Azariah Reigns in Judah

15 ^(A)In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, ^(B)Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. ² He was ^(C)sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ³ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. ^4 (D)Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. ^5 (E)And the Lord touched the king, so that he was a leper^[a] to the day of his death, ^(F)and he lived in a separate house.^[b] And Jotham the king's son was over the household, governing the people of the land. ⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁷ And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers ^(G)in the city of David, and Jotham his son reigned in his place.

Zechariah Reigns in Israel

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months. ⁹ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(H)which he made Israel to sin. ¹⁰ Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and ^(I)struck him down at Ibleam and put him to death and reigned in his place. ¹¹ Now the rest of the deeds of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹² (This was ^(J)the promise of the Lord that he gave to Jehu, “Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And so it came to pass.)

Shallum Reigns in Israel

¹³ Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of ^(K)Uzziah^[c] king of Judah, and he reigned one month in ^(L)Samaria. ¹⁴ Then Menahem the son of Gadi came up from ^(M)Tirzah and came to Samaria, and he struck down Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and put him to death and reigned in his place. ¹⁵ Now the rest of the deeds of Shallum, and the conspiracy that he made, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶ At that time Menahem sacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on, because they did not open it to him. Therefore he sacked it, ^(N)and he ripped open all the women in it who were pregnant.

Menahem Reigns in Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, and he reigned ten years in Samaria. ¹⁸ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. ^19 (O)Pul^[d] the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave ^(P)Pul a thousand talents^[e] of silver, that he might help him ^(Q)to confirm his hold on the royal power. ²⁰ Menahem exacted the money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels^[f] of silver from every man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. ²¹ Now the rest of the deeds of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²² And Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place.

Pekahiah Reigns in Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. ²⁴ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(R)which he made Israel to sin. ²⁵ And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the people of Gilead, and struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the king's house with Argob and Arieh; he put him to death and reigned in his place. ²⁶ Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah Reigns in Israel

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. ²⁸ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(S)which he made Israel to sin.

²⁹ In the days of Pekah king of Israel, ^(T)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured ^(U)Ijon, ^(V)Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, ^(W)Kedesh, ^(X)Hazor, Gilead, and ^(Y)Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria. ³⁰ Then Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and struck him down and put him to death and reigned in his place, ^(Z)in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. ³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham Reigns in Judah

³² In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. ³³ He was ^(AA)twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ³⁴ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, ^(AB)according to all that his father Uzziah had done. ^35 (AC)Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built ^(AD)the upper gate of the house of the Lord. ³⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ³⁷ In those days the Lord began to send ^(AE)Rezin the king of Syria and ^(AF)Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. ³⁸ Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

Righteousness Through Faith in Christ

3 Finally, my brothers,^{[a] (A)}rejoice in the Lord. ^(B)To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

² Look out for ^(C)the dogs, look out for ^(D)the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. ³ For ^(E)we are the circumcision, ^(F)who worship ^(G)by the Spirit of God^[b] and ^(H)glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— ^4 (I)though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ^5 (J)circumcised on the eighth day, ^(K)of the people of Israel, ^(L)of the tribe of Benjamin, ^(M)a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, ^(N)a Pharisee; ^6 (O)as to zeal, ^(P)a persecutor of the church; ^(Q)as to righteousness under the law,^[c] blameless. ⁷ But ^(R)whatever gain I had, ^(S)I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of ^(T)the surpassing worth of ^(U)knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I ^(V)have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having ^(W)a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but ^(X)that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ^10 (Y)that I may know him and ^(Z)the power of his resurrection, and ^(AA)may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may ^(AB)attain the resurrection from the dead.

Straining Toward the Goal

¹² Not that I have already ^(AC)obtained this or ^(AD)am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: ^(AE)forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for ^(AF)the prize of the upward ^(AG)call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Let those of us who are ^(AH)mature think this way, and if in anything ^(AI)you think otherwise, ^(AJ)God will reveal that also to you. ¹⁶ Only ^(AK)let us hold true to what we have attained.

¹⁷ Brothers, ^(AL)join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk ^(AM)according to the example you have in us. ¹⁸ For ^(AN)many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you ^(AO)even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. ^19 (AP)Their end is destruction, ^(AQ)their god is their belly, and ^(AR)they glory in their shame, with ^(AS)minds set on earthly things. ²⁰ But ^(AT)our citizenship is in heaven, and ^(AU)from it we ^(AV)await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform ^(AW)our lowly body ^(AX)to be like his glorious body, ^(AY)by the power that enables him even ^(AZ)to subject all things to himself.