Asa Reigns in Judah

14 ^{[a] (A)}Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. 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 ^(B)and the high places and broke down ^(C)the pillars and cut down the ^(D)Asherim 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 ^(E)the high places and the ^(F)incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. ⁶ He built ^(G)fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, ^(H)for the Lord gave him peace. ⁷ And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with ^(I)walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, ^(J)and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. ⁸ And Asa had an army of ^(K)300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valour.

⁹ Zerah ^(L)the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as ^(M)Mareshah. ¹⁰ And Asa went out to meet him, and ^(N)they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at ^(O)Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa ^(P)cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, ^(Q)for we rely on you, ^(R)and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” ^12 (S)So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as ^(T)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 spoil. ¹⁴ And they attacked all the cities around ^(U)Gerar, ^(V)for the fear of the Lord was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

Asa's Religious Reforms

15 ^(A)The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, ² and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: ^(B)The Lord is with you while you are with him. ^(C)If you seek him, he will be found by you, ^(D)but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ^3 (E)For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, ^4 (F)but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. ⁵ In those times there was no peace ^(G)to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶ They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. ^7 (H)But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, ^(I)for your work shall be rewarded.”

⁸ As soon as Asa heard these words, ^(J)the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from ^(K)the cities that he had taken in ^(L)the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord ^(M)that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.^{[a] 9} And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, ^(N)and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. ¹⁰ They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. ¹¹ They sacrificed to the Lord on that day ^(O)from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. ^12 (P)And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, ¹³ but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(Q)should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. ¹⁴ They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. ¹⁵ And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, ^(R)and the Lord gave them rest all round.

^16 (S)Even Maacah, ^(T)his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image ^(U)for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, ^(V)crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. ^17 (W)But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. ¹⁸ And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. ¹⁹ And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

The Throne in Heaven

4 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me ^(A)like a trumpet, said, ^(B)“Come up here, and ^(C)I will show you what must take place after this.” ² At once ^(D)I was in the Spirit, and behold, ^(E)a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. ³ And he who sat there had the appearance of ^(F)jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was ^(G)a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. ⁴ Round the throne were ^(H)twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, ^(I)clothed in white garments, with ^(J)golden crowns on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came ^(K)flashes of lightning, and rumblings^[a] and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning ^(L)seven torches of fire, ^(M)which are the seven spirits of God, ⁶ and before the throne there was ^(N)as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are ^(O)four living creatures, ^(P)full of eyes in front and behind: ^7 (Q)the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. ⁸ And the four living creatures, ^(R)each of them with six wings, are ^(S)full of eyes all round and within, and ^(T)day and night they never cease to say,

⁹ And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, ^(W)who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders ^(X)fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They cast ^(Y)their crowns before the throne, saying,

The Coming Glory of the Temple

2 ^(A)In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, ² “Speak now to ^(B)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to ^(C)Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, ^3 (D)‘Who is left among you who saw this house ^(E)in its former glory? How do you see it now? ^(F)Is it not as nothing in your eyes? ⁴ Yet now ^(G)be strong, O ^(H)Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. ^(I)Be strong, O ^(J)Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ^(K)Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. ^(L)Work, for ^(M)I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, ^5 (N)according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. ^(O)My Spirit remains in your midst. ^(P)Fear not. ⁶ For thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(Q)Yet once more, in a little while, ^(R)I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. ⁷ And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and ^(S)I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. ^8 (T)The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. ^9 (U)The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And ^(V)in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

Blessings for a Defiled People

^10 (W)On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, ^(X)in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, ¹¹ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(Y)Ask the priests about the law: ¹² ‘If someone carries ^(Z)holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, ^(AA)“No.” ¹³ Then Haggai said, ^(AB)“If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body ^(AC)touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” ¹⁴ Then Haggai answered and said, ^(AD)“So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. ¹⁵ Now then, ^(AE)consider from this day onward.^[a] Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, ¹⁶ how did you fare? ^(AF)When^[b] one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. ^17 (AG)I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, ^(AH)yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. ^18 (AI)Consider from this day onward, ^(AJ)from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since ^(AK)the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, ^(AL)consider: ^19 (AM)Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on ^(AN)I will bless you.”

Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet

²⁰ The word of the Lord came a second time to Haggai ^(AO)on the twenty-fourth day of the month, ²¹ “Speak to ^(AP)Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ^(AQ)I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, ²² and ^(AR)to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and ^(AS)overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, ^(AT)every one by the sword of his brother. ²³ On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O ^(AU)Zerubbabel ^(AV)my servant, the son of ^(AW)Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you ^(AX)like a^[c] signet ring, ^(AY)for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”