Ezra & Haggai

Day One

[Pro 21:1 ESV] {1} The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.

Day Two

[2Ch 36:5-23 ESV] {5} Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. {6} Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. {7} Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. {8} Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. {9} Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. {10} In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the LORD, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem. {11} Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. {12} He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. {13} He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. {14} All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem. {15} The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. {16} But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy. {17} Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. {18} And all the vessels 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 princes, all these he brought to Babylon. {19} And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. {20} He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, {21} to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. {22} Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: {23} “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.'”

[Jer 25:1-14 ESV] {1} The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), {2} which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: {3} “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. {4} You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, {5} saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. {6} Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ {7} Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. {8} “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, {9} behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. {10} Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. {11} This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. {12} Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. {13} I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. {14} For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

[Jer 29:10-14 ESV] {10} “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. {11} For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. {12} Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. {13} You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. {14} I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

[Dan 5:17-31 ESV] {17} Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. {18} O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. {19} And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. {20} But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. {21} He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. {22} And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, {23} but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. {24} “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. {25} And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. {26} This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; {27} Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; {28} Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” {29} Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. {30} That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. {31} And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

[Dan 6:1-3 ESV] {1} It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; {2} and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. {3} Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

[Dan 6:28 ESV] {28} So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

[Isa 44:24-28 ESV] {24} Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, {25} who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, {26} who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins’; {27} who says to the deep, ‘Be dry; I will dry up your rivers’; {28} who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.'”

[Isa 45:1-13 ESV] {1} Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: {2} “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, {3} I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. {4} For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. {5} I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, {6} that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. {7} I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. {8} “Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the LORD have created it. {9} “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’? {10} Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?'” {11} Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: “Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands? {12} I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. {13} I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,” says the LORD of hosts.

Day Three

[Neh 7:1-73 ESV] {1} Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, {2} I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. {3} And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” {4} The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt. {5} Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written in it: {6} These were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town. {7} They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: {8} the sons of Parosh, 2,172. {9} The sons of Shephatiah, 372. {10} The sons of Arah, 652. {11} The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818. {12} The sons of Elam, 1,254. {13} The sons of Zattu, 845. {14} The sons of Zaccai, 760. {15} The sons of Binnui, 648. {16} The sons of Bebai, 628. {17} The sons of Azgad, 2,322. {18} The sons of Adonikam, 667. {19} The sons of Bigvai, 2,067. {20} The sons of Adin, 655. {21} The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. {22} The sons of Hashum, 328. {23} The sons of Bezai, 324. {24} The sons of Hariph, 112. {25} The sons of Gibeon, 95. {26} The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, 188. {27} The men of Anathoth, 128. {28} The men of Beth-azmaveth, 42. {29} The men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. {30} The men of Ramah and Geba, 621. {31} The men of Michmas, 122. {32} The men of Bethel and Ai, 123. {33} The men of the other Nebo, 52. {34} The sons of the other Elam, 1,254. {35} The sons of Harim, 320. {36} The sons of Jericho, 345. {37} The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 721. {38} The sons of Senaah, 3,930. {39} The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, namely the house of Jeshua, 973. {40} The sons of Immer, 1,052. {41} The sons of Pashhur, 1,247. {42} The sons of Harim, 1,017. {43} The Levites: the sons of Jeshua, namely of Kadmiel of the sons of Hodevah, 74. {44} The singers: the sons of Asaph, 148. {45} The gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138. {46} The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, {47} the sons of Keros, the sons of Sia, the sons of Padon, {48} the sons of Lebana, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Shalmai, {49} the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, {50} the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, {51} the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, {52} the sons of Besai, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephushesim, {53} the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, {54} the sons of Bazlith, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, {55} the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, {56} the sons of Neziah, the sons of Hatipha. {57} The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Sophereth, the sons of Perida, {58} the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, {59} the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Amon. {60} All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392. {61} The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer, but they could not prove their fathers’ houses nor their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: {62} the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda, 642. {63} Also, of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name). {64} These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but it was not found there, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. {65} The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food until a priest with Urim and Thummim should arise. {66} The whole assembly together was 42,360, {67} besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 singers, male and female. {68} Their horses were 736, their mules 245, {69} their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720. {70} Now some of the heads of fathers’ houses gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 basins, 30 priests’ garments and 500 minas of silver. {71} And some of the heads of fathers’ houses gave into the treasury of the work 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver. {72} And what the rest of the people gave was 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priests’ garments. {73} So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their towns. And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.

