³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down:^{(A) 31} Elijah took twelve stones—according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name”^(B)— ³² and he built an altar^(C) with the stones in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons.^{[a][b] 33} Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” ³⁴ Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. ³⁵ So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.

³⁶ At the time for offering the evening sacrifice,^(D) the prophet Elijah approached the altar and said, “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,^(E) today let it be known^(F) that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that at your word I have done all these things. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God^(G) and that you have turned their hearts back.”

³⁸ Then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ When all the people saw it, they fell facedown^(H) and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!” ^(I)

Judah’s King Jehoram

¹⁶ In the fifth year^(A) of Israel’s King Joram^(B) son of Ahab, Jehoram^[a](C) son of Jehoshaphat became king of Judah, replacing his father.^{[b](D) 17} He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.^{(E) 18} He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for Ahab’s daughter was his wife. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.^{(F) 19} For the sake of his servant David, the Lord was unwilling to destroy Judah, since he had promised to give a lamp^[c](G) to David and his sons forever.^(H)

²⁰ During Jehoram’s reign, Edom rebelled against Judah’s control and appointed their own king.^{(I) 21} So Jehoram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. Then at night he set out to attack the Edomites who had surrounded him and the chariot commanders, but his troops fled to their tents.^{(J) 22} So Edom is still in rebellion against Judah’s control today. Libnah^(K) also rebelled at that time.

²³ The rest of the events of Jehoram’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.^{(L) 24} Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David, and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.^(M)

Judah’s King Ahaziah

²⁵ In the twelfth year of Israel’s King Joram son of Ahab,^(N) Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.^{(O) 26} Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, granddaughter of Israel’s King Omri.^{(P) 27} He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the Lord’s sight like the house of Ahab,^(Q) for his father had married into^[d] the house of Ahab.

²⁸ Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to fight against King Hazael^(R) of Aram in Ramoth-gilead,^(S) and the Arameans wounded Joram. ²⁹ So King Joram returned to Jezreel^(T) to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him in Ramoth-gilead^[e] when he fought against Aram’s King Hazael.^(U) Then Judah’s King Ahaziah son of Jehoram went down to Jezreel to visit Joram son of Ahab since Joram was ill.

Wise Men Visit the King

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem,^{(A) 2} saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?^(B) For we saw his star at its rising^(C) and have come to worship him.”^[a]

³ When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes^(D) of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.

⁵ “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:

¹⁶ And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.^(A)