Monday in Season after Pentecost

23Verse 23. “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there, 24Verse 24. a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her. 25Verse 25. You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’ 26Verse 26. As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets 27Verse 27. say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Yet in the time of trouble, they say, ‘Rise up and save us!’ 28Verse 28. But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah. 29Verse 29. Why do you bring a case against Me? You have all rebelled against Me,” 30Verse 30. “I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.” 31Verse 31. You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to You no more’? 32Verse 32. Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number. 33Verse 33. How skillfully you pursue love! Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways. 34Verse 34. Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things 35Verse 35. you say, ‘I am innocent. Surely His anger will turn from me.’ Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ 36Verse 36. How impulsive you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria. 37Verse 37. Moreover, you will leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not prosper by their help.”

1Verse 1. After Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he and all Israel with him forsook the Law of the LORD. 2Verse 2. In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem 3Verse 3. with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and countless troops who came with him out of Egypt— Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites. 4Verse 4. He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. 5Verse 5. Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You have forsaken Me; therefore, I have forsaken you into the hand of Shishak.’” 6Verse 6. So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.” 7Verse 7. When the LORD saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them, but will soon grant them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. 8Verse 8. Nevertheless, they will become his servants, so that they may learn the difference between serving Me and serving the kings of other lands.” 9Verse 9. So King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made. 10Verse 10. Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. 11Verse 11. And whenever the king entered the house of the LORD, the guards would go with him, bearing the shields, and later they would return them to the guardroom. 12Verse 12. Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the anger of the LORD turned away from him, and He did not destroy him completely. Indeed, conditions were good in Judah.