Menahem Reigns over Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of Azari′ah king of Judah Men′ahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, and he reigned ten years in Samar′ia. ¹⁸ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. ¹⁹ Pul the king of Assyria came against the land; and Men′ahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that he might help him to confirm his hold of the royal power. ²⁰ Men′ahem exacted the money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels of silver from every man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and did not stay there in the land. ²¹ Now the rest of the deeds of Men′ahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²² And Men′ahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahi′ah his son reigned in his stead.

Pekahiah Reigns over Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azari′ah king of Judah Pekahi′ah the son of Men′ahem began to reign over Israel in Samar′ia, and he reigned two years. ²⁴ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn away from the sins of Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. ²⁵ And Pekah the son of Remali′ah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the Gileadites, and slew him in Samar′ia, in the citadel of the king’s house;^[a] he slew him, and reigned in his stead. ²⁶ Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahi′ah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah Reigns over Israel

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azari′ah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remali′ah began to reign over Israel in Samar′ia, and he reigned twenty years. ²⁸ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from the sins of Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

²⁹ In the days of Pekah king of Israel Tig′lath-pile′ser king of Assyria came and captured I′jon, A′bel-beth-ma′acah, Jan-o′ah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naph′tali; and he carried the people captive to Assyria. ³⁰ Then Hoshe′a the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remali′ah, and struck him down, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzzi′ah. ³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham Reigns over Judah

³² In the second year of Pekah the son of Remali′ah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzzi′ah, king of Judah, began to reign. ³³ He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jeru′sha the daughter of Zadok. ³⁴ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzzi′ah had done. ³⁵ Nevertheless the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord. ³⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ³⁷ In those days the Lord began to send Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remali′ah against Judah. ³⁸ Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate; ² but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. ³ So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. ⁴ But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷ So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.

Paul Reproves the Galatians

⁸ Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods; ⁹ but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more? ¹⁰ You observe days, and months, and seasons, and years! ¹¹ I am afraid I have labored over you in vain.

¹² Brethren, I beseech you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong; ¹³ you know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first; ¹⁴ and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ What has become of the satisfaction you felt? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?^{[a] 17} They make much of you, but for no good purpose; they want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. ¹⁸ For a good purpose it is always good to be made much of, and not only when I am present with you. ¹⁹ My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you! ²⁰ I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

The Allegory of Hagar and Sarah

²¹ Tell me, you who desire to be under law, do you not hear the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. ²³ But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. ²⁴ Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. ²⁵ Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;^[b] she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷ For it is written,

²⁸ Now we,^[c] brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now. ³⁰ But what does the scripture say? “Cast out the slave and her son; for the son of the slave shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹ So, brethren, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Ahaz Reigns over Judah

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remali′ah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. ² Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, ³ but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering,^[a] according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. ⁴ And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵ Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remali′ah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz but could not conquer him. ⁶ At that time^[b] the king of Edom^[c] recovered Elath for Edom,^[d] and drove the men of Judah from Elath; and the E′domites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. ⁷ So Ahaz sent messengers to Tig′lath-pile′ser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up, and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” ⁸ Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. ⁹ And the king of Assyria hearkened to him; the king of Assyria marched up against Damascus, and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin.

¹⁰ When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tig′lath-pile′ser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uri′ah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. ¹¹ And Uri′ah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uri′ah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. ¹² And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. Then the king drew near to the altar, and went up on it, ¹³ and burned his burnt offering and his cereal offering, and poured his drink offering, and threw the blood of his peace offerings upon the altar. ¹⁴ And the bronze altar which was before the Lord he removed from the front of the house, from the place between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar. ¹⁵ And King Ahaz commanded Uri′ah the priest, saying, “Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening cereal offering, and the king’s burnt offering, and his cereal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their cereal offering, and their drink offering; and throw upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; but the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” ¹⁶ Uri′ah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.

¹⁷ And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands, and removed the laver from them, and he took down the sea from off the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pediment of stone. ¹⁸ And the covered way for the sabbath which had been built inside the palace, and the outer entrance for the king he removed from^[e] the house of the Lord, because of the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁰ And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Hezeki′ah his son reigned in his stead.

Nicodemus Visits Jesus

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicode′mus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus^[a] by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew,^[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicode′mus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.^{[c] 7} Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’^{[d] 8} The wind^[e] blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹ Nicode′mus said to him, “How can this be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.^{[f] 14} And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”^[g]

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.