13 Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.

14 Then (A)the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: (B)‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, (C)for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the [a]brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. 17 (D)You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, (E)for the Lord is with you.”

18 And Jehoshaphat (F)bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.

20 So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: (G)Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” 21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, (H)and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:

(I)“Praise the Lord,
(J)For His mercy endures forever.”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 20:16 streambed or wadi

13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.

14 Then the Spirit(A) of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah,(B) a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.

15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged(C) because of this vast army. For the battle(D) is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see(E) the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”

18 Jehoshaphat bowed down(F) with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. 19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

20 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith(G) in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.(H) 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his[a] holiness(I) as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
    for his love endures forever.”(J)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 20:21 Or him with the splendor of

The Whole Armor of God

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 (A)Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the [a]wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against (B)principalities, against powers, against (C)the rulers of [b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 (D)Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand (E)in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, (F)having girded your waist with truth, (G)having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 (H)and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking (I)the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And (J)take the helmet of salvation, and (K)the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 (L)praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, (M)being watchful to this end with all perseverance and (N)supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, (O)that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which (P)I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 6:11 schemings
  2. Ephesians 6:12 NU this darkness,

The Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord(A) and in his mighty power.(B) 11 Put on the full armor of God,(C) so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,(D) but against the rulers, against the authorities,(E) against the powers(F) of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.(G) 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God,(H) so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,(I) with the breastplate of righteousness in place,(J) 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.(K) 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,(L) with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.(M) 17 Take the helmet of salvation(N) and the sword of the Spirit,(O) which is the word of God.(P)

18 And pray in the Spirit(Q) on all occasions(R) with all kinds of prayers and requests.(S) With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying(T) for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me,(U) that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly(V) make known the mystery(W) of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador(X) in chains.(Y) Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

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Now [a]early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and (A)taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, [b]this woman was caught in (B)adultery, in the very act. (C)Now [c]Moses, in the law, commanded us [d]that such should be stoned. But what do You [e]say?” This they said, testing Him, that they (D)might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, [f]as though He did not hear.

So when they continued asking Him, He [g]raised Himself up and said to them, (E)“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, (F)being[h] convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up [i]and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers [j]of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, (G)“Neither do I condemn you; go [k]and (H)sin no more.”

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Footnotes

  1. John 8:2 M very early
  2. John 8:4 M we found this woman
  3. John 8:5 M in our law Moses commanded
  4. John 8:5 NU, M to stone such
  5. John 8:5 M adds about her
  6. John 8:6 NU, M omit as though He did not hear
  7. John 8:7 M He looked up
  8. John 8:9 NU, M omit being convicted by their conscience
  9. John 8:10 NU omits and saw no one but the woman; M He saw her and said,
  10. John 8:10 NU, M omit of yours
  11. John 8:11 NU, M add from now on

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.(A) The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.(B) Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap,(C) in order to have a basis for accusing him.(D)

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone(E) at her.”(F) Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,”(G) Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”(H)


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