Formation Journal Reading Plan

25:1 It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it around it.

25:2 So the city was besieged to the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

25:3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

25:4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden (now the Chaldeans were against the city around it); and the king went by the way of the Arabah.

25:5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.

25:6 Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment on him.

25:7 They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

25:8 Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, to Jerusalem.

25:9 He burnt the house of Yahweh, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burnt he with fire.

25:10 All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

25:11 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude.

25:12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to work the vineyards and fields.

25:13 The Chaldeans broke up the pillars of brass that were in the house of Yahweh and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the house of Yahweh, and carried the brass pieces to Babylon.

25:14 They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered.

25:15 The captain of the guard took away the fire pans, the basins, that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver.

25:16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh, the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

25:17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a capital of brass was on it; and the height of the capital was three cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital around it, all of brass: and like to these had the second pillar with network.

25:18 The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold:

25:19 and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe, the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city.

25:20 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.

25:21 The king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.

25:22 As for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor.

25:23 Now when all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men.

25:24 Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, “Don’t be afraid because of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.”

25:25 But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed came, and ten men with him, and struck Gedaliah, so that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah.

25:26 All the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose, and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

25:27 It happened in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;

25:28 and he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon,

25:29 and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life:

25:30 and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him of the king, every day a portion, all the days of his life.

1:1 Adam, Seth, Enosh,

1:2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared,

1:3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech,

1:4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

1:5 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

1:6 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Diphath, and Togarmah.

1:7 The sons of Javan: Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.

1:8 The sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

1:9 The sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raama, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba, and Dedan.

1:10 Cush became the father of Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

1:11 Mizraim became the father of Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,

1:12 and Pathrusim, and Casluhim (where the Philistines came from), and Caphtorim.

1:13 Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,

1:14 and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite,

1:15 and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,

1:16 and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite.

1:17 The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.

1:18 Arpachshad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the father of Eber.

1:19 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.

1:20 Joktan became the father of Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,

1:21 and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,

1:22 and Ebal, and Abimael, and Sheba,

1:23 and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.

1:24 Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah,

1:25 Eber, Peleg, Reu,

1:26 Serug, Nahor, Terah,

1:27 Abram (the same is Abraham).

1:28 The sons of Abraham: Isaac, and Ishmael.

1:29 These are their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

1:30 Mishma, and Dumah, Massa, Hadad, and Tema,

1:31 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.

1:32 The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba, and Dedan.

1:33 The sons of Midian: Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.

1:34 Abraham became the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau, and Israel.

1:35 The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, and Jeush, and Jalam, and Korah.

1:36 The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, and Omar, Zephi, and Gatam, Kenaz, and Timna, and Amalek.

1:37 The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.

1:38 The sons of Seir: Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah, and Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan.

1:39 The sons of Lotan: Hori, and Homam; and Timna was Lotan’s sister.

1:40 The sons of Shobal: Alian, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah, and Anah.

1:41 The sons of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hamran, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.

1:42 The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, and Zaavan, Jaakan. The sons of Dishan: Uz, and Aran.

1:43 Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor; and the name of his city was Dinhabah.

1:44 Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place.

1:45 Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

1:46 Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Avith.

1:47 Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place.

1:48 Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the River reigned in his place.

1:49 Shaul died, and Baal Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.

1:50 Baal Hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pai: and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

1:51 Hadad died. The chiefs of Edom were: chief Timna, chief Aliah, chief Jetheth,

1:52 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon,

1:53 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar,

1:54 chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom.

27:1 Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring forth.

27:2 Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

27:3 A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?

27:5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

27:7 A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.

27:8 As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.

27:9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.

27:10 Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.

27:11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.

27:12 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

27:13 Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!

27:14 He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.

6:8 Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.

6:9 But some of those who were of the synagogue called “The Libertines,” and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia arose, disputing with Stephen.

6:10 They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

6:11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

6:12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, and brought him in to the council,

6:13 and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.

6:14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”

6:15 All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel.

7:1 The high priest said, “Are these things so?”

7:2 He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

7:3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your land, and from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’

7:4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land, where you are now living.

7:5 He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he still had no child.

7:6 God spoke in this way: that his seed would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

7:7 ‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that will they come out, and serve me in this place.’

7:8 He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

7:9 “The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him,

7:10 and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

7:11 Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food.

7:12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time.

7:13 On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s race was revealed to Pharaoh.

7:14 Joseph sent, and summoned Jacob, his father, and all his relatives, seventy-five souls.

7:15 Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, himself and our fathers,

7:16 and they were brought back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor of Shechem.

7:17 “But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

7:18 until there arose a different king, who didn’t know Joseph.

7:19 The same took advantage of our race, and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to throw out their babies, so that they wouldn’t stay alive.

7:20 At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome. He was nourished three months in his father’s house.

7:21 When he was thrown out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and reared him as her own son.

7:22 Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works.

7:23 But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.

7:24 Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian.

7:25 He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they didn’t understand.

7:26 “The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, ‘Sirs, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?’

7:27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

7:28 Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’

7:29 Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

7:30 “When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.

7:31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, a voice of the Lord came to him,

7:32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Moses trembled, and dared not look.

7:33 The Lord said to him, ‘Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

7:34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.’

7:35 “This Moses, whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

7:36 This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

7:37 This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.’

7:38 This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living oracles to give to us,

7:39 to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,

7:40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’

7:41 They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.

7:42 But God turned, and gave them up to serve the army of the sky, as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

7:43 You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, the star of your god Rephan, the figures which you made to worship. I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’

7:44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen;

7:45 which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, to the days of David,

7:46 who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.

7:47 But Solomon built him a house.

7:48 However, the Most High doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says,

7:49 ‘heaven is my throne, and the earth a footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?’ says the Lord; ‘or what is the place of my rest?

7:50 Didn’t my hand make all these things?’

7:51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.

7:52 Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.

7:53 You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”