Bible Readings for June 30, 2017

Today our passages are 2 Kings 17:1–18:12; Acts 20:1-38; Psalm 148:1-14; and Proverbs 18:6-7. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

 

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2 Kings 17-18:12 (Contemporary English Version)

2 Kings 17

King Hoshea of Israel

 ¹Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in the twelfth year of Ahaz's rule in Judah, and he ruled nine years from Samaria. ²Hoshea disobeyed the LORD and sinned, but not as much as the earlier Israelite kings had done.     ³During Hoshea's rule, King Shalmaneser of Assyria ^[a] invaded Israel; he took control of the country and made Hoshea pay taxes. ⁴But later, Hoshea refused to pay the taxes and asked King So of Egypt to help him rebel. When Shalmaneser found out, he arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.

Samaria Is Destroyed and the Israelites Are Taken to Assyria

 ⁵Shalmaneser invaded Israel and attacked the city of Samaria for three years, ⁶before capturing it in the ninth year of Hoshea's rule. The Assyrian king ^[b] took the Israelites away to Assyria as prisoners. He forced some of them to live in the town of Halah, others to live near the Habor River in the territory of Gozan, and still others to live in towns where the Median people lived. ⁷All of this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had rescued them from Egypt, where they had been slaves. They worshiped foreign gods, ⁸followed the customs of the nations that the LORD had forced out of Israel, and were just as sinful as the Israelite kings. ⁹Even worse, the Israelites tried to hide their sins from the LORD their God. They built their own local shrines everywhere in Israel--from small towns to large, walled cities. ¹⁰They also built stone images of foreign gods and set up sacred poles ^[c] for the worship of Asherah on every hill and under every shady tree. ¹¹They offered sacrifices at the shrines, ^[d] just as the foreign nations had done before the LORD forced them out of Israel. They did sinful things that made the LORD very angry. ¹²Even though the LORD had commanded the Israelites not to worship idols, ^[e] they did it anyway. ¹³So the LORD made sure that every prophet warned Israel and Judah with these words: "I, the LORD, command you to stop doing sinful things and start obeying my laws and teachings! I gave them to your ancestors, and I told my servants the prophets to repeat them to you." ¹⁴But the Israelites would not listen; they were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to worship the LORD their God. ¹⁵They ignored the LORD's warnings and commands, and they rejected the solemn agreement he had made with their ancestors. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves. The LORD had told the Israelites not to do the things that the foreign nations around them were doing, but Israel became just like them.     ¹⁶The people of Israel disobeyed all the commands of the LORD their God. They made two gold statues of calves and set up a sacred pole for Asherah; they also worshiped the stars and the god Baal. ¹⁷They used magic and witchcraft and even sacrificed their own children. The Israelites were determined to do whatever the LORD hated. ¹⁸The LORD became so furious with the people of Israel that he allowed them to be carried away as prisoners.
   Only the people living in Judah were left, ¹⁹but they also disobeyed the LORD's commands and acted like the Israelites. ²⁰So the LORD turned his back on everyone in Israel and Judah ^[f] and let them be punished and defeated until no one was left. ²¹Earlier, when the LORD took the northern tribes away from David's family, ^[g] the people living in northern Israel chose Jeroboam son of Nebat as their king. Jeroboam caused the Israelites to sin and to stop worshiping the LORD. ²²The people kept on sinning like Jeroboam, ²³until the LORD got rid of them, just as he had warned his servants the prophets. That's why the people of Israel were taken away as prisoners to Assyria, and that's where they remained.
   

