Jehoram Reigns in Judah

21 ^(A)Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. ² He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of ^(B)Israel.^{[a] 3} Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with ^(C)fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. ⁴ When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of ^(D)Israel. ^5 (E)Jehoram was ^(F)thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ^6 (G)And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for ^(H)the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ⁷ Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give ^(I)a lamp to him and to his sons forever.

⁸ In his days Edom revolted from the ^(J)rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. ⁹ Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. ¹⁰ So Edom revolted from ^(K)the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

¹¹ Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(L)into whoredom and made Judah go astray. ¹² And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ^(M)‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or ^(N)in the ways of Asa king of Judah, ^13 (O)but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(P)into whoredom, ^(Q)as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you ^(R)have killed your brothers, of your father's house, who were better than you, ¹⁴ behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, ¹⁵ and you yourself will have a severe sickness ^(S)with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

^16 (T)And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger^[b] of the Philistines and of ^(U)the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. ¹⁷ And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except ^(V)Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

¹⁸ And after all this the Lord struck him ^(W)in his bowels with an incurable disease. ¹⁹ In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, ^(X)like the fires made for his fathers. ^20 (Y)He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed ^(Z)with no one's regret. ^(AA)They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah Reigns in Judah

22 ^(AB)And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with ^(AC)the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. ² Ahaziah was twenty-two^[c] years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, ^(AD)the granddaughter of Omri. ³ He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. ⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. ⁵ He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, ⁶ and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.

⁷ But it was ordained by^[d] God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, ^(AE)he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, ^(AF)whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. ^8 (AG)And when Jehu was ^(AH)executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. ^9 (AI)He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. ^(AJ)They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, ^(AK)who sought the Lord with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.

Athaliah Reigns in Judah

^10 (AL)Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. ¹¹ But Jehoshabeath,^[e] the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him^[f] from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. ¹² And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^(A)Tiberius Caesar, ^(B)Pontius Pilate ^(C)being governor of Judea, and ^(D)Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² during ^(E)the high priesthood of Annas and ^(F)Caiaphas, ^(G)the word of God came to ^(H)John the son of Zechariah in ^(I)the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^(J)a baptism of repentance ^(K)for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in ^(L)the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

⁷ He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^(T)“You brood of ^(U)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(V)the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruits ^(W)in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^(X)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^(Y)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^(Z)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds asked him, ^(AA)“What then shall we do?” ¹¹ And he answered them, ^(AB)“Whoever has two tunics^[b] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ^12 (AC)Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^(AD)what shall we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, ^(AE)“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^(AF)what shall we do?” And he said to them, ^(AG)“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ^(AH)wages.”

¹⁵ As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^(AI)whether he might be ^(AJ)the Christ, ^16 (AK)John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^(AL)he who is mightier than I is coming, ^(AM)the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^(AN)with the Holy Spirit and ^(AO)fire. ¹⁷ His ^(AP)winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^(AQ)gather the wheat into his barn, ^(AR)but the chaff he will burn with ^(AS)unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So ^(AT)with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. ¹⁹ But ^(AU)Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, ²⁰ added this to them all, that ^(AV)he locked up John in prison.

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when ^(AW)Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, ^(AX)the heavens were opened, ²² and ^(AY)the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and ^(AZ)a voice came from heaven, ^(BA)“You are my beloved Son;^[c] with you I am well pleased.”^[d]

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

²³ Jesus, ^(BB)when he began his ministry, was about ^(BC)thirty years of age, being ^(BD)the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, ^(BE)the son of Zerubbabel, the son ^(BF)of Shealtiel,^[e] the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of ^(BG)Nathan, the son of David, ^32 (BH)the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ^34 (BI)the son of Jacob, ^(BJ)the son of Isaac, ^(BK)the son of Abraham, ^(BL)the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.