): spoken during the reign of Jotham

Prophecy for Galilee regarding the Messiah
Prophecy against the kingdom of Israel, also called Ephraim (tribe of first king Jeroboam) or Samaria: God has sent destruction, but they do not repent. They arrogantly claim they will rebuild, so God sends enemies against them. Still they do not repent.
God holds Israel’s leaders accountable for leading His people astray
God will use Assyria to punish Israel, but Assyria will not escape His punishment either, because they will arrogantly assume it was their power and wisdom that allows them to conquer, not recognizing they are instruments of God and failing to give glory to Him.
A remnant of Israel will return to the LORD, the Holy One of Israel
More prophecy regarding the Messiah
Prophecy regarding the return of the remnant to Israel
Praise due to God upon Israel’s return to Zion

Micah 1-7 (Day 195): judgment, but promises of redemption

2 Chronicles 28, 2 Kings 16-17 (Day 196): the evil and disastrous reign of Ahaz and the exile of Israel to Assyria

“Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do right in the sight of the LORD as David his father had done. But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; he also made molten images for the Baals. Moreover, he burned incense in the valley of Ben-hinnom and burned his sons in fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel. He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills and under every green tree.”
“the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Aram; and they defeated him and carried away from him a great number of captives and brought them to Damascus”
“So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, 'I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.' Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death.”
“he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who inflicted him with heavy casualties. For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah 120,000 in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king’s son and Azrikam the ruler of the house and Elkanah the second to the king”
“The sons of Israel carried away captive of their brethren 200,000 women, sons and daughters; and they took also a great deal of spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out to meet the army which came to Samaria and said to them, 'Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage which has even reached heaven. Now you are proposing to subjugate for yourselves the people of Judah and Jerusalem for male and female slaves. Surely, do you not have transgressions of your own against the LORD your God? Now therefore, listen to me and return the captives whom you captured from your brothers, for the burning anger of the LORD is against you.' Then some of the heads of the sons of Ephraim…arose against those who were coming from the battle, and said to them, 'You must not bring the captives in here, for you are proposing to bring upon us guilt against the LORD adding to our sins and our guilt; for our guilt is great so that His burning anger is against Israel.' So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the officers and all the assembly. Then the men who were designated by name arose, took the captives, and they clothed all their naked ones from the spoil; and they gave them clothes and sandals, fed them and gave them drink, anointed them with oil, led all their feeble ones on donkeys, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brothers; then they returned to Samaria.”
“At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings of Assyria for help. For again the Edomites had come and attacked Judah and carried away captives. The Philistines also had invaded….For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had brought about a lack of restraint in Judah and was very unfaithful to the LORD. So Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him”
“in the time of his distress this same King Ahaz became yet more unfaithful to the LORD. For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, and said, ‘Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.’ But they became the downfall of him and all Israel”
“King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model…thus Urijah the priest made it….The bronze altar, which was before the LORD, he brought from the front of the house, from between his altar and the house of the LORD, and he put it on the north side of his altar. Then King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, 'Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering and the evening meal offering and the king’s burnt offering and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land and their meal offering and their drink offerings; and sprinkle on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice. But the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.’ So Urijah the priest did according to all that King Ahaz commanded.”
“Then King Ahaz cut off the borders of the stands, and removed the laver from them; he also took down the sea from the bronze oxen which were under it and put it on a pavement of stone. The covered way for the sabbath which they had built in the house, and the outer entry of the king, he removed from the house of the LORD because of the king of Assyria.”
“Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.”
“In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned nine years. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, only not as the kings of Israel who were before him.”
“Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, who had sent messengers to So king of Egypt and had offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; so the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison.”
“Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years.”
“In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.”
“Now this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced. The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the LORD their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. They set for themselves sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did which the LORD had carried away to exile before them; and they did evil things provoking the LORD. They served idols, concerning which the LORD had said to them, ‘You shall not do this thing.’ Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, ‘Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.’ However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the LORD their God. They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the LORD had commanded them not to do like them. They forsook all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him. So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah.”
“Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced. The LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.”
“When He had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and made them commit a great sin. The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them until the LORD removed Israel from His sight, as He spoke through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.”
“The king of Assyria brought men…and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel….At the beginning of their living there, they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them which killed some of them…..Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, ‘Take there one of the priests whom you carried away into exile and let him go and live there; and let him teach them the custom of the god of the land.’ So one of the priests whom they had carried away into exile from Samaria came and lived at Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.”
“But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made….They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the LORD and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile.”
“To this day they do according to the earlier customs: they do not fear the LORD, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances or the law, or the commandments which the LORD commanded the sons of Jacob, whom He named Israel; with whom the LORD made a covenant and commanded them, saying, ‘You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down yourselves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them. But the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice. The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever; and you shall not fear other gods. The covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, nor shall you fear other gods. But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.’ However, they did not listen, but they did according to their earlier custom. So while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.”

Isaiah 13-17 (Day 197)

Babylon will be used to punish the land of Israel, but then Babylon will be destroyed by the Medes
“the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel, and settle them in their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob”
a taunt against the king of Babylon sounds like a taunt against Satan as well:
- How you have fallen from heaven,
  O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
  You have been cut down to the earth,
  You who have weakened the nations!
  But you said in your heart,
  “I will ascend to heaven;
  I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
  And I will sit on the mount of assembly
  In the recesses of the north.
  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
  I will make myself like the Most High.”
Assyria will also be broken, as will all the nations: “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand, to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulder. This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
Philistia will be destroyed with famine
concerning Moab: the cities of Ar and Kir in Moab will be devastated and ruined in a night; “Within three years, as a hired man would count them, the glory of Moab will be degraded along with all his great population, and his remnant will be very small and impotent.”
“A throne will even be established in lovingkindness,
And a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David;
Moreover, he will seek justice
And be prompt in righteousness.”
Damascus will become a fallen ruin and sovereignty will be removed from it
the land of Israel will become a desolation, “For you have forgotten the God of your salvation And have not remembered the rock of your refuge,” but there will be a remnant left in it
- “In that day man will have regard for his Maker
  And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.
  He will not have regard for the altars, the work of his hands,
  Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made,
  Even the Asherim and incense stands.”
nations will be rebuked and flee away: “Such will be the portion of those who plunder us And the lot of those who pillage us.”