Foreigners Are Resettled in Israel

 ²⁴The king of Assyria took people who were living in the cities of Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and forced them to move to Israel. They took over the towns where the Israelites had lived, including the capital city of Samaria.     ²⁵At first these people did not worship the LORD, so he sent lions to attack them, and the lions killed some of them. ²⁶A messenger told the king of Assyria, "The people you moved to Israel don't know how to worship the god of that country. So he sent lions that have attacked and killed some of them."
    ²⁷The king replied, "Get one of the Israelite priests we brought here and send him back to Israel. He can live there and teach them about the god of that country." ²⁸One of the Israelite priests was chosen to go back to Israel. He lived in Bethel and taught the people how to worship the LORD.
    ²⁹But in towns all over Israel, the different groups of people made statues of their own gods, then they placed these idols in local Israelite ^[h] shrines. ³⁰The people from Babylonia made the god Succoth-Benoth; those from Cuthah made the god Nergal; those from Hamath made Ashima; ³¹those from Avva made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the people from Sepharvaim sacrificed their children to their own gods Adrammelech and Anammelech. ^32-33They worshiped their own gods, just as they had before they were taken away to Israel. They also worshiped the LORD, but they chose their own people to be priests at the shrines. ³⁴Everyone followed their old customs. None of them worshiped only the LORD, and they refused to obey the laws and commands that the LORD had given to the descendants of Jacob, the man he named Israel. ³⁵At the time when the LORD had made his solemn agreement with the people of Israel, he told them: Do not worship any other gods! Do not bow down to them or offer them a sacrifice. ³⁶Worship only me! I am the one who rescued you from Egypt with my mighty power. Bow down to me and offer sacrifices. ³⁷Never worship any other god, always obey my laws and teachings, ³⁸and remember the solemn agreement between us.
   I will say it again: Do not worship any god ³⁹except me. I am the LORD your God, and I will rescue you from all your enemies.
    ⁴⁰But the people living in Israel ignored that command and kept on following their old customs. ⁴¹They did worship the LORD, but they also worshiped their own idols. Their descendants did the same thing.
   

2 Kings 18

King Hezekiah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 29.1,2; 31.1)

 ¹Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah in the third year of Hoshea's rule in Israel. ²Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years from Jerusalem. His mother Abi was the daughter of Zechariah.     ³Hezekiah obeyed the LORD, just as his ancestor David had done. ⁴He destroyed the local shrines, then tore down the images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred pole for worshiping the goddess Asherah. He also smashed the bronze snake Moses had made. The people had named it Nehushtan ^[i] and had been offering sacrifices to it. ⁵Hezekiah trusted the LORD God of Israel. No other king of Judah was like Hezekiah, either before or after him. ⁶He was completely faithful to the LORD and obeyed the laws the LORD had given to Moses for the people. ⁷The LORD helped Hezekiah, so he was successful in everything he did. He even rebelled against the king of Assyria, refusing to be his servant. ⁸Hezekiah defeated the Philistine towns as far away as Gaza--from the smallest towns to the large, walled cities.
    ⁹During the fourth year of Hezekiah's rule, which was the seventh year of Hoshea's rule in Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria led his troops to Samaria, the capital city of Israel. They attacked ¹⁰and captured it three years later, ^[j] in the sixth year of Hezekiah's rule and the ninth year of Hoshea's rule. ¹¹The king of Assyria ^[k] took the Israelites away as prisoners; he forced some of them to live in the town of Halah, others to live near the Habor River in the territory of Gozan, and still others to live in towns where the Median people lived. ¹²All of that happened because the people of Israel had not obeyed the LORD their God. They rejected the solemn agreement he had made with them, and they ignored everything that the LORD's servant Moses had told them.

Footnotes:

