Thematic Selections from the Bible

2Ch 20:20-37

20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in Jehovah your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

21 And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed them that should sing unto Jehovah, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks unto Jehovah; for his lovingkindness for ever.

22 And when they began to sing and to praise, Jehovah set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, that were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

24 And when Judah came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, they looked upon the multitude; and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were none that escaped.

25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much.

26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there they blessed Jehovah: therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Beracah unto this day.

27 Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Jehovah had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

28 And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of Jehovah.

29 And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of the countries, when they heard that Jehovah fought against the enemies of Israel.

30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet; for his God gave him rest round about.

31 And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah.

33 Howbeit the high places were not taken away; neither as yet had the people set their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is inserted in the book of the kings of Israel.

35 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; the same did very wickedly:

36 and he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish; and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.

37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, Jehovah hath destroyed thy works. And the ships were broken, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

Ps 42:1-11

1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God.

2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: When shall I come and appear before God?

3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

4 These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, How I went with the throng, and led them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping holyday.

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him the help of his countenance.

6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me: Therefore do I remember thee from the land of the Jordan, And the Hermons, from the hill Mizar.

7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterfalls: All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

8 Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the day-time; And in the night his song shall be with me, a prayer unto the God of my life.

9 I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

10 As with a sword in my bones, mine adversaries reproach me, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; For I shall yet praise him, the help of my countenance, and my God.

Rom 10:1-21

1 Brethren, my heart's desire and my supplication to God is for them, that they may be saved.

2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

3 For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

4 For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth.

5 For Moses writeth that the man that doeth the righteousness which is of the law shall live thereby.

6 But the righteousness which is of faith saith thus, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down:)

7 or, Who shall descend into the abyss? (That is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)

8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach:

9 because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved:

10 for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame.

12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him:

13 for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

15 and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!

16 But they did not all hearken to the glad tidings. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

17 So belief of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

18 But I say, Did they not hear? Yea, verily, Their sound went out into all the earth, And their words unto the ends of the world.

19 But I say, Did Israel not know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation, With a nation void of understanding will I anger you.

20 And Isaiah is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I became manifest unto them that asked not of me.

21 But as to Israel he saith, All the day long did I spread out my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

Heb 11:1-40

1 Now faith is assurance of hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.

2 For therein the elders had witness borne to them.

3 By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.

4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh.

5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he hath had witness borne to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God:

6 And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing ; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.

7 By faith Noah, being warned concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

9 By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

10 for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11 By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised:

12 wherefore also there sprang of one, and him as good as dead, as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand, which is by the sea-shore, innumerable.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

14 For they that say such things make it manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own.

15 And if indeed they had been mindful of that from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

16 But now they desire a better , that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city.

17 By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac: yea, he that had gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten ;

18 even he to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called:

19 accounting that God able to raise up, even from the dead; from whence he did also in a figure receive him back.

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, upon the top of his staff.

22 By faith Joseph, when his end was nigh, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

25 choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

26 accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward.

27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

28 By faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them.

29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were swallowed up.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days.

31 By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that were disobedient, having received the spies with peace.

32 And what shall I more say? for the time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets:

33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens.

35 Women received their dead by a resurrection: and others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

36 and others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

37 they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword: they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated

38 (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.

39 And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise,

40 God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Jas 1:1-27

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting.

2 Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;

3 Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience.

4 And let patience have perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

5 But if any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

7 For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord;

8 a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways.

9 But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate:

10 and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

11 For the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass: and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.

12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which promised to them that love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man:

14 but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.

16 Be not deceived, my beloved brethren.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.

18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

19 Ye know , my beloved brethren. But let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

20 for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

21 Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.

23 For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror:

24 for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25 But he that looketh into the perfect law, the of liberty, and continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.

26 If any man thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man's religion is vain.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Jas 2:1-26

1 My brethren, hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, of glory, with respect of persons.

2 For if there come into your synagogue a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, and there come in also a poor man in vile clothing;

3 and ye have regard to him that weareth the fine clothing, and say, Sit thou here in a good place; and ye say to the poor man, Stand thou there, or sit under my footstool;

4 Do ye not make distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him?

6 But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats?

7 Do not they blaspheme the honorable name by which ye are called?

8 Howbeit if ye fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well:

9 but if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.

10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one , he is become guilty of all.

11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

12 So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty.

13 For judgment without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment.

14 What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food,

16 and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17 Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.

18 Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from works, and I by my works will show thee faith.

19 Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder.

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?

22 Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect;

23 and the scripture was fulfilled which saith, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.

24 Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith.

25 And in like manner was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?

26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.

Lk 22:31-34

31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat:

32 but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not; and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren.

33 And he said unto him, Lord, with thee I am ready to go both to prison and to death.

34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, until thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

Rom 1:1-7

1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

2 which he promised afore through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

3 concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,

4 who was declared the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; Jesus Christ our Lord,

5 through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake;

6 among whom are ye also called Jesus Christ's:

7 To all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.