See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! Psalm 133:1

1 Kings 14-15

1 Kings 14

Ahijah’s Prophecy against Jeroboam

¹ At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please get up and disguise yourself, so that you won’t be recognized as Jeroboam’s wife. Go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there, who said that I would be king over this people. ³ Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the child.”

⁴ Jeroboam’s wife did so and arose and went to Shiloh and came to Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were weak because of his age. ⁵ The Lord said to Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Tell her such and such, for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman.”

⁶ So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, Jeroboam’s wife! Why do you pretend to be another? For I am sent to you with heavy news. ⁷ Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because I exalted you from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel ⁸ and tore the kingdom away from David’s house and gave it you, and yet you have not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in my eyes, ⁹ but have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods, molten images, to provoke me to anger and have cast me behind your back. ¹⁰ Therefore, I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam:

I will cut off from Jeroboam every male,
both slave and free, in Israel.
I will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam,
as a man sweeps away dung, until it is all gone.
¹¹ Anyone who belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city,
the dogs will eat,
and anyone who dies in the field,
the birds of the sky will eat,
for the Lord has spoken it.’

¹² Arise therefore and go to your house. When your feet enter into the city, the child will die. ¹³ All Israel will mourn for him and bury him, Of Jeroboam, he alone will receive a proper burial, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. ¹⁴ Moreover the Lord will raise up a king for himself over Israel, who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day! Yes, even now.

¹⁵ For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers and will scatter them beyond the River because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the Lord to anger. ¹⁶ He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has committed, and with which he has caused Israel to commit.”

¹⁷ Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed and came to Tirzah. As she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. ¹⁸ All Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.

Nadab Succeeds Jeroboam

¹⁹ The rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ²⁰ The days which Jeroboam reigned were 22 years, then he rested with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam’s Wicked Reign in Judah

²¹ Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. ²² Judah did that which was evil in the Lord’s sight, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, above all that their fathers had done. ²³ For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. ²⁴ There were also sodomites in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord drove out before the Israelites.

Shishak Raids Jerusalem

²⁵ In the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, ²⁶ and he took away the treasures of the Lord’s house and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away all of it, including all the gold shields which Solomon had made. ²⁷ King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. ²⁸ It was so, that as often as the king went into the Lord’s house, the guard bore them and brought them back into the guard room.

²⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ³⁰ There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ³¹ Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. Abijam his son reigned in his place.

1 Kings 15

Abijam’s Wicked Reign in Judah

¹ Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. ² He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ³ He walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. ⁴ Nevertheless for David’s sake, the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem, ⁵ because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ⁶ Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

⁷ The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

⁸ Abijam rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa his son reigned in his place.

Asa’s Good Reign in Judah

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah. ¹⁰ He reigned 41 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father did. ¹² He removed the sodomites from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. ¹³ He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁴ But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the Lord all his days. ¹⁵ He brought into the house of the Lord the things that his father had dedicated and the things that he himself had dedicated: silver, gold, and utensils.

War between Asa and Baasha

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷ Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that was left in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered it into the hand of his servants. Then King Asa sent them to Ben Hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived at Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “There is a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. I have sent to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.”

²⁰ Ben Hadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel and struck Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and lived in Tirzah. ²² Then king Asa made a proclamation to all Judah. No one was exempt. They carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had built, and king Asa used it to build Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

Jehoshaphat Succeeds Asa

²³ Now the rest of all the acts of Asa and all his might and all that he did and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴ Asa rested with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, his father, and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place.

Nadab’s Wicked Reign in Israel

²⁵ Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and in his sin, which also caused Israel to sin. ²⁷ Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and Baasha struck him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, for Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon.

²⁸ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha killed him and reigned in his place. ²⁹ As soon as he was king, he struck the entire house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, ³⁰ for the sins of Jeroboam which he committed, and which he caused Israel to commit, because of his provocation with which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger.

³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

³² There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel in Tirzah for 24 years. ³⁴ He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin with which he also caused Israel to sin.

Acts 10:1-23

Cornelius Sends for Peter

¹ Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, ² a devout man and one who feared God with all his house, who gave gifts for the needy generously to the people and always prayed to God. ³ At about the ninth hour of the day, he clearly saw in a vision an angel of the Lord coming to him and saying to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴ Fastening his eyes on him, frightened, he said, “What is it, Lord?”

He said to him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the needy have gone up as a memorial before the Lord. ⁵ Now send men to Joppa and get Simon, who is also called Peter. ⁶ He is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the seaside.

⁷ When the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of those who waited on him continually. ⁸ Having explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

Peter’s Vision

⁹ Now the next day as they were on their journey, and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon. ¹⁰ He became hungry and desired to eat, but while they were preparing, he fell into a trance. ¹¹ He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth, ¹² in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky. ¹³ A voice came to him, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat!”

¹⁴ But Peter said, “No, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”

¹⁵ A voice came to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.” ¹⁶ This was done three times, and immediately the vessel was received up into heaven.

Peter Summoned to Caesarea

¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed as to what the vision which he had seen might mean, when suddenly, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood before the gate ¹⁸ and called and asked whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was lodging there. ¹⁹ While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Three men are seeking you. ²⁰ But get up, go down to them and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them.”

²¹ Peter went down to the men and said, “I am he whom you seek. Why have you come?”

²² They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and is well spoken of by the whole nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house and to listen to what you say.” ²³ So he called them in and provided a place to stay. The next day Peter got up and went out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

Psalm 133

Living in Harmony

A Song of Ascents. By David.

¹ See how good and how pleasant it is
for brothers to live together in unity!
² It is like the precious oil on the head,
that ran down on the beard,
Aaron’s beard,
that came down on the edge of his robes,
³ like the dew of Hermon,
that comes down on the hills of Zion,
for there the Lord gives the blessing,
life forever more.

Proverbs 17:7-8

⁷ Arrogant speech is not fitting for a fool,
much less do lying lips fit a prince.
⁸ A bribe is a precious stone in the eyes of him who gives it;
wherever he turns, he prospers.

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