2 Chron. 25:1–13

25:1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jehoaddan, who was from Jerusalem. 2He did what the Lord approved, but not with wholehearted devotion.

3When he had secured control of the kingdom, he executed the servants who had assassinated his father the king. 4However, he did not execute their sons. He obeyed the Lord’s commandment as recorded in the law scroll of Moses, “Fathers must not be executed for what their sons do, and sons must not be executed for what their fathers do. A man must be executed only for his own sin.”

5Amaziah assembled the people of Judah and assigned them by families to the commanders of units of 1,000 and the commanders of units of 100 for all Judah and Benjamin. He counted those twenty years old and up and discovered there were 300,000 young men of fighting age equipped with spears and shields. 6He hired 100,000 Israelite warriors for 100 talents of silver.

7But a prophet visited him and said: “O king, the Israelite troops must not go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel or any of the Ephraimites. 8Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating.” 9Amaziah asked the prophet: “But what should I do about the 100 talents of silver I paid the Israelite troops?” The prophet replied, “The Lord is capable of giving you more than that.” 10So Amaziah dismissed the troops that had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were very angry at Judah and returned home incensed. 11Amaziah boldly led his army to the Valley of Salt, where he defeated 10,000 Edomites. 12The men of Judah captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them over. All the captives fell to their death. 13Now the troops Amaziah had dismissed and had not allowed to fight in the battle raided the cities of Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed 3,000 people and carried off a large amount of plunder.

Ps. 95

95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.

Let us shout out praises to our Protector who delivers us.

2Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving.

Let us shout out to him in celebration.

3For the Lord is a great God,

a great king who is superior to all gods.

4The depths of the earth are in his hand,

and the mountain peaks belong to him.

5The sea is his, for he made it.

His hands formed the dry land.

6Come, let us bow down and worship.

Let us kneel before the Lord, our Creator.

7For he is our God;

we are the people of his pasture,

the sheep he owns.

Today, if only you would obey him.

8He says, “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah,

like they were that day at Massah in the wilderness,

9where your ancestors challenged my authority

and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.

10For 40 years I was continually disgusted with that generation,

and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray;

they do not obey my commands.’

11So I made a vow in my anger,

‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’”

Luke 11:37–54

11:37 As he spoke, a Pharisee invited Jesus to have a meal with him, so he went in and took his place at the table. 38The Pharisee was astonished when he saw that Jesus did not first wash his hands before the meal. 39But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40You fools! Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside as well? 41But give from your heart to those in need, and then everything will be clean for you.

42“But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of your mint, rue, and every herb, yet you neglect justice and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. 43Woe to you Pharisees! You love the best seats in the synagogues and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces! 44Woe to you! You are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it!”

45One of the experts in religious law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.” 46But Jesus replied, “Woe to you experts in religious law as well! You load people down with burdens difficult to bear, yet you yourselves refuse to touch the burdens with even one of your fingers! 47Woe to you! You build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. 48So you testify that you approve of the deeds of your ancestors because they killed the prophets and you build their tombs! 49For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50so that this generation may be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation. 52Woe to you experts in religious law! You have taken away the key to knowledge! You did not go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were going in.”

53When he went out from there, the experts in the law and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly and to ask him hostile questions about many things, 54plotting against him to catch him in something he might say.