One Year Bible.

Jehoshaphat Reigns in Judah

¹Asa’s son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place, and he strengthened himself against Israel. ²He stationed troops in every fortified city of Judah and put garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.

³Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, ⁴but he sought the God of his father and walked by His commandments rather than the practices of Israel. ⁵So the LORD established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought him tribute, so that he had an abundance of riches and honor. ⁶And his heart took delight in the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah.

⁷In the third year of his reign, Jehoshaphat sent his officials Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah, ⁸accompanied by certain Levites — Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah — along with the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the LORD. They went throughout the towns of Judah and taught the people.

¹⁰And the dread of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that surrounded Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹Some Philistines also brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat, and the Arabs brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats from their flocks.

¹²Jehoshaphat grew stronger and stronger, and he built fortresses and store cities in Judah ¹³and kept vast supplies in the cities of Judah. He also had warriors in Jerusalem who were mighty men of valor. ¹⁴These are their numbers according to the houses of their fathers:

From Judah, the commanders of thousands:

Adnah the commander, and with him 300,000 mighty men of valor;

¹⁵next to him, Jehohanan the commander, and with him 280,000;

¹⁶and next to him, Amasiah son of Zichri, the volunteer for the LORD, and with him 200,000 mighty men of valor.

¹⁷From Benjamin:

Eliada, a mighty man of valor, and with him 200,000 armed with bows and shields;

¹⁸and next to him, Jehozabad, and with him 180,000 armed for battle.

¹⁹These were the men who served the king, besides those he stationed in the fortified cities throughout Judah.

Put On the New Self

¹Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

⁵Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. ⁷When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways. ⁸But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

⁹Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices, ¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

¹²Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity. ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Christian Households

¹⁸Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

²¹Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they will not become discouraged.

Serving with Honor

²²Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only to please them while they are watching, but with sincerity of heart and fear of the Lord.

²³Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, as for the Lord and not for men, ²⁴because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. ²⁵Whoever does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

Children of God

¹Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. ²Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. ³And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.

⁴Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness. ⁵But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. ⁶No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him.

⁷Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. ⁸The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

⁹Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

Love One Another

¹¹This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹²Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous. ¹³So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.

¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.

¹⁶By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

¹⁸Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth. ¹⁹And by this we will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His presence: ²⁰Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.

²¹Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, ²²and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. ²³And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us. ²⁴Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us.