1. 2 Kings 17:3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria: The son of Tiglath Pileser, who ruled Assyria from 727 to 722 B.C.
2. 2 Kings 17:6 The Assyrian king: Probably Sargon, Shalmaneser's successor. Shalmaneser died after the city of Samaria was captured (722 B.C.) but before the people were taken away as prisoners (720 B.C.). Sargon ruled Assyria from 721 to 705 B.C.
3. 2 Kings 17:10 sacred poles: See the note at 13.6,7.
4. 2 Kings 17:11 shrines: See the note at 12.3.
5. 2 Kings 17:12 the LORD. . . idols: See Exodus 20.4,5.
6. 2 Kings 17:20 Israel and Judah: Or "Israel," that is, the northern kingdom only.
7. 2 Kings 17:21 when the LORD. . . family: See 1 Kings 11.29-39.
8. 2 Kings 17:29 Israelite: The Hebrew text has "Samaritan," which is a later word to describe the people who lived in northern Israel at this time.
9. 2 Kings 18:4 the bronze snake. . . Nehushtan: See Numbers 21.8,9. "Nehushtan" is a nickname that sounds like the Hebrew words for "snake" and "bronze."
10. 2 Kings 18:10 three years later: When the Israelites measured time, part of a year could be counted as a whole year.
11. 2 Kings 18:11 The king of Assyria: Probably Sargon, Shalmaneser's successor (see the note at 17.6).

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Acts 20:1-38 (Contemporary English Version)

Acts 20

Paul Goes through Macedonia and Greece

 ¹When the riot was over, Paul sent for the followers and encouraged them. He then told them good-by and left for Macedonia. ²As he traveled from place to place, he encouraged the followers with many messages. Finally, he went to Greece ^[a] ³and stayed there for three months. Paul was about to sail to Syria. But some of the Jewish leaders plotted against him, so he decided to return by way of Macedonia. ⁴With him were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus from Berea, and Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica. Gaius from Derbe was also with him, and so were Timothy and the two Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. ⁵They went on ahead to Troas and waited for us there. ⁶After the Festival of Thin Bread, we sailed from Philippi. Five days later we met them in Troas and stayed there for a week.    

Paul's Last Visit to Troas

 ⁷On the first day of the week ^[b] we met to break bread together. ^[c] Paul spoke to the people until midnight because he was leaving the next morning. ⁸In the upstairs room where we were meeting, there were a lot of lamps. ⁹A young man by the name of Eutychus was sitting on a window sill. While Paul was speaking, the young man got very sleepy. Finally, he went to sleep and fell three floors all the way down to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead. ¹⁰Paul went down and bent over Eutychus. He took him in his arms and said, "Don't worry! He's alive." ¹¹After Paul had gone back upstairs, he broke bread, and ate with us. He then spoke until dawn and left. ¹²Then the followers took the young man home alive and were very happy.    

The Voyage from Troas to Miletus

 ¹³Paul decided to travel by land to Assos. The rest of us went on ahead by ship, and we were to take him aboard there. ¹⁴When he met us in Assos, he came aboard, and we sailed on to Mitylene. ¹⁵The next day we came to a place near Chios, and the following day we reached Samos. The day after that we sailed to Miletus. ¹⁶Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus, because he did not want to spend too much time in Asia. He was in a hurry and wanted to be in Jerusalem in time for Pentecost. ^[d]

Paul Says Good-By to the Church Leaders of Ephesus

 ¹⁷From Miletus, Paul sent a message for the church leaders at Ephesus to come and meet with him. ¹⁸When they got there, he said:    You know everything I did during the time I was with you when I first came to Asia. ¹⁹Some of the Jews plotted against me and caused me a lot of sorrow and trouble. But I served the Lord and was humble. ²⁰When I preached in public or taught in your homes, I didn't hold back from telling anything that would help you. ²¹I told Jews and Gentiles to turn to God and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
    ²²I don't know what will happen to me in Jerusalem, but I must obey God's Spirit and go there. ²³In every city I visit, I am told by the Holy Spirit that I will be put in jail and will be in trouble in Jerusalem. ²⁴But I don't care what happens to me, as long as I finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do. And that work is to tell the good news about God's great kindness.
    ²⁵I have gone from place to place, preaching to you about God's kingdom, but now I know that none of you will ever see me again. ²⁶I tell you today that I am no longer responsible for any of you! ²⁷I have told you everything God wants you to know. ²⁸Look after yourselves and everyone the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be like shepherds to God's church. It is the flock that he bought with the blood of his own Son. ^[e] ²⁹I know that after I am gone, others will come like fierce wolves to attack you. ³⁰Some of your own people will tell lies to win over the Lord's followers. ³¹Be on your guard! Remember how day and night for three years I kept warning you with tears in my eyes.
    ³²I now place you in God's care. Remember the message about his great kindness! This message can help you and give you what belongs to you as God's people. ³³I have never wanted anyone's money or clothes. ³⁴You know how I have worked with my own hands to make a living for myself and my friends. ³⁵By everything I did, I showed how you should work to help everyone who is weak. Remember that our Lord Jesus said, "More blessings come from giving than from receiving."
    ³⁶After Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷Everyone cried and hugged and kissed him. ³⁸They were especially sad because Paul had told them, "You will never see me again."
   Then they went with him to the ship.
   

