¹⁶ These were the men appointed from the community, the leaders^(E) of their ancestral tribes.^(F) They were the heads of the clans of Israel.^(G)

¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these men whose names had been specified, ¹⁸ and they called the whole community together on the first day of the second month.^(H) The people registered their ancestry^(I) by their clans and families,^(J) and the men twenty years old or more^(K) were listed by name, one by one, ¹⁹ as the Lord commanded Moses. And so he counted^(L) them in the Desert of Sinai:

²¹ The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover^(A) to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”^{(B) 22} Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.^(C)

²⁴ Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists,^(D) the household gods,^(E) the idols and all the other detestable^(F) things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. ²⁵ Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned^(G) to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.^(H)

²⁶ Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger,^(I) which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh^(J) had done to arouse his anger. ²⁷ So the Lord said, “I will remove^(K) Judah also from my presence^(L) as I removed Israel, and I will reject^(M) Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’^[a]”

²⁸ As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

²⁹ While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho^(N) king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo.^{(O) 30} Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot^(P) from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

Jehoahaz King of Judah^(Q)

³¹ Jehoahaz^(R) was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Hamutal^(S) daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. ³² He did evil^(T) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. ³³ Pharaoh Necho put him in chains at Riblah^(U) in the land of Hamath^(V) so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents^[b] of silver and a talent^[c] of gold. ³⁴ Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim^(W) son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died.^{(X) 35} Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh Necho the silver and gold he demanded. In order to do so, he taxed the land and exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land according to their assessments.^(Y)

Jehoiakim King of Judah^(Z)

³⁶ Jehoiakim^(AA) was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah; she was from Rumah. ³⁷ And he did evil^(AB) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done.

24 During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar^(AC) king of Babylon invaded^(AD) the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled.^{(AE) 2} The Lord sent Babylonian,^[d](AF) Aramean,^(AG) Moabite and Ammonite raiders^(AH) against him to destroy^(AI) Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets.^{(AJ) 3} Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command,^(AK) in order to remove them from his presence^(AL) because of the sins of Manasseh^(AM) and all he had done, ⁴ including the shedding of innocent blood.^(AN) For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.^(AO)

⁵ As for the other events of Jehoiakim’s reign,^(AP) and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ⁶ Jehoiakim rested^(AQ) with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin^(AR) his son succeeded him as king.

⁷ The king of Egypt^(AS) did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon^(AT) had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

Jerusalem as a Cooking Pot

24 In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the Lord came to me:^{(A) 2} “Son of man, record^(B) this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.^{(C) 3} Tell this rebellious people^(D) a parable^(E) and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

⁶ “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

⁹ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

¹³ “‘Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed^(P) from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.^(Q)

¹⁴ “‘I the Lord have spoken.^(R) The time has come for me to act.^(S) I will not hold back; I will not have pity,^(T) nor will I relent.^(U) You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions,^(V) declares the Sovereign Lord.^(W)’”

Watchfulness^(A)(B)

³⁵ “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.^(C) Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.^{(D) 38} It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. ³⁹ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief^(E) was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready,^(F) because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

2 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem,^(A) this time with Barnabas.^(B) I took Titus^(C) along also. ² I went in response to a revelation^(D) and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles.^(E) I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race^(F) in vain. ³ Yet not even Titus,^(G) who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.^{(H) 4} This matter arose because some false believers^(I) had infiltrated our ranks to spy on^(J) the freedom^(K) we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. ⁵ We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel^(L) might be preserved for you.

⁶ As for those who were held in high esteem^(M)—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism^(N)—they added nothing to my message.^{(O) 7} On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task^(P) of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised,^[a](Q) just as Peter^(R) had been to the circumcised.^{[b] 8} For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle^(S) to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle^(T) to the Gentiles. ⁹ James,^(U) Cephas^[c](V) and John, those esteemed as pillars,^(W) gave me and Barnabas^(X) the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me.^(Y) They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles,^(Z) and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor,^(AA) the very thing I had been eager to do all along.