One Year Bible.

I Take Refuge in You

¹A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.

O LORD my God, I take refuge in You;

save me and deliver me from all my pursuers,

²or they will shred my soul like a lion

and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

³O LORD my God, if I have done this,

if injustice is on my hands,

⁴if I have rewarded my ally with evil,

if I have plundered my foe without cause,

⁵then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me;

may he trample me to the ground

and leave my honor in the dust.

Selah

⁶Arise, O LORD, in Your anger;

rise up against the fury of my enemies.

Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.

⁷Let the assembled peoples gather around You;

take Your seat over them on high.

⁸The LORD judges the peoples;

vindicate me, O LORD,

according to my righteousness and integrity.

⁹Put an end to the evil of the wicked,

but establish the righteous,

O righteous God who searches hearts and minds.

¹⁰My shield is with God,

who saves the upright in heart.

¹¹God is a righteous judge

and a God who feels indignation each day.

¹²If one does not repent,

God will sharpen His sword;

He has bent and strung His bow.

¹³He has prepared His deadly weapons;

He ordains His arrows with fire.

¹⁴Behold, the wicked man travails with evil;

he conceives trouble and births falsehood.

¹⁵He has dug a hole and hollowed it out;

he has fallen into a pit of his own making.

¹⁶His trouble recoils on himself,

and his violence falls on his own head.

¹⁷I will thank the LORD for His righteousness

and sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹Now all the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around to listen to Jesus. ²So the Pharisees and scribes began to grumble: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, ⁶comes home, and calls together his friends and neighbors to tell them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ ⁷I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸Or what woman who has ten silver coins and loses one of them does not light a lamp, sweep her house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors to say, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

¹¹Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger son said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living.

¹⁴After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.

¹⁷Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food, but here I am, starving to death! ¹⁸I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’

²⁰So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

²¹The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵Meanwhile the older son was in the field, and as he approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked what was going on.

²⁷‘Your brother has returned,’ he said, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸The older son became angry and refused to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.

²⁹But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours returns from squandering your wealth with prostitutes, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹‘Son, you are always with me,’ the father said, ‘and all that is mine is yours. ³²But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Hoshea the Last King of Israel

¹In the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz over Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria nine years. ²And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.

³Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. ⁴But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.

Israel Carried Captive to Assyria

⁵Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.

⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

⁷All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods ⁸and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel.

⁹The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. ¹⁰They set up for themselves sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹They burned incense on all the high places like the nations that the LORD had driven out before them. They did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger. ¹²They served idols, although the LORD had told them, “You shall not do this thing.”

¹³Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”

¹⁴But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God. ¹⁵They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.

¹⁶They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal. ¹⁷They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

¹⁸So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained, ¹⁹and even Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced. ²⁰So the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel. He afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of plunderers, until He had banished them from His presence.

²¹When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. ²²The Israelites persisted in all the sins that Jeroboam had committed and did not turn away from them. ²³Finally, the LORD removed Israel from His presence, as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day.

Samaria Resettled

²⁴Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.

²⁵Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the LORD, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The peoples that you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land. Because of this, He has sent lions among them, which are indeed killing them off.”

²⁷Then the king of Assyria commanded: “Send back one of the priests you carried off from Samaria, and have him go back to live there and teach the requirements of the God of the land.”

²⁸Thus one of the priests they had carried away came and lived in Bethel, and he began to teach them how they should worship the LORD.

²⁹Nevertheless, the people of each nation continued to make their own gods in the cities where they had settled, and they set them up in the shrines that the people of Samaria had made on the high places. ³⁰The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.

³²So the new residents worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed for themselves priests of all sorts to serve in the shrines of the high places. ³³They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods according to the customs of the nations from which they had been carried away.

³⁴To this day they are still practicing their former customs. None of them worship the LORD or observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom He named Israel.

³⁵For the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites and commanded them, “Do not worship other gods or bow down to them; do not serve them or sacrifice to them. ³⁶Instead, worship the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. You are to bow down to Him and offer sacrifices to Him. ³⁷And you must always be careful to observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments He wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. ³⁸Do not forget the covenant I have made with you. Do not worship other gods, ³⁹but worship the LORD your God, and He will deliver you from the hands of all your enemies.”

⁴⁰But they would not listen, and they persisted in their former customs. ⁴¹So these nations worshiped the LORD but also served their idols, and to this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

¹Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. And unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. ²Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even made cast images of the Baals.

³Moreover, Ahaz burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. ⁴And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

Aram Defeats Judah

⁵So the LORD his God delivered Ahaz into the hand of the king of Aram, who attacked him and took many captives to Damascus.

Ahaz was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. ⁶For in one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed 120,000 valiant men in Judah. This happened because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. ⁷Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the son of the king, Azrikam the governor of the palace, and Elkanah the second to the king. ⁸Then the Israelites took 200,000 captives from their kinsmen— women, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a great deal of plunder and brought it to Samaria.

⁹But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the LORD, the God of your fathers, has delivered them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches up to heaven. ¹⁰And now you intend to reduce to slavery the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem. But are you not also guilty before the LORD your God? ¹¹Now therefore, listen to me and return the captives you took from your kinsmen, for the fierce anger of the LORD is upon you.”

¹²Then some of the leaders of the Ephraimites— Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai— stood in opposition to those arriving from the war. ¹³“You must not bring the captives here,” they said, “for you are proposing to bring guilt upon us from the LORD and to add to our sins and our guilt. For our guilt is great, and fierce anger is upon Israel.”

¹⁴So the armed men left the captives and the plunder before the leaders and all the assembly. ¹⁵Then the men who were designated by name arose, took charge of the captives, and provided from the plunder clothing for the naked. They clothed them, gave them sandals and food and drink, anointed their wounds, and put all the feeble on donkeys. So they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.

The Idolatry of Ahaz

¹⁶At that time King Ahaz sent for help from the king of Assyria. ¹⁷The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried away captives. ¹⁸The Philistines had also raided the cities of the foothills and the Negev of Judah, capturing and occupying Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, as well as Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo with their villages. ¹⁹For the LORD humbled Judah because Ahaz king of Israel had thrown off restraint in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD.

²⁰Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz but afflicted him rather than strengthening him. ²¹Although Ahaz had taken a portion from the house of the LORD, from the royal palace, and from the princes and had presented it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.

²²In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD. ²³He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him, and he said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But these gods were the downfall of Ahaz and of all Israel.

²⁴Then Ahaz gathered up the articles of the house of God, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the house of the LORD, and set up altars of his own on every street corner in Jerusalem. ²⁵In every city of Judah he built high places to offer incense to other gods, and so he provoked the LORD, the God of his fathers.

²⁶As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz and all his ways, from beginning to end, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷And Ahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And his son Hezekiah reigned in his place.