The Daily Audio Bible
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31 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
33 And Pharaohnechoh put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and put the land under a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
34 And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the stead of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt and died there.
35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.
36 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
24 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by His servants the prophets.
3 Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of His sight for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did,
4 and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon.
5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.
7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the River Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother’s name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done.
10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants besieged it.
12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother, and his servants and his princes and his officers; and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land: those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, a thousand, all who were strong and apt for war, even these the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
18 Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
19 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
20 For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until He had cast them out from His presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
25 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his host, against Jerusalem and pitched camp against it; and they built forts against it round about.
2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city round about); and the king went the way toward the plain.
5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army were scattered from him.
6 So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah, and they gave judgment upon him.
7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass and carried him to Babylon.
8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem.
9 And he burned the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burned he with fire.
10 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about.
11 Now the rest of the people who were left in the city and the fugitives who fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away.
12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.
13 And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the brass of them to Babylon.
14 And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.
15 And the firepans and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, all gold, and of silver, all silver, the captain of the guard took away.
16 The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital upon it was brass; and the height of the capital was three cubits, and the wreathen work and pomegranates upon the capital round about, all of brass; and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work.
18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the door.
19 And out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war, and five men of those who were in the king’s presence who were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host who mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land who were found in the city;
20 and Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.
22 And as for the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler.
23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah at Mizpah even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
24 And Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said unto them, “Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.”
25 But it came to pass in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah so that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.
26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
27 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison.
28 And he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon,
29 and changed his prison garments. And he ate bread continually before him all the days of his life;
30 and his allowance was a continual allowance given him from the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.
17 “And it came to pass that when I had come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance
18 and saw Him saying unto me, ‘Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me.’
19 And I said, ‘Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those who believed in Thee.
20 And when the blood of Thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting unto his death and kept the raiment of those who slew him.’
21 And He said unto me, ‘Depart, for I will send thee far hence, unto the Gentiles.’”
22 And the crowd gave him an audience up to this word; and then they lifted up their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live!”
23 And as they cried out and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air,
24 the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging, so that he might find out why they cried so against him.
25 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?”
26 When the centurion heard this, he went and told the chief captain, saying, “Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman.”
27 Then the chief captain came and said unto him, “Tell me, art thou a Roman?” And he said, “Yea.”
28 And the chief captain answered, “With a great sum I obtained this freedom.” And Paul said, “But I was free born.”
29 Then straightway those who should have examined him departed from him, and the chief captain also was afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
30 On the morrow, because he would know with certainty why he was accused by the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them.
23 And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God to this day.”
2 And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to smite him on the mouth.
3 Then said Paul unto him, “God shall smite thee, thou whited wall! For sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?”
4 And those who stood by said, “Revilest thou God’s high priest?”
5 Then said Paul, “I knew not, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.’”
6 But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out to the council, “Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: for the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called into question!”
7 And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the multitude was divided.
8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.
9 And there arose a great cry, and the scribes who were on the Pharisees’ side arose and strove, saying, “We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.”
10 And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
2 Why do the heathen rage, and the people devise a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds asunder, and cast away Their cords from us.”
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure:
6 “Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion.”
7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord hath said unto Me, ‘Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee.
8 Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.
13 He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.