Bible in a Year.

On day 172, 2 Kings 3 recounts Israel's war against Moab and divine intervention on their behalf. In 2 Chronicles 26-27, we see the reign of Uzziah and Jotham, reflecting both faithfulness and challenges in the government of Judah. ​​Psalm 72 extols the king's justice and righteousness, reminding us of the ideal of leadership according to God's will.

1. And Joram the son of Achab reigned over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of m Josaphat king of Juda. And he reigned twelve years.

2. And he did evil before the Lord, but not like his father and his mother: for he took away the statues of Baal, which his father had made.

3. Nevertheless he stuck to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he depart from them.

4. Now Mesa, king of Moab, nourished many sheep, and he paid to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams with their fleeces.

5. And when Achab was dead, he broke the league which he had made with the king of Israel.

6. And king Joram went out that day from Samaria, and mustered all Israel.

7. And he sent to Josaphat king of Juda, saying: The king of Moab is revolted from me, come with me against him to battle. And he answered: I will come up: he that is mine, is thine: my people, thy people: and my horses, thy horses.

8. And he said: Which way shall we go up? But he answered: By the desert of Edom.

9. So the king of Israel, and the king of Juda, and the king of Edom went, and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey, and there was no water for the army, and for the beasts, that followed them.

10. And the king of Israel said: Alas, alas, alas, the Lord hath gathered us three kings together, to deliver us into the hands of Moab!

11. And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may beseech the Lord by him? And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered: Here is Eliseus the son of Saphat, who poured water on the hands of Elias.

12. And Josaphat said: The word of the Lord is with him. And the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, and the king of Edom went down to him.

13. And Eliseus said to the king of Israel: What have I to do with thee? go to the prophets of thy father, and thy mother. And the king of Israel said to him: Why hath the Lord gathered together these three kings, to deliver them into the hands of Moab?

14. And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord of hosts liveth, in whose sight I stand, if I did not reverence the face of Josaphat king of Juda, I would not have hearkened to thee, nor looked on thee.

15. But now bring me hither a minstrel. And when the minstrel played, the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he said:

16. Thus saith the Lord: Make the channel of this torrent full of ditches.

17. For thus saith the Lord: You shall not see wind, nor rain: and yet this channel shall be filled with waters, and you shall drink, you and your families, and your beasts.

18. And this is a small thing in the sight of the Lord: moreover he will deliver also Moab into your hands.

19. And you shall destroy every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall cut down every fruitful tree, and shall stop up all the springs of waters, and every goodly field you shall cover with stones.

20. And it came to pass in the morning, when the sacrifices used to be offered, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

21. And all the Moabites hearing that the kings were come up to fight against them, gathered together all that were girded with a belt upon them, and stood in the borders.

22. And they rose early in the morning, and the sun being now up, and shining upon the waters, the Moabites saw the waters over against them red, like blood,

23. And they said: It is the blood of the sword: the kings have fought among themselves, and they have killed one another: go now, Moab, to the spoils.

24. And they went into the camp of Israel: but Israel rising up defeated Moab, who fled before them. And they being conquerors, went and smote Moab.

25. And they destroyed the cities: and they filled every goodly field, every man casting his stone: and they stopt up all the springs of waters: and cut down all the trees that bore fruit, so that brick walls only remained: and the city was beset by the slingers, and a great part thereof destroyed.

26. And when the king of Moab saw this, to wit, that the enemies had prevailed, he took with him seven hundred men that drew the sword, to break in upon the king of Edom: but they could not.

27. Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall: and there was great indignation in Israel, and presently they departed from him, and returned into their own country.

Chapter 26

1. And all the people of Juda took his son Ozias, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of Amasias his father.

2. He built Ailath, and restored it to the dominion of Juda, after that the king slept with his fathers.

3. Ozias was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jechelia of Jerusalem.

4. And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that Amasias his father had done.

5. And he sought the Lord in the days of Zacharias that understood and saw God: and as long as he sought the Lord, he directed him in all things.

6. Moreover he went forth and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Geth, and the wall of Jabnia, and the wall of Azotus: and he built towns in Azotus, and among the Philistines.

7. And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians, that dwelt in Gurbaal, and against the Ammonites.

8. And the ammonites gave gifts to Ozias: and his name was spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt for his frequent victories.