Isaiah 18-22 (Day 198)

in the day of the Lord, Cush (Ethiopia) will bring a gift of homage to the Lord of hosts
first destruction but then healing for Egypt:
- “The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them.”
- “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.”
- “In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.’”
the Lord calls Isaiah to walk naked for three years as a sign against Cush (Ethiopia) and Egypt, because they trust in Assyria as their hope
Babylon will fall
“Morning comes but also night” to Edom (Esau)
the splendor of Kedar in Arabia will terminate within a year
the defenses of Judah will be torn down, but they will depend on everything except the Lord, for which He will not forgive them until they die
- in the time of Hezekiah, he will remove Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household, and replace him with Hilkiah: “he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder”

Isaiah 23-27 (Day 199)

city of Tyre, “market of nations,” will be destroyed
- “The LORD of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
  To despise all the honored of the earth.”
- “Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years like the days of one king. It will come about at the end of seventy years that the LORD will visit Tyre. Then she will go back to her harlot’s wages and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. Her gain and her harlot’s wages will be set apart to the LORD; it will not be stored up or hoarded, but her gain will become sufficient food and choice attire for those who dwell in the presence of the LORD.”
the earth will be destroyed because it is “polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty,” but there will be a remnant who praise the Lord; the Lord will punish the host of heaven and the kings of the earth, and reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
the Lord has been faithful so His promises can be trusted:
- “He will swallow up death for all time,
  And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,
  And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth;
  For the LORD has spoken. And it will be said in that day,
  ‘Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
  This is the LORD for whom we have waited;
  Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.’”
He will give peace and protection to the faithful while He punishes the earth
- “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
  Because he trusts in You.
  Trust in the LORD forever,
  For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.”
- “Come, my people, enter into your rooms
  And close your doors behind you;
  Hide for a little while
  Until indignation runs its course.”
- “For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place
  To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity”
the iniquity of Israel will be forgiven when they give up their idols
- “In the days to come Jacob will take root,
  Israel will blossom and sprout,
  And they will fill the whole world with fruit.”
- “You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away.”
- “Therefore through this Jacob’s iniquity will be forgiven;
  And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin:
  When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;
  When Asherim and incense altars will not stand.”
- “In that day the LORD will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.”

2 Kings 18:1-8, 2 Chronicles 29, Psalm 48 (Day 200): Hezekiah cleanses the temple and re-establishes worship, including the celebration of Passover

“in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem”
“He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.”
“the LORD was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.”
“In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites….‘it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us.’…Then the Levites arose….They assembled their brothers, consecrated themselves, and went in to cleanse the house of the LORD, according to the commandment of the king by the words of the LORD….they consecrated the house of the LORD in eight days, and finished on the sixteenth day of the first month….Then King Hezekiah arose early and assembled the princes of the city and went up to the house of the LORD. They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah…..The priests slaughtered them and purged the altar with their blood to atone for all Israel, for the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel. He then stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with harps and with lyres, according to the command of David and of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the LORD through His prophets…..King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped…..And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all those who were willing brought burnt offerings…..There were also many burnt offerings with the fat of the peace offerings and with the libations for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the LORD was established again. Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.”
“Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to the LORD God of Israel….The couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes, even according to the command of the king, saying, ‘O sons of Israel, return to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that He may return to those of you who escaped and are left from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were unfaithful to the LORD God of their fathers, so that He made them a horror, as you see. Now do not stiffen your neck like your fathers, but yield to the LORD and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that His burning anger may turn away from you. For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.’ So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. Nevertheless some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD.”
“many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very large assembly. They arose and removed the altars which were in Jerusalem; they also removed all the incense altars and cast them into the brook Kidron. Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth of the second month.”
“there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore, the Levites were over the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was unclean, in order to consecrate them to the LORD. For a multitude of the people, even many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than prescribed. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, ‘May the good LORD pardon everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.’ So the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.”
“The sons of Israel present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day after day with loud instruments to the LORD. …Then the whole assembly decided to celebrate the feast another seven days, so they celebrated the seven days with joy….All the assembly of Judah rejoiced, with the priests and the Levites and all the assembly that came from Israel, both the sojourners who came from the land of Israel and those living in Judah. So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there was nothing like this in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel. Then the Levitical priests arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.”
“all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all.”
“Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions, each according to his service”
“Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and he did what was good, right and true before the LORD his God. Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered.”

Hosea 1-7 (Day 201): judgment on Israel and Judah for their infidelity of idol worship

Hosea 8-14 (Day 202): Israel’s impending exile to Assyria, but promise of eventual redemption

Isaiah 28-30 (Day 203)

the Lord warns that Ephraim (Israel) will be taken captive by a foreign people and that the priests and prophets who speak differently are telling lies
the Lord will bring distress to Jerusalem but He will also eventually destroy her enemies
the house of Jacob will return to the Lord
God admonishes Israel not to trust in other nations, like Egypt, and He promises that Assyria, who He uses to punish Israel, will be punished
“the LORD longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.”

