Jotham Reigns in Judah

27 ^(A)Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Uzziah had done, ^(B)except he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices. ³ He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord and did much building on the wall of ^(C)Ophel. ⁴ Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts and towers on the wooded hills. ⁵ He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year 100 talents^[a] of silver, and 10,000 cors^[b] of wheat and 10,000 of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. ⁶ So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. ^7 (D)Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars and his ways, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was ^(E)twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹ And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

28 ^(F)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, as his father David had done, ² but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made ^(G)metal images for ^(H)the Baals, ³ and ^(I)he made offerings in the ^(J)Valley of the Son of Hinnom and ^(K)burned his sons as an offering,^[c] according to ^(L)the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. ⁴ And he sacrificed and ^(M)made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

Judah Defeated

^5 (N)Therefore the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Syria, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force. ⁶ For ^(O)Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. ⁷ And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king's son and Azrikam the commander of the palace and Elkanah the next in authority to the king.

⁸ The men of Israel took captive 200,000 ^(P)of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. ⁹ But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, ^(Q)was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage ^(R)that has reached up to heaven. ¹⁰ And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against the Lord your God? ¹¹ Now hear me, and send back the captives ^(S)from your relatives whom you have taken, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.”

¹² Certain chiefs also of the men of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war ¹³ and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against the Lord in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” ¹⁴ So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly. ¹⁵ And ^(T)the men who have been mentioned by name rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, ^(U)provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, ^(V)the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.

^16 (W)At that time King Ahaz sent to the king^[d] of Assyria for help. ¹⁷ For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. ^18 (X)And the Philistines had made raids on ^(Y)the cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco ^(Z)with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages. And they settled there. ¹⁹ For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made ^(AA)Judah act sinfully^[e] and had been very unfaithful to the Lord. ²⁰ So ^(AB)Tiglath-pileser^[f] king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. ^21 (AC)For Ahaz took a portion from the house of the Lord and the house of the king and of the princes, and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.

Ahaz's Idolatry

²² In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord—this same King Ahaz. ²³ For ^(AD)he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, ^(AE)“Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. ²⁴ And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and ^(AF)cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and he shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made himself ^(AG)altars in every corner of Jerusalem. ²⁵ In every city of Judah he made high places to ^(AH)make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers. ^26 (AI)Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷ And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, for ^(AJ)they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

6 ^(A)On a Sabbath,^[a] while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples ^(B)plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. ² But some of the Pharisees said, ^(C)“Why are you doing ^(D)what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” ³ And Jesus answered them, ^(E)“Have you not read ^(F)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and took and ate ^(G)the bread of the Presence, ^(H)which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” ⁵ And he said to them, ^(I)“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

⁶ On another Sabbath, ^(J)he entered the synagogue ^(K)and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ And the scribes and the Pharisees ^(L)watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, ^(M)so that they might find a reason to accuse him. ⁸ But ^(N)he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. ⁹ And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, ^(O)is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ And ^(P)after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And ^(Q)he did so, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they were filled with ^(R)fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles

¹² In these days ^(S)he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. ¹³ And when day came, ^(T)he called his disciples ^(U)and ^(V)chose from them twelve, whom he named ^(W)apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, ^(X)whom he named Peter, and ^(Y)Andrew his brother, and ^(Z)James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, ¹⁵ and ^(AA)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called ^(AB)the Zealot, ¹⁶ and ^(AC)Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

¹⁷ And ^(AD)he came down with them and stood on a level place, with ^(AE)a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of ^(AF)Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. ^(AG)And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. ¹⁹ And all the crowd ^(AH)sought to touch him, for ^(AI)power came out from him and healed them all.

The Beatitudes

²⁰ And ^(AJ)he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, ^(AK)and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for ^(AL)yours is the kingdom of God.

^21 (AM)“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

^(AN)“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

²² “Blessed are you when ^(AO)people hate you and when they ^(AP)exclude you and revile you and ^(AQ)spurn your name as evil, ^(AR)on account of the Son of Man! ^23 (AS)Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for ^(AT)so their fathers did to the prophets.

Jesus Pronounces Woes

^24 (AU)“But woe to you who are rich, ^(AV)for you ^(AW)have received your consolation.

²⁵ “Woe to you who are full now, for ^(AX)you shall be hungry.

“Woe to ^(AY)you who laugh now, ^(AZ)for you shall mourn and weep.

²⁶ “Woe to you, ^(BA)when all people speak well of you, for ^(BB)so their fathers did to ^(BC)the false prophets.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, ^(BD)Love your enemies, ^(BE)do good to those who hate you, ^28 (BF)bless those who curse you, ^(BG)pray for those who abuse you. ^29 (BH)To one who ^(BI)strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic^[b] either. ^30 (BJ)Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹ And ^(BK)as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

^32 (BL)“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And ^(BM)if you ^(BN)lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵ But ^(BO)love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and ^(BP)you will be sons of ^(BQ)the Most High, for ^(BR)he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ^36 (BS)Be merciful, even as ^(BT)your Father is merciful.

Judging Others

^37 (BU)(BV)“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; ^(BW)forgive, and you will be forgiven; ^38 (BX)give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put ^(BY)into your lap. For ^(BZ)with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

³⁹ He also told them a parable: ^(CA)“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ^40 (CB)A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is ^(CC)fully trained will be like his teacher. ^41 (CD)Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but ^(CE)do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ “For ^(CF)no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, ⁴⁴ for ^(CG)each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ^45 (CH)The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces ^(CI)evil, ^(CJ)for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Build Your House on the Rock

^46 (CK)“Why ^(CL)do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? ^47 (CM)Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.^{[c] 49 (CN)}But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and ^(CO)the ruin of that house was great.”