Prophecy against Baasha

16 Now the word of the Lord came to ^(A)Jehu the son of ^(B)Hanani against Baasha, saying, ² “Since I ^(C)exalted you from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and ^(D)you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have misled My people Israel into sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins, ³ behold, ^(E)I am going to ^[a]burn ^(F)Baasha and his house, and ^(G)I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ^4 (H)Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and anyone belonging to him who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.”

^5 (I)Now as for the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

The Israelite Kings

⁶ And Baasha ^[b]lay down with his fathers and was buried in ^(J)Tirzah, and his son Elah became king in his place. ⁷ Moreover, the word of the Lord through ^(K)the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came against Baasha and his household, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger with ^(L)the work of his hands, by being like the house of Jeroboam, and because ^(M)he struck ^[c]it.

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel at Tirzah, and reigned for two years. ⁹ And his servant ^(N)Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now ^[d]Elah was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, ^(O)who was in charge of the household in Tirzah. ¹⁰ Then Zimri came in and struck him and put him to death in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and he became king in his place. ¹¹ And when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, ^(P)he ^[e]killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave ^[f]a single male alive, either of his ^[g]relatives or of his friends.

¹² So Zimri eliminated all the household of Baasha, ^(Q)in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke against Baasha through ^(R)Jehu the prophet, ¹³ for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of his son Elah, which they ^[h]committed and into which they misled Israel, ^(S)provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their ^[i]idols. ^14 (T)Now as for the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned for seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were camped against ^(U)Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ And the people who were camped heard ^[j]it being said, “Zimri has conspired and has also struck and killed the king!” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷ Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over himself with fire, and ^(V)died, ¹⁹ because of his sins which he ^[k]committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(W)walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he committed, misleading Israel into sin. ^20 (X)Now as for the rest of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy which he ^[l]carried out, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; the other half followed Omri. ²² But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. And Tibni died and Omri became king. ²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned for twelve years; he reigned for six years at ^(Y)Tirzah. ²⁴ And he purchased the hill ^[m]Samaria from Shemer for ^[n]two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built ^[o](Z)Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

²⁵ Now ^(AA)Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and ^(AB)acted more wickedly than all who were before him. ²⁶ For he ^(AC)walked ^[p]entirely in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sins into which he misled Israel, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their ^[q]idols. ²⁷ Now as for the rest of the acts of Omri which he did and his might which he ^[r]displayed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸ And Omri ^[s]lay down with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and his son Ahab became king in his place.

²⁹ Now Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years. ³⁰ Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord ^(AD)more than all who were before him.

³¹ And as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(AE)he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the ^(AF)Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him. ³² So he erected an altar for Baal at ^(AG)the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also made ^(AH)the ^[t]Asherah. So ^(AI)Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ^34 (AJ)In his days Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Azariah the Prophet Warns Asa

15 Now ^(A)the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, ² and he went out ^[a]to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^(B)the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And ^(C)if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you. ^3 (D)For many days Israel was without the true God and without ^(E)a teaching priest and without the Law. ⁴ But ^(F)in their distress they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him. ^5 (G)In those times there was no peace for him who went out or him who came in, because many disturbances ^[b]afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. ^6 (H)Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. ⁷ But you, ^(I)be strong and do not ^[c]lose courage, for there is a ^(J)reward for your work.”

Asa’s Reforms

⁸ Now when Asa heard these words and the ^[d]prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and from ^(K)the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. ^(L)He then restored the altar of the Lord which was in front of the porch of the Lord. ⁹ And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon ^(M)who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. ¹⁰ So they assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. ^11 (N)They sacrificed to the Lord on that day seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep from the spoils they had brought. ^12 (O)They entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and soul; ¹³ and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel ^(P)was to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. ¹⁴ Moreover, they made an oath to the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting, trumpets, and with horns. ¹⁵ All Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought Him ^[e]earnestly, and He let them find Him. So ^(Q)the Lord gave them rest on every side.

^16 (R)He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, from the position of queen mother, because she had made an abominable image ^[f]as ^(S)an Asherah, and ^(T)Asa cut down her abominable image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁷ But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was blameless all his days. ¹⁸ He brought into the house of God the dedicated things of his father and his own dedicated things: silver, gold, and utensils. ¹⁹ And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Asa Wars against Baasha

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, ^(U)Baasha king of Israel came up against Judah and ^[g]fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ² Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and sent it to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, ³ “A treaty must be made between ^[h]you and me, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold; go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.” ⁴ And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they ^[i]conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all ^(V)the ^[j]storage cities of Naphtali. ⁵ When Baasha heard about it, he stopped ^[k]fortifying Ramah and put an end to his work. ⁶ Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with it he ^[l]fortified Geba and Mizpah.