Isaiah 31-34 (Day 204)

God will punish Egypt and those who rely on Egypt
God will protect Jerusalem
Assyria will fall
those in His land will be punished, but there will be a day when all will be restored: “Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high….Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places”
sinners will be punished but the righteous, who wait on the Lord, will be rewarded
the Lord has indignation against all the nations and will have a “day of vengeance, a year of recompense for Zion”

Isaiah 35-36 (Day 205): both prophecy and narrative

Isaiah 35: ultimate hope for Israel: “your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you….the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads”
Isaiah 36: the blasphemous words of Sennacherib king of Assyria against King Hezekiah (similar content in 2 Kings on Day 209)
- “in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the fuller’s field. Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.”
- Rabshakeh tried to intimidate the inhabitants of Jerusalem with a message from Sennacherib: “if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’? Now therefore, come make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. How then can you repulse one official of the least of my master’s servants and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? Have I now come up without the LORD’S approval against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”
- When the king’s officials asked Rabshakeh to speak in Aramaic, but not in Judean so as not to frighten the citizens, he responded, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”
- “Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean and said, ‘Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus says the king, “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ Do not listen to Hezekiah,” for thus says the king of Assyria, “Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you, saying, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?…Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the LORD would deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”’”
- “But they were silent and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, ‘Do not answer him.’” The kings officials then “came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.”

Isaiah 37-39, Psalm 76 (Day 206) (similar content in 2 Kings on Day 209 & Day 214)

“when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the LORD.” The king sent his servants to Isaiah, asking him to pray for the remnant left in Israel.
“Isaiah said to them, ‘Thus you shall say to your master, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”’”
Rabshakeh did hear that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. He found him fighting against Libnah and heard that the king of Cush had come out to fight with them. He sent a message to Hezekiah, “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared? Did the gods of those nations which my fathers have destroyed deliver them?”
“Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. Hezekiah prayed to the LORD saying, ‘O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God. Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, LORD, are God.’”
“Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word that the LORD has spoken against him”’”
- “Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
  And against whom have you raised your voice
  And haughtily lifted up your eyes?
  Against the Holy One of Israel!”
- the king of Assyria took credit for that which the Lord did:
  - “Have you not heard?
    Long ago I did it,
    From ancient times I planned it.
    Now I have brought it to pass,
    That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.”
  - “Because of your raging against Me
    And because your arrogance has come up to My ears,
    Therefore I will put My hook in your nose
    And My bridle in your lips,
    And I will turn you back by the way which you came.”
- the Lord gives a sign of hope for the remnant in Judah:
  - “Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
- “Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield, or throw up a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares the LORD. ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”
“Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezerhis sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.”
“In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.”’ Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, and said, ‘Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.”
“Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, ‘Go and say to Hezekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, ‘I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”’
“‘This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that He has spoken: Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.’ So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.”
“Now Isaiah had said, ‘Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.’ Then Hezekiah had said, ‘What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?’”
“At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. Hezekiah was pleased, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and his whole armory and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.”
“Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, ‘What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?’ And Hezekiah said, ‘They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.’ He said, ‘What have they seen in your house?’ So Hezekiah answered, ‘They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.’”
“Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the word of the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,” says the LORD. “And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘For there will be peace and truth in my days.’”

Isaiah 40-43 (Day 207)

the Lord will come and shepherd His people
the Lord is unique and cannot be compared to any other
God will punish, but God will save His own
God knows the future, distinguishing Him from so-called gods or false prophets
the Lord will send His Servant
He will redeem Israel and they will declare His praise

Isaiah 44-48 (Day 208)

God, the only God, explains His unique attributes, declaring the futility of worshiping idols
He continues to reassure that He will redeem Israel
He reveals He will use Cyrus to accomplish His purposes so that he and others will know He alone is God [he eventually allows an exiled remnant to return to Jerusalem, fulfilling this word of the Lord]
God calls all to repentance: “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other….to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.”
God is proven by His prophecies: “I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning”
God will punish Babylon, though He uses them to punish His people
Messianic prophecy: “the Lord GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit”
the Lord acts for the sake of His name: “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

2 Kings 18:19-19:37, Psalms 46, 80, 135 (Day 209)

“in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured. Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.”
rest of content very similar to what Isaiah recorded in Isaiah 36-39 (Day 205 and Day 206), when, “in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them”
- “the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Hezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of the king’s house”
- “Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the fuller’s field. When they called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.”
- “Rabshakeh said to them, ‘Say now to Hezekiah, “Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, ‘….if you say to me, “We trust in the LORD our God,”….Have I now come up without the LORD’S approval against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”’”
- “Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean [to the people], saying, ‘Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus says the king, “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from my hand; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD….Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?…Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”’”
- “But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s commandment was, ‘Do not answer him.’ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.”
- “when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the LORD”
- “he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. They said to him, ‘Thus says Hezekiah, “…Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left.”’…Isaiah said to them, ‘Thus you shall say to your master, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”’”
- “Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘Behold, he has come out to fight against you,’ he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying, ‘Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’”
- “Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, ‘O LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. Now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.’”
- “Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you”….concerning the king of Assyria, “He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,” declares the LORD. “For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’”
- “Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.”
- “So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh. It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.”

