Abijah Reigns over Judah

13 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah.^{(A) 2} He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.^{(B) 3} Abijah engaged in battle, having an army of valiant warriors, four hundred thousand picked men; and Jeroboam drew up his line of battle against him with eight hundred thousand picked mighty warriors. ⁴ Then Abijah stood on the slope of Mount Zemaraim that is in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel!^{(C) 5} Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?^{(D) 6} Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord,^{(E) 7} and certain worthless scoundrels gathered around him and defied Rehoboam son of Solomon when Rehoboam was young and irresolute and could not withstand them.

⁸ “And now you think that you can withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made as gods for you.^{(F) 9} Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the descendants of Aaron, and the Levites and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to be consecrated with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are no gods.^{(G) 10} But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are descendants of Aaron and Levites for their service. ¹¹ They offer to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt offerings and fragrant incense, set out the rows of bread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand so that its lamps may burn every evening, for we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have abandoned him.^{(H) 12} See, God is with us at our head, and his priests have their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O Israelites, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you cannot succeed.”^(I)

¹³ Jeroboam had sent an ambush around to come on them from behind; thus his troops^[a] were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴ When Judah turned, the battle was in front of them and behind them. They cried out to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets.^{(J) 15} Then the people of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the people of Judah shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.^{(K) 16} The Israelites fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hands.^{(L) 17} Abijah and his army defeated them with great slaughter; five hundred thousand picked men of Israel fell slain. ¹⁸ Thus the Israelites were subdued at that time, and the people of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.^{(M) 19} Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and Ephron^[b] with its villages. ²⁰ Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah; the Lord struck him down, and he died.^{(N) 21} But Abijah strengthened himself. He took fourteen wives and became the father of twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² The rest of the acts of Abijah, his behavior and his deeds, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.^(O)

Treasure in Clay Jars

4 Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.^{(A) 2} We have renounced the shameful, underhanded ways; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.^{(B) 3} And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.^{(C) 4} In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing clearly the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.^{(D) 5} For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’s sake.^{(E) 6} For it is the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.^(F)

⁷ But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.^{(G) 8} We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, ⁹ persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, ¹⁰ always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.^{(H) 11} For we who are living are always being handed over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death is at work in us but life in you.

¹³ But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and therefore we also speak,^{(I) 14} because we know that the one who raised Jesus^[a] will also raise us with Jesus and will present us with you in his presence.^{(J) 15} Indeed, everything is for your sake, so that grace, when it has extended to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Living by Faith

¹⁶ So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.^{(K) 17} For our slight, momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,^{(L) 18} because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen, for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.^(M)

Asa Reigns

14 ^[a]So Abijah slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David. His son Asa succeeded him. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.^{(A) 2 [b]}Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God. ³ He took away the foreign altars and the high places, broke down the pillars, cut down the sacred poles,^{[c](B) 4} and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to keep the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also removed from all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom was quiet under him.^{(C) 6} He built fortified cities in Judah while the land was quiet. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him rest.^{(D) 7} He said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars; the land is still ours because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah armed with large shields and spears and two hundred eighty thousand troops from Benjamin who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty warriors.

Ethiopian Invasion Repulsed

⁹ Zerah the Cushite came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots and came as far as Mareshah.^{(E) 10} Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is no difference for you between helping the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let no mortal prevail against you.”^{(F) 12} So the Lord defeated the Cushites before Asa and before Judah, and the Cushites fled.^{(G) 13} Asa and the army with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Cushites fell until no one remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The people of Judah^[d] carried away a great quantity of spoil.^{(H) 14} They defeated all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord was on them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.^{(I) 15} They also attacked the tents of those who had livestock^[e] and carried away sheep and goats in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

20 One day as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders^{(A) 2} and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?”^{(B) 3} He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: ⁴ Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” ⁵ They discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”^{(C) 7} So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

⁹ He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenants and went away for a long time.^{(D) 10} When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard, but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. ¹² And he sent still a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. ¹³ Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.’ ¹⁵ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Heaven forbid!”^{(E) 17} But he looked at them and said, “What then does this text mean:

¹⁸ “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”^{(G) 19} When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.^(H)

The Question about Paying Tribute

²⁰ So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest, in order to trap him by what he said and then to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor. ²¹ So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one but teach the way of God in accordance with truth.^{(I) 22} Is it lawful for us to pay tribute to Caesar or not?” ²³ But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”^{(J) 26} And they were not able in the presence of the people to trap him by what he said, and being amazed by his answer they became silent.