Bible in a Year.

On day 178, 2 Kings 10 recounts Jehu's victory over the house of Ahab, demonstrating divine judgment. Amos 1-3 presents prophecies of justice and warnings against oppression, reinforcing the faithfulness required by the Lord. Psalm 110 exalts God's sovereignty and the eternal reign of the Messiah, strengthening the hope of the faithful people.

1. And Achab had seventy sons in Samaria: so Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the chief men of the city, and to the ancients, and to them that brought up Achab's children, saying:

2. As soon as you receive these letters, ye that have your master's sons, and chariots, and horses, and fenced cities, and armour,

3. Choose the best, and him that shall please you most of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for the house of your master.

4. But they were exceedingly afraid, and said: Behold two kings could not stand before him, and how shall we be able to resist?

5. Therefore the overseers of the house, and the rulers of the city, and the ancients, and the tutors sent to Jehu, saying: We are thy servants, whatsoever thou shalt command us we will do, neither will we make us a king: do thou all that pleaseth thee.

6. And he wrote letters the second time to them, saying: If you be mine, and will obey me, take the heads of the sons of your master, and come to me to Jezrahel by to morrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy men, were brought up with the chief men of the city.

7. And when the letters came to them, they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezrahel.

8. And a messenger came, and told him, saying: They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said: Lay ye them in two heaps by the entering in of the gate until the morning.

9. And when it was light, he went out, and standing said to all the people: You are just: if I conspired against my master, and slew him, who hath slain all these?

10. See therefore now that there hath not fallen to the ground any of the words of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Achab, and the Lord hath done that which he spoke in the hand of his servant Elias.

11. So Jehu slew all that were left of the house of Achab in Jezrahel, and all his chief men, and his friends, and his priests, till there were no remains left of him.

12. And he arose, and went to Samaria: and when he was come to the shepherds' cabin in the way,

13. He met with the brethren of Ochozias king of Juda, and he said to them: Who are you? And they answered: We are the brethren of Ochozias, and are come down to salute the sons of the king, and the sons of the queen.

14. And he said: Take them alive. And they took them alive, and killed them at the pit by the cabin, two and forty men, and he left not any of them.

15. And when he was departed thence, he found Jonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him, and he blessed him. And he said to him: Is thy heart right as my heart is with thy heart? And Jonadab said: It is. If it be, said he, give me thy hand. He gave him his hand. And he lifted him up to him into the chariot,

16. And he said to him: Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. So he made him ride in his chariot,

17. And brought him into Samaria. And he slew all that were left of Achab in Samaria, to a man, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Elias.

18. And Jehu gathered together all the people, and said to them: Achab worshipped Baal a little, but I will worship him more.

19. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, and all his servants, and all his priests: let none be wanting, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal: whosoever shall be wanting shall not live. Now Jehu did this craftily, that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.

20. And he said: Proclaim a festival for Baal. And he called,

21. And he sent into all the borders of Israel, and all the servants of Baal came: there was not one left that did not come. And they went into the temple of Baal: and the house of Baal was filled, from one end to the other.

22. And he said to them that were over the wardrobe: Bring forth garments for all the servants of Baal. And they brought them forth garments.

23. And Jehu and Jonadab the son of Rechab went to the temple of Baal, and said to the worshippers of Baal: Search, and see that there be not any with you of the servants of the Lord, but that there be the servants of Baal only.

24. And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings: but Jehu had prepared him fourscore men without, and said to them: If any of the men escape, whom I have brought into your hands, he that letteth him go shall answer life for life.

25. And it came to pass, when the burnt offering was ended, that Jehu commanded his soldiers and captains, saying: Go in, and kill them, let none escape. And the soldiers and captains slew them with the edge of the sword, and cast them out: and they went into the city of the temple of Baal,

26. And brought the statue out of Baal's temple, and burnt it,

27. And broke it in pieces. They destroyed also the temple of Baal, and made a jakes in its place unto this day.

28. So Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel:

29. But yet he departed not from the sills of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he forsake the golden calves that were in Bethel and Dan.

30. And the Lord said to Jehu: Because thou hast diligently executed that which was right and pleasing in my eyes, and hast done to the house of Achab according to all that was in my heart: thy children shall sit upon the throne of Israel to the fourth Generation.

31. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord the God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel to sin.

32. In those days the Lord began to he weary of Israel: and Hazael ravaged them in all the coasts of Israel,

33. From the Jordan eastward, all the land of Galaad, and Gad, and Ruben, and Manasses, from Aroer, which is upon the torrent Amen, and Galaad, and Basan.

34. But the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and his strength, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

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

36. And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel, in Samaria, was eight and twenty years.

Chapter 1

1. The words of Amos, who was among herdsmen of Thecua: which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Ozias king of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israel two years before the earthquake.

