Abijah Reigns over Judah

13 In the eighteenth year of King Jerobo′am Abi′jah began to reign over Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micai′ah the daughter of U′riel of Gib′eah.

Now there was war between Abi′jah and Jerobo′am. ³ Abi′jah went out to battle having an army of valiant men of war, four hundred thousand picked men; and Jerobo′am drew up his line of battle against him with eight hundred thousand picked mighty warriors. ⁴ Then Abi′jah stood up on Mount Zemara′im which is in the hill country of E′phraim, and said, “Hear me, O Jerobo′am and all Israel! ⁵ Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel for ever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? ⁶ Yet Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord; ⁷ and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehobo′am the son of Solomon, when Rehobo′am was young and irresolute and could not withstand them.

⁸ “And now you think to 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 which Jerobo′am made you for gods. ⁹ Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are no gods. ¹⁰ But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. ¹¹ They offer to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening; for we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. ¹² Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers; for you cannot succeed.”

¹³ Jerobo′am 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 And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jerobo′am and all Israel before Abi′jah and Judah. ¹⁶ The men of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. ¹⁷ Abi′jah and his people slew them with a great slaughter; so there fell slain of Israel five hundred thousand picked men. ¹⁸ Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord, the God of their fathers. ¹⁹ And Abi′jah pursued Jerobo′am, and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jesha′nah with its villages and Ephron^[b] with its villages. ²⁰ Jerobo′am did not recover his power in the days of Abi′jah; and the Lord smote him, and he died. ²¹ But Abi′jah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives, and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²² The rest of the acts of Abi′jah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.

Treasure in Clay Jars

4 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God,^[a] we do not lose heart. ² We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways; we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. ⁴ In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God. ⁵ For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants^[b] for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For it is the God who said, “Let light 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.

⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. 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 in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ¹¹ For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death is at work in us, but life in you.

¹³ Since we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we too believe, and so we speak, ¹⁴ knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. ¹⁵ For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Living by Faith

¹⁶ So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. ¹⁷ For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Asa Reigns

14 ^[a] So Abi′jah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David; and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land had rest for ten years. ^2 [b] And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. ³ He took away the foreign altars and the high places, and broke down the pillars and hewed down the Ashe′rim, ⁴ and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. ⁵ He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. ⁶ He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. ⁷ And 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 peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ And Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah, armed with bucklers and spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand men from Benjamin, that carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.

Ethiopian Invasion Repulsed

⁹ Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mare′shah. ¹⁰ And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the valley of Zeph′athah at Mare′shah. ¹¹ And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like thee to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on thee, and in thy name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.” ¹² So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people that were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive; for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah^[c] carried away very much booty. ¹⁴ And they smote all the cities round about Gerar, for the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ And they smote the tents of those who had cattle,^[d] and carried away sheep 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 preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up ² and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” ³ He answered them, “I also will ask you a question; now tell me, ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ And 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, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they answered that they did not know whence it was. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

⁹ And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country for a long while. ¹⁰ When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, that they should give him some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ And he sent another servant; him also they beat and treated shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he sent yet a third; this one they wounded and cast out. ¹³ Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; it may be they will respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ ¹⁵ And they cast 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, “God forbid!” ¹⁷ But he looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

¹⁸ Every one who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but when it falls on any one it will crush him.”

The Question about Paying Taxes

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people; for they perceived that he had told this parable against them. ²⁰ So they watched him, and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might take hold of what he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. ²¹ They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. ²² Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” ²³ But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a coin.^[a] Whose likeness and inscription has it?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him by what he said; but marveling at his answer they were silent.