Day Four

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Day Five

[Lev 23:39-44 ESV] {39} “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. {40} And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. {41} You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. {42} You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, {43} that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” {44} Thus Moses declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the LORD.

[Psa 137:1-6 ESV] {1} By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. {2} On the willows there we hung up our lyres. {3} For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” {4} How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land? {5} If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! {6} Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!

[Psa 126:1-6 ESV] {1} A Song of Ascents. When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. {2} Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” {3} The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad. {4} Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negeb! {5} Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! {6} He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Day One

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Day Two

[2Ki 17:21-41 ESV] {21} When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD and made them commit great sin. {22} The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, {23} until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day. {24} And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. {25} And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. {26} So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” {27} Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” {28} So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD. {29} But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. {30} The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, {31} and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. {32} They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. {33} So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. {34} To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. {35} The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, {36} but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. {37} And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, {38} and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, {39} but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” {40} However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner. {41} So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children–as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

Day Three

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Day Four

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Day Five

[Dan 6:8 ESV] {8} Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.”

[Est 8:8 ESV] {8} But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”

[2Ch 7:1-5 ESV] {1} As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. {2} And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. {3} When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” {4} Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD. {5} King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. [Exo 12:1-8 ESV] {1} The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, {2} “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. {3} Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. {4} And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. {5} Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, {6} and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. {7} “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. {8} They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread

Day One

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Day Two

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Day Three

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Day Four

[Num 19:11-13, 22 ESV] {11} “Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. {12} He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean. {13} Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him. … {22} And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.”

Day Five

[Gen 41:41-45 ESV] {41} And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” {42} Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. {43} And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. {44} Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” {45} And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

[Est 8:7-9 ESV] {7} Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. {8} But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.” {9} The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language.

[Jer 22:24-30 ESV] {24} “As I live, declares the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off {25} and give you into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. {26} I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. {27} But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.” {28} Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for? Why are he and his children hurled and cast into a land that they do not know? {29} O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD! {30} Thus says the LORD: “Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.”

[Mat 1:1-16 ESV] {1} The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. {2} Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, {3} and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, {4} and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, {5} and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, {6} and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, {7} and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, {8} and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, {9} and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, {10} and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, {11} and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. {12} And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, {13} and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, {14} and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, {15} and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, {16} and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

[Mat 25:31 ESV] {31} “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. [Mat 6:31-33 ESV] {31} Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ {32} For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. {33} But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Day One

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Day Two and Day Three

[Est 2:1-17 ESV] {1} After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. {2} Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. {3} And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them. {4} And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so. {5} Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, {6} who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. {7} He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. {8} So when the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. {9} And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king’s palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem. {10} Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. {11} And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her. {12} Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women– {13} when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. {14} In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name. {15} When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her. {16} And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, {17} the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

[Est 10:1-3 ESV] {1} King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. {2} And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? {3} For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

[2Ch 34:1, 8-9, 14-15, 18-21 ESV] {1} Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. … {8} Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God. {9} They came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. … {14} While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses. {15} Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. … {18} Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it before the king. {19} And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes. {20} And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, {21} “Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book.”

[1Ki 2:27, 35 ESV] {27} So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, thus fulfilling the word of the LORD that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. … {35} The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abiathar.

[Num 25:1-13 ESV] {1} While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. {2} These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. {3} So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. {4} And the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” {5} And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.” {6} And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. {7} When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand {8} and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. {9} Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand. {10} And the LORD said to Moses, {11} “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. {12} Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, {13} and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.'”

[Neh 8:1-18 ESV] {1} And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. {2} So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. {3} And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. {4} And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. {5} And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. {6} And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. {7} Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. {8} They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. {9} And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. {10} Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” {11} So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” {12} And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. {13} On the second day the heads of fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. {14} And they found it written in the Law that the LORD had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, {15} and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” {16} So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. {17} And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. {18} And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.