Footnotes:

1. Acts 20:2 Greece: Probably Corinth.
2. Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week: Since the Jewish day began at sunset, the meeting would have begun in the evening.
3. Acts 20:7 break bread together: See the note at 2.46.
4. Acts 20:16 in time for Pentecost: The Jewish people liked to be in Jerusalem for this festival (see the note at 2.1).
5. Acts 20:28 the blood of his own Son: Or "his own blood."

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Psalm 148:1-14 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 148

Come Praise the LORD

 ¹Shout praises to the LORD!    Shout the LORD's praises
   in the highest heavens.
    ²All of you angels,
   and all who serve him above,
   come and offer praise.
    ³Sun and moon,
   and all of you bright stars,
   come and offer praise.
    ⁴Highest heavens,
   and the water
   above the highest heavens, ^[a] come and offer praise.
    ⁵Let all things praise
   the name of the LORD,
   because they were created
   at his command.
    ⁶He made them to last forever,
   and nothing can change
   what he has done. ^[b] ⁷All creatures on earth,
   you obey his commands,
   so come praise the LORD!
    ⁸Sea monsters and the deep sea,
   fire and hail,
   snow and frost,
   and every stormy wind,
   come praise the LORD!
    ⁹All mountains and hills,
   fruit trees and cedars,
    ¹⁰every wild and tame animal,
   all reptiles and birds,
   come praise the LORD!
    ¹¹Every king and every ruler,
   all nations on earth,
    ¹²every man and every woman,
   young people and old,
   come praise the LORD!
    ¹³All creation, come praise
   the name of the LORD.
   Praise his name alone.
   The glory of God is greater
   than heaven and earth.
    ¹⁴Like a bull with mighty horns,
   the LORD protects
   his faithful nation Israel,
   because they belong to him.
   Shout praises to the LORD!
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 148:4 the water. . . heavens: It was believed that the earth and the heavens were surrounded by water.
2. Psalm 148:6 nothing. . . done: Or " his laws will never change."

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Proverbs 18:6-7 (Contemporary English Version)

⁶Foolish talk will get you
   into a lot of trouble.
    ⁷Saying foolish things
   is like setting a trap
   to destroy yourself.

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Verse of the Day

“Then there will be only one LORD who rules as King and whose name is worshiped everywhere on earth.” - Zechariah 14:9

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding, Henry J. Kaiser wrote, “Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.”

 

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A Joke for Today

 

A doctor, a lawyer, a little boy and a minister were out for a Sunday afternoon flight on a small private plane. Suddenly, the plane developed engine trouble.

 

In spite of the best efforts of the pilot, the plane started to go down. Finally, the pilot grabbed a parachute, yelled to the passengers that they had better jump, and bailed out.

 

Unfortunately, there were only three parachutes remaining. The doctor grabbed one and said "I'm a doctor, I save lives, so I must live," and jumped out.

 

The lawyer then said, "I'm a lawyer and lawyers are the smartest people in the world. I deserve to live."

 

He also grabbed a parachute and jumped.

 

The minister looked at the little boy and said, "Son, I've lived a long and full life. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you. Take the last parachute and live in peace."

 

The little boy handed the parachute back to the priest and said, "Not to worry, Pastor. The 'smartest man in the world' just took off with my back pack."