Isaiah 49-53 (Day 210)

acknowledgement of temporary suffering but hope for a Messiah and redemption for God’s people, and all who trust in the Lord

Isaiah 54-58 (Day 211)

the Lord will have compassion on those who call on Him and desire to please Him

Isaiah 59-63 (Day 212)

iniquity has separated us from God, but He will send a Savior to those who turn from transgression
hope for the redemption of Zion and the sending of a Savior
but, first, affliction for sin

Isaiah 64-66 (Day 213)

the Lord will preserve a remnant of Israel
the Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth
all nations and tongues will be gathered before the Lord; the faithful will be rewarded and the unfaithful punished, but all mankind will bow before God

2 Kings 20-21 (Day 214)

similar content to Isaiah 38 & 39 from Day 206:
- “Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.”’ Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, ‘Remember now,O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, ‘I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”’ Then Isaiah said, ‘Take a cake of figs.’ And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.”
- “Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD the third day?’ Isaiah said, ‘This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?’ So Hezekiah answered, ‘It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.’ Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.”
- “Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. Hezekiah…showed them all his treasure house….There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, ‘What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?’ And Hezekiah said, ‘They have come from a far country, from Babylon.’ He said, ‘What have they seen in your house?’ So Hezekiah answered, ‘They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.’”
- “Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the word of the LORD. “Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,” says the LORD. “Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.”’ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?’”
- “Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.”
“Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem….He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. He built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, ‘In Jerusalem I will put My name.’ For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking Him to anger. Then he set the carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to his son Solomon, ‘In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. And I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.’ But they did not listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.”
“the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, ‘Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols; therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies; because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.”’”
“Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood…besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.”
“Manasseh slept with his fathers…and Amon his son became king in his place.”
“Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem….He did evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. For he walked in all the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them. So he forsook the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD. The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. Then the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.”

2 Chronicles 32-33 (Day 215): Hezekiah, Manasseh, and Amon

Third iteration of this story (similar content to Day 205, Day 206, Day 209 & Day 214, recorded in Isaiah 36-39 and 2 Kings 18-20)—this version is most concise, with the most explanation of the actions of the LORD:
- “Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities….when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to make war on Jerusalem, he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him….And he took courage and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and erected towers on it, and built another outside wall and strengthened the Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number. He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, ‘Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.’ And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.”
- “Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, “On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege? Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, ‘The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria’? Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn incense’? Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand? Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?”’”
- “His servants spoke further against the LORD God and against His servant Hezekiah. He also wrote letters to insult the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, ‘As the gods of the nations of the lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.’ They called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city. They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.”
- “But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. And the LORD sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword. So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side. And many were bringing gifts to the LORD at Jerusalem and choice presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.”
- “Hezekiah became mortally ill; and he prayed to the LORD, and the LORD spoke to him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit he received, because his heart was proud; therefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. However, Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.”
- “Hezekiah had immense riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles, storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine and oil, pens for all kinds of cattle and sheepfolds for the flocks. He made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great wealth. It was Hezekiah who stopped the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did. Even in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.”
- “all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.”
- “Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the LORD according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he also erected altars for the Baals and made Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. He built altars in the house of the LORD of which the LORD had said, ‘My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.’ For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. Then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God….Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.”
- “The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. When he was in distress, he entreated the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.”
- “He also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city. He set up the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel. Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to the LORD their God.”
- “Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. And Amon his son became king in his place.”
- “Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the LORD as Manasseh his father had done, and Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. Moreover, he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done,but Amon multiplied guilt. Finally his servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house. But the people of the land killed all the conspirators against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.”

Nahum 1-3 (Day 216): oracle against Nineveh

2 Kings 22-23, 2 Chronicles 34-35 (Day 217): righteous Josiah, followed by his unrighteous descendants and the beginning of the fall of Judah

“Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem….He did right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left.”
“in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images”
“in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe, to the house of the LORD saying, ‘Go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may count the money brought in to the house of the LORD which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people”
“Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, ‘I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD.’ And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it. Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, ‘Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD.’ Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, ‘Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.’ And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.”
“When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant saying, ‘Go, inquire of the LORD for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.’”
“So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her. She said to them, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “Tell the man who sent you to me, thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched.”’ But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD thus shall you say to him, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.’”’ So they brought back word to the king.”
“Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. The king went up to the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.”
“Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven. He brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the houseof the LORD, where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah. Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. He also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech. He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. The altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king broke down; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron. The high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. He broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with human bones.”
“the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. Then he said, ‘What is this monument that I see?’ And the men of the city told him, ‘It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.’ He said, ‘Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones.’ So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.”
“Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking the LORD; and he did to them just as he had done in Bethel. All the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.”
“Then the king commanded all the people saying, ‘Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God as it is written in this book of the covenant.’ Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the LORD in Jerusalem.”
“The singers, the sons of Asaph, were also at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer….There had not been celebrated a Passover like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign this Passover was celebrated.”
“Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. Before him there was no king like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.”
“However, the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. The LORD said, ‘I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, “My name shall be there.”’”
“After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt came up to make war at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to engage him. But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, ‘What have we to do with each other, O King of Judah? I am not coming against you today but against the house with which I am at war, and God has ordered me to hurry. Stop for your own sake from interfering with God who is with me, so that He will not destroy you.’ However, Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to make war with him; nor did he listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to make war on the plain of Megiddo. The archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, ‘Take me away, for I am badly wounded.’ So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in the second chariot which he had, and brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Then Jeremiah chanted a lament for Josiah.”
“Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem….He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.”
“Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.”
“Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away and brought him to Egypt, and he died there. So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land in order to give the money at the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his valuation, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.”
“Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem….He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.”
“in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 25:1)

Zephaniah 1-3 (Day 218): call to seek the Lord before the “day of the Lord,” when He punishes those who have sinned against Him, but restores the fortunes of those faithful to Him, including the faithful remnant of His people Israel

Jeremiah 1-3 (Day 219):

The LORD informs Jeremiah that He has appointed him a prophet to the nations. He tells him he will go everywhere He sends him and speak all that He commands him to speak, promising him protection from all who will fight against him.
The LORD recounts how He has blessed Israel, but how they have forsaken Him and gone after other gods.
Going after other gods is as the sin of adultery to the LORD. The kingdom of Israel sinned, and the LORD punished them, but the LORD says the kingdom of Judah has sinned even more. He offers mercy if they repent. He promises a remnant will return to Jerusalem, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah will be reunited, and Jerusalem will be called “The Throne of the Lord.”

