2 Chronicles 21
Christian Standard Bible
Jehoram Becomes King over Judah
21 Jehoshaphat rested with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David. His son Jehoram[a] became king in his place.(A) 2 He had brothers, sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of King Jehoshaphat of Judah.[b] 3 Their father had given them many gifts of silver, gold, and valuable things, along with fortified cities(B) in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn. 4 When Jehoram had established himself over his father’s kingdom, he strengthened his position by killing with the sword all his brothers as well as some of the princes of Israel.
Judah’s King Jehoram
5 Jehoram(C) was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done,(D) for Ahab’s daughter was his wife.(E) He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, 7 but for the sake of the covenant the Lord had made with David, he was unwilling to destroy the house of David since the Lord had promised(F) to give a lamp[c](G) to David and to his sons forever.
8 During Jehoram’s reign, Edom rebelled against Judah’s control and appointed their own king. 9 So Jehoram crossed into Edom with his commanders and all his chariots. Then at night he set out to attack the Edomites who had surrounded him and the chariot commanders. 10 And now Edom is still in rebellion against Judah’s control today. Libnah also rebelled at that time against his control because he had abandoned the Lord, the God of his ancestors. 11 Jehoram also built high places(H) in the hills[d] of Judah, and he caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves,(I) and he led Judah astray.
Elijah’s Letter to Jehoram
12 Then a letter came to Jehoram from the prophet Elijah, saying:
This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David says: “Because you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat(J) or in the ways of King Asa of Judah(K) 13 but have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel,(L) have caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves like the house of Ahab(M) prostituted itself, and also have killed your brothers,(N) your father’s family, who were better than you, 14 the Lord is now about to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a horrible affliction. 15 You yourself will be struck with many illnesses, including a disease of the intestines, until your intestines come out day after day because of the disease.”(O)
Jehoram’s Last Days
16 The Lord roused the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs(P) who lived near the Cushites to attack Jehoram.(Q) 17 So they went to war against Judah and invaded it. They carried off all the possessions found in the king’s palace and also his sons and wives; not a son was left to him except Jehoahaz,[e](R) his youngest son.
18 After all these things, the Lord afflicted him in his intestines with an incurable disease. 19 This continued day after day until two full years passed. Then his intestines came out because of his disease, and he died from severe[f] illnesses. But his people did not hold a fire in his honor like the fire in honor of his predecessors.(S)
20 Jehoram(T) was thirty-two years old when he became king; he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. He died to no one’s regret[g](U) and was buried in the city of David but not in the tombs of the kings.(V)
Revelation 9
Christian Standard Bible
The Fifth Trumpet
9 The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth.(A) The key for the shaft to the abyss(B) was given to him. 2 He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great[a] furnace(C) so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.(D) 3 Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the earth,(E) and power[b] was given to them(F) like the power that scorpions have on the earth.(G) 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree,(H) but only those people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads.(I) 5 They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.(J)
7 The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle.(K) Something like golden crowns was on their heads; their faces were like human faces; 8 they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were like lions’ teeth;(L) 9 they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots with horses rushing into battle; 10 and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months. 11 They had as their king[c] the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon,[d](M) and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.[e]
12 The first woe has passed. There are still two more woes to come after this.(N)
The Sixth Trumpet
13 The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four[f] horns of the golden altar(O) that is before God, I heard a voice 14 say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels(P) bound at the great river Euphrates.”(Q) 15 So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year(R) were released to kill a third(S) of the human race. 16 The number of mounted troops was two hundred million;[g] I heard their number. 17 This is how I saw the horses and their riders in the vision: They had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.(T) 18 A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues—by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails, which resemble snakes, have heads that inflict injury.
20 The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands(U) to stop worshiping demons(V) and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood,(W) which cannot see, hear, or walk.(X) 21 And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.
Zechariah 5
Christian Standard Bible
Sixth Vision: Flying Scroll
5 I looked up again and saw a flying scroll.(A) 2 “What do you see?” he asked me.
“I see a flying scroll,” I replied, “thirty feet[a] long and fifteen feet[b] wide.”(B)
3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse(C) that is going out over the whole land, for everyone who is a thief, contrary to what is written on one side, has gone unpunished,[c] and everyone who swears falsely, contrary to what is written on the other side, has gone unpunished. 4 I will send it out,”(D)—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies—“and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by my name. It will stay inside his house and destroy it along with its timbers and stones.”(E)
Seventh Vision: Woman in the Basket
5 Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and told me, “Look up and see what this is that is approaching.”
