The Nature of True Apostleship

4 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants^(A) of Christ and as those entrusted^(B) with the mysteries^(C) God has revealed. ² Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. ³ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ My conscience^(D) is clear, but that does not make me innocent.^(E) It is the Lord who judges me.^{(F) 5} Therefore judge nothing^(G) before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes.^(H) He will bring to light^(I) what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.^(J)

⁶ Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.”^(K) Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.^{(L) 7} For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?^(M) And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

⁸ Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich!^(N) You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die^(O) in the arena. We have been made a spectacle^(P) to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ,^(Q) but you are so wise in Christ!^(R) We are weak, but you are strong!^(S) You are honored, we are dishonored! ¹¹ To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.^{(T) 12} We work hard with our own hands.^(U) When we are cursed, we bless;^(V) when we are persecuted,^(W) we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage^(X) of the world—right up to this moment.

Paul’s Appeal and Warning

¹⁴ I am writing this not to shame you^(Y) but to warn you as my dear children.^{(Z) 15} Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father^(AA) through the gospel.^{(AB) 16} Therefore I urge you to imitate me.^{(AC) 17} For this reason I have sent to you^(AD) Timothy,^(AE) my son^(AF) whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.^(AG)

¹⁸ Some of you have become arrogant,^(AH) as if I were not coming to you.^{(AI) 19} But I will come to you very soon,^(AJ) if the Lord is willing,^(AK) and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of^(AL) talk but of power.^{(AM) 21} What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline,^(AN) or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

Dealing With a Case of Incest

5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.^{(AO) 2} And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning^(AP) and have put out of your fellowship^(AQ) the man who has been doing this? ³ For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit.^(AR) As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus^(AS) on the one who has been doing this. ⁴ So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, ⁵ hand this man over^(AT) to Satan^(AU) for the destruction of the flesh,^[a][b] so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.^(AV)

⁶ Your boasting is not good.^(AW) Don’t you know that a little yeast^(AX) leavens the whole batch of dough?^{(AY) 7} Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.^{(AZ) 8} Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread^(BA) of sincerity and truth.

⁹ I wrote to you in my letter not to associate^(BB) with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰ not at all meaning the people of this world^(BC) who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister^[c](BD) but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater^(BE) or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.^(BF)

¹² What business is it of mine to judge those outside^(BG) the church? Are you not to judge those inside?^{(BH) 13} God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”^[d](BI)

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam^(A)

10 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. ² When Jeroboam^(B) son of Nebat heard this (he was in Egypt, where he had fled^(C) from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. ³ So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel^(D) went to Rehoboam and said to him: ⁴ “Your father put a heavy yoke on us,^(E) but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days.” So the people went away.

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders^(F) who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

⁷ They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer,^(G) they will always be your servants.”

⁸ But Rehoboam rejected^(H) the advice the elders^(I) gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. ⁹ He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, “The people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. ¹¹ My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

¹² Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” ¹³ The king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders, ¹⁴ he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God,^(J) to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.^(K)

¹⁶ When all Israel^(L) saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:

So all the Israelites went home. ¹⁷ But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.

¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram,^[a](N) who was in charge of forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

11 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem,^(O) he mustered Judah and Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam.

² But this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah^(P) the man of God: ³ “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, ⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your fellow Israelites.^(Q) Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the words of the Lord and turned back from marching against Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Fortifies Judah

⁵ Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built up towns for defense in Judah: ⁶ Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, ⁷ Beth Zur, Soko, Adullam, ⁸ Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, ⁹ Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, ¹⁰ Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron. These were fortified cities^(R) in Judah and Benjamin. ¹¹ He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, with supplies of food, olive oil and wine. ¹² He put shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So Judah and Benjamin were his.

¹³ The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him. ¹⁴ The Levites^(S) even abandoned their pasturelands and property^(T) and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord ¹⁵ when he appointed^(U) his own priests^(V) for the high places and for the goat^(W) and calf^(X) idols he had made. ¹⁶ Those from every tribe of Israel^(Y) who set their hearts on seeking the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. ¹⁷ They strengthened^(Z) the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon three years, following the ways of David and Solomon during this time.

Rehoboam’s Family

¹⁸ Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. ¹⁹ She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah and Zaham. ²⁰ Then he married Maakah^(AA) daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah,^(AB) Attai, Ziza and Shelomith. ²¹ Rehoboam loved Maakah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives^(AC) and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

²² Rehoboam appointed Abijah^(AD) son of Maakah as crown prince among his brothers, in order to make him king. ²³ He acted wisely, dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities. He gave them abundant provisions^(AE) and took many wives for them.

