Bible in a Year.

On day 180, 2 Kings 13-14 recounts the final years of the kingdom of Israel, its struggles and missed opportunities. Amos 7-9 contains the prophet's final prophecies, reinforcing the people's justice and responsibility. Psalm 124 celebrates divine protection, reminding us that God is our refuge and constant help in the midst of difficulties.

Chapter 13

1. In the three and twentieth year of Joas son of Ochozias king of Juda, Joachaz the son of Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria, seventeen years.

2. And he did evil before the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, and he departed not from them.

3. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael the king of Syria, and into the hand of Benadad the son of Hazael all days.

4. But Joachaz besought the face of the Lord, and the Lord heard him: for he saw the distress of Israel, because the king of Syria had oppressed them:

5. And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, and they were delivered out of the hand of the king of Syria: and the children of Israel dwelt in their pavilions as yesterday and the day before.

6. But yet they departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, but walked in them: and there still remained a grove also in Samaria.

7. And Joachaz had no more left of the people than fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen: for the king of Syria had slain them, and had brought them low as dust by thrashing in the barnfloor.

8. Rut the rest of the acts of Joachaz, and all that he did, and his valour, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

9. And Joachaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Joas his son reigned in his stead.

10. In the seven and thirtieth year of Joas king of Juda, Joas the son of Joachaz reigned over Israel in Samaria sixteen years.

11. And he did that which is evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sine of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, but he walked in them.

12. But the rest of the acts of Joas, and all that he did, and his valour wherewith he fought against Amasias king of Juda, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

13. And Joas slept with his fathers: and Jeroboam sat upon his throne. But Joas was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

14. Now Eliseus was sick of the illness whereof he died: and Joas king of Israel went down to him, and wept before him, and said: O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the guider thereof.

15. And Eliseus said to him: Bring a bow and arrows. And when he had brought him a bow, and arrows,

16. He said to the king of Israel: Put thy hand upon the bow. And when he had put his hand, Eliseus put his hands over the king's hands,

17. And said: Open the window to the east. And when he had opened it, Eliseus said: Shoot an arrow. And he shot. And Eliseus said: The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of the deliverance from Syria: and thou shalt strike the Syrians in Aphec, till thou consume them.

18. And he said: Take the arrows. And when he had taken them, he said to him : Strike with an arrow upon the ground. And he struck three times and stood still.

19. And the man of God was angry with him, and said: If thou hadst smitten five or six or seven times, thou hadst smitten Syria even to utter destruction: but now three times shalt thou smite it.

20. And Eliseus died, and they buried him. And the rovers from Moab came into the land the same year.

21. And some that were burying a man, saw the rovers, and cast the body into the sepulchre of Eliseus. And when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man came to life, and stood upon his feet.

22. Now Hazael king of Syria afflicted Israel all the days of Joachaz:

23. And the Lord had mercy on them, and returned to them because of his covenant, which he had made with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob: and he would not destroy them, nor utterly cast them away, unto this present time.

24. And Hazael king of Syria died, and Benadad his son reigned in his stead.

25. Now Joas d the son of Joachaz, took the cities out of the hand of Benadad, the son of Hazael, which he had taken out of the hand of Joachaz his father by war, three times did Joas beat him, and he restored the cities to Israel.

Chapter 14

1. In the second year of Joas son of Joachaz, king of Israel, reigned Amasias son of Joas king of Juda.

2. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and nine and twenty gears he reigned in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Joadan of Jerusalem.

3. And he did that which was right before the Lord, but yet not like David his father. He did according to all things that Joas his father did:

4. But this only, that he took not away the high places: for yet the people sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

5. And when he had possession of the kingdom, he put his servants to death that had slain the king his father:

6. But the children of the murderers he did not put to death, according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the Lord commanded, saying: The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: but every man shall die for his own sins.

7. He slew of Edom h in the valley of the Saltpits ten thousand men, and took the rock by war, and called the name thereof Jectehel, unto this day.

8. Then Amasias sent messengers to Joas son of Joachaz, son of Jehu king of Israel, saying: Come let us see one another.

9. And Joas king of Israel sent again to Amasias king of Juda, saying: A thistle of Libanus sent to a cedar tree, which is in Libanus, saying: Give thy daughter to my son to wife. And the beasts of the forest, that are in Libanus, passed and trod down the thistle.

10. Thou hast beaten and prevailed over Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up: be content with the glory, and sit at home: why provokest thou evil, that thou shouldst fall, and Juda with thee?

11. But Amasias did not rest satisfied. So Joas king of Israel went up, and he and Amasias king of Juda saw one another in Bethsames a town in Juda.

12. And Juda was put to the worst before Israel, and they fled every man to their dwellings.

13. But Joas king of Israel took Amasias, king of Juda the son of Joas, the son of Ochozias, in Bethsames, and brought him into Jerusalem: and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem, from the gate of Ephraim to the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits.

14. And he took all the gold, and silver, and all the vessels, that were found in the house of the Lord, and in the king's treasures, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.

15. But the rest of the acts of Joas, which he did, and his valour, wherewith he fought against Amasias king of Juda, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

16. And Joas slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, with the kings of Israel: and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead.

17. And Amasias the son of Joas king of Juda lived, after the death of Joas son of Joachaz king of Israel fifteen years.

18. And the rest of the acts of Amasias, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

19. Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachis. And they sent after him to Lachis, and killed him there.