Jeremiah 4-6 (Day 220)

The Lord makes clear that returning to Him means putting away all idols and giving one’s heart completely to Him. He warns Judah and Jerusalem that unless they do this, He will send devastation from the north, but not a complete destruction. Jeremiah begins to lament the visions he is seeing.
God allows Jeremiah to search for the righteous, so He will relent, and Jeremiah finds none. Not even the prophets or priests are righteous. They have not realized that trials that have come upon them were an opportunity from God to repent. He repeats that He will bring a nation upon them from the north, but not a complete destruction. Because they have served gods that are not theirs in their land, they will serve strangers in a land that is not theirs.
Jeremiah laments that his people refuse to hear the warnings he is speaking on God’s behalf. They have no delight in the Word of God. Everyone deals falsely. They are not ashamed of their sins. Because they have failed to be warned and repent, God will bring disaster upon them.

Jeremiah 7-9 (Day 221)

The LORD has Jeremiah stand in the gate of the temple and call His people to repentance. He warns against their sinning and then being misled into believing they are in right standing before Him because they participate in temple rituals. He reminds them of Shiloh, where the tabernacle first dwelt in the land, that He destroyed because of sin and He reminds them of His exiling the kingdom of Israel for their sin, and He tells them He will do the same to them. He tells Jeremiah not to even pray for the people. He informs them that His initial command after the exodus was simply, “Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.” He added ritual and sacrifice because of their disobedience. The LORD warns again that Jeremiah will speak but the people will not listen.
The LORD explains why His people have earned His punishment and wrath. They do not repent. They do not know and have rejected the law and word of the LORD. Jeremiah begins a lament.
Jeremiah continues in lament, and the Lord answers. The Lord says that the only thing worth a person’s boasting is “that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things.” The LORD says, “I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised…for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”

Jeremiah 10-13 (Day 222)

The LORD points out the silliness of the worship of idols made by human hands. He tells Jeremiah to tell people about the Creator God. He tells Jeremiah about the inhabitants of Israel that He “will cause them distress That they may be found.” Continuing a pattern of conversation between the LORD and Jeremiah, Jeremiah laments in response.
God explains the simple covenant He had with Israel when He led them out of Egypt, “Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” The LORD has pronounced evil against them because they have been disobedient and gone after other gods. The people threaten Jeremiah with death if he continues to prophesy, so the LORD promises He will punish those who make such threats.
Jeremiah laments that the wicked prosper, but the LORD answers that He is going to punish His people for their sins. He will also punish Israel’s enemies. But after He throws them out of their lands, He will have compassion and bring them back. He will build up the nations that follow Him, but uproot the nations that don’t.
The LORD uses object lessons of a linen waistband and of drunkenness to explain why His people have earned His punishment. Jeremiah laments, appealing for the people to repent. The LORD repeats they will earn punishment for following after falsehood if they do not repent.

Jeremiah 14-17 (Day 223)

The LORD speaks to Jeremiah regarding a drought, saying He is calling the people’s sins to account and telling Jeremiah not to even pray for them. Jeremiah tells Him that the prophets are telling them that they will not see sword or famine, so the LORD tells him that they are prophesying falsehood and by sword and famine they will meet their end. Jeremiah asks if the LORD has completely rejected Judah and asks Him to remember and not annul His covenant with them.
The LORD says that even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Him, His heart would not be with this people and that He will make them an object of horror because of what Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah did in Jerusalem. Jeremiah laments his role, but the LORD reassures him He will deliver him if he is faithful.
The LORD tells Jeremiah not to take a wife or have sons or daughters. He also tells him not to go to a house of mourning or a house of feasting, because He has withdrawn His compassion and will eliminate rejoicing. Jeremiah is to tell the people it is because of their iniquity, their failure to follow Him and His law, and their following after other gods. But He also reassures that He will restore His people to their land after He doubly repays their iniquity and sin. He says He will make them know His power and His might, and that His name is the LORD.
The LORD declares that He searches hearts and minds and gives to men according to their deeds, and Jeremiah declares his trust in Him. The LORD then tells him to go stand in the public gate and warn people that if they do not keep the LORD’s sabbath, He will kindle a fire that will not be quenched in the gates of Jerusalem, devouring its palaces.

Jeremiah 18-22 (Day 224)

The LORD has Jeremiah go down to the potter’s house and see how he remaks clay that was spoiled into his hand into another vessel, asking if He could not deal with Israel as the potter did. The LORD explains He may have plans to destroy a nation but will relent if it repents, but He also may have plans to build up a nation that He will think better of if it does evil by not obeying His voice.
The LORD tells Jeremiah to take a potter’s earthenware jar, and some of the elders and senior priests, and go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom (also called Topeth) and proclaim that He is about to bring calamity on Judah and Jerusalem for their sin of idol worship, and then to break the jar, saying that is how He will break the people. Then Jeremiah prophesies in the court of the LORD’s house.
Passhur the priest has Jeremiah beaten and put in the stocks, releasing him the next day, when Jeremiah prophesies of his exile to Babylon with Judah.
King Zedekiah sends the priests Pashhur and Zephaniah to ask Jeremiah to inquire of the LORD on their behalf, requesting that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon withdraw from them, but the LORD speaks through Jeremiah that He will give Zedekiah and Judah over to the king of Babylon. He warns the king to administer justice in order to avoid the LORD’s wrath.
The LORD has Jeremiah speak His word at the house of the king of Judah that if he practices justice and righteousness, kings will sit on the throne of David, but, if not, the house will become a desolation. He prophesies regarding Shallum the son of Josiah [first son who succeeded Josiah, who was taken to Egypt], king of Judah, that he will die in the place he was taken captive. He prophesies regarding Jehoiakim the son of Josiah [took the place of Shallum, died while ruling, and was succeeded by his son], king of Judah, that he will not be lamented when he dies in Jerusalem. He prophesies regarding Coniah the son of Jehoiakim [renamed Jehoiachin and taken to Babylon, and succeeded by his uncle who was named Zedekiah] king of Judah that he will be taken to Babylon and die there, and that none of his descendants will rule again in Judah.

