Bible in a Year.

On day 163, we find stories of obedience and defiance of authority in 1 Kings 13, showing how faithfulness to God overcomes human mandates. 2 Chronicles 12-13 presents the conflicts and reforms in Judah and Israel, highlighting the faithfulness of some kings to the Lord. Song of Solomon 2 continues to exalt love, offering lessons on devotion and beauty in human and spiritual relationships.

1. And behold there came a man of God out of Juda, by the word of the Lord to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing upon the altar, and burning incense.

2. And he cried out against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said: O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord: Behold a child shall be born to the house of David, Josias by name, and he shall immolate upon thee the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon thee, and he shall burn men's bones upon thee.

3. And he gave a sign the same day, saying: This shall be the sign, that the Lord hath spoken: Behold the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

4. And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, he stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying: Lay hold on him. And his hand which he stretched forth against him withered: and he was not able to draw it back again to him.

5. The altar also was rent, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given before in the word of the Lord.

6. And the king said to the man of God: Entreat the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. And the man of God besought the face of the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before.

7. And the king said to the man of God: Come home with me to dine, and I will make thee presents.

8. And the man of God answered the king: If thou wouldst give me half thy house I will not go with thee, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place:

9. For so it was enjoined me by the word of the Lord commanding me: Thou shalt not eat bread nor drink water, nor return by the same way that thou camest.

10. So he departed by another way, and returned not by the way that he came into Bethel.

11. Now a certain old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came to him and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: and they told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.

12. And their father said to them: What way went he? His sons shewed him the way by which the man of God went, who came out of Juda.

13. And he said to his sons: Saddle me the ass. And when they had saddled him, he got up,

14. And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a turpentine tree: and he said to him: Art thou the man of God that camest from Juda? He answered: I am.

15. And he said to him: Come home with me, to eat bread.

16. But he said: I must not return, nor go with thee, neither will I eat bread, nor drink water in this place :

17. Because the Lord spoke to me in the word of the Lord, saying: Thou shalt not eat bread, and thou shalt not drink water there, nor return by the way thou wentest.

18. He said to him: I also am a prophet like unto thee: and an angel spoke to me in the word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread, and drink water. He deceived him,

19. And brought him back with him: so he ate bread and drank water in his house.

20. And as they sat at table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet that brought him back:

21. And he cried out to the man of God who came out of Juda, saying : Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast not been obedient to the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,

22. And hast returned and eaten bread, and drunk water in the place wherein he commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat bread, nor drink water, thy dead body shall not be brought into the sepulchre of thy fathers.

23. And when he had eaten and drunk, he saddled his ass for the prophet, whom he had brought back.

24. And when he was gone, a lion found him in the way, and killed him, and his body was cast in the way: and the ass stood by him, and the lion stood by the dead body.

25. And behold, men passing by saw the dead body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city, wherein that old prophet dwelt.

26. And when that prophet, who had brought him back out of the way, heard of it, he said: It is the man of God, that was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord, and the Lord hath delivered him to the lion, and he hath torn him, and killed him according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.

27. And he said to his sons: Saddle me an ass. And when they had saddled it,

28. And he was gone, he found the dead body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten of the dead body, nor hurt the ass.

29. And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and going back brought it into the city of the old prophet, to mourn for him.

30. And he laid his dead body in his own sepulchre: and they mourned over him, saying: Alas! alas ! my brother.

31. And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons: When I am dead, bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried: lay my bones beside his bones.

32. For assuredly the word shall come to pass which he hath foretold in the word of the Lord against the altar that is in Bethel: and against all the temples of the high places, that are in the cities of Samaria.

33. After these words Jeroboam came not back from his wicked way: but on the contrary he made of the meanest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he filled his hand, and he was made a priest of the high places.

34. And for this cause did the house of Jeroboam sin, and was cut off and destroyed from the face of the earth.

Chapter 12

1. And when the kingdom of Roboam was strengthened and fortified, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.

2. And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem (because they had sinned against the Lord)

3. With twelve hundred chariots and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt, to wit, Libyans, and Troglodites, and Ethiopians.

4. And he took the strongest cities in Juda, and came to Jerusalem.

5. And Semeias the prophet came to Roboam, and to the princes of Juda, that were gathered together in Jerusalem, fleeing from Sesac, and he said to them : Thus saith the Lord: You have left me, and I have left you in the hand of Sesac.