Shishak Attacks Jerusalem^(AF)

12 After Rehoboam’s position as king was established^(AG) and he had become strong,^(AH) he and all Israel^[b](AI) with him abandoned^(AJ) the law of the Lord. ² Because they had been unfaithful^(AK) to the Lord, Shishak^(AL) king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam. ³ With twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable troops of Libyans,^(AM) Sukkites and Cushites^[c](AN) that came with him from Egypt, ⁴ he captured the fortified cities^(AO) of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

⁵ Then the prophet Shemaiah^(AP) came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem for fear of Shishak, and he said to them, “This is what the Lord says, ‘You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon^(AQ) you to Shishak.’”

⁶ The leaders of Israel and the king humbled^(AR) themselves and said, “The Lord is just.”^(AS)

⁷ When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance.^(AT) My wrath^(AU) will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. ⁸ They will, however, become subject^(AV) to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands.”

⁹ When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields^(AW) Solomon had made. ¹⁰ So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. ¹¹ Whenever the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards went with him, bearing the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom.

¹² Because Rehoboam humbled^(AX) himself, the Lord’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good^(AY) in Judah.

¹³ King Rehoboam established^(AZ) himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name.^(BA) His mother’s name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. ¹⁴ He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.

¹⁵ As for the events of Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah^(BB) the prophet and of Iddo the seer that deal with genealogies? There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶ Rehoboam^(BC) rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah^(BD) his son succeeded him as king.

Abijah King of Judah^(BE)

13 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah, ² and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah,^[d](BF) a daughter^[e] of Uriel of Gibeah.

There was war between Abijah^(BG) and Jeroboam.^{(BH) 3} Abijah went into battle with an army of four hundred thousand able fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able troops.

⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim,^(BI) in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel,^(BJ) listen to me! ⁵ Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever^(BK) by a covenant of salt?^{(BL) 6} Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled^(BM) against his master. ⁷ Some worthless scoundrels^(BN) gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive^(BO) and not strong enough to resist them.

⁸ “And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hands of David’s descendants.^(BP) You are indeed a vast army and have with you^(BQ) the golden calves^(BR) that Jeroboam made to be your gods. ⁹ But didn’t you drive out the priests^(BS) of the Lord,^(BT) the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull^(BU) and seven rams^(BV) may become a priest of what are not gods.^(BW)

¹⁰ “As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. ¹¹ Every morning and evening^(BX) they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense^(BY) to the Lord. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table^(BZ) and light the lamps^(CA) on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the Lord our God. But you have forsaken him. ¹² God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you.^(CB) People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord,^(CC) the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”^(CD)

¹³ Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush^(CE) was behind them. ¹⁴ Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out^(CF) to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets ¹⁵ and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel^(CG) before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶ The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered^(CH) them into their hands. ¹⁷ Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men. ¹⁸ The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the people of Judah were victorious because they relied^(CI) on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

¹⁹ Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. ²⁰ Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down and he died.

²¹ But Abijah grew in strength. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²² The other events of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo.

14 ^[f]And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.

Asa King of Judah^(CJ)

² Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.^{(CK) 3} He removed the foreign altars^(CL) and the high places, smashed the sacred stones^(CM) and cut down the Asherah poles.^{[g](CN) 4} He commanded Judah to seek the Lord,^(CO) the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. ⁵ He removed the high places^(CP) and incense altars^(CQ) in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. ⁶ He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the Lord gave him rest.^(CR)

⁷ “Let us build up these towns,” he said to Judah, “and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest^(CS) on every side.” So they built and prospered.

⁸ Asa had an army of three hundred thousand^(CT) men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.

⁹ Zerah the Cushite^(CU) marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah.^{(CV) 10} Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

¹¹ Then Asa called^(CW) to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us,^(CX) Lord our God, for we rely^(CY) on you, and in your name^(CZ) we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail^(DA) against you.”

¹² The Lord struck down^(DB) the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, ¹³ and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar.^(DC) Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed^(DD) before the Lord and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder.^{(DE) 14} They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror^(DF) of the Lord had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there. ¹⁵ They also attacked the camps of the herders and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.