One Year Bible.

Jehoram Reigns in Judah

¹And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And his son Jehoram reigned in his place.

²Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; these were all sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. ³Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and precious things, as well as the fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.

⁴When Jehoram had established himself over his father’s kingdom, he strengthened himself by putting to the sword all his brothers along with some of the princes of Israel. ⁵Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years.

⁶And Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done. For he married a daughter of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD. ⁷Yet the LORD was unwilling to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant He had made with David, and since He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

Edom and Libnah Rebel

⁸In the days of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against the hand of Judah and appointed their own king. ⁹So Jehoram crossed into Edom with his officers and all his chariots. When the Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, he rose up and attacked by night.

¹⁰So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled against his hand at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.

¹¹Jehoram had also built high places on the hills of Judah; he had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray.

Elijah’s Letter to Jehoram

¹²Then a letter came to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, which stated:

“This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says:

‘You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah, ¹³but you have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and have caused Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab prostituted itself. You have also killed your brothers, your father’s family, who were better than you.

¹⁴So behold, the LORD is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a serious blow. ¹⁵And day after day you yourself will suffer from a severe illness, a disease of your bowels, until it causes your bowels to come out.’”

Jehoram’s Disease and Death

¹⁶Then the LORD stirred against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and Arabs who lived near the Cushites. ¹⁷So they went to war against Judah, invaded it, and carried off all the possessions found in the king’s palace, along with his sons and wives; not a son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest.

¹⁸After all this, the LORD afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. ¹⁹This continued day after day until two full years had passed. Finally, his intestines came out because of his disease, and he died in severe pain. And his people did not make a fire in his honor as they had done for his fathers.

²⁰Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He died, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

A Warning against Apostasy

¹Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, ²influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

³They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected, ⁵because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

A Good Servant of Jesus Christ

⁶By pointing out these things to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of faith and sound instruction that you have followed.

⁷But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness. ⁸For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come. ⁹This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance.

¹⁰To this end we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe. ¹¹Command and teach these things.

¹²Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. ¹³Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching.

¹⁴Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given you through the prophecy spoken over you at the laying on of the hands of the elders. ¹⁵Be diligent in these matters and absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. ¹⁶Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

Prologue

¹This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, ²who testifies to everything he saw. This is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

³Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey what is written in it, because the time is near.

John Greets the Seven Churches

⁴John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven spirits before His throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood, ⁶who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father — to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

⁷Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him — even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come — the Almighty.

John’s Vision on Patmos

⁹I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus. ¹⁰On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹saying,“Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹²Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man, dressed in a long robe, with a golden sash around His chest. ¹⁴The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like a blazing fire. ¹⁵His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters. ¹⁶He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.

¹⁷When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, ¹⁸the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.

¹⁹Therefore write down the things you have seen, the things that are, and the things that will happen after this. ²⁰This is the mystery of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.[’’]