Jeremiah 23-25 (Day 225)

The LORD proclaims woe to the shepherds, the priests and prophets, who are destroying and scattering His sheep. He will gather a remnant of His flock out of all the countries where He has driven them. He will raise up for David a righteous Branch who will reign as king. He is against the prophets who speak falsely and will cast them away from His presence.
Jeconiah [Jehoiachin] the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, is carried off by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Babylon, along with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem. The LORD shows Jeremiah two basket of figs set before the temple of the LORD, one with ripe figs and one with rotten figs. He said He would regard as good the captives of Judah He had sent to Chaldea, setting His eys on them for good and giving them a heart to know Him, saying they would return to Him with their whole heart. But He said He would abandon Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant who remained in the land and in the land of Egypt.
Jeremiah spoke the word of the LORD in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), saying that he had spoken since the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, a total of 23 years, and the people have not listened. The LORD has sent prophets again and again and the people have not listened. He said He would send Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who He called His servant, and “This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation.” Then the LORD told Jeremiah to take the cup of the wine of His wrath and cause all the nations to drink it, saying, “I am beginning to work calamity in this city which is called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth…Because the LORD has a controversy with the nations. He is entering into judgment with all flesh; As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword.”

Jeremiah 26-29 (Day 226)

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, Jeremiah speaks the word of the LORD in the court of the LORD’s house, and the priests and prophets seize him, saying to the officials of Judah that he should be put to death. Jeremiah warns they would bring innocent blood on themselves, the officials defend Jeremiah, and Jeremiah is spared.
The LORD tells Jeremiah to put a yoke on his neck and send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon that He has given their lands into the hand of His servant, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that He will punish any nation that did not put its neck under his yoke.
In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, Hananiah the prophet breaks the yoke off the neck of Jeremiah, saying within two years the LORD will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations. Hananiah dies within the year, acccording to the word of the LORD, because he had counseled rebellion against the LORD.
The LORD has Jeremiah write a letter to those taken into exile, telling them to build houses, plant gardens, and have families, seeking the welfare of the city where they had been sent, and that He will bring them back in seventy years. The LORD promises punishment against those who prophesy differently.

Jeremiah 30-31 (Day 227)

The LORD tells Jeremiah to write all the words He had spoken to Him in a book, promising to restore the fortunes of His people Israel and Judah. He explains that He will punish their iniquity and sin, but He will bring them back to the land, and they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom He will raise up. He says, “In the latter days you will understand this.”
The LORD explains His new covenant with Israel: “‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.’” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Jeremiah 32-34 (Day 228)

Zedekiah king of Judah shuts Jeremiah up in the court of the guard, in the house of the king, during the tenth year of his reign and the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, when the army of the king of Babylon ws besieging Jerusalem, because Jeremiah was prophesying the word of the LORD that the city wold be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon. The LORD sends Jeremiah’s cousin to him to buy a field that Jeremiah has right of redemption to, as symbolism for His word that houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in the land. The LORD explains He is punishing Israel and Judah for their sins of idol worship, but that He will gather them back out of the lands where He has driven them, make an everlasting covenant with them, and restore their fortunes.
The Lord explains He will restore the fortunes of Israel and Judah, rebuilding them as they were at first. He will forgive their sins, and nations will fear and tremble because of the good He does for them. He will cause a righteous Branch of David to execute justice and righteousness on the earth. Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety, David will not lack a man to sit on his throne, and the Levitical priests will never lack a man to make offerings before Him. He knows people believe He has rejected His people, but He says, “If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”
The LORD repeats that Jerusalem will fall to Babylon and that Zedekiah will be taken to Babylon, but He tells him he will die in peace. This word came after Zedekiah made a covenant with the people of Jerusalem to release their servants. They obeyed, but afterward took them back as servants. The LORD proclaimed a release to them, to sword, pestilence, and famine.

Jeremiah 35-37 (Day 229)

In the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, the LORD told Jeremiah to bring the Rechabites into the house of the LORD and give them wine to drink, but they refused the wine because of the command of Rechab, their father. The LORD used this family, who had obeyed their father in all he commanded, as an example against Judah who had failed to listen to Him. As a reward to this family, He told them they would have a man to stand before Him always.
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the LORD told Jeremiah to write all the words he told him on a scroll. Baruch the son of Neriah wrote all the words Jeremiah dictated. Since Jeremiah was restricted from going into the house of the LORD, he had Baruch read the words to the people on a fast day in the fifth year of Jehoiakim. When Micaiah heard the words, he went to king’s house, where all the officials were and told them the words he had heard. They sent for Baruch to come read the scroll. They were frightened, told Baruch and Jeremiah to hide themselves, and kept the scroll to read to the king. While it was being read, he cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it in the fire. He commanded that Jeremiah and Baruch be seized, but the LORD hid them. The LORD pronounced that Jehoiakim would have no one to sit on the throne of David and that He would punish Jehoiakim and his descendants and servants for their iniquity.
In the days of Zedekiah, when the army of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, Pharoah’s army set out from Egypt and the Chaldeans lifted the siege. Jeremiah was able to leave Jerusalem to go to Benjamin to take possession of some property there, but he got accused him being a spy for the Chaldeans, and was arrested and imprisoned in the dungeon of the house of Jonathan the scribe. Zedekiah, who had previously asked Jeremiah to pray to the LORD on their behalf, brought him to his palace to see if he had a word from the LORD. The LORD had said Pharoah’s army would return to their land and the Chaldeans would return, capture the city, and burn it with fire. Jeremiah begged not to be sent back to the dungeon prison, so Zedekiah put him in the court of the guardhouse, giving him a loaf of bread daily until all the bread in the city was gone.