6. And the princes of Israel, and the king, being in a consternation, said: The Lord is just.

7. And when the Lord saw that they were humbled, the word of the Lord came to Semeias, saying: Because they are humbled, I will not destroy them, and I will give them a little help, and my wrath shall not fall upon Jerusalem by the hand of Sesac.

8. But yet they shall serve him, that they may know the difference between my service, and the service of a kingdom of the earth.

9. So Sesac king of Egypt departed from Jerusalem, taking away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king's house, and he took all with him, and the golden shields that Solomon had made,

10. Instead of which the king made brazen ones, and delivered them to the captains of the shieldbearers, who guarded the entrance of the palace.

11. And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the shieldbearers came and took them, and brought them back again to their armoury.

12. But yet because they were humbled, the wrath of the Lord turned away from them, and they were not utterly destroyed: for even in Juda there were found good works.

13. King Roboam therefore was strengthened in Jerusalem, and reigned: he was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel, to establish his name there: and the name of his mother was Naama an Ammonitess.

14. But he did evil, and did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.

15. Now the acts of Roboam first and last are written in the books of Semeias the prophet, and of Addo the seer, and diligently recorded: and there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam all their days.

16. And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And Abia his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 13

1. In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, Abia reigned over Juda.

2. Three years he reigned in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Michaia, the daughter of Uriel of Gabaa: and there was war between Abia and Jeroboam.

3. And when Abia had begun battle, and had with him four hundred thou- sand most valiant and chosen men, Jeroboam put his army in array against him, eight hundred thousand men, who were also chosen and most valiant for war.

4. And Abia stood upon mount Semeron, which was in Ephraim, and said: Hear me, O Jeroboam, and all Israel:

5. Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave to David the kingdom over Israel for ever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

6. And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up: m and rebelled against his lord.

7. And there were gathered to him vain men, and children of Belial: and they prevailed against Roboam the son of Solomon: for Roboam was unexperienced, and of a fearful heart, and could not resist them.

8. And now you say that you are able to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which he possesseth by the sons of David, and you have a great multitude of people, and golden calves, which Jeroboam hath made you for gods.

9. And you have cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites: and you have made you priests, like all the nations of the earth: whosoever cometh and consecrateth his hand with a bullock of the herd, and with seven rams, is made a priest of those who are no gods.

10. But the Lord is our God, whom we forsake not, and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites are in their order.

11. And they offer holocausts to the Lord, every day, morning and evening, and incense made according to the ordinance of the law, and the leaves are set forth on a most clean table, and there is with us the golden candlestick, and the lamps thereof, to be lighted always in the evening: for we keep the precepts of the Lord our God, whom you have forsaken.

12. Therefore God is the leader in our army, and his priests who sound with trumpets, and resound against you: O children of Israel, fight not against the Lord the God of your fathers, for it is not good for you.

13. While he spoke these things, Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind him. And while he stood facing the enemies, he encompassed Juda. who perceived it not, with his army.

14. And when Juda looked back, they saw the battle coming upon them both before and behind, and they cried to the Lord: and the priests began to sound with the trumpets.

15. And all the men of Juda shouted: and behold when they shouted, God terrified Jeroboam, and all Israel that stood against Abia and Juda.

16. And the children of Israel fled before Juda, and the Lord delivered them into their hand.

17. And Abia and his people slew them with a great slaughter, and there fell wounded of Israel five hundred thousand valiant men.

18. And the children of Israel were brought down, at that time, and the children of Juda were exceedingly strengthened, because they had trusted in the Lord the God of their fathers.

19. And Abia pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel and her daughters, and Jesana with her daughters, Ephron also and her daughters.

20. And Jeroboam was not able to resist any more, in the days of Abia: and the Lord struck him, and he died.

21. But Abia, being strengthened in his kingdom, took fourteen wives: and begot two and twenty sons, and sixteen daughters.

22. And the rest of the acts of Abia, and of his ways and works, are written diligently in the book of Addo the prophet.

1. I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys.

2. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

3. As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow, whom I desired: and his fruit was sweet to my palate.

4. He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me.

5. Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples: because I languish with love.

6. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.

7. I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and the harts of the, fields, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please.

8. The voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills.

9. My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart. Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices.

10. Behold my beloved speaketh to me: Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come.

11. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone.

12. The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come: the voice of the turtle is heard in our land:

13. The fig tree hath put forth her green figs: the vines in flower yield their sweet smell. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come:

14. My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall, shew me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely.

15. Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines: for our vineyard hath flourished.

16. My beloved to me, and I to him who feedeth among the lilies,

17. Till the day break, and the shadows retire. Return: be like, my beloved, to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.