רִאשׁוֹן

As for the rest of the acts of Amaziah, from beginning to end, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel?

As for the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from beginning to end, they are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.

As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz and all his ways, from beginning to end, they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened and repaired the doors of the house of the LORD.

They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days they consecrated the house of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

Then Josiah kept the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month.

…his acts from beginning to end—they are indeed written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple. Still, many others shouted joyfully.

On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles kept the Passover.

He had begun the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him.

On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us to protect us from the hands of the enemies and bandits along the way.

Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”

…and by the first day of the first month they had dealt with all the men who had married foreign women.

The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people. But I did not do this, because of my fear of God.

Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials, and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. I found the genealogical register of those who had first returned, and I found the following written in it:

Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. The Israelites kept the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly, according to the ordinance.

His closest advisors were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who had personal access to the king and ranked highest in the kingdom.

In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the Pur (that is, the lot) was cast before Haman to determine a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal scribes were summoned and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded the royal satraps, the governors of each province, and the officials of each people, in the script of each province and the language of every people. It was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the royal signet ring.

Please inquire of past generations and consider the discoveries of their fathers.

Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

Do not hold past sins against us; let Your compassion come quickly, for we are brought low.

Where, O Lord, is Your loving devotion of old, which You faithfully swore to David?

The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

An inheritance gained quickly will not be blessed in the end.

There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.

Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this.

I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning. After that you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those in distress. In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations:

Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”

“Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming.

I was the first to tell Zion: ‘Look, here they are!’ And I gave to Jerusalem a herald of good news.

Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”

All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses to vindicate them, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”

“Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old.

Your first father sinned, and your spokesmen rebelled against Me.

Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.

Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.

I foretold the former things long ago; they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first, and I am the last.

For this is what the Lord GOD says: “At first My people went down to Egypt to live, then Assyria oppressed them without cause.

Surely the islands will wait for Me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.

…both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.”

Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth, and whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My sight.

For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.

They have returned to the sins of their forefathers who refused to obey My words. They have followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their fathers.