Jeremiah 38-40, Psalms 74, 79 (Day 230)

King Zedekiah put Jeremiah into the hands of his officials who complained about his prophecies. They let him down into a cistern full of mud in the court of the guardhouse, but the Ethiopian eunuch Ebed-melech pleaded with the king on Jeremiah’s behalf and he let him rescue him. Zedekiah summoned Jeremiah secretly and Jeremiah told him that if he would surrender to the king of Babylon, it would go well with him and the city would not be burned with fire. But Zedekiah said he feared the Jews who had gone over to the Chaldeans, and he swore Jeremiah to secrecy.
Nebuchadnezzar and his army captured Jerusalem in the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah and laid siege to it until the eleventh year, when they breached the city wall. Zedekiah and his men of war fled, but Zedekiah was captured, his sons were killed, his eyes were put out, and he was taken to Babylon. Jerusalem was burned and all but the poorest of the land were taken into exile in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar ordered that Jeremiah be taken care of, so he stayed among the people who were entrusted to Gedaliah by Nebuzaradan, captain of the Babylonian bodyguard. The LORD had Jeremiah tell Ebed-melech, who had saved Jeremiah, that he would have his life as booty because he had trusted in Him.
All the commanders of the forces in the field, as well as the Jews in Moab, among the sons of Ammon, in Edom, and all the other countries heard that Gedaliah had been put in charge of all who had not been exiled to Babylon, so the came to him at Mizpah. The commanders of the forces warned Gedaliah that Baalis the king of the sons of Ammon had sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to kill him, but Gedaliah did not believe them.

2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36 (Day 231): Josiah’s descendants, exile to Babylon, fall of Judah and destruction of Jerusalem

“the people of the land took Joahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in place of his father in Jerusalem. Joahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. Then the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and one talent of gold. The king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Joahaz his brother and brought him to Egypt.”
“Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon” (2 Chronicles 3:5-7)
“In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. The LORD sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken through His servants the prophets. Surely at the command of the LORD it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not forgive.”
“Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son became king in his place. The king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem…He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.
- “At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign. He carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, just as the LORD had said. Then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.”
- “Then the king of Babylon made his uncle Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
“Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem….He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of the LORD this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.”
- “He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God; he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the LORD. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel. Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the LORD which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.”
- “in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him. They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.”
“on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile. But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.”
- “the bronze pillars which were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea which were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. The captain of the guard also took away the firepans and the basins, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. The two pillars, the one sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD”
“the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three officers of the temple….one official who was overseer of the men of war, and five of the king’s advisers who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led away into exile from its land.”
- “The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy. Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon. Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles.”
“as for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them. When all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah….Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, ‘Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.’”
- “But it came about in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.”
“in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life; and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.”
“Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.”
“in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah—the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, ‘Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!”’”

Habakkuk 1-3 (Day 232): saw the terrifying vision of the punishing invasion of Israel by the mighty Chaldeans (of Babylon, who also conquered Assyria, as prophesied by Nahum), but also God’s subsequent punishment of them (and all enemies of God and His people) for the sake of His anointed, and resolved to rejoice and trust in God, knowing he was secure in Him

Jeremiah 41-45 (Day 233)

Ishmael, as warned by Johanan (on Day 230), did kill Gedaliah, who had been appointed by the Babylonians over the remnant in the land of Judah, and all the Jews and Chaldeans who were with him. The next day, 80 men came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria to give offerings to the house of the LORD, and killed all but 10 who said they had stores of food. Ishmael took captive the remnant of the people in Mizpah, including the king’s daughters, and proceeded to cross over to the sons of Ammon, but Johanan, and the commanders of the forces with him, heard of what he had done and went to fight him at Gibeon, recovering all who Ishmael had taken captive. Ishmael escaped with eight men to the sons of Ammon. Johanan and the remnant with him went to stay in Geruth Chimham, near Bethlehem, in order to proceed to Egypt because of their fear of the Chaldeans.
Johanan, the commanders, and the people approached Jeremiah to pray to the LORD for them that He should tell them what to do, saying they would comply with His answer. After ten days, the LORD told them through Jeremiah to stay in the land, not be afraid of the king of Babylon, and that He would have compassion on them. He said if they went to Egypt, all they feared would overtake them and they would die by sword, famine, and pestilence for their failure to obey Him.
The people accused Jeremiah of lying, saying Baruch was inciting him against them to turn them over to the Chaldeans so they would either be exiled or put to death. They disobeyed the word of the LORD and went to Egypt, entering as far as Tahpanhes, and Jeremiah and Baruch went with them. The LORD told Jeremiah in Tahpanhes to hide large stones in the mortar of the brick terrace of Pharoah’s palace there, in sight of some of the Jews, and share His word that he would set Nebuchadnezzar’s throne over those stones and that, in conquering Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar would kill and take captive, burn the temples of the gods of Egypt, and shatter the obelisks of Heliopolis.
Jeremiah shared the word of the LORD with all the Jews living in Egypt that they were continuing to provoke Him to anger by burning sacrifices to other gods in the land of Egypt, not learning the lesson that is why He brought calamity on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah, and that the remnant of the Jews that had entered Egypt would die, except for a few refugees who would return to the land of Judah. The Jews reasoned that calamity had come upon them in Judah after they had stopped worshiping the queen of heaven, so they resolved to continue their burning of sacrifices to other gods. Jeremiah clarified that calamity had come upon them because the LORD had no longer been able to endure their evil deeds of idol worship and disobedience to His Law. He shared the word of the LORD that the remnant in Egypt would die by sword and famine, with a few escaping to the land of Judah, so they would know whose word would stand, His or theirs. He gave as a sign of His word that Pharoah Hophra king of Egypt would be given over into the hand of his enemies.
Jeremiah shared the word of the LORD to Baruch the son of Neriah who had written down His words in a book at Jeremiah’s dictation in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in answer to his lament, that He would give his life to him as a booty in all the places he went.

