Word for today: Husbands, be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect…and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. 1 Peter 3:7 NIV

A Christian’s goal should be to create the Kingdom of God here on earth, as it is in Heaven. Not only, to get to Heaven.

Watch this to start your day.

To finish the Bible in one year, Read 2 Chronicles 11,12,13,14, & Matthew 14:22-36

Old Testament Reading for today – Listen or read it for yourself:

Also read the verses, if you like.

Old Testament Reading for today.

2 Chronicles 11

1 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered Judah and Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam.

2 But this word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God:

3 “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin,

4 ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your fellow Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’ ” So they obeyed the words of the LORD and turned back from marching against Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Fortifies Judah

5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built up towns for defense in Judah:

6 Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,

7 Beth Zur, Soko, Adullam,

8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph,

9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah,

10 Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron. These were fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.

11 He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, olive oil and wine.

12 He put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his.

13 The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him.

14 The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD

15 when he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made.

16 Those from every tribe of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the LORD, the God of their ancestors.

17 They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon three years, following the ways of David and Solomon during this time.

Rehoboam’s Family

18 Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab.

19 She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham.

20 Then he married Maakah daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelomith.

21 Rehoboam loved Maakah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

22 Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maakah as crown prince among his brothers, in order to make him king.

23 He acted wisely, dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions and took many wives for them.

2 Chronicles 12

Shishak Attacks Jerusalem

1 After Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the LORD.

2 Because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam.

3 With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites that came with him from Egypt,

4 he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

5 Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the LORD says, ‘You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak.’ ”

6 The leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is just.”

7 When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: “Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak.

8 They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.”

9 When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made.

10 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.

11 Whenever the king went to the LORD’s temple, the guards went with him, bearing the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.

12 Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah.

13 King Rehoboam established himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite.

14 He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD.

15 As for the events of Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer that deal with genealogies? There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam.

16 Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king.

2 Chronicles 13

Abijah King of Judah

1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah,

2 and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah, a daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

3 Abijah went into battle with an army of four hundred thousand able fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able troops.

4 Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me!

5 Don’t you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?

6 Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled against his master.

7 Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.

8 “And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.

9 But didn’t you drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.

10 “As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the LORD are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them.

11 Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the LORD. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the LORD our God. But you have forsaken him.

12 God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”

13 Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush was behind them.

14 Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the LORD. The priests blew their trumpets

15 and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

16 The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands.

17 Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men.

18 The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the LORD, the God of their ancestors.

19 Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages.

20 Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the LORD struck him down and he died.

21 But Abijah grew in strength. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

22 The other events of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo.

2 Chronicles 14

1 And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.

Asa King of Judah

2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.

3 He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles.

4 He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands.

5 He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him.

6 He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the LORD gave him rest.

7 “Let us build up these towns,” he said to Judah, “and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.

8 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.

9 Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah.

10 Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

11 Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. LORD, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.”

12 The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled,

13 and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the LORD and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder.

14 They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the LORD had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there.

15 They also attacked the camps of the herders and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

New Testament Reading for today.

Matthew 14: 22-36

Jesus Walks on the Water

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.

23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,

24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.

33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

34 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret.

35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him

36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Listen to today’s Bible readings explained by different people.

The Message Bible – Eugene H. Peterson – In Contemporary Language Read today’s verses in this bible on line, if you like.

The Catholic Daily Reading ahttps://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/daily-readings/2022-04-01nd homily, Listen, or Read it Here.

Acts 13:13-25

13Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphyl’ia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem;14but they passed on from Perga and came to Antioch of Pisid’ia. And on the sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.15After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”16So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: “Men of Israel, and you that fear God, listen.17The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.18And for about forty years he bore with them in the wilderness.19And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance, for about four hundred and fifty years.20And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.21Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.22And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; of whom he testified and said, `I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’23Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.24Before his coming John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.25And as John was finishing his course, he said, `What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

Psalms 89:2-3, 21-22, 25, 27

1I will sing of thy steadfast love, O LORD, for ever; with my mouth I will proclaim thy faithfulness to all generations.2For thy steadfast love was established for ever, thy faithfulness is firm as the heavens.20I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him;21so that my hand shall ever abide with him, my arm also shall strengthen him.24My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted.26He shall cry to me, `Thou art my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’

Gospel

John 13:16-20

16Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.17If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.18I am not speaking of you all; I know whom I have chosen; it is that the scripture may be fulfilled, `He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’19I tell you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.20Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives any one whom I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent me.”

Catholic Reflections for today.

When Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, he said to them: “Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him.” John 13:16

Reflection Prayer,

My Lord and Master, I submit myself to Your every command. May Your will be done in me and only Your will. I choose You as my Master in all things and trust in Your perfect love for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

Previous Daily Bible Study Blogs

2 Chronicles , Outline Summary, Outline Book of Matthew (we are studying these books presently)

Audio Drama: Old Testament New Testament Each book is read in its entirety. You can listen to the bible, one book at a time in contemporary English.

Dr. Myles Munroe

I am including a video by Dr. Myles Munroe, I’ve listened to him back in the nineties, and rediscovered him recently. Now his perspective seems to be a good way to also look at scripture. In Pursuit of Purpose – Book Highlights

Catholic Daily Reflections

The reflection prayer for today.

Lord of perfect unity, help me to come to know and love You and, in that relationship, to come to know and love the Father and the Holy Spirit. And as I grow in love for You Most Holy Trinity, help me to bring that love into every relationship I have so that I may be an instrument of Your love to others. Most Holy Trinity, I trust in You.