One Year Bible.

The Godly Are No More

¹For the choirmaster. According to Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more;

the faithful have vanished from among men.

²They lie to one another;

they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

³May the LORD cut off all flattering lips

and every boastful tongue.

⁴They say, “With our tongues we will prevail.

We own our lips— who can be our master?”

⁵“For the cause of the oppressed

and for the groaning of the needy,

I will now arise,” says the LORD.

“I will bring safety to him who yearns.”

⁶The words of the LORD are flawless,

like silver refined in a furnace,

like gold purified sevenfold.

⁷You, O LORD, will keep us;

You will forever guard us from this generation.

⁸The wicked wander freely,

and vileness is exalted among men.

Peter and John before the Sanhedrin

¹While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, ²greatly disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in custody until the next day. ⁴But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

⁵The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, ⁶along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and many others from the high priest’s family. ⁷They had Peter and John brought in and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹If we are being examined today about a kind service to a man who was lame, to determine how he was healed, ¹⁰then let this be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹This Jesus is

‘the stone you builders rejected,

which has become the cornerstone.’

¹²Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

The Name Forbidden

¹³When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus. ¹⁴And seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in response. ¹⁵So they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.

¹⁶“What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.”

¹⁸Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God. ²⁰For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹After further threats they let them go. They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were glorifying God for what had happened. ²²For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

The Believers’ Prayer

²³On their release, Peter and John returned to their own people and reported everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them. ²⁴When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. ²⁵You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David:

‘Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

²⁶The kings of the earth take their stand

and the rulers gather together

against the Lord

and against His Anointed One.’

²⁷In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. ²⁸They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen. ²⁹And now, Lord, consider their threats, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with complete boldness, ³⁰as You stretch out Your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Sharing among Believers

³²The multitude of believers was one in heart and soul. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they owned. ³³With great power the apostles continued to give their testimony about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And abundant grace was upon them all.

³⁴There were no needy ones among them, because those who owned lands or houses would sell their property, bring the proceeds from the sales, ³⁵and lay them at the apostles’ feet for distribution to anyone as he had need.

³⁶Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (meaning Son of Encouragement), ³⁷sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Judgments and Promises

¹“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me;

I was found by those who did not seek Me.

To a nation that did not call My name,

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

²All day long I have held out My hands

to an obstinate people

who walk in the wrong path,

who follow their own imaginations,

³to a people who continually provoke Me to My face,

sacrificing in the gardens

and burning incense on altars of brick,

⁴sitting among the graves,

spending nights in secret places,

eating the meat of pigs

and polluted broth from their bowls.

⁵They say, ‘Keep to yourself;

do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’

Such people are smoke in My nostrils,

a fire that burns all day long.

⁶Behold, it is written before Me:

I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

I will pay it back into their laps,

⁷both for your iniquities

and for those of your fathers,”

says the LORD.

“Because they burned incense on the mountains

and scorned Me on the hills,

I will measure into their laps

full payment for their former deeds.”

⁸This is what the LORD says:

“As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes,

and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’

so I will act on behalf of My servants;

I will not destroy them all.

⁹And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and heirs from Judah;

My elect will possess My mountains,

and My servants will dwell there.

¹⁰Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,

and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,

for My people who seek Me.

¹¹But you who forsake the LORD,

who forget My holy mountain,

who set a table for Fortune

and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

¹²I will destine you for the sword,

and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered,

because I called and you did not answer,

I spoke and you did not listen;

you did evil in My sight

and chose that in which I did not delight.”

¹³Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:

“My servants will eat,

but you will go hungry;

My servants will drink,

but you will go thirsty;

My servants will rejoice,

but you will be put to shame.

¹⁴My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart,

but you will cry out with a heavy heart

and wail with a broken spirit.

¹⁵You will leave behind your name

as a curse for My chosen ones,

and the Lord GOD will slay you;

but to His servants He will give another name.

¹⁶Whoever invokes a blessing in the land

will do so by the God of truth,

and whoever takes an oath in the land

will swear by the God of truth.

For the former troubles will be forgotten

and hidden from My sight.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

¹⁷For behold, I will create

new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

nor will they come to mind.

¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I create;

for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy

and its people to be a delight.

¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalem

and take delight in My people.

The sounds of weeping and crying

will no longer be heard in her.

²⁰No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days,

or an old man fail to live out his years.

For the youth will die at a hundred years,

and he who fails to reach a hundred

will be considered accursed.

²¹They will build houses and dwell in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²²No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit,

nor plant for others to eat.

