Judah's Decline

36 ^(A)The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father's place in Jerusalem. ² Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. ³ Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and ^(B)laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent^[a] of gold. ⁴ And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt.

^5 (C)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. ^6 (D)Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^(E)and bound him in chains ^(F)to take him to Babylon. ^7 (G)Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his palace in Babylon. ^8 (H)Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

^9 (I)Jehoiachin was eighteen^[b] years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁰ In ^(J)the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, ^(K)with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother ^(L)Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

^11 (M)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. ¹² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before ^(N)Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. ^13 (O)He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. ^(P)He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴ All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.

¹⁵ The Lord, the God of their fathers, ^(Q)sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. ^16 (R)But they kept mocking the messengers of God, ^(S)despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, ^(T)until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

Jerusalem Captured and Burned

^17 (U)Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. ^18 (V)And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. ^19 (W)And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. ²⁰ He ^(X)took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, ^(Y)and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹ to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had ^(Z)enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate ^(AA)it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

The Proclamation of Cyrus

^22 (AB)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, ^(AC)that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, ^(AD)the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: ²³ “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’”

Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant

7 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, ^(A)he entered Capernaum. ² Now a centurion had a servant^[a] who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. ³ When the centurion^[b] heard about Jesus, ^(B)he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ^(C)“He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us ^(D)our synagogue.” ⁶ And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, ^(E)do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷ Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But ^(F)say the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard these things, ^(G)he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such ^(H)faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Jesus Raises a Widow's Son

¹¹ Soon afterward^[c] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹² As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, ^(I)the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ And when the Lord saw her, ^(J)he had compassion on her and ^(K)said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ Then he came up and touched ^(L)the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, ^(M)arise.” ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^{[d] (N)}gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear seized them all, and ^(O)they glorified God, saying, ^(P)“A great prophet has arisen among us!” and ^(Q)“God has visited his people!” ¹⁷ And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

^18 (R)(S)The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹ calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one ^(T)who is to come, or ^(U)shall we look for another?” ²⁰ And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one ^(V)who is to come, or ^(W)shall we look for another?’” ²¹ In that hour ^(X)he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and ^(Y)on many who were blind he bestowed sight. ²² And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: ^(Z)the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, ^(AA)lepers^[e] are cleansed, and ^(AB)the deaf hear, ^(AC)the dead are raised up, ^(AD)the poor have good news preached to them. ²³ And blessed is the one who is ^(AE)not offended by me.”

²⁴ When John's messengers had gone, Jesus^[f] began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^(AF)into the wilderness to see? ^(AG)A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. ²⁶ What then did you go out to see? ^(AH)A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he of whom it is written,

²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ (^(AJ)When all the people heard this, and ^(AK)the tax collectors too, they declared God just,^{[g] (AL)}having been baptized with ^(AM)the baptism of John, ^30 (AN)but the Pharisees and ^(AO)the lawyers ^(AP)rejected ^(AQ)the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

³¹ “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

³³ For John the Baptist has come ^(AR)eating no bread and ^(AS)drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man has come ^(AT)eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, ^(AU)a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵ Yet ^(AV)wisdom is justified by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

^36 (AW)One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. ^37 (AX)And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, ³⁸ and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and ^(AY)wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If ^(AZ)this man were ^(BA)a prophet, he ^(BB)would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰ And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

⁴¹ “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred ^(BC)denarii, and the other fifty. ^42 (BD)When they could not pay, he ^(BE)cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” ⁴⁴ Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; ^(BF)you gave me no water for my feet, but ^(BG)she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ^45 (BH)You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to ^(BI)kiss my feet. ^46 (BJ)You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷ Therefore I tell you, her sins, ^(BK)which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸ And he said to her, ^(BL)“Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ Then those who were at table with him began to say among^[h] themselves, ^(BM)“Who is this, who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, ^(BN)“Your faith has saved you; ^(BO)go in peace.”