Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the sight of the LORD, just as his ancestor David had done. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover to the LORD the God of Israel. For the king and his officials and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the passover in the second month (for they could not keep it at its proper time because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem). The plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the passover to the LORD the God of Israel, at Jerusalem; for they had not kept it in great numbers as prescribed. So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, as the king had commanded, saying, "O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your ancestors and your kindred, who were faithless to the LORD God of their ancestors, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. Do not now be stiff-necked as your ancestors were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For as you return to the LORD, your kindred and your children will find compassion with their captors, and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him." So the couriers went from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun; but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. Only a few from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the officials commanded by the word of the LORD. Many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the festival of unleavened bread in the second month, a very large assembly. They set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for offering incense they took away and threw into the Wadi Kidron. They slaughtered the passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and they sanctified themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the LORD. They took their accustomed posts according to the law of Moses the man of God; the priests dashed the blood that they received from the hands of the Levites. For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites had to slaughter the passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to make it holy to the LORD. For a multitude of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the passover otherwise than as prescribed. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "The good LORD pardon all who set their hearts to seek God, the LORD the God of their ancestors, even though not in accordance with the sanctuary's rules of cleanness." The LORD heard Hezekiah, and healed the people. The people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the festival of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, accompanied by loud instruments for the LORD. Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the LORD. So the people ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing offerings of well-being and giving thanks to the LORD the God of their ancestors. Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the festival for another seven days; so they kept it for another seven days with gladness. For King Hezekiah of Judah gave the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for offerings, and the officials gave the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. The priests sanctified themselves in great numbers. The whole assembly of Judah, the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the resident aliens who came out of the land of Israel, and the resident aliens who lived in Judah, rejoiced. There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon son of King David of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. Then the priests and the Levites stood up and blessed the people, and their voice was heard; their prayer came to his holy dwelling in heaven.
1 Corinthians 7:32-40
I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord. If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his fiancee, if his passions are strong, and so it has to be, let him marry as he wishes; it is no sin. Let them marry. But if someone stands firm in his resolve, being under no necessity but having his own desire under control, and has determined in his own mind to keep her as his fiancee, he will do well. So then, he who marries his fiancee does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better. A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord. But in my judgment she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye. "Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you. "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.
Psalm 97 Dominus regnavit
1 The LORD is King; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of the isles be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.
3 A fire goes before him and burns up his enemies on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees it and is afraid.
5 The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
7 Confounded be all who worship carved images and delight in false gods! Bow down before him, all you gods.
8 Zion hears and is glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O LORD.
9 For you are the LORD, most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
10 The LORD loves those who hate evil; he preserves the lives of his saints and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light has sprung up for the righteous, and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, and give thanks to his holy Name.
Psalm 99 Dominus regnavit
1 The LORD is King; let the people tremble; he is enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth shake.
2 The LORD is great in Zion; he is high above all peoples.
3 Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome; he is the Holy One.
4 O mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God and fall down before his footstool; he is the Holy One.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his Name, they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.
8 O LORD our God, you answered them indeed; you were a God who forgave them, yet punished them for their evil deeds.
9 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God and worship him upon his holy hill; for the LORD our God is the Holy One.
Psalm 100 Jubilate Deo
1 Be joyful in the LORD, all you lands; serve the LORD with gladness and come before his presence with a song.
2 Know this: The LORD himself is God; he himself has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
3 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise; give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
4 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his faithfulness endures from age to age.
Psalm 94 Deus ultionum
1 O LORD God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, show yourself.
2 Rise up, O Judge of the world; give the arrogant their just deserts.
3 How long shall the wicked, O LORD, how long shall the wicked triumph?
4 They bluster in their insolence; all evildoers are full of boasting.
5 They crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your chosen nation.
6 They murder the widow and the stranger and put the orphans to death.
7 Yet they say, "The LORD does not see, the God of Jacob takes no notice."
8 Consider well, you dullards among the people; when will you fools understand?
9 He that planted the ear, does he not hear? he that formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who admonishes the nations, will he not punish? he who teaches all the world, has he no knowledge?
11 The LORD knows our human thoughts; how like a puff of wind they are.
12 Happy are they whom you instruct, O Lord! whom you teach out of your law;
13 To give them rest in evil days, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the LORD will not abandon his people, nor will he forsake his own.
15 For judgment will again be just, and all the true of heart will follow it.
16 Who rose up for me against the wicked? who took my part against the evildoers?
17 If the LORD had not come to my help, I should soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
18 As often as I said, "My foot has slipped, " your love, O LORD, upheld me.
19 When many cares fill my mind, your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can a corrupt tribunal have any part with you, one which frames evil into law?
21 They conspire against the life of the just and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my trust.
23 He will turn their wickedness back upon them and destroy them in their own malice; the LORD our God will destroy them.
Psalm 95 Venite, exultemus
1 Come, let us sing to the LORD; let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the caverns of the earth, and the heights of the hills are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands have molded the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the LORD our Maker.
7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!
8 Harden not your hearts, as your forebears did in the wilderness, at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted me.
9 They put me to the test, though they had seen my works.
10 Forty years long I detested that generation and said, This people are wayward in their hearts; they do not know my ways."
11 So I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter into my rest."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.