Defending the Gospel^(A)

2 Then after fourteen years ^(B)I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. ² And I went up ^[a]by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but ^(C)privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means ^(D)I might run, or had run, in vain. ³ Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. ⁴ And this occurred because of ^(E)false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our ^(F)liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, ^(G)that they might bring us into bondage), ⁵ to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that ^(H)the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

⁶ But from those ^(I)who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; ^(J)God ^[b]shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something ^(K)added nothing to me. ⁷ But on the contrary, ^(L)when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised ^(M)had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter ⁸ (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the ^(N)circumcised ^(O)also ^(P)worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), ⁹ and when James, ^[c]Cephas, and John, who seemed to be ^(Q)pillars, perceived ^(R)the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, ^(S)that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ They desired only that we should remember the poor, ^(T)the very thing which I also was eager to do.

No Return to the Law

^11 (U)Now when ^[d]Peter had come to Antioch, I ^[e]withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; ¹² for before certain men came from James, ^(V)he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing ^[f]those who were of the circumcision. ¹³ And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not straightforward about ^(W)the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter ^(X)before them all, ^(Y)“If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, ^[g]why do you compel Gentiles to live as ^[h]Jews? ^15 (Z)We who are Jews by nature, and not ^(AA)sinners of the Gentiles, ^16 (AB)knowing that a man is not ^[i]justified by the works of the law but ^(AC)by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not ^(AD)by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

¹⁷ “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found ^(AE)sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸ For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. ¹⁹ For I ^(AF)through the law ^(AG)died to the law that I might ^(AH)live to God. ²⁰ I have been ^(AI)crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh ^(AJ)I live by faith in the Son of God, ^(AK)who loved me and gave Himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God; for ^(AL)if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died ^[j]in vain.”

Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel

13 In the twenty-third year of ^(A)Joash^[a] the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, ^(B)Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. ² And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the ^(C)sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not ^[b]depart from them.

³ Then ^(D)the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of ^(E)Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of ^(F)Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all their days. ⁴ So Jehoahaz ^(G)pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for ^(H)He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. ^5 (I)Then the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before. ⁶ Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin, but walked in them; ^(J)and the ^[c]wooden image also remained in Samaria. ⁷ For He left of the army of Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers; for the king of Syria had destroyed them ^(K)and made them ^(L)like the dust at threshing.

⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ⁹ So Jehoahaz ^[d]rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then ^[e]Joash his son reigned in his place.

Jehoash Reigns in Israel

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, ^[f]Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. ¹¹ And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them.

^12 (M)Now the rest of the acts of Joash, ^(N)all that he did, and ^(O)his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? ¹³ So Joash ^(P)rested^[g] with his fathers. Then Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Death of Elisha

¹⁴ Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, ^(Q)the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”

¹⁵ And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. ¹⁶ Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ¹⁷ And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at ^(R)Aphek till you have destroyed them.” ¹⁸ Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. ¹⁹ And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! ^(S)But now you will strike Syria only three times.”

²⁰ Then Elisha ^[h]died, and they buried him. And the ^(T)raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year. ²¹ So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

Israel Recaptures Cities from Syria

²² And ^(U)Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. ²³ But the Lord was ^(V)gracious to them, had compassion on them, and ^(W)regarded them, ^(X)because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence.

²⁴ Now Hazael king of Syria died. Then Ben-Hadad his son reigned in his place. ²⁵ And ^[i]Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz recaptured from the hand of Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael, the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. ^(Y)Three times Joash defeated him and recaptured the cities of Israel.

The Lamb of God^(A)

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! ^(B)The Lamb of God ^(C)who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ^[a]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ³¹ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, ^(D)therefore I came baptizing with water.”

^32 (E)And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. ³³ I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, ^(F)this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and testified that this is the ^(G)Son of God.”

The First Disciples

³⁵ Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. ³⁶ And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, ^(H)“Behold the Lamb of God!”

³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they ^(I)followed Jesus. ³⁸ Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”

They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”

³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was ^(J)Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the ^[b]Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.

Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of ^[c]Jonah. ^(K)You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, ^[d]A Stone).

Philip and Nathanael

⁴³ The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found ^(L)Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(M)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found ^(N)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom ^(O)Moses in the law, and also the ^(P)prophets, wrote—Jesus ^(Q)of Nazareth, the ^(R)son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶ And Nathanael said to him, ^(S)“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, ^(T)an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”

⁴⁸ Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, ^(U)You are the Son of God! You are ^(V)the King of Israel!”

⁵⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(W)hereafter^[e] you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”