For as is the lifetime of a tree,

so will be the days of My people,

and My chosen ones will fully enjoy

the work of their hands.

²³They will not labor in vain

or bear children doomed to disaster;

for they will be a people blessed by the LORD —

they and their descendants with them.

²⁴Even before they call, I will answer,

and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

but the food of the serpent will be dust.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all My holy mountain,”

says the LORD.

Heaven Is My Throne

¹This is what the LORD says:

“Heaven is My throne,

and earth is My footstool.

What kind of house will you build for Me?

Or where will My place of repose be?

²Has not My hand made all these things?

And so they came into being,”

declares the LORD.

“This is the one I will esteem:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit,

who trembles at My word.

³Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man;

whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;

whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood;

whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol.

Indeed, they have chosen their own ways

and delighted in their abominations.

⁴So I will choose their punishment

and I will bring terror upon them,

because I called and no one answered,

I spoke and no one listened.

But they did evil in My sight

and chose that in which I did not delight.”

⁵You who tremble at His word,

hear the word of the LORD:

“Your brothers who hate you

and exclude you because of My name

have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified

that we may see your joy!’

But they will be put to shame.”

⁶Hear the uproar from the city;

listen to the voice from the temple!

It is the voice of the LORD,

repaying His enemies what they deserve!

Rejoice with Jerusalem

⁷“Before she was in labor, she gave birth;

before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.

⁸Who has heard of such as this?

Who has seen such things?

Can a country be born in a day

or a nation be delivered in an instant?

Yet as soon as Zion was in labor,

she gave birth to her children.

⁹Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?”

says the LORD.

“Or will I who deliver close the womb?”

says your God.

¹⁰Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her,

all who love her.

Rejoice greatly with her,

all who mourn over her,

¹¹so that you may nurse and be satisfied

at her comforting breasts;

you may drink deeply and delight yourselves

in her glorious abundance.

¹²For this is what the LORD says:

“I will extend peace to her like a river,

and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream;

you will nurse and be carried on her arm,

and bounced upon her knees.

¹³As a mother comforts her son,

so will I comfort you,

and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”

¹⁴When you see, you will rejoice,

and you will flourish like grass;

then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants,

but His wrath will be shown to His enemies.

Final Judgments against the Wicked

¹⁵For behold, the LORD will come with fire—

His chariots are like a whirlwind—

to execute His anger with fury

and His rebuke with flames of fire.

¹⁶For by fire and by His sword,

the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh,

and many will be slain by the LORD.

¹⁷“Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves — to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats — will perish together,” declares the LORD.

¹⁸“And I, knowing their deeds and thoughts, am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory.

¹⁹I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations — to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory.

So they will proclaim My glory among the nations. ²⁰And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.”

²¹“And I will select some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.

²²“For just as the new heavens and the new earth,

which I will make, will endure before Me,”

declares the LORD,

“so your descendants and your name will endure.

²³From one New Moon to another

and from one Sabbath to another,

all mankind will come to worship before Me,”

says the LORD.

²⁴“As they go forth, they will see the corpses

of the men who have rebelled against Me;

for their worm will never die,

their fire will never be quenched,

and they will be a horror

to all mankind.”

Manasseh Reigns in Judah

¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. ²And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. ³For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal. He made an Asherah pole, as King Ahab of Israel had done, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.

⁴Manasseh also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My Name.” ⁵In both courtyards of the house of the LORD, he built altars to all the host of heaven. ⁶He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

⁷Manasseh even took the carved Asherah pole he had made and set it up in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish My Name forever. ⁸I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they are careful to do all I have commanded them— the whole Law that My servant Moses commanded them.”

⁹But the people did not listen and Manasseh led them astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.

Manasseh’s Idolatries Rebuked

¹⁰And the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹“Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed all these abominations, acting more wickedly than the Amorites who preceded him, and with his idols has caused Judah to sin, ¹²this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that the news will reverberate in the ears of all who hear it.

¹³I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl— wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hands of their enemies. And they will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies, ¹⁵because they have done evil in My sight and have provoked Me to anger from the day their fathers came out of Egypt until this day.’”

¹⁶Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹⁷As for the rest of the acts of Manasseh, along with all his accomplishments and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

¹⁸And Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And his son Amon reigned in his place.

Amon Reigns in Judah

¹⁹Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. ²⁰And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹He walked in all the ways of his father, and he served and worshiped the idols his father had served. ²²He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.

²³Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. ²⁴But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.

²⁵As for the rest of the acts of Amon, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁶And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah reigned in his place.