Jeremiah 46-48 (Day 234)

Jeremiah shares a vision of the army of Pharoah Neco of Egypt, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah. Then he shares the word of the LORD that Egypt would be smited and given over to Nebuchadnezzar, but afterward “it will be inhabited as in the days of old.” The LORD says that He will make a full end of the nations where He has driven His people Israel but will not make a full end of His people, but will correct them properly, not leaving them unpunished.
Jeremiah shares the word of the Lord about the destruction of the Philistines, and Tyre and Sidon, by Pharoah.
Jeremiah shares the word of the LORD concerning Moab [descendant of Lot], who worships Chemosh and is arrogant toward the LORD, that every city will be destroyed and they will be destroyed as a people, but that He will restore their fortunes in the latter days.

Jeremiah 49-50 (Day 235)

Jeremiah shares the word of the LORD concerning Ammon, Esau, Damascus, Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, and Elam. Ammon [descendants of Lot] will be devastated, but restored in the latter days. Edom [Esau] will be brought down because of their arrogance. Damascus [Aram, Abraham’s brother and his descendants] will be burned. Kedar [Ishmael[ and the kingdoms of Hazor [Arabia] will be defeated by Nebuchadnezzar. Elam [descendant of Shem] will be shattered, but like Moab and Ammon, their fortunes will be restored in the latter days.
Jeremiah speaks the word of the LORD concerning the punishment of Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, as well as the redemption of His people Israel. The LORD explains that His people have become lost sheep because their shepherds have led them astray, but their sin has allowed their enemies to justify their actions against them, becoming arrogant against the LORD and jubilant in their pillaging of His heritage. The LORD used Assyria to punish Israel and then He used Babylon to punish Judah, but He says He will punish Babylon just as He punished Assyria [they were defeated by the Chaldeans]. He will have vengeance for His temple. The sons of Israel and Judah will desire to return to Zion. They will seek the LORD. He will bring them back, enter into an everlasting covenant with them, and forgive the sins of those whom He leaves as a remnant.

Jeremiah 51-52 (Day 236)

During the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah, Jeremiah wrote on a scroll all the calamity the LORD had promised against Babylon and sent it with Seraiah, the quartermaster, when he went with Zedekiah to Babylon. He was told to read the words of the scroll, and then tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, symbolizing how Babylon would fall and not rise. The LORD pronounced that He was going to arouse the Medes from the north against Babylon to destroy it as vengeance for His temple and all the evil of the Chaldeans in Zion. He explains that, though He used the Chaldeans to punish them, Israel and Judah have not been forsaken and there will be a time for them to remember Jerusalem and flee the devastation of Babylon.
The last chapter of Jeremiah is similar to the end of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles (Day 231). Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon, so in the ninth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar and his army placed Jerusalem under siege for two years, until there no food left and the city was broken into. Zedekiah and his army fled, but the army of the Chaldeans captured Zedekiah, taking him to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Zedekiah’s sons and all the princes of Judah were slaughtered. Zedekiah’s eyes were put out, he was taken bound to Babylon, and he was imprisoned until he died. Nebuzaradan, captain of the bodyguard, burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. They carried off to Babylon the treasures of the temple. They took Seriah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, three officers of the temple, seveon of the king’s advisers, the scribe of the commander of the army, and sixty men found in the city to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he put them to death. 4,600 Jewish people were carried away into exile in Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Thirty-seven years after he had been taken into exile, Jehoiachin king of Judah, grandson of Josiah, was brought out of prison by Evil-merodach king of Babylon. His throne was set above the other kings of Babylon, he was given an allowance, and he dined with the king regularly all the rest of the days of his life.

Lamentations 1-3:36 (Day 237): Jeremiah laments the devastation of Jerusalem and the exile of Judah. He acknowledges the LORD caused this grief because of the sin of Judah. The LORD warned, but prophets shared false visions, not exposing iniquity, so the LORD acted according to His word. Jeremiah laments that Israel’s enemies have rejoiced over her fall. He laments his own affliction. He awaits the day when enemies face justice as well. He remembers the compassion and lovingkindness of the LORD for those who fear Him. He says it is good to consider His reproach and wait for His salvation.

Lamentations 3:27-5:22 (Day 238): Jeremiah acknowledges the LORD’s sovereignty over all events, both good and ill, and that no mortal should complain in light of their sin. He calls for us to examine our ways and return to the LORD. He is faithful to redeem our lives when we draw near. He warns that Israel’s enemies will face the same just fate. He acknowledges the sins of the fathers of Israel and the sins of the people of Israel. He begs for restoration, unless the LORD has utterly rejected and is exceedingly angry, demonstrating his submission to the LORD’s just sovereignty.

The MD/Pastor's Wife Corner

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