2. And he said: The Lord will roar from Sion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem: and the beautiful places of the shepherds have mourned, and the top of Carmel is withered.

3. Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Damascus, and for four I will not convert it: because they have thrashed Galaad with iron wains.

4. And I will send a fire into the house of Azael, and it shall devour the houses of Benadad.

5. And I will break the bar of Damascus: and I will cut off the inhabitants from the plain of the idol, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of pleasure: and the people of Syria shall be carried away to Cyrene, saith the Lord.

6. Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Gaza, and for four I will not convert it: because they have carried away a perfect captivity to shut them up in Edom.

7. And I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour the houses thereof.

8. And I will cut off the inhabitant from Azotus, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ascalon: and I will turn my hand against Accaron, and the rest of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God.

9. Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Tyre, and for four I will not convert it: because they have shut up an entire captivity in Edom, and have not remembered the covenant of brethren.

10. And I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour the houses thereof.

11. Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Edom, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath pursued his brother with the sword, and hath cast off all pity, and hath carried on his fury, and hath kept his wrath to the end.

12. I will send a fire into Theman: and it shall devour the houses of Bosra.

13. Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of the children of Ammon, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath ripped up the women with child of Galaad to enlarge his border.

14. And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabba: and it shall devour the houses thereof with shouting in the day of battle, and with a whirlwind in the day of trouble.

15. And Melchom shall go into captivity, both he, and his princes together, saith the Lord.

Chapter 2

1. Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Moab, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath burnt the bones of the king of Edom even to ashes.

2. And I will seed a fire into Moab, and it shall devour the houses of Carioth: and Moab shall die with a noise, with the sound of the trumpet:

3. And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all his princes with him, saith the Lord.

4. Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Juda, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath cast away the law of the Lord, and hath not kept his commandments: for their idols have caused them to err, after which their fathers have walked.

5. And I will send a fire into Juda, and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem.

6. Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Israel, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath sold the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of shoes.

7. They bruise the heads of the poor upon the dust of the earth, and turn aside the way of the humble: and the son and his father have gone to the same young woman, to profane my holy name.

8. And they sat down upon garments laid to pledge by every altar: and drank the wine of the condemned in the house of their God.

9. Yet I cast out the Amorrhite before their face: whose height was like the height of cedars, and who was strong as an oak: and I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots beneath.

10. It is I that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and I led you forty years through the wilderness, that you might possess the land of the Amorrhite.

11. And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not so, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord?

12. And you will present wine to the Nazarites: and command the prophets, saying: Prophesy not.

13. Behold, I will screak under you as a wain screaketh that is laden with hay.

14. And flight shall perish from the swift, and the valiant shall not possess his strength, neither shall the strong save his life.

15. And he that holdeth the bow shall not stand, and the swift of foot shall not escape, neither shall the rider of the horse save his life.

16. And the stout of heart among the valiant shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.

Chapter 3

1. Hear the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning you, O ye children of Israel: concerning the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:

2. You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities.

3. Shall two walk together except they be agreed?

4. Will a lion roar in the forest, if he have no prey? will the lion's whelp cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing ?

5. Will the bird fall into the snare upon the earth, if there be no fowler? Shall the snare be taken up from the earth, before it hath taken somewhat ?

6. Shall the trumpet sound in a city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, which the Lord hath not done?

7. For the Lord God doth nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

8. The lion shall roar, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who shall not prophesy?

9. Publish it in the houses of Azotus, and in the houses of the land of Egypt, and say: Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the many follies in the midst thereof, and them that suffer oppression in the inner rooms thereof.

10. And they have not known to do the right thing, saith the Lord, storing up iniquity, and robberies in their houses.

11. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: The land shall be in tribulation, and shall be compassed about: and thy strength shall be taken away from thee, and thy houses shall be spoiled.

12. Thus saith the Lord: As if a shepherd should get out of the lion's mouth two legs, or the tip of the ear: so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria, in a piece of a bed, and in the couch of Damascus.

13. Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord the God of hosts:

14. That in the day when I shall begin to visit the transgressions of Israel, I will visit upon him, and upon the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altars shall be cut off, and shall fall to the ground.

15. And I will strike the winter house with the summer house: and the houses of ivory shall perish, and many houses shall be destroyed, saith the Lord.

1. The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: Until I make thy enemies thy footstool.

2. The Lord will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion: rule thou in the midst of thy enemies.

3. With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength: in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot thee.

4. The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.

5. The Lord at thy right hand hath broken kings in the day of his wrath.

6. He shall judge among nations, he shall fill ruins: he shall crush the heads in the land of the many.

7. He shall drink of the torrent in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.