6 So I asked, “What is it?”
He responded, “It’s a measuring basket[d] that is approaching.” And he continued, “This is their iniquity[e] in all the land.” 7 Then a lead cover was lifted, and there was a woman(F) sitting inside the basket.(G) 8 “This is Wickedness,” he said. He shoved her down into the basket and pushed the lead weight over its opening. 9 Then I looked up and saw two women approaching with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork,(H) and they lifted up the basket between earth and sky.
10 So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the basket?”
11 “To build a shrine for it in the land of Shinar,”(I) he told me. “When that is ready, the basket will be placed there on its pedestal.”
John 8
Christian Standard Bible
8 1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.(A)
An Adulteress Forgiven
2 At dawn he went to the temple(B) again, and all the people were coming to him.(C) He sat down(D) and began to teach them.
3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees(E) brought a woman caught in adultery,(F) making her stand in the center. 4 “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery.(G) 5 In the law Moses(H) commanded us to stone such women.(I) So what do you say?” 6 They asked this to trap him,(J) in order that they might have evidence to accuse him.
Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. 7 When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin(K) among you(L) should be the first to throw a stone at her.”(M) 8 Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center. 10 When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, Lord,”[a] she answered.
“Neither do I condemn you,”(N) said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”]
The Light of the World
12 Jesus spoke to them again: “I am(O) the light(P) of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”(Q)
13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”
14 “Even if I testify about myself,” Jesus replied, “my testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going.(R) 15 You judge(S) by human standards.[b](T) I judge no one.(U) 16 And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.(V) 17 Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.(W) 18 I am the one who testifies(X) about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
19 Then they asked him, “Where is your Father?”
“You know neither me nor my Father,”(Y) Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”(Z) 20 He spoke these words by the treasury,(AA) while teaching in the temple. But no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.
Jesus Predicts His Departure
21 Then he said to them again, “I’m going away; (AB) you will look for me, and you will die in your sin.(AC) Where I’m going, you cannot come.”(AD)
22 So the Jews said again, “He won’t kill himself, will he, since he says, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come’(AE)?”
23 “You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above.(AF) You are of this world; (AG) I am not of this world.(AH) 24 Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
25 “Who are you?” they questioned.
“Exactly what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them. 26 “I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the one who sent me(AI) is true, and what I have heard from him—these things I tell the world.”(AJ)
27 They did not know he was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man,(AK) then you will know that I am(AL) he, and that I do nothing on my own.(AM) But just as the Father taught me, I say these things. 29 The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone,(AN) because I always do what pleases him.”
Truth and Freedom
30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word,[c](AO) you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth,(AP) and the truth will set you free.”
33 “We are descendants[d] of Abraham,”(AQ) they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”
34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.(AR) 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever,(AS) but a son does remain forever.(AT) 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know you are descendants of Abraham,(AU) but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. 38 I speak what I have seen(AV) in the presence of the Father; [e](AW) so then, you do what you have heard from your father.”
39 “Our father is Abraham,” they replied.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did.(AX) 40 But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth(AY) that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You’re doing what your father does.”(AZ)
“We weren’t born(BA) of sexual immorality,”(BB) they said. “We have one Father—God.”(BC)
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,(BD) because I came from God(BE) and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to[f] my word.(BF) 44 You are of your father the devil,(BG) and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer(BH) from the beginning(BI) and does not stand in the truth,(BJ) because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature,[g] because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who among you can convict me of sin?(BK) If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”
Jesus and Abraham
48 The Jews responded to him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you’re a Samaritan(BL) and have a demon?” (BM)
49 “I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I do not seek my own glory; (BN) there is one who seeks it and judges. 51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word,(BO) he will never see death.”
52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?”
54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me. 55 You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him,(BP) I would be a liar like you. But I do know him,(BQ) and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it(BR) and was glad.”
57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?” [h]
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”(BS)
59 So they picked up stones(BT) to throw at him.(BU) But Jesus was hidden[i](BV) and went out of the temple.[j](BW)
Footnotes
- 8:11 Or Sir; Jn 4:15,49; 5:7; 6:34; 9:36
- 8:15 Lit You judge according to the flesh
- 8:31 Or my teaching, or my message, also in v. 37
- 8:33 Or offspring; lit seed, also in v. 37; Jn 7:42
- 8:38 Other mss read of my Father
- 8:43 Or cannot hear
- 8:44 Lit from his own things
- 8:57 Other mss read and Abraham has seen you?
- 8:59 Or Jesus hid himself
- 8:59 Other mss add and having gone through their midst, he passed by
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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