20. And they brought him away upon horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.

21. And all the people of Juda took Azarias, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amasias.

22. He built Elath, and restored it to Juda, after that the king slept with his fathers.

23. In the fifteenth year of Amasias k son of Joas king of Juda, reigned Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israel in Samaria, one and forty years :

24. And he did that which was evil before the Lord. He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.

25. He restored the borders of Israel from the entrance of Emath, unto the sea of the wilderness, according to the word of the Lord the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonas the son of Amathi, the prophet, who was of Geth, which is in Opher.

26. For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel that it was exceeding bitter, and that they were consumed even to them that were shut up in prison, and the lowest persons, and that there was no one to help Israel.

27. And 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 Joas.

28. But the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his velour, where- with he fought, and how he restored Damascus, and Emath to Juda in Israel, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

29. And Jeroboam slept with his fathers the kings of Israel, and Zacharias his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 7

1. These things the Lord God shewed to me: and behold the locust was formed in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter rain, and lo, it was the latter rain after the king's mowing.

2. And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, I said: O Lord God, be merciful, I beseech thee: who shall raise up Jacob, for he is very little?

3. The Lord had pity upon this: It shall not be, said the Lord.

4. These things the Lord God shewed to me: and behold the Lord called for judgment unto fire, and it devoured the great deep, and ate up a part at the same time.

5. And I said: O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee, who shall raise up Jacob, for he is a little one?

6. The Lord had pity upon this. Yea this also shall not be, said the Lord God.

7. These things the Lord shewed to me: and behold the Lord was standing upon a plastered wall, and in his hand a mason's trowel.

8. And the Lord said to me: What seest thou, Amos? And I said: A mason's trowel. And the Lord said: Behold, I will lay down the trowel in the midst of my people Israel. I will plaster them over no more.

9. And the high places of the idol shall be thrown down, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste: and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

10. And Amasias the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: Amos hath rebelled against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

11. For thus saith Amos: Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be carried away captive out of their own land.

12. And Amasias said to Amos: Thou seer, go, flee away into the land of Juda: and eat bread there, and prophesy there.

13. But prophesy not again any more in Bethel: because it is the king's sanctuary, and it is the house of the kingdom.

14. And Amos answered and said to Amasias: I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet: but I am a herdsman plucking wild figs.

15. And the Lord took me when I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me: Go, prophesy to my people Israel.

16. And now hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest, thou shalt not prophesy against Israel, and thou shalt not drop thy word upon the house of the idol.

17. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Thy wife shall play the harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be measured by a line: and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel shall go into captivity out of their land.

Chapter 8

1. These things the Lord shewed to me: and behold a hook to draw down the fruit.

2. And he said: What seest thou, Amos? And I said: A hook to draw down fruit. And the Lord said to me: The end is come upon my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more.

3. And the hinges of the temple shall screak in that day, saith the Lord God: many shall die: silence shall be cast in every place.

4. Hear this, you that crush the poor, and make the needy of the land to fail,

5. Saying: When will the month be over, and we shall sell our wares: and the sabbath, and we shall open the corn: that we may lessen the measure, and increase the sicle, and may convey in deceitful balances,

6. That we may possess the needy for money, and the poor for a pair of shoes, and may sell the refuse of the corn?

7. The Lord hath sworn against the pride of Jacob: surely I will never forget all their works.

8. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein: and rise up altogether as a river, and be cast out, and run down as the river of Egypt?

9. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that the sun shall go down at midday, and I will make the earth dark in the day of light:

10. And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation: and I will bring up sackcloth upon every back of yours, and baldness upon every head: and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the latter end thereof as a bitter day.

11. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will send forth a famine into the land: not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord.

12. And they shall move from sea to sea, and from the north to the east: they shall go about seeking the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

13. In that day the fair virgins, and the young men shall faint for thirst.

14. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say: Thy God, O Dan, liveth: and the way of Bersabee liveth: and they shall fall, and shall rise no more.

Chapter 9

1. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, and he said: Strike the hinges, and let the lintels be shook: for there is covetousness in the head of them all, and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall be no flight for them: they shall flee, and he that shall flee of them shall not be delivered.

2. Though they go down even to hell, thence shall my hand bring them out: and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.

3. And though they be hid in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them away from thence : and though they hide themselves from my eyes in the depth of the sea, there will I command the serpent and he shall bite them.

4. And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall kill them. And I will set my eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

5. And the Lord the God of hosts is he who toucheth the earth, and it shall melt: and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up as a river, and shall run down as the river of Egypt.

6. He that buildeth his ascension in heaven, and hath founded his bundle upon the earth: who calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth, the Lord is his name.

7. Are not you as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel, saith the Lord? did not I bring up Israel, out of the land of Egypt: and the Philistines out of Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of Cyrene?

8. Behold the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth: but yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.

9. For behold I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as corn is sifted in a sieve: and there shall not a little stone fall to the ground.

10. All the sinners of my people shall fall by the sword: who say: The evils shall not approach, and shall not come upon us.

11. In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, that is fallen: and I will close up the breaches of the walls thereof, and repair what was fallen: and I will rebuild it as in the days of old.

12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all nations, because my name is invoked upon them: saith the Lord that doth these things.

13. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed: and the mountains shall drop sweetness, and every hill shall be tilled.

14. And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel: and they shall build the abandoned cities, and inhabit them: and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine of them: and shall make gardens, and eat the fruits of them. And I will plant them upon their own land: and I will no more pluck them out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

1. If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say:

2. If it had not been that the Lord was with us, When men rose up against us

3. perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was enkindled against us,

4. perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.

5. Our soul hath passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable.

6. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us to be a prey to their teeth.

7. Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the followers. The snare is broken, and we are delivered.

8. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.