[1Pe 2:9-10 ESV] {9} But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. {10} Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Day Four

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Day Five

[Num 3:4-10 ESV] {4} But Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the lifetime of Aaron their father. {5} And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, {6} “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. {7} They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle. {8} They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. {9} And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. {10} And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

[Num 8:14-19 ESV] {14} “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. {15} And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering. {16} For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel. Instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself. {17} For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, {18} and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. {19} And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

[1Ch 22:17-19 ESV] {17} David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, {18} “Is not the LORD your God with you? And has he not given you peace on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land is subdued before the LORD and his people. {19} Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the LORD God, so that the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the LORD.”

[2Ch 12:13-14 ESV] {13} So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. {14} And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.

[2Ch 19:1-7 ESV] {1} Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. {2} But 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? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the LORD. {3} Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.” {4} Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem. And he 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. {5} He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, {6} and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the LORD. He is with you in giving judgment. {7} Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the LORD our God, or partiality or taking bribes.”

Day One

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Day Two

[Deu 7:1-6 ESV] {1} “When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, {2} and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. {3} You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, {4} for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. {5} But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire. {6} “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

[1Ki 11:1-10 ESV] {1} Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, {2} from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. {3} He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. {4} For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. {5} For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. {6} So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. {7} Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. {8} And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. {9} And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice {10} and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded.

[Rth 1:1-7, 15-22 ESV] {1} In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. {2} The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. {3} But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. {4} These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, {5} and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. {6} Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the LORD had visited his people and given them food. {7} So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. … {15} And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” {16} But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. {17} Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” {18} And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. {19} So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” {20} She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. {21} I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” {22} So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

[Rth 4:8-17 ESV] {8} So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. {9} Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. {10} Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.” {11} Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, {12} and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman.” {13} So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. {14} Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! {15} He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” {16} Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. {17} And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

[Mat 1:1-6 ESV] {1} The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. {2} Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, {3} and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, {4} and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, {5} and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, {6} and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,

[2Co 6:14-18 ESV] {14} Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? {15} What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? {16} What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. {17} Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, {18} and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

[2Co 7:1 ESV] {1} Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

[1Co 7:39 ESV] {39} A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

Day Three

[1Sa 2:12-17, 22-25 ESV] {12} Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD. {13} The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, {14} and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. {15} Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” {16} And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” {17} Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the LORD, for the men treated the offering of the LORD with contempt. … {22} Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. {23} And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. {24} No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the LORD spreading abroad. {25} If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death.

[1Sa 3:11-13 ESV] {11} Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. {12} On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. {13} And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.

[1Sa 15:1-3, 9-23 ESV] {1} And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. {2} Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. {3} Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'” … {9} But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction. {10} The word of the LORD came to Samuel: {11} “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night. {12} And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” {13} And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” {14} And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” {15} Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” {16} Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” {17} And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. {18} And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ {19} Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” {20} And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. {21} But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” {22} And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. {23} For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.”

[Jer 1:16 ESV] {16} And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.

[Jer 6:15 ESV] {15} Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” says the LORD.

[Jer 8:18-22 ESV] {18} My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me. {19} Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” “Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?” {20} “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” {21} For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me. {22} Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?

[Jer 9:1 ESV] {1} Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

[1Co 5:1-13 ESV] {1} It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. {2} And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. {3} For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. {4} When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, {5} you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. {6} Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? {7} Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. {8} Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. {9} I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people– {10} not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. {11} But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler–not even to eat with such a one. {12} For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? {13} God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

Day Four

 (None)

Day Five

[Mat 10:32-38 ESV] {32} So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, {33} but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. {34} “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. {35} For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. {36} And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. {37} Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. {38} And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

[Mal 2:10-16 ESV] {10} Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? {11} Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. {12} May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who brings an offering to the LORD of hosts! {13} And this second thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. {14} But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. {15} Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth. {16} “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

[1Co 7:12-16 ESV] {12} To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. {13} If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. {14} For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. {15} But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. {16} For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?