9. And Ozias built towers in Jerusalem over the gate of the corner, and over the gate of the valley, and the rest, in the same side of the wall, and fortified them.

10. And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many cisterns, for he had much cattle both in the plains, and in the waste of the desert: he had also vineyards and dressers of vines in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he was a man that loved husbandry.

11. And the army of his fighting men, that went out to war, was under the hand of Jehiel the scribe, and Maasias the doctor, end under the hand of Henanias, who was one of the king's captains.

12. And the whole number of the chiefs by the families of valiant men were two thousand six hundred.

13. And the whole army under them three hundred and seven thousand five hundred: who were fit for war, and fought for the king against the enemy.

14. And Ozias prepared for them, that is, for the whole army, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and slings to cast stones.

15. And he made in Jerusalem engines of diverse kinds, which he placed in the towers, and in the corners of the walls, to shoot arrows, and great stones: and his name went forth far abroad, for the Lord helped him, and had strengthened him.

16. But when he was made strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, and he neglected the Lord his God: and going into the temple of the Lord, he had a mind to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

17. And immediately Azarias the priest going in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, most valiant men,

18. Withstood the king and said: It doth not belong to thee, Ozias, to burn incense to the Lord, but to the priests, that is, to the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated for this ministry: go out of the sanctuary, do not despise: for this thing shall not be accounted to thy glory by the Lord God.

19. And Ozias was angry, and holding in his hand the censer to burn incense, threatened the priests. And presently there rose a leprosy in his forehead before the priests, in the house of the Lord at the altar of incense.

20. And Azarias the high priest, and all the rest of the priests looked upon him, and saw the leprosy in his forehead, and they made haste to thrust him out. Yea himself also being frightened, hasted to go out, because he had quickly felt the stroke of the Lord.

21. And Ozias the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a house apart being full of the leprosy, for which he had been cast out of the house of the Lord. And Joatham his son governed the king's house, and judged the people of the land.

22. But the rest of the acts of Ozias first and last were written by Isaias the son of Amos, the prophet.

23. And Ozias slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the field of the royal sepulchres, because he was a leper: and Joatham his son reigned in his stead.

Chapter 27

1. Joatham was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jerusa the daughter of Sadoc.

2. And he did that which was right before the Lord, according to all that Ozias his father had done, only that he entered not into the temple of the Lord, and the people still transgressed.

3. He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much.

4. Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Juda, and castles and towers in the forests.

5. Ho fought against the king of the children of Ammon, and overcame them, and the children of Ammon gave him at that time a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and as many measures of barley: so much did the children of Ammon give him in the second and third year.

6. And Joatham was strengthened, be- cause he had his way directed before the Lord his God.

7. Now the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all his wars, and his works, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Juda.

8. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

9. And Joatham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Achaz his son reigned in his stead.

1. A psalm on Solomon.

2. Give to the king thy judgment, O God: and to the king's son thy justice: To judge thy people with justice, and thy poor with judgment.

3. Let the mountains receive peace for the people: and the hills justice.

4. He shall judge the poor of the people, and he shall save the children of the poor: and he shall humble the oppressor.

5. And he shall continue with the sun, and before the moon, throughout all generations.

6. He shall come down like rain upon the fleece; and as showers falling gently upon the earth.

7. In his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace, till the moon be taken sway.

8. And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

9. Before him the Ethiopians shall fall down: and his enemies shall lick the ground.

10. The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents: the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts:

11. And all kings of the earth shall adore him: all nations shall serve him.

12. For he shall deliver the poor from the mighty: and the needy that had no helper.

13. He shall spare the poor and needy: and he shall save the souls of the poor.

14. He shall redeem their souls from usuries and iniquity: and their names shall be honourable in his sight.

15. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Arabia, for him they shall always adore: they shall bless him all the day.

16. And there shall be a firmament on the earth on the tops of mountains, above Libanus shall the fruit thereof be exalted : and they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth.

17. Let his name be blessed for evermore : his name continueth before the sun. And in him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed: all nations shall magnify him.

18. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone doth wonderful things.

19. And blessed be the name of his majesty for ever: and the whole earth shall be filled with his majesty. So be it. So be it.

20. The praises of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.