Asa Imprisons the Prophet

⁷ At that time ^(W)Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “^(X)Because you have relied on the king of Aram and have not relied on the Lord your God, for that reason the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. ⁸ Were not ^(Y)the Ethiopians and the Lubim ^(Z)an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet ^(AA)because you relied on the Lord, He handed them over to you. ⁹ For ^(AB)the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those ^(AC)whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will have wars.” ¹⁰ Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in ^[m]prison, for he was enraged at him for this. And Asa mistreated some of the people at the same time.

^11 (AD)Now, the acts of Asa from the first to the last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ¹² In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he ^(AE)did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. ¹³ So Asa ^[n]lay down with his fathers, and died in the forty-first year of his reign. ¹⁴ They buried him in his own tomb which he had cut out for himself in the city of David, and they laid him in the resting place which he had filled ^(AF)with spices of various kinds blended by the perfumers’ art; and ^(AG)they made a very great fire for him.

Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments

1 ^(A)Paul, ^(B)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^[a](C)by the will of God, and ^(D)Timothy ^[b]our brother,

² To the ^[c](E)saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are at Colossae: ^(F)Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

^3 (G)We ^[d]give thanks to God, ^(H)the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ^4 (I)since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the ^(J)love which you have ^[e]for ^(K)all the ^[f]saints; ⁵ because of the ^(L)hope ^(M)reserved for you in ^[g]heaven, of which you previously ^(N)heard in the word of truth, ^[h]the gospel ⁶ which has come to you, just as ^[i](O)in all the world also it is bearing ^(P)fruit and ^[j]increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you ^(Q)heard it and ^[k]understood the grace of God in truth; ⁷ just as you learned it from ^(R)Epaphras, our ^(S)beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, ⁸ and he also informed us of your ^(T)love in the Spirit.

⁹ For this reason we also, ^(U)since the day we heard about it, ^(V)have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the ^[l](W)knowledge of His will in all spiritual ^(X)wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you will ^(Y)walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^[m](Z)to please Him in all respects, ^(AA)bearing fruit in every good work and ^[n]increasing in the ^[o]knowledge of God; ^11 (AB)strengthened with all power, according to ^[p]His glorious might, ^[q]for the attaining of all perseverance and ^[r]patience; ^(AC)joyously ¹² giving thanks to ^(AD)the Father, who has qualified us ^[s]to share in ^(AE)the inheritance of the ^[t]saints in ^(AF)light.

The Incomparable Christ

^13 [u]For He rescued us from the ^[v](AG)domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^[w](AH)His beloved Son, ^14 (AI)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

^15 [x]He is the ^(AJ)image of the ^(AK)invisible God, the ^(AL)firstborn of all creation: ¹⁶ for ^[y](AM)by Him all things were created, ^(AN)both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^(AO)thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—^(AP)all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ He ^[z](AQ)is before all things, and in Him all things ^[aa]hold together. ¹⁸ He is also the ^(AR)head of ^(AS)the body, the church; and He is ^(AT)the beginning, ^(AU)the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ For ^[ab]it was ^(AV)the Father’s good pleasure for all ^(AW)the ^[ac]fullness to dwell in Him, ²⁰ and through Him to ^(AX)reconcile all things to Himself, ^(AY)whether things on earth or things in ^[ad]heaven, having made ^(AZ)peace through ^(BA)the blood of His cross.

²¹ And although you were ^(BB)previously alienated and hostile in attitude, engaged in evil deeds, ²² yet He has now ^(BC)reconciled you in His ^(BD)body of flesh through death, in order to ^(BE)present you before Him ^(BF)holy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³ if indeed you continue in ^[ae]the faith firmly ^(BG)established and steadfast, and not shifting from the ^(BH)hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed ^(BI)in all creation under heaven, ^(BJ)and of which I, Paul, ^[af]was made a ^[ag](BK)minister.

^24 (BL)Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh ^(BM)I am supplementing what is lacking ^[ah]in Christ’s afflictions in behalf of ^(BN)His body, which is the church. ^25 (BO)I ^[ai]was made a minister of this church according to the ^(BP)commission from God granted to me for your benefit, so that I might ^[aj]fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, ²⁶ that is, ^(BQ)the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His ^[ak]saints, ²⁷ to whom ^(BR)God willed to make known what ^(BS)the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is ^(BT)Christ in you, the ^(BU)hope of glory. ²⁸ We proclaim Him, ^(BV)admonishing every person and teaching every person ^[al]with all ^(BW)wisdom, so that we may ^(BX)present every person ^[am](BY)complete in Christ. ²⁹ For this purpose I also ^(BZ)labor, ^(CA)striving ^(CB)according to His ^[an]power which ^[ao]works mightily within me.