Friday in Season after Pentecost

12Verse 12. On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. 13Verse 13. He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem — every significant building. 14Verse 14. And the whole army of the Chaldeans under the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15Verse 15. Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the craftsmen. 16Verse 16. But Nebuzaradan captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields. 17Verse 17. Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the LORD, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18Verse 18. They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service. 19Verse 19. The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls— anything made of pure gold or fine silver. 20Verse 20. As for the two pillars, the Sea, the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands that King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the weight of the bronze from all these articles was beyond measure. 21Verse 21. Each pillar was eighteen cubits tall and twelve cubits in circumference; each was hollow, four fingers thick. 22Verse 22. The bronze capital atop one pillar was five cubits high, with a network of bronze pomegranates all around. The second pillar, with its pomegranates, was similar. 23Verse 23. Each capital had ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, and a total of a hundred pomegranates were above the surrounding network. 24Verse 24. The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers. 25Verse 25. Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as seven trusted royal advisers. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city. 26Verse 26. Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27Verse 27. There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land. 28Verse 28. These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; 29Verse 29. in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; 30Verse 30. in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away 745 Jews. So in all, 4,600 people were taken away.

12Verse 12. To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of the One who holds the sharp, double-edged sword. 13Verse 13. I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits, yet you hold fast to My name. You did not deny your faith in Me, even in the days of My faithful witness Antipas, who was killed among you where Satan dwells. 14Verse 14. But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. 15Verse 15. In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Verse 16. Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth. 17Verse 17. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it. 18Verse 18. To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze. 19Verse 19. I know your deeds — your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance — and your latest deeds are greater than your first. 20Verse 20. But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21Verse 21. Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling. 22Verse 22. Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds. 23Verse 23. Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. 24Verse 24. But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan: I will place no further burden upon you 25Verse 25. than to hold fast to what you have until I come. 26Verse 26. And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations. 27Verse 27. He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery — just as I have received authority from My Father. 28Verse 28. And I will give him the morning star. 29Verse 29. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.[’’]