October 15
2Chronicles 26 & James 5
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2Chronicles 26

Chapter 26

26:1All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2He rebuilt Eloth and restored it to Judah after Amaziah the king rested with his fathers.
3Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king and reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. 4He did what was right in the Lord's sight as his father Amaziah had done. 5He sought God throughout the lifetime of Zechariah, the teacher of the fear of God. During the time that he sought the Lord, God gave him success.
6Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, and he tore down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod. Then he built cities in the vicinity of Ashdod and among the Philistines. 7God helped him against the Philistines, the Arabs that live in Gur-baal, and the Meunites. 8The Ammonites gave Uzziah tribute money, and his fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for God made him very powerful. 9Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the corner buttress, and he fortified them. 10Since he had many cattle both in the Judean foothills and the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many wells. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands.
11Uzziah had an army equipped for combat that went out to war by division according to their assignments, as recorded by Jeiel the court secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the authority of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders. 12The total number of heads of families was 2,600 brave warriors. 13Under their authority was an army of 307,500 equipped for combat, a powerful force to help the king against the enemy. 14Uzziah provided the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows and slingstones. 15He made skillfully designed devices in Jerusalem to shoot arrows and catapult large stones for use on the towers and on the corners. So his fame spread even to distant places, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong.
16But when he became strong, he grew arrogant and it led to his own destruction. He acted unfaithfully against the Lord his God by going into the Lord's sanctuary to burn incense on the incense altar. 17Azariah the priest, along with 80 brave priests of the Lord, went in after him. 18They took their stand against King Uzziah and said, "Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the Lord-only the consecrated priests, the descendants of Aaron, have the right to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully! You will not receive honor from the Lord God."
19Uzziah, with a firepan in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But when he became enraged with the priests, in the presence of the priests in the Lord's temple beside the altar of incense, a skin disease broke out on his forehead. 20Then Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw that he was diseased on his forehead. They rushed him out of there. He himself also hurried to get out because the Lord had afflicted him. 21So King Uzziah was diseased to the time of his death. He lived in quarantine with a serious skin disease and was excluded from access to the Lord's temple, while his son Jotham was over the king's household governing the people of the land.
22Now the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz wrote about the rest of the events of Uzziah's reign, from beginning to end. 23Uzziah rested with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the burial ground of the kings' cemetery, for they said, "He has a skin disease." His son Jotham became king in his place.

James 5

Chapter 5

5:1Come now, you rich people! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. 2Your wealth is ruined and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3Your silver and gold are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You stored up treasure in the last days! 4Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. 5You have lived luxuriously on the land and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. 6You have condemned-you have murdered-the righteous man; he does not resist you.
7Therefore, brothers, be patient until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord's coming is near.
9Brothers, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!
10Brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord's name as an example of suffering and patience. 11See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job's endurance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
12Now above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. Your "yes" must be "yes," and your "no" must be "no," so that you won't fall under judgment.
13Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. 14Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him after anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord. 15The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will restore him to health; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours; yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. 18Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.
19My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20let him know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life from death and cover a multitude of sins.

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