Amaziah Reigns in Judah

25 ^(A)Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, ^(B)yet not with a whole heart. ³ And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. ⁴ But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, ^(C)“Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”

Amaziah's Victories

⁵ Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers' houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those ^(D)twenty years old and upward, and found that they were ^(E)300,000 choice men, fit for war, ^(F)able to handle spear and shield. ⁶ He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents^[a] of silver. ⁷ But ^(G)a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites. ⁸ But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? ^(H)For God has power to help or to cast down.” ⁹ And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” ¹⁰ Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. ¹¹ But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the ^(I)Valley of Salt and struck down ^(J)10,000 men of Seir. ¹² The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces. ¹³ But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back, not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, ^(K)from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil.

Amaziah's Idolatry

¹⁴ After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, ^(L)he brought the gods ^(M)of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. ¹⁵ Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people ^(N)who did not deliver their own people from your hand?” ¹⁶ But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that ^(O)God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

Israel Defeats Amaziah

^17 (P)Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” ¹⁸ And Joash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, ^(Q)“A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁹ You say, ‘See, I^[b] have struck down Edom,’ and ^(R)your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

²⁰ But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, ^(S)because they had sought the gods of Edom. ²¹ So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ²² And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. ²³ And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of ^(T)Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits,^[c] from ^(U)the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. ²⁴ And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of ^(V)Obed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.

^25 (W)Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. ²⁶ Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, from first to last, are they not written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷ From the time when he turned away from the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. ²⁸ And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David.^[d]

The Woman and the Dragon

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman ^(A)clothed with ^(B)the sun, with ^(C)the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and ^(D)was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great ^(E)red dragon, ^(F)with seven heads and ^(G)ten horns, and on his heads ^(H)seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down ^(I)a third of the stars of heaven and ^(J)cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child ^(K)he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, ^(L)one who is to rule^[a] all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was ^(M)caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for ^(N)1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

⁷ Now war arose in heaven, ^(O)Michael and ^(P)his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And ^(Q)the great dragon was thrown down, ^(R)that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, ^(S)the deceiver of the whole world—^(T)he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now ^(U)the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers^[b] has been thrown down, ^(V)who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And ^(W)they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^(X)they loved not their lives ^(Y)even unto death. ¹² Therefore, ^(Z)rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^(AA)woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ^(AB)he knows that his time is short!”

¹³ And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued ^(AC)the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two ^(AD)wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent ^(AE)into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^(AF)for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵ The serpent poured water ^(AG)like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. ¹⁶ But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off ^(AH)to make war on the rest of ^(AI)her offspring, ^(AJ)on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to ^(AK)the testimony of Jesus. And he stood^[c] on the sand of the sea.

The Coming Peace and Prosperity of Zion

8 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(A)I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(B)I have returned to Zion and ^(C)will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, ^(D)and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, ^(E)and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. ⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(F)Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. ⁵ And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. ⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(G)If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, ^(H)should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? ⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, ^(I)I will save my people ^(J)from the east country and from the west country, ⁸ and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. ^(K)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, ^(L)in faithfulness and in righteousness.”

⁹ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(M)“Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of ^(N)the prophets who were present on ^(O)the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. ¹⁰ For before those days ^(P)there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor. ¹¹ But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. ^12 (Q)For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, ^(R)and the heavens shall give their dew. ^(S)And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. ¹³ And as ^(T)you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, ^(U)so will I save you, and ^(V)you shall be a blessing. ^(W)Fear not, but ^(X)let your hands be strong.”

¹⁴ For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(Y)“As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts, ¹⁵ so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; ^(Z)fear not. ¹⁶ These are the things that you shall do: ^(AA)Speak the truth to one another; ^(AB)render in your gates judgments ^(AC)that are true and make for peace; ^17 (AD)do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and ^(AE)love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”

¹⁸ And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ¹⁹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the ^(AF)fourth month and the fast of the ^(AG)fifth and the fast of the ^(AH)seventh and the fast of the ^(AI)tenth shall be to the house of Judah ^(AJ)seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love ^(AK)truth and peace.

²⁰ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹ The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ^(AL)‘Let us go at once ^(AM)to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ ^22 (AN)Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and ^(AO)to entreat the favor of the Lord. ²³ Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ^(AP)ten men ^(AQ)from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for ^(AR)we have heard that God is with